The Wolf Queen and Her Alpha Mate

Chapter 1 “Clara! Get downstairs now!” My mother’s voice rings in my ears. I stretch my tired limbs grimacing as the sore muscles contract, groaning in complaint. I sit up rubbing my eyes and throw my soft, pink floral sheets off me. Throwing my legs over the bed I brace myself for the pain of standing. As I stand my muscles almost give out. How did humans ever get things done without a wolf to heal them?! I force myself to walk to my closet and pick out my favorite blue shirt and jeans. Throw my hair into a messy bun, grab my bag, and run downstairs. The pain of every step took my breath away. I couldn’t wait for my wolf to wake up and heal me. As I enter the living room, I see my father has already left and my brother and mother are standing waiting for me. “Training really beat your ass yesterday, didn’t it? You never sleep in, weakling!” My brother says as he pinches my sore arm, smiling when I grimace. “Leave me alone.” “Clara the training is necessary, get used to it. Anthony you were in worse shape then her after your first day so shut it.” I smile as my mom winks at me and nudges Anthony towards the door. He sticks his tongue out at me. “Real mature big brother.” The training sucked but was necessary. Our Alpha wants everyone in the pack trained to protect themselves once they turned 16, but the first day of your 18th birthday was the worst. That’s when the real training began. So far, I was the top of my class in training. I could beat any of them at combat, running, and stealth. I was even better than The Alphas 2nd son, Ryan. But once he turned 18, I knew that would probably change. Which reminded me. That was today, along with my best friend Lisa’s birthday. She hated sharing his birthday because it meant her birthday got overlooked because of his big party every year. I had more training today after school. There hadn’t been a war among the packs in a long time, but our alpha didn’t want us to become weak. I stare out the window as the trees float by. I was supposed to scent my Mate a week ago. But I didn’t. Honestly, I was a bit relieved it wasn’t anyone I knew. But still, I knew everyone was wondering why I hadn’t found mine. My brother had not scented his either. Maybe it ran in the family. Me not scenting mine meant one of two things. I didn’t have one, or they were not from this pack. My stomach turned at both thoughts. I loved my pack. The Firefly Pack was amazing. I didn’t want to leave it. We pull up to the school and I can feel my wolf waking up. They drugged her yesterday. Said they wanted me to learn how to fight without my wolf. They also needed to run the power test on me to see what level I am at. Your power level determined where in the pack you worked. Most wolves were whatever their parents were but sometimes it would be different. I really hoped I was a Warrior like the rest of my family. I heard her growling as her anger grew over what they did. Calm down Lean, it is what they do to everyone. So, I can learn to protect you as well, besides don’t you want to know what level of power we are? We are about at school too, and I don’t want a scene, so calm down. Screw them, we are not just anybody. They will not succeed again in putting me down so easily. I roll my eyes. Lean was stubborn and fierce. She was always talking about how important we were. She was the one always telling me we could be greater. My father oversaw training the troops. My mother was second in command. They were very good fighters. So, it was expected that we be too. I hug my mother goodbye and wave at Anthony as they drive off. Anthony was being trained to replace father when the new Alpha took over. He was 23 and amazing just like his father. Anthony was very proud to be chosen to take father’s place over one of the Alpha sons’ friends. As soon as I enter the school, I’m tackled by Lisa my best friend. “What is your problem!? Trying to kill me are ya? Happy birthday!” I smile as I push her away from me a bit, and hand her my gift. She was vibrating with excitement. She didn’t even try to open my gift, her mind was very clearly elsewhere. “What is it?” I already knew her answer though, she turned 18 today. “Oh Clara! I found my mate! He is amazing!” she drags me forward as my stomach twists and I feel sick. I’m happy for her but also sad because today is her birthday and I’m a little jealous she already found hers when I didn’t. She leads me to a table, and I see the Alphas 2nd son stand and smile at me. “Clara! Did she tell you?” He hugs me and releases me only to grab Lisa and hold her close to him. “Clara, my mate! Ryan!” He kisses her cheek as she blushes. I smile big and say, “Oh Lisa! I’m so happy for you!” I hugged her and we all settled at the table as they talked about how they found each other. Never releasing each other throughout it all. They seem so happy and already smitten. The bell rings and we all part ways and head to our classes. I was also top in my classes so while the others went to their high school classes I was headed to my extra college credit classes. I had technically graduated last year. But I did not want to leave Lisa yet so they let me continue some here and just take credit courses that would help towards my degree when I did go to college. I’m happy to begin my studies so I can relax. The Instructor of my Combat training said tonight I would have a special meeting with the Alphas to discuss my power ranking. I was looking forward to it. The day goes by without incident. I’m in the last class of the day, music, when I’m called to the office. I was never called to the office, so I was very curious as to what was going on. The whole class reacts in a very immature fashion of course as I stand and head out. I was never one of the most popular kids in school, despite being so good at everything, everyone seemed to be intimidated by me and avoided me most of the time. They did come to me, however, when they needed some advice or help in class with their work. Id helped several of my classmates and others study and pass their classes as well as get them through some messy drama situations in their lives. I was okay though, with being a silent hero. As I walk into the office, I see my mother and brother standing there with serious faces. They grab my hands as I approach. “Come, we got places to be sis.” Anthony says and starts leading me to the doors leaving the school. The doors open before we get there and some warriors walk in and rush past us to the office, not normal. I pull my hands free and stop walking with them. “Wait what’s going on?” “Clara please just come with us, ‘I’ll tell you everything. But we need to go right now, it’s important.” I’ve never seen mom so urgent sounding. I follow of course as Anthony walks behind me. They are acting calm, but I know better. Something scared them. They were nervous. I was beginning to worry as well. My fear only grew as we exited the building and I saw my father in the car waiting. He was never off work at this time of the day. It only got worse as I noticed that other parents were parking their cars and rushing into the school as well. I noticed a very good smell in the air. It smelled warm, a mix of burning wood and cinnamon. Somebody was cooking something amazing. I paused in following them as I had the urge to follow the smell, to taste whatever it was. Anthony pulled on my hand jerking me out of my food trance. I wasn’t normally affected by smells; it must have been because I had skipped breakfast today and barely ate lunch. I forced myself to continue to follow them to the car. As soon as I was in the car and the door shut behind me, he sped off. Not even waiting for me to buckle up. Another clue to something being off. They were silent but kept glancing at me. “What is going on?” I ask into the heavy silence of the car. Nobody answers my questions though. Anthony simply took my hand in response. My head started to ache. Clara, something’s wrong, stay alert. Be at the ready. I sense something close by, and I am scared my eyes widen at that. Lean is never scared. What’s going on? My heart starts pounding. Lean agrees, I can feel it. We want answers. We need them. Something is happening and they aren’t telling me. It starts to get hard to breathe and my anger rises. “TELL ME NOW!” I yell. The car screeches to a halt after my outburst and I see my mom and dad flinching and my brother baring his neck at me. He had let go of my hand to hold his head. That is not normal. What the hell just happened. My father takes deep breaths and then starts driving again. “Sweetie, please don’t do that again. Everything will be explained soon. Stay calm, okay?” She smiles sweetly at me and reaches back clutching my trembling hand. Anthony does the same with my other hand. He also pulls me against him and kisses my head. I started to calm down a bit. He always did this when I was scared. We arrived at the packhouse and I’m even more confused. I had only ever been here on special occasions. So why now? my meeting with the Alpha wasn’t supposed to be till later today after my training, and your parents never went with you, let alone your siblings. I knew it was also usually busy. Right now, there were very few pack members in sight, and they were all rushing around. Maybe they were preparing for Ryans party. Father parked and Anthony helped me out of the car and led me inside. As I entered the house, I noticed its unusually quiet. I’m led to a big wooden door that I know to be the Alphas office, and my father opens it and walks in without knocking. As we enter, I see Alpha Coon and his son Cory. Luna Candace is also there along with a man I do not know. All eyes are on me. as I am led to a seat in the center of the room and pushed into it gently. Anthony still has a hold of my hand. “Clara, I’m sorry to do this like this. We had planned on slowly getting you into your role. But unfortunately, things have forced our hands.” I look at the Alpha in a daze of confusion. What was he speaking about. Was this really about my role in the pack. Was it that bad? Did I score so low? “We tested your power level and had an elder here to watch you train. He gestures towards the man who in turn bows his head slightly. Now I’m really confused. Why was an elder here? They rarely left the castle and why watch me train. I had a bad feeling. Lean, you heard him. Do you know what is happening? I do not know Clara, but I sense no danger in this room. Do you sense it elsewhere? Yes… My eyes widen slightly, and I can feel Lean pushing forward just enough to show the others she is present. I know her green eyes are shining through. They all stare for a minute before Alpha Coon clears his throat and then stands up. He walks over to me and hands me a file. It has my name on it. “We keep files on all our pack members. This is yours. Read it. Then I will tell you the rest.” I look around at my family as I take the file and open it. They look worried and concerned. Anthony squeezes my hand. He had never let it go this whole time. He smiles down at me lightly and I sigh as I return my gaze to the file, let go of his hand, and open it. The first thing I noticed is my baby picture. It was the same photo hanging in our house, kind of. There was a definite difference. And that was the person holding me. Everything was the same. The forest in the background and what I was wearing. But instead of my mother holding me with my father off behind her and then Anthony with his chubby little cheeks, there were just two people. They looked familiar. The woman was dressed so nice and was holding me. She had dark brown hair that was in a half up style with a braid. She looked dainty and delicate. Her lips were full and red, and her cheeks were rosy. The man was huge and burley, with his hair shaved on the sides. He had light brown hair and looked fierce. The man was helping her hold me and both were staring down at me smiling. What was this? I knew them from somewhere. But where? I looked away from the photo and read what was written down on a paper attached. It had the Royal seal. The royals had all died after the m******e that happened at the palace. So, this seal was very rare to see these days. They were royals, we had studied them in school that why they looked familiar. The paper read “Queen Ivy and King Luther hereby enter into the birth agreement with Alpha Coon and Luna Candace. The following child is hereinafter their responsibility until the day comes when she is either called home, is needed by her people, or finds her mate." Their signatures were there as well. My heart was pounding. What was this? I look up at my mom and she looks away. Anthony was still gripping my hand tightly. My head was spinning and I was confused as to why they were showing this to me.