The Alpha Queen And Her Chosen Mate

Kelly

“Good morning Emmett!” I beamed, skipping into his office to get my pill.

“Good morning.” He said, looking at his watch. “You’re early.”

“Am I?” I asked, sitting on the edge of his desk and crossing my legs.

“An hour early actually.” He looked at me pointedly.

“It would be a lot easier if you just gave me the pills.” I said matter of factly. “I could set an alarm for a reminder and we could be done with this.” I shrugged.

“You know I won’t do that.” He shook his head. “But I take it from your happy demeanor that the pills are working?” He asked.

“Wonderfully.” I smiled. “My wolf has been silent for weeks now.”

“And physically? Emotionally?” He pressed.

“Fine.” I shrugged, my voice going a little higher than I had intended.

“Side effects are normal, Kelly. And as your doctor, I need to know if something is wrong,” Emmett added.

“I’m fine, just a bit tired every now and then.” I shrugged.

“Uh-hu.” He said, grabbing a tissue and pressing it to my nose. When he removed it, there was b***d on the tissue. “I’d like to run some tests.”

“I promise I’m fine.” I practically pleaded. “That’s just a fluke.”

“Then you should have nothing to worry about,” he said, standing from his desk and flicking his head towards the exam room.

He took a few vials of b***d, listened to my heart and lungs, and did a few other random tests before giving me my pill and sending me on my way. Thank goddess. I don’t know what I’d do if he didn’t give it to me. Probably go insane. Life without Keres was like a breath of fresh air. It felt like a fresh start. I felt like I had a chance at happiness again. And I wasn’t going to let that feeling go.

– – – – – – – – –

King Carson

Kelly has been doing remarkably well the past few weeks. Whatever the doctor was giving her was finally working. She wasn’t a vegetable and her wolf wasn’t a problem anymore. Thank goddess. Maybe soon I can start thinking of retiring. Of course, I want to see that Kelly is stable for at least a year, maybe two, before that happens. She has only been on her pills for a few weeks. But we finally reached a turning point, as it would seem. Now if only I could say the same about my mate…

“Your condition has taken a turn for the worse, I’m afraid.” The doctor said, looking between my mate and I and her chart.

“That’s not the first time you’ve said that doctor.” My mate coughed. “What has changed?”

“At this rate, with your conditions, I’m afraid that you might only have ten years left,” he said.

“Ten years?” I frowned.

Our kind typically live for close to a hundred and fifty years. Carleigh was only forty-five. She wasn’t even a third of the way through life yet.

“If we are lucky,” he said grimly. “I have some colleagues I am waiting to hear back from. Hopefully, we can figure out some course of treatment to turn that ten into a hundred and ten.”

“Is that all?” Carleigh asked, unphased by it all.

“Yes Luna.” He bowed his head as a sign of respect and we left soon after.

Ten years? Only ten years before my mate might pass? That was hardly any time at all. We barely have any time together these days. And now it felt like we had hardly any time left.

“We don’t know for certain what the moon goddess has planned for my life. I don’t want the girls to know a thing about this.” She said pointedly. “And I don’t want you worrying about me.”

“Carleigh-“

“I have watched you go through war, Carson. I was strong for you, I need you to be strong for me.” She said, continuing along. “I don’t want another word about it.” I let out a heavy sigh and nodded, taking my mate’s hand and continuing along. “Lets go have dinner with the girls.”

“Yes my Luna.”

– – – – – – – – –

“So Kylie, how was school today?” My mate asked our youngest, who was now in her sophomore year of high school.

She only shrugged in response, her hoodie covering her head while she pushed her spoon around in her soup. Carleigh shot me a concerned look, to which I had no response. Kylie has always been different than our older girls. She was always very inquisitive. My mate and I used to think she would be a reporter or a detective, maybe even a private investigator or a spy one day. She was always one step ahead of everyone else in what she knew. But that came with her also being very pulled back from people. Hard to talk to and approach.

“How was your appointment?” She asked, her bottom l*p quivering before she shoved her food away from her and stormed off.

“Kylie-” My mate called.

“What’s her problem?” Kelly scoffed, taking a seat at the table, with Kelsey and her family only seconds behind her.

“Nothing.” I grumbled, honoring my mate’s decision not to tell anyone, although Kylie somehow seemed to already know.

“How was your day? Kelly? Kelsey?” Carleigh asked.

I could feel her mood dropping. Obviously, bothered by the fact that Kylie knew. She listened to Kelly and Kelsey talk about their days before graciously excusing herself to go check on Kylie, undoubtedly. Even in her sickness she was always emotionally available for our girls. I wish I could say the same. But I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. My job was to protect them, to secure their future. There were so many forces that could work against us at any moment. I carried that burden so they didn’t have to.

Another reason why I was hesitant to hand over my title to Kelly. She was unarguably the strongest of my three girls, but I would hate to put such a burden on her at such a young age. The longer I could put off having her made queen, the better.

– – – – – – – – – –

Kelly

“Lets go!” I yelled, giving my hoarse Gracie a slight tap with my heels to pick up the pace.

She gracefully galloped through the woods, leaping over fallen logs and dodging trees on the way. I took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the fresh air. I have been out every night this week, enjoying the evenings with my new hoarse. I got her a week after Emmett gave me my new medication, sort of like a reward for all my trials leading up to now. It was a new beginning for me.

Maybe I would finally start traveling or perhaps pursue love. Or face my biggest mountain, talking to my father about becoming queen. It didn’t have to be now, but it would be nice to know a projected date. Did he want me to be a certain age? Did he want to be a certain age? Was he waiting for Keres to settle down? If I just knew what he was thinking, maybe I could help things along or at least understand and not be so wound up about it all.

I let Gracie stop for a water break by a stream a few miles into the woods. Kneeling down, I scooped up some water for myself, wetting my dry mouth. I could taste a bit of iron. Another nosebleed. Third one this week. Slowly, I got back up on my feet, using Gracie for support. The dizzy spells were getting worse too. Not that I was going to say anything about it. Not when it was working so well. I have been through far worse than a bloody nose and dizziness.

“Lets go home Gracie,” I said as I carefully mounted her.

She was trotting through the woods when everything started to spin and I fell off her. I briefly remember hitting something hard with my head and watching Gracie run away before everything went dark.