Mates Inc.

A Royal Summons -- Part 1

Lance handed her the Royal Invitation, but she didn't want to read it and put her hands behind her back which made her look childish. But she just didn't care.

She'd built a good life in her pack, her Alpha had eagerly accepted Lance as a warrior and he was now unsurprisingly the lead trainer. His skills far surpassed every other male wolf and he was a natural, especially the teenagers who just shifted. He was able to relate to them and taught them the practical aspects of 'wolf control'.

And he constantly reminded her when the training sessions were.

"Send my regrets since I'm not going to the palace Lance. Feel free to go yourself, I know you want to see old friends."

Emma had thrown herself into her business with Mates Inc. and saw Caro occasionally. Mate's Inc. was able to open an office in Seattle and was even more successful there, while steadily increasing their online presence.

"Emma, Emma, Emma, what am I going to do with you?"

She just sighed and left their room to go make dinner. Lance joined her to help, cooking was one of many things they both enjoyed doing together.

Lance was always touching her, giving her soft kisses and never taking his mate for granted. Somehow she had slowly forgiven him and he cherished this gift, especially when he woke in the mornings and watched the face of his beauty.

The chaos of the last two years regarding the shakeup in the Royal family didn't really ripple out to the Northwest corner where their pack was, and Lance kept up his League contacts even if Emma let all of hers go. Except for Caro, and that was only because she co-owned Mates, Inc..

They never spoke of their time with the Prince.

************

A few weeks later, Lance held out another Royal invitation, but this time he did it over dinner so she couldn't walk away.

"You know how I feel about that, Lance," she grumbled while she ate her chicken alfredo pasta and took a large gulp of wine.

"You really need to read this one, Emma. It's actually a summons, love- no longer a request. Apparently the Prince is done waiting for you to forgive him."

"There was never anything to forgive. We all just did our duty."

Sighing, Lance held her hand. "You so rarely lie, love, it always surprises me." He turned her hand over and kissed her palm. She smiled at him weakly.

"Is there any way to refuse?" she asked hopefully.

"No, they're sending Royal Guards to escort us. A car and private jet has been setup for us to take us to the Ranch. As I said it's not a request but a 'summons' and non-negotiable."

Emma just sighed and was done eating. That horrible part of her life was buried- but that was another lie. The rage was now just a slow simmer eating at her. There was nothing she could do about her past, and she was proud of most of it.

She treasured the times she was able to make a difference, contribute to solving real issues. If she was single she would have taken off to some unknown islands for a few months, but she knew Lance would never let her skip out like that.

She just sighed again.

************
They had to inform their Alpha of the expected visitors, so the pack house was being prepared for Royalty. Even if it was just the Guards. Emma rolled her eyes at this, all the preparations were totally unnecessary.