The Rogue Queen

A New Family

    Daniel held out his hand and I took it, following him back to the woman and boys. She was clasping her hands under her chin and bouncing with excitement. Though she wasn’t as short as me, she was about 5'5", which made her the second shortest person on the road. She had a kind smile and a slight figure.

    One of the boys whispered something to the other three, who hit him in a brotherly way. Not like they wanted to hurt him, but not like they were entirely playing. I’d seen Ricky and Ty doing that a lot. They were all varying mixes of their parents, but had their father’s solid build.

    “Bellamy, this is my wife, Olive, and our sons, Galen is the oldest, then Hollis, Porter, and Bruce.” He said pointing out the boys who raised their hands at their names.

    “That’s a lot of boys.” I murmured.

    “It really is! I’m so happy you’re here! You know Kieran’s daughter is your age. I bet you’ll be best friends!” Olive gushed.

    “I’d like that.” I replied.

    I wasn’t lying, I’d love to have a friend, but pack wolves were particular about rogues. I fought not to wince as I remembered the rant Ricky’s youngest brother, Rhys, went on about how dirty, violent, and useless rogues were. He was only a year older than me, so I forgave him for being a jerk. Thirteen-year-old boys had big ideas about the world, and pack boys were entitled to the point of arrogance at times.

    “Let’s get you to the pack doctor for a check up, then we’ll show you your room. The fourth floor of the pack house is split between the Gamma and Beta families, the fifth is for the Alpha family, third is for guests, second is offices and meeting rooms, and first is general common areas. The boys will show you around tomorrow. I want you to eat and rest for the rest of the day.” She said in a commanding voice.

    It suddenly hit me. I was a Beta’s daughter. Not a common wolf in a pack, but a member of the higher rank wolves. 

    I’d been a little relieved about not joining Ricky’s family when I found out he was the future Alpha. I didn’t think I could manage to be a good Alpha’s daughter. Could I really be good enough to be a Beta’s daughter?

    They pulled me along to the van where I sat next to one of my new brothers. He was the youngest and had the same dark brown hair as his dad, but was about an inch taller than his mom. I jumped a little when he took my hand.

    “Don’t be afraid. We only eat redheads.” He snickered.

    “I’m allergic.” I whispered. All of the boys started laughing.

    “She’ll fit in great.” One of the ones in the back said.

    It was another ten minutes through the forest before the pack’s town came into view. They had some little stores, a movie theater, a community pool, an elementary school, middle school, high school, and library. I liked it. Olive told me the only humans who lived there were the ones mated to wolves, so we didn’t need to keep it a secret.

    After a quick stop for a check up with the pack doctor, we continued on to park in front of a huge house that overlooked the town. I was going to live in a mansion. My life had officially hit a peak. Getting out of the van, Olive and the boys led me into the house. It was immense.

    They took me by the kitchen and introduced me to the omegas who worked there. The head of the kitchen introduced himself as Yuri and asked what my favorite foods were. I just stared. 

    A favorite food? I was just happy to eat.

    “I… I don’t know. Sorry.” I murmured.

    “We’ll figure it out. You just tell me what you liked and what you didn’t like after each meal.” He said cheerfully.

    I glanced around the room and saw pitying looks from the staff. It made me blush. I’d never been pitied before. At least, not to my face. This whole thing was far more overwhelming than I thought it’d be. Olive and the boys took me out to the hall again.

    “We usually have everyone use the back stairs. The front stairs are for guests, normally. There’s an elevator over this way. Kieran’s dad had it put in so his wife wouldn’t have to walk all the way down the stairs when she was pregnant. Daisy, Bren, and I appreciated it when our times came.” She laughed. “You boys take the stairs. I’ll take Amy up.”

    They grumbled quietly and turned to a door, I was guessing was the stairwell. Olive took me to the elevator and we headed up to the fourth floor.

    “I know, it’s overwhelming. My family is one of the poorer ones in the pack. Imagine finding out my mate was the future Beta. I thought he’d reject me, for sure.” She said.

    “I can imagine. He wouldn’t have, though. I’ve met ex-pack wolves. They all talked about how much they loved their mate at first sight. Even if they didn’t know them before.” I whispered.

    It made what my mother did even worse. I’m all for true love and following your heart, but she’d broken someone else’s heart terribly. The way she described it, she wasn’t exactly gentle either. 

    Alphas tended to be aggressive and possessive, so I understood her need to completely shut him down. I just hated to think of the pain he must have gone through. I’d have kicked them out, too.

    “You’ll never have to worry about that. No male would reject the daughter of a Beta. When you find your mate, he’ll accept you right away.” Olive assured me.

    I felt my face pale as all the blood in my body felt like it turned to ice. She panicked as I swayed on my feet. I was going to have to watch everyone find and claim mates. 

