CHAPTER 16
AUDREY’S POV
The king had really set out to make this wedding a huge one. I had always heard rumours about how he favoured Logan over Sebastian, and I was finally seeing it for what it was.
We were presently at the wedding reception, and the entire hall was filled to the brim. Alphas and Lunas of every pack were present today. Since the reception began, I had been obligated to welcome and show our appreciation to the Alphas and other high ranking wolves, who had come from far and wide to grace us with their presence.
I was already fast getting tired, when Layla came and pulled me away from her brother. I may not have liked her, but her singular act of good service towards me hadn’t gone unappreciated.
“I noticed you were already getting tired, so I thought to rescue you for a moment.” She chuckled.
“Thank you.” I muttered.
“You’re welcome. Just sit here, while Alara gets you a flatter shoe or a pair of slippers to put on. Your legs must be aching too.” How did she know?!
“Have you been a bride before?” I found myself asking, and she chuckled.
“No. But I am very observant, and I can clearly see that your feet hurt, considering the number of times you transferred your weight between both your legs.” She smiled. “You should have something to eat, while you wait for Alara.” She gestured towards the eidibles on the table at which I sat. “Excuse me.”
I watched as she walked away, and couldn’t help but wonder if she was a pushover just like her brother. I had clearly declared my lack of interest in being acquainted with her just this morning, but she was still kind to me.
“Mrs Fell.” I looked up to see none other than my brother. “Oh, scratch that. I meant, Mrs Logan Fell; the crown princess.” He gave a fake bow.
“Andrew.” I muttered dryly. It was so unbelievable how I barely missed him, considering the fact that I hadn’t seen him in weeks. Even seeing him right now, was only grating on my nerves.
“How does it feel to marry the very same man whom you plotted to take down?”
“Just the fuck up!” I whisper-yelled, carefully looking around to make sure no one heard him. How could he be so careless? I was thankful that the table which I sat, was decorated for the couple only, so no other person was sitting with me.
“Hmmm…” He gave an annoying grin, sizing me from head to toe. “Nothing seems different about you. I guess there’s nothing really special about being the crown princess.” He creased his forehead in fake thoughts. “Oh, I forgot! My bad. There would have been something special about it, if you hadn’t gotten the weak prince as your mate. Too sad.” From the sound of things, my parents were yet to let him know of our plan to still oust Logan on the day of the coronation. I was glad no one had said anything to him, because he clearly couldn’t be trusted.
Right now, he was honestly the last person I wanted to see.
“What about Denver?” I asked, hoping to hear something positive.
“Oh, goddess!” He sighed dramatically. “You really want to eat your cake and have it, don’t you? You really expect Denver to show up at your wedding after all the horrible things you said to him, and after disrespecting his mate?” He shook his head. “You know, all along I used to think you were just overly ambitious, but now I realize what you really are. You’re just selfish. You only think about yourself. You always wanted to takeover from our parents as Alpha, regardless of the fact that it was my rightful position. Well, watch as I and my mate take over from our parents as Alpha and Luna, while you struggle with the knowledge that prince Logan may never really make it to the point of being Alpha king.”
“You found your mate?” I asked in shock. “And I’m just finding out?”
“Oh, please!” He scoffed. “It’s not like you would have really been happy for me, considering the fact that she doesn’t come from a family of Alphas or high ranking wolves. That is all you have ever really cared about, not so? Our parents should really bow their heads in shame for grooming you to become such a person.” I was soooo used to hearing him say such things to me, but never had his words truly hurt me like they were doing now. Maybe it was a result of the shocking turn of events and emotional turmoil I had gone through these past few weeks. Or maybe it was because it reminded me of the last conversation I had with Denver.
“Can you leave me alone already?” I asked in mild annoyance, and he simply shrugged his shoulders.
“Here.” He stretched his hand out to me, an envelope on top of it.
“And what’s that?”
“Denver couldn’t make it, but he asked me to give you this. According to him, you should read at your spare time.”
“Thank you.” I muttered, shocking myself when tears brimmed up in my eyes. Jeeezz!!! What was I doing now? I hated to cry or see others cry, because it was a sign of weakness. I quickly blinked back the tears, hoping Andrew didn’t notice a thing.
