-~Light editing~-

Nathan sighed and sat down on the couch. I walked over and he held out his arms. I slowly walked into them as he wrapped them around me. He gently pulled me down onto his lap and I curled up, resting my head on his chest. "Are you ok?" He asked, wrapping his arms securely around me. I held my head low in shame.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I whispered. "Are you ok?"

"I am now that you are back in my arms. But seriously, are you hurt anywhere? Did they do anything to you?" I shook my head. We sat in silence for a little while, just enjoying each other's company.

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

"For what Angel?"

"For running away, for scaring you, for pushing you away, for not trusting you like I should. I was a horrible mate and hope you could one day forgive me." He growled softly causing tingles to crawl up my arms and neck.

"You are not a horrible mate Bailey! You are an amazing perfect mate! I am the one who is a bad mate!"

"B-But you did nothing wrong! I'm the one that messed up! I ran away from you!" I whimpered. Nathan was quiet for a few seconds, the silence was killing me.

"What did I do to cause you to run away? I'm so sorry Bailey." He whispered with pain in his voice. I sighed and pulled away from his chest to look him in the eye. I slowly rested my hands on either side of his face, looking deep into his eyes. He leaned into my touch slightly and looked back into my eyes.

"You did nothing wrong. You did absolutely nothing wrong Nathan. Please don't apologize for something you didn't do." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I thought I lost you. I-I didn't know where you went, I didn't know if he found you. O-or if I did something wrong that made you leave. I didn't know if I would ever see you again." His voice cracked with so much emotion, his eyes began to water. "When you woke up from whatever nightmare you were having, it was like you didn't even recognize me! Then when I finally was able to calm you down and fall asleep, I woke up and you were gone! I followed your trail but you just vanished. I wasn't able to follow it. Not even my best trackers were! Then when I got the call you were with in another pack, I freaked out. When I saw you hiding behind another male, trusting him more than me, I-I thought I lost you for good. I didn't know what I did wrong! I can't live without you Bailey, I can't." I felt my bottom lip quiver. With the pad of my thumb I brushed away a large warm tear that trickled down his face.

"I'm so sorry for making you think that. I'm so sorry for causing you pain." I whispered, looking deep into his sad beautiful blue eyes. "The nightmare." I confessed. "It didn't just have him in it." Then I went on to explain what happened in the dream, from start to finish with my eyes closed from the pain. When I finished, a red hot burning tear leaked from my eye.

So much for staying strong for Nathan...

I jumped slightly as I felt his thumb gently wiping away the tear. I slowly opened my eyes and was met with the sad eyes of Nathan.

"I'm so sorry Angel. But you know I would never do that right?" I nodded my head slowly.

"I know. Thank you." I curled back up on his lap and rested my head by his heart. I closed my eyes and let myself block everything out with the steady rhythmic beating of his heart. His calming scent, strong arms, steady heart beat, and the love I felt from him made me smile and cuddle closer.

"I have something for you from the truck." Nathan said, breaking the silence. He reached over to the end table near the couch and picked something up. I pulled away to see he was holding the small present from my father... the king... My eyes widened. I carefully took the silver box out of his hands and held it, still noticing the slight hum.

I slowly and carefully peeled off the wrapping, handling it like it was the most delicate thing in the world. Past the silver wrapping was a silver box. I lifted the lid and looked inside. In there, was a beautiful silver necklace with a crescent moon with a circle next to it. Inside the circle was a silhouette of a wolf standing tall and proud with a crown marking on its chest.

"No way..." Nathan gasped in awe, looking closer at the necklace.

"What?"

"That's a sacred royal necklace! There are only a few of these in the world! They are bonded to a certain person and no other person can touch it. They are like a sign to the world that you are royal blood and family. It is said that there is a way to call for help through this necklace." Nathan explained, pointing at it but never touching it.

"Wait, what do you mean no one can touch it?"

