Her Forbidden Alphas

2. The Announcement

Ivy's POV.

"My Lord," My mother said, as Charlotte and I bowed to my father to show our respects as we took our seats in the dining room.

My mother and I sat at the head of the table, while she took her place on my father's left. I took a seat beside her. Charlotte took her place beside her father, who sat on the right side of my father. Before long, dinner was served and we all dug in to fill our plates. I had noticed that my father and Sir Marcus were having a conversation, something about the vampire king. Although I didn’t pay much attention, I never really paid attention, as Charlotte pointed out down by the river.

"Daughter," I heard my father's voice call and looked in his direction, "I have requested your presence at dinner tonight to discuss something with you." He added, then continued. "In two days' time, the King of Darkness will arrive here at midnight's keep. The king is going to present his son, the prince of darkness." He said as I listened carefully. I wasn’t sure where this was going but I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that didn’t feel right.

"King Adonis," my father said, using the Vampire King's name, "has found you to be a suitable choice to marry his son, prince Blake." he finished, as he examined my face for a reaction. I tried my best not to show any reactions or emotions just like I had been trained to from a young age.

I quickly looked at my mother and I'm sure she knew about it too. I just wish she would have given me some sort of warning on our way from my room. My mother and my best friend knew how I felt about an arranged marriage. As quickly as I looked at my mother, I looked back at my father to speak.

"Father," I began to speak, "What if the prince of darkness turns me down when we meet?" I asked while holding eye contact with my father.

It was stupid of me to ask that question. I knew as well as my father that in the vampire world I had been said to be the most beautiful lady of the night. They were the words of countless dukes as well as lords of the night who have spoken about my beauty. Even when I had visited Dread Castle, the home of the vampire king, with my father at the age of thirteen, he even spoke highly of my beauty.

"Daughter, we know as well as others that your beauty is admired by many. I don’t doubt that the prince of darkness would turn down a lady with such beauty." My father answered what I already knew.

"Tomorrow we shall have all the servants prepare the Keep for the King and prince's arrival. Your mother will arrange new dresses for both you and Lady Charlotte" he said as he pointed to Charlotte, " if a duke or lord that will attend the ball will take a liking to the daughter of Sir Marcus." He said and we all nodded to show we agreed with his command.

Before long, we continued to eat as my father discussed with my mother and Sir Marcus other preparations for tomorrow. I felt Charlotte's foot kick me lightly under the table as she sat across from me. As I looked up, she gave me a smile of approval. I didn’t really understand what it was for. As far as I knew, it felt like the end of the world for me. I wanted to scream at her that I did not want this arranged marriage. I also felt the need to scowl at her but instead, I gave her a fake smile like I was happy about it.

She knew how I actually felt about this and I would have to remind her in private. Once we all ate and were satisfied with our fill of blood, my father went to bed as the sun was soon to set in the sky.

I sat in my room just staring at the wall. I had so many thoughts going on in my head. What if he doesn't approve of me? What if he abuses me? What if he is drunk? What if he is as cold-hearted as the stories I have heard?

I was not happy about the fact that I would be his wife because of my beauty. I want to be someone’s wife for love. I know I’m young and have not experienced love yet, but that’s what I want, even if it is an arranged marriage. At that thought, I tucked myself into bed and I fell asleep in the darkness.

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I woke up as the sun set and saw the darkness creep in with only the moonlight shining. Every servant we had within the Keep was clean and prepared. It was all hands on deck at Midnight's Keep, everyone following my mother's orders. Charlotte and I were currently getting our dresses fitted. Four dresses were to be fitted on me and at the moment I was only in the second dress.

Upon the king and prince's arrival, we were all to have dinner. Then on the second night, my father decided to have a ball and only invite the dukes and lords closest to our land. I did not like it at all, not one bit. No matter how many times I had insisted to my mother that I just wear a dress I already have, she just did not have one.

Well, to be fair, I knew for a fact that it was my father who did not have it. Everything had to go perfectly and if it did, I was to be taken to Dreads Castle by the end of the week. I was to live there before the wedding date was confirmed.

