{Rosemarie's POV}
I paced around worriedly as my mother sat calmly on the living room couch.
"He will be fine, Rose."
"How can you possibly know that?!"
"Rose, it's Mathias we're talking about."
I huffed, folding my arms, and took the spot next to her.
"I can't help it. I just—"
"Don't want to lose him? I understand, love. I know what it's like to have your mate run headfirst into a battle and just want to run right after him. Well, I actually did that but that's beside the point. Point is, you have to trust him. He knows what he's doing."
I went to retort but the grand doors opened, catching my attention.
Mathias, Mason, and my father walked through with a calm expression.
I stood to my feet, worried about what had happened out there.
Mathias was quick to walk to me, pulling me into his embrace. "I'm okay, Rose."
I tightened my hold on him as if I'd lose him any minute.
"What happened?" I spoke, barely above a whisper.
"I took care of the problem...but there's another one we all need to discuss." My heart dropped as the words left his mouth.
Mathias looked at my mom. "You were right about your suggestion when we last talked." My mother's eyes widened slightly and I looked between the two of them confused.
"What? What is it?!"
Mathias closed his eyes as if it pained him to say it. "There is another full lycan as you know and...they're female."
I was about to question why the lycan being a female made any difference...but then it sat in. I staggered back from Mathias, resting my hand on my chest. "She wants my place, doesn't she?!"
"Rose..."
"Tell me the truth, Mathias! Do not sugarcoat it right now."
"She does. Now that I'm about to be king she wants to rule beside me. A full female lycan bonding with a full male lycan would produce one hell of a bond and full-blooded offspring."
The thought alone disgusted me.
"It's not you that she's going to challenge is it?" I mumbled, fear seeping in.
"She won't get the chance to get near you, Rose. I promise."
"It doesn't matter, Mathias! The twins said it themselves, it's the lycans most sacred law. Whether she gets close to me or not, she is going to challenge me and I have to accept it!" Tears filled my eyes and Mathias cursed, trying to pull me to him but I gently pushed his touch away.
"Why are you being like this? It's not my fault." He snapped.
"Because I am going to die and...she gets you."
"Rosemarie Elizabeth Spur, do not think like that for one second!" My father snarled.
"Is there anything else we need to know about?" I asked numbly, ignoring my father's outburst.
The look on his face answered my question. "What else can possibly be worse?" My mom fretted.
"I'm no longer the alpha of lycans...she is. According to the lycan earlier, she is two years older than me making her the eldest and the alpha."
"You're still my Lycan's alpha," Mason spoke.
I felt a strong pull and realized Nikobe pushed me back and out of control.
"And you're still my alpha. No matter who challenges me and Rose... I got this under control. Full lycan or not, she does not scare me. Our bond is what makes us strong. Our physical or mental abilities are nothing without a strong bond and that lycan has no bond to help her. I will calm Rose down and I will talk her through all this. In the meantime, we need to get a game plan together and Rose needs to practice training with magic. She has a lot to learn in a short amount of time. Summon the Malevolent Twins, with their guidance she can relate more to them than her mother guiding her." Nikobe spoke.
Mathias seemed to relax some and nodded. "We'll get in contact with them."
"Good, now...if you'll excuse us I need to talk to Rose."
They all nodded Nikobe walked us upstairs.
Once in the confinements of my room, I was given back control. I sat on the edge of my bed with my head in my hands. Terrified was an understatement.
'Rose, you have to think positively.' Nikobe sighed.
'How can you say that? I'm not used to all this lycan stuff and just as I am starting to learn, some full lycan is already wanting to challenge me? I have no idea what I'm doing!'
'That's what I'm here for. With me, you can do this. It will be me going against her, not you. I know what I am capable of and if you can practice your magic more, I can channel that and use it against her.'
'We don't know what capabilities she possesses, though. Take Mathias, for example, he has crazy abilities that make him so dangerous. Goddess know what she contains.'
'That's true, we don't know, but fearing the unknown only makes it worse. We will train, we will fight, and we will win. Besides, I already have a plan.'
'What? Well, tell me!'
'In due time, I need to perfect it before I say.'
I huffed, folding my arms.
'So I train...that's it?'
'And pray.' She mumbled.
'Oh lovely, thanks, I'll get right on that.'
She went silent and I fell backward on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Rosemarie, what have you gotten yourself into?
I knew I wanted to be Mathias' mate, but I never knew it would take me down this road.
Goddess, Rosemarie, what are you even saying? You love him. When you love someone you deal with any battles that may come your way. It's what happens when you agree to be with the person you love.
But you do it together.
A knock on the door brought me from my thoughts and I lifted my head looking at the door. "Come in."
Mathias walked through with a grim expression. "Are you mad at me?"
I sighed, sitting up and motioned him over. He walked over slowly as if I'd snap at any moment. I took his hands in mine and shook my head. "I'm not mad, Mathias. I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. I'm just scared and I didn't know how to react to the information you gave me."
His eyes softened as he squatted down in front of me so he was eye level with me. "You know that I believe in you right? I'd never let you do something I didn't think you were capable of doing."
"Mathias, I never doubted you for a second on that. I know you believe in me. You've believed in me since day one. I probably wouldn't have accepted the Queen's title if it wasn't for you, but this is something completely different. I'm fighting for my life here. Something I've never had to do before. I'm scared—terrified even. No one knows how this is going to turn out and sure Nikobe is experienced and says she knows what she is doing, but this lycan is foreign to us. We know nothing about them—not even their name."
"Rose I—"
"I'm not finished. So yeah, I'm scared and I know everyone believes in me, and yeah... I don't quite believe in myself. But, for you, I'd fight even if it did cause me to take my last breath doing so. I love you, Mathias, and nothing is going to change that. Not some full lycan, not some wolf, nothing. So I'm going to train, I'm going to practice with Nikobe, and I'm going to give it all I got. It's all I can do at this point. If that lycan wants to try and take the love of my life...she's going to have to go through me and Nikobe. I'm not giving up that easily."
For the first time ever, I saw tears brim Mathias' eyes. He grabbed ahold of me, pulling me into his arms and held me tightly. "Goddes, I love you so much, Rosemarie." he croaked out.
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