"It is made of real silver. But the thing is, it was specially made for one person. That one person can touch it and it wouldn't harm them but anyone else who tries will get burned." I looked down at the beautiful necklace. I slowly reached out a grazed the tip of the finger on it, when I didn't feel anything, I touched it slightly. Nathan reached his hand in and brushed his finger just barely on the silver and hissed in pain. I jumped and grabbed his hand, looking at the finger. There, on the tip where he touched, was a small red blister.

I carefully picked up the necklace and examined it closer.

"Your father had a sacred royal necklace bond to your DNA... that's so cool. That's why it seemed to hum. It's magical." I carefully clipped it on myself since I knew Nathan couldn't. It clipped somewhat easily behind my head and hung nicely around my neck.

"It's beautiful." I whispered, looking closer at it.

"It is, just like you." I felt my cheeks heat up.

"What does the werewolf code thing mean on the back of the card?" I asked, reaching over and grabbing it off the table. I flipped it over and looked at the symbols. Nathan looked too.

"It says, 'My dear Bailey. If you are reading this, that means you are with a pack! Congratulations! I'm sorry I haven't been with you your whole life. I had to leave to protect you and your mother. As you might have figured out from your mother, she is my one and only love and mate. You may have also pieced together that I am the king of werewolves and you are the princess, the future leader. Once you have found your mate, come to the castle. Your training as king and queen will begin and you will get the throne. If you don't show by the time you turn 22, I will know you either have turned down the thrown or you don't know the werewolf world or code. I miss you my little howler. I will hopefully see you in the near future. -Your father, The King of Werewolves."

"Th-the throne? Me? A queen? I don't think I can be a lune, let alone a queen!! This is all going to fast! Too many things at once!" Nathan set down the note and wrapped his arms around me.

"It's ok Angel, we don't need to think of this right now. We have quite a few more years until we have to make a decision." He said softly. I nodded my head. "Let's just take it one step at a time, together. Ok?"

"Ok."

"I won't push you to do anything you don't want. I just want you to be happy." I nodded again. We both sat in silence, lost in our thoughts. Suddenly I heard Nathan's stomach growl loudly, vibrating my whole body. I giggled and noticed how Nathan's face became very red with embarrassment.

Awwwww... he's blushing!

"Let's go eat." I said, standing up. "Maybe I can meet your friends? To get my mind off everything else."

"Really?" He asked, a smile on his face.

"Yeah! I'm going to have to meet them eventually! So why not now? My life's already all about trying new things and learning how to be a leader so what better way to start than jumping right in!" I replied, trying to sound confident even though I was bubbling with nervousness. I felt like everything was going way to fast. One thing after another, back to back, no break or pause in between. But I guess that's my new life now...

"You're so amazing. You know that?" Nathan grabbed my hand, whispering in my ear. I blushed and looked away. We walked hand in hand to the dining hall laughing and talking about random things the whole way there.

When Nathan opened the door for me, the entire hall went silent. All eyes turned towards us. I froze and tensed up. So many eyes were trained on me and it made my skin crawl.

Nathan leaned down and whispered in my ear. "Relax. You'll do amazing. Just be yourself." I swallowed loudly, hoping to open up my throat which was closing in on me. I nodded my head and let Nathan lead me towards the food.

Slowly everyone went back to talking and eating their foods, with the occasional glance my way.

Why are they all looking at me weird?

I asked Nathan over our link.

They aren't looking at you weird. They are looking at you because they haven't met you yet and are wanting to see and know you better. You are their Luna if accept it. And you are so beautiful, I don't blame them.

I shyly ducked my head at his words. Then I was handed a plate with 2 slices of bread, an apple, a glass of water, a Hershey kiss, and small portion of some sort of white meat.

Nathan's plate was piled high of so many different foods. He motioned for me to follow. We walked more towards the back and sat down at the circle table were I met the others the first time. It was just us at first.

"What is this?" I asked him, pointing at the white meat.

"It's chicken. I thought you might want to try something new. You should try to slowly eat a little more each time, that's why I asked for a second slice of bread. Is this ok?" I nodded my head. I tried the chicken with an open mind and found it was actually pretty good! I smiled and finished the little bit of chicken I had.

"I take it you liked it then?" He chuckled.