    When I was seventeen, Kyle would look for me. Even if no one knew I was a rogue, he’d make sure they did. He wouldn’t give up until I accepted him.

    When the elevator doors opened, Daniel was standing there and picked me up. He carried me into an apartment, down the hall to a door that one of the boys opened, and set me on the bed. 

    I was still panicking. It felt like I was disconnected from the world and I fought to make my way back. I was going to regain my calm and gain control, I told myself.

    “What happened?” He asked.

    “We were just talking and she went white as a sheet and started looking like she was going to faint. I don’t know, maybe I said something wrong.” Olive replied.

    She sounded so scared and hurt. It instantly brought me back. I had to protect others. It was in my blood. She needed reassurance and only I could give it successfully. I took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it out slowly.

    “I’m sorry. I panicked. You didn’t say anything wrong. You just don’t understand what being rogue-born means. I’d rather not explain this a lot, so do you think I could meet with everyone who needs to know as soon as possible? I’d like to do it before I’m too tired.” I told them.

    Daniel looked at Olive and then stared off into the middle distance. That’s what mind linking looks like. It seemed like he was just spacing out. I could tell when he was done, because he closed his eyes briefly before opening them and addressing me.

    “Rest for a while. I have Yuri working on a snack for you and we’ll meet with Kieran, Tobin, Dr. Hale, and Clint. Clint’s the head of the warriors.”

    “The future leadership should be there, too. It’ll concern them. And the wives of all the head families. The Luna will need to know and her supports are your and Gamma Tobin’s wives. They’ll need to know how best to help you navigate.” I said.

    “You know a lot about pack wolves.” He chuckled.

    “I talked to ex-pack wolves whenever I could. I like knowing things.”

    “Are you going to tell us about your parents or your past?” The oldest boy asked.

    He would be the new Beta when Daniel retired. That would be when the new Alpha took over. I wondered what this pack’s rules were for it. With some it was when they found their mate, with others it was when they felt ready. I guessed I’d find out.

    “I’ll tell some things. I won’t tell others. I don’t know what pack my parents came from, but I’d like to not have my life, as a pack wolf, associated with theirs.” I replied.

    “Okay. We’ll respect that. I’ll be back in thirty minutes to take you to the meeting room. Explore your space or lay down, whatever feels right.” Daniel said, then they all left.

    I looked around the room for the first time. Ricky had asked my favorite colors. It was obvious he’d passed the information on to my new parents. The room was done in lavender, carnation pink, and forest green.

    The hardwood floor had a large circular green rug and there was a purple flower rug in front of the door to the hall and one in front of another door. I crossed the room to look, it was a bathroom. My very own bathroom. The shower curtain had pink and purple dots in a pattern, the bath mats and hand towels were forest green, and there were two purple bath towels.

    Returning to the bedroom, I looked in the dresser. There were all sorts of clothes, jeans, slacks, skirts, three different lengths of socks, different types of pajamas, and new underclothes. I hadn’t worn underclothes in ages. The closet next to the dresser had dresses ranging from somber to frilly, t-shirts, blouses, tank tops, sweaters, and jackets. I’d regained a lot of the weight I’d lost, and wondered if any of this would even fit me.

    It wasn’t that I was chubby, I was just practically a skeleton when they’d found me. With all the vitamins and stuffing me full of food for the past week, there were very few places where my bones were visible now. In the coming weeks, I’d probably gain more.

    I returned to the bed and laid down on the pink comforter. The bed was so soft. I couldn’t remember a time where I’d had anything like this bed. It was like a cloud.

    Soon, there was a knock at the door. I jumped a little. The knock came again. Actual privacy. I nearly laughed. It wasn’t funny, but relieving.

    “Come in.” I called out.

    Daniel entered and smiled. I wondered at how easily this family smiled and laughed. My family had been like that. Ricky and Ty were, too. Maybe I could be as easy going and cheerful, one day. Until then, I’d have to fake it.

    “Everyone’s ready and your snack is waiting. I’ll carry you so you don’t get too tired.” He told me.

    “Thank you. Umm… what do you want me to call you?” I asked.

    “The boys call me dad. You can if you want. Whatever makes you comfortable.”

    I sighed. “I’ll let you know what I figure out.”

    He chuckled and picked me up, carrying me to the elevator and hitting the button for the second floor. Once we arrived, he walked down the long hallway to a room at the end.

    “We had to use the lecture room. The boys all wanted to come, too. They want to support you and knowing about you helps. If you want, they can leave. We have the primary medical team, several elders, Kieran, Daisy, Bren, Tobin, Olive, Jason, Todd, and Clint. You let me know if you get overwhelmed and we can stop.” He said softly.

    “Okay.” I whispered. I didn’t know why we were being quiet, but I was okay with that.