Lycan Princess

Reality

~Lilly~

"So, why do you have the scent of that mate of yours all over you?" Avery smirked at me as the whole room turned to look at me. Allison moved away from her sister and curled up on Thea's lap. The woman beamed wrapping her hands around her mate and I saw a peace settle over them that I hadn't seen in either of them. Cam left my side and went to Terra to make sure she was okay. Terra had just come out of the bathroom, probably puking up her guts. Avery stood from her spot and started to clean up but all of them were trained on me.

"Mate?" London asked, looking away from her movie. Great my little sister was going to be involved in this conversation... could I get any luckier.

"Could you all wait at least until we close the door," I grumbled, closing the door to make sure that my father didn't hear our conversation.

"Did Avery say mate!" London asked again, running up to me. "Did you meet your mate?!?"

Smiling softly, I thought about Evan's scent and his smile and I couldn't help myself from nodding. "I... I did happen to meet them."

"What are they like!" London squealed, pulling me to the couch.

"I don't know Lon," I laughed softly, sitting next to her. "He is handsome, and I think he is kind."

"What do you mean?" She frowned sadly.

"I just... I do not quite trust that men do not want to control us... I mean I met him for five seconds and he was in my mindspace."

"Only because you allowed it," Cam sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"People can only enter your mindspace with your permission." Cam smirked, making me blush. "I think you wanted to see if he was nice or not without us hearing."

"I... I just wanted to let Zion flirt with Raven," I whispered, blushing softly. Quietly, I told London everything about our night, but for some reason I didn't want to tell her Evan's name. He told me his name in my mindspace and I wanted to keep it to myself for now.

"He sounds so cute!" London squealed, holding a pillow to her chest. "I hope that my mate is like that when I find them!" Moments like this reminded me that she really was just a child and not as old as she acted.

"I'm sure your mate will be wonderful," Smiling softly, I gave her a hug and made her go to bed. I knew my friends wanted to dig in further and I didn't want my sister to hear any of it right that. Taking a deep breath, I turned around to look at my friends and all of them had this evil smirk on their face. "What is with all of you?"

"Come on you need to spill!" Nadelle smirked as she started to much on some of the snacks that London left in the room. "Your first night of freedom and you not only meet your mate but you spend some supervised alone time with him! You're like some kind of dare devil aren't you!"

"You told them!" I gasped, throwing a pillow at Cam.

"No, but you just did," Terra laughed as she swatted away the pillow so it didn't hit her. "So, what did you guys talk about?"

"Well, the biggest thing was about how I have a chosen mate and he won't stop me from staying with them." Sighing softly, I sat down beside Nadelle and took the bag of marshmallows from the basket.

"Wait... you don't have a chosen mate," Terra looked at me confused.

"Yes but I had an alpha with a powerful scent covering me and acting as my mate," I reminded her.

"You acted as her mate in front of her mate!" Terra growled, looking at her husband.

Cam raised his hands in surrender and looked pale in front of her, "All I did was act as the big brother that I am.... And I didn't correct him when he said it."

"Did you correct him!" Terra growled, looking at me.

"I..." Frowning, I shook my head, watching as Terra went into a full, blown rampage about the fact that Cam stopped me from talking to my mate, and that I used her mate as an excuse to hide. "Terra... I didn't want to tell him anything about myself."

"What did you tell him?"

"My name," Blushing softly, I looked at my hands and remembered how his hand felt in mine.

"Thats it?" Avery asked, confused, as she sat opposite from me in the living room.

"What do you mean that's it?" I asked, looking at all of them.

"Your name isn't that important of a detail to tell."

"It is the most important!" I snapped, standing up. The room fell silent as I looked at each of them. They all looked confused except for Cam, who understood me because of our positions. "I am the next queen of this country. Telling someone my name puts me at risk because they know that they have the ability to control the crown. None of you understand how these little things can be crippling! I was vulnerable for a moment and it took a lot for me to tell him my name and not come up with a fake one! You don't understand what it is like to be caged and lie about everything, including who you are."

"Why would you have to hide?" Nadelle looked confused. Avery and Allison were silent as they remembered Grey's dungeon.

"Because when you do not hide, you get kidnapped." Growling, I moved to my balcony so I could take in the night air. I know that they all mean well, but if you don't live with this kind of pressure you can't understand it. It is like living your life with a smile while a vice grips your heart.

Taking a deep breath, my eyes shot open as the scent of cookies and cream ice cream hit my nose. Looking down, I saw Evan and his brothers heading towards the castle. Quickly, I hid behind a pillar to watch them... you know, because a normal wolf can see up 20 stories!

River was laughing as he jumped on Evan's back and ruffled his hair. Evan had a goofy smile on his face that made his entire being light up and my heart sank. He must have told his brothers that he was going to take me from my fake mate... did he really think of me as a prize?

"You need to get out of your head," Cam sighed as he walked out onto the balcony.

"You don't know that I'm in my head," I whimpered as Evan waved to his brothers and entered the castle. "Why is he here anyway?"

"I don't know. Maybe he works here or is visiting someone." Cam shrugged. "We saw brothers but maybe he has a sister that is a maid here or something."

"Or a chosen mate he is hiding."

"Lilly stop," Cam sighed, making me growl. "No, you are counting this guy out before he even has a chance to screw up. Did you smell any other female wolves on him?" Frowning, I shook my head as I stepped out from behind the pillar. "Then stop trying to make him the bad guy. If you don't want a mate, then that is fine, but don't make him an ass hole as an excuse."

"It isn't an excuse..."

"Then what is it?"

"A defense mechanism..." I whispered, chewing on my nails to try and calm my nerves.

"That would be an excuse," Cam laughed softly. "Look Lilly, I'm not going to say that I understand the exact pressure you're under, but I have an idea. Don't make him out to be a cheating homewrecker before you even know what he does for a living. Or if he even works. Let him screw up."

"I don't have that luxury..." I whimpered sadly.

"Lilly..."

"Cam, I saw paperwork on my dad's desk..." This made him freeze and look at me. "He has unmated male alpha's pictures on his desk and invites to the official announcement of intent tomorrow... He is up to something and I have a bad feeling that it is an arranged marriage."

"But you said..."

"I lied," Tears filled my eyes as I looked at him. "Why... why did my mom have to be pregnant with me when she was taken. Why did I have to be first born... Why do I have to take over the kingdom!" My body began to shake as I let go of tears I had been holding on for years. My dream was to live on the outskirts of our kingdom in a little cottage with my mate and our children. I didn't want to rule a country and be responsible for everyone's lives. I just... I wanted to be happy.