Former Queen's Visit

As they expected, 3 days later the former Queen arrived at the palace and Anna is the first to greet her with a warm hug.

"My dear Anna, so good to see you." Former Queen Margret says as they pull away from each other.

"Grandma Maggie, I missed you." She says in response.

"I missed you too. So tell me what's new." Grandma Maggie says as she hooks her hand through Anna's.

"Well Nate found his mate but she's a rouge." Anna says playing on the fact that Grandma Maggie hates rouges.

"Has he accepted her?" She asks and Anna nods sadly forcing tears to come to her eyes.

"Not on my watch." Grandma Maggie says pulling Anna along so that they can enter the palace maneuvering through the halls until she arrives at the dining room where Nate and his family are having breakfast.

"Surprise." She says as she enters the room and they look up at her with smiles on their faces.

"Grammie." I say approaching her wrapping her in a warm hug inhaling her family blueberry scent.

"Nate, my dear boy." She says returning my embrace but I spot Anna a few spaces behind her and barely suppress a snarl.

"I thought you were coming later today." I say as I pull back from her.

"I thought I'd surprise you but onto a more pressing matter. Reject your mate and accept Anna as your queen." She says stunning everyone into silence so still that you can hear the maids moving the dishes in the kitchen.

"Excuse me?" I ask Eli pushing his way to the surface despite me trying my best to keep him at bay.

"I refuse to accept a packless mangy mutt as my grand-daughter in law." She says to me while she pulls Anna closer by her hand.

"Reject the useless thing and accept Anna as Queen and Mate. She's the right match for you." Grammie says to me while I struggle to keep my emotions in check so I don't lash out at her so I clench my teeth instead while taking deep breaths.

"let me make something clear, I will NOT satisfy your delusional dreams of having Anna as my mate or Queen to please you. I accepted my mate the night I found her and she accepted me so I WILL NOT betray her." I say with suppressed anger evident in my voice.

"Nate!" She yells at me as I walk past her and Anna.

"And you wonder why your own family doesn't discuss these things with you." I say before I exit the room, slamming the door. I return to my room and start passing like a caged animal while keeping a furious Eli at bay.

'Who the hell does she think she is?!' He yells snarling.

'What do you think?' I ask in turn and he snaps his jaws in response.

'Let's go for a run maybe we can bump into Mei.' I suggest to him and he clams down considerably at the mention of her name.

'Let's go.' He says and I smile in response as I leave my room heading towards the private training grounds which have a clear path to the surrounding forest. When I arrive there's no hesitation to shift and with a burst of speed head into the forest going past the castle's forest borders and into the neutral ground until I arrive at the clearing where I first met her. Slowing down to a walk I head towards the lake where her trail ended and take a seat basking in the gentle morning sun.

With a sigh and a nagging feeling, I cross the stream and continue walking until I arrive at the Phospiet forest. They say the trees are alive and if they don't want you to pass you'll never find your way out once you enter and if they don't want you to enter you'll be blocked out by the ancient magic that created it. After staring at the imposing line it creates compared to the rest of the forest I leave returning to the castle whereupon my reentry into the training grounds Derek is standing there holding a change of clothes for me. He places it on the ground in front of me and turns around so that I have some semblance of privacy as I get dressed.

"You were gone a long time." Derek says as turns to face me once again.

"Well, I had two options. Stay and rampage through the castle or go for a run to calm down. I preferred the latter." I say to him as I let out a sigh.

"Lucky you." Derek says.

"What'd I miss?" I ask him and he lets out a tired sigh.

"Other than your Grandmother and Anna being more unbearing than usual not much." Derek responds with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What'd she tell you?" Derek asks.

"Can't you guess?" I asked rolling my eyes at him.

"I was hoping there was a different answer." He says to me.

"So after all these years she still hasn't learned." Derek states and I nod at him as we take the long route toward the castle.

We continue talking until we end up on the topic of the missing wolves as we enter the study taking a seat in our respective chairs just as the sun begins to set.

"What about asking Mei for help?" Derek asks me and I let out a sigh.

"The rouges are the largest pack in the state compared to the other states where they are rare reports of wolves leaving their packs. They have a lot of resources. I'm sure but the question is if they are willing to help us." I say running a hand through my hair.

"Won't know unless you ask." He says as he stands stretching to get the blood pumping in his legs.

"I'm heading home in the morning so I gonna turn in early." Derek says and I nod dismissing him. After he leaves I continue to work until the wee hours of the morning before I return to my room where I find Anna lounging in my bed wearing nothing but one of my shirts sleeping in my bed.

Before I can think to suppress him a loud threatening growl makes it past my lips startling her awake. She looks around then her eyes land on me and she scrambles off of the bed falling to the floor.

"N...Nate. Don't." She says as she backs herself into a corner and I snarl at her as though she's my prey.

"GET. OUT." I say and she wastes no time running from my room with her clothes in hand. I stare at the bed for a few moments before I exit and enter one of the guest bedrooms in the guest wing.

'You could've let me teach her a lesson.' Eli says as I flop onto the bed groaning in annoyance.

'You need to control your violent urges.' I say to him and he huffs before going quiet so that I can fall asleep.