Mated To The Loner King

"Congratulations on your mating ceremony." The crowd surround the two lovers clapping and singing for them. Although they had done their mating ceremony, their actual wedding had not yet been done therefore they couldn't be considered a real married couple yet. Nevertheless, the entire Shifter kingdom now knew the girl to belong to him and him alone.

"Senior sister, you came." Melissa heard someone say to her gaining her attention.

Of course she had to come. She was the wolf clan successor and the girl in question was a wolf.

"I can't believe how fast you have grown. Look at you now. You are already mated. You must be very careful in the future. You know the rumors around here. If you are mated, the loners will take you away." Melissa said but got hit instead by her mother.

"What did I tell you about talking about them in public? Do you want to get beaten again?" Melissa heard her mother ask making her shake her head immediately.

Talking about the loners was forbidden. Maybe it was because they were known to be a clan without any bottom line or maybe it was because of their king. Either way, they were greatly avoided and no one dared to mess with them.

Looking at her sister, Melissa smiled awkwardly looking for a chance to leave immediately. Just then, she found her target.

"Your Highness." Melissa said leaving her mother's side as she went to greet the crown prince.

The crown prince of the Shifter kingdom. The royal family was said to be the only ones to be able to shape shift into any animal of their choice. The rest, they could only turn to any human and the animals of their clan. She was a wolf therefore the only animal she could turn into was a wolf and any human she wanted. As long as she had their pictures or had seen them at least once, she could definitely turn into one of them.

"You are running from your mother, aren't you?" Melissa heard the crown prince ask making her nod her head while the crown prince shook his head.

They had grown up together. All the clan successors had grown up with the crown prince. After his father's reign as the Shifter king, they would rise up and assist him as his cabinet members.

" You. What are you really trying to do? Your mother is going to spit out blood at this rate. You are too mischievous." Melissa heard the crown prince say making her laugh.

Yes, she was mischievous. The most mischievous of all the clan successors but it was because she had a very good reason to be. Her father had died early leaving her to be cared for by the other submissive mothers since her mother had gone rogue at the time. Being the only clan successor being raised at the hands of the submissive mothers, she became spoiled.

" And I am going be even more mischievous. I found out that the hyenas are throwing a party. Of course I would have to attend." Melissa said giggling as they took their seats.

"Don't even think about it. The hyenas are involved in a lot of fraudulent activities. Do you want to get sold off?" The crown prince asked.

"He won't dare. I am his sister. His senior sister. And I am much stronger than him. Even if thousands of hyenas were to hold me down, they wouldn't be able to tie me up successfully. I'll just beat all of them and beat that little brat up." Melissa said referring to the hyena clan successor.

"Still, don't go anywhere. A mating ceremony just took place. We don't know when the loners will strike again and make a fuss. We must be careful. The loners are not like the rest of us, they are pure evil at its finest." The crown prince said advising her not to go.

Few hours later, the after party finished. Receiving death glanced from the crown prince, Melissa signaled him that she was heading home. The crown prince knew she could not be trusted at all. Signaling one of the shifters, he glanced at Melissa asking that she be followed. But Melissa wasn't stupid.

Leaving the party, Melissa walked along the road knowing that she was being followed. It wasn't the first time that the crown prince had played such a move on her so she was fully aware of it. Turning into a wolf, Melissa howled loudly before a smile formed on her lips. They thought they could follow her?

Taking off, Melissa saw the shifter that had been following her take off following her. The two of them ran across the field raising sand at the speed they were running. Heading to the hyena's territory, Melissa ran as fast she could barely making it. Just as he was about to catch up with her, some hyenas tackled him to the ground.

"How did you think you were going to be catch up with me? Look at you. You are so skinny." Melissa said as she laughed loudly at the shifter.

" Senior sister, what should we do with him? If we let him go, he'll go back and tell crown prince." Melissa heard the hyena's clan successor say as he walked in.

Cats and dogs were natural enemies and each one was loyal to it's clan. Although the cat family had always been powerful, the dog family had been able to keep their heads up because of the crown prince's identity as a wolf. He was next in line to the throne and therefore, they had gained some respect.

" Just tie him up and keep him safely here. We can set him free the next day." Melissa said.

Just then, a hyena came in rushing to meet the hyena clan successor. He was out of breath and was obviously afraid.

"What happened? What did you do?" Melissa asked as she looked at the hyena clan successor.

Meanwhile, a pack of shifters entered the hyena clan. All the hyenas ran about in chaos looking for a means of escape as the loners came in.

