The Alpha King's Lost Mate

Ch. 18

Seven

I had to stop myself from dropping to my knees and baring my neck in respect when Mara opened the door and let Clara in.

"Lady Clara." Mara bowed her head the exact way I wanted to with a wide smile spread across her face.

"You're so formal, Mara." Clara waved her hand through the air, pulling the smiling Omega into a tight hug. "I thought I told you not to be."

If I wasn't trying so hard to fight back my Omega training from the Blood Moon pack, then I was more than positive that my jaw would have been on the floor.

Never had I ever hugged—let alone seen another Omega be hugged by—such a high-ranking pack member.

Since Clara was mated to the Royal Gamma of the pack, it made her the Female Gamma of the Royal pack, and in turn, in charge of overseeing the lower-ranking pack members. Back in the Blood Moon pack, because Gamma Thomas never found his mate, Madam Olympia took over the responsibilities of overseeing the pack Omegas.

"And I thought that I told you Gamma Jasper would have my head if I did that," Mara teased as she pulled back from the embrace, smoothing down the apron over her skirt.

Clara rolled her eyes. "You and I both know that Jasper isn't the boss of me, Mara," she laughed. "Plus, that was long before he ever truly met you and knew what a beautiful wolf you are."

Wolf. Clara had called Mara a wolf, not an Omega, but a wolf. An equal.

My heart pounded painfully in my chest at the comment.

"And where are my manners?" Clara finally turned towards me, her arms spread open. "It's so nice to meet you."

She smiled widely at me, showing off her perfectly straight, white teeth before pulling me into an equally as tight hug as she did with Mara.

I froze in the Female Gamma's embrace.

I could count the number of times I'd been hugged before on one paw.

"Sorry." Clara pulled back a few seconds later, the smile still spread across her full lips. "I'm a hugger."

Clara was beautiful. There was no other way to put it. She had dark brown hair pulled up into an elegant, messy bun on the top of her head, loose tendrils hanging low around her face. She was wearing a long, flowing gown of sage green that made her glow.

Unlike my dress, Clara's was made of tulle, a sweetheart neckline covered in subtle sparkles that glittered when the sun hit them just right. Her dress didn't have long sleeves like mine, but instead thick tulle straps that hung slightly off her shoulders.

Clara looked like she belonged. She looked like she should be the Luna Queen, not me.

"It's just so nice to meet you," she practically beamed. "You have no idea how excited I am to have another girl here. As much as I love Jasper and the boys, sometimes I just need a little girl time, you know?"

Mara laughed softly beside us as she collected my half-eaten fruit platter and empty teacup back onto the large, wooden tray. "Don't scare her away yet, Lady Clara. She's only just got here."

Seeing Mara tease Clara, the Female Gamma of the Royal pack, made my stomach turn with nerves. I was so worried that she would get punished for it.

But instead, Clara also laughed at the Omega's light-hearted joke. "Aren't you mean to meet your mother for morning tea, Mara? Hmm? Or are you going to be poking fun at me all day instead?"

Mara picked the nearly empty wooden tray up and pushed open the bedroom door with her hip, smiling. "But poking fun at you is my favourite pastime, Lady Clara."