Independent Reign

Chapter 1

It was the same dream he had always' had since he had gotten pregnant with his daughter, Audrina. It was more than just a dream it was a memory that had become like a nightmare to him. Always starting with Derek and ending with Derek. He had shifted in his sleep and rolled onto his side to face the window. He could see bright sun rays breaking through the slight open curtains. He hadn't seen any of them in years. His little girl was 6 years old now, and like he had said it before a million times, she was exactly what he wanted. Little Rina was beautiful to him, her bright emerald eyes captivated him whenever she looked at him. A small dust of moles stuck out on her pale face, and long black locks framed her face in various tamed waves. Her lips were full like his, but the little cute button nose that laid perfectly at the center of her face she had gotten from her father, Alpha Titus.

"Bad dream again?" Stiles heard his mate-to-be ask as his arm wrapped around his waist pulling him closer to the warmth of a larger body. Lips had come down to tenderly kiss his exposed shoulder before moving down to his neck, which Stiles had willingly given him more access to.

A smile broke onto his face making him turn his face back to look at his soon to be mate. "Yeah, but I'm ok now," Stiles said as he seeked out his lips with his own. A hum escaped him when his mate-to-be rewarded him with a passionate kiss. He thought that he would never get the chance to find a person to call his own. The idea had already settled in his head that it would just be him and his baby girl, but by some twist of fate it led Titus to them, or rather him to Titus.

It was strange to have found his daughter's biological father when they had been chased out of Beacon Hills, but it was truly something so surreal that even he couldn't explain.

Titus was the youngest of three children and the only unmated alpha in his family, who was too busy with pack business to have given mating an interest. He had inherited his parent's pack, while his brother and sister—who had also been alpha—had conquered other packs.

He still remembered howAudrina had been able to recognize a father she had not even met before, and heseemed to have been quickly fond of their daughter. Stiles thought it was theworst thing that could have happened, he feared Titus would rip Audrina fromhis side to make her his heir. When he hadn't Stiles couldn't have felt morerelieved. And another unexpected thing happened, Titus had pushed himself intoStiles life like he had not thought it possible. They courted after two yearsand been together ever since.

Yet, it was only recently that it had finally sunk in, that this man—this alpha—wouldn'tleave him or ever hurt him. And after making Titus wait so long, he had finallyaccepted his proposal to become his mate, and he couldn't be happier.

But as much as Stiles wanted to make things official now, he knew better.Titus, was the alpha of this pack, and there were certain formalities andtraditions in his pack they had to go through before they could officiate theirmating.

Luckily, for him, their long wait was soon coming to an end. Today, allies ofthe Woodland Pack—Titus' Pack—would all finally have arrived today. They hadslowly been arriving one by one since the beginning of the week. Soon theywould be hosting 17 different pack leaders and their families and/or companionsfor the ceremony—which also included Titus' brother and sister, Roland and Danielle.

He was nervous, he had only met 5 of these families before, not including hissoon to be in-laws. When they had visited Woodland last, it had been onofficial business. They had all been nice to him, but he was sure it was allbecause they could smell Titus' scent on him and their daughter. They weren'tstupid, that was for sure. But when he had actually managed to converse with 2of those alphas, they had only been anything but kind to him that it had himquickly retrieving everything he had thought or said about them before.

"You know, I kind of wish we would have waited a little longer, just so wewouldn't have to get up from bed right now," Stiles said half joking as he snuggledinto the comfortable warmth of his mate-to-be's chest.

"Hm, but I couldn't wait another day," Titus said pressing a kiss to Stiles'head. They couldn't officially start their lives together until their matingwas officiated, even if it meant disturbing their morning cuddle. "Come on, youshould go check on Rina, while I should be checking in on our guests."

Stiles hated to admit it, but he knew Titus was right. He needed to go makesure that their daughter was properly dressed to welcome their allies. It wasonly formal for them to do as Titus family.