"Little brother. Shouldn't you come out to welcome me personally? Are you going to make me wait!" Melissa heard a loud thick voice ask making her shiver.

The aura around was terrifying and strong. It was obvious that this person was far more powerful than her. Looking at the hyena clan successor, Melissa touched his hand.

"Run. Go through the back and run straight to meet the crown prince. Tell him to come and help me. Go!" Melissa said shouting as she tapped his hand again urging him to leave.

After she had watched him leave, Melissa turned heading out to face whoever it was that had come to bully the hyena clan.

"Who are you? Coming this late at night, don't you think it's rather inappropriate?" Melissa asked she stepped outside but stopped in her tracks gasping after she saw them.

They were all shifters like her. Most of them were panthers and others were wolves. Their aura wasn't the only scary thing about them. It was the one thing that had helped her identify them immediately she came. Their eyes. It was bright red shining like the night like vampires. Looking at them, Melissa knew who they were.

"Lo... Lon... Loners?" Melissa asked gasping in shock as she looked at the large numbers of loners that stood in front of her.

" And who might you be?" Melissa heard one of the loner foxes ask making her step back afraid.

Just then, Melissa witnessed a dominant aura hit the fox that was trying to come at her. Covering her mouth, Melissa tried hard to cover her fear as she looked at them. She knew there was no way she would be able to outrun them so the best method was to try and talk to them.

"May I know why all of you have come to the hyena clan? The moon is out and there is a joyful occasion. Is it truly as it is said? Are you coming for the girl that was just recently mated?" Melissa asked.

" We have no business with you. The person we have come to find is the hyena clan successor. You should stay out of it." Melissa heard a thick voice say helping her recognize it.

It was the same voice she had heard before. The voice was thick and coarse oozing a dominant aura. Although she had heard the voice, she had not yet seen the person that owned the voice.

"Of course I couldn't agree more with you. It's just that the hyena clan is under the dog family. They are under our protection. I just want to know what they did. Immediately I know, I will personally go and get the person you are looking for." Melissa said.

The place suddenly became silent and Melissa couldn't help but shutter as she stood.

"Give us back our own!" Melissa heard a deep voice in her head say making her eyes widen.

It was the same voice as the one in front of her. What was happening? She had heard the voice in her head. Was that possible?

But still, Melissa maintained a clear expression. She didn't want to agitate them nor make them even more angrier than they were before.

"How about this? You people came from a long journey, have a seat over there. It's nothing fancy but I will just go inside and confirm something. I am not running, I swear." Melissa said trying to convince the man in the dark.

"Go." Melissa heard him say and took her heels immediately.

Heading back into the house, Melissa saw some of her brother's people gathered there waiting.

"Tell me who you guys took from the loners!" Melissa said shouting.

Glancing around at each other, none of them agreed to step up to confess making Melissa frustrated. The loners were here because the hyenas had kidnapped someone. It was what they did. Kidnapping people from the clan and selling them off. Everyone knew about it but they couldn't stop them completely. The hyenas were very stubborn creatures.

"Then I'll just leave. After all, it's not my problem. You guys are the ones that are going to die here alone. Father isn't here to rule the clan and your successor has just ran away. Knowing him, he definitely won't come back. You guys will just die here." Melissa said pretending to want to leave.

"It was a little boy. We found him in the fields and thought he would be a great commodity." Melissa heard one of them say making her eyes widen.

Cubs? They had kidnapped a cub and that cub just happened to have been related to the loners. No wonder they seemed so angry. Although the loners were no longer a part of the Shifters, they all had one rule in common. It was to never hurt the cubs (young babies).

"Where is he?" Melissa asked.

Walking with them, Melissa followr them to an underground cave where most of the people they kidnapped were kept in cages. Gasping in shock, Melissa stood looking around. Young women, young men and even babies had been locked up.

"How dare you?" Melissa asked throwing a punch to the nearest hyena near her.

"Forgive us. Please save us. The loners, they are going to kill every one of us." Melissa heard the hyena say falling to his knees.

"All of you deserve to die. Look at the state of the cubs. You. How am I supposed to calm the storm with this?" Melissa asked a she looked at the boy the loners were looking for .

Carrying the four year old on her arms, Melissa headed outside. It had taken her a hwole thirty minutes to dress and feed the boy. She wanted to make him look okay when he went out

Walking outside, Melissa carried the four year old carefully. It was obvious that he was also rogue but Melissa didn't mind. He was finally asleep and Melissa knew it was her time to carry him back .

" Here he is. He is sleeping so, you have to be careful." Melissa said as she stood.

