The King that Got Away

Amelia watched Dominick Berkhart, her king and friend, sit on his throne as werewolf after werewolf filed in and uttered their grievances. This wasn't typical of any Lycan King in the past, but Dominick wanted lycan/werewolf relations to be better than in centuries past. He was tired of werewolf uprisings against lycans every couple decades leading to unneeded bloodshed. If he could just rule with a more merciful, but still very intimidating, hand maybe he could settle down the uprisings and create peace. Amelia admired him greatly for this. It was one of the things they'd talked about at length. Pros and cons, how it would by taken by the lycans, would it actually lead to less wars or would it cause them to appear weak. It was during such talks that Amelia began to fall for him... she'd always admired him and valued their friendship, but she noticed it was beginning to deepen. She only hoped that he would return the feelings. After a long day of taking note of all the problems the werewolves brought forth Dominick and Amelia sat down to assign people to help fix the issues. Some things they just couldn't help, unrequited love, unhappy employees etc... those people would get a letter on official royal stationary signed by the king himself explaining that regretfully he couldn't do anything at the moment, but had taken their complaint seriously. Others he could do something about, like abuse situations, Alphas not giving lower ranking wolves proper housing etc. He had to be very sensitive and discrete in these handlings, but he was confident he could work something out. Amelia and Dominick had set up a task force to handle these issues. "I'll handle half the letters, you tackle the other half. Don't forget to sign all of them, of course," Amelia said. "Sounds good to me," Dominick replied. Amelia sat across from him at his rich mahogany desk. His short cropped blond hair shone in the light. Her eyes lingered on his face, his brilliant blue eyes studying the paper in front of him, his strong jawline with its two day old 5 o'clock shadow, the firm set of his mouth... she wondered what it would feel like to trace a finger along those lips... 'snap out of it Amelia' she thought to herself. She couldn't afford to fall for the king this hard, he wasn't her mate. There were chosen mates of course, but everyone hoped to find their true mate. She couldn't deny him that mate bond, but she couldn't get over the disappointment of knowing that wasn't her. Still, she hoped maybe he'd choose her. He did need a queen before long. "What are you thinking about?" Dominick asked, pulling her from her thoughts. Amelia blushed and quickly answered, "nothing really". Dominick didn't look convinced, but he didn't push the issue. Amelia was glad for that. "So the Red Party is coming up," Dominick said. "Got a date yet?" The Red Party was the biggest party of the year. It was a party commemorating the rise of the Red Moon Pack to power. 500 years ago, Dominick's ancestors took over the throne. Every year was a huge celebration, but this year was the biggest in their lifetimes as it was the 500th anniversary. Everyone who was anyone in the kingdom would be there. Werewolves and lycans alike. Many found their mates there as the event was so big people who normally didn't come within miles of each other had the chance to here. "No, I don't have a date yet," she answered. "It seemed like Kyle and Blaine were about to ask, but something got in the way." Amelia looked up at the king. "I don't want you going with them," he growled. His wolf making itself known. "Wha... why?" she asked, her heart beat faster. "Because... I want you to go with me." Amelia couldn't believe her ears. Go with her? She was high ranking as a Beta's daughter, but... to go on the king's arm? Her stomach erupted in butterflies at the thought. "Of course, if you don't want to..." Dominick trailed off. Clearly speaking to her as Dominick the friend and not Dominick the king. He seemed to have tamed his wolf as well. "Oh, no, I want to go with you!" she said, maybe a little too quickly. "I'm just surprised is all." "Surprised I'd ask my closest friend to accompany me to a party? I would like to have fun after all," he said with a wink. "Of course," Amelia said. She was a little disappointed that he called her friend and didn't seem to want something more. She wouldn't let it ruin anything though. She was going to turn every head at the event and make Dominick remember who he brought for the rest of his life. She was going to play the role of the king's date to perfection. Maybe he'd see that she could be a good queen, even without Alpha blood in her veins. She'd been raised in the king's court her whole life, she knew the role's demands well. Yes, she'd prove herself... "Anyway, that's what I'm going to wear..." Dominick was saying. "Excuse me? I'm sorry," Amelia answered. She'd been day dreaming and missed everything he'd said. "Oh, nevermind, you wear whatever and I'll make sure I match," his eyes twinkled. "Sounds good to me. I'm so excited," she said with a wide smile. "I was worried you'd turn me down." "What? Why?" she exclaimed, a little too loudly. "Oh, I don't know, there could be a lot of reasons. The biggest being you already had your eyes on someone else." "Well, no worries, I'm all yours," Amelia excused herself and went to her room. She had a dress to design, it had to be one of a kind. After a few hours drawing and looking over fabric samples she fell into bed exhausted, but happy.