*~*~*~*

Titus had left Stiles with their daughter before he had parted ways with him,to go check on their guests that should already have been gathered in thedining hall for breakfast. Upon entering he had taken notice that the finalAlpha's and their families had already arrived and been seated, and had onlyrisen from their seats momentarily when he had entered the dining hall to givehim the respect that he deserved as the alpha of this pack.

"We're all glad to finally have heard word that you were mating," Alpha Lucashad said with a wide grin, which had set the calm and friendly mood in theroom. Even the other alphas' had joined in on the topic that Alpha Lucas seemedto have brought on.

"Thank you," Titus said with a slight chuckle, "I didn't think I'd ever becrossing this bridge in this life time." Which was true, he had been far toobusy managing the pack and working on his family's business and trade that hehad known a mate would have been the last thing he would get an opportunity inhaving. That's why he'd done what he had. But when Stiles and Rina came intohis life, he couldn't help but be drawn to both of them, and feel the need fora family of his own that he hadn't had before.

"Wait until you meet him," David said with a chuckle, "The omega is so amusingand well knowledge. Honestly, I'm jaelous of Titus." David, had been one ofthose 5 alphas that had already been familiar with Stiles. Actually, David wasmore than just familiar with Stiles, he'd strangely befriended Stiles.

"Oh, your mate is a male is it?" Another said with a grin, "So intriguing, Ican't wait to meet him."

"I heard, you two already have a pup, too. So why the wait on the mating?"Another asked a little curious.

Titus didn't really have time to explain to them the reason, because a beta hadcut their talk short. The beta had announced Stiles and their daughter. "OurAlpha's mate to be, Stiles, and our young heiress, Audrina," The beta announcedgetting everyone turn towards the door. One wolf in particular who hadn't shownmuch interest, until he had heard the name that had left the beta's mouth wassuddenly sitting up a little straighter in his chair.

*~*~*

Since the moment they had stopped in front of the closed doors that led to thedining hall, he had started to feel nervous. He had never been one for thesekinds of formalities. It always left him feel afraid of making a mistake ormaking a fool of himself. But his stomach was not just feeling queasy becauseof his nerves. No, the source that was making his hands sweat was due to thatundeniable familiar scent just on the other side of the door. And it wasn't hismate's scent.

"Derek..." Stiles had let out under his breath, inaudible to anyone's ears, whenthe doors had opened and his eyes had landed on him for a brief moment. He hadnever expected to see his former alpha here.

"Hi, Daddy~!" Rina had squealed out happily waving her hand at her father, andunknowingly forcing her mother's eyes away from Derek and back onto her.

"Hey, pumpkin," Titus had waved back before moving towards Stiles and theirdaughter. He'd pressed a kiss to his child's cheek which earned him a giggle.While his hand had wrapped around Stile's waist and settled on his hip.

"Now, that we are all gathered here. I would like to thank you all for beinghere for the officiation of our mating." Titus said to them before he hadstarted to talk on about something that Stiles couldn't fully bring himself tofocus on. That is until, his mate had ushered him to sit down. Breakfast hadbeen brought to them, which was made of several dishes that he had particularlyloved. Pancakes, fresh fruit, toast, eggs, bacon, buiscuts, orange juice, etc.

He had half listened on to the conversation, his attention had been on theirdaughter who was talking to him about what her tutor was teaching her about beinga 'Lady'. "Mommy, why can't I play with Alex anymore?" Rina asked suddenly asmother helped whip the corner of her mouth.

"Who told you that?" Stiles asked a little taken aback by her daughter's suddenworry.

"Kira told me, mommy," Rina said with a frown.

"I'm sure she didn't mean you can't play with him," Stiles assured hisdaughter, understanding the situation now. Kira was one of their captains ofTitus' army, and she was one of their daughter's tutors. Alex, just happened tobe one of her other trainees that their daughter had befriended and had becomevery fond of. "I'm sure Kira didn't meanyou can't play with him. She just meant that when Alex is taking his lessonsyou shouldn't distract him. Just like Alex doesn't come to disturb yourlessons. But you can still play with him, just not when he's taking hislessons."

