The Alpha King and His Mysterious Mate

Down the memory lane we go

[ Jacob's pov ]

My name is Jacob and today I turned 18 years old. I am the crown prince of the Royal Silvermoon pack, so today is a big deal for every wolf living in our country. That is why my parents organized a big ball in my honour. They wanted everyone to see their future king and were hoping today, when I turned 18, I would meet my mate.

At midnight, when the clock strikes for the 12th time, a werewolf gains the ability to recognize his mate. That is where the expression, love at first sight, comes from. If she is in the vicinity, he will know it by her smell, by her voice, by her eyes and so will she. Everything about her will be extraordinary, a perfect person who was made just for you by the Moon Goddess.

My father was one of the lucky ones. He met my mother on the 12th stroke of the clock, but others are not that lucky. Some spend years before they find their mates.

I want to find my mate, I truly do, and rather sooner than later, but I believe a ball is the last thing we need right now..

We are in a centuries-long war with vampires and, since I was a child, this is all I remember doing. Training and fighting.

I have been to countless battles and I have seen many of my friends die in my arms. All because of vampires. I hate them. They even killed my grandfather, Alpha King Oscar, in front of me. I f*****g hate them all!

[ Jacob's memory ]

I was 8 years old and we were having dinner in the grand hall. We used to always dine there, not because we were fancy royals, but simply because we could not fit in any other room in the castle. My grandfather had a simple rule: every pack member had to eat with us at least once a day and the other alphas had to come by, with their pack members, at least twice a month. He wanted all of us to be a big, happy family with no grudges and disputes. And even if any issues occurred, they were easily handled because everyone felt comfortable speaking up.

This is how my father kept the peace and his father and grandfather before him. We were halfway through our meal when one of the werewolves on patrol ran in.

"- King Oscar, vampires are attacking, they are near our borders. There are at least a thousand of them!"

"- Damnit, those bastards can't even let us finish our meals in peace and quiet! Everyone, get ready. We are leaving in 5 minutes" the King said, and then he turned to me.

"- Jacob, take your little brothers and go to the shelter. Notify all pregnant women, elderly and children on your way. You know the drill, son." He saw my facial expression and mistook it for fear, so he came closer and whispered in my ear "Don't you worry, if anything happens, the warriors assigned there will protect you with their lives."

"- But, grandpa, I am ready, I want to go with you. I want to fight." I said.

"- Not this time kiddo. Now go!" he prompted me.

There was no time to argue, so I did what I was told to. Well, not exactly. I took my brothers to the shelter along with everyone else who was staying and sneaked out of there before the doors of the bunker closed.

I am tired of always staying behind, worrying whether my family will come back, I thought to myself while I was walking to our borders. I wanted to help them and I thought I was ready, but little did I know.

I followed the pack from afar to the battlefield. It was an open field within the heart of the woods just on the verge of our territory. It was the most beautiful valley I have ever seen; I can't believe I had never been here before. The smell of the trees, the breeze of the wind and flowers of every colour you could possibly imagine. I got so engulfed by all this, that initially, I didn't even notice the vampire coming at me, and when I did, I froze.

They were not like I imagined them. They were faster and bigger. They had red, vibrant eyes and pearl-white skin. I would say they were beautiful in their own way, if not for the life-sucking fangs sticking out from their mouths. To my 8-year-old self, this was a nightmare coming to life. I don't know how, but in my terror I managed to mindlink my grandfather somehow and ask him for help.

He didn't expect to see me there, so he got distracted just for a second, but that was enough. A life-sucking monster dug his filthy fangs into his throat. More and more vampires joined him because they could not resist the taste of the Alpha King's blood. Finally, the vampire approaching me could not resist the smell any longer, so he took his leave, but before that, he said to me:

"- Hey, kid, don't go anywhere, I will come for you next." Then he licked his fangs and let out a hysterical laugh just before joining the others. I will never forget his laugh. It haunts me until today.

I was crying because my grandfather wasn't fighting back as more and more vampires approached him. He knew he was not going to survive as his top priority was getting me to safety.

He looked at me and told me through the mindlink "Run Jacob, Run!

