Meet The Parents

As the four of them walked back into the ballroom they were greeted by Freya, Talon and Sarafina who had been waiting patiently for them to return. "President, first-lady Steele, always a pleasure to see you. Thank you for the invitation to such a beautiful party for our little sister Raven here. Who apparently isn't so little anymore if you catch my drift." Reed said as he gave a wink towards Raven. Malik had already moved himself between Raven and Reed and let out a low warning growl as a warning. Reed quickly stepped back but before he could apologize Malik had turned, his face looking horrified at what he had just done. "I'm sorry, I don't know, it wasn't me I swear" Malik stuttered as he ran his hands down his face. "I'm sorry Raven, I didn't mean to move you and I apologize President and first-lady for reacting in such a way." Freya had stepped forward holding her son's shoulders, she shook him slightly "Malik, never apologize for your instincts towards your mate." She was beaming with excitement, "you will just need to learn how to control your emotions when it comes to her or you'll end up tearing up every male you come across." She grabbed him and hugged him tightly and once she let him go, she hugged Raven. "My dear, I'm so happy right now I could burst." Reed stepped forward again and put his hand on Malik's shoulder, "I'm sorry dude, Raven is like my sister, I love her like one, and it's basically my job to make each moment of her life uncomfortable since she's a spoiled only child." Raven was quick to try and slap him but he ducked out of the way just in time trying to suppress his laughter. "Don't listen to them Malik, remember, Maddox asked you if you wanted to be his Beta" Raven said while side-eyeing Reed. "Well boys" Talon interrupted, "as much as I adore you both, Sarafina, Freya and I need to have a little chit chat with the new couple here." Both Maddox and Reed bowed and took their leave. Talon leaned in towards Malik while cupping his mouth so no one else could hear him "I'm impressed you did that son, protecting her like that in front of us. I appreciate knowing that she's in good hands" Malik looked at him and nodded feeling proud of himself for his instinct to immediately shield her and he would continue to do so whether it's her friend or not.

Talon held the office door open as they all piled in and took a seat. Raven sat herself next to Malik and entwined her fingers within his. His eyes shot up and he went to remove her hand but she held tightly "Malik, why are you so afraid to touch me" Raven asked. Her father huffed and said, "because he's a respectable young man who knows that sometimes parents can have a hard time watching someone touch their baby girl." Sarafina hushed him and put her hand on his. "Sweetheart don't mind your father. Yes, it's hard to know your child is grown but it's another thing to actually see it. To see that you have instantly broken the shell around you and have almost become a different person. We are just not used to seeing you take the initiative to be more dominant. I'm so proud of you though. We would never interfere with a decision like this. It was very apparent from the moment that we stepped into that ballroom that you sensed him. Even your father said to me that he thought something big was going to happen. We fully believe in the power of a mate bond and we fully support you both." She turned to Freya "and Freya, we are so blessed to have met you and build this relationship. It was obviously fate that played a hand in all of this. If there is one thing, I may ask of you both, is that you have patience with us being human. We understand that most everything is heightened for you and there are cultural ways you normally have when you find your mate. I thank you Malik for not giving in to the urge that I'm sure you had, to claim her right away. It would be appreciated though, if you would stay here in the mansion with us for a while so we can get to know you." Both Freya and Malik quickly looked at each other and froze. Freya nodded, reassuring him that it was ok to talk about what was going on. This wasn't just another person, this was his mate and her family, her royal family. Malik cleared his throat, tightened his grip on Ravens hand and said, "I would have to tell Raven my life story at some point, probably better that everyone hear so I don't have to tell it more than once if that's ok?"

Maliks POV:

