I’m back in my room. I showered, re-curled my hair, and did my makeup. Oliver wouldn’t leave me. I realize now that I’ve caused the Alpha ceremony to begin late, which is causing the dinner to start late, and I’ve all but ruined my brother’s day. I feel worse than I did before.
Ollie comes from my closet carrying a darker green dress for me to put on. I realize my shoes I left in my kitchen office are now in my room, but I’m too emotionally exhausted to care how they got here. Ollie zips my dress and hands me the shoes.
“Good as new,” he says, taking in my appearance with a critical eye. I’m nervous, but he won’t let me walk in to meet my mate looking anything less than amazing. He grabs my hand and starts to walk, but I’m hesitant to move. He turns to meet my eyes. “No running this time. You have to meet him.”
I know he’s right, but I’m still absolutely terrified.
We make our way across the packhouse to the Alpha office. As we get closer, I begin to smell him, and I know, without a doubt, that my mate is in there. He smells like juniper, with orange and cinnamon. It’s almost overwhelming. I feel so pulled towards him, and I’ve not even seen him. If this is how finding your mate feels with a broken wolf, then maybe it will be so strong for him that I won’t be rejected. I grasp onto that sliver of hope. I take a deep breath and turn the door knob to enter.
My Dad and Robert are sitting propped on the edge of their desk. My mom is sitting elegantly in the chair across from them, and in the other chair is… Queen Audrey? With King Peter behind her? I briefly wonder why they are here for this, but thoughts are lost when my eyes go to the window and land on my mate.
He IS who I saw from out in the garden, but instead of looking across the grounds, he’s staring at me intently. Our eyes lock, and I start to feel unsteady. Oliver places his hand on my back to steady me and whispers in my ear. “Go say hi.” Biting my lip, I nod and start to close the space between us.
To my shock, my mate starts walking towards me as well. Once we’ve made it to each other, he places a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“Are you alright?” he asks.
His pale blue eyes are kind, and he seems genuinely concerned for me. I can’t bring myself to speak, so I nod in response. I see my brother out of the corner of my eye and feel such guilt about how I’ve behaved today on his day.
I walk towards my brother, and I can tell he wasn’t expecting me to, but he pulls me into a giant hug.
“I’m sorry I ruined your ceremony,” I tell him, and it’s the truth. I was so deeply in my feelings that I wasn’t concerned with time, and I knew it was set to begin hours ago.
“You didn’t ruin anything, kiddo. You just delayed it,” he tells me, smiling down at me. Releasing me from his hug, he grabs my hand and walks back towards my mate. “Prince Seth, I’m glad to finally introduce you to my sister, Molly. Molls, this is my friend, Prince Seth.” Prince? So that explains why the king and queen are here. I swallow my nerves down. “Prince Seth and I did all our physical training together. He’s a good guy, Molls,” he tells me, squeezing my hand for comfort.
“Hi,” I say, looking up at Prince Seth.
He’s big, the biggest in the room. He's so tall, and his shoulders are broad and strong. As I saw from the window, his hair is dark and nearly to his shoulders, but he has his mom’s light blue eyes. I know I should say something more, but this situation feels intimidating.
“Hi,” he returns with a kind smile and reaches out his hand to me. I release my brother and place my hand in his. He surprises me by bringing my hand to his lips and placing a gentle kiss on it. “It’s so nice to finally meet the famous Molly I’ve heard so much about.”
Everyone is watching me, and I feel even more uncomfortable. I wish I could take their attention off of me. “Umm, maybe we should get the ceremony started soon.”
“We should get ready to start the ceremony soon. Why don’t we head down and give Molly and Seth a few moments alone,” my dad suggests as he stands and walks over to kiss me on the forehead.
My mom follows over just behind him and grabs my free hand while she leans in and whispers in my ear. “He’s handsome.”
They head to the door with Robbie while King Peter and Queen Audrey meet them there. They all exit with my dad closing the door behind them. I thought I’d feel more comfortable without everyone looking at us, but now that we’re alone, I’m even more nervous. He seems kind. Maybe he won’t be too harsh when he rejects me.
“So,” he says, breaking the silence between us, “Your mom thinks I’m handsome.”
I can’t help but laugh. I don’t think she meant for him to hear her, but I’m glad he did and that he can joke about it. He leads me over to the sofa in the corner by my hand, which I note he still hasn’t let go of. I sit, and he takes the space beside me. He’s close, and he’s warm. He smells so good, but I can’t allow myself to become too attached.
“I’m sorry I ran away earlier,” I tell him, trying to take responsibility for my stupidity. He doesn’t respond. He just continues to look at me. “I wasn’t trying to be rude. I know this is really disappointing for you”, I finish as my voice lowers to barely above a whisper.
“Why would I ever be disappointed with you?” he says, and I can see from his face that he appears to be genuinely surprised by my words.
Maybe I read this whole situation wrong. All of BOTH our families were up in my dad’s office while I sat in the garden and cried. They must have talked about me. He has to know.
“I, uhh...” I don’t know the words to adequately describe what a mess I am, but I try because he deserves to know before he gets stuck with me. “I’m a broken wolf, Prince Seth.”
As I pause to figure out how to explain myself, he finally lets go of my hand, but only so he can gently place his finger under my chin to pull my face to look at him.
“It’s just Seth to you. You’re my mate- my equal. Never Prince to you, only ever Seth. You’ll be Princess Molly soon and eventually Queen. But you’ll always be my equal.”
It’s at that moment that it hits me that Prince Seth isn’t just his name but his actual identity. Being his mate comes with much more that I’m not made for. Little girls dream of being a princess someday, but it’s an absolute nightmare for me.
“I can’t be the queen. I’m not even a real wolf. I saw you in the window and thought my family would have told you. I… I’m so sorry.” My chest begins to hurt as the words come out, and I can barely breathe.
“You are a real wolf. It’s in your scent. My wolf is sure of it.”
“I’m not, though. I don’t have a wolf. I’ve never shifted. I’m not built as muscular. If anything happens to me, I can’t save myself. I’ll be a huge liability.”
“No,” he snaps, and I see a flash of anger in his eyes. “You are NOT a liability. You’re my mate. The Goddess made you for me.”
“The Goddess didn’t make me for anyone, Seth. No one wanted me,” I say as my voice begins to waiver. This isn’t going how I thought. I never dreamed I’d have to convince my mate I wasn’t good enough. This man keeps surprising me as he grabs me and pulls me onto his lap.
“There are people who DO want you, Molly. I want you. Your parents adopted you- they wanted you. Robert always wanted you. He never stopped talking about you during training. You’re different, Molly, but that doesn’t mean you’re not enough and that you’re not wanted,” he tells me as he holds me on his lap.
“I think maybe we should talk about this later,” I tell him as I stand up. He lets me but keeps his hands on my hips. “I’ve ruined Robbie’s day enough. We should head downstairs.”
“ OK, Molly, we can talk about it later tonight,” he says as he stands. I note that he still hasn’t let go of me as he leans down and kisses my forehead. It’s sweet and makes my heart flutter.
“You are wanted,” he says, taking my hand and leading me towards the door. “You’re mine.”
Aksara