I took Arthur on a tour of my town on the back of his bike, which had apparently been delivered to the front of my house by Lucas while he met my parents.
My dad was not thrilled about the mode of transportation, but he did not have much he could do about it since Arthur was my mate and also the crown prince, which I still could barely believe from a statistical point of view.
I gave him directions or pointed and he went where I wanted him to go. The tour took a grand total of seventeen minutes, and I spent most of it pointing out things like street lights and benches, and giving anecdotal accounts of me and my friends growing up.
We stopped at the little park in the centre of town. "I'm surprised we were allowed to do this without body guards."
He grinned. "Well, Brandon and Lucas secured the place, and the palace has already ran background checks on everyone living here. And one of them will be somewhere nearby."
"Ah, that explains it."
"Plus, I can protect you. They're only around for backup."
I smiled at his sweet words. He really had a way of making my brain turn into an unrecognizable pile of mush. "So, what's it going to be like when we go back to your palace?"
"Busy, I imagine. You'll get a few days to settle in, but you'll have to meet my parents pretty soon, then the alphas of the court, then the country. We'll have to figure out when everything else happens later." He put his arm around my shoulders and leaned back. It felt so warm and protective it was hard to focus on the conversation.
"So, what's it like?"
"Oh, I don't know. Luxurious, I suppose. There's someone around all the time. We won't get as much of a break as I would like."
I found his words disappointed me. "And what are the people there like?"
"You'll get used to them. Constant drama, though."
That did not sound comforting. I wrinkled my nose. "Drama?"
"Oh, unfortunately. Just before I left I had to mediate a dispute between two alphas who were fighting over the same woman."
"Why?"
"She was the childhood friend of one and the mate of the other. Neither wanted to give her up."
"Well, the friend sounds like he was being a bit short sighted. Even if she picked him, what about when he finds his mate?"
"If only they were as reasonable as you."
"Lots of people are as reasonable as me," I said modestly.
Arthur paused. "Perhaps it's just an alpha trait then. They're all so angry and possessive."
"Aren't you an alpha?"
"I am. I could be very angry and possessive if I had a reason to be."
Well, I did not really mind that, because I had no interest in pushing him. Rather, in moderation his possessiveness made me feel warm and appreciated. "So how about those guys who were with you?"
"See, now I'm jealous, you bringing up other men," he teased.
I smiled at his light humour.
"Lucas, the one who thought it was a good idea to announce I had found my mate to your town, is the equivalent of my beta, although it works a bit different amongst the monarchy. Once I'm king, he wouldn't take over if I die like a normal beta. He would stay in his position and aid my heir. Right now, it would be one of my cousins."
I frowned. The mere idea of him dying sent a shot of pain through me.
"He'll be the head of security when we take over for my parents one day. Right now, he works under his father."
"Taking over for your parents seems like a lot of pressure." How was someone as normal as me ever going to manage it?
"I'm certain you can handle it as easily as you'll handle Lucas. He can be a bit abrasive, but he's also a loyal friend. His mate was killed by rogues a few years ago and he covers up his misery by being sardonic."
What a terrible thing to happen to the poor guy.
"And the other one, Brandon, is my best friend from childhood and Alpha of the Harvest Moon Pack, one of the closest packs to royal lands. You'll no doubt meet his mate, Serenity, once we get home."
There was something in his voice that made me question further. "Will she like me?"
"Oh, she'll adore you."
There had to be some catch. "Will I like her?"
"She's well meaning. She and Brandon love each other deeply, but they constantly fight over the most ridiculous issues. They don't communicate at all." He met my eyes and I shivered delightfully. "Promise you'll tell me what's bothering you if you have any concerns."
I smiled. "Yes, absolutely. You too."
"I promise," he agreed.
We sat in the little park and just took in each other's presence for a while before I began to notice that the number of people walking by and surreptitiously gawking was growing larger. It was not until the first phone was held aloft by someone I had never seen before in my life that I began to feel uneasy. I knew every single person in town and was at least slightly familiar with almost everyone who lived in my pack lands.
