Even before Alex heard the knock on the door, he knew who was outside. "Come in, love." He called out.

Suddenly, Danielle burst into the room and nearly ran around the table. She pressed him back against the chair he sat on and smashed her lips against his. She was slightly clumsy at first, having little experience. But slowly, she became sure of herself and became increasingly bolder in her conquest of him.

Her legs wound around his hips and she sat on his lap, rubbing against him in all the wrong places. Her hands gripped his raven hair and yanked at it as her sexual frustration became unbearable.

Alex was bewildered, to say the least, but he was more than happy to comply. He participated in this 'make-out session' with a great deal of enthusiasm.

When she was breathing heavily, having parted from his lips, she closed her eyes and moaned as he placed small kisses from her temple to the base of her neck. His tongue swirled around her earlobe as she gasped, making these small noises that fired Alex up and made him gradually give up control to his wolf. He bit on her earlobe enough to hurt but not enough to break the skin. She hissed, although it may not have hurt her that much.

"You're so unbelievably responsive, sweetheart," he groaned, in between pecks he gave her on the neck above the collarbone.

"I was made for you, after all," She replied cheekily. But he was gone. He was beyond carrying a conversation. The little rational voice in Danielle's head told her to prepare, to beware, but her and Lupa were, if not in the throes of ecstasy, experiencing this kind of pleasure for the first time.

It was painful.

It was addictive.

And goddess, did it make her feel good.

Alex didn't allow her to think anymore as he continued attacking her body in ways that she could never imagine. It was at this time that she saw his golden eyes. She knew her intent would come to fruition. She kissed him on his hair, on his nose on his cheeks, on his lips, everywhere.

"Dani, I can't hold back much longer," Alex said through gritted teeth, closing his eyes as if it pained him to stay away from her.

She looked at him and smiled softly. "That's why I came, Alex. I want you to mark me."

Alex's eyes flew open in surprise as she swept her hair to one side. She nodded, indicating that she was ready. A wicked smile came on his lips. His canines extended until they were around six inches long. He went into a half-shift in his urgency and excitement to claim her as his.

Raising his head, he growled loudly as his teeth came down, sinking into her skin. She growled a little instinctively but calmed down knowing that it was her mate. She winced in hurt but that was all. It was relatively painless compared to some things she had experienced.

At that moment, Lupa instinctively took over and half-shifted. Her nails extended to claws and her back hunched a little. Her canines extended and her eyes turned silver. She grabbed his shoulder in an animalistic way and sank her teeth into his neck. Alex stiffened, growling but relaxed slowly.

The couple clung on to each other for a what seemed like hours but was in fact only five minutes. They let go of each other and, raising their head to the sky, howled in joy and contentment. Alex was particularly pleased. This was it. She wouldn't leave after this. There was no way things could go wrong.

The palace was right in the middle of the Vauxterel Forests. And minimal deforestation was done to build the palace centuries ago. And there was a large area of land at the back of the palace for assemblies, training, garden parties, etc. which connected directly to the forests. Under the moonlight, where there ought to have been quiet, there was a great amount of activity going on on the royal grounds.

"So," one wolf whispered to another. "I heard that the... queen was going to run with us tonight."

The other wolf seemed taken aback. "The queen? So soon? I thought she would wait until the coronation."

"Heh," a warrior smirked. "She thinks she is all that, thinking she is ready to lead us? Peh!" He spat on the ground. "Let her come and see what is real strength!"

The first wolf flinched at the malevolence in his voice. "I think... if the moon goddess made her queen, then... she must be that capable."

"Shut up, omega. We won't stand for an incapable, weak female to run things around here."

As she came out of the palace and walked on the royal grounds, Danielle heard many voices speak either for or against her. She felt strange that she actually cared about what they were saying. Going solo her entire life, this was a bewildering feeling. When they saw her coming in, some stopped talking and bowed, while others pretended she didn't exist. She watched the whole thing with interest. She was completely ignored, with the endless gossip and chatter running on and on.

But then the king walked in.

And there was an immediate silence. One second they were buzzing like bees and the next, the bees were all dead. Not even a single shuffle was heard. Men, women, children, teens, everyone was bowing his or her head, showing their heartfelt respect and slight fear towards the alpha and king.

Alex didn't say anything, strolling leisurely before the ones in the front. He could hear their heart race. "Good," Lycan growled. "You haven't disciplined them enough." His face was expressionless and he showed no joy towards his pack. Alex grunted in agreement. "Give me one reason," he growled loudly, "just one, as to why I shouldn't punish this irreverent pack."

