Forbidden Queen
Chapter Nine – My Pack

Katy

Alex has made quick progress of setting up our camp. Dozens of tents have been erected, and sentries have been posted around the perimeter. The warriors are sitting in groups, talking quietly and eating. No fires are lit, and although we don’t expect an attack from Lucius’ forces yet, I can tell that Alex is not taking any chances.

I can see Alex and Daniel sitting together with Joseph’s commanders, but I decide not to go to them. As much as I want to spend time with Alex, I also want to get to know the warriors we are travelling with.

I approach one of the other groups. They are Joseph’s warriors, members of the Royal Pack. I haven’t had time to speak to any of the ordinary Royal Pack members yet. I have been too busy getting ready for our journey, training, and attending lessons with Joseph to help me prepare for my new role as queen. Now that we are travelling, I will finally have the opportunity to spend time with ordinary pack members, get to know some of the people that I will rule over.

As I get closer to the group they stop talking and rise to their feet, their heads bowed. They are all tall, even the two women in the group, are over six foot. Their bodies are lean but very muscular. They look like they could take on any wolf in a fight and win, and I am glad that they are part of my guard.

“Hi” I say. “Would it be OK if I joined you?”

“Of course, your majesty” one of them replies, making room for me to sit down.

I take a seat, and beckon for them to sit down again. I can see that they feel uncomfortable in my company, and so I try to put them at ease.

“Please call me Katy, I am still getting used to the whole queen thing. What are your names?” I ask.

They pause for a second. Then one of them says “I am Peter, your majesty. I cannot call you Katy. That would be disrespectful. We have waited for a long time, hoping that the rumours were true that you were still alive, and now you are here. We are so happy, without you, without a royal family there is no reason for the royal guard to exist.”

“Thank you, Peter I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. I have only just found out who I am and what it means to be queen. I know so little about the kingdom that I will soon rule over. Perhaps you could tell me about the Royal Pack? Joseph has taught me so much about how it is administered and who the high-ranking wolves are, but I would love to hear about the lives of ordinary wolves and your experiences of the pack.

“Of course,” Peter says enthusiastically “we would all be happy to share with you our experiences of living in the royal pack.”

“The others in the group smile at me and nod their heads.

“This is James, John, Robert, Grace, Anita and Andrew” Peter says pointing to each of the wolves in turn. We are all warriors in Blue Squad, apart from Andrew who is a tracker. Andrew is Anita’s mate.

“What does your squad do normally, when you are not escorting me?” I ask.

“We spend a lot of our time training and patrolling. Occasionally we take part in retaliatory raids against the Black Moon Pack. They carry out attacks on our land, burning down properties, killing and abducting our wolves. Whenever they do we fight back and inflict as much damage as we can on their pack.”

“And does that stop them?”

“We used to think so but recently they have been carrying out more and more raids. Their attacks penetrating deeper into our lands.”

I nod. This ties in with the reports that Alex and joseph have been receiving. I decide to change the subject and hopefully lighten the mood.

“Where do you live?” I ask

All of us apart from Anita and Andrew live in the guards’ pack house. All the unmated warriors live there” he tells me.

“We have a house close by” Anita says with a smile.

“What do you do when you are not working?” I ask.

“The palace grounds are huge, set in a large forest. We spend a lot of time going for runs in our wolf form” Andrew tells me with a smile.

“That sounds great” I say. Even though we have only been travelling for one day I can’t wait until we arrive at the palace, and I can shift into my wolf without fear of being attacked. My wolf has hated been cooped up in the car for hours.

“We also have a cinema which shows all the latest movies, and we have lots of social events. The royal guards and the household organise joint events, where we all get together for runs through the forest and parties.”

We continue to chat, and I watch as they gradually start to relax as they tell me about the pack and what it is like to live there. I spend the next couple of hours talking to them. I am fascinated by their stories. It sounds so different from my upbringing in the Lunar Eclipse pack. They all seem so comfortable with each other, everyone in the pack is included in their social events. They are so proud of belonging to the royal kingdom, and I feel so privileged that I am going to be their queen.

It has been such a good experience talking to them that I am determined that I am going to do this again. I want to get to know all the warriors on this trip. I decide that each night I will spend time with each of the groups accompanying us.

This is how I am going to rule. I don’t want to be an invisible queen, who only spends her time with high-ranking wolves. I want to be approachable. I want to get to know my subjects.

Eventually I excuse myself. After all the travelling and training I am so tired that I am struggling to keep my eyes open. I know that tomorrow will be even tougher. With training in the morning, travelling and then even more training in the evening. I need to get a good night’s sleep.

As I say goodbye and rise to my feet, I notice Alex moving towards me. He has been watching me all night but hasn’t sought to join me until this moment. He has left me to get to know the warriors on my own, which I am grateful for.

“Time for bed” he says as he takes my arm and walks me towards one of the tents. “I have been longing for this all day. Sitting beside you, feeling your body next to me, but not being able to touch you has been driving me insane.”

I feel his mouth press against my neck, as he gently starts to lick and suck my mating mark. It sends shivers down my spine, and heat to my core.

“We can’t do this” I protest weakly, “the whole camp will hear us. We agreed last night that we would wait until we reached the Royal Pack.” Although a voice in my head is telling me that that was a really stupid decision.

“We can be very quiet” he says persuasively.

I am not convinced. “When have we ever been quiet?” I ask.

“There is a first time for everything. It will be a challenge.” He says steering me into the tent, and expertly unfastening my top. He moves my bra to the side as he takes my left breast into his mouth. Any thoughts of stopping him disappear as soon as I feel his expert mouth start to lick and bite.

Tired as I am I don’t think I will be getting much sleep tonight, but I know that Alex will make it worth it.

…..

We have been travelling now for four days and we have managed to get into a routine. The journey is slow and boring. We spend eight hours each day on the road, with little to do to pass the time. I am lucky that Joseph is taking this time to teach me about the royal kingdom, and what my responsibilities will be as queen to my subjects. I am also learning about the other allied packs who will support us in our war against Lucius.

Until he is defeated, I won’t be treated as the undisputed ruler of the werewolves. Even if he is there is no guarantee that the allied packs will want me to be their queen. The bonds between the monarchy and the alphas were weakening even before the war. After so many years without a monarch they might prefer to stay independent.

I can’t think like that however I need to assume that I will be a powerful monarch. In order for me to fulfil the role of monarch to the best of my abilities I need to know what will be expected of me.

It is Alex who is suffering most from being cooped up in the car. He is good at controlling his feelings, but for an active man who hates sitting around doing nothing I know that this is torture. I love having him close, that we can sit together for hours, and I know there is a part of him that is enjoying it too, but it doesn’t replace his need to be out training, fighting or doing something practical like governing his pack.

He has given up so much to be with me, and I don’t know how to properly express my gratitude to him. When I try, he hushes me and tries to play it down.

Alex

Our journey so far has passed without incident, but I am not expecting this to last. We are getting closer and closer to Lucius territory, and I expect that he will make his move soon. Whether it will be a full-scale attack, or an attempt to test our defences at this point I am not sure, but I know it is coming. I am on edge waiting, trying to guess what he has planned.

While Katy has been training with Joseph, I have taken to spending time with the warriors. I have upped everyone’s training regime to ensure that their battle readiness is being maintained.

I have also been sending out scouting parties, to give us advanced warning if any of Lucius’ warriors get close. It is just a waiting game now. At least I get to spend time with Katy. I enjoy how close I am to her during the day when we sit together travelling, and even at night we manage to be together.