"Yup! Thank you!" I started on a slice of bread as Kyle and his mate came and sat down on their chairs.

"Hey Bailey and Nathan!" Kyle greeted. I smiled shyly and waved. "This is my mate Jenna." Kyle introduced the woman with dark brown hair and similar dark green eyes as Kyle. Jenna rolled her eyes and glared at Kyle.

"I can introduce myself thank you very much." She playfully slapped Kyle's arm. He just laughed.

"Sorry Babe." Jenna then turned towards me and smiled warmly.

"Hey Bailey! As you heard, I'm Jenna, beta female, and mate to this goof next to me." Jenna greeted warmly, I felt myself smiling slightly at her welcoming tone. Kyle wrapped his arm around Jenna's waist and smiled lovingly at her.

'Relationship goals right there. Will I ever be as carefree and relaxed as Jenna?'

"Did you complete the forms for Wendy's transfer?" Nathan asked Kyle. He nodded.

"I finished it a few hours ago and sent it in."

"Good, thank you for doing that."

"No problem! Axel and Danica might be a little late to see Wendy off and make sure she makes it safe. And I think Mathew and Megan are going to meet us later."

"That's fine, do you know what they are doing?" Kyle shook his head.

"No, they didn't say."

The 3 werewolves just started talking about random things and I tried to follow along but couldn't understand half the things they were talking about. I just finished my food in silence. I had trouble eating that last slice of bread, I've never felt that full before.

I sat in silence waiting for the others to finish their food as well. Once they finally finished, we went out of the pack house. I was in awe of the size of the pack house and the yard. It was HUGE! It had the cabin wood look to it and it was beautiful. We walked a ways past the pack house to a large 2 story wooden log cabin that looked fancy, yet rustic cabin like. We went inside and I saw a simple kitchen and dining table that had the similar wood look. There was also a cozy looking living area with a couple couches, a few bean bags, and gaming chairs with a large TV and lots of movies and video games.

"This is the Alpha's Den. I didn't name it, the pack chose it a while ago when my father was the alpha, at first it was just a joke but it kind of stuck." Nathan said as we walked in a little ways.

"Den? Like, a wolf den?" I asked, giggling slightly. Nathan chuckled.

"Yeah, like a wolf den." We walked into the house with Ryan and Jenna trailing behind us.

Nathan sat down on the couch and pulled me down next to him, keeping his arm securely around me. Kyle and Jenna did the same on the other couch.

"So why do you have this house?" I asked.

"This is where the alpha family, beta family, gamma family, head warrior family, and a few warriors for protection lives." Kyle said.

"So why don't you stay here Nathan? Why do you have a room in the pack house?"

"It didn't feel right for me to live here without my mate so I moved to the pack house. But now that you are here, I guess we will get to move in!" I heard the door open and smelled 2 new people come in. I turned to see the a tall man with red blonde hair and grey eyes and the woman with blue hair with silver streaks and chestnut eyes.

"Hey guys! Sorry we couldn't make it to lunch. We were kind of busy." Mathew said, when his eyes landed on me, an odd smile spread across his face.

"Bailey, this is my gamma-"

"Mathew." he cut Nathan off. "And this is my mate Megan." She smiled warmly at me.

"Hey Bailey!" Megan smiled, pulling me out of Nathan's arms and giving me a warm hug. "It's so good to finally fully meet you!" She laughed, I laughed along with her and tried to relax in her embrace and hug her back.

"Agreed." I replied while sitting back down next to Nathan. They sat down as 2 more people came in. They sat down and that's when it hit me. Wendy was their daughter. Her eyes were the exact same as her mothers, light brown around the pupil and then very bright green along the edges.

"Bailey, this is the head warrior couple, Axel and Danica." Axel was tall, muscular, with black hair and a black scruffy beard with green-grey eyes that stood out. Danica was also tall and muscular and she had long wavy black hair.

"Sorry we are late Nathan." Axel apologized.

"It's completely fine, I get it. You wanted to make sure your daughter made it to the new pack safely. Anyway, Bailey, here is the Alpha's Den residents and my most trusted friends." I looked around at everyone, trying to remember all their names.

