The Luna Queens Fight!

A New Beginning

Mal POV

After a long, tiresome 8-hour drive we finally make it to the Royal Pack. All I could think about was "Wow this place is still huge!” Maverick pulls around to the side entrance where we see someone standing. Looking closer I see that it’s Lawrence, the palace head butler.

“Welcome to the Royal Palace! And..” he lowers his tone with a slight bow, “welcome back my lady.” Then he claps his hands together twice signaling people to come retrieve our things. “The King and Queen are, unfortunately, busy for the moment but are happy you are here. Please follow me. I will show you to your rooms.” He turns around and walks inside.

We follow him inside and I wonder how his family is. Lawrence has been with my family for a long time now. If my math is correct, he is around 150 years old now but still looks in his early thirties. That’s the thing about werewolves. They live a long time and the oldest elder on the council is around 300 years old. We tend to age a lot slower than most supernatural beings.

Lawrence leads us to our rooms and tells us to meet him in the foyer in about 15 minutes. I walk into my room and look around. It’s not my normal room but it will work just the same. There is a Queen-sized bed with lavender-colored bedding that sits in the middle of the far wall with two bedside tables. To my left is a desk as well as a couch and TV. On my right is a set of doors that lead to the bathroom and closet with a dresser placed between them. The two windows on the far side are decorated with lavender curtains and lead to a balcony.

As I am looking around my door opens. Anita walks in and shuts the door behind her. “I know this isn’t your actual room but don’t worry sweetheart. Follow me over here.” She walks to the door that is for the closet and opens it. There are already clothes in it but ignores them and goes to the back wall. With a push, the wall gives way to a passageway. Memories of that night appear in my head but I shake them away and follow her in.

We walk for about 5 minutes before we come to a door. Anita looks at me with a smile and opens the door to reveal my old room.

“The other room is a decoy for everyone that doesn’t know who you really are for now. Your parents, a handful of trusted maids, and myself are the only ones with a key to this room. When you are in here, your parents don’t want you to open the door under any circumstance. Sadly it will be like this until your announcement ball when that time comes. What do you think princess?” Anita asks with bright eyes.

Tears start to fill my eyes at the memories from this room. My mom reading me bedtime stories while my dad sings very loud and very off-key to make me laugh. The days Ollie and I would just hang out and play. As the memories flood in, I feel finally home. “It’s perfect! I’m so glad to finally be where I belong, Aunt Anita.”

“I’m glad, sweetheart. However, unless we are behind closed doors, you have to call me Lady Anita or Mrs. Anita. That way you are kept safe and no one starts to ask questions,” Anita says and hugs me. All that I can think of is that it's finally happening. “Okay, Ms. Mal. We need to get going to meet with Lawrence. Let’s head back through the passage.” I nod and follow her out.

In the hallway, we are met with Maverick, Hannah, and Bryce. Hannah gives me a big hug when she sees I’m getting nervous. Linking her arm with mine, we all start down the hall. In the foyer, Lawrence is already there waiting for us. He gives a slight bow and turns to go down the hall off to the left. I recognize this hallway as the one that leads to my dad's office. My heart starts to race the closer we get.

“Calm down Mal. We can do this,” Gwen assured me.

“But what if they are disappointed that I’m their daughter? What if I’m not to the point they want me to be at? What if..” I start to rush out but Gwen’s growl stops me.

“They love you no matter what. That is nonsense because we are already stronger than most wolves. Just take a deep breath.” What would I do without Gwen? “Go crazy. That’s what you would do,” Gwen laughs.

We finally reach the door that reads “Alpha King” in gold letters. Focusing my hearing, I hear two heartbeats on the other side. Lawrence steps aside and knocks on the door. After a few seconds, we hear a deep voice call out “Come in.” That voice is one that I have been wanting to hear for a long time. Closing my eyes briefly and taking a deep breath, I turn the handle and open the door. Immediately I’m hit with the familiar scents that I dreamed about getting to smell again.

Everyone follows me in and stands at the back. The minute the door shuts I look up at the two people on the other side by the window. As soon as our eyes connect I rush to them at the same time as they rush to me. We meet in the middle in a three-way hug and the tears finally fall.

“Little Star! Goddess we have missed you so much. I can’t believe we finally have you back,” my dad's voice has so much emotion in it that I just cry harder.

