Chapter 20

Nick POV.

She was his mate, my best friend, the person who I had all of my firsts with, was his mate, the alpha king, the leader of the Lycanthrope. She was claimed no less than a few days ago, and since then school had been so quiet. The usual rebellious students had become less vocal and everyone seemed to be walking on egg shells.

I was sat in class, listening to Mr Foley try and teach us when the tannoy went off and our principles voice floated through the classroom. "Students, please congregate in the main hall as an important announcement will be given from the royal court. Thank you." My head shot to Mr Foley who clearly had the same idea as me, it must have been news about Dylan.

"Ok, class. Pack your things away, we will continue our lesson after." This can't be good. Dylan is reckless, she's a loose cannon who doesn't mind taking punishment if she believes she is in the right. Which most of the time she is.

The entire class began to leave for the main hall and I myself was among them, only a minute of being outside went by before my arm was grabbed in a tight hug, I knew this to be Arya, my mate.

"Babe, How was your morning?" She asked as she linked her arm in mine while we began walking to the hall.

"This is about Dylan isn't it?" My question completely disregarded hers, which she didn't care for. Her face contorted into a frown and I found myself sigh at it.

"So what if it is, that girl is gone, she's our queen, I'm your mate so just forget about her." It was easier said than done, I loved Dylan, she was beautiful kind, smart, funny, and strong, she was everything a person ought to be. Not that she new it. Every human in this school looked up to her. Even some of the lycans found her intriguing. She was genuinely a natural leader. I was in love with her right up until the day I was claimed, I don't think she ever knew it though.

"Arya, she's my best friend, I can't just..." I was cut off by the principle who had met us before going into the hall, he wore a blank expression and was clearly as out of the loop as we were.

"Take your seats, the news announcement will be on in 5 minutes." We all took our seats while the principle sorted the holographic projector so we could watch the royal news. Instantly the news channel flashed on and on the screen was the king himself.

"First of all, I would like to say thank you, to everyone who is watching. This is an amazing time for any wolf and I am grateful to my subjects for being so supportive." He went on with thank yous and mini speeches while I simply looked out for Dylan who currently was nowhere to be seen.

"On my travels around the states I am pleased to say that I have been lucky enough to have found the mate the moon goddess has chosen for me. She is beautiful, and strong and I truly believe she will make an amazing queen." Maybe I was wrong maybe she had accepted him, I mean it is hard to deny and reject your mate, he seemed genuinely happy which could only really mean one thing, he had marked her.

As soon as that thought flew into my mind it left my thoughts as the large doors to the palace were opened and Dylan stumbled out, I heard many gasps from around the hall as she was pulled into the side of the king. At first glance she looked stunning. Everything was perfection, her hair, her makeup and even her dress.

"She looks exhausted." I heard someone say from the back of the hall, and it was true. Looking closer at her you could see how red and bloodshot her eyes were, her cheek looked slightly swollen under her makeup and bruising could be seen poking out of the fabric on her neck, her hands were shaking slightly and her eyes were scanning her surroundings like her life depended on it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our grand palace, it's a pleasure to be in front of you all today." The king began to speak again, but my eyes stayed glued on Dylan, she clearly didn't care for the situation she was in. "As you all know, the reason you are here is so that I have the privilege of announcing the discovery of my mate and your queen." Cheers and applause could be heard from outside the palace and cameras kept going off in Dylan's face. "I would like to introduce my beautiful mate, Queen Dylan Riley." Her entire body tensed slightly as he began to show her off to the crowd and news reporters. Her head whipped around as if trying to take as much as she could in before she had to return to inside the palace.

The kings head suddenly turned towards her, he whispered something in her ear which caused slight panic to cloud her eyes.

"He's hurting her!" A boy stated as we all looked at the screen. It was true, the king had allowed his claws to come out and had completely embedded them into her skin, she let out a sharp wince before turning her head towards a camera and looking directly into it.

She took a deep breath, and swallowed thickly before beginning to read in a monotone bored voice. "It's a pleasure to be here in front of you all today." You could tell by her face and tone of voice that what she was saying definitely wasn't the case. "From a young age every little girl dreams of being a princess, now I get to live that fantasy. When my school informed us the king was visiting I was so excited, we all hoped that we would be the Kings..."

She trailed off as She appeared to be reading what She was supposed to say, but She obviously couldn't bring herself to say it, the words simply wouldn't leave her mouth. I watched the projection as the kings grip tightened on her hip and the claws that were in her flesh seemed to sink lower into her skin, causing another wince to leave her mouth.

"I think my queen is a little camera shy, after all, it must be daunting knowing the entire world is watching." The king chuckled causing everyone outside the palace to chuckle too. It was evident by her face that she did not like the idea of people seeing this and so she frowned and looked down, wriggling slightly in the kings hold. "Why don't we take some questions?"

"Why isn't queen Dylan marked yet?!" In my head I mentally answered them all. She isn't marked because she won't let him, simple as that.

"Is it true you had to force her to come to the castle?" Well obviously, Dylan would never go willingly.

"What are your views on the rebellion in the west?" He probably wants to kill anyone involved.

"Has the Queen met the king and queen regent yet?" God help her if she has.

"What was it like when you first met each other?" Awful, she hated him and he clearly only wanted her to because she’s fated to him.

"Has Queen Dylan seen your wolf form yet, your grace." Huh, I hadn't even seen Aryas wolf form yet.

I spaced out as I answered the questions in my head, that is until Dylan began to answer a few.

"Your grace, Your grace!" The king gave permission to answer some questions and so she nodded, every camera seemed to stop and become directed at her the second She silently agreed to answer. "Where you ever disciplined by the wolf district in your area?" 

"Yes, frequently." He voice was rough, she didn't care about speaking the truth, in fact I think Dylan was disciplined the most in the district. The king didn't look too pleased with her answer though as he snapped his head in her direction.

"Is it true you stated on many occasions that you would rather die than be mated to one of our kind?" Yup, she screamed it at the king when he first claimed her. That was a horrible day, everyone felt bad for her. None of us had ever seen her so mad before.

"That's enough..." the Kings hand snatched her wrist before turning back to the cameras "when we are mated officially, a statement will be given." He began dragging her tired body back inside mumbling to himself as the cameras continued to click and flash.

"Well there you have it, the king has found his queen, and that can only mean one thing. A coronation is in the near future, stay with us for daily updates as we follow the new royal relationship. Tune in tomorrow for the latest updates, we're as regular as the moon changes." As soon as the news reporter had finished speaking, the screen went black. No one could comprehend what we just watched.

"Alright, everyone back to class." Even the principle didn't know what to say. The whole hall silently stood up and began making its way to all the different classrooms.

"I'll see you later, babe. Enjoy the rest of your day." She kissed my cheek quickly before walking off down the hall with her brother and a few of her mates, while I walked to the human side of the school.