Phoenix

Keiran

3 days before

I sensed her, before I saw her. As soon as my car neared her house, my skin started prickling, sensing a tremendous amount of power radiating from it.

That's what got me interested. I have been around enough Alphas, betas and omegas, but somehow what I sensed today felt, different.

My heart started beating fast and my palms started sweating. That felt weird.

Our royal bloodline is the most ancient of the werewolves, dating back to the very ancestors. It gives us the unique ability to override and dominate the Alpha influence in any pack, detect emotions, heightened senses, almost double the physical strength and speed to that of regular werewolves, and a much longer lifespan. We are different. We are born to rule.

But what I keep sensing today completely throws me off balance. I can taste the power now. I sit up in my car seat, unable to contain my excitement. I want to see the person radiating it. The guard accompanying me in the car, tries to hide his surprised expression but I can sense it.

I dont blame him. The poor guy has never seen me excited over a political visit. It's my least favorite thing to do, to be surrounded by a bunch of sycophants while they coat their true motives beneath a pile of empty praises and curtsies. But as an heir to the throne, I have been trained enough to know that it's important to keep these people appeased, so that their packs show loyalty to us.

Anyway, my car reaches the residence of the Alphas of the Blue Moon (an amalgamated name) pack, the largest pack of the kingdom after the heir to the Blue stone and White Moon packs got married and mated. Their mating ceremony rivaled that of our royal events, and it was attended by my father, His Majesty the King, himself. So, as much as I hate all these obligations, I know that to establish my image as the future ruler of the kingdom, I have to suffer through this. After all, as my father likes to put it, without the packs' support, we are just a bunch of tremendously powerful werewolves, nothing more.

My car stops, and it takes all of my royal training and willpower to not jump out of it. Instead, I take a deep breath and await the usual protocols, and I keep looking straight. I don't trust myself to look at the person right now. After what seems like ages, my guard finally opens the car door to let me out.

Keep calm, I start telling myself.

Don't look yet. But my wolf is going crazy. Her scent. It invades and overcomes my senses. I have never smelt anything so delicious and seductive. It calls to me.

I survey everyone, who is standing out there, to greet me. And at last, I look at her. She is already looking at me.

' s**t,' I can't help but curse under my breath.

Mat___..., my wolf is about to state impatiently.

No, I tell him firmly, I have to know more.

I peel my eyes from her and start walking towards the Alpha standing near her. She is still looking. Can she feel what I'm feeling too? I can't help but ask myself.

I feel nervous and strangely disembodied, because it feels like my body is going through the motions without my conscious control. Almost, every fiber of my being is acutely aware of what she's doing now.

The Alpha nudges her, and her expressions change, as if she is awoken and immediately she looks embarrassed.

She tries to curtsy and opens her mouth to greet me but I quickly pass her.

I need to be sitting down before I hear her voice. I may be powerful enough to rule but this feels too much for me to handle, and the feeling I am getting being this close to her is making me nervous.

What's wrong with me, I think to myself, panicking.

Our royal party is escorted to the main hall, where an extravagant banquet has been laid out. The Alpha introduces me to his Luna. Her.

I feel a multitude of emotions pass through me and my wolf wants to rip everything in its path, but I keep it all in.

He further introduces me to other prominent members of his pack, but everything else becomes an unintelligible buzzing.

I am distracted throughout. I keep trying to pull my attention back to what this Alpha is yapping about, but it's impossible with her sitting so close. My ministers answer mostly on my behalf, especially the Minister from Riverstone, who would absolutely love it, to report all this back to my father. But I feel out of control. It's only then that I sense the mate bond tying them to each other, and it feels as if someone has stabbed me. I am smart enough to know what a political disaster it would be to intervene between them and ruin our allegiance with the largest pack of the kingdom. And would she even want me, after finding her mate?

Highly unlikely, I think to myself

'Let me just hear her voice,' my wolf begs.

'Bad idea,' I warn it. But, I can't help looking at her, occasionally.

She is sitting with her head down, immersed in her own thoughts. Once or twice, she looks up and opens her mouth to say something, but her husband interrupts her. She looks nervous, and unsure of herself, which seems surprising, considering her powerful aura.

And now that I am paying attention, I notice that her husband is not letting her speak or do anything. The more he does it, the more she sinks down in her seat. She looks ready to disappear.

