EIGHT

The night went by too fast and now we are ready to meet with the royals. I’ve been tensed since I woke up this morning and I think Rose feels that way too. In the short time with her, I have noticed she doesn’t really talk much.

I took out time to wash my hair and Sadie helped me straighten it out, leaving a small parting at the side with more than half of the hair falling to the right. When she was done, I marveled at how long and beautiful my hair is. It fell to my waist and Sadie couldn’t stop running her hands through them with an occasional “wow”

I would love to dress in my usual jeans and t-shirts but we were provided with gowns that were ‘befitting’ to meet the royals. They made it clear that we were to dress with class around here and we were to be of utmost decorum.

We would not be meeting the king today, he is a very busy man and he just lost his father a week ago so he is still not in his best mood. I kind of felt relieved after I learned that. Much as I would like to meet the almighty werewolf king, I was pretty skeptical about it. It is a big deal and with all the stories I’ve heard about him, he’s the strongest being in the werewolf kingdom and I don’t think I can face him. They say he has three children; two boys and a girl and the first son is just equally as daring and quick-tempered as his father.

I guess the other maidens had started their work in the palace already apart from me, Rose, Sadie and Nora. Once we were dressed, the same women who welcomed us last night, along with two other broad men escort us to another section of the castle.

Once again, I’m left marveling at the high stone walls and beautiful carvings and art work. The other girls are equally as excited as I am. We reach a gigantic door that is guarded by two other hefty men and this is where I start to feel pretty uncomfortable. My heartbeat has doubled in speed and my palms have become sweaty.

The two men open the door for us and we walk in to a very long room. There’s a long table with about eight people seated around it. Royalty. I can feel the power emanating from all of them. The two men that brought us here dropped to their knees while the women had their heads bowed. The power in the room cause us to bow our heads too.

All the while, my heart is hammering in my chest and I’m shaky all over. I can feel my wolf at alert again and she’s excited.

“Petra, introduce us to our guests, ” a female voice says and Petra looks up and clears her throat.

“Your highness, ” She begins “These girls were amongst the others that were sent to the palace in tribute to the late king. These two here, ” she motioned to Nora and Sadie “Are from Red rock pack, while the other two” she motioned to me and Rose “Are from Eclipse pack. They came in late last night and were unable to join the others, ” She says, then turn to us.

“Meet your Royals, ” she starts to introduce all eight of them to us one after the other. The Princess was the one who spoke initially. She is very pretty and not so friendly, she has long blonde hair and she reeked of elegance. Then she introduced the other nobles at the table and then finally, the second prince. Prince Louis. He seemed friendly to me, as a matter of fact he got to his feet almost immediately and walked towards us, me in particular.

He’s quite tall and has a domineering presence. My guess would be around six feet and five inches, broad shoulders, very muscular, narrow waist, blue eyes, and very intimidating. He is very cute I must say and when he stopped a few inches away from us, he looked directly at me.

“What’s your name pretty one?” He asks. His voice is very authoritative.

“Tiana,” I say in a whisper but loud enough for him to hear. He reaches out to stroke my cheeks but then thought better of it and pulled back, then inspects me from head to toe again.

“Oh come off it Louis,” His sister, Princess Elsie scowls from where she was seated and Prince Louis turns back to glare at her.

“I like her,” he declares in a loud voice and another man from the table laughs.

“She’s a pretty one but you like everything in skirts Louis,” he says. Petra said his name but I can’t remember this time, all I remember is that he is the King’s brother.

 I’m a little bit shaken at the Prince’s open declaration of likeness for me. It’s a bit overwhelming to be honest. I do get male attention back at school but very rarely and mostly from assholes. The men of Eclipse on the other hand want absolutely nothing to do with me and now I’m being admired by a prince. Oh boy, I think I’m going to fall right now.

“Stop playing Louis,” Princess Elsie scolds again, then gets to her feet too and walks towards us. She is really tall as I can see, especially with her long pencil heels. Her nails are neatly done, her hair straightened and her skin very flawless, she’s is the most beautiful woman I have seen no doubt.

“You are welcome to the royal palace of the werewolf king, ” she smiled for the first time “My brother should have been here to address you but he’s just..” she let her voice trail off as if she was looking for the right words to describe him but she couldn’t find it. She is apparently referring to the first Prince.

I’m not sure if I’m allowed to speak to them so I just keep mute and stare at the floor. “Anyway, ” she continues “over the next couple of months, you would be appraised based on your performance here. You would be assigned to various sections of the palace and given specific duties. I know you probably expected to be treated like slaves here but things have changed a lot around here. If you give us trouble, then we  give you double, ” she says with a frown.

Prince Louis was still scrutinizing me as his sister spoke and I’m feeling super uncomfortable under his gaze. He’s not even hiding it and it makes me wonder just how many girls would fall for him considering his status and how cute he is.

I try not to look in his direction but focus more on the princess when suddenly everywhere falls silent. The atmosphere around the room quickly changes and a loud growl is heard from the far end of the room where an adjoining door just opened, causing everyone to turn in that direction.

I’m dazed for a second as I look up in his direction. I can feel the powerful aura coming from him and I do not need anyone to tell me this is the first Prince, the one who will be the werewolf king anytime soon. I couldn’t feel my heartbeat anymore and if I felt pretty uncomfortable before, now I feel worse.

 Standing at the far end of the room stood the most amazing man I ever set my eyes on. His blonde hair falling to his forehead, almost touching his eyebrow made him look dangerously sexy. He’s very muscular with his chiseled features, a sharp jawline, and arrogant pose.

Unlike his other siblings, his eyes are emerald green, and he has this glint in his eyes that made me shiver visibly. Oh lord, I can feel all manner of emotions towards him, his scent even from where he stands is enough to make me feel giddy. If I were ever asked to describe a god, then he would fit into the perfect description.

I can feel my wolf panting in my head now and wagging her tail. Oh yes, she is back. The prince starts to walk in our direction and it’s almost like I’m going to pass out anytime soon from too much excitement. The closer he gets, the more his scent fills my nostrils, making me dream up a lot of ideas in my head. Am I the only one feeling this way?

He stopped in front of me and glares at his brother Prince Louis who raised his hands in submission and takes many steps backward.

Then the prince sniffed me and closed his eyes briefly. I can’t hold it in any longer, I’m going to pass out. I can feel my wolf’s excitement… then it hit me. Could it be…?

He weaves his hands around my waist very possessively, then pulls me closer to him, his cute green eyes devouring my body.

“Mine, ” he growls. That was all I heard before everything went bleak and darkness welcomed me.