Jae was silent as he stood in front of the Alpha. The prince's head was turned to the floor as the king sat on his throne. Armina was seated on the throne next to Fachan, her expression soft and sad as she gazed at her son.

"It is unfortunate she passed," Fachan began. There was not one ounce of sadness or truth in his words. "However, that means you are no longer a rejected prince with a living mate. I believe this is cause for celebration!" The Alpha stated with a smile on his face. The Alpha's declaration for celebration spurred deep disgust in the prince.

"Death should never be a cause for celebration, Father," Jae said through gritted teeth. "My fated one died, and you want to celebrate that?!" The prince could not hold back his anger at the Alpha's bloat over his fated one's death.

"Why wouldn't I?" Fachan returned as if the notion of this being a wrongful celebration was out of the question. "If you ask me, she deserved it for rejecting you, the prince. You are now eligible for mating. That is why I have called a convention of the most prominent packs to gather here on the next full moon. You will find a mate in one of the offspring of the leaders of the packs." Jae's heart sank at his father's words. "You may have your pick: male, female...alpha, omega...I don't really care as long as they are of royal blood," Fachan added with a strait expression.

"Father...I-I don't think I am ready for-"

"You are ready whenever I say you are. I don't care that that wolf died just the day prior. You will find a mate by the end of the convention!" Fachan's voice was stern as he relayed his order.

Jae was silent as his heart cried. However, the prince had no choice but to agree. "Yes, Father." The words were barely above a whisper as the true blood reluctantly complied with the Alpha's command.

"Good. Now, you are dismissed. Make yourself useful and don't make trouble," Fachan said as he released his son from the belittling position of standing before the throne. Armina watched her son leave with tears in her eyes. She would have spoken up if not for the crippling dominance the Alpha had placed over her in that moment. The Luna turned her piercing gaze to the Alpha once her son was out of sight. Her eyes were filled with hatred as she stood from her throne and stormed out of the King's Hall.

Armina was furious, but there was nothing she could do to stop Fachan from forcing Jae to find a mate. So, the Luna decided to take a walk to clear her head. Yehwa was quick to follow her queen from the hall and onto the grounds of the palace. Armina let out her pent-up breath as she exited the castle and slowed her pace. She loved the outdoors. Nature was her nurturer and mother. It was her safe place, her refuge.

Like Jae would go to the lake during times of heartache and stress, Armina would walk in the expansive garden and get lost in the many flowers and trees as the wind caressed her face and arms. The Luna's walk to the gardens, however, was interrupted by loud screams and cries of pain. Armina immediately stopped in her tracks and turned to her right to see a small male with pink hair being assaulted by a noblewoman with her riding whip.

>>>>>>

"Is that the last one?" Kip inquired of the team as they led the last horse into its stall.

"Ae!" Ibbi answered as he locked the door to the stall and joined the rest of the members in the main hall of the stables. The morning team had just returned from their time in the fields and had decided to take a small break when a woman approached the stables and ordered they saddle her horse. She was dressed in the most expensive riding clothes they had seen, with exception of the Luna's riding outfit. She was standing rather impatiently with a riding crop already in her hands.

Kip approached the woman and bowed before greeting her. "Which is your steed, Madame?" The beta inquired politely, to which the woman responded, "How am I supposed to know? It's one of the brown ones. Just bring me a horse!" The woman's voice was high-pitched as she ordered the beta with a scowl on her plain face that did nothing to help her beauty that was otherwise greatly lacking.

"I am sorry, but we are not allowed to saddle a steed at random. Do you know the name of your horse?" Kip was careful as he inquired of the woman. He could tell she was going to be very difficult, and if he did one thing even slightly wrong, that would be all cause to punish him in her eyes.

"Why would I know the name of my steed?! That's just ridiculous! Why would you expect me to know that!" The woman's voice had gone up by an entire octave at minimum as she waved her hands in front of her face frantically and said, "Just get me a horse! I don't care which one!!"

Kip knew there would be no reasoning with her, so he bowed and quickly entered the stables. The rest of the team had fallen silent as they heard the exchange between the beta and noblewoman. "Do we have a horse that doesn't yet have a rider?" Kip inquired of Calix as he reached his team.

Calix thought for a moment before answering, "Ae. It is copper, though. Not brown."

"It'll have to work," Kip returned. "There's no way I am letting that crazy woman ride someone else's steed and potentially injure it." The beta nodded to Calix as he said, "Lead me to the steed. I'll saddle it."

Calix nodded in response to Kip and promptly led the beta to the stall with the unclaimed horse. After a few minutes, Calix returned to stand with the rest of the group while Kip saddled the steed. Ibbi, Bevy, and Syri took quick peeks at the impatient woman who was beginning to tap her toe while standing beneath the awning of the entrance to the stables.

"I've never seen her before," Ibbi commented as he did not recognize the noble wolf.

"Me neither," Bevy said in agreement. She had yet to serve such a woman.

"She may be new to the castle," the omega pointed out as he turned his gaze back into the stables.

"Mm, probably," Bevy sounded with a small bob of her head before following Ibbi in retracting her gaze from the noblewoman.