'I hate this prick's face,' my wolf is getting angry now, ' let's shut him up.'

'Silence,' I order him.

I look towards her again, and she looks deep in thought and there is so much sorrow on her face, that against my better judgement, I cant help but ask her a question.

Everyone goes silent and starts looking at her, but she remains lost in her thoughts. I notice that the betas of her pack have a mocking expression on their faces. As angry as this starts making me, I exploit this opportunity to look at her. She has a heart shaped face, with an olive complexion, big, expressive eyes rimmed with thick lashes, high cheekbones, delicate nose and full lips. I wonder how they taste, I cant help but think.

It doesn't take long for her to sense everyone's silence, she looks up, and finds me staring at her. She realizes that I have asked her a question.

Panic spreads across her face, and she swallows. Her cheeks turn pink. It's my favorite color now.

I know she hasn't heard me. I am readying myself to repeat my question, when that prick intervenes.

' Let's rip his face off,' my wolf demands irritably.

That Alpha has the audacity to call her dumb, and laugh. His pack members join him. I see red for a moment.

My wolf is thirsty for his blood now. I look towards her, she looks down but for a moment, I think I see her wolf blazing through her eyes. But its only for a moment, before she returns back to her unsure self.

I gather all my rage, with the royal aura in my voice, to shut him up, and everyone's wolves around me are left whimpering and bending their head, except hers. She seems unaffected. But her expressions tell me that she doesn't know what she has done.

' Interesting,' I think to myself.

My wolf is going crazy to meet hers.

She opens her mouth and her soft, husky voice washes over me. I can listen to it forever and never get tired.

And she is everything I sensed her to be. Despite her meek disposition, she is daring, intelligent and assertive.

I am impressed and when she shut up that Riverstone Minister, I could barely hold myself back from cheering loudly.

' She's the one,' my wolf is growling.

And I'm about to throw down every one of my reservations and concede, but she looks towards her husband, as if looking for praise.

I feel like I have been dunked in ice cold water. And for the first time in my life, I get a taste of jealousy. It tastes sour and rancid, and burns through my whole body. I hate feeling this way.

' What the hell is wrong with me,' I scold myself and my wolf, ' she already belongs to someone.'

I refrain from addressing her further. I let that prick and his betas resume their flattery, and occasionally answer.

I don't allow myself to feel anything, for the rest of the night.

I finally get back to my castle after what seems like an eternity.

Everything that I had been burying inside me since seeing her, comes roaring out. My whole body itches to turn, to run in the woods and howl at the moon.

But the royal protocols are very strict regarding giving in to our animal side, we are to be calm and composed at all times. We turn only to intimidate and overpower our enemies, or in combat.

' I need to get out' my wolf is impatient.

But, as usual, I ignore it.

I meet my father. Report the whole visit to him, listen to him analyze every word and interpret it. We talk about state matters some more and then, I'm dismissed. I don't betray a hint of the turmoil that's been going around in my head.

Once, in my room, I take off all my clothes, down to my boxers and flop on the bed.

And finally, I allow myself to think about her and feel the heartbreak, I feel to have found her when she already belongs to someone else.

As a royal, our mating is a lot more complicated than normal werewolves. We can reject our mate bond without weakening our wolf, and spend our whole life with our chosen one. Or more appropriately, the one chosen by our royal family to be the most suitable. And it has happened enough in the royals, that the mating is rare in our bloodline and erratic. It doesn't necessarily happen at eighteen and for some lucky ones, it doesn't happen at all. According to my grandmother, we have been cursed because we rejected a part of ourselves. She saw a daughter of hers go insane, after she was forced to reject her mate bond with an omega and was married off to a wealthy minister. But for the rest, it's another show of our invincibility.

We can do it but it's the most difficult decision of our lifetime.

It's just my luck to feel this bond, to someone who will probably never feel the same way about me. And will never feel the pain, I would feel to sever this. My heart pounds painfully against my chest at this thought.

My wolf is slowly bracing for the pain, I'm about to feel.

' But we just found her today,' he begs, ' let's wait before we reject this.'

I feel too drained to argue today, so instead I allow myself to be wrapped in a much awaited deep sleep. I dream of her, and in my dreams she's mine.