I looked at the President and first-lady waiting for them to acknowledge me before I started. Once they both nodded I began my story, "I was found as a baby by Freya and her son Ash alone in the woods. Freya being the amazing woman that she is, took me in. When the Luna refused to care for me, Freya took responsibility and became my mother. The Alpha was strict and he didn't want me there but he would never go against his Luna's wishes and she allowed me to stay. From a young age I was made a servant, Freya taught me everything I know today. I wasn't allowed to leave the pack house so I never got to enjoy going to school or making friends. I was taught by tutors in the room I lived in. It was small and dark and cold, but it was mine. The Alpha used me to train his army, except I was more like the bait they stalked and beat. It was a life I had gotten used to living and no matter how much Freya and Ash tried to help me, I fell into a darkness that consumed me." I stopped to take a deep breath and gather my thoughts again. "When our Alpha heard of the next Alpha King's heir being stillborn, him and his Luna set out for the Kingdom. They were ambushed by a pack of rogues and Luna Kali was taken. Alph-"Freya interrupted "Kavik, you call him Kavik as he is no longer our Alpha. That piece of sh-"she mumbled. I cleared my throat and continued, "When Kavik lost Kali he because ruthless, savage and blood thirsty. He started to use me as his stress relief more and more, but I was getting stronger so it didn't take as long to recover. Downfall to that is it just made him do it again sooner. Our Beta at the time tried to help me when he could, he threatened to leave the pack many times if Kavik hurt me again but he could never actually leave. Kavik became a drunk and raised chaos within our pack. One day I was late with his dinner so he had to teach me a lesson. In the training room, it was just us and he took advantage of that. I tried to fight back but I wasn't as strong as the alpha and I lost. How I'm even alive is still a mystery our pack doctors." Freya interrupted quickly again "He spent 6 months in a coma. 6 MONTHS. Laying still, breathing shallow, cold as hell. I thought he was gone; I prayed every day that if my baby could come back to me that I would find a way to get him out of there if it were the last thing I did." I let Freya have a moment before continuing with the story. "Kavik caused enough trouble that Beta Atticus and our pack army restrained him in the dungeon and stripped him of his title. Our now Alpha, Atticus asked me what I'd like to see done to Kavik and even through the years of torture and torment, I chose for him to live. To live a life of solitude in a dungeon. Our pack began to flourish and life went back to normal, except I couldn't get past the wall I built around myself. I thought he had truly broken my soul; I was an empty shell going through the motions everyday like a robot. Not knowing who I was plagued me my whole life." I could feel all their eyes staring at me while they listened as I relived my past. There were things I left out, maybe one day I'd let Raven know everything. "I think my main concern right now is that I'm having trouble at night. I'm not sure how to put this, but something is not allowing me to shift fully. I start the process and go through extreme pain for about an hour and then nothing. I'm not a harm to anyone during that time, but I am loud and it could scare a lot of people." Talon looked at me and asked, "Have you met your wolf yet?" I nodded, "Yes, he comes to me sporadically for very short periods of time. He keeps telling me to let go so he can break the wall but it never works. I feel that I've let go, I've given full control of myself to him but he can't surface. It's not only painful for me but for him too and I fear that at some point I'll either lose completely or I'll lose him." Raven used her other hand to grab my arm and she squeezed it. Her eyes looked glassy as if she would cry at any moment. "Malik, what's your wolfs name?" she asked. "His name is Ares. I caught your scent and he went crazy. Kept saying Mate, Mate, Mate trying to break free. I think it's what hurts the most, allowing him the space needed to shift and him using all his strength but getting nowhere." Freya looked at me and then at Talon, "Sir, I know you've said you have a long history with wolves, am I to assume that you have historical knowledge of lycanthropy?" Talon raised his hand to his chin and hummed to himself before looking at me, "I do have some knowledge that dates back hundreds of years. Is there something you seek to find?" I quickly turned to Freya not understanding what she was getting at and she smiled, "As a matter of fact yes, we have some questions we are not able to answer about Malik here. One being about the royal bloodlines, do you know of them?" Sarafina cleared her throat and we all turned to look at her. In a soft voice she said, "I may know something about this and if I can't answer it than I know who can." Talon had set his hand over hers and looked at her with a raised brow as if to question her. "Yes, yes my love. I know we said we wouldn't discuss this until later but really Talon, it's later. Our baby girl is 18 now and as fate will have it, she is mated to a wolf. If that's not a sign for us to discuss this than I don't know what would be." I caught a glimpse of Raven beside me flinch by the surprise that her parents had kept something of importance from her. "Mother, what are you talking about? We have no secrets in this family yet here I am feeling quite worried over what may be said next."

Sarafina POV:

