EIGHT

My eyes widen as Marisa closes the door, leaving me to let my heart skip a beat. I won't say I've never wanted to dress in some of the nicest brands rather than my cheap leggings and old sweaters. It's color coordinated, thankfully neutral colors, but some pastels, from shorts to dresses, shoes to jewelry, the closet is stalked full of attire, making me wonder how much King Zion paid for everything here. A day ago I went out on a second run with the King, this time reaching the end of the magical field, the human world looking like a bore of colors as we sat there as just stared. Once again, I saw those lavender eyes in the distance, watching, just in the same place only to disappear. "Lady Sybil," Elijah greets as I step into the throne room. "A pleasure once more." Looking over my shoulder, I see the King's best friend, clad in a simple gray suit, a smile upon his face, one that makes me think he is up to no good. A group of maids walk through the throne room, supplies in hand as they scurry along. "Why is it so busy?" I ask, watching as they vanish into another hall, chatting about the rooms to clean. "Zion did not tell you?" I raise an eyebrow. "The Senate will be in session in two days." "Damn it!" I shout, forgetting where I am and who is with me. My hands fly to my mouth, Elijah giving me a questioning look as those eyes haunt my mind. The Senate means all the Alphas will be called from King Zion's empire to attend a meeting ranging from a couple of hours to possibly (the longest in history) several months. I pray that Sebastian is not Alpha yet of my old pack, that his father is still in charge. "Well then," Elijah carries on, looking to his shoes as my face flushed red. "I take it you're not happy?" Think of something to say, think of something believable, I tell myself, trying to think of how to get myself out of this one. "It just came up so fast," I chuckle, watching as Elijah doesn't buy into it. "Anyway..." He adds, watching as I regain my calm. "Zion wanted me to find you, said to tell you he wants to see you in the music room." "Why?" I ask, watching as his face brightens up. "Oh, you know," he whispers, adding a small hip thrust as my lips form a firm line and my eyebrows knit together. "Good luck." "Shut up," I hiss, passing bye Elijah as I recall the many halls leading to the music room, a place that held a massive grand piano, harp, and countless other instruments that I'd find a bore. I did marching band my first year of high school, playing the French Horn only to be told I couldn't play to save my life. I can sense Elijah following me, walking down the same halls as I give him sharp glares every turn or so. "I don't need a babysitter," I snap, watching as Elijah chuckles, annoying me. "Compared to me and King Zion, you're a small child," he comments as I soon find the music room, stopping before the door as my shoulders tense. I don't know why I am needed. Why I'm needed in general here within the walls of the palace. The King just simply stats he wants me here and there's nothingI can do due to the crazy security, not to mention the King would be outraged if he found me trying to escape. "Don't be so shy, Sybil, I've seen you two together. No one dares talk to the King the ways you have." "I bet you have," I mutter, laying a hand upon the doorknob, my wolf telling me to open the door, to not disrespect the King and go against his wishes, but the human side of me wants to dare him, to tempt him, to show him a girl who will not bow down to him like everyone else. "Indeed I have, maybe even more than you." I believe it, just by the way they talked to each other last. "Grow a pair, Sybil," he mutters, causing me to glare back at him. "How about you grow a v****a, those can take a pounding," I snap back, watching as his face goes from suave to completely embarrassed and uncomfortable. I offer him a sarcastic smile, turning the doorknob as I leave Elijah alone in always silence. The room is medium sized, but still massive compared to the common room, the massive velvet and royal blue curtains pulled shut over the long windows, a simple chandelier lighting the room. Zion sits upon a plush, white, leather chair, his arms behind his head, leaning back as he has his feet upon the chair, looking up at the ceiling as a wine glass sits beside him on a table. "I take it Elijah has told you we are expecting over one hundred Alpha's by tomorrow evening," he begins, not watching me as I walk across the room, running my fingers across the strings of the harp. Sebastian flashes through my mind, the image of a blind under his arm as he states his rejection. "Sybil?" "Hm?" I ask, Turing my attention back upon the King. He's siting up no, running a hand through his hair as his eyes appear a tad bloodshot. The King looks exhausted, taking the last sips of the wine in his glass, his eyes squinting as he looks up to the light. "I said I'd like to have you by my side when I greet the Alphas." No! I want to run, to get away, to leave and never return. My skin pales as my eyes widen, not knowing how to talk about why I don't want to. If I hand to stand there as he was greeted into the palace walls and smile, I could never forgive myself. Better yet, what would Sebastian do when he discovered me here, beside the King? "I don't think that's such a good idea." "And why not?" He asks, getting to his feet as I walk to the windows, about to pull the curtains open only for hands to pull mine away. "Why not?" "Because..." I mumble, "I'm a rogue to start off, not to mention I have no ties to you." Turning around, I run a hand through my hair, wondering how to get out of this whole mess. "I am of no significance to this Empire." King Zion does nothing, he just stands there, his face stern as I stay silent. Suddenly, he moves, he moves away, showing his back. Moving