Chapter 4.:

Ariana puts on the best clothes she finds in her wardrobe. Her choice differs from what she wore yesterday during the ball. 

“Where are you going dressed up like that?” Daria asks, seeing her daughter put on the girlish dress which she has in her wardrobe but until today, never wore it. Over her shoulders, she puts a simple silky cloak just to keep the wind away from her skin. Although, as a werewolf, she can’t feel the cold, the wind isn’t always likable.

“Back to the castle. I want to talk to Marcus,” Ariana replies with resolution. Her mother blinks several times, unable to process the words her daughter just said.

“Who is Marcus?” Daria asked immediately. She knows Ariana spent the night with the Lycan king, the ruler of the country. Not with some Marcus. It takes a minute for Daria to realize Marcus is the Lycan king’s given name. 

“The King. He told me yesterday to call him by his name. We are mates.” Ariana speaks with such resolution, leaving her mother in utter shock. Ariana didn’t tell her they were mates. She thought her daughter had spent the night with the Lycan king because of a dream she had had since childhood. Ariana always wished to see him and when she finally had the chance, of course, she had to take advantage of it, but mates? Daria expected anything but this.

“I thought he sent you back home, so why are you going back? What exactly happened yesterday?” She knows exactly what happened between them. Ariana didn’t need to explain that to her mother, but Daria didn’t understand why her daughter wanted to go back after he sent her back once he took what he wanted. The same thing he did to every other girl before Ariana.

“I think there must be some sort of misunderstanding. I am his mate! I should stay by his side. Maybe the maid in the castle didn’t know that and sent me back home.” Ariana argues with her mother, trying to find an excuse for them to send her home. Daria shook her head, sadness in her eyes. The naivety of her daughter can’t be this severe. She raised her daughter to be smarter than this. At least Daria always thought Ariana would recognize when someone is playing with her, lying to her or using her only for her own amusement.

“Do you really think so?” Daria asked sternly. The tone of her voice changes as she resumes a different approach to her daughter’s stupidity.

Everyone around the capital knew about the Lycan king’s plays. He always used the young girls which were sent to him and then simply sent them back when he got enough. The Lycan king wasn’t someone she could just go and talk to as she wanted. Not even if they were mates. If he ever cared about such a thing, there would have been a queen sitting on the throne a long time ago. As a king, he had abundant mates around the country and outside the borders of his territory, to assure the continuity of the lineage. Ariana wasn’t the only one who wished to claim him, but most likely the stupidest one to think she could do so.

“Of course, mother. I am his mate! He can’t just send his mate away. That’s not how the mate works. Yesterday, we spent a beautiful night together, and he told me to call him by his name. Sure, he must have felt the bond between us. Why else would he stay with me the whole night?” Ariana couldn’t properly understand the reality of her situation and the nature of the Lycan king. What happened to her happened to many other girls in the capital, and Daria had to break this down to her daughter to make her understand.

“Oh, honey. That’s what he does. Every girl you watched entering the castle spent a night or two with him. Once he got enough, he sent them home the same as he sent you. It wasn’t the maid who made the mistake. She followed the order given by the king himself. I am truly sorry for you to be his mate, but trust me, this bond won’t last. If you keep pestering him, he will openly reject you and break the bond, but he won’t admit it. Maybe if we are rich with status and hold a position in the capital, he would at least consider you as a concubine, but not as we are now. In the capital, we are nobodies. You are nobody to him. He saw yesterday an easy prey exactly because of the bond, so he tasted you, but for him, that’s all there is to it. There won’t be anything else.” Daria tried to explain to her daughter the situation as gently as possible. It was breaking her heart to see the dream of her daughter shattering. The tears which appear in Ariana’s eyes carry stones, slowly settling into Daria’s heart. She feared precisely something like this would occur when they were entering the castle yesterday. When he came to their table and asked Ariana for a dance, Daria feared precisely this would happen.

“But… I am his mate. We are mates.” Ariana felt her heart slowly breaking into a million pieces. She refuses to believe her mother. This can’t be happening. Not to her.

Ariana rushes out of the door and straight