The Turned Queen

The Random Stranger

Ryder and Scarlett were sitting on the bleachers as the second half of the game began.

"Who are we supporting though?" Scarlett asks Ryder as Ryder chuckles,

"Do we need to? What if the one we support losses? Won't you be disappointed?"

Scarlett smirks at Ryder and pats his shoulder, "Then you need to step in to make sure we don't lose."

"Whoaa! How can you be so confident in me?" Ryder looks at her in amusement.

"You are a werewolf." Scarlett says in a duh tone, as she continued.

"Obviously you will win against humans. If you step in the game -that's a given, isn't that why you didn't join them?" Scarlett raises her eyebrow at Ryder as Ryder smiles widely,

"Smart."

"I know right."

There were two teams, one with the low scores in blue and the other were in yellow -a colour Scarlett didn't like. The yellow team was ahead of the blue team with 2 points.

"Alright which one should I join?" Ryder asks as Scarlett deadpans.

"The blue team."

"Okay. Watch me." Ryder and Scarlett bumps their fists, "Knock them off." Ryder chuckles as he takes off towards the field. Scarlett watches him curiously.

Their interaction was caught by many eyes and one of them -bright amber eyes glared daggers at Ryder while Ryder joined the blue team. The golden eyes watched every move of Scarlett from afar as Scarlett felt eyes on her and her gaze went in the direction and landed on those bright amber eyes which belonged to none other than -Athanasius La Croix. Scarlett scanned him from top to bottom, Athanasius was tall around 6 the same as Ryder, his blonde hairs flew back as he ran chasing the player. He was well built but not as better as Ryder. As a human he was strong and muscular. Scarlett saw Artemia cheering for her brother as her attention went back to Ryder scoring and taking the lead on the game. It didn't even took much efforts of Ryder to settle the scores. Both the teams were neck to neck and a smile made it's way on Scarlett's lips when Ryder scored another goal and the team won, she couldn't help but sequel like a teenager as Ryder looked back at Scarlett and he bumped his fist on his chest and pointed his hand at Scarlett. Scarlett smiled widely as she returned the gesture. Many students noticed their interaction as some started murmuring around while Ryder ran towards Scarlett. On the other hand Athanasius lost the game for the first time in his life but looking at Scarlett and Ryder, a different fire lit in his heart. He was the one who met her first and he was the one who brought her here and yet she didn't even recognize him. Athanasius gritted his teeth as Artemia patted his shoulder in a comforting way.

"It's alright to lose. It's just a game." Athanasius turned to her sister and tried to calm down when they heard a melodic voice from behind them."Artemia, we need to talk."

Artemia's face turned pale as Athanasius noticed her sister's discomfort and looked at Scarlett then back at Artemia, "What's going on?"

Scarlett scowled, "That's something your sister knows very well."

Artemia takes in a deep breath and starts to explain,

"Look Scarlett, I know my way was wrong but all I was just looking for was a normal college life and because I'm a princess, my safety is a must, that's why we did a background check. I know that it's inappropriate and wrong but I couldn't help it. I'm sorry Scarlett." Athanasius got a hold of the situation as Scarlett snorted.

"Just because you are the Princess of the country, you went all FBI on me? Dude, I didn't even apply for the dorm service while registering myself and

don't tell me you did not see it. Next time you look for a roommate go for someone you already know or hold a fuckin' competition and ask the interested ones to take part. Not everyone wants to be involved with a princess or let it be any other shit." Scarlett spoke sternly. She knew she was harsh but to know that her lonesome and miserable life was already known by someone she didn't even knew was a serious issue of invading her privacy. Scarlett was an orphan, she grew without being loved and she had her own insecurities but her life turned upside down after the car accident and in order to survive she needed to keep a low profile and this naive princess wasn't making things any better for her.

Athanasius saw Scarlett's struggle to keep a blank face but he could tell she was really angry, who wouldn't though.

"Scarlett, I'm Athanasius La Croix, her brother."

Scarlett looked at him blankly as he continued,

"I know we invaded your privacy but that's how things work here. We did not notice about the dorm service and it was an error on our part so we apologise."

Scarlett raises her eyebrow at him, "Even if I had applied for the dorm service I wouldn't have liked to be her roommate because of your so called process. Next time just hold a fuckin' event or competition for this stuff. I bet many people will fight for being her roommate but not me." Scarlett spoke coldly as Ryder tapped her shoulder. "It's enough. Let's go back."

Artemia looked at Scarlett's poker face and felt a little sad. She was never been ignored like this before.

"Look, we apologise." Athanasius held Artemia's hand as Artemia spoke, "We are sorry."

Confusion flashed in Scarlett's grey eyes as she spoke, "Wait, you both are apologizing....So it means you both are accomplice." Scarlett was frustrated to see the siblings being so unreasonable as Artemia spoke, "He recommended you, saying he already knew you."

Scarlett was shocked to her very core as she stared at Athanasius with a serious face, Athanasius was handsome, sharp jaw, blonde hairs, amber eyes with a height of 6 feet. He definitely didn't have a common face but Scarlett couldn't recall him at all.

"What the f**k? You know me?-" she looked sharply at Athanasius as Athanasius sighed and turned towards Artemia, "You weren't supposed to tell her about this."

Scarlett was bewildered as Ryder was staring at the siblings with his mouth wide open. "How do you know her?" Ryder couldn't hold his curiosity.

Athanasius looked at Scarlett and spoke awkwardly, "When I visited New York, we met at this cake shop. I bought a cake but they weren't accepting cards so you-" he stared at Scarlett, "-you paid for my cake in cash and that day happened to be my birthday. You were kind to me and then we again ran into each other in an alley at a little distance from where the car accident happened. I rushed when I heard about the car accident but when I reached you were already gone. I tried to find you but couldn't trace you at all." Scarlett was processing his explanation in shock as Artemia gasped at her brother, "This is destiny!"

"Bullshit!" Scarlett exclaims, "Why don't I remember you?" she questions herself as her head starts to hurt and her legs feels like jelly as she holds her head while Ryder supports her. "Don't be hard on yourself. Maybe you don't remember because of the accident. Don't think too much Scarlett, you are hurting yourself." Athanasius panicks, "Don't force yourself to remember, Scarlett. It's alright even if you don't remember me. I was just a random stranger you helped."

"Yeah Scarlett, calm down." Artemia handed her a water bottle as Scarlett chugged it down before taking deep breaths.