"Can I go play with Alex after breakfast?" Rina asked seeming to brighten up.

"You can, but why don't we invite the other children to meet Alex too?" Stilessaid with a smile which earned him an eager not from his daughter.

He wasn't dumb, he could feel Derek's intense stare on him since he'd taken aseat just a few seats across from him, but he had done his best to ignore himand just focus on his child and his mate.

"...ball."

"Ah, well if anything Stiles deserves all the credit for it, he arrangedeverything on his own," Titus said with a proud grin once he started to getcompliments on the decorations and theme of the ball. Which to have seemed tomake his mate look up at him when he'd heard his name.

A small blush had dusted over Stiles' cheeks as he said, "Well I wanted everythingto be perfect for us." Which seemed to have earned him a sweet smile from Titusand a knowing grin from the rest.

"Yo, Stiles how about later we spar a little?" David said as he took anotherbite of his food, "Of course, if your mate allows it."

"I have no problem with it, I'm sure Stiles would love that," Titus said beforequickly addressing everyone else, "Everyone else is welcomed as well. My house,is your house. I just ask that you don't go east of the estate." Titus saidbefore going back to his meal.

Breakfast had gone rather smoothly, if he did say so himself. Derek hadn'tshown much interest other than staring at him every now and then. He hadn'tseen anyone he recognized come with him, which had made him feel all the moreat ease. He didn't think he would have the energy to deal with anyone else.

As everyone was finish eating, Stiles had leaned over to whisper into Titusear, "I'm going to take Rina to Kira for her lessons, I'll see you later." Beforepecking his cheek.

Titus couldn't help but smile at that before whispering back, "We'll go on afriendly hunt, so we'll be gone until later in the evening."

"Mommy~" Rina had called out as she tugged on her mother's shirt.

"I should hurry, before she gets impatient," he said with a small chuckle beforeadding, "Good luck on your hunt," with one last kiss to his cheek before he waspulling away and standing up as he said, "Okay, come on." Stiles said before turningtowards their guests' wives and children, "Would you ladies like to join us inthe garden?"

"Of course," One of the women said with a smile, which had the others followingsuit. They'd collected their children and excused themselves with their mates beforethey had followed Stiles out of the dining hall and towards the garden.

When they had gotten to the garden, they had found Danielle taunting Alex in aspar. But she had stopped when she had seen them from the corner of her eye. "Oh,Stiles~" Danielle said with a grin as she waved at him.

"I thought, someone was missing at breakfast," Stiles said with a small chucklebefore watching his daughter run over to her aunt and Alex. "Right, I'm notsure you all know Danielle, but she's Titus elder sister," Stiles had said tothe women with a smile before directing his attention to the children andurging them to go play with Rina and Alex.

He had made sure they had all been comfortable and were enjoying their littletime to socialize amongst each other. "I'll be right back, mind watching thingshere for me?" Stiles had asked Danielle secretly.

"Sure," Danielle said before giving him a mischievous grin as she said, "but hurrythough, I did want to surprise Titus on their hunt."

He couldn't help but shake his head with a small chuckle as he said, "Try notto surprise him too much, I don't want to wait longer for our mating."

*~*~*~*

He had just reached their bedroom when he suddenly heard someone call his name.When he had turned around he hadn't expected to see Derek there.

"What are you doing here, Derek?" He had said looking a little surprised. Whatthe hell was Derek thinking coming here?! Titus had been very clear about themcoming to the East side. "This wing is off limits to guest." He had saidfurrowing his brows.

"What are you doing with him?" Derek had said.

"What?" He had let out a little taken aback by the question.

"You seriously can't be thinking of mating him," Derek had said taking a stepcloser to Stiles, not really liking the space that been created between themover the years.

"I am, Derek," Stiles had said taking a step back and away from Derek, suddenlyfeeling like he was being hunted down. "I love him."