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

Chapter 46

Noelle woke the next morning to a text from Nick letting her know that he had landed and he would contact her as soon as he could but he wasn't sure when that might be. It was better than nothing.

She hadn't slept well and she found herself missing him terribly but there was nothing that could be done for it. Her heart ached for him, surprising her. Such was life living in Regal Eclipse, fixing the werewolf world's problems. She would have probably gone too if she didn't have to go back to school so soon. She'd be glad when it was done.

She spent most of the day moving boxes and helping her mother with mundane tasks such as laundry and some light cleaning. She went down to the dining room during meals and brought up plates for both of them. She wondered how much longer Jenna would carry those pups. 

Noelle wasn't quite sure what to do with her stuff as it wasn't something she had discussed with Nick yet, so she put most of it in the empty bedroom. It would probably end up staying there until she was done with school, but she was fine with that. She poked her head into his closet at one point and saw that there was room for her clothes and she began to put them away in there. A lot of it was stuff she hadn't worn in months anyways, because she's been away at school. Her closet in her dorm was small and completely full.

She found out that almost all of the pack leadership had gone to England except her mother and Talia since they were both pregnant. Even her grandmother and grandfather had gone. It had to be serious if her father had gone. He wouldn't leave her mother unless it was absolutely necessary.

Noelle paced the floor later in the afternoon. She'd been busy all day, keeping herself distracted, though thoughts of Nick still seeped in constantly. She was annoyed with herself for not completing the mating bond with him last night. Why had she let her nerves get in the way?

"Noelle Remington, you're going to wear a path in the carpet if you don't stop. He'll be fine," Jenna said, coming down the hallway. She'd just woken up from her nap.

"I don't know how you do this," Noelle told her.

"I find other things to keep my mind busy and I remind myself that he will come back to me. He's immortal." She placed a hand on her belly, slowly rubbing it.

"I know. I know."

"Why don't you go pick your sister up?" Jenna suggested.

Noelle stopped and looked at her mother. "In Ohio?"

Jenna laughed. "No her plane is going to be landing here shortly. She came home for the weekend to see you."

"Oh! Okay. I'll be back." She left the apartment and headed down to the office where the keys were kept for all the SUVs and grabbed one. She then headed outside, hitting the button to see which key she'd grabbed. They were all identical.

Seeing her sister would be a good distraction for the next few days before they both headed back to school. She hadn't seen Aria in a few months. Noelle had a feeling that more than likely Matthew would be with her as the two were practically inseparable. It would also give him a chance to visit his mother.

Noelle wondered what would happen when either one of them found their mate. Someone was going to end up with their heart broken, and she hated to see that for either one of them. It was why she herself had chosen never to get involved with anyone. They always denied they were involved with each other, but she knew even her father suspected that they were.

She parked the SUV and pulled out her phone for the millionth time that day, hoping to see a message from Nick. She glanced at the time. It was a five hour difference and it would be getting late there. But there was still nothing from him. She sighed. She didn't want to worry, but she couldn't help it.

She watched the plane land and gave it a few minutes before she got out of the vehicle. Jenna had told her that Aria didn't know a lot of what had happened over the last couple of months. She was in her final year of college and was swamped with homework. She didn't call much. Noelle had only talked to her twice in the last two months and she missed her sister. They'd been pretty close growing up because of how close they were in age.

She watched her sister get off the plane followed by Matthew. Both of them were blonde with blue eyes. Aria was beautiful and would have been offered the position of Queen had Noelle chosen to walk away.

She's been given the option. Her father had told her that when she was fifteen. He'd told her to give it some serious thought and they'd talked quite a bit about what all the position meant and how it could affect who she was mated to.

But she never considered not being Queen. It was what she was meant to do and she took it seriously, which she knew made him very proud. She was born to be Queen, and Queen she would be.

"Welcome home," Noelle called as they approached her.

"It's good to be back!" They both hugged for a long moment and then Noelle turned to Matthew.

"It's good to see you, Matt."

"Good to see you too Noelle."

She hugged him as well. Matthew was only a couple weeks younger than her and she had grown up with him as his mother had joined the pack and mated Ragnar shortly after Matt's father's death.

They got into the SUV. "So Mama said no one's here?" Aria asked, glancing at the other four SUVs parked nearby, waiting for the pack to return.

"No they all left last night to go to England," Noel told her. With my mate.

"Why?" Aria asked.

"Does it have something to do with Northumbria and Mercia?" Matt spoke up from the backseat.

Noelle glanced at him. "How do you know?"

He smiled. "Well, if it has something to do with England and them getting up and leaving in the middle of the night that would be my first guess. I know those packs have been at each other's throats for years."

Of course he would know that. Matt probably knew more about the packs of the world than she did. His father would have made sure of it.

He was as well trained as Noelle was and because he'd had to spend so much of his time training, Aria had joined as well. Not that Matt minded it at all. He loved every second of it as much as Noelle did. She wasn't quite sure that her sister enjoyed it as much as they did, but if it made Matt happy, it made her happy and that's all that mattered.

"So who didn't go?" Aria asked, knowing that would probably be the easier response.

"Mom and Talia."

They both looked at her in surprise. "It's that bad huh?" Matt asked, raising a brow at her.

Noelle nodded. She didn't miss Matt clenching his jaw slightly and knew he wished he'd been home and able to go with them. Soon. Once he was finished with school, he'd become a pack liaison as well more than likely. She had a feeling he knew all of the packs and could name off all of their leadership better than she could. Which annoyed her.

"How is Mom?" Aria asked, changing the subject.

"Tired most of the time. I've been helping her as much as possible today. Those pups are wearing her out." Noelle wondered if Matt was aware that his mother was pregnant too. She wouldn't bring it up. It wasn't her news to tell.

"And what about you? What's been going on with you?" Aria asked.

Noelle pulled up to the pack house and put the vehicle into park. "I don't have time to tell you right now. You'll have to wait until later and I'll give you all the juicy details."

Aria looked at her with raised eyebrows then smiled and got out of the vehicle. "I think I've missed too much over the last couple months. Just answer me this: Have you found your mate?"

Noah laughed. "You have no idea."

"Well?"

"Yes, and then some," Noelle said.

"What does that mean?" Aria asked her as she took her bag from Matt.

"I'll tell you later," Noelle promised.