Ever since I came to this palace, my life seemed to be taking a very annoying turn. Now I was crying?!! I couldn’t even remember the last time I cried.
“What did he….?” I cut my words short, when I looked up and saw that Andrew was no longer there. The rat didn’t even have the decency to let me know he was leaving.
“Heyyyy…” A voice I recognized as Sebastian’s filtered through my mind. I looked around the hall and smiled when I saw him sitting at a farther table.
“Hey.” I replied through our mindlink.
“You don’t sound good.”
“I don’t feel good. I haven’t felt like myself lately.” I replied in honesty
“I understand that having to marry my good for nothing brother has really made you exhausted. But not to worry, all these would be over in a matter of one month. The coronation is a month away, and we would finally be together as Alpha King and Luna Queen. And my stupid brother would be far away from our lives. Let this promising future of ours, keep you strong until we can be together again.”
“You’re right.” I sighed, before closing off my mindlink. Just then, there was a little bit of an uproar, before the entire place went silent. What was going on?
I looked to the entrance of the hall, to see a huge devishly handsome man, walking into the hall. Even from afar, I could feel his powerful energy. Who was he? A man capable of causing such an uproar amongst Alphas of different calliber.
“Alpha Ryan.” I looked up to see Alara, holding a pair of slippers in her hand.
“What?” I asked in disbelief.
“Alpha Ryan.” She repeated, her eyeballs almost bulging out of their sockets. Even she, couldn’t believe her own words.
“Like, ‘The Alpha Ryan’? The hybrid Alpha? The most powerful and dangerous Alpha?” I asked.
“Yes, the same.” She nodded in affirmation.
“I don’t understand. How come he is here? I thought he never….”
“He never steps foot outside his castle.” Alara completed my statement. If Alara was saying the truth, then this was Alpha Ryan Baxter. The hybrid Alpha who had killed his mate a few years back for reasons unknown, and since then, never stepped foot outside his castle. Some people believed that was his own way of punishing himself, while others believed a group of powerful witches had cast a spell that makes his skin burn whenever he steps out of his castle, thereby keeping him locked in forever. But with the look of things at the moment, that seemed to be a false story.
“I hear that the king had specially invited him for this wedding.” Alara whispered to me, making me look back at him. He was presently with the king and prince Logan, who were welcoming him. I found myself unable to look away from the man. There was definitely a story about this man. A real story that only a few people actually knew about.
“Your slippers, your highness.” Alara called me and I turned to her with a small smile on my face. It was crazy how your life could change in seconds. Just this morning, I was ‘my lady’, but now I was ‘your highness’. And in a month’s time, I would be ‘your majesty’. Interesting.
*
*
The rest of the day flew past, in a blur and soon, I was heading back to my room, with Alara following me behind. I was extremely exhausted, and all I really wanted to do was lay on my bed until the next day.
I got to my room and Alara quickly opened the door for me to walk in. Thankfully, the ball skirt of my wedding gown was detachable and immediately after the joining ceremony, Alara had helped unhook it from my waits, leaving me in just a simple gown I wore for the reception party. I looked around the room, but couldn’t see the ball skirt lying around, and simply shrugged. It was no longer useful to me anyways.
I quickly peeled off the reception gown from my body and walked into the bathroom. After soaking myself in a warm bathe for what seemed like hours, I stepped out and covered my body with my towel. After drying my body, I reached out for my hair dryer on the vanity but couldn’t find it. In fact, I couldn’t see a single one of my personal hygiene products on the vanity. Saying I was shocked, was an understatement. Where could they have all gone? I made my way to the wardrobe and was equally shocked to see that all my clothes were gone.
“Alara!” I called out, but got no response. She had probably left the room while I was having my bath.
I opened my mindlink and tried connecting with her.
“Alara!!”This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
“Your highness.” She replied almost immediately.
“Where are my things? I can’t find any of my hygiene products. My clothes have all disappeared as well. What the hell is going on in my room?!”
“Oh goddess!” She squeaked. “I’m so sorry your highness. I totally forgot that your things have now been moved to Prince Logan’s room, under the orders of his majesty, the king.”
That was when it occured to me. I was married to Logan now, and so therefore, was expected to cohabit with him. You had to be kidding me.