Chapter 99

After we had left the conference room, Justin had a few of the Omega’s bring us some dinner, while he ran me a steaming hot bubble bath. We stayed up for a few more hours, talking about the Alpha ceremony and the events of the day. He would only get in the bath with me because he was determined to bathe me.

I finally fell asleep, nestled in his arms.

********************

It was now midmorning and we were sitting in the lounge in the Alpha suite, accompanied by my family, the beta family, Lucas and Everleigh, and Indigo.

“Was it hard being a female Alpha? When I saw you standing in the room yesterday, I automatically knew who you were, just from the aura that was exuding from you.”

I leaned forward, eager for her response.

“It was hard. Incredibly hard. You see, I was the first born, which meant that I was already supposed to be the heir to my father’s throne, but not many enjoyed that idea. My father fought the idea for the longest too. He purposely tried to have sons, just so that he could pass his throne onto a male heir. As you know, it is typically odd for Alphas and Lycans with royal bloodlines to have a female first. Essentially, their mates produce males first because they are supposed to be the heirs to the throne or, in your case, the pack. I didn’t like the idea of him putting my brother before me, even though I was the oldest. So, I told him to test me. Let me prove myself to him. He said he only wanted to see who was the strongest and smartest between my siblings and I, so we had a fight. I won with flying colors. Knocked both of them on their asses. They still haven’t lived it down to this day and that was about 200 years ago. While my father did not have to deal with any Elders telling him what to do with the throne, he had to deal with the backlash from his kingdom. Many of the packs and the people in his reign could not stand the thought of me being their next queen, so the death threats started. First, they were scentless with no prints, so we could not even trace them. Then, my food was poisoned. I have a keen sense of smell, so my food smelled off. I sent my dinner to a scientist and it came back that it had been laced with poison.”

“If the kingdom and the packs that were under your father were against you, how did you win them over?” I asked quietly.

One of my biggest fears is that my pack will not accept me as their true Alpha and they will rebel. I know that I am going to be scrutinized for every little thing I do, but I am hoping that I have at least my pack by my side. I can handle anything as long as they don’t turn on me.

“I am not going to lie to you. It took a lot of hard work and dedication. They were definitely not won over easily, but I did eventually have my family’s full support and the support of my father’s cabinet members, which did help me. I travelled through each of the packs and showed them what I had to offer them. I showed them that having a female ruler was not going to be a bad thing. It took lots of time and a hell of lot of effort, but I was able to do it and I have faith that you will be able to do it too.”

“Did anyone give you hell because you did not have a man by your side or because you refused to allow any man, including your mate, to take your title?”

She laughed. “I knew after what you had been through that I was going to get asked this question. Yes, I had some backlash, but I have yet to find my mate. At first, I was being pushed to take a chosen mate, but I had refused to settle for anything less than my fated mate, even if I never found him. I was constantly being told that I was not going to make a good queen without a mate by my side. They would constantly tell me that I needed to have a man by my side. Each time I would tell them that it was sexist. Just because I had a cunt, it did not mean that I could not handle the same shit that a man goes through. I am more than capable of surviving without a man. After a few months, they finally backed off, realizing that I was too damn stubborn to give to any of their demands.”

I laughed. I guess that was how I was described too. Too damn stubborn to “listen to the advice of men that were older than me.” I am happy to know that I was not the only one that was pressured to allow any man to take my title from me.

“I am glad that I was not the only one that was going through it. I hated every time someone implied that I had my title over to my mate and become the Luna. No, there is nothing that is wrong about being the Luna, but that is my title. I was the one that was born as the Alpha. I am the one with the strong aura. Why should I have to give up my title just for my mate? A mate that has no Alpha blood…don’t get me wrong. I love Justin, but it would not be fair to ask me to sacrifice my title just to appease a few male egos.”

