The Moon Goddess' Chosen

“Nope… We arrived yesterday evening. It was even easier this year than it was last year and not to mention the fact that we weren’t attacked by a single wild animal.

Talk about a stroke of luck. It was almost too easy. Has Drake arrived yet? I’m sure that one will have no trouble making it to the Arena either,” the beta alpha asked enthusiastically.

“No, he hasn’t made it yet. I thought you already knew that!” Honour replied with a thin-lipped smile, “If you’re done gloating, we would like to find a restaurant now.”

“Oh, sorry. We passed by just a few stalls that way. They were setting up when we went by. Someone mentioned the rest of the Sirius pack would be arriving soon and they had to start up to make the most out of being among the first ones open,” he replied, stepping aside.

The trio was almost passed by them when he asked, “I’m not sure I’ve seen her around though. I know Bree because of Crysta, but her…”

Madeline froze in the spot staring at the floor as though she was searching for some small crack in the marble floor to hide in. Unfortunately for her, the Great Arena was so well-maintained that finding something like that would be highly unlikely.

The red-haired girl slowly turned, giving the beta alpha a forced smile, “My name’s Madeline. I’m new to the pack. Transferred in as an intern and have been living there for almost two years.”

Jason, who barely noticed the girl’s nerves held out his hand for the girl to shake, “Oh! Then it’s nice to meet you, Madeline. Would that be your natural hair colour?” the girl had almost forgotten her hair was now red and not it’s usual black.

.....

“No, it’s not. I was feeling like trying out something new,” the girl replied nervously.

The beta alpha eyed her hair for a moment with a grin before letting go of her hand, “Great minds think alike. Same here,” Jason pointed to his blonde mop of hair, “Red looks good on you.”

With that said, he walked away, gesturing for the werewolves he was with to follow him. They were five in total with two females and three males, all deltas.

The females scoffed upon hearing the alpha’s compliment while two of the males winked in her direction. Madeline’s nerves were reinforced with a new reason to disappear.

Previously, she’d been afraid of being in the presence of such a high-ranking werewolf that she had no relation with but now she thought the deltas would eat her alive for getting too much of his attention.

Thankfully, the moment passed and they were three again. They walked for a few minutes before the girl finally let out a relieved breath and slumped her shoulders. ‘How am I still alive? Have I been breathing?’ she wondered.

“That was scary.”

“You worry too much, Mady. You know, getting to know them is not as scary as it sounds. The stories make them out to be dangerous and deadly but that’s really in the past.

Back when the beta alphas were the creatures known for killing more humans than the Royals themselves,” Bree tried, but mentioning murder seemed to make the girl’s situation worse.

“I just have trouble meeting new people is all. I find Alpha Jackson and Alpha Philip to be very kind men but even so, I wasn’t always comfortable around them when I had just arrived,” the Seeker responded.

They walked in silence for a bit, letting the topic drop. Words were hard to find at a time like this. Especially since they knew just how timid Madeline could be around new people.

‘I really wonder how she does it when waiting on people at the restaurant,’ Honour thought to herself.

These thoughts were drowned out when her nostrils picked up on something sweet. The scent of cinnamon and peppermint was in the air.

All thoughts of their encounter with the beta alpha of the Lycaon pack were wiped from their minds. Breakfast was all they could think of. After all, it was the whole reason they’d started walking in the first place.

It was only now that Honour started to feel her legs aching from so much walking. ‘Just how long have we been walking?’ the girl stared back for a moment and realised she didn’t have the faintest clue how to get back to their rooms from here.

They entered the medium-sized establishment and took seats far from the entrance. A waitress came rushing to them, dressed in an apron and carrying a small notepad and pen.

Madeline’s nostalgia came reeling back into her mind. The one place that gave her so much peace was one just like this… and watching people serve others in a manner she so much wanted to do so in her own way brought her warmth.

They ordered what they wanted from the menu and stayed silent as the waitress walked off, “I’ve never really understood what it is about running a restaurant that got you so hooked,” Bree was the first to break the silence.

“Oh, that’s an easy one. It’s that look of happiness on a customer’s face when they bite into the delicious food of a hardworking chef. It started with me having my first meal from a professional.

It was so good… and I wanted to be able to cook that kind of food. When I was helping him out one day, he asked that I take a plate to one of the tables. I was so nervous that I almost spilt the food all over his customer…

The man I was serving actually stood up from his seat and helped me set down the food before laughing at me. I was embarrassed and hid my face behind the tray I had been carrying but what happened after he took his first bite is what sealed my fate. His face was priceless…

It was like he’d gone to another world. From that day, I noticed he was a regular at the restaurant… along with many others. All those people there would go to the restaurant for their lunch breaks and sometimes they would even bring their families there.

On some rare occasions, I witnessed a few dates and birthdays there. It wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the chef’s skill and the hospitality of everyone else there.

