Chapter 3
2052 Words
CHAPTER 3
LUCIA'S POV
The house looked exactly the way I remembered.
I stood at the entrance of the room I’d spent my childhood hating when my mother told me we couldn’t stay with my father anymore.
I took a deep breath and walked into the room.
My chest still ached but the least of my problem. If I recall what Emilia my mother's best friend, had said to me before, I was going to…
“Good afternoon ma’am, I am Anna and I will be the one taking care of your needs. Mrs. Raymond said you should freshen up and come down for dinner that she needs to talk to you.”
“Alright. I will be down soon.” I smiled politely at her.
“Okay.” She turned to leave, then stopped. “I see you came with no luggage. Do you have anything to wear?”
“No,” I just wanted to leave the pack so quickly I didn’t even bother to pack up my things.
“Alright. I would have that taken care of.” She walked away.
I walked down the stairs to meet my aunt sitting down and sipping her tea on her favorite chair. A habit I see she hasn’t stopped.
"I see you've decided to honor our agreement," she said.
Her voice sounded so calm.
“I finally see reason with what you said before, and I really wish I listened to you.” I swallowed.
“Indeed. Based on my sources, things didn’t work with your mate.”
“Yes.”
“A shame. Really, they didn’t know you so well. Come sit,” she patted the other chair.
“We have a lot to discuss.”
“Yeah we do. I want to know why my mother decided to take this deal and what it entails.”
“Well, it starts with the fact that the deal provides you with immunity. She knew something she never did tell me about but after her death, I put it all together, and I have carried this with me for a very long time, hoping that I will be alive long enough to tell you whenever you come to your senses.”
“Well, I’m here right now, I feel you can enlighten me on whatever I am missing right now.”
“I need you to listen to me carefully because it may feel like everything I am telling you right now is a lie, but I promise you it is not. It just has the power to change everything you believe in.”
That made me sit up straight. “Alright, I am all ears.” I said, giving her all my attention.
“That pack that made you slave away was originally your father’s pack. I know you don’t remember, but you will be too young to remember anything. Your father was the alpha, and he was overthrown by his best friend, who became the alpha and made you a traitor when he is the traitor.”
“What.. What do you mean? Everyone knows my dad and uncle had ulterior motives and tried to kill the alpha and his family to put the entire pack under their rule, and they were killed.”
“Have you ever wondered why they executed everyone in your family, including your male cousins and your brother? If you haven’t noticed, the council elders never really challenge the alpha. Do you know why? Because after he killed your entire family, he killed the council elders and took over.”
I suddenly felt like my entire life was a life and I felt like throwing up.
The entire room suddenly felt too small, and I started feeling dizzy again.
“Brother? I had a brother? So why wasn’t I killed if your story is so true? Do they think I cannot take revenge on my family or take over the pack as Luna? Is this some sick joke?” I looked at my aunt like she had grown two heads and was now sprouting rubbish.
“I will tell you more as we progress, but all you need to know is that you are still alive because of your affiliation with the royal family. You are betrothed to the alpha king and now that you have decided to honor your mother’s arrangement, you will be meeting with him tomorrow.”
***
The royal palace was the kind of place that made you forget how to breathe.
I had seen pictures but nothing prepared me for standing at the actual gates and seeing all of it and feeling it.
Guards lined the entrance in uniforms so precise they looked carved rather than dressed. Gardens rolled out on either side of the main path, flowers arranged in patterns I suspected held, meaning I didn’t bother to decode.
My aunt touched my elbow lightly. "Close your mouth, dear."
I didn’t even realize my mouth was open. I closed it instantly in embarrassment.
“Good day, I am Wilson, the head steward. Would you please follow me.” He turned around, and we followed closely behind him.
The inside of the palace was even better than the outside. The hallways were tall enough to swallow sound, but our footsteps echoed anyway, but mine was slightly uneven because I was too busy looking up at the painted ceilings to walk straight.
This felt like a different planet.
We were brought to a dining room where the table was already set and at the far end of it, with his back to us and his hands clasped behind him. His aura told me he was the alpha king.
He turned when we entered. My first thought was that no one had any business looking like that.
He was tall, broad, with a face that could rival that of the gods. He looked at us with his beautiful brown eyes that made me think of chocolate.
He looked like he would have a very warm smile. And when he did smile, it felt like he had been waiting for us and was genuinely pleased we had arrived.
