Captive Luna

Lectures

    He nodded at the doorman who promptly opened the door for him. The concierge nodded at him as well.

    “Is my mother home as well?” King asked.

    “Yes, Luna is upstairs.” The wolf answered.

    He stepped into the elevator and jabbed the penthouse button after keying in the code his father set for him. As the elevator rose, he thought back to the other conversations his father had had with him recently. Run-of-the-mill nagging about the Weredom, and where his Queen was, and when he would find her. He took a deep breath at the sound of the ding before exiting the elevator and stepping into the foyer.

    His parents had the taste of obvious upperclassmen, the foyer cool as his shoes made clicking noises on the expensive marble. Their maid greeted him with a glass of mango juice, his favourite. He nodded a thank you to her as he made his way further into their home.

    He walked through the sitting room and went to his father’s office. The sitting room was furnished modernly, which gave it more of an office reception vibe than a home office. Since his father retired his crown, he took a bigger role in his Investment business. When he was still King, his role was limited to a seat on the Board, but now he was much the incredibly involved CEO. The President of Ganderfield Enterprises had been the acting CEO prior, and when his contract ended, James took over. Having James in the CEO seat made the investors quite happy, his company posted a plus 48 percent on the New York Stock Exchange the previous day, rivaling f*******:.

    “Son,” James greeted his son who hadn’t bothered to knock. He stood up to greet his son. 

    He was a slightly shorter version of his son, though he looked to be no older than thirty. They could be mistaken as brothers very easily. King obviously got his looks from his father. Hell, many women even into when King was in his pre-teens, would obviously flirt with him, of course, not in front of the Luna Queen.

    He mildly remembered a woman hitting on James when he was 13 when they went out for ice cream. 

    They were lined up at Sedutto on 1st Avenue. His father ad never been too busy to spend some time with King. A woman, who he remembered looking very much the stuff of his wet dreams; walked up to them and introduced herself as Miranda. She had an Australian accent. She flirted, though not raunchy. He did remember that she had whispered to him that she wanted him to be her Daddy. He also remembered she ended up as the newest Victoria’s Secret model the following year and began dating a bloke named Orlando that same year.

    “Hi dad,” he said, giving him a side hug. He sat down on the sofa while his dad grabbed two mugs and filled them with coffee.

    “Son,” his father said as he passed one of the mugs to King. “I asked you here for a few reasons. Now before you roll your eyes…”

    King was already rolling his eyes. His father swatted his arm playfully.

    “The first is, I wanted you to come shadow once in a while here,” James continued. “I know you’re still young, but the business will eventually go to you and then to your children. You need to know how to run the business.”

    “I know dad,” he sighed as he sipped his coffee. “One day this will all be mine, blah, blah, blah. Can I start learning when my child turns ten?”

    “You have an illegitimate child?” His father gasped, nearly choking on his coffee. Instead, it dribbled down his chin and onto his crisp white shirt. “s**t, that’s going to stain.”

    “No dad,” he laughed. “Sorry. I meant my hypothetical child.”

    “Better,” his dad said, laughing along. “I’m sure I don’t need to stress the importance of keeping it in your pants so to speak. Or at least, keep it wrapped, you know because– “

    “Dad!” King exclaimed. “I don’t need lessons on safe s*x. What’s next, you telling me about my technique?”

    James smiled. “I mean… If you need help in that I could give you some– “

    “Finish that sentence and I’m out!” King grumbled.

    “Okay, okay,” James snorted, surrendering his hands. “So, the other thing I wanted to talk to you about was the upcoming Gathering.”

    King sighed. Of course. He knew it was coming. Didn’t make it less annoying though.

    “You need to find your mate,” James began. King opened his mouth but was silenced by his father’s hand. “I know, you can’t find her. But you have to. The Weredom depends on it. They need their Queen. Your mother can continue to act as Queen Luna for now but we’re past our reign, son. She needs to revert back to just Luna without the Queen's title and responsibilities. She needs to relax.”

    “I know Dad,” he sighed, sipping his coffee. “I’m trying to find her.”

    “Need I remind you you are almost twenty-six. It’s high time you stopped screwing around and settled down. Perhaps it could have worked out with– “

    “Don’t even say it,” King warned, standing up. He set his coffee down roughly on the coffee table.

    “It’s either you find your mate, or you choose one at the upcoming Gathering.” His father replied, standing up to look his son directly in his eyes.

    “Dad, enough!” he exclaimed, rubbing his face vigorously. His irritation was growing. The conversation was repetitive. 

    “Son,” James began. “You should know there is a rule, that all Kings pass down when the time is right. It isn’t taught to the Princes and Princesses.”

    King’s eyes snapped to his father’s face. What rule?

    “You are given a timeframe deemed appropriate by the preceding King to find your mate. If you don’t, the preceding King can force you to abdicate until you find your mate.” his father smiled mischievously. 

    “What?” King narrowed his eyes. He had never heard about the rule.

    “We deliberately do not teach this rule during your training, in the event the successor does not find their mate. It helps to ensure the successor doesn’t choose a random just so they can take their place at the throne.” James finished, staring at his son. “Now, I don’t want to embarrass you or our reputation. But please, take this seriously. Either find her or pick a mate. I have a list of strong women that would be able to rule alongside you, I made sure that they were more… your type and intelligent enough. Especially since you’d have to bring a child into the world.”

