My Second Mate

Sooner-2

I stared at her, not believing if what I was hearing was true. King? I wasn't sure I had ever heard him, at least not for a long long  time. Then again, I often failed to pay attention during important discussions. They usually didn't involve me, I wasn't really an important role. Not yet, anyway.

I turned to Grayson to see his eyes practically bulging out of his head. I would have fallen to the floor laughing at his expression had we been discussing something else, anything else really.

"Grayson?" I asked. My voice obviously questioning the situation at hand. I had barely ever heard of the King for years. But nothing of the likes of him visiting packs, let alone, ours.

He turned to me. His eyes told me he knew nothing more than I.

"And you didn't think to tell me sooner?" Grayson shot. His words coming out with an attitude he usually didn't give his mother. Her eyebrows raised in annoyance.

"If I knew this sooner, I would have. I have received this information mere minutes before you." She shot back. Her tone matching his with the same fire.

"The King cannot just tell us he's coming with no warning other than a few- well when will he be here?" Grayson cut himself off. Realizing he didn't even know how much time he had to do his own preparations for this surprise visit.

Suddenly my stomach started to turn. My head felt hot and I felt my anxiety rise. What the fuck? I started feeling extremely anxious. I suppose I felt anxious because this whole ordeal was starting to seem like I had some part in it. I was to be the future Luna. The Alpha King visiting was most definitely going to want to see who would be the leaders of this pack in a few short years. And I was one of them. I put a hand on my stomach, feeling sick. Grayson didn't pay this any mind as he began discussing the next steps with his mother. I had missed the rest of their conversation in front of me, too caught up in my worries to pay them any mind. They left me to myself, in the dust of their scurrying steps. Preparing for the King.

Who is this man anyway?

Maybe I wasn't to play as big of a role in his welcoming as I thought. Grayson nor his mother included me in much of the discussions. Grayson's father was to be returning in the evening after visiting the neighboring pack. The Dark River pack. We had a very close relationship with them, and that showed in our name. Ours was made to be similar to theirs and we had an alliance that went back for centuries. We are The Dark Forest pack. I loved the name, as it gave honor to one of the many beauties Mother Nature created.

Who the fuck is the Alpha King? Why does he think he can just come to our pack in such short notice. He had to know that would send our leaders into a frenzy, preparing for his and his counterparts' arrivals.

I figured I should make myself useful, climbing up the huge staircase to where the guest bedrooms were located. I met up with some of the maids, who were gossiping and laughing about the possibilities in what the Kings visiting meant.

Some wished he find them to be his mate. Taking him to a far away castle, on a beach, of course. I laughed with them, joining in on their fun. I had always seemed to keep easy conversation with these ladies. Some of them had been employed here before I was born, their daughters who were to train under them to take up their cleaning business were a little older or around my age. The ones my age were doing most of the dreaming. The older women having already found their mates.

My heart clenched everytime they said that word. Everytime I thought of the relationship they were dreaming of. I wondered if that was how Grayson and I's relationship was supposed to feel, but never had. We had known we were mates since we were young, our-mostly MY parents insisted on it.