"How long now?" I asked my mother in a bored tone. I have been standing here for over two hours and got pricked a few times. But that didn’t bother me, I would just heal quickly.

I started to feel weak and hungry. Maybe I might go and hunt an unfortunate soul later. I couldn’t care if it was an adorable animal or an innocent human, I was just in a bad mood. Mostly because of the arranged marriage, but part of it was from standing there for this long while waiting to get four dresses to be fitted.

"Until all four dresses are fitted. I will not tell you again, Ivy, or do you want your father to have to command you?" She said in an irritated tone. I just rolled my eyes, which she saw from the reflection in the mirror, and scoffed loudly about my behaviour.

"Your father needs everything to go perfectly, this is the King of our kind. He and our future king will be at our home for two nights. You need to be on your best behaviour and act more like a lady. Why can't you be more like Charlotte? She hasn’t complained once." My mother said as she pointed to Charlotte who was next to me getting her dress fitting as well.

"Mother, she is just not the type to speak back to you the way I do. I am your daughter after all." I said to her with a cheeky smirk on my face.

"Okay, fine! You can have a thirty-minute break before we continue at this again. I need all four dresses done before the sun rises." She said as she gave the servants orders and let us take a break from standing.

"I am going to go make sure everyone in the Keep is doing their jobs, then when I return we will finish this." My mother said before she left.

"You can't be so hard on your Mother Ivy. She is just following your father's orders like the rest of us," Charlotte said. I swear she is always defending my mother whenever I try to go against her or disagree on something.

"Hey! Who's side are you on? You are supposed to be my best friend." I said to her in a fake, sad voice.

"I'm just saying," she said while holding her hands up in surrender, "I would give anything to have my mother here doing the things that your mother does for you." She added. I knew the subject of her mother pained her and that she rarely ever spoke about it.

Ever since I could remember, she has looked at my mother as a mother figure. I didn’t want to say anything more about my mother. That would sound like a complaint to Charlotte, so I dropped it. Plus, I also didn’t want to upset her by thinking that I don’t appreciate her because I do appreciate my mother. I just do not want this arranged marriage to happen.

Soon enough, my mother had come back with a glass of fresh blood for us. I downed it in one go, we got back into our dresses and completed fitting all four. Once the dress fitting was finally done, I wandered around the Keep for a while. I watched as the servants cleaned and rearranged a lot of things to be presentable for the King and prince's arrival.

I couldn’t help but think that I was going to miss this place if I were to be married to the prince of darkness. I knew he would choose me and that made me feel nervous as hell. I sure hope that, even though we are having an arranged marriage, we will grow to love each other later on.

Hours went by and I just ended up finding my way back to my room. I know that when I wake up at sundown tomorrow, they will be here. I wasn’t ready. I mean my dress for tomorrow is ready and everything. It's just me that is not ready.

My mind is trying not to be in the moment because I am starting to feel fear creep in. I am silently hoping that he turns me down. But no one in their right mind would be able to resist my beauty. Whether they are servants or the prince of darkness himself.

I know I had thought about it too much because I soon saw the sunlight begin to come out. If it wasn't for the snowy surroundings in which we live, we vampires would have burned long ago. We always stuck to the shadows and in cold places, the environment was just perfect for us.

I took a deep breath and then exhaled, hoping that would make me feel less of what I was feeling. It was kind of hard, since my emotions were all over the place. But one thing for sure is that I did not agree to this marriage. However, I couldn’t go against my father in his decision. All I could do was prepare for whatever the future may hold for me.

I had my servant prepare the bath water for me to clean myself before bed. As I stripped and got in the water, I felt my body relax a bit from the stress. For just a moment, all my worries were gone. This is why I like water so much. It's peaceful and calming. I must be one weird vampire to have a craving to be in the presence of water more than blood. But that is just me. I guess it is what makes me different from others. With that though, I dozed off for a bit as I relaxed in the water.