Willow

Chapter 18: Baby sitting

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to one of my best friends and biggest supporters,

Happy Birthday Popsy...

When I stormed out of my room the next day, Micah (he who is grounded in terms of our mate bond) was thankfully nowhere to be found. Violet was obviously complaining but I needed the space. Surprisingly he was absent at breakfast as well, along with the chattering princess and the middle prince. This put me slightly on edge but I chose not to be a raging bitch at the breakfast table. The Queen announced something about today being for exploration of the castle and the pack grounds and that at dinner there will be another ball, the theme being animal kingdom. This was seriously starting to feel like pre-school, but oh well, what the crown wishes, the crown gets.

"Willow?" Ray asked as I started making my way towards the training fields of the Royal Army, more commonly known as the RA. 

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You good right? I've been so caught up with Natasha I haven't been able to check up on-" he started but I cut him off with a light punch to the gut. Okay so with the way he doubled over, it wasn't exactly light. 

"Ray, you aren't my goddess-damned baby sitter," I growled, "Thank you for the concern, but you know I'm not someone who's going to act like every situation is a mid-life crisis."

"Yah-yep, you could've said that without the punch," he groaned and I couldn't help but laugh. Trust my beta to make me smile so early in the morning. 

"I'll be fine Ray, you go enjoy the day with your mate," I said nudging him away, and then added with a wink, "Try exploring the castle instead of your bodies by the way!"

Ray went a lovely shade of tomato red at that and I chuckled, quickly slipping away before he could give a retort. 

The training grounds of the RA were highly advanced with simulations of nearly every situation imaginable and looked like something out of the Hunger Games. My own pack had a similar system as we took our training and protection very seriously but not to this proportion. I was eager to test it out. 

As I continued towards the grounds, I caught sight of a familiar figure. It was the guard that had come to pick me up from the airport. The rude one.  

"Hey, you!" I called out and the man shot two feet in the air before swirling around to face me. Vi found the reaction quite satisfactory.

"Alpha Willow!" the idiot even slightly bowed, "how can I assist you today?"

"A tour of the training grounds and maybe a few fights," I saw him visibly stiffen and let out a small laugh, "not with you of course, maybe someone of my own caliber."

So mister previously-rude-now-shit-scared toured me around the place, allowing me to enter a few simulations and even go against a few generals. All friendly sparring of course. No shame in losing to a female Alpha. They should be very proud they held their ground for so long. I was actually impressed with everything and that was very rare. I made a few friends, maybe some enemies, and even discussed a few battle strategies with Kurt, the head general. All in all I was buzzing with satisfaction today. I finally learnt my tour guides name which was Will and I drove him half mad with my 'Will' puns that I'd stored through the years. 

I was in the middle of talking to three of the female generals when I saw a figure storming away. From the shape and bellowing brown locks I guessed who it was. Feeling curios, I excused myself from the admirable women and made my way after the Queen's only daughter. 

After following the dainty footprints on the snow, I reached a small stream. There a cloaked figure was lying at the foot of a tree her blue eyes darker than normal and cheeks stained with tears. I could deduce what happened and it ached me to know that the girl was hurt. She hadn't done anything to truly offend me. She wasn't aware of the bond. And no matter how much Violet may want to rip the arms that touched our mate off, I wanted to at least try and help the girl.