Chapter 7: Rumors

“The king is in the lounge area, maybe we can see him.”

I looked at the two werewolf females that were with me in the kitchen.

They were both trying to fix their clothes and hair as they watched themselves in the mirror.

“I heard Beta Sebastian is also there with him. I think I’m gonna like general meetings because of this.” One of them giggled after saying that.

“What’s happening?”

I silently asked Maddie who was washing dishes with me. She came here to help me, even when I told her she didn’t need to.

She glanced at the two who were still gushing over the king and his beta.

“There will be a general meeting in the pack. Everyone has to gather for some important announcement. They say it’s one of the only occasions they get to see the king upclose since he didn’t like meddling with others.”

Maddie closed the faucet as I took a towel to dry the clean plates.

“Why?” She shrugged.

“Him and the Beta didn’t really talk much with others excluding the High Council and other people they had to do business with. They’re somehow kind of a mystery even to their own people.”

“So? What’s the big deal?” I asked, still not getting why those girls seem so happy.

Though, the part where ‘they don’t talk much with others’ was something that piqued my interest.

Of course I was bound to have that conversation with the king, but Sebastian seemed very friendly and approachable with me yesterday, considering I wasn’t even a lycan like them.

And what he said about I was one of them now…

Maddie started putting the plates on their proper places as I continued drying them.

“Well, the king may be elusive to other people, but rumors say he’s kind of the ladies man himself.”

My hands that were quickly doing some work instinctively slowed down.

“Despite the scarcity of the female lycan population, he was said to have been seen with most of the female lycans that belonged in the higher-ups or the elite circle. People immediately assumed he was dating them, since he is the ruler and he needed to have heirs soon. And well,” she gestured her head to the girls that had started walking out of the kitchen after being satisfied with their looks.

“Maybe those other girls thought they could be part of the parade too.” She looked at me.

“Did I mention some people volunteer to be part of the Offering?” I immediately shook my head, shocked at the new information.

“Yes, some girls do. And maybe those two were part of the people that volunteered to be part of the Offering. I don’t blame them, though.” She shrugged.

“If the king wasn’t just scarily intimidating, with how gorgeous he looked, I don’t think I wouldn’t mind lining up either.” Maddie finished with a giggle.

“Where did you know all about this?”

She turned to me, hearing the serious tone of my voice.

I caught myself and quickly went back to wiping some dishes. I mentally slapped myself.

‘Don’t, Jia.’

I warned my wolf when I felt her stirring at my reactions. I could also feel her getting agitated over the things we just heard about our mate.

The bastard that he is.

“Well, I hear things from people when Linda and Edwin make me tag along with them during meetings or events. Though I’ve attended one so far.” Maddie chuckled.

“You said those were just rumors…” I calmly added this time.

She nodded.

“Yeah, people just immediately assumed. But considering his character, I kind of doubt it’s true. But really, we don’t know. The king, even to his people, is quite a mystery. The entire Andreyev family, in fact. They’ve ruled over Vamos for centuries, and yet no one could still fathom the way they think.”

I sighed and continued doing my work until we finished.

Maddie told me everything that I should anticipate about the general meeting. It was going to be the first time for us both, and she told me that all new people will be attending the meeting as well. And everyone will be gathered in the Main Hall.

It was apparently a yearly activity among the reigning pack of Vamos. Thus, the organization that was established in their community.

Maddie and I started walking out of the Omega house towards the Main Hall, along with some of Edwin’s cooks that Maddie introduced to me as her new friends.

We made our way inside the already crowded hall. In front was a stage where the important people of the pack already stayed.

I couldn’t help my eyes when they roamed around to look for the king.

Someone was already speaking in front, as we came in a little bit late since we had to finish some things in the house first.

There were much more people on stage than what I remembered the High Council’s number was.

But I found him, on the side, standing as magnificent as ever… with a woman beside him.

“…to settle down so we can start the meeting.”

“Come on, Rina.”

Maddie’s hand on my arm took my attention.

I turned to her as she gestured for me to follow.

We settled on the side of the hall where bleachers were stationed. It was already full, so we had to just stand beside it.

“There he is,” Maddie whispered beside me as she watched the stage.

“I bet that’s Lady Julia. She was one of his rumored girlfriends before.”

“More like she’s been wanting to be mated with the king.”

One of the cooks, Robert, jumped in when he heard Maddie filling me in with information.

I met his warm brown eyes.

“Their family had always wanted a connection with the Adreyevs, preferably through marriage. But the king and her had their wolf, turned eighteen, but no matebond has been formed. And it seemed like the king Titus didn’t fancy her that much to even consider it. But look at them now, so who knows,” he said.

I turned to look back at the stage and saw that the girl was still constantly trying to talk to the king as he stood unmoving on his spot in the middle.

Like usual, he wore the same black suit that suited his overall dark look. His hazel eyes were probably the only light part of him.

I didn’t know what to feel then. Whether I should pity the girl for looking so desperate as he basically ignored her, or feel relieved.

I bit my tongue, not liking the sound of the second option.

‘You can’t help it. He’s your mate as much as he is mine.’

I heard Jia say, feeling my frustration over this connection I had with the king.

‘Why, of all people it had to be him.’ I groaned, and Jia immediately growled at my complaint.

It pissed me off.

I hated how I couldn’t just shrug the feeling off, added with Lia’s constant justification of his actions.

After that mysterious healing I got, along with the basket full of fruits and vitamins, I couldn’t make my wolf shut up.

“… for more protection. The new people in the pack will be united as packmates in the Unification ceremony for them to be made one of us.”

My attention was taken when people started buzzing over the announcement that was just given.

I looked at the crowd around us. People had mixed reactions about it.

Some looked shocked, some happy, and some had disapproving frowns on their faces.

“What’s happening?” I asked Maddie on my side.

“They just announced that us, non-lycan werewolves, will be welcomed fully as part of the Vamos pack. We will be permanent residents here.”

Maddie sounded shocked, and I couldn’t really blame her.

I didn’t think they’d ever make us part of their high-society pack. And they’re lycans; we’re basically not the same species.

And from what I could gather from the people’s reactions, this might be the first time this has happened.

“The Unification ceremony will take place on the night of the full moon.” The announcer continued despite the growing sound of the crowd.

“This is to protect everyone from the recent rogue attacks, not just packmates. As the reigning pack, the king ensures proper safety for all of the kingdom’s people.”

With that, my eyes instinctively went to the king, and he was already looking at me.

I instinctively froze on my spot.

“Punishments will be done when any of these aforementioned rules are violated by anyone. Adjourned.”

King Titus was the one who let go of our staring when Lady Julia spoke something beside him.

With a bright smile, she gestured for them to go down as people also started exiting the hall for the end of the event. She held his arm, and I saw how he let her touch him like that.

I looked away, not wanting to feed my very ambiguous feelings for the man.

We don't even acknowledge each other. So why should I bother myself with him?

I sighed, also overtaken with feeling kind of nervous over the ceremony that they just said we had to do.

The Unification will require us to cut our hands and put a drop of blood in a bowl where the king or the Alpha of the pack’s blood was put first.

That way, we create the connection. We can start communicating through mindlink, and become fully fledged packmates.

There is a certain power that unites werewolves once blood is included in a ritual. The Unification often takes a toll physically. Some even faint after doing it.

It creates that zing around the body as our wolves' souls get connected.

And I wonder what it would do to me once I do the Unification with my mate who didn’t want me.