“My baby girl is finally home,” my mom hugs me tighter.

I pull back to look at them and smile. “I have missed you both so much it hurts. My only dream was to one day return to you.”

My mom lets out a sob as she pulls me back into her arms. After what felt like forever she finally pulls back and holds me by my shoulders to look at me. “Let me look at you, honey. My you have grown into a beautiful woman. Your dad is going to have to fight off all the male wolves,” she says with a giggle. We burst out laughing when Dad growls.

“Don’t worry, Dad. Men are the last thing on my mind. I just want to train and get ready to take my rightful place,” I state with a smile. The biggest grin I have ever seen spreads across his face and his eyes hold many emotions. The main one I see is pride.

“Told you so! Hahaha,” Gwen taunts in my head.

“Shut up!” Was all I said back. My parents start to laugh which causes me to look at them confused.

“We are connected, Little Star. We could hear you,” Dad says amused. “Sounds like you have an interesting Lycan.” My cheeks get red and I remind myself to start putting up my block.

“Dad, if it is ok with you, I would like to train and be a part of the Royal Army until the announcement ball. I know I have a little less than a year but I think it would help me be a great leader if I know how to fight for my people.” Holding my breath I wait for his answer.

He looks like he is in deep thought and is rubbing his chin. He then looks at me and smiles with the reply, “I think it’s a brilliant idea. We will let Travis know to expect you tomorrow morning. I know you can handle it. Not only did Maverick train you but you are also my daughter.”

Bryce and Hannah step up. “Your majesty, we would like to train and take the trials as well.”

Dad looks at them for a minute and they start to look scared. This man still plays that game I see. With a smile, “I don’t see why not. You both are the only ones who didn’t turn on Mal or hurt her in any way. She thinks the world of you both. Because of that, you will be considered honorable members after the trials.”

We sit and talk for a few hours until my parents get called for a meeting. Food sounded good so we decided to go to the great hall to get something to eat. Walking in, however, we get stares from most trying to figure out who and why we are here. Linking the group to just ignore them, we make our way to the buffet. I fill up a plate and find an empty table. Feeling people's stares on me, I turn and raise my eyebrows which makes them go back to their food. I then see two familiar faces in the back staring at me with wide eyes. I see my Uncle Nick at the head table with a man beside him. Looking closer I realize that I know the man. It is my cousin Oliver. Beside him is a girl who is trying to figure out why they are looking at me like that. With a slight shake of my head, they snap out of it and act like nothing happened.

Throughout the time we were eating, I could feel their glances. They didn’t expect to see me back yet and I know they have questions. As we finish, Hannah and Bryce say they are going to go tour the castle while Anita, Maverick, and I retire to our rooms.

Deciding to stay in my decoy room for a minute because I know that Uncle Nick and Ollie will be here soon, I sit in the window seat to wait. Around 20 minutes later there is a knock on the door. When I open it I’m engulfed in a big hug by none other than Ollie.

“I have missed you so much, Mal! Why are you back so soon? I’m glad I picked this week to visit Mom and Dad,” saying all this in one breath while he was still hugging me. I hear a low growl behind Ollie and look at the woman behind him.

“Are you going to hog her Oliver James? My turn,” my Uncle says and yanks him away from me. He wrapped me into a hug and almost squeezed the life out of me.

“Can’t.. breathe,” I say to him. He quickly loosens his grip and cups my face.

“I’m so glad you are home, Rugrat. You have to tell us everything,” he says and takes a seat on the couch.

I look at Ollie and the woman. “Are you going to introduce me to your mate, Ollie?”

“I was getting to that short stuff. Mal, this is Emma, my mate. Emma, my love, this is my cousin Mal,” he states.

“Wait... Mal as in THE Mal?” She asks Ollie with wide eyes. Ollie nods to her and she starts to bow.

“No no no. None of that. You are family now. I’m so glad that my stone-headed cousin finally found his mate.” Ollie growls at that last part.

“I’ll show you stone-headed, midget,” he says and goes to tackle me.

We wrestled for a minute with Emma laughing at us before Uncle Nick says, “Cut it out. Y’all will have enough time to settle that in training. Come sit and tell us everything, Rugrat.”

Here we go. This is going to be fun.