Lycan Princess

Getting ready

~Lilly~

I sat on my bed as Allison and Avery argued over which hair do was best for tonight. Half of my head was in a braid and the other was pulled into a high pony tail. I don't pretend to know anything about fashion, but I'm pretty sure that this hair would get nobody looking at my "boobies", as the twins call them. How do two nearly 30-year-olds get away with that? They are breasts!

"Allison seriously, by the time the first dance song is over her braid will look like an afro!"

"But its so much softer than that pony tail Avery! We don't want to scare her potential mate away."

"I don't want to find my mate," I reminded them for the twentyth time in the last five minutes.

"We don't always get that option," Nadelle reminded me.

"I don't want to trade my father's cage for another cage." Cam frowned, looking at me, "don't take it personally Cam. You two are meant to be and I love that for you, but you weren't raised the way I was. You got to go hunting and be free. You got to travel to the different packs and even see the outcast hide out. I don't even know what tile is in the backsplash in the kitchen! Or if there even is one. I just want to see the world before I am forced to be in one place again."

"I'll help you out, there isn't one," My little sister, London, walked into the room, throwing me a tub of icecream. "I heard the screaming and thought you'd need some sugar to deal with it."

"Thank you!" I groaned, happily digging into the Cookies&Cream ice cream. Did I mention how much I love my siblings? The twigs bring me beer and London brings me sugar. Perfect balance for repunzel.

"Yeah, the kitchen is pretty plain and boring but there is this chef in there that really awesome! He makes the best treats."

"Oh really?" I smirked, raising an eyebrow at my sister.

"Oh don't start," she huffed with a blush on her cheeks. "I'm ten. I don't think like that!"

"Neither did my parents," Nadelle and Cam said in unison.

"Really its not like that," London sighed, crawling onto my bed, shooing the twins away. "He's a lot older than me and he just looks after me. He is even the one that showed the twins the secret passages in the castle so they could get out without dad noticing."

"Why would he do that?" I frowned, trying to look at my sister.

London just smacked my cheek lightly and made me look forward as she played with my hair, "Not everyone in the castle follows dad's word as if it is law."

"Not everyone is the next ruler," I reminded her. I was the next in line so I had to be put together at all times. I needed to follow every rule and regulation to a T and make no mistakes. My siblings could vanish for a day and dad wouldn't notice but I... I got in trouble if I was in the bathroom to long.

"Yes that is true," Londan said softly as she finished my hair. "However, some of us would love for our fathers to dote on us as much as dad dotes on you. He's trapped you but at least you exist."

Nodding, I pulled her into my lap and gave her a big hug. Sometimes I forgot that she struggled too with feeling seen and that she was only ten. "I love you though."

"I know," London smiled happily. "Now look at your hair. I worked hard on it!"

Laughing softly, I made my way to my bathroom mirror to look at myself, London pushing me all the way and Allison dragging me by my hand like I had forgotten where to go. Gasping, I looked in the mirror and didn't recognize myself. I always kept my hair in a high pony tail and my face never had makeup on it, but I didn't see the lonely hard girl that I was in the mirror. London had put my hair up in a bun that had a few stray hairs curled out of it, so if my hair got a little loose while dancing it would still look good. Avery had rained in Allison with the makeup and there was just enough on me to make me look... like a girl.

Slowly, I reached up to touch my face, needing to make sure that it was actually me I was seeing. "Do you like it?" London and Allison asked nervously.

"I love it," I whispered softly, turning to look at them. "Thank you for that!"

"Of course," London smiled, hugging me tight. "You need to go out and have fun."

"I don't even know what that is," I admitted softly.

"It gets easy with a drink," Avery laughed, holding out my dress. "Hurry up and get dressed. If we are going to convince your dad, it'll take some time, so hurry up."

Laughing softly, I nodded, chasing them all out of the bathroom so I could get dressed. Most wolves were fine with nudity, but I had been so isolated that being bare in front of others was hard. Quickly, I got into the dress and looked in the mirror, not liking how plain I looked in the black dress. Frowning, I looked through my jewelry box and found what I was looking for. My mother had given me this jewellery set when I turned 18 and got my wolf and I thought it was fitting for tonight.

