Page 3 of Finding Love with the Fae King

Some “Moon Goddess” made them fall in love. There was no choice. Sure, it was great in some ways that you didn’t have to find out about someone’s personality before settling down. You automatically knew it was going to work out, but what about their choice? They couldn’t go off and date and decide for themselves if they loved someone. What if their mate was unappealing to them, they had a third eye, or they couldn’t please them sexually?Not that I would know what that’s like.Rolling my eyes, I continued to walk up the steps and heard the kids shouting at the playground not too far away. To think all those little kids were werewolves, and I never knew.

As we walked into the big foyer, Tulip’s parents stood at the entryway of the massive kitchen. Melina explained to me the roles of the two leaders of the community I grew up in. The supposed ‘Alpha’ of the community was Ramirez. He stood tall with his wife, whom I always thought was just the community mother figure, but was, in fact, called a Luna.

Ramirez was a nice guy, kind of gruff, and had a terrible habit of keeping his office messy. I swore when I stumbled upon his office several years ago, I thought I walked into a hazard zone. Food and drinks spilled all over the place; worst of all, his budget was laid out in the open with bank account numbers written across it.

It was only then I told him about my fascination with numbers when he walked in on me, staring at the numbers on the sheet. I was good at math and even better with budgets since I controlled all the money my parents sent me to live off. From then on, I took care of the accounting of the entire pack. Little did I know it was for a bunch of werewolves.

Ramirez’s wife was called the Luna. Tulip had briefed me quickly before we walked in. The Luna waved me over and motioned for me to sit down.

“Does she know now?” the Luna asked excitedly.

Tulip nodded her head excitedly, and Luna came over and gave me a hug. She had always been a delicate woman, always doting on her husband and making sure people felt welcomed. I was no different; she made me feel like this was my home, even though everything I lived here was a lie. I gave a brief smile as she went to stand with her husband, Ramirez.

“I’m sure you have questions,” Alpha Ramirez spoke. “We were hoping you would take it well, and it looks like you have. I mean, you haven’t run away in terror.” He let out a loud laugh.

I would have thought he was Santa Claus with that laugh if he wasn't so well-built. Several other wolves chipped in on the laughter, but I remained pretty stoic, not sure what emotion I should be emitting.

“Um, well. If you haven’t eaten me by now, I figured I was all right,” I started. “I am a little hurt that you couldn’t trust me with this information for all these years. I mean, I graduated high school with many of your members, and here I am, twenty years old, just finding out about it.” Folding my arms, I felt a few traitor tears trying to trickle down, but I held them back.I can’t show how upset I am and be some weak human now, can I?

“I know, Melina, I’m sorry,” Rose pitched in. “We just have certain rules and laws we must abide by, and we couldn’t tell you. It would put you and us in danger. Only recently could we tell some humans our secret through the Royal Council. Even then, it still must go through the council here in the Moon Light Pack. All the council members know you and, without hesitation, they agreed you could be a human that knows.”

I nodded, accepting it.

“You graduated with some of their grandchildren. We all care about you, dear.” Rose petted my hair, and I couldn’t help but jump off my seat and give her a hug.

I grew up with these wonderful people—er, uh, wolves. They wouldn’t hurt me. Some things were out of their hands, I supposed, but who was the Royal Council?Why am I allowed to know now?Sitting up straight and composing myself, I dared to ask my question.

“What is the Royal Council, then? Do you have a king and queen werewolf or something? Do they live in the pack or somewhere else?”

Tulip’s eyes lit up, and she grabbed my hands. “They are a king and queen and their representatives. They just recently passed a law allowing humans to visit Bergarian, and that is where we are having our mating ceremony! You will love it there, the way you love reading fairy tales with elves, fairies, and sirens. I know you will never want to leave!”

“Hold on there,” Tulip’s father, Elm, said. “Give the girl some space. This is a lot for her to take in.”

My head was spinning.Are there more of these fairytale characters? They are werewolves. What else could there be?

“Are there vampires, too?” I squealed worriedly. Everyone looked at each other and nodded. “They aren’t Twilight-style vampires, are they? If they sparkle, I don’t know if I could handle it.”

Tulip burst out laughing and shook her head while the others just chuckled.

“All right now, since you are taking this way better than expected, let’s go into the living room and sit down. We have a lot to discuss.”

We followed Alpha Ramirez to the large, warm living area with tanned leather couches. They were set up near an enormous fireplace and two stone wolves that flanked the chimney. Honestly, I didn’t know why I had never seen it before. I must have been too busy wallowing in pity since my own parents didn’t want me.Time to get over that real quick.

Ramirez stood next to the fireplace, one elbow leaning against the mantel as we all sat down. Tulip sat next to me, holding my hand while her mate held the other. I wanted to strangle this boy that thought he had a hold on to my Tulip. I gave him a glare, which he only responded to with a wink.Dumb mate crap.

Ramirez rubbed his hands together and began talking, “Now that we have our guest of honor here”—he tipped his head over to me, and I blushed and tried to sink into the sofa—“my niece is getting married and has decided her mating ceremony will be at the Crimson Shadows Pack in Bergarian. This means we are going to have to travel lightly. Most clothing will be provided except for the actual mating ceremony.” Everyone nodded, and I sat there dazed and confused.

“Now, Melina, we need to discuss Bergarian with you.”

My eyes widened, ready to hear about this fairy tale place Tulip had just mentioned.

“Bergarian is another realm. It is much like Earth, yet it is meant for the supernaturals that the Gods had placed here to protect humans from Gods that weren’t so, well, friendly. As humans strengthened, they became scared, violent, and hostile, so the Gods created a whole new realm just for us. The supernaturals. There are, like Tulip said, werewolves, fairies, sirens, pixies, shifters, dragons—you name it. They are there and have been hiding for a long time. We go through a portal that is about two hours from here, and once we go through, we will be there in the next realm.”

I should have been freaking out about this, but I wasn’t. I was nodding my head like I was in a trance. I felt like I should go there and check this place out. “How long will we be there?”

“Two weeks,” Rose said. “That will give us time to have a brief vacation after the mating ceremony. Elm and I will show you around, and we will come back afterward.”

I nodded and then paused. “Wait, will you be coming back, Tulip?”

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