"Arthur?" I glanced at him for reassurance.
"Yes, I see. Shall we go back to your house?"
"Yeah," I agreed. I supposed this would be my life going forward.
I glanced at my glorious mate. I supposed it would be entirely worth it.
We both got onto his motorcycle and sped back to my house.
<<< << < > >> >>>
We hung out. I hung out with the freaking prince of the werewolf world in front of the television in my house for a couple of hours, until my mother had supper ready. She cooked a giant beef roast and several dishes to accompany it.
It was way fancier than what we usually ate, as if it were a holiday. Maybe it was, but I was also pretty sure she was trying not to disappoint our royal guest.
He did not seem to mind her over the top efforts to please him. He conversed amiably with my parents and my sister whenever she stopped crying long enough to carry on a conversation. His charm made my knees so weak I was grateful I was sitting down.
I mentioned the situation with my former almost co-worker, and he said he would have his people look into it. With an apology, he pulled out his phone and sent a message at once.
He was very attentive to me, and I could barely pry my eyes off of him. It was probably uncomfortable for the other people at the table, but it was not like I could check their faces to see what they were feeling with my eyes glued to his fantastic face.
My sister excused herself from the table and walked into the living room. "Um, Prince Arthur?"
"Yes? Although you can simply call me Arthur," he said.
"Okay, Arthur. There's a bunch of people outside."
Arthur looked mildly annoyed. "Just shut the curtains please, I'll handle it."
He pulled out his phone. "Hey Lucas. Yeah, the vultures have descended. Yeah, that would be great. Thanks."
"It'll be dealt with. It's just reporters, nothing to worry about."
"They look like blood thirsty zombies," Ellen commented as she peeked out the window again.
Arthur considered my sister's words. "I don't think there would be any zombies out there. Pretty sure my father stomped them all out about a decade ago during the last outbreak. Might be a bloodthirsty half-vampire or two, though. They seem unusually drawn to politics and the media."
I did not have to ask Arthur what the other half was, it was obviously half werewolf. It was always half werewolf, or three-quarters werewolf, or seven-eighths werewolf, or ninety-nine-one-hundredths werewolf, etcetera.
<<< << < > >> >>>
Anyway, to get you up to speed, in my reality, which is definitely not an alternate universe FYI, because that would imply my whole world is simply some work of fiction and it is absolutely not. (Also, alternate universe is a contradiction in terms. Universe means ALL existing matter.)
Therefore, I live in the universe and if you do not, you must be a mere figment of my imagination. Sorry if that fact troubles you.
I can actually picture you right now, dear fictional reader, sitting there, scrolling through Wolfpad, reading about my problems. By the way, I'll bet my fictional writer would be ecstatic if you would tap that little symbol at the bottom that implies you liked this chapter. She would undoubtedly be even more excited if you left a comment. If she existed. Which she does not. And don't forget, neither do you.
While her existence is very much in question, she still yearns for your fictitious love.
But ultimately, whether you and some random writer exist or not is irrelevant.
Much more importantly, a few centuries ago, we werewolves shared the world with humans along with a lot of other supernatural creatures: vampires, sphinx, lathos, fae, mermaids, gargoyles, satyrs, nymphs, lagomorpha, elementals, other kinds of shifters, etcetera, etcetera, and etcetera.
Over time, there were so many humans drawn into the packs through mate bonds that normal, non supernatural humans were bred right out of the population.
Experts claim that every werewolf nowadays is at least a small fraction human.
It's kind of like what happened to the Neanderthal population. They used to think Neanderthals were outcompeted by humans, but surprise! They were just sucked into the general human population. Your great (times five hundred) grandma probably was married to a Neanderthal. The Neanderthals were conquered through love, not war.
It was humanity's turn to be affectionately subsumed into a more wolfish population. Which also means, incidentally, many werewolves are also slightly Neanderthal, too. Perhaps that explains a few things.
