The Alpha Queen's Mate (Book 5 of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 1

Noelle Remington wandered down the hall towards her father's office. She'd slipped out of her parent's apartment, not wanting to disturb her mother. Jenna Remington was seven months pregnant with twins and needed all the rest she could get.

She knocked on his office door, wondering if he was alone. She scented the air. Nick was inside.

"Come in."

She opened the door and stepped in. Her father was seated behind his desk, his hands folded behind his head. Nick was seated in the chair in front of his desk, leaning back, his hands folded on his stomach. He looked up and flashed her a half smile.

She smiled back and walked over to the couch on the far wall and sat down, making herself comfortable. "Hope I'm not interrupting."

"I was just talking to Nick about Salt Flats Pack and Blake's Luna," Daniel told her warrily.

Noelle nodded and grew quiet, listening to the two of them talk. It seemed Nick was going to be making a trip to Salt Flats very shortly. Something was off with that pack, and Regal Eclipse would need to get to the bottom of it.

Regal Eclipse was the Royal Pack, their Alpha the King of all Werewolves. He was also Noelle's father. The pack's main job was to keep peace in the werewolf community and uphold the law.

Alpha Blake of the Sierra Nevada Pack had just recently found his Luna, and she was from Salt Flats Pack. She was quiet and reserved, and hadn't spoken to anyone, but Blake had told them on their recent visit that Salt Flats Pack needed to be investigated.

Nicholas Seely was the liaison for Salt Flats. If they needed something, they would contact him. It was his job to make sure things were good with the pack and that its members were being well cared for and no laws were being broken.

"I'll fly out there tomorrow and take a look around. See if anything looks out of the ordinary. They haven't contacted me for anything in a while," Nick said. He had his laptop open on the desk and was looking through his notes he'd made from each visit he'd conducted over the years. "Last time I was there was eight months ago. It was very quiet. It was pretty late when I made the stop there on my way back from Hawaii. They told me everything was good."

Daniel nodded slowly, lost in thought. They generally didn't visit packs too much unless something was brought to their attention. Typically, they only conducted the routine visits every five years, though he himself had been to Salt Flats a little over a year ago when Mason had taken over as the new Alpha. Nick had checked in on him a few times since then, making sure that he was handling the position well, but everything seemed okay. Mason seemed like a capable leader.

Blake's Luna, Hailey, was Mason's Beta's sister and had been tight lipped about the pack. She'd been tight lipped about everything, and Noelle didn't think she'd heard the woman say two words the entire time they were there. Even when she'd been speaking to Blake, Hailey had stayed close to his side, keeping her eyes lowered and never looking at anyone. She was like a scared little rabbit, afraid of her own shadow.

Daniel folded his hands on his desk and sighed. Noelle knew he didn't want to deal with this. He'd already sentenced one Alpha to death in the last week for crimes against innocent people. With her mother so far advanced into her pregnancy, she knew he'd prefer to stay home with his mate and take care of her.

Once the pups were born, Ragnar, her father's Beta, would take over for a month or two while Daniel focused solely on Jenna and their growing family. Her father wouldn't leave her mother unless it was absolutely necessary. She could easily remember him doing that when her little brother had been born.

She also knew Nick was more than willing to do what was necessary. He didn't have a mate or pups to worry about. "I'll go tomorrow. Take a look around and see what I can find."

Daniel nodded. "I hope it's nothing, but I have a feeling it's not."

Alpha Blake had been vague, mostly because he didn't know what was going on there. He just knew something was off. And Hailey was a walking red flag. She shouldn't be such a submissive wolf. Not as a Beta's sister destined to be a Luna.

Nick closed his laptop and stood. "Don't worry about it until you need to. I'll take care of that part. You focus on Jenna and your pups."

Daniel nodded and stood as well. "Just be on your guard and keep me updated. Is Jenna sleeping?" He asked Noelle, his gaze flicking towards her.

"She is."

"I'm going on up there then." He nodded to them both, then left his office, leaving Noelle alone with Nick.

"When are you going?" Noelle asked him curiously.

He turned his gaze to her. "Tomorrow."

"Can I go with you?" It popped out of her mouth before she'd really given it much though. She hadn't planned to ask, but then again, why not? She needed to get out of the pack house and this would be a good learning experience for her. She hoped to start conducting pack visits herself when she was finished with school. Hopefully with her mate.

Nick lifted a brow at her suspiciously, and leaned against the door frame. "Why do you want to go with me?"

"Because I have nothing to do here and if I'm going to be doing this one day, I need to learn." Nick conducted more pack visits than anyone else and he'd be good to learn from. He was the one she wanted to learn from. She watched his green eyes narrow. "Please?"

He laughed. "Noelle Remington begging me to take her on a pack visit. If I take you, you're doing the reports."

"Agreed," she said quickly. She'd do whatever he wanted to get him to take her, including the paperwork. She needed to learn it anyway.

"Fine. I'll let you know when the plane's taking off. And I suppose I have to have you back for your ball," he straightened up.

"I would appreciate it." She stood herself. She was surprised he even knew about it.

"Alright. But I'm in charge," Nick told her, crossing his arms over his chest.

She smiled sweetly at him. "I'll let you think that."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Don't make me regret this, Princess."

"Ugh, don't call me that." She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed. "I'm going down to the gym."

"Want some company?" Nick asked her.

"Why not." He was a good sparring partner, well trained, and he was challenging, something she liked. It had taken her awhile before she could beat him, but now she held her own against him pretty well.

"I'm going to change. I'll meet you down there in a bit." Nick turned and left the room.

Noelle followed him out but headed for the basement and the gym, while he headed up to his apartment. She was actually surprised he was even here. He did more traveling than anyone else, and she wondered if it was because he didn't like seeing everyone around him mated while he was still single. She could understand that. She was now the only one left in her class unmated.

As far as she knew, he was single with no girlfriend at all, though she supposed he wasn't celebate. He probably did what most of the guys had done back before they were mated, hooking up with human women for a one night stand. Humans were less messy than she-wolves, or so she'd heard. As a she-wolf herself, she resented that.

Nick, though, was still an unmated male werewolf, and he was gorgeous. He would easily attract any woman's attention, and Noelle doubted he had any problem finding a woman to warm his bed if he so desired. She'd had a crush on him when she was younger, and even now, she couldn't help but admire his good looks every time she saw him. She'd be lying to herself if she didn't admit to checking him out when she saw him. Discreetly of course. She would never openly dream of doing anything like that.

Like most of the pack, Nick was much older than her, though he didn't look it. He'd known her since she was in diapers and would probably be weirded out if he knew she was admiring him.