Just then, a man stepped out stunning Melissa. He was a tall, handsome, muscular man with bright red eyes. And his body? Muscled and toned. It had the perfect amount of everything.

"I said you can give him to me now." Melissa heard him say again bringing her back to reality.

Nodding her head, Melissa returned back the four year old placing him in his hands.

"You have finally gotten what you came for, is it okay if you leave now?" Melissa asked stopping the man in front of her that was just about to leave.

"What?" He asked scaring Melissa as he looked at her.

"Big brother. You didn't tell me you were coming out. I would have personally come to welcome you. The shifter kingdom may not be tolerant of your kind but you know me, I love you." Melissa heard a familiar voice say gaining her attention.

It was the crown prince. The hyena clan successor had managed to get there in time just before the royal family left. After telling me him everything, the crown prince had come rushing to save Melissa.

"You. Stop hiding. If I catch you taking any of our clan's people, I will come back here and I will rip your head off, dear little brother." Melissa heard the man say talking to someone.

But she had no idea. It looked it was the hyena clan successor but she had no hope on him coming back because it wasn't a smart thing to do at the moment.

"Enough, big brother. He is repentant of his actions. Besides, I will defined punish him. I won't allow this to continue any longer. Don't be mad." Melissa heard the crown prince say again addressing the man in front of her as a big brother.

Big brother? The crown prince was an only child and most of the clan successors considered him to their older brother.

"What are you so shocked about? I am indeed your older brother. She looks very ignorant but cute though." Melissa heard a voice in her head say again making her gasp.

Her sudden shock gained the attention of everyone and Melissa could see there were all eyes on her. Giggling, Melissa shook her head pretending to be crazy.

"I'll be leaving now." Melissa heard the man say.

Instinctively, the crown prince reached for Melissa dragging her to his side as the man in question passed. After the loners had all gone, the crown prince shook his head at Melissa.

"I told you specifically not to go out today. Why don't you ever listen? Of all the people, you just had to go and familiar with, it's the loner's king. What if he had killed you on the spot out of anger?" Melissa heard the crown prince ask.

"What did you just say? That man is that was just here is the loner's king? As in, their king, king?" Melissa asked.

" I don't think I stammered while saying it. The loners are made of different people from each clan in the Shifter kingdom. There, they don't have clans like us. They live as one. And that man that just left, is their king." The crown prince said as he took his head on a cut wooden tree base outside.

"That means that the boy they came to look for, is he?" Melissa asked watching as the crown prince nodded his head.

"Big sister, big brother, thank you both for coming to save me. If you had not, my head would certainly have been rolling." Melissa heard the hyena's clan successor say as he came out to thank them.

The loner's king had not been crazy when he gave his warning. Hyena clan successor had been hiding and the loner's king knew it.

"Set the women and children free. Set everyone that you have ever captured free this instant." Melissa said angrily.

After watching the harsh cruelty the hyenas had given to others, she couldn't stand and watch them continue like this. If you don't, or you say you can't because your father is away, I'll go right now and report everything I had seen to the royal family. Capturing cubs is a crime worthy of capital punishment. You'll became a loner too. I don't think their king will be too happy to see you though." Melissa said.

"I understand. I understand. I will let them go. Anything you want for saving me." Melissa heard the hyena's clan successor say.

Returning back home, Melissa sighed as she walked into her clan landmark. All the clans had shared the land equally allowing room for almost anything to be built. But what she feared was something else. She had heard his spirit animal's voice in her head. Could it be that?

"Melissa! I was right, wasn't I? You left the party and went to find trouble. Look at the time you are coming back. It's almost daybreak. A young virtuous lady coming back at this time, do you not want your mate to think highly of you?" Melissa heard her mother ask as she screamed in a high pitch tone.

"What exactly is the use? What if my mate is a bad person who impregnates me and runs away causing him to get killed by my senior brothers and making me go rogue? If they had not saved you in time, you would have been a loner." Melissa said stubbornly.

Suddenly, Melissa turned her gaze from her mother as she looked and saw the submissive mothers signaling her to do something. Just then, Melissa felt someone forcefully bend her head dodging the slippers her mother had thrown at her.

"Mother! Are you trying to kill me? What if crown prince hadn't saved me?" Melissa asked shaking her shoulders.

"You little good for nothing. I didn't even aim right and you are still talking? Just wait here." Melissa heard her mother say as she was about to leave.

"Oh mother. Don't be too angry at her. It might harm your health and this is just the way Melissa is. It's best not to place too much thought on it. She , she has learned her lesson. She won't be doing anything stupid for the time being, right Melissa?" Melissa heard the crown prince ask as he looked at her.