{THE ROYAL PACK}
Ember whistled a cheerful tune, her boots crunching on the gravel path as she made her way towards the secluded wing of the castle. This part of the castle was reserved exclusively for the Alpha Princess Selene and it was a sanctuary of peace and tranquility amidst the bustling royal court.
Ember, Selene's personal omega, was responsible for the princess's morning routine – preparing her breakfast and drawing her bath.
The guards at the entrance, two hulking werewolves stepped aside giving her way to pass immediately.
The room was a testament to royal extravagance – high ceilings adorned with intricate frescoes, a queen bed draped in silk and a section of large shelves of books.
The largely lit candles were the only source of light in the room which lacked an access to sunlight or moonlight, designed to shield the princess from external interference.
There was only one tiny tinted window which happened to be broken.
Ember's cheerful whistling died in her throat. A wave of apprehension washed over her as her eyes scanned the empty room.
Where was Selene?
Panic began to rise in her chest. She searched everywhere in the room and then she rushed towards the window, peering out into the garden that bordered the castle grounds .
No sign of the princess.
Fear, cold and clammy, gripped Ember. All through her twenty years of being Selene's personal omega, she had never met this room empty.
Had something happened to Selene? It was just her engagement last night. What if she had been… kidnapped? The thought sent a shiver down her spine.
Turning back into the room, Ember noticed a discarded piece of cloth lying near the shattered window. It was a length of red fabric, the one that Selene had worn last night, rubies lay scattered on the ground.
Letting out a cry, Ember rushed out of the room shutting the door after her and ignoring the guards' confused looks .
She raced all the way to the other side of the castle, heading to the breakfast room where the Royal family would be having their first meal. The Queen Luna was just making her way in to the room and she halted at the sound of fast approaching boots.
"Oh Your Grace!" Ember cried falling to the Queen's feet.
Queen Ulva waved her hands at the guards who had stepped protectively in front, indicating that they step aside.
"Will you speak or shall I have you thrown out?" She demanded at the hysterical omega.
Ember looked up at the icy cold eyes of the Queen.
"Something terrible has happened, Your Grace. The Princess. She's not in her room. I think she might be missing." Ember said trying to stop herself from sobbing.
Ulva did not expect to hear that. She did not need to ask which princess, she knew that Ember was responsible for Selene.
She moved closer to the quivering she wolf.
"Get up!" She ordered and the crying omega scrambled to her feet quickly.
"What do you mean she's not in her room?"
Ember presented the piece of Red fabric and relayed her encounter to the queen.
Ulva was silent but her heart was pounding faster than ever.
Last night after the ceremony, Ulva herself had personally escorted the princess to her room. The King had commanded it so what was going on?
"Fang!" Ulva called her personal bodyguard and he stepped forward.
"Yes, My Queen."
"Princess Selene is not in her bedroom, I need you to find her. Get some of your men and do so discreetly." She said and then she turned to face him with a very serious look in her eyes. "Be as discreet as possible. The King must not know about this."
"Understood." Fang answered and walked away.
"Not a word of this to any soul." Ulva said to a whimpering Ember and then the queen proceeded to walk majestically in to the breakfast room.
Her children were in there waiting for her as she approached the table with her usual elegance and her expensive Silk dress flowing after her.
A chair was pulled out for her and after taking her seat she dismissed all the servants from the room.
"Good morning Mother." Connor said in his usual unfazed tone as he went on slicing his roast.
Ulva flipped her long ebony hair past her shoulders as her hazel eyes looked from Son to daughter. At least Connor had acknowledged her while his twin sister sat gulping down freshly squeezed wine and eating her roast.
"Have you no manners, Coral?!" Ulva snapped at the young she wolf, a younger version of her who now looked up from her breakfast plate with a glare.
"Good morning to you mother." She said in a snarky tone and continued eating her food.
Ulva's fist angrily came down on the table.
"Don't be rude!" She ordered angrilly.
"You're the one who is being rude." Coral dared to say. "I'm still angry with you for letting that cursed wretch get engaged to Lyall. I also have a headache from drowning my sorrows with alcohol last night, so please!"
"Did you do something to her? Did you go to her room to torture her after the ceremony? Push her out the window?!" Ulva demanded with her eyes flashing in anger.
"That's a good idea! Maybe I'll stop by after breakfast!" Coral said with a wicked smirk.
In one fluid moment, Ulva grabbed her daughter and gave her a slap, Coral stumbled back in shock but before she could recover, her mother was holding her neck violently.
"You foolish child! What did you do to her?" She demanded.
Connor stood up with a sigh.
"Stop mother .Calm down, what is the problem?" He asked trying to pry his mother's hands off his sister's neck.
"Your sister is going to get us killed! She has done something to that cursed being!" Ulva cried in anger releasing her hold.
Coral spluttered and gasped for air.
"I didn't do anything! You alway warn me never to touch her on the night of a new moon phase." Coral shouted back. "Besides since when do you care about Selene?"
"She's missing!" Ulva burst out in frustration.
Her usual calm demeanor was shattered and her mind was racing in fear and anxiety.
"Missing? How?" Connor asked in shock.
"I don't know!" Ulva said collapsing in her seat and smoothening her clothes. "Ask your sister!"
"Why me? I didn't touch her!" Coral protested.
"Because you're the one who spends the most time tearing her apart, because you're the one who hates her very much, because you're angry that your father mated her to Lyall!" Ulva spat back angrilly.
"You hate her more than I do, mother!" Coral argued. "I did not touch her, I swear."
"It doesn't matter." Ulva said with a cynical laugh. "If she's not found then we are dead."
Connor sat back weakly in to his chair and so did Coral.
She hated Selene with everything in her but she knew what would happen if truly, her step sister was missing.
Ulva sighed weakly and said. "The Dark king will kill us, if she isn't found."
He was her husband and their father but that name was a reminder of how deadly he could be.