I wanted to help him, I truly did, but I couldn't. I was not strong enough, so I ran for my life. All I could hear in my head was my grandfather's last words "Run Jacob run. You are meant for great things, my boy. I will always be watching over you." I ran and I ran for what felt like ages, tripping again and again. My knees were covered in blood and my vision blurred from all the crying. They say werewolves heal fast, yet it didn’t feel like that.

When I arrived at the mansion, I hid in my room and cried all night. This was the first and last time I ever cried and on that day I swore to never ever be weak again. I will never let anyone from my family die again! One day I will f****** kill them all!

[ end of memory ]

All these memories brought me rage so I decided to go to my mother's room and ask her to cancel the ball.

"- Mum, this is not the right time for a party, the vampire attacks are more frequent and destructive than ever. We do not need this right now" I said.

She approached me and put her arms on my shoulders before saying:

"- Don't be silly Jacob, you have just turned 18 and, from today on, you will be able to find your mate. I will not just stand there and let you miss this opportunity. The war can wait, plus the packs need to take their minds off it, even if it is just for one night. We all need this, Jacob."

My mother, Queen Gabriella, is a fearsome warrior, second to none, not even to my father, Alpha Robert. She is wise and caring. Moreover, she never missed a battle, even when she became a mother to myself and my two little brothers, Emmet and Charles. Wherever King Robert went, she followed and we all knew that her word was the rule in this house, so, I had no choice but to let it go.

When I left her room, I went straight to meet with the royal pack, to go once more through the security details for tonight. Everything seemed tight. With so many werewolves patrolling our territory, not even a fly could get in without us knowing it. I have never seen so many people on the lookout.

My father was getting ready for the worst-case scenario, as always. He never let anything to luck. He always had a strategy and multiple backup plans for any occasion. He was always one step ahead. That is probably why he was a great Alpha. He cared about his people a lot, he wanted them to feel safe in those few moments of peace we had.

Yet somehow, I felt something was off. I couldn't understand why that was. Why was I feeling this way? But my 6th sense was screaming at me that something would go wrong. OK to be fair, my wolf, Black, was also screaming in my head, which made me worry even more. Black's intuition is even better than mine. He was almost always right. I waited after everyone left the meeting and decided to talk to my father about this, but he got to me first.

"- Son, I remember I was also nervous at my 18th birthday party. Don't overthink it. I have everything under control, security is tight so just relax and go prepare. Who knows, maybe you will meet your mate today, the same way I met my soul, my darling Gabi, and I will finally see a smile on this grumpy face of yours" he said to me.

"- Father, I am not nervous about the ball, I just feel like something is off. Black agrees. I don't know how to explain this, but my gut is telling me we need to cancel this."

"- Son, security is tight. You saw it, nothing will happen. Plus, if I cancel now, your mother will kill me".

I chuckled, knowing that was the truth.

"…but if it helps to calm your nerves, I will go through the security details once more to double-check everything. Now go get ready before your mum comes downstairs and you get me in trouble."

"- Thanks dad" I said "I really appreciate it, but I want to help you. It will be more efficient this way and then we will both go to get ready" I said, while I went to sit in the chair, despite his best efforts to get rid of me.

The moment I sat down, I heard my mother's voice coming from the corridor.

"- Robert, are you in the study room?" she asked.

My mother was definitely heading in this direction. In his desperation, my father threw a shoe at me, trying to make me leave.

"- Go or you will be the death of me" he whispered intensively, like a child hiding a candy.

"- OK fine I am going, but I will tell her that you tried to kill her favourite child with a shoe. When did you even have time to take it off?" I laughed, taking my leave.

As I was going up the stairs into my room, my mother had reached my father's office and I heard her ask in a stern voice:

"- Robert, why are you only wearing one shoe and why is the other one next to the door? Why are you even here, when you should be getting ready?"

"- Honey, I was just going upstairs when I heard a noise. I thought I saw a .... mmm... mouse, yes! A mouse, so I tried to scare it off with my shoe. I know how you detest those rodents. It is gone now. Don't you worry. Let's go get ready!"

The conversation I had just overheard made me laugh even harder. "The mighty king Robert, the mighty wolf! More like a pup when it comes to my mother." Although, I am not sure whether I should be offended or not that my father compared me to a mouse, I thought as I reached my quarters.