Ice Princess and the Alpha

Chapter Four-England

POV- (Valerio)

We are on our way to the Royal Masquerade Ball in Northumberland. Reign, Frank and Myself. We left two days early to be able to get some rest prior to going to Featherstone Castle. We had to take a straight 16-hour flight, then the drive was another six hours to reach Featherston Castle in Northumberland. My patience is starting to run thin after such a long flight to London. Why did I let Regin and Frank talk me into this damn ball? It is going to be a waste of time like all the other parties. We booked a room for a week at the Hotel the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London to get a good night of sleep before we headed out to the King and Queen castle for the Masquerade Ball.

Reign had booked us the Penthouse at the Mandarin Oriental in London. "The Mandarin Oriental is recognized for genuinely kind and generous service. Of course, it was reminiscent of a luxurious London apartment, this magnificent three-bed penthouse, to enjoy the view of Hyde Park." Reign spewing off some kind of bullshit. I was cranky and all I wanted was a bed and some rest. I was not in any kind of mood to sit around talking bullshit with Reign and Frank tonight. "Goodnight, Reign and Frank, I am going to bed." I had a scolding look on my face and they knew not to f**k with me when I was in this mood. I headed to the Master's room and laid down on the bed. The bed felt outstanding, soft and comfortable. I did not realize how exhausted I really was. I needed a few hours of sleep and a hot shower. Aero has been pacing back and forth in my head for the last hour. When asked him what was wrong, he said he did not know. It was hard to get any f*****g rest with him pacing in my head. Aero growls at me and finally lays the f**k down. He is a temperamental wolf. We need to go on a run to work out the anxieties and frustration we felt. What will tomorrow night's masked ball bring for us? I laid there in bed looking at the ceiling. Maybe some good business relationship. Will the moon goddess grace us with our fated mate? Would Aero and I be left wanting again? So many questions running through my mind. Finally, exhaustion took over and my physical and mental state when I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Next morning:

I wake up with the sun pouring in the windows. I turned to look at the clock, it was 6 am. Time to get up and get my day started. I needed a long shower to get over the jetlag I was feeling. We still had a 6-hour road trip ahead and we needed to leave by noon. I walked to the bathroom and saw the shower with six shower heads. Yes! This is exactly what I needed. I reached into the shower to cut the water on to let the shower start heating up. I undressed from the clothes I wore yesterday. I was so drained last night; I did not even bother to undress. I stepped into the shower and let the hot water wash away my anxieties, exhaustion, and my concerns that were in my head. I have planned several business meetings while I am in London. The trip will not be a waste of time, at least. After 30 minutes in the shower, I started to feel somewhat refreshed. I grabbed a towel from the rack, wrapping the towel around my waist. I walked back into the bedroom and saw my luggage sitting inside the door. Reign or Frank must have brought my luggage in sometime last night while I was asleep. I unzipped and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. I hope Reign or Franck had ordered breakfast. I headed out of the bedroom.

Walking to the living room, I saw Reign in the kitchen with his mouth full of food and Frank was sitting at the bar eating. Great, they had ordered room service, the bar was full of food..

"Good morning. Did you guys sleep well?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

It was comical to watch Reign stop chewing on his food and look at me like I lost my damn mind. I smirked at him. Frank raised his eyebrows at me and laughed at Reign. I started laughing.

"Good morning, Alpha!' said Reign when swallowing his food.

"Glad to see you in a better mood for a change, Alpha," Frank replied.

I gave them a smirk. Where would I be without my best friends? I have not been a good friend to regretful thoughts of how I acted in the last few years.

"Reign and Frank call me Markus instead of Alpha."

The shocked looks I received were purely priceless. I had been meaning for a while to let them call me Markus again, but, my head was up my ass. I really was remorseful for my behavior.

"Alpha, are you sure?" they both said in unison.

I growled at them. They corrected themselves. "Markus, are you sure?"

"Yes, you guys are my best friends and I could not ask for more loyal friends by my side all these years. I am sorry for having my head up my ass for the last couple of years." I had buried myself in my work for too long, so I did not have to deal with the pain and loneliness. It was time to come out of my ass and start being an Alpha and a true friend I should have already been.

"Well, I thought I would never see Markus come and join us again." Laughed Frank. "It is about damn time brother! I have missed you."

"Damn Markus, you are going make me cry. What happened to the cold unemotional Alpha? Who are you and go back into that bedroom and bring back my Alpha" said Reign, laughing.