Werewolves are, without question, the most prolific of all the supernatural creatures in the world. We find our destined mate, perform the Three Ms, and then we make pups. Lots of pups. My family was on the abnormally small side.
None of the other creatures, supernatural or not, could keep up with our rate of reproduction, not even the lagomorpha, and they were a heck of a lot like rabbits.
To compound the situation, the more the werewolf population grew, the higher the likelihood that one of them would be mated to a different type of supernatural creature. So now there are a lot of half-nymphs, and half-mermaids, and so forth.
There are still some pure-bred non-werewolf supernatural creatures out there, but we outnumber them ten to one and that number is ever growing. The odds of them being brought into the werewolf fold through a mate bond is higher every day as more and more werewolves reach the age where they start searching for their mates.
We werewolves are undoubtedly supernatural. We shape shift, we are strong and fast with heightened senses and we have amazing healing abilities, but our real superpower is our high fertility coupled with certain insatiable appetites. Through it, werewolves are taking over the world, one or two or six pups at a time.
Vampires are a bit of a different story, however. There's only a handful left. Most of them starved after the last human was mated to a werewolf, but luckily for the survivors, before they went extinct a scientist came up with a genetically modified tomato based blood substitute. Now the handful of pure vampires that are left are all vegetarians.
No one saw that coming, except one moon goddess adherent who everyone thought was nuts when she predicted vegetarian vampires. Now she's got her own psychic television show, and she's laughing all the way to the bank.
I still think it was a lucky guess. Someone eventually wins the lottery, but that does not make them psychic.
Regardless, because vampires are some sort of creepy undead anomaly, they can't reproduce the way that other supernatural creatures can. Now that there's no pure humans left to turn, their numbers can only decrease over time.
The single exception to the rule is if a vampire finds they have a werewolf mate, then the super fertility of the werewolf kick starts their mate's reproductive system and you guessed it, half vampire pups.
We live in crazy times. Scientists project that in the next century, ninety-five percent of supernatural creatures born will be a werewolf to one degree or another.
Why not, though? Werewolves are typically so hot that what sane creature would possibly refuse a werewolf mate?
I certainly would not refuse, which brings me away from my pointless endeavour of explaining population dynamics of the universe to some fictional reader and back to the incredibly hot man who I had been lucky enough to have fall straight into my lap.
Almost literally, although it was more like vice versa and less like an accident and more like a deliberate action.
After I showed Arthur the guest room, he sat on the bed and pulled me down to sit on him.
Was he moving too fast? Maybe.
Did I have any real desire to stop him? Nope.
Did I still kind of have the completely inappropriate urge to lick him? Absolutely yes. I blame my wolf.
So I did not protest when he pulled my mouth to his and kissed me deeply. My blood sang a symphony of delight, like every cell in my body had developed a talent for classical music.
I could never have imagined the level of pure perfection that was my mate. My mate nightmares never even came close to the beautiful reality.
I was quite disappointed when he stopped, but I did not complain.
<Why aren't you seducing him?> my wolf demanded suddenly.
<He's our other half, but it's still better to take this slow.>
My wolf disagreed. <We should mark our territory this very minute. He's obviously arguing with himself, too, over this. It would be laughably easy to push him over the edge. We could be properly marked and mated in the next hour if we chew our bones right.>
<Just because we were designed for each other does not mean that we are not virtual strangers,> I argued.
She scoffed. <You'll regret this ridiculous restraint when you see unmated females checking him out,> she warned and then retreated into the back of my mind to sulk some more.
She was probably right, but I reminded myself that we would still get there soon enough. I certainly did not want to have pups nine months from the day we met, no matter what a wonderful smelling example of physical perfection fate had handed me. I could just imagine the media circus that would ensue.
<We just need to be patient,> I reminded her.
<Patient? A ridiculous human construct. Wolves should act, which I shall do. I'll find him, even if I have to search the entire Wolfscape to locate him. I won't let your silly human paw dragging screw this up for us.>
<We'll get there in time,> I assured her patiently.
She simply huffed and slipped into the darkness to brood.
<<< << < > >> >>>