The necklace was a mother of pearl crescent moon set in rose gold. There was a matching rose gold bracelet with the phases of the moon in mother of pearl and a plain rose gold ring. Smiling, I looked at myself and liked how the jewel seemed to glow against the black dress that I was wearing. "Here goes nothing," I whispered softly, before going to meet up with everyone in my room.

I expected everyone to be loud and talking when I came out, but the room was strangely quiet. Looking up slowly, I saw that everyone was staring at me in awe. "Holly crap we did it!" Avery cheered. "We made her into a girl!"

"Avery!" Allison gasped, slapping her sister.

"WHAAAAAT!" Avery whined, rubbing where her sister had hit her.

"You look good," Cam smiled softly, giving me a hug.

"Thanks," I beamed, hugging him back. That's when I realized that Allison, Avery and Nadelle were all in dresses and Cam was in a suit. Frowning, I looked at Terra who was still in her jeans and shirt, "Are you not getting dressed?"

"Nope," Terra beamed, rubbing her stomach. "I'm in the everything makes me want to hurl phase so I'm going to stay in tonight. Besides, I can't drink while being pregnant, so if I can't dance without hurling and I can't drink, then what is the point?"

"You're not going to stay with her?" I looked at Cam.

Cam went to open his mouth but Terra hushed him, taking my hands, "I want you to have fun and not worry tonight. So, Cam is going to be your escort tonight as your mate."

"My mate?" I frowned, looking at them.

"Not really, but just to keep any weird guys away from you," Cam smiled at me. "Ever since Terra got pregnant my scent leaks out easily, so it won't be hard to convince others that you are my mate as long as you stay close."

Taking a deep breath, I looked at all of them, "This is stupid!" I groaned sitting on my bed. "I mean we have all these plans but we know that dad isn't going to let me off this floor!"

"If he doesn't then we take the kitchen tunnels," Devin and Tyrece said easily as they entered my room. "Danm sis you look hot."

"Gross," I smirked looking at them. "But I will take the complement."

"You should," Tyrece whistled. "You are so going to have a good night in an outfit like that."

"And make someone fall in love," Devin smirked.

"Thats it I'm changing," I threw my hands up in annoyance and walked to my bathroom. How many times did I have to say that I didn't want anyone falling for me. I wanted a night to not think and instead my friends had me wound even tighter than usual... I didn't think that was possible!

"Don't you dare!" London growled, shutting my bathroom door behind us so that the others were out of my line of sight. "Sis what is going on with you?"

"I don't want to find my mate London," I whimpered, hugging myself as I sat on the ottoman in my bathroom. "Everyone has me scared that I am going to go out, breathe the fresh air and come home mated! I don't even think I'll get past dad to leave tonight, yet I'm panicking about what will happen's a club I know I'm not going to get to!"

"Have you always been this tightly wound," London sighed, sitting next to me. Her little legs kicked in the air since she was to short to reach the floor. "Can I tell you something, sis?"

"Always," I whimpered softly, slowly lowering my hands.

"I'm scared too. I'm scared that one day dad will remember I exist and lock me up like he does you. I'm scared that I will be nothing but a disappointment to dad, and I'm scared that he never wanted me."

"London, you know dad loves you, he's just..."

"Busy?" She asked sadly, looking at me.

"Not a good reason, huh?"

"No," She laughed, shaking her head. "But you know what scares me more than all of that?"

"What?" I frowned, looking at her.

"That you will never get to do what I do. You'll never get to cover the kitchen in flour because you dropped the bag on the floor. You'll never get to jump in the lake and swim around. You'll never get to watch the stars or smell the scent of grass when you first wake up. I'm scared that your whole life will be these walls."

"You shouldn't be scared of those things," I whispered sadly.

London reached over and took my hand, "Then don't go out tonight for you. Go for me. Get out of this cage and go see the kingdom. Let Cam be your mate for the night and breathe in the fresh air. Watch the stars twinkle and relax. I'm tired of watching my big sister be forced into something that doesn't fit her."

Smiling softly, I nodded and pulled her into a tight hug, "Thank you London."

"Any time," London beamed, hugging me back. "Now we have a Lycan king to get past!"