King's Den

Chapter Three: Elias

I stood with my mouth hanging wide open. I wanted to shut it--I really did--but it was as if the hinges were missing and there was no way to hold it shut.

Anna saw my face and discreetly touched a finger to her chin in an attempt to get me to stop my surprise. I numbly reached a knuckle up and closed my mouth.

Elias chuckled when he saw it. I almost fainted. It was like there was a halo surrounding his entire body. He was like an angel, a god even. I had heard the rumors in my pack about how kind King Elias Elmerick was. I mean, he gave foster care to baby bunnies for crying out loud. But how in the world was I supposed to believe that this saint standing in front of me was the big alpha of all the packs in the western hemisphere?!?

I mean, to become the supreme alpha you actually had to fight for it. You had to dominate every other male contending. It wasn't a matter of "royal blood" at all. 

So how was this "bunny savior" a fighter--and winner--to all other alpha males in our section of the world?

 With that in mind, I felt was perfectly justified in letting my jaws hang open like I was a freaking cave entrance, but my mother's unease kept my mouth clamped shut. She brought me back down to earth when she moved to cover me up even more.

I couldn't see her face because she was taller than me and standing in front of me, but I could hear how tense she was.

She took the king's hand, "It's nice to meet you, King Elias. I'm Grace Saunders."

I felt like an annoyingly small child when I did it, but I ducked under my mother's outstretched arm to get a look at everyone standing at the door. I felt nervous and tense just like my mother, but I wasn't about to let the kings think I was weak and feeble-minded just because I was almost a foot shorter than them.

I breathed in the cool morning air and braced myself with a fake smile. As gorgeous as the two men were, I didn't trust them.

Elias saw me and outstretched his hand in welcoming. My mother proceeded to let her arm "slip" from it's position above me, causing her elbow to hit the top of my head.

"Ow," I hissed under my breath. My mother sent me a glare from the corner of her eye. I backed up to where I was, but I shifted to the side a bit more so I could see Anna.

Anna was a slight girl. She was the one person on planet earth that I had managed to be taller than. We had been friends ever since she found out I played a trick on those boys at Riprun Creek. They made fun of her a lot because of all the freckles that dotted her face. With age, the dots never faded, and so I saw her as a happier version of myself. 

Recently, the boys stopped making fun of Anna about the freckles. Not because they were eighteen and acted like mature adults, no, but because she cut her hair short. The boneheads told Anna that she looked like a boy. 

She didn't shift with the pack for days. She holed herself up in my room, and the only time she'd come out was to get some food. Truth was, Anna liked one of the boys, Lucas, he was the lesser of the demons. Lucas (obviously) had no idea that Anna liked him. She was a relatively quiet girl, and Lucas couldn't read emotions even if they were nailed right in front of his face. He relied too heavily on the mind link for emotions, and that didn't work because wolves learn to control what they send over the mind link.

She wasn't hiding away now, though. She was squished up against the very edge of my door frame. If looks could kill, Anna would be a serial killer by now. She didn't like being near the two kings one bit. I could see the hairs on her crossed arms standing straight up. Anna was getting the same powerful vibe I did.