Lycan Prince Matteo

“Baby, I—, I—” Matteo said when they were done lying on their bed, panting. The heat of the moment and desire for each other wore off, and he just realized that they had marked each other.

“Stop, Matteo. You know that I did it first,” she replied, and he looked at her. “It’s Pi, right?” He asked, and she nodded.

“I know it was K— I mean, your beast too,” she replied.

Matteo smiled and caressed her face gently; a few strands of her hair that were on her face were now behind her ears after he put them there. “I already know his name,” he said. “He didn’t want me to know before because of, you know, my constant affairs with different women. He’s very loyal, and, as punishment, he made me not know his name.” He informed me, “I think Pi wanted us to become one; that’s why she initiated the marking.” He added, and she nodded.

“I talked to her and told her not to do anything stupid. But she was very persistent, I guess? She was usually very submissive to my wants. The transformation made her this rebellious,” she replied, chuckling.

“You’re not mad?” he asked.

“I think not. I like it too. I was just hesitant because I thought we still needed to know more about what we wanted. And there is your first-mate issue.”

“We already marked each other. I trust King more than anyone in this world when it comes to marking you. He knows you more than me because he can talk to Pi freely.” He replied, “About my first mate, yes, I still want to know who she was. But I already marked you, so there was nothing for you or for me to worry about. She might have been with another Lycan or wolf by now too,” he added.

“I wish that she was happy wherever she was,” Freya said,

“I hope so too,” he replied, smiling at her. They sleep together, looking forward to the next day.

Meanwhile, the king was in his bedroom, thinking about Freya. He saw what she looked like when she was still a wolf, and, after her transformation, her silver fur became glossy and shimmering. Just like Matteo had said, it was also the first time that he had seen something like that.

He felt them marking each other and felt the entire kingdom strengthened too. He needed to act now. The sooner, the better. Matteo has to become king, but he will only turn 100 in a few more weeks. He shouldn’t have rushed it, so he decided to set the beta and the gamma first so everything would be ready when he transferred the throne to his son.

King Marco was excited as he rested that night, but he kept thinking of someone threatening the royals. He knew he needed to discuss the matter with both Freya and his son, Matteo.

The next morning, King Marco asked Calvin and James in his office, along with Rapha. He knew that he could trust the three of them, so he would tell them about his plans.

“Your Highness, you called for us,” Calvin said as he and James entered his office.

“Yes, please, have a seat,” he replied, looking at Rapha, who was already seated. “I called you to discuss something,” he continued as the three looked at each other. “I wanted to make the two of you the official beta and gamma while we waited for Matteo and Freya’s coronation,” he added.

“Why are we rushing things, Your Highness?” Rapha said, “I have no problem with them with their positions, but usually, the king has to be crowned first before he chooses his beta and gamma,” he added, and Calvin and James agreed in unison.

“I know that, but I had a feeling that something was going to happen. I don’t know if this comes to your minds, but I think there was a threat to Freya, if not to the throne,” King Marco said.

“Is that the reason why you let Matteo leave the palace?” Rapha asked, “Since I am here, hearing everything that you said right now, I can tell that you trusted me, Your Highness,” he added.

“I do trust you, and I know Matteo, too. You are good friends along with these two,” the king replied, pointing to Calvin and James, who had their heads down.

“So, you wanted their ceremonies to be done already, and what’s the catch?” Rapha asked,

“So James will be able to look after Freya already. Since my Luna is long gone,” King Marco said in a low voice. The pain of losing his mate was something he hadn’t gotten over yet, even after many years. “Freya will be the acting Luna. I wanted to prepare her with everything so that when Matteo was crowned, she would be able to help him immediately, and, since they had already marked each other, their full potentials and powers would start to be unleashed too,” he added.

“You know that we are ready to assist Matteo, Your Highness,” Calvin said, to which James agreed.

“The reason why Matteo didn’t bring me along with all his missions was because he was worried about you. He was worried that something would happen to you once he left you alone,” James added.

“I know; that’s why I felt at ease and confident when he started to rule the entire kingdom,” King Marco replied.

“Your Highness, you have to take care of yourself. Since Matteo is almost in his reigning period, I am worried that something might happen to you two. If what you think is right, then it wasn’t only the princess who needed to look at it; it should be the three of you.” Rapha said,

“That’s why you need to train her even more. The way we saw her fight, we all knew how good she was. She is strong and has so much power. As was written, Matteo is definitely the strongest king ever to reign, if ever. That’s because of Freya, his fated mate.”

“But hasn’t the prince already found his first mate?” James asked,

“Yes, but I want to believe that it was Freya who was here nine years ago.”

“Then she must be from the Howlers Pack!” Calvin exclaimed,

“I said, That’s what I wanted to believe. I have no clear understanding of this, but we all know that we are not blessed with a second chance or two mates. It was the only possible reason I could think about their situation.”

“Have you told them this?” It was Rapha.

“No, I have no proof, and since they already marked each other, we will be able to find that out soon.” King Marco replied,

“Is it because of what happened to the queen?” Calvin asked.

“Yes, but it wasn’t instantaneous. The scent will be very faint at first until it becomes obvious.”

“Did you happen to look into her Highness’s eyes too? Is that how you found out that she’s your mate?” Calvin inquired again.

“Yes, I was just lucky that she was living in the palace too, so I didn’t need to search for her. The fact that she was very stubborn and fought back every time I bullied her, she always looked me in the eyes.”

“You’re lucky, Your Highness. Princess Freya has never looked at Matteo since. If it had not been for that incident that she was about to have Clay as her chosen mate, he would still have been looking for her until now.” Calvin informed them, and they all smiled. And then he remembered something: “Your Highness, I think the princess was really from the Howlers Pack,” he added.

“How can you say that?” The king asked, and the curious look in Rapha and James’s eyes was on his.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“I saw her and her parents in the Howlers Pack territory. They said they were just showing the princess their fighting skills. But I think it wasn’t just that. They knew who and what the princess was,” he told them. “I ignored their presence there and believed them because the princess was bullied in the Midnight Pack. But after I saw her fight, I don’t think that’s the case anymore,” he added.

“If the princess was here before, as we think she was, why did no one see her here? Why did everyone say no one visited the palace? Who was the one who was here when they came and assisted them?” Rapha asked continuously.

“Whoever he or she was, one thing is for sure: they didn’t want Matteo to see his mate again and might be the one behind the attack in the Howlers Pack.” The king replied, “I don’t think the princess knew this, so I think she was suffering from amnesia or something that made her forget what had happened in her younger days.”

“Then we need to invite her parents here and have a talk with them,” Rapha suggested, to which everyone agreed.

Third Person