"Ms. Lucia." He crossed the room and extended his hand.
"I'm Callum. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." His grip was firm but careful.
"Likewise," I managed, and was privately relieved my voice came out level.
Lunch was brought out in courses. They were mostly things I didn't know the names of but ate carefully, following my aunt's cues.
Callum was easy to talk to in a way I hadn't expected. He asked questions and actually listened to the answers. He laughed at something my aunt said about traveling and it reached his eyes. I found myself relaxing slowly and actually wanting to get to know this man. The tension I'd carried in my shoulders since leaving the pack was beginning to unknot.
Maybe this would not be a disaster and my aunt is actually on to something. It thought.
Then he set down his fork.
"There is something I need to tell you both." His voice shifted, it was still warm, but it felt different, like he was about to tell us something big.
He looked from me to my aunt and then took a deep breath like he was actually nervous about his next words and, for some reason, that made my heart rate shoot up.
He cleared his throat like he had rehearsed for this moment, but at the same time, he looked uncomfortable as like what he had prepared to tell me would not land well.
"I have found my mate," he said quickly.
The table went quiet.
I felt my heart nearly explode in my chest.
My aunt's teacup stopped halfway to her mouth.
"She came into my life two months ago," Callum continued.
"and I … I could not in good conscience move forward with any arrangement without being transparent about that. It would not be fair to you, Lucia. You deserve someone who comes to you whole." He exhaled.
"My brother will fulfill the terms of the agreement. He will take my place."
Before either of us could respond, the door at the far end of the room opened.
I felt him before I saw him.
That was the only way I could explain it. The room suddenly felt chilly like there was a drop in temperature while in reality, nothing had really happened.
He walked in with the same face and it suddenly felt like my brain had short circuited.
Callum was a twin. And his brother looked exactly like him but more handsome and felt dangerous.
Where Callum's presence had felt like sunlight through a window, this one felt like the dark that came after the sun went down. His eyes were the same color as his brother's and held absolutely nothing in them that resembled the warmth I had just spent the last hour sitting across from.
He didn't smile.
He looked at me the way you looked at a problem you wanted to get rid of.
"I'm Dorian." He barely looked at me before he sat down.
I realized I had not breathed since he walked in and made myself do it quietly.
My aunt recovered faster than I did.
“I have some questions to ask then since we are moving forward with arrangements different from what we originally discussed.” She said.
“Ask what you need to.” Dorian responded as he laid back on the chair looking at her.
“So will the ceremony follow the six months transitional period like the original agreement discussed?”
“No,” he said with no hesitation.
“And would you elaborate on why that is?” My aunt asked.
“No,” he responded again but this time he was looking at his nails like the conversation is the most boring thing he had ever encountered.
“I am going to need you to be more specific than that. Lucia is not some mail that would just be collected by you anytime you feel like it.” My aunt was starting to get annoyed but he still looked unfazed.
“Um, I think you should come with me. I will fill you in on the new arrangements.” Callum said immediately diffusing the situation.
He was honestly a gentle man and more.
I looked at him as he walked with my aunt to have a private talk.
“You still want to marry him. Would you rather be with the prince charming than the dark prince?” he smirked at me now but there was something alarming in his gaze.
I looked at him without uttering a word.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he finally spoke up. "Let me be direct with you, since I suspect you appreciate it more."
"Go ahead," I said carefully.
"I am agreeing to this for some certain reasons that do not necessarily involve you but you are the only way I can get to what I need. Do not in any way flatter yourself by thinking this is more than what it is. That would only leave you wounded in a place full of wolves. Do not mistake me for my brother. I have no sort of compassion and will not develop any.”
“I can see that,” I responded not in the mood for all what he was saying.
I was suddenly feeling like getting out of the palace.
He leaned forward slowly.
"If you think for one second that you can play the role of a childish little princess in my house I will dismantle everything you think this arrangement protects." His voice dropped even lower making it kind of spooky.
"I did not come this far to let a girl ruin what I have built..
"
The word girl rubbed me off the wrong way.
Who the hell did he think he was?
I held his gaze and did not look away.
"Are we clear?" he asked.
“Crystal.” I responded.
“Good.” The corner of his mouth moved up into something that seemed feral.
I might have waited three years too long and now I have fallen int the arms of a disaster.
- Writer
