Somehow, I am walking with the Lycan King.

The room is crawling with tournament contestants, nobility, politicians, high-profile celebrities, the royal family, and the press covering every aspect of tonight's event. King Lucius already stated that everyone should take this seriously, and he was not kidding when he said that the country's future king would come out of it.

I was nervous the whole time since I arrived here hours ago, intimidated by such a prestigious event. I kept my head down, stayed out of the reporter's way, and tried to sniff out my mate, in case they were in the room.

Granted, most of the people here are outside my mating range - 17 - 21 - but I thought maybe a waiter or one of the servants. I was not expecting to be mated to a Princess, so anyone would do. I am sure that whoever they are, they will make me happy because the Moon Goddess would have selected them for me.

Alas, no such luck.

King Lucius was making his rounds, talking to contestants briefly, when he spotted me. As soon as he found out I was my father's son, he got so excited for some reason and asked me to walk with him. All of a sudden, the entire room was paying attention to me because I was with him. We got to talking, and he told me how impressed he was by my father during the battle of Monterrei.

"You know, at the time that this conflict exploded in Texas, I was maybe five years into my rule as King. I was untested, so the country did not know what to make of me, and more importantly, no one expected me to be great at this job. I believe it's partly why the King of Mexico decided to strike against me, he thought I would cower and let him take Texas away from me, away from the United States. As if anyone in their right mind would ever give up their land without a fight." Lucius told me as we walked around the room while a curious audience studied our interaction.

"At one point though, they thought they had us. They were well-prepared for the invasion, but it was your father who had the idea to take his platoon to Monterrei and squash their invasion from within. Most people thought that was suicidal, but he pulled it off. Though not without severe casualties, regrettably. But if it wasn't for him, that would've been much worse for us." He continued telling me the tale as if it happened yesterday and not twenty years ago.

"I was very sorry to hear of his passing. If I had my way, I would have let him stay here and rise in the military ranks, but my advisors told me it would be selfish of me to not reward a hero with a pack of his own. He was a great leader, so he deserved to be elevated as Alpha of his own pack." He spoke with some regret in his tone, reminiscing of that time.

I had to pull myself together as the King spoke of my father with such deference, such respect for him that it was hard for me to keep myself in check and not bawl my eyes out while he did. My father was a hero, but he would never acknowledge that. He always said it was his men who saved the day and fought with him. He was humble like that.

"The battle of Monterrei was forever ingrained in our history as a marvelous tactical maneuver and a black mark on our neighbor's reign. But it was then that I won the country over, gaining the respect of my subjects because I refused to let them invade our land. Nowadays, the Texas border with Mexico is one of the most well-defended in the country." He continued his rant as I listened to him closely.

"Now tell me, are you mated yet? How is your family? Is there something I could do for them?" He suddenly stopped walking and looked at me, showing a genuine interest in my life, which was daunting and flattering at the same time.

"No, Your Majesty, I'm not mated yet. I was hoping I would find my mate here in the Capital like my father once did. My family is doing great; thanks for asking. I wouldn't trouble Your Majesty with any request for my sake. All I ask is for the opportunity to prove myself worthy in your tournament. And if I could find my mate in the meantime, that'd be great." I replied, humbly.

"Well, if you do win the tournament, I have a few nieces that I would be happy to introduce you to." He spoke with a cheeky grin.

"I would never presume to be mated into royalty, Your Majesty, but it would be an honor to meet your nieces. I'm sure they are wonderful girls." I spoke cordially. The King smiled at me, then he walked up to the press corps and decided to make a statement with me right next to him.

"When I decided to set this tournament in motion, this is the quality of Alphas I expected to welcome here. This is Bradley Pendragon, his father was the hero of Monterrei." He declared proudly. I know that he did a nice thing, but I felt like bait to a shark tank.

Suddenly, I was flooded by questions from reporters about me and my father. It was daunting. In the meantime, at the table reserved for the royal family, Lord Edwin was not pleased with all the attention I was getting, and his son was even less pleased.

"This is not good. It's bad enough that your uncle decided to throw this competition and put you to the test like this. Now he has a figurehead to legitimize the tournament." Edwin declared, grunting in annoyance.

"Don't worry, father. I am going to crush that peasant with the might of a thousand suns. He won't know what hit him. And with tomorrow's opening challenge that is going to cut the numbers in half, who knows if he is going to make the cut?" Elton contemplated with a wicked smile. He was clearly envious of me and the attention I was receiving, even if I never asked for any of that.

"I wouldn't mind if he were my mate." Emily spoke up, admiring me from a vantage point, smitten by me. Both her father and brother glared at her for the comment, but her mother laughed at that.

"Do you really think you'd be mated to a peasant, sister? This is why our people don't get mated. Because such important matters cannot be left to chance." Elton declared, irked by her suggestion. Emily was not amused by his rhetoric.

"I want to be mated, is that a crime? I want to be with a man who would put me first, above any other. And it's not impossible for me to be mated, I just need to figure out what my challenge is." She rebuked him, irritated at his arrogance.

Oh right, the challenge.

I guess I should explain that.

The reason why the monarchy seldom gets mated, though technically it is not impossible for them to do so. They just need to figure out what their challenge is and overcome it. It's kind of like a tournament in its own right, except that you don't know what the challenge is. If you did, all you had to do was conquer it.

Anyway, long ago...

A|N: Sometimes you just have to get creative...

Danger is coming from every corner, and now it is increasingly less likely that our hero will succeed.

Love,

Léo.