"f**k you Reign!" I was laughing at those idiots. We were friends and grew up together all our lives. After my five years of trying to find my mate, I exploded on them one night. I, Alpha, commanded them to start calling me Alpha instead of Markus. I was no longer their friend. I was their Alpha. I was really unfair to my friends and I am ashamed of what I did. I was angry, furious and depressed that night coming from the party I had attended. I took my frustration out on my two best friends. The two men I could always count. What an ASS I am.

"Look, Reign and Frank, I am sorry for Alpha commanding you. I am ashamed of what I did. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Already done, I forgave you, Markus, that night!" "I saw how much pain you were in," said Frank.

"Well, to be honest, it took me at least a week to forgive you. Laugh Reign"

"Thank you guys!" I know it will take us time to get back the last few years I have been up my ass, but maybe someday. "Hey, who is up to taking a run through Hyde Park? Aero needs to stretch his legs."

"Hell yell", said Reign

"I am in," said Frank.

"Let's go then!" The hotel was overlooking Hyden Park, so we did not have to go far. It would be nice to let Aero get a little fresh air, then we would be less tense for tonight's ball. We walked out of the Penthouse to the elevator. Frank pushed the button in the elevator to take us to the lobby. I could tell there were a lot of Alpha and Luna here with their Beta and Gamma's and doubt their daughters and sons. It looks like the King and Queen Ball is going to have a huge turnout in the werewolf communities." I smirked at a few Alpha faces at their shocked and surprised looks on their faces when I came out of the elevator. I have not attended functions and events in the last couple of years. We left the hotel and the streets were busy with people going about their day. Frank and Regin were having an easy conversation as we walked into the park. I listened as they were making jokes about the people around us and the women stopping and staring at us. These humans had no clue about the werewolves' community and our looks and size always got their attention.We finally reached our destination in the park that was exclusive for werewolves. We undressed and shifted into our wolves. This time of the year London was beautiful. The grass was lustrous under our paws and the smell was heavenly. The trees were huge and the green leaves hung from the limbs. A small paradise in London Forest in Hyde Park. I could tell Jax (Reign Wolf) and Hugo (Frank Wolf) were happy to be turned loose too, after our long flight to London. I want to just sit back and let him run. "Aero, have fun! I am going sit back and relax." "You got it Markus.". Jax, Hugo and Aero played games with a rabbit and chased each other like young pups. Jax was a solid grey wolf and Hugo was tan with black paws with black on the tip of his tail. Aero is massive in size; his color is midnight black. After a few hours, I mind-linked Frank and Regin told them we needed to get back to get ready for our six-hour road trip. We got back to the hotel around eleven o'clock and jumped in to shower to get ready and pack a small bag. We were planning on staying at Featherstone for a couple of days. Reign called for room services for an early lunch and we ate really quickly and were on the road to Featherstone Castle by 11:45 am.

The drive to Featherstone was beautiful scenery. However, the 6-hour trip was also agony and long. We stop at a rest stop about thirty minutes outside of Featherstone to eat and refresh ourselves. It would be nice to be able to see the work the construction crew had been doing at the castle. When we pulled up to the castle guard house with our invitation, the driveway was well lit with Solar Lamp Posts every six feet, the Fortress Versai Three Rail fence. The lawn was green and lustrous. You could see the beautiful lake lying in the distance. The castle was a Masterpiece and it appeared as if that time had almost stopped. I was extremely proud of the work my company had done so far. It was most definitely telling that the Royal Family lived here. As soon as we pulled up in front of the Castle, Aero started going crazy. He was growling, howling and pacing back and forth in my head. “What the f**k is wrong with you, Aero?” I said, he was giving me a damn headache. Aero growled at me but went silent. My bad mood starting coming back and I looked at Reign and Frank. “I do not know why in the f**k I let you guys talk me into coming to this damn ball.” “Come on Markus, we have not seen Gabriel at least try to have some fun tonight.” Reign replied with a stupid grin on his face. “Stop being an ass Markus and try to enjoy yourself for once, said Frank. Finally, getting out of the SUV and joining others on the front step, we looked at all the improvements that had been made since we were last here. Gabriel and Charlotte were standing at the top of the steps and when Gabriel saw us a huge smile was on his face. It was good to see him again. He gave me a smirk and I returned the smirk to him. When we reached Gabriel, we all hugged and padded each other on the back like family. When we entered the castle into the ballroom, the ball was in full swing. My wolf, Aero, was still howling and going crazy, then I was hit with the most amazing smell that I had ever smelled. I was trying to concentrate on the conversation with Gabriel, Reign and Frank but the smell was overpowering any real thoughts. Where is that smell coming from? The smell was cinnamon and green apples and mouth watering. I had to find out where it was coming from.