Indigo smiled at me before looking at Lucas and Everleigh. “You were right, Lucas. I do like her. She has spunk and she doesn’t back down easily. She is going to need that as the Alpha of her pack. There are going to be many that try to take her down. This pack will have a spotlight on it because of who the Alpha is. Hopefully, she can help change the world and how they see females and, more importantly, how they view those that are in charge of a pack or even a kingdom.” She looked at me before continuing, “Don’t ever let those old shriveled fools tell you what you need to do with your title. You are the Alpha. You are the one in charge. Own it. Be it. Make them your bitch. Show them who the boss is.”

I smiled. I was glad that I had the chance to meet Queen Indigo. She was a breath of fresh air. It was refreshing to meet a female who was in charge instead of relying solely on those who were not in charge. It is time that the male population gets knocked down a few pegs.

We continued our conversation for a few more hours before I had to go to a meeting that I had set up with the Elders. Indigo had given me the idea for this meeting yesterday when we talked, so I decided to try it. I convinced my father to set up the meeting and told him that I did not want him to attend. They would have been scared to speak their minds if my father was present. I wanted to know what they were truly thinking and feeling. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to convince Justin not to attend with me, but he promised me he would keep his anger hidden if they said something to piss him off.

Like I told him, I just had to know the reasons that they hated me. I wanted to know what I did. If it was solely because I did not have a dick. I may not have a fucking dick, but I am still a damn King.

We walked down the long corridor, making our way to the first conference room. When we entered, all the Elders were present. I received a few glares, but for the most part, everyone was cordial when we walked in.

“Good afternoon, Elders. You are probably wondering why I have called this meeting. I wanted to hear from you before I became Alpha. I wanted to know what are some things that you feel the pack needs improvement on. Most importantly, I want to know why each of you has some sort of vendetta against me. I was never a ‘bad’ child. I reserved all the mischief making for Elijah. I never had a bad word to say against any of you. Suddenly, when I am announced as the next Alpha, you each go bat shit crazy. Enlighten me. What are the concerns you have for me?”

There was no surprise when Christopher was the first to open his mouth and speak. “Kataleya, you must have misunderstood us. None of us truly hate you. Well, at least you as a person.”

I looked around the room and the rest of the Elders were nodding their heads in agreement.

“Then, what was it?”

Elder Joshua was the next one to speak up. “We did not enjoy the fact that you were going to be a female Alpha. Females are not meant to rule a pack or be in charge of anything. There is a reason that women are typically Lunas. They are more nurturing and kinder than their male counterparts. Men don’t have that in them. Not to mention, we think your mate would make a great Alpha. We have always been fond of Justin since he came to our pack.”

I paused, thinking over my next words carefully. “What can I do to prove to you that I am the right one for this job?”

Edward was the next one to speak after looking at the rest of the Elders. They all nodded their heads as if they were in agreement with what he was about to say. “Honestly, there is nothing you can do. It will just take time to show us that you are going to exceed the standards that we have set for what would make a good Alpha. We don’t want you to fail because that would mean that we would fail as a pack, but we, also, need to see that you have it in you to succeed. Right now, we just don’t believe it.”

That was exactly what I thought they would say. Indigo told me as much when she told me about her experiences in her kingdom. She had to prove to them that she was perfect for the job. And that is what I will do. I will prove to them that no one can do this job better than me.

“Katelaya…on behalf of all the Elders…we just wanted to apologize for the actions of Benjamin. We never realized how far his hatred went and we never thought that he would try you for something that was not your fault…we fully believed that your father did all that he could for his family, including trying to help Lisa.” Christopher said apologetically.

“Thank you, Elder Christopher. I understand his pain and I plan to maybe try and help put him and his wife at ease. He will still undergo his punishment, as will Anna, but I will try to help ease some of the pain that he is still feeling from the loss of his daughter.”

He bowed his head to me and I dismissed the meeting.

While I knew what they were going to say to me based on their attitudes, it was good to see their point of view and how it shaped their ways of thinking. While nothing was resolved, I did learn how to gain their confidence. My goal is to prove to anyone that thinks that I cannot do it that I can do it. I will prove to them that I can run this pack better than that of a man.

Justin and I headed out of the room, walking hand in hand to dinner.

Now, tomorrow’s challenge will be to review those files and see if I can see anything they missed ten years ago.