quickly across the room, he is soon at the door. "What is this?" I ask, rushing after the King just as he turns the door knob. I throw myself against the door, holding it shut as his eyes harder, looking down to me as I'm in his shadow. "You tell me to stand beside you to greet the Alphas. Only a Queen stands beside the King, not a rogue with no mate," I announce, shoving against his chest. "You dare question your King's intentions," he growls, grabbing my chin tightly as he steps forward, his chest pushed up against mine as his shadow falls over me. "I dare question when he doesn't tell something vital to me." "And in which way is it vital?" I laugh, feeling my eyes water. "Why is it vital? Goddess, I think my mental health as I question why I am here except for a vague reason is vital. Why I'm being held here against my will seems vital enough to me!" I shout, pushing against his chest once more, only for my body to be pressed against the door. "So tell me, King Zion," I hiss. "Or is the King a coward?" "I could order a public beating for the words you have spoken to me," he snaps, those golden eyes looking deep into mine, his hand that once grasps my chin, his thumb running over my bottom lip. "Your body staked for the royals and nobles to see as the sparrows eat you." My heart skips a beat at the vision of my body staked upon a pole, bare and exposed as I'm called names and stand lifeless as my remains are eaten by Mother Nature. "I. Dare. You." Suddenly, I find myself upside down, thrown over his shoulder as I'm carried back to the couch I found him on, my fists hitting his back as I kick and yell profundities. My body is thrown onto the couch, causing me to watch as he takes a seat beside me, pinning me down with his arms. "You wouldn't be so smart to dare me, to taunt me," he whispers, watching as my eyes widen. "You wouldn't be smart to hold me from why I am here." I see that same glint in his eyes, the one I always get when I ask why I am here. "It's f*****g simple," he snaps, making me shake my head. "Then why am I still unsure why I am here?" I ask, trying to break from the King's hold. That's when it happens, when he does it, when he lowers his mouth, his lips brushing against my skin. "Because," he whispers, his lips brushing my ear as my hands fist around his shirt. "You are my mate." I laugh, cracking up as I clench my stomach, toppling over in humor. "That's f*****g humerus. You and I both know I have a mate back in the human world, thus, we are not mates. I feel no sparks not any signs of being mates," I manage to say, trying to catch my breath as the King gets to his feet. "You are mine." "Where's your mate?" I ask, pushing my hands through his hair, pulling to reveal the side of his neck. As I study the skin, I raise an eyebrow, a small and barely visible scar of what appears to be a bite mark. "Where is she?" "Who is your mate?" I purse my lips together, thinking of his eyes. He should know not to ask that, he I'll never give I to him, that I never want to say that name again. "Sybil, you are here because I've been waiting for you for years." I scoff, getting off of the couch as I head towards the door. "Don't waste my time with lies, I have a life out of these palace walls I want to get back to." "You will greet the Alphas tomorrow, Sybil," he orders, causing me to turn around. "It is your King's order." I stop, bowing my head as I think of Sebastian. "I never had a mate." What? I look up, seeing the King before me, avoiding eye contact. "I wanted to chose my mate, so here you are." He's lying, I can sense it, not just because of logic, but because it's in the way he speaks. For someone to not have a mate, they are a guardian for the moon goddess, not a King. He's lying with what most would believe if they didn't care much for werewolf history or if they simply forgot the thousands of year old story of how those born mateless and guardians. He has to be lying. "Explain the mark," I whisper, only for Zion to pull me flush against him, hands on my waist steadying me as my heart skips a beat. As the King had me cornered once more. "An Alpha rejected you, didn't he?" He asks, my blood turning cold and my breath hitches. His eyes turn pitch black and I can sense his wolf surfacing. "An Alphas rejected you, Sybil," he states, letting go of my body as he walks back to the door, pulling it open as I drop to my knees, the feeling of my soul being divided haunting me as my eyes begin to water. I can remember his words, how everyone wanted me to say them, how me standing in the way disrupted their fairytale. How a friend betrayed me, shattering any hope of me putting deep trust or even just trust in others again. I remember my heat, how I suffered alone in an apartment, the pains unable to go away, the nightmares of him returning to slaughter me, to call me names and say I don't deserve him. To laugh at me. "Please, just drop it," I plead, a tear escaping as a hand covers my mouth. A son is caught by my hand, stopping it from echoing across the room as I don't dare look him in the eye. "I'll promise you one thing, Sybil," Zion begins as he steps through the doorway. My wolf grows tense as she senses his wolf on the verge of tearing apart his human form and let loose what emotions have been building up. "I promise that when I discover who rejected you...I will make them forever regret it." The door slams shut, leaving me to a silent room filled with the muffled sobs of my broken soul. A soul divided in two as the other is gone, never to return. I do not wish to see Sebastian, I would rather be publicly humiliated than step foot into the same room as him, to see the man that made me rogue and gave me a life of suffering. As to what King Zion will do when he discovers Sebastian is the one, I can only pray that the moon goddess is in control.