Her Reign

Chapter 33

DAMON
I’m standing in the front of the crowd while I wait for Jaxson to bring the traitors up in front of the pack. I already know who they are because I was there when the prisoners were interrogated. He kept me away from the hospital as much as possible and if it weren’t for her mom, I wouldn’t have been able to see her at all.
I know he is her father, and he wants what's best for her but he’s being totally unfair. Just the other day he told us that he was going to let us see each other and he knows we share strong feelings but now that she is hurt, he is acting like I'm nobody.
It's killing me to not see her, to wonder what’s going on? I want to slip away and see her while her family is here but I’m sure her room will be heavily guarded. If I show up trying to get in, they will report me.
After the pack meeting, I’m going to ask her mom if I could sit with her. She let me last time even with her husband’s objections.
The front door opened to the pack house. Queen Alessia walked out, everyone else was already standing up top. Everyone lowered their heads towards the ground as a sign of respect. When I heard the crowd gasp, I looked up and Alena was walking out the front door.
I couldn’t look away. She looked so beautiful. She was still a little pale but better than she looked when I saw her last. She was wearing a pink sweater, it covered most of her bandages. Her hair covered the rest.
She glanced at me, but she turned quickly and looked at her father. He didn’t know she was awake because he looked shocked. I’m standing not too far away; I can l see him cry. His tears are running down his cheek. He rushed to her and hugged her.
I may not care for him because of the way he’s been judging me, but he loves her unconditionally. I know he isn’t her biological father but by the way he treats her, you would never know.
I looked around and people smiled. She might be human, and some might not think she deserves to be their princess, but everyone here knows she is the one who saved all those children at the lake. If it weren’t for her, they would have been killed. Not being able to shift and being too small to fight, they would have been easy targets and it would have been another way to make the queen suffer. Losing children is a hard hit to a pack.
The pack meeting went by in a blur, I wasn’t paying attention to everything being said because I couldn’t help but stare at her. I went from not knowing if she was going to be ok to watching her walk through those doors and stand there like nothing happened.

Jaxson finished talking and Alessia walked in front of the prisoners. She stood in front of each one. They say she can read minds and I think that's what she is doing now. After dropping the elder to the ground, everyone watched him scream in pain.
Alena walked down to her mom, standing next to her. They both watched the old man flop around until she glanced at a little girl standing not too far away. It was clear that they showed no mercy to the prisoner, but her face softened, she didn’t want the children to see it.
It's hard to watch. From what the prisoners and rogues said, they believe she uses her powers unfairly. Personally, I don’t agree. That bastard deserves everything he gets but I know others tend to feel differently. Knowing she has that power and could use it against them, is a real threat to how they want to do things.
I’ve been training all my life to be Alpha. My dad is an asshole, so against my mother’s wishes, he had me training at an early age. My father sees me as weak because I’m like my mom.
I take training very seriously and I work hard. I enjoy it when he’s not around, but I also like spending time with my mother. She spends most of her time in the kitchen, always cooking for the pack. While she is cooking, I’ll come in and help and occasionally sneak a bite. I enjoy learning new things and since that’s her favorite thing, she is always smiling. If my father were to walk in and see me, he’d flip out, order me outside and try to beat my ass. According to him, a man has no business in the kitchen.
My parents are second chance mates. His true mate died during a rogue attack. She was pregnant with his heir. From what I heard; she was really uncomfortable during the end of her pregnancy. My father was in a meeting, and she decided to take a walk. She went into the woods when a rogue got through our perimeter and attacked her. My father felt it and took off looking for her. When he got there, he killed the rogue but by the time he was able to get her back, she had died in his arms.
My mother was rejected by her mate, an alpha. He called her weak and ugly, which I don’t understand because my mother is the strongest woman I know, and she is beautiful. She transferred packs, staying with her grandparents. She went to school when my father met her a year later. He brought her to his pack but treated her cold. He kept his distance from her. He still loved his first mate and even though he would never admit it, I believe he was scared to love my mother.
In the beginning, they kept separate rooms except when she would go into heat or if he wanted her at the time. When she got pregnant with me, he practically locked her away, never letting her leave the house.
When I was born, he continued distancing himself until my mother threatened to leave him. She said he did change but there was something always holding him back. She could feel that she was always a replacement.

Growing up, my father and I never got along. He wanted his son that he lost. He created this illusion of what his first born would be and I could never compare to that. He always said I wasn’t meant to be an alpha, so I worked ten times as hard.
When I was younger, it really bothered me but now, I don’t care. I can’t stand my father. All I care about is that he treats my mother well and we will have no issues.
Breaking out of my thoughts, the pack meeting was finished. Everyone was going home. I looked up and saw Alena going inside. She was with her family, so I decided to give them time before looking for her.
After sitting on the steps, thinking about her, I heard her dad walk past the foyer and head to the office.
I walked in and saw her sitting on the couch. Her aunt was sitting with her. Alena told her she could leave, and I prayed that she would. I wanted to be able to spend time with her alone.
I stood behind the couch and asked if I could sit with her. Alena turned and saw me. She smiled while her aunt gave me a look. It wasn’t bad but I’m sure I will find out soon enough. After warning me of her father, she got up and walked away.
I sat there staring at her. I couldn’t help it. She is beautiful. All I wanted to do was grab her and hold her close.
We talked for a little while about her waking up. I couldn’t help myself.
“Can I kiss you?” I asked.
Her face turned red, and her eyes got big. I don’t think she expected me to ask that. She looked at me for a few seconds too long before nodding her head.
I leaned in and gently pressed my lips to hers. I loved the way her lips felt.
It was an innocent kiss. I pulled away slowly even though I didn’t want to. I closed my eyes, memorizing the way it felt.
Before I could open them and look at her, she held her hand around my neck and pulled me towards her. Her lips crashed against mine. Her other hand wrapped around my head and pulled my hair. I wanted to pull her into my lap, but I didn’t want to hurt her, so I put my hand on her hip and pulled her closer to me.
We kissed for a while, lost in the moment until I heard someone clear their throat.