He could now hear hundreds of hearts racing.

He exerted pressure — his aura as king and as their alpha. Not many could stand that kind of pressure. Knowing this, Danielle placed her hand on his shoulder and pressed down on it. "Love, I can't earn their respect by you scolding them. Besides, doing this will only garner their hatred towards me." She spoke through their mind-link. One of the advantages of being marked was that they could talk to each other telepathically.

Alex huffed, still indignant about all the whispers he had heard. "My queen tells me to let you go because she is merciful. But if I hear you saying what you said, and doing what you did again, then goddess help me, I won't be responsible for my actions." He said in a low, deep tone, but every single wolf could hear the threat in his tone.

"Tonight is important because my mate," he paused, flashing her a quick grin, "and your queen will be running with the entire pack. This is so she could get to know you better. Now, who has any objections to this plan?" He asked loudly. No one dared to utter a peep. "Good. Let's begin the run."

As was custom, the wolves respectfully let the king shift first. But to their horror, the queen began shifting along with the king. She was just thinking how convenient it was to not remove clothing and wear them again. They automatically appeared when they shifted back. But from the shocked pack members, several protesting squeaks and disgruntled shouts could be heard across the land.

The king's wolf, their true wolf king, Lycan. They had all seen him and were immensely proud of the strength their king had. But this was the first time Danielle was seeing his wolf. And she had only one word for him. Breathtaking. He truly had taken her breath away. In her eyes, he was about seven feet tall and had pitch-black fur. His eyes were golden and seemed to be swirling constantly, hypnotically. But the most enthralling part was the patterns.

From the back of his neck till his chest, he had silver patterns which looked like ancient writings. All the patterns came together in his forehead, marking a little crown on it. There was no more proof that he could provide to say that he was the king of werewolves.

But while she was busy admiring and drooling over her beautiful mate, Danielle didn't know that everyone was looking at her with shock, and Alex with surprise and joy.

Danielle was an ash-grey wolf. The colour was very close to white. But what she wasn't aware of was that she too had similar patterns on her wolf, which congregated on her forehead with a little crown up there. "This must be because of the marking," Alex told her.

"What is?" She asked, confused. Then she realised how differently wolves were looking at her. "Alex, what's wrong?"

Alex stifled a laugh, but he barked anyway. "It looks like we match, love. You have the queen's patterns all over you."

Danielle yelped. "Is there a lake, nearby?" She asked, panicked.

His big head nodded. "Come, I'll show you." He said. Turning around he took off into the forest. Very quickly, she followed behind him. According to pack hierarchy, each one of the wolves instinctively organised themselves and took off behind their king and queen.

By the time they followed their scent and reached, they could see the king's mate looking at her own reflection in the lake while the king stood next to her licking her neck, nipping at her ear and generally fooling around in an unkingly way. So unkingly that his own pack felt embarrassed for him.

Then they all heard the king's orders, "Follow the usual path to run," he commanded. Quickly, the eager young wolves who loved a race and the older ones who wanted to free their wolves shuffled around restlessly. This time, the king and the queen didn't run ahead of them, but with them.

Lupa ran around with the other wolves. She was fast, too fast. So she slowed down to their pace and matched their speed. When she saw the young ones, she instinctively rubbed against them, nudging them to try running faster. When she met the older ones, their wolves quickly dipped their heads to her, slowing down. It didn't matter that their human forms didn't like her. Their wolves knew she was their rightful queen. She could never become queen without their acceptance.

She urged them to race with her and run, following the path that the entire pack was taking. She didn't interact with her mate much because she knew he was having a serious conversation with his betas. She didn't want to ask or interrupt when she was trying to bond with the pack.

Hours later, they came back to the spot where they began, by the lake.

The king walked majestically up a small hill and looked back at his queen. She quickly followed him up the hill and stood next to him. This was an animal's seat of power. From here, they could oversee. They sat there, rolling about, playing around and teasing each other for a while. He actually began to play a game of chase with her. She watched him with helpless amusement and went behind him to catch. Every time one caught the other, they would pounce on them and lick them, nip them until it tickled.

As the night began to leave, giving way to the light, Alex looked towards the moon solemnly. Danielle watched as he dipped his head and raised it slowly. Staring at the moon that gave him strength, he let out a loud howl of joy, of contentment, of power and of dominance.

Mid-way, she followed him and howled to the moon like never before. It was her prayer to the moon goddess, of expectations and of hope for their kind.

Soon, the forests were filled with howls of the royal pack, still remaining in the skies long after the wolves were gone.