Rise of the Cursed Princess

Chapter 2

As we entered the backyard, I realized that there were way more people than just my family in attendance of our little barbecue. I saw many of our packs families lounging around. Children ran through the grass playing different games and tackling each other to the ground. There were people floating in the pool and even some couples in the hot tub.

There were also quite a few people that I did not recognize. Among them was Theon, the blonde boy who had placed second in the race today.

As if he knew I was looking at him, his piercing green gaze caught mine. Everything around me seemed to freeze for a split second. I felt my cheeks heat in a blush. His mouth turned up on a small smile.

“Ari?” I heard Asher’s voice and it broke through the little moment we had been having. Almost painfully, I tore my eyes away from his and looked at my best friend.

“Are you okay? I think that guy was looking at you. I’m not sure who he is, though,” Asher whispered. For a second I thought I sensed a bit of jealousy in his voice.

“Impossible. It isn’t like that,” I thought to myself.

“He’s the one who placed second today,” I answered him. “I didn’t know he was a wolf though. Surely not part of our pack, otherwise I would have recognized him.”

I shook my head in an attempt to clear it. “Let’s go eat!”

We found my brother Sebastian and his girlfriend Kora at our usual table, surrounded by some of his friends. We sat in our usual spots and joined the conversation.

“Oh hey guys,” my brother greeted us.

“Asher,” one of the girls said in a flirty voice. It was, of course, Bridget. She was the Beta’s daughter and had been into Asher for as long as I could remember. She always made it so obvious, pushing her boobs up to create more cleavage, changing her voice and wearing a pout on her already full lips.

I rolled my eyes and pretended that it didn’t bother me. After all, we weren’t together and I had no right to feel that way. He deserved to be happy with whomever he chose.

“Ariella, Seb and I were just talking about how you guys have your seventeenth birthdays coming up,” Kora said making conversation. She knew how I felt about my best friend and always tried to keep my jealousy at bay when she noticed. I winked at her and smiled, knowing exactly what she was doing. I really hoped that Sebastian ended up having her as his destined mate. They really were perfect for each other.

Though she was just making conversation, I had actually forgotten about our birthdays. They were two days from now. Seventeen was one of the big ones in the werewolf community. It was the one where the pups came of age and were eligible to find their mates.

“Oh, yeah,” I responded, not really sure what to say.

“Your mom was telling us about the ceremony just a little bit ago,” she chattered excitedly. “It’s going to be just beautiful! Do you have a dress picked out?”

I shook my head, extremely disappointed in myself. I had been so good about keeping up with my responsibilities lately. That was one of my moms stipulations to be able to attend a regular high school in town instead of getting my education from the pack school. She didn’t agree with my longing for a normal teenage life. She never had. After eighth grade, we made a deal. If I could keep up with my responsibilities as princess and continue learning about our history and culture so that one day I would be prepared to rule, my mother would let me attend high school in the nearest town and engage in any extracurricular activities. My grades were good, I ran track and field for the high school and won first place every race. On Saturday mornings, I saw a tutor and spent four hours with her. I helped my mother and father plan events and attended every one of the meetings that my father called. I never got any time to myself to just relax, but it was worth it to me.

Being in school helped me feel more like an average kid. I could walk around freely without somebody knowing exactly who I was. I was treated as an equal and people could talk to me without fear of saying something “wrong”. Around the pack my family were basically celebrities. Any wolf who we came in contact with immediately could place us as royal blood because of our purple eyes. Only our bloodline carried that gene and we couldn’t shut it off. Most werewolves had a regular eye color that changed when they shifted. Regular alphas had gold eyes, betas had silver, and everybody else had a bronze color.

I had grown to love my eye color. They were violet with little specks of blue and green. They perfectly accented my red hair. I was the oddball of my family. My mother, father and brother all had straight blonde hair. I was petite, where everybody else was tall and thin. I had curves, but had never been overweight. Running kept me in shape.

“You and me. Tomorrow. Shopping,” Kora squealed with delight.

I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned to see my father with another man and Theon.

“Ariella, Sebastian, this is Alpha Troy Newsly from the Silvershine Pack. This is his son Theon.”

Both Sebastian and I stood to shake their hands. They bowed before us. I always had felt so awkward when people would bow to me.

“Oh there’s no need for the formalities here,” I said.

“Yes Princess,” Alpha Troy said. “Your father told me that you would say that, but it is important for my son to recognize and respect royalty when given the opportunity.”

“Thank you Alpha,” Sebastian responded. Royalty was definitely one of his stronger suits and he always had to pick up the slack where I was involved. “Theon, would you like to join us?”

Internally I groaned. After our strange exchange earlier, I was not looking forward to having him at our table.

“Absolutely,” Theon answered with a quick wink at me. His voice was gravely but smooth. Different than I had ever heard before. I gaped at him, my jaw hanging open, at his very obvious flirting.

I took my place back beside Asher and Theon sat straight across from me. I felt the bench lightly vibrating and I searched our friends, looking for the culprit. Everybody seemed to be at ease and smiling. I brushed it off, excusing it as my own nervous energy.

“That was one hell of a race Princess,” Theon stated. “Although probably a tad bit unfair to the humans you were competing against.”

“I could say the same to you,” I countered, allowing some irritation to seep into my tone.

He waved me off, “Nevertheless, a good race. You’re very fast. I didn’t think a princess would participate in such things.”

I got the feeling he was trying to get a rise out of me, so instead of answering with a snarky remark like I wanted to, I just shrugged.

“Oh, is the alphas son mad that he got bested by a girl,” Asher retorted rather sarcastically.

I looked to Kora for help, but she was just as lost as I. Her eyes were wide like a deer in the headlights.

The table went silent for a moment. I could almost physically touch the tension radiating between the two boys.

“On that note, I’m going to get some food. I’m getting a little hangry,” I said, breaking the silence.

“I’ll go with you.” Mora stood up quickly and linked her arm with mine.

“Too much testosterone over there,” she laughed.

“I don’t really understand what his problem is. Theon’s I mean,” I said to Kora, glancing over my shoulder at the table we had just left.

“I don’t either, but who cares. He won’t be here long, only a few days. Other packs are coming in for the ceremony. It’s not every day that the prince and princess turn seventeen!”

Part of me was a little hurt by Theon’s behavior towards me. I wasn’t used to people being rude, but more than that I had been under the impression that we had shared some kind of unexplained connection. Heaven help me if I ended up with a cocky mate like him.