"Hey guys!" I waved at them, trying to come off a little more confident than I felt on the inside.

"Did you hear that the DarkRiver Pack and the WhiteFang Pack made an alliance last night?" Mathew said to Nathan, changing the subject quite quickly.

"No I did not, what caused them to finally stop fighting?" My mate replied back.

"It turns out the head warrior of the DarkRiver pack and the Alpha's oldest daughter of the WhiteFang Pack are mates. The two newly mates were able to talk some sense into their packs and form an alliance."

"The head warrior has leader blood?" Nathan asked, seeming surprised.

"I guess so. He must have like beta or gamma blood down the lines somewhere." Then, everyone in the room froze and looked at me in unison.

"Because only gamma bloods and higher can be mates to an alpha..." Kyle finished for Mathew, eyeing me. I ducked my head down and avoided their gazes as best as I could.

"So Bailey," Jenna began, giving me her full attention. "Did you transfer from another pack before coming here?" She asked, changing the subject after sensing my distress. I involuntarily tensed up. It was a harmless simple question, who would think that I was kidnapped 11 years ago. Everyone else also seemed kind of interested in my answer.

"I - uh - no. I have never been apart of a pack before."

"Really? So you grew up with humans?"

"Uh... my mom is human." I said, trying to avoid the past 11 years of my life and my father.

"Huh, which means your father is a werewolf. Right?" I nodded my head.

"Do you know who your father is?" Axel asked after a second or two of silence. I shrugged my shoulders.

"He left when I was a baby, I've never seen him since." Technically I'm not lying, he did leave when I was a baby and I haven't seen him...

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Axel apologized.

"It's fine. I never knew him so nothing to be upset about."

"How did you meet Nathan then if you grew up with your human mother?" Danica asked, a sparkle in her eye. "I just love hearing these stories!" Kyle looked between Nathan and I, sending that silent signal reminding us that he was there.

You don't have to tell them Bailey. They will understand.

Nathan mind linked me.

They have the right to know as well. You said they are your most trusted friends right? You trust them with the truth about me?

Definitely, I trust each and every one of them with my life. Just know you don't have to tell them if you aren't ready.

"I actually –"  I froze, not finding the strength to tell them. Nathan rubbed circles on the back on my hand to calm me down. "I shifted unexpectedly on my 16th and ran from home, too scared to think twice about what I was doing. Then Kyle chased me down and stopped me, not long after, Nathan showed up and he helped me learn who I was and what the werewolf world is like."

"Interesting..." Danica said. Kyle seemed to sense my hesitation to tell them everything and just nodded at Nathan and I, respecting our choices and not saying anything.

"You must have ran a long time, the nearest town is quite a ways away." Mathew eyed me suspiciously.

"I was very out of it and did run for a while. I don't really remember too much from that night." The whole group was silent for a little bit.

"The first time we met you at the table, you seemed a lot more guarded and jumpy. And you only had a slice of bread and an apple. Then you said that is what you ate for 11 years of your life. Is your mother –" Mathew said but I cut him off before he said anything more.

"No." I said quickly. "She is the most amazing mother in the world." Everyone in the room seemed to be really confused, even Kyle. I sighed and leaned my head back. I heard one of the woman gasp. I snapped me head back down and saw everyone staring at me like I grew two heads.

"What?" I asked cautiously.

I think they either saw your necklace or–

"Those scars..." Megan whispered. My eyes widened.

"They're nothing. I was clumsy as a child." I said quickly.

"What about your necklace?" Axel stared me in the eyes. Nathan tightened his grip around me.

"Everyone, calm down." Nathan stepped in.

"Bailey is a royal!"

"If everything seems under control,
you are not going fast enough."
-Mario Andretti

Hey everyone! I'm sorry it took me a while to get the chapter down. I kept changing my mind on how it would go. By the way, what do you guys think of the new cover? I absolutely love it! KittyCatzy  did an amazing job! Thank you everyone for reading this far! I'll try to get the next chapter in as soon as possible.

Later Potatoes!! 🥔👋