Worlds Collide

Chapter 4: Woke

Persephone POV

Did I just fall into the rabbit hole? That’s all I kept thinking. I woke up in my chambers but kept my eyes closed. My head felt heavy. I felt scared to open my eyes. I remembered arguing with my parents about living my own life, realizing I was pregnant, my dad being absolutely furious with me, and my mom trying to offer a solution to fix it.

“I think she’s awake.” I could hear my mom’s soft voice murmur to my dad. I decided to open my eyes to face the music thinking the worst and hoping for the best…..whatever that was. “Hey, Princess. Sorry about that.” My eyes rested on my mom who was sitting comfortably on the side of my bed. I heard a huff and followed the noise to see my dad worriedly pacing back and forth.

“Y-you drugged me! Why?! Because I made decisions of my own…”

“Shhhhhh. Please be quiet.” My mom crooned. I wasn’t sure if she would knock me back out if I continued, so I just stared at her waiting for her to continue. “We had to do that. You were carrying on like a crazy woman not to mention had you had been in your room and not the bathroom then your future Alpha would’ve heard everything. Not that it matters now.” My mom looked at me with sad but hopeful eyes. “Obviously, your dad is mad, but that doesn’t mean he or I do not respect your choices. We have raised you to lead and have a mind of your own. We just wish you would have communicated to us earlier about you being unsure of how your life was going to be. Part of me envies you to my love. You are going to embark on a journey all on your own.” I c****d my head and looked at her sideways not really understanding what was going on. “You have not been renounced from the thrown; however, everyone thinks you are dead. Before you interrupt please hear us out.”

My mouth dropped open at her words. No sound came out. Everyone thought I was dead? I could feel the color drain from my body as I listened on and watched my parents carefully.

“My little Princess, please understand we had to act quickly on your behalf. You declared you wanted to leave, live your own life, not marry who we had chosen for you to unite and rule our kingdom, we cannot retire and leave you to your own accord and even though we don’t like your choices right now, we do respect them. We staged your death. You are pregnant. From whom we don’t know and apparently you don’t know either which is a major problem. Not because you are expecting. We had hoped you would have mated and had pups with the Alpha we had chosen for you, but now realizing you are randomly pregnant can only mean that you have met your mate. The problem is that we do not know if he is a wolf-shifter or what he is. That is the problem because that paints a big fat red target on your back daughter. We have enemies. Knowing you are pregnant without your mate to care for you is cause for kidnapping, torture, and ransoms. We could not go on living if anything happened to you and our grandchild. Your brother would be absolutely devastated. So you see? It has to be this way for now. Until you are ready.” My dad had crouched down and held my hands to talk and explain their actions. This was the first time I had ever seen my dad so stressed and sorrowful. He lifted my hands up to his face and kissed them and placed them gently back onto my lap. He gave me a sad and loving smile, stood up, and let my mom finish.

“We have arranged for you to leave the kingdom today and as quickly as possible. You will be flying back to the mainland. You will be residing with an allied pack. The Alpha and his Luna are aware of the situation and will be keeping you and your baby a secret. For everyone’s safety in that pack, they only know your pseudo name - Genesis Williams. The story is your mate was killed and you had found out that you were pregnant. No one knows anything else other than you have been granted permission to stay there and when you and the baby are able to, you can travel the world. I have set up three shell accounts in your new name. You supposedly inherited these companies and monies upon the death of your mate.” My mom handed me a wallet. “Inside you will find your new real identification, credit card, a thousand in cash and social security card in case you have to use it in the human world. Here is your Visa and plane ticket. Your plane leaves in three hours. You have an hour and a half to get ready and get out there. Try to stay out of the media and under the radar as much as possible to avoid discovery of who you really are. Do what you said you wanted to do daughter and please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you need our help. I have left you scissors and hair dye to modify your appearance before you leave. Pack what you can but leave in the jeans, black shirt and sweater I left you. I love you and will miss you.” My mom and dad pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged them back fiercely not knowing if this was the last time I would really ever see them now that they had put everything into perspective. Tears started stinging my eyes.

“We have to go now. We have to continue to do damage control and wrap up your staged death quickly. The Alpha that was intended for you is not happy. No doubt word has already spread about your unexpected death. You will leave out of your secret passage that leads out to the outskirts of the castle. There will be a standard Audi waiting for you. Don’t bock at it. It is just to get you to the airport. There will be another one ready for you when you land. It will serve its purpose especially when you have your baby.” My dad furrowed his brow at me. I nodded my head and hugged him again. I watched him and my mom leave. Once the door was closed another one opened for me. A new chapter and a new beginning. I was free.

I immediately started packing essentials: socks, bras, underwear, plain shirts, pants, shorts, and a couple of dresses, sandals, boots, and casual flats. I made my way to the bathroom to start the dye, cut my hair, and shower. I came out and got dressed in the clothes my mom laid out for me. I was putting on my running shoes when my door opened up and my brother came in. He quickly shut it and ran over to me. He stopped halfway when he saw how different I looked. Tears fell from his eyes.

“It’s true then. You’re leaving. Mom and dad explained everything and the pregnancy.” He lowered his head. “I don’t want you to go.” His shoulders started shaking from crying. I ran over to my little brother and wrapped him in a loving hard hug. He hugged me back just as hard. “I love you sis. Don’t leave. That other Alpha can go f**k himself. He doesn’t even deserve you and is a prick.” I chuckled when he said this. I kissed his forehead and lifted his head for him to look at me. I smiled. “You aren’t an embarrassment, shaming or dishonoring the family. This kind of stuff happens all of the time you know? We are in the twenty-first century sis. Royal scandals and miffs happen all of the time. Look at the humans in Britain. They’re all kinds of messed up.” I laughed at his candid conversation.

“I want to be free brother. I want to learn more. Do more. I need more than what this kingdom can offer me. If I stay it would bring about all kinds of complications for you, dad, mom, and all of us. Our parents are right. Our enemies or just greedy, power-crazed people would kidnap, torture, or hurt any of us. You wouldn’t be able to live a semi-normal life brother. You’d be in danger. I can’t stay.” I whispered the last sentence. We pulled apart from our hug. He looked at me dead in the eyes.

“You better stay in contact with me. Understand?” I nodded my head. This was the first time he was ever this direct with me. “I know you will come back to rule when you’ve gotten this out of your system. Being a mom will get you woken up real quick. You better call me and send me pics of my nephew or niece once born. I wanted to be there, but since you are doing this I understand why I can’t. It really sucks just so you know. I feel like I’m being stabbed in the heart. WHICH hurts worse. I wish you were a b***h and just stab me in the back. At least I wouldn’t see it coming.” He gave me one last hug and helped me get my things together. He tossed me the car keys. He took one last look at me and slipped out of the room. I sighed, opened up the secret passage, and continued down the hole of change.

I reached the car, got in, threw my things in the backseat, turned on the ignition, and drove away without hesitation. I didn’t look back. I drove away from my life to start a new one in silence. My Audi wasn’t recognized and I was able to pass through the airport with my new identity with ease. I didn’t know if any of the employees or Sky Marshalls were shifters, so I forced myself to keep a very calm and nonchalant demeanor. I tried to keep my heart rate from speeding up. When they asked me if I was nervous I smiled and confirmed. I let them know the recent hurricanes that were passing through Mexico and the Florida Keys had me worried even though we weren’t going that way, but what if there was another one that popped up? Everyone relaxed and confirmed they already checked the weather and reassured me that everything would be fine. It was a great cover. Once I boarded the plane and took my seat I finally started to relax. It was going to be almost a seven-hour flight, but I had this feeling everything was going to be okay.