The waiters were so experienced and everything ran so well there. After that first time, I just kept on going back again and again. I would space out watching the customers through the window every time they took their first bite of the food.

Watching the waiters work and the chef cook and…”

Madeline went on about the different experiences she’d had working in the kitchen at the restaurant. The people there were kind and there was a collaboration like no other.

The friendly gossip also seemed to catch her attention so many times and made her feel like a part of the women that worked there. There were fewer men but those that were there were professionals at their craft.

While some of the women were merely volunteering to help out in the kitchens. Especially when the alpha himself had asked for a meal to be prepared for him.

Before she knew it, she wanted to be nowhere else… In fact, she wanted to open a restaurant of her own and cook meals worthy of her customers’ appreciation.

“Who could have known? Innocent Maddy wants to enslave the world through their taste buds,” Bree joked, laughing melodically.

Their food eventually arrived and the three girls enjoyed a sumptuous filling breakfast. Especially since one of them(Madeline), was fond of eating to her fill no matter who was watching. Her casual tendencies were contagious.

Honour could remember the way Katie hated being picked on for her large appetite. Madeline, on the other hand, albeit not capable of matching Katie’s monstrous appetite, was very open about how much she loved food. She also loved complimenting the chef on the food.

‘What better way is there to show a chef that you like their cooking!’ she’d said one time Honour asked.

“Honour, Maddy and Bree… could you make it to the Royal quarters? The living room. The King of Lycaon is here and I would very much appreciate it if you were all present to greet him,” the king’s voice echoed through the mind link.

“We’ll be there,” Honour replied. ‘So he’s actually here. We just need to find out way.’

The trio finished their breakfast and left the restaurant. Honour had to pull Madeline who felt it was inappropriate to leave without paying.

Convincing her that the tab was completely on the Royal family was even harder without a royal to help them out but it was eventually done when the waitress waved them goodbye and started cleaning up after them.

“How are we going to…”

“The mind link… We’ll just have to locate the king and queen and hope to make it to the Royal Suite in time.” Honour answered the obvious question.

A long walk in dizzying directions following their instinct through the maze of intersecting corridors that sometimes placed them at dead ends soon had the girls panting at the golden door that led into the Royal Suite.

The girls were still getting used to how gigantic this floor was. Honour’s legs especially felt sore by the time they got to the Royal Suite.

At some point, they were sure they had gone around the entire outer ring of the Great Arena before making it back to where they started.

“Bree! I thought you’ve been here before,” Honour asked, out of breath.

“They change the floor every time. Last time, this floor belonged to the Lycaon pack and the Sirius pack was above us. How was I supposed to know the inner workings of both floors? Not to mention I wasn’t acquainted with Lina back then. She was the enemy, remember?” the girl huffed.

“Oh! These two floors can’t be all that different,” Honour tried, finally catching her breath and straightening up.

On the other side of the door, the power of the Royals pulsed with intense radiation, intimidating anyone that dared to open this golden door.

To Madeline and Bree, barging into this suite felt close to having a death wish but that wasn’t the case with the Honour. She was now getting used to the quirks of her abilities.

The authority coming from the royals did not affect her in the same way as she witnessed it affecting everyone else around her.

The girl pushed open the doors and let herself, along with the three girls into the Royal suite.

Just like they had seen it the day before, the living room was looking pristine with various couches made of rich fluffy material. The level of luxury in this suite was unmatched. ‘I thought we picked out nice rooms but this is just unfair,’ Madeline’s voice groaned privately in the minds of the three girls.

However, the girls didn’t have all the time in the world to take in the view. The sun was rising and lit up the entire living room beautifully through the glass panes that worked as walls on one side.

Prince Cole turned to address them. He was standing next to Queen Martha and beside him was… ‘Wait… I thought I’d seen…’

Despite the different Royals that were in the room, there was another intense presence in the room. One that Honour had only seen for seconds after entering the room.

Honour’s thoughts darted through her mind as she searched for someone that had seemingly vanished from her sight. As it seemed, this was the case with everyone else in the room.

Jason and the other five wolves from earlier were in the living room as well.

Their eyes were now trained on a single person with mixed expressions of shock, worry and frustration. The goddess followed their gazes and was nearly frightened out of her skin by the large man standing beside her.

‘How did he get there? He wasn’t here a moment ago,’ she shuddered. The power rolling off him was odd and not at all like what she was used to. He was different yet similar to a beta alpha.

Thankfully, his attention was not focused on her. Instead, he was holding a delicate hand in his large ones and staring into the eyes of another with a look Honour had only rarely seen, “Such beautiful grey eyes!” Kyle exclaimed.

The goddess’s eyes dashed to those of the girls… and her fear only doubled. Madeline’s eyes were still glowing bright amber.

‘Oh, for Goddess’s sake!’