Rhys

31

This time when the witch was done chanting there stood a handsome twenty-five year old male wolf. "What the hell?" The wolf exclaims as he takes in his surroundings.

"I hope we didn't inconvenience you too much son?" Rafael says in relief. He's eyeing his son's uniform.

"I was just on my way to see the king. Where the hell am I? Aren't you and the prince in the vampire kingdom still?" Vincent is more than a little confused.

"Well, I'd say that was good timing on my part." The witch interjects before anyone can say anything more.

The young wolf looks at the female that brought him here and he says, "Mate."

"You have got to be kidding me?" The witch looks at the wolf with a disbelieving smile. There is no law against wolves and witches, mostly due to the fact that there are so few wolves in the vampire kingdom nobody thought it would be necessary.

Lia smirks and does her best to hide her laughter. The males, other than Vincent are all smiling openly. "Well son, you can thank your mate for bringing you to safety. The king has gone insane and would have imprisoned you or worse had you made it to the palace.

"Yes, I am in the vampire kingdom.  Let me introduce you to my mate. Lady Ophelia, this is my son, Vincent."

Only then does Vincent become aware of Lady Ophelia's presence. He looks a bit shell shocked at the moment. "You are a beauty, mother." Vincent says and gently places a kiss on her hand.

"You are a charmer, thank you." Lia tells the slightly blushing young man.

Hurrying the introductions a bit when he hears the warning growls from Rhys and William, "These are her vampire mates Lord's Rhys and William." There is no need for last names. Rhys and William are well known in the wolf kingdom for their abilities on the war front. 

Vincent pales a bit but then gets a confused look on his face.

"And of course you know Prince Beckett." Rafael finishes the introductions.

Vincent bows to his prince. "You forgot the young woman that is my mate." Vincent chides his father.

"That's because he doesn't know my name. Lady Cecilia, lord Vincent. Now if you all will excuse me, I'll be back tomorrow to track down the prince's mate." Cecilia says and sweeps out of the room before anyone can say anything.

"Well, I must say, she is a force to be reckoned with," Lia says with more than a bit of humor.

Vincent turns to his father, "I'm a bit confused. How can Lady Ophelia be your mate if she's mates with two Lords already?"

"Not quite right, Vincent. She's mates with two vampire lords and two wolf lords. Or if you prefer a prince and a lord." Beckett tells the confused wolf which just makes him even more confused.

Lia rolls her eyes at them all, "She is the daughter of the Moon Goddess and so has a special fate given to her." William tells Vincent and in return gets a dark glare from Lia. She truly doesn't believe in fate.

"I make my own fate, William."

"Yes, dear, spectacular job you do. Taking down and freeing us from the Fates." William says going over and pouring himself a glass of wine and asking if any of the others would like one. Vincent is the only taker.

Vincent takes the glass of wine and rather robotically downs the whole thing.

Lia takes pity on him, "I have four mates, two vampire, Rhys and William and two werewolf, Beckett and your father. I also have a newborn son. Which I hear, please excuse me."

Vincent rather blindly finds a seat and sits down.

"So not only do I now have a step mother, but three step fathers one of which is my prince and a step brother as well?"

Rhys is rather enjoying the consternation of the young wolf. "Yeah, that about covers it. The wolf king and crown prince are both vying for their mate, Princess Fiona."

"Yeah, heard about that. What a bitch demanding that the queen be divorced and called a criminal. I tried to help her prince, but she disappeared before I could get to her."

Beckett assures him that he understands.

"Yeah, that sounds like Fiona alright. She tried to get me to marry her before she met those two. They actually showed up at the rather premature betrothal announcement." Rhys says bitterly. He doesn't like the time he'd been forced to be away from Lia.

Vincent looks at him blankly.

"Fiona wanted Rhys. Rhys was already mated to Lia. She didn't listen and so Rhys and Lia had to pretend that Rhys rejected her."

"Stop William, if you are going to tell the story get your details right. The charade was to lure the damn Fates out so that I could kill them. But it happened when the king was going to announce the engagement of Fiona to Rhys. Unfortunately for her Rhys hadn't agreed to the marriage. Then King Grant, Beckett, the crown prince and your father showed up. The king and crown prince both called mate on Fiona and the rest of us kinda slipped out of the room after I killed the Fates." Lia says coming back into the room and not pleased by the topic of discussion.

Vincent gives Lia a look of respect, "You killed the Fates?"

Rafael smiles proudly, "She held them with a spell and then calmly and coldly threw knives at them in the middle of the party. After they died she gathered us all up and brought us back here."

Vincent is delighted in his new mother. "It is indeed a pleasure to meet someone strong enough to bring down the Fates."

Before much else could be said or done there is a sudden displacement of air and the disoriented figure of a female stands herself up from the floor.

"Mother!" Beckett says and hurriedly gets up to go to his mother's side.

"Beckett? Oh thank goodness, I've come to the right place." Queen Stacia says and gives Beckett a hug.

"Well, Beckett I recognize Rafael and Vincent of course, but who are the vampires?" Stacia says warmly as she straightens her clothes. They are hopelessly disheveled though and no amount of straightening will fix the worn and torn garments.

"Lady Ophelia, Lord Rhys and Lord William. Lady Ophelia is our mate." The queen takes on a huge smile as she hears that her son finally met his mate. But is a bit confused at the our.

"Explain?"

So he does and then Lia gently urges her to follow her to the room that had been prepared for her.

Before she leaves, "Beckett, I believe I requested that you give that ring to your mate when you found her. Why does she not yet wear it?"

Beckett blushes a deep red. "Things have been a bit crazy and I haven't really had a chance yet." Beckett tries to explain things.

"There's no time like the present." The queen tells her youngest child.

"Yes, mom," Beckett says and goes to Lia.

"Lady Ophelia, you know how I feel about you. What you have done for me this day just makes my love for you grow even more. Please, accept this ring along with my love?"

Lia leans in and gives him a kiss. "I'd be honored, Beckett. Thank you." Lia places the ring on her middle finger of her right hand. She'll need to get it sized, but even as she thinks that the rings shrinks to fit her finger.

"Lovely." Lia says in delight.

"Yes, you are." Beckett says and Lia blushes now.

She makes her escape showing the former queen to her new chambers. "We hope that at least some of the clothes will fit you."

"Anything is better than these things. I can't wait for a bath." The queen rejoins as their voices fade they hear, "Now about you being mates to more than my son..."