The Mate's Forbidden Secrets

Chapter Sixteen

Aria directed me to go take a shower. Once we were done here, we'd be headed to meet Elder Isolde.

Apparently, the King had also told them about my new appointment.

I got out of the shower and slipped into neat, cute clothes—a short summer dress that fell just above my knee.

I was happy to find hair care equipment already situated in the bathroom.

God bless Aria's soul.

It was the most soothing thing to have my hair washed. I unfolded it from the towel it was wrapped in, now at a loss on how to comb it myself.

I didn’t think I should be asking Aria for help with such a task.

“Do you need help in there, Valerie?” I jumped at the soothing sound of Aria’s voice, my eyes widening.

How did she—? Almost like she could tell what I was thinking. Her soft, amused laughter filled the air.

“I’ve heard you let out like fifty sighs in the last ten minutes,” she laughed, her voice still crackling with amusement.

Oh right. Werewolf hearing.

I sighed dramatically this time for good effect, and Aria let out another laugh.

I liked hearing her laugh.

“Now come on out, Val. Let’s see what the problem is.” I heard Melanie’s voice chirp in.

When did she get here?

I peeled the bathroom door open in slow steps, and the ladies had their arms crossed—one patiently waiting and the other barely holding back from pulling me out herself.

Aria’s soft features widened at the sight of my untied hair.

“Did you take a dive in the forest last night?” Melanie’s voice rang through the room, and Aria’s hand reached out to flip her arm, which she dramatically dodged.

All it took was three seconds of staring, and we erupted into a loud, uncontrollable fit of laughter.

Even me.

We laughed until we collapsed onto the floor.

“What did you do to your hair?” Melanie snorted out.

This would have been a moment of insecurity for me, but I found myself not caring—not after the fit of laughter we just had.

My stomach tingled, and it wasn’t an effect from the King. I hadn’t laughed in the longest time. I had barely even smiled in so long—a real smile, one I didn’t wear out of mere courtesy and politeness.

It felt good. Different. It shook me, and it felt great.

We picked ourselves up from the floor, our moment of bliss ending too soon.

“I was always so busy... I went long weeks without combing through it or letting it down until it became this way. I didn’t know what to do, so I let it be,” I explained as best as I could, and the women nodded without prodding further—even Melanie, which I appreciated.

It didn’t help that my red hair was wavy and extremely long. It was beyond tangled and rough. The only advantage was that I could pull it tightly into a band, and no one could tell how messy it looked inside.

Aria directed me to sit on a stool in front of a mirror with a smile, and mine dimmed.

I avoided looking into the mirror as both women took their sweet time oiling my wet hair and combing through it until it was no longer tangled.

Melanie completely took over and styled my hair into a half-ponytail, letting the back stay down.

I could no longer avoid looking into the mirror. I stared at myself, open-mouthed. I didn’t recognize the girl that stared back at me.

I had grown to hate myself so much. I felt repulsed whenever I looked into the mirror, and I hated the feeling of self-loathing bottled in my chest, so I stopped looking. Being told you were ugly and cursed your entire life does that to someone.

I blinked at the image in the mirror. She looked like me, but she wasn’t me. She was a fake—a mask of my disgusting self. I could cherish this mask for a small while before leaving. I could pretend I was normal, that my life was normal, and that I had friends who actually liked me.

I smiled at the mirror, unable to look away from the imposter.

The thought shriveled and broke immediately after it flashed into my mind, leaving me reeling away from the mirror and turning from it like it burned me.

I turned to the ladies, a false smile now displayed on my lips.

“Thank you,” I said. “You're so great at this. Is it like a profession?” I inquired curiously, swallowing all my darkness and pushing it to the side.

“Nooo,” Melanie drawled. “My mother was a hairstylist before she became queen. She taught me while I was growing up—said it would come in handy. Now look!” Melanie squealed, pride and excitement buzzing from her in waves, like even she was surprised by her handiwork.

Aria let out a laugh at her antics. “I’ll recommend you for braiding all our hair for the upcoming ceremony,” Aria said softly, and Melanie’s excitement faded in seconds, followed by a loud groan.

“Oh goodness, that insufferable b***h,” she whined. “I can’t believe this is really happening. I thought Zurien would’ve called it off by now, but he hasn’t said a word yet.” A spike zapped through my spine as I listened.

“Anyone else but that masked snake,” Melanie spat in spite. Her angry side always shocked me.

“Elder Jaxon will stop at nothing to get his daughter mated to Zurien and crowned queen. Everyone knows this.” My world darkened around me and my knees weakened.

It was just the nerves. It doesn’t matter to me.

“W-what ceremony?” I whispered, and Melanie let out another groan.

“The official mating ceremony between my brother and that wench.” I placed my hand against my aching chest and slid back onto the stool, needing to sit—the ache was alarmingly breathless.

“She didn’t seem that bad,” I forced myself to say, casually trying to continue the conversation, like I wasn’t struggling to pull my head out from under the weight of it all. And I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand why I was feeling this wretched.

Melanie scoffed. “That’s exactly what she does. She pretends to be all graceful and holier-than-thou, but I know how rotten she really is. I’ve seen her,” she said with a sigh.

“I feel bad for my brother. It was prophesied the moment he was born that he may never find his true mate.” My mind went blank.

“Why?” I asked quietly, and Melanie shrugged, sadness crossing her features for the first time.

“Lots of rumors flew around at the time, but I remember our parents speaking. Our mother was beyond frightened. They said if he somehow found his true mate, one of them was bound to die.”

“At first, it didn’t faze Zurien. He didn’t believe in the prophecy. Not even when our frightened parents betrothed him to Mira. When he became Alpha, he tried to annul the allegiance, but over the long years, I’ve watched him give up all hope of finding his true mate. He deserves to be happy. And this pack deserves to have a true Luna and queen. I will hold on to my belief that she’s somewhere out there.”

We all fell into silence. The ladies had this fallen look etched on their faces, like the King's mate not being found had taken a real toll on them.

“All right, enough of the sad air. Elder Isolde must be waiting,” Aria cut through the silence, and Melanie jumped back into her usual self like she hadn’t just opened her heart in front of a mere stranger—me.

I pulled myself to my feet, my mind still reeling from what I’d just heard and the ache in my chest growing by the second.