Snagged by the Rogue [COMPLETED]

24.

Vance (23 years before).

Alpha Kane is silent as we travel to the Royal Pack. His dark hair is gelled down and he looks exceptionally well-groomed.

I can't tell if he is nervous though, he never shows emotions. He is the epitome of a Lycan Alpha, stoic, decisive and cold.

I sit beside him, also dressed in my best clothes. Although what I consider my best clothes are what the Royals would consider a little better than rags.

I had carefully ironed my trousers so that gator line stood sharp and straight, my shirt was so starched that it could probably be used as a weapon.

I had spit-shined my shoes so extra carefully that the shine almost made up for the creases on the top and wear of the sole.

I was grateful I had been chosen to accompany the Alpha on his business trip. For some reason, the Alpha likes me. For the last year, he had sort of taken me under his wing. He called me regularly to accompany him on trips, he served me food in his house sometimes.

I was the envy of quite a few people in my pack.

But I had never accompanied him to the Royal Pack before.

Royals. In my little backwater Pack where nothing exciting ever happened, they were to us as werewolves were to normal humans; myths.

We knew they existed but it was hard to believe they did. Lycans with stronger powers? Elegant, poised, exceptionally attractive.

I am barely able to contain my excitement as we enter the pack. But I do. Because Alpha Kane doesn't appreciate excessiveness.

Especially not now when he is seems nervous. We were here to ask the Royal pack for a loan.

Our pack wasn't doing so well.

Euphemism.

We were doing terribly. And if we kept going this way, there soon may not be a pack at all.

We weren't a big pack. But that wasn't the problem. There were lots of small pack's that flourished.

But we were lazy.

I would be the first to admit, albeit reluctantly that my fellow pack members weren't the most hardworking lot.

We hardly ever trained, farming was done for the sole purpose of feeding. We didn't store much which meant winter months were long and bitter.

We would hunt, but over the years, we had already consumed the prey in the surrounding woods and the ones we hadn't eaten had simply gone further and further away until we now had to travel for almost a whole day before we could find even just a deer.

Times were hard. And we had come to ask the Royals for help.

While the Royals did of course have the resources to help us, it wasn't guaranteed that we would get their help.

They weren't exactly known for giving away money easily, exactly why they still had so much of it.

We would have to prove we were deserving.

We pull up to the Palace and crane my neck, looking at the building in awe.

We are shown into a sitting room by a maid. The room had plush chairs arranged neatly and the Alpha and I each took one.

We waited for what seemed like ages, because it was. Finally, a man with a salt and pepper beard walked into the room.

"Counsellor Fash," Alpha Kane greeted.

The Counsellor barely acknowledged his greeting before asking Alpha Kane to follow him.

Before he left, Alpha Kane shot me a look, I was to stay put.

I did as I was told.

I waited patiently as the high noon sun dipped and dipped.

I had grown restless and stood up to walk around the room a bit. I was admiring the wallpaper when I heard somebody approaching the room.

Afraid that I would be in trouble, I started hurrying to my seat. Before I could get to it, however, the person walked in. It wasn't my Alpha. It was a girl.

As my eyes met hers, I felt the instant connection and she did too.

"Mate," I announced.

She stood still for a second and fear dropped in my heart. Was she going to reject me?

Then she came forward and threw herself into my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck.

I held her close, inhaling her scent.

She was very pretty with bright blue eyes. She was slender but she didn't look weak by any means.

"How long are you around for?" She pulled back and asked.

Her voice was soft.

"I don't know," We would leave whenever Alpha Kane had concluded his business.

"I have to go, I'll see you."

I frowned, not letting her go, "Why?"

"I'll see you later, I promise."

I let her go, still not understanding why and she hurried from the room.

It was evening when Alpha Kane finally reappeared.

His face was taught and he looked tired.

"We have to stay the night at an Inn," he answered the question I asked with my eyes.

I resisted leaping in joy. More time to spend with my mate. Instead, I nodded solemnly.

We found an Inn at the center of town. It was a nice building as all the buildings in the Royal pack were and we paid a good price to get a room.

Alpha Kane took the bed of course, and I took the couch.

I thought about my mate, I hadn't thought to ask for her name. I thought about returning home with my mate in tow. I thought about the life we would build together, how perfect it would be. Children with the requisite Lycan black hair, I wondered whose eyes they would take, mine or hers. I wanted them to have hers.

Then I realised I was thinking way way way too far ahead. I didn't even know her name! I needed to slow down. Everything in due course. We had all the time in the world.

We had forever to be together.

It never occurred to me to wonder what she was doing in the palace.

And that's why the next morning, when we walked into the palace and were being escorted by the Counsellor and ran into her dressed in a gown with a maidservant following closely behind her, I was shocked.

I was even more shocked when the Counsellor said to Alpha Kane and I in way of introduction, "Of course, you know Princess Dahlia."

.
.
.
.
Yes, this story will also explore another pair of bound mates, Anaya's parents. A few chapters will be theirs' but majority will be Anaya's because this is primarily her story.

Enjoy!