The four continued to stand in silence until a grunt from Calix drew their gaze to the beta. Calix's face was red with pain as he clutched his heart and fell to his knees. The beta's brows knit together, and his chest began to heave. Syri was quick to go to the beta's side and check on him.

"Calix?" Bevy inquired as she sent to the beta's other side. "What's wrong?"

Calix shook his head as he struggled, "I-I-I don't know. It j-just hurts so bad." The beta tightened his grip on his heart as tears formed in his eyes. "I want to cry. I don't know why, but I feel like my world is crashing down."

Syri's eyes widened as he heard the beta's words. His mate!...Oh, Calix...I'm so sorry... Tears touched the zeta's eyes; he knew the pain the beta was currently enduring. There was no other explanation for the sudden pain and despair.

"Let's get him to the gamma," Bevy said and brought one of Calix's arms to sling around her shoulder as she supported the beta. Syri nodded in agreement and began to support Calix, but Kip rushing to Calix's side caused Syri to back away and let the grey-eyed beta support his friend.

"What happened?" Kip inquired of the alpha as he saw Calix's pain-stricken expression. Worry covered Kip's face as he looked at Bevy for an answer. Kip had just exited the stall with the saddled horse when he saw Calix kneeling on the ground.

"I don't know," Bevy answered with a shake of her head. "He suddenly collapsed in pain."

"Okay, we need to get him to Estan," Kip said as he began to lead the beta toward the stable's back exit.

Syri did not intervene and tell them his speculation of the cause of Calix's pain as it was not his place to disclose the death of Calix's fated one. Instead, Syri watched Kip and Bevy support Calix in walking toward the back of the stables.

"What is taking so long?!!!" The woman's shriek reached Syri's ears as the three continued down the main hall. The zeta swiveled his head around to see the copper horse standing obediently twenty paces behind him. Syri did not waste a second in rushing to the horse and grabbing its reins.

"Take care of things here," Syri told the omega as he passed the blue-haired while leading the horse. "I'll be right back."

"Ae, Syri Inso," Ibbi answered before turning to watch Bevy and Kip advance down the hall.

Syri quickened his pace until he was standing in front of the noble. "I apologize for the wait. Here is your steed, Madame," Syri apologized as he bowed to the woman.

"Hmph! How dare you keep me waiting!" The woman said loudly as he raised her riding whip. Before Syri knew it, a sharp stinging sensation appeared on his right cheek. The zeta's eyes widened as he realized he had just been whipped. Being a lowly servant, Syri immediately folded his body in a deep bow. "I deeply apologize. One of our workers had an emergency-"

"Don't give me excuses!" The woman yelled as she raised her whip again. Syri jumped back as the instrument of correction made contact with the top of his back. The zeta raised himself from the bow only to throw up his hands in defense as the woman began delivering whip after whip. "How dare you make me wait!! You deserve to be punished! Guards!! Where are the guards!!"

Blood began to run down the zeta's arms as the woman continued to assault him. "Please! There was an emergency! Please!!" The zeta's cries went unheard by the woman as she continued to shriek for the guards and whip the poor boy. The pain triggered hot tears in the zeta's eyes as his body screamed with affliction.

What did I do that was so wrong? Syri was perplexed as to why the woman would beat him for delivering the horse she so wanted. Tears streamed down the zeta's face, but a broad body stepped in front Syri and shielded him from the rage of the horse whip. Strong arms wrapped around the zeta as the woman continued to land her stinging blows.

Syri looked up to see Kip standing in front of him. The beta's eyes were closed as he silently took lash after lash. "K-Kip I-Inso," the zeta let out in a whimper through tears as he looked up at the beta protecting him. Kip kept his eyes closed as he brought his hand to the zeta's head and covered Syri's eyes. "Don't look, Syri," Kip said quietly as he continued to shield the zeta.

Syri complied with Kip's request and closed his eyes as Kip received the brunt of the noblewoman's anger. Why can they treat us so badly? I can't even help Kip Inso. I hate that we are no more than ants to them. The despair of the truth of the injustice filled Syri's kind heart as he could do nothing but hear the whip come down time after time and bear the shrieks of the woman.

The zeta thought the torture would never end until a strong voice rang out, "Stop this at once!" The zeta opened his eyes as the whip was brought down, and the assault halted.

The beta released a small breath at the relief from pain. "You okay?" Kip inquired quietly as he opened his eyes and looked down at the zeta. Syri nodded as he said, "I'm fine. How are you?" Kip managed a small smile and answered, "I'll be okay." Syri pursed his lips as he saw the pain filling the beta's eyes and knew Kip was just saying that to cover how much he was hurting.

"What do you think you are doing?" The voice inquired as it neared the scene of the assault. "Answer me!" The command was sharp as the noblewoman turned to see who had stopped her from delivering her punishment on the lowly servants. The woman's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she saw who intervened. "L-L-Luna!" The woman stuttered before falling to her hands and knees. Kip's eyes also widened at the woman's exclamation and gently brought himself and Syri to their knees as the Luna approached them.