    “You’re telling me that you can take my place as King away if I don’t find a mate, and you’re talking about me choosing a mate from some list you made and want me to make you some grandbabies?” he shouted as he stood up.

    “Son,” James said, his Alpha temper beginning to surface. “It is not just about you. Our roles as the Monarchy of the Weredom do not allow us to change the rules or traditions for our kind. You will either find your mate or choose one off the list I give you. I will not hesitate to force the rule of abdication on you.”

    “Fine,” King huffed. The door opened and his mother, Luna Queen Olivia, walked in.

    “I can hear you from the kitchen, and it’s on the opposite side of the house!” she exclaimed, closing the door behind her. “What are you on about, guys?”

    King moved to kiss his mother on the cheek. “Nothing, Ma. Dad and I were just talking.”

    “I told him about the rule, Livi,” James answered.

    Her eyes narrowed at her husband. “We discussed this. We said we would give him some time to find her, or he’d pick one. You weren't supposed to use the rule to force him to do what you want!”

    “It’s been long enough!” he boomed at his wife.

    “Don’t take that tone with me,” she huffed, walking to stand next to her baby boy. He dwarfed her 5’4, thin frame. “I don’t submit to you. Ever. Try that again and you’ll be sleeping on the sofa. And make no mistake, I can and I will withhold s*x, just keep talking like that to me!”

    “Ma!” King yelled. “I don’t need to think about you and dad having s*x while he’s just threatened to take my throne!”

    “Sorry baby boy,” she said, putting her arm around his waist, turning her head to her soon-to-be-ex-husband-if-he-threatens-her-son. “Jamie, you know you said you would give him more time.”

    “I know,” James amended. “But he’s getting older now. And I want to be able to spend more time with you. I know I’m busy with the company, but I feel like I hardly see you anymore. You’re always busy doing Queen things.”

    “I will consider the chosen mate thing for our boy, but we will give our son the opportunity to find her.” She said, not breaking eye contact but her demeanor softening slightly. “I won’t allow you to force some random on him.”

    “Fine,” James huffed. “But after The Gathering, Livi, so help me. He will choose one.”

    “Sorry, am I a part of this decision?” King interjected, frowning.

    “No.” His parents all but shouted at the same time. King sighed. He needed to find her and soon. He didn’t want to mate with anyone else.

    “Well okay then,” he said, backing away from his parents who appeared to be in a staring contest. “I’ll just be leaving now.”

    They didn’t acknowledge him as he backed his way out of James’s office. He pressed the button to call the elevator. He needed to lie down. Talking with his father about matters such as that, was very taxing, to say the least. He enjoyed spending time with him, but not when he was ragging on him about finding his mate. He heard the audible echo of his mother’s laughter, followed by moaning.

    He grimaced and frantically pressed the call button. Just as he heard a loud groan from his father, the elevator dinged and he stepped in, covering his ears.

    Werewolves had healthy s****l appetites well into their senior years, but these were his parents. No human child or wolf pup would want to hear any of that coming from their parents.

                                         -------------------------------------------------------------

    “So, what did the parentals want?” Jacob asked as they sat down at King’s for lunch. Eli was running late as he needed to update the census to reflect last month’s births.

    The cooks had prepared an easy lunch with some salad, French onion soup, and a beef brisket sandwich.

    “My father wanted to discuss me finding my mate. Nothing new,” King rolled his eyes as he took a bite of his salad. “He basically told me to either find my mate or select one from a list he made. That, and he asked me to come to shadow him at work, so I can take over the business when I retire.”

    “You really should find her,” Jacob stated. “She’s around somewhere. And what about shadowing?"

    “Continental USA,” Eli said as he walked in. He sat down and grabbed a plate. “She’s one in 333 million.”

    King sighed. He was struggling to find his mate he didn’t want to end up having to pick one from a list. Women were finicky. They could be a knockout but have zero personality. He just wanted to find someone. Even if it wasn’t his mate.

    "My dad wants me to shadow him, I asked if I could wait until my pup is ten years old before I start shadowing him at work."

    They nodded. Made sense. 

    “What about you, Jake? Do you think you’ll find your mate finally?” Eli asked while staring at the French onion soup the omega had just set in front of him.

    “I hope so,” Jacob replied. “It’s been how many seasons and I haven’t found her.”

    “I think this year is your year,” King assured him. “So how did training go?”

    “It went great,” Jacob said as he took a bite of his sandwich. “Everyone’s good to go.”

    “So, we’ll just keep doing the training with them until the days leading into it,” King stated, as he finished his soup.

    “You know,” Eli started as he ate his own sandwich. “Charisse isn’t bad looking. Maybe you can choose her?”

    “I thought about that but,” King answered, clearing his throat. “I think she’d get on my nerves.”

    “But if you choose anyone, eventually you’ll feel the mate pull anyway,” Jacob countered. “She’s pretty hot.”

    “We’ll see,” he said thoughtfully. “There’ll be a plethora of women to choose from. I don’t want to have to pick from what my father has listed. This isn’t 1846.”

    “I hope I find mine,” Eli sighed into his salad. “I’m getting an earful from my mother. She doesn’t want to be too old when I make her a grandmother.”

    “I’m sure you’ll both find your mates,” King said as he finished his lunch. “I’m just not sure I’ll find mine.”

    “Selene wouldn’t do that to you,” Jacob reassured him. “Even given your history, I’m sure she has it in her to overlook your indiscretions.”

    King sighed. He sure hoped so.