Fated to the Royal Beta

Chapter 4

Patricia’s POV

My parents were seriously disappointed in me, thanks to my failure to become King Alex’s new Queen Luna. They blamed the fiasco entirely on me, despite my argument that I couldn’t entice the king since he had shown up to his room along with his Beta. But that excuse was obviously not good enough in their eyes.

“Beta Gavin refused to leave us alone even though I told him to leave!” I pleaded my case. “So what was I supposed to do?”

“You should have ignored the Beta, and thrown yourself at the king anyway,” my father suggests coldly. “The annoying Beta would have left once you and the king started mating in earnest. If not, the king would have ordered him out of the room if you had asked him to. You’re a she wolf, for goddess’s sake! You should have used your feminine wiles to get your way!”

I have my doubts about the effectiveness of using those kind of tactics, but I don’t dare to argue with my parents. I know very well they will never see my side of the story, or care how I feel about their plans for me. They claim that it’s my duty to respect my elders and to do as I’m told, since they supposedly know what’s best for me. They claim that I’ll understand when I’m older.

Your parents both had their chance to mate their way into power during their youth, Belle reminds me. And yet they ended up with each other because they were fated to be mates. Didn’t Lucy tell you how your father tried to become the mate of Queen Luna Amelia? Obviously he failed at that, so he’s hardly one to talk!

Hmm…

A day later my mother is trying to involve me in even more schemes to get the new Lycan King’s notice. But it was basically the same schemes as before.

“The next time you visit the palace, you need to dress provocatively to attract the new king,” mom is saying as she looks through all the clothing in my closet. “You should wear something that will emphasize your curves to drive the king wild with desire for you! What do you think about this black leather mini skirt? You could pair it with this fuchsia camisole. It’s a color that will certainly catch the kings eye!”

“I’m not so sure that dressing in such a bold outfit is going to work on King Alex,” I tell her, stating for once what I believe to be true. “I’ve been trying similar things to that, but it hasn’t worked. He could barely look me in the eyes after seeing me in that red see through nightie. Maybe he’s looking for someone more demure and ladylike to be his Queen Luna?”

“That is a fair point, I’ll look for something a bit more subtle,” Mom says, surprising me. Then she goes back to my closet and continues rifling through the contents. Finally she takes out a pale pink dress that fits me like a glove through the hips, but then flare out to the hem just above my knees, with spaghetti straps and a built in push up bra. “Try this one on.”

At least this dress is significantly longer than the mini skirt was. Then mom has me practicing my walk, making sure that I strut my stuff in such a way as to make the skirt sway back and forth, drawing attention to my wide hips in case Alex is considering my breeding potential.

“Good! Now make sure that you wear your hair up,” mom commands. “It’ll leave your unmarked scent glands in view to remind him that you’re available.”

“I’m pretty sure he knows,” I complain unhappily. “He’s seen me around the palace often enough, and I’ve never covered my neck unless it’s freezing out.”

“Hmm… then perhaps you need to try a different tactic to get his attention?” Mom says, obviously thinking as she begins to mess around with my wavy blonde hair. “Maybe if the king sees that other wolves are interested in you that it’ll make him feel jealous. You can’t give yourself to any wolf but the king, naturally, but you can tease other wolves just so long as you do it within view of the king.”

“Sure, I can do that,” I agree. Mom smiles at me and then leaves after wishing me luck. I grab a small jacket on my way out to cover my arms and ward off the early morning chill.

I’m planning to go visit my friend, Princess Isabelle. Izzy left her mate, Lycan King Douglas of Scotland, several months ago and is currently living in her own suite inside the palace. It’s a strange situation, one that I am interested in hearing more of, and making sure that my friend is OK.

If I’m lucky, King Alex will be around and I can maybe find some way to be alone with him. If I’m not lucky, then Beta Gavin will also be hanging about, infecting my mood like the plague.

Why can’t the Beta just leave me alone? He constantly criticizes me, always pressing my hot buttons until I want to explode in anger at the arrogant jerk! I’m just so fed up with him and his attitude, and always sticking his nose into my personal business!

Your mom said to flirt with other males in front of the king, Belle reminds me as we make our way up to the palace. Gavin and George are the only wolves typically around him all the time. You’re not going to flirt with George are you? That would be gross!

So you think I should try flirting with Gavin? I ask Belle, but I don’t really need her answer. I know I’m likely to be interrogated later when I arrive back home still single. The interrogation will go much easier on me if I can prove that I’ve tried my best to follow orders. And Gavin Mason is the obvious best choice of wolf to flirt with since I’m so disgusted by Gavin that I’d never act on any sort of flirtation with him in a million years!

I find Izzy in her guest suite along with her litter of 8 month old quadruplet girl pups. She’s attempting to pack while a couple of her pups are underfoot, and she seems to be fairly stressed out.

“What’s going on?” I ask uncertainly. “Why are you packing so soon? I thought that you were planning to stay in Emerald pack for another week or two.”

“There’s been a change of plans,” she says while picking up Charlotte, the tiniest of her 4 girl pups. “I just got off the phone with Dougy about an hour ago, and we’ve decided to get back together. I’ll be leaving for Scotland in a day or two, just as soon as I can manage to get us all organized!”

“Oh,” I say, disappointed to hear that my friend was going to be leaving sooner than expected. Not only will I truly miss her company, but I’ll lose one of my main reasons to visit the palace during the summertime when I’ve got no college classes to attend. “Do you want me to go, or should I stay and help?”

“Actually, can you take Charlotte to Juanita?” Izzy requests, suddenly handing me the pup in question. “She needs a diaper change. You’ll find Juanita in the nursery with Iona and Julia.”

“Sure!” I accept, then I talk to the adorable little pup while I make faces at her. “Come with me, cutie pie! You’re a stinky little pup! Yes, you are!”

I’m only gone from Izzy for a couple minutes, but when I come back, I find that Alex and Gavin had arrived with several empty boxes and a couple rolls of packing tape. They were supposedly ‘helping’ Izzy to pack now, having placed little Amelia into an empty box as a joke, and laughing at their own cleverness. Then Alex shocked me by taking Charlotte away from my own arms and sticking her in the box next to her sister, then shutting the lid!

I guess this is as good a time as any to put the latest plan into action, I suddenly decide. Because once Izzy is back in Scotland I’m not likely to get a better chance for the remainder of the summer.