Chapter 2 - Unexpected Encounter
No matter how many times she came to the city, the hustle and bustle of Pherron always left her in awe. Home to the alpha royal family it attracted shifters of every clan, culture and creed. With so many people occupying the city, traders came from near and far to set up their businesses. Her aunt Mya was one of them, running an apothecary catering to the low level shifters and omegas who weren't able to heal as well as the upper and middle class shifters.
Today seemed particularly busier than usual and a crowd had gathered by the square. In the midst of the crowd Adalyn spotted her red-headed friend Leona jumping up and down trying to see what was going on.
"Boo!" Adalyn pounced on her causing Leona to jump out of her skin and nearly fall back on her ass before Gabriel caught her. Adalyn's face instantly broke in to hysterics. It was a fun past-time of hers to sneak up on Leona and scare her out of her wits.
"Seriously Ads, what's wrong with you? You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days. I can't take much more of this"
Leona, puffed up and stared hard in to Adalyn's eyes. Despite Leona's small 5'2 frame compared to Adalyn's 5'7, she was not one to be messed with. This girl was definitely all bark and bite and with her fiery red hair she could intimidate any fully grown shifter.
Adalyn stared back down at her in a mocking copy cat gesture before both their faces split back open in laughter.
"So what's all the ruckus, is it a street parade or something?" Adalyn tried to peer through a gap in the crowd to get a better look.
"The king and queen are back from their pack tour of the southern territories. They're being escorted back to the palace in open top carriages in celebration of their return".
Leona was jumping up on tip toes to try and get a better look. "If we're lucky we might get a good glimpse at the princess and the three hot princes"
"Oh…." Adalyn feigned interest. The princes were always talk of the town. With the oldest, Matias, recently mated, all of the young unmated female wolves were fawning after the younger two Elias and Kaiden who had yet to find mates of their own.
As the sound of horses clip clopping up the street intensified the crowd turned in to a throng of swooning she-wolves as the princess and princes came in to view in the carriage leading at the front.
Leona grabbed hold of Gabriel for support as everyone in the crowd pushed and shoved for a better view. "Help a girl out would ya! Why don’t you put all that muscle to use and help us get to the front"
Gabriel sighed again, he didn't see why all these girl's were so obsessed with them, and this diversion was interfering with his 'planned business' with Matilde.
"Fine! I don’t have all day so hurry up." Gabriel grabbed both Leona and Adalyn by the back collars of their shirts and dragged them through the crowd to the front. The crowds parted as disgruntled women were bumped aside. Many of them looked to say something but quickly changed their mind once they saw look of displeasure and annoyance spread across his face. Reaching the front of the crowd Gabriel dropped both of them on their asses.
"Hey! Why did you drag me along? I have no interest in this at all!" Adalyn scowled and then started to straighten out her t-shirt, her new t-shirt, which Gabriel had now nicely stretched out around the neckline.
"There! My job is done, see you two later. Ads, make sure you head back with Mya, I won't be back till late." And with that Gabriel tore straight back through the crowd from where he came.
Completely ignored, Adalyn didn't fancy her chances at trying to get back through the crowd. As keen as she was to get to the new bookstore she resigned herself to the fact that she'd have to wait for the crowds to die down before she could leave.
"Look here they come!" Leona squealed excitedly
In the carriage Kaiden sat back in his seat feeling more bored than ever. He was never a big fan of royal functions and duties and the heavy black regalia he was forced to wear for such appearances only added to his aggravation.
"Cheer up Kai! It looks like half the city have turned up to welcome mother and father back home, the least you can do is offer them a smile". His half sister Melody nudged him from inside the carriage and offered small waves to the cheering crowd.
Kai's wolf equally hated big public spectacles and paced back and forth in his mind like a caged animal.
Elias however, Kai's older half brother, was lapping up all the female attention he was receiving. As the second prince, an unmated one at that, he knew how to work the females up in to a frenzy. He was commonly referred to as the 'playboy prince' amongst the masses. Whilst Kai and Melody were sitting down, Elias was standing up and waving enthusiastically at the crowd.
"All these beautiful women all gathered in one place! Makes me feel like a night on the town is in order." Elias winked and then grabbed Kai's head in a loose headlock. "What do you say little bro, fancy coming with me?"
Kai loosened his grip and shoved Elias back in to his seat opposite him. "Thanks, but no thanks, I've never been interested in your sloppy seconds."
"Seriously Kai, you're no fun! You're 21 now, you need to learn to live a little and enjoy what life has to offer you whilst you're still in your prime." He winked again in Kai's direction.
Melody scowled at her older brother Elias. "We all know what that means, stop trying to corrupt our little brother, he doesn't have any interest in going to the red light district with you." At 23 Melody often acted as mediator between the siblings. She took a particular shine to Kai being that he was the only one born to the king outside of their parents marriage and was often shunned by the other members of nobility within the palace.
Kai's father, King Maddox, had stepped out on his chosen mate Queen Ophelia, (Matias, Elias and Melody's mother) to be with Kai's mother, Kaia, his fated mate. Their brief affair resulted in her pregnancy with Kai but she died not long after giving birth to him. Since then Maddox hadn't quite been the same. The death of his fated mate left him weakened physically and his council had increased their authority to fill the gap. Kai suspected that was one of the reasons why Matias resented him, despite Queen Ophelia accepting him as her own.
"You're a spoil sport Melody! It's in a wolf's nature to hunt beautiful females before he settles down. To deny our desires is to deny who we are as shifters. Now look at Matias, 29, already mated and under the thumb already. Where is the fun in that?"
Since Matias' mating and subsequent arranged marriage to Elora of the Storm Forrest Pack, one of the large packs from the Southern territories, Matias had stepped up in his role as Crown Prince. It was always presumed that Matias would become the new king of the alphas once Maddox stepped down, but it was never as simple as that. The king's council had significant power and influence when it came to deciding the next king and in the past bloody wars had often raged between siblings when a king's successor was chosen.
As Kai's oldest half brother, and with the 8 year age gap between them, they never had the closest relationship growing up. Living up to his role as crown prince, he rode separately to his other siblings in a carriage behind them with his new bride and the King and Queen.
Kai was twiddling an old coin in his hands when suddenly a familiar smell piqued his interest. The smell was faint but it was definitely there. He had smelled that breath-taking scent numerous times before. It smelled of lavender and freshly cut grass. Kai's wolf jumped to attention as the familiar smell unfurled desire through him. Mirroring his wolf Kai suddenly shot up from his seat and started scanning the crowd.
His sister Melody, stared alarmed at Kai's sudden action. Kai was always super composed and his burst of action had both her and Elias puzzled. She stood up cautiously and placed her hand over his arm and started looking in to the crowd with him.
'What is it Kai? Is something wrong," she queried.
Her question fell on deaf ears as Kai continued to scan through the crowd. He had smelled her scent numerous times before when he observed her quietly from afar, but this time she was in the city, mere feet aware from him. 'What was she doing here? Why had Arrow not said anything?' he thought to himself
Finally his eyes caught sight of his target. He stared at her as though he was looking at this emerald eyed beauty for the first time. The noise from the crowd faded in to nothing and all he could see was her.
"Mate!" his wolf called out to him from within.