I exhaled the breath I didn't realize I was holding and gave my daughter a genuine smile. She needed to understand that there are too many outside factors that would cause nothing but danger to her if they were known. It would cause danger for us all. Talon nodded at me, he knew it was time that Raven knew what she was, what I was. "Raven my love, my family's bloodline goes back thousands of years and I'm sure it's longer, I only know of what's documented. You must know that this is all to protect our family as we are humans, ruling the human world. It's my fault, you see I never told your father about my family until I became pregnant with you. It was hard to make up an excuse on why I was progressing so quickly when it should have been 9 months." Raven stared at me so intently I don't think she even blinked. "Go on Mother" she said, insisting I continue. "Now we are not powerful and for the most part there Is no magic left, at least for me. I think with every generation steering from our kind we've gotten weaker, and I was ok with that. There are things I can do that are more intuitive than magical for example, I knew your mate was here the moment he got here. I could feel your powers combine. Now I didn't know who you were, all I knew is that something big was going to happen. Our bloodline is part Fae. It was so long ago, thousands ofyears ago from what I've read in our family journals. My family started as Fae, very strong Fae people who were hunters and seamstresses. There were many generations where both were Fae until my grandmother's great-grandmother fell in love with a human. She did not follow tradition, nor did she care of what anyone thought, she followed him here and began a life together thus producing hybrid children. It was written that each generation moved on to be with a human making those children less and less Fae. It is because my bloodline was so strong that I still have some abilities." I stopped to look at the three across from me, their looks of shock were understandable. Freya held up a finger "Pardon me for overstepping here Ma'am but everything we've been taught about the Fae, were that they were malicious and violent. Tricksters who didn't pull jokes for fun but for torment and pain. Is that true?" I knew this would be brought up; it breaks my heart to know that my people were relentless savages. "From everything I've been able to read yes, it seems they were not the best of people to be around. Thus, why we've kept this a secret for so long, I couldn't imagine what our kingdom would think if they knew. Would they understand that's not me at all, that I don't have close to the powers they did? It was just too risky, and we choose to hide it. I'm so sorry Raven but do you understand the chaos that would ensue had it been spoken?" Raven nodded and brushed a tear from her eye, "I just wish you would have trusted me more to tell me, but I do understand and I will continue to keep this secret." "Thank you dear, I believe therefore you were fated to a wolf. You must have enough Fae blood still to be considered a supernatural. "Raven turned to Malik and smiled, running her fingers down his cheek "You see, we are worthy of each other. No more hesitation." I gasped as a memory filled my mind, "Malik, what exactly happens during what should be your shift?"

Raven's POV:

"It doesn't seem real to me but, but I know my mother said royal eyes are, they're green" my mother said. I didn't understand why this was so hard for them to believe that he could be of royal decent. I interrupted my mother "Why is it so hard to not believe that he could be royal?" Everyone looked me like I should have known the answer. My father placed his hands on the table and said "My dear daughter. I am sure the same goes for anyone, whether royal or not, if a child is missing the parents will turn the world upside down to find them. There would obviously be more talk about it if the child were of royal descent, search parties would be sent to every part of this land. There hasn't been word of any royal child missing or being taken since I've been alive. That is why it seems impossible for Malik to be of a royal lineage." Everyone went quiet and we all got caught up in our own thoughts about the situation. I couldn't take the silence so looked at Malik and smiled "Our first adventure together can be working to find out who you are and where you came from. Not that Freya doesn't love you as her own but there could be someone out there looking for you in silence. You've lived a sheltered life so it's easy to see why no one came looking in your pack. I am thinking there was not enough talk about you to reach other territories so it's possible that's why no one came there. Maybe therefore we were fated together. The moon goddess knew how much I loved adventure, so she knew I'd be perfect to take this journey with you." I couldn't hold my excitement any longer. My foot was bouncing up and down as my smile grew so big it hurt my cheeks. "Mother, Father, we need to make a plan on how we are going to figure this out but for today, if Malik has trouble shifting as he says, then it may be best if we stay in the lower basement away from the rest of the mansion staff." Malik quickly looked at my father "Oh no sir, I couldn't impose like that." He then looked at me, "Raven, I can't cause trouble like that here. I don't know what could happen and it's not anyone's responsibility here to help me." I barely knew this man, yet I adored him for his heart. He was worried about everyone but himself and it was his turn to live now. I softly placed my hand on his cheek and he nuzzled into it, "No, you are not alone nor will you ever be alone again. I will be right there with you through it all, every single night until we figure out how to fix this. It will be a great time to get to know each other. There's not much to do down there besides talk." I let out a laugh and took his hand as I stood up. "Please excuse us, I'd like to show Malik around the mansion. Freya, am I to assume you'll stay the night as well? I can have Miss Dupree set up a room for you. I'm sure you'd like to be involved in finding answers as well." Freya wiped a tear from her eye and nodded "thank you my dear, you are too kind. My son deserves some light in his life for once and I'm glad it's you." I smiled at each of them and pulled Malik with me as we took our leave. "We must find Miss Dupree first and have her ready a room for Freya and get a room in the lower level ready for us. Is, is there anything you'll need for tonight? Chains, ropes, candles, cold water?" I said with a smirk. Malik looked at me blankly and said no. He was no fun; we'll have to fix that I thought to myself.