Protect The Queen

7 - Meeting With Father

Bobby’s POV

Wouldn’t you think Valarie’s age would be a contributing factor when discussing a potential candidate for me to mate with? It’s something I would be looking at, and I can’t even fathom why my parents, who might I add, make the f*****g rules in this kingdom; are going against them by having me mate with someone who isn’t 18.

I was seething by the time I reached the administration office the moment we had finished speaking with Alpha Matthias and I knew I wasn’t the only one. Jasmine was very forthcoming about what she thought regarding them having me mate with an underage she-wolf and I couldn’t blame her. I was appalled to find out she would only be 15 when the ceremony was supposed to happen.

I requested the emergency leave and left on the next available bus from the academy towards the Masonite Pack where my father was meeting me with Alpha Matthias’ blessing to use his office. Shaun requested the same leave, stating he needed to be at the meeting as it regarded his family, without giving any details. I corroborated his story because I needed him there to pull off the best theatrical event of our lifetimes to convince my father Haven was a better candidate over Valarie, and we needed to make it look like it was his decision. Convincing him to let Haven and Jasmine attend the academy was going to be another story.

The moment the bus arrived, Shaun and I stepped off, and we headed towards the packhouse. To my surprise, my parents were already there being fussed over by half the pack members, not acknowledging Shaun or myself when we arrived. It was fine by me, because I didn’t want the attention, although me being anonymous would be short-lived.

“Father, Mother," I greeted, giving my mother a kiss on her cheek and walking into the packhouse, feeling a few stares on my back behind me and a couple of she-wolves whispering to their friends, probably trying to figure out how they could land such a respectful bachelor. I turned to face my parents again; “I believe Alpha Matthias is allowing us to use his office for our meeting," I added, turning again and walking up the stairs to indicate they needed to follow.

Shaun gave me a verbal map of the packhouse, so I knew where I was going. My parents followed me inside the house, and I could see Haven at the top of the stairs, a small grin on her face as I walked past without acknowledging her and into the office. “Please take a seat," I said, offering my hand to the chairs around the office, while sitting down on the sofa at the side. My father looked at Shaun; “I asked him to join us, since he set up the location for me to use and is my confidant at the academy. He has proven his loyalty to me, and I want him here.”

“What is this about, Robert?” my father asked, moving to one of the seats and getting straight to the point as I narrowed my eyes at him. "I've already told you, meeting the northern..." “Valarie is only 12?” I answered with my own question, while Father landed on his chair with a thud at the boldness of my words.

“What? How did you… I can explain…” Father answered as I put my hand up to stop him from speaking.

“I was willing to go through with your obligations to the kingdom, but I will not mate with an under-aged she-wolf. Hell, I don’t even know how you are even going to get around the laws you have in place for the kingdom. You know, the ones you made?” I stated, glaring at my father while he opened his mouth to object, and I cut him off, raising my voice with my next words. “What in the goddess's name were you thinking that this was OK to do? The moon goddess’ reasoning of why she allows us to find our mates at 18 shouldn’t be questioned. I will not go against her, and neither should you. We are not gods or goddesses to overrule her decision. I don’t know why you think you are. Aren’t they your words?”

“That’s enough, Robert," Father shouted, standing up and releasing his aura, causing Shaun to whimper under the strain while he bore his neck to him. He may be an heir to the northern kingdom; he is still under the southern kingdom’s rule. I, however, am now his equal since I have my wolf. “I’m still your father and demand your respect.”

“You will get my respect when your decisions warrant it," I snarled, as we both stared each other down; brown eyes to brown eyes.

“Bobby; Alister offered us a way to end their constant conflicts…” “By doing what they do? That’s not stopping them, that’s giving in to them and their ideas," I argued, cutting off my mother as Father growled under his breath, clearly not liking his decisions being questioned. “I have a proposal. After Shaun helped me research the northern royal family because you refused to accept my request to meet my betrothed mate, I’m willing to still mate with a northern royal member that will be of age when I turn 21. You will need to provide me with photos of every unmated female member…” “That’s the problem, son. All the female members are already mated by that stage," Father interrupted as I turned to glance at Shaun, who shrugged his shoulders.

“All of them? There are no royal members in the north that don’t follow their absurdity?” I asked as Mother and Father glanced at one another for a second, piecing together the person I want them to think about.

“There is one niece, but I don’t think her parents would approve of an arranged mateship," Mother responded, moving her gaze towards Shaun as we both kept our faces blank to ensure they didn’t know we knew who they were referring to.

“Only one niece? I think there would be more we don’t know about. Royal members that don’t want to follow their traditions?” I queried, glancing towards Shaun, who shook his head to show my father he didn’t know who he was talking about.

“There is only one niece we know of, and it involves your confidant’s family," Father said, as Shaun gasped at hearing it being spoken openly in front of him. It also gave my father a false sense of thinking we didn’t know anything about it. “You want to do this; you need to ask Matthias if you could mate with his daughter for the kingdom’s sake.”

Shaun growled under his breath as I raised my eyebrows at him. “We have never associated ourselves with the north," he growled while Father chuckled under his breath.

“What makes you think the Thompson family had affiliations in the north?” I asked, as father gave me a smug grin without answering me, taking his seat again. “There was nothing in our research to indicate they were.” I added this part, continuing the pretense we didn’t know anything about them being northern royals.

“Bobby, Matthias abdicated the throne to follow his heart and be with his mate," Mother replied as I began to choke on my own spit at her answer and Shaun’s eyes bulged open from the shock of the news. We knew he had left and was the younger half-brother to King Alister. We didn’t know he abdicated. “There would be no knowledge because after he abdicated, Prince Micha was disowned by the royal family, and all information was erased.”

“I think we need to have a conversation with your father," I remarked, glancing at Shaun, who snarled under his breath before walking out of the office and I waited for him to come back with Alpha Matthias. They walked in a few minutes later; “Did you abdicate the northern throne?”

Matthias stopped mid-step and glanced between me and Father before continuing to sit behind his desk. “I’m sorry, son," he muttered before turning his attention to me. “I was to take over from my father because I was the oldest son of him and his fated. He thought I would be a stronger leader because of that, which annoyed Alister to no end. A bit of a perk if you asked me, since we never got along," Matthias laughed, sitting down in his seat before moving his gaze towards Shaun. “Your mother and I knew each other from high school and when I turned 18, I found out she was my fated. I told father I wanted to mate with her alone; not all of us agree with their ideals and traditions. He didn’t agree because she wasn’t from a prominent family, telling me I could have her as a second wife, or I was to reject her and take a 13-year-old as my queen, Celeste. We changed our names and the rest you can pretty much guess.” I don’t know if knowing Queen Celeste’s fate was better or worse than the situation we were facing.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Shaun gasped, falling onto the sofa next to me and putting his hands over his face.

“I turned my back on that life a long time ago and never looked back. Your mother and I didn’t think there was a need to mention it to you or your sister," Matthias replied, inhaling deeply, causing an uncomfortable silence throughout the room. “My past is a traumatic one; why do you want to know about it now?”

“Dad, they want to mate Haven with Bobby," Shaun snapped as Matthias growled under his breath, indicating he didn’t like that response.

“She’s 17, and she needs to follow her heart to her mate. NO!” Matthias shouted the last word, as I put my hand up, trying to calm him down, even though he didn’t really need calming down because he knew Haven was my mate.

“Haven is better than Valarie…” “Valarie? What does a 12-year-old girl have to do with anything?” Matthias snarled, cutting me off while glaring his green eyes towards me to explain.

“Father had made a deal with King Alister for me to mate with Valarie when I turn 21 to stop the fighting between the north and…” Matthias scoffed, stopping me from speaking as Father raised his eyebrows at his defiance. Something rarely seen by Father’s subordinates, but he isn’t a subordinate. Not really.

“That won’t stop him," Matthias snapped as Father opened his mouth to argue with him. “He will use the mateship as a power move to get what he wants," he continued, stopping my father from speaking, which I could see was annoying him since neither Matthias nor I were letting him defend himself. “Do you think you can convince Haven to take Valarie’s place because she is older? I’m guessing you don’t want to mate with someone underage, and you are trying to figure out a way to give Alister what he wants without jeopardizing your integrity. Your son has more morals than you, if you think going against everything you stand for was the right thing to do.”

“That’s exactly what they were asking," Shaun growled, lifting his head in defiance towards my parents, since his father was in the room. “King Reginald said there were no other royal family members that matched that description.”

Matthias scoffed again, shaking his head as though he couldn’t believe his ears. “There’s more than Haven, but since you are here; why don’t we get her in here, and you can ask her yourself," Matthias chuckled, sitting back in his seat and putting his hands behind his head in amusement. “You will be mistaken if you think she would be impressed by the offer.”

“Can I get some popcorn before you do? This is going to be interesting," Shaun added with a laugh as my father shuffled in his seat, looking a little uneasy for the first time in my life.

“Once we explain everything, I’m sure she will do what’s right for our kingdom," Father replied, which made Shaun and Matthias laugh a little louder. I covered my mouth, pretending I was shocked to stop myself joining them. I know enough about Haven to know she wouldn’t take this news lightly, if she wasn’t already in on it.

“Then you don’t know my daughter," Matthias muttered under his breath, not hiding the self-gratifying smirk he was wearing.

“Shaun, can you get your sister in here?” I asked, sitting back on the sofa and getting ready for the onslaught of her scent to stop myself from reacting in front of my parents. “The only way we will find out, is if we ask her ourselves.”

“It’s your funeral," Shaun chuckled, walking out of the office again.

A few seconds later, Shaun returned with Haven behind him. “You want to see me, dad?” she asked as Matthias nodded his head and pointed to the sofa next to me as she hesitantly glanced over, shaking her head and moved to the spare chair on the opposite side of the room.

“This is…” “I know who they are," Haven cut in, stopping her father from speaking, while glancing towards me and then back at my father. “And let me guess; you're Prince Robert, I suppose?”

“You suppose right," I said, standing up and offering my hand for her to shake as she stared down at it a second before she shook it. I have to give my love some credit; she’s playing her part of having contempt for the royal family quite well.

I turned to sit down again when my father cleared his throat; “My son has a proposal, we would like you to consider," he said, causing Haven to snap her head towards him with a blank expression on her face. I agree with Shaun, this is going to get very interesting because she was told not to hold back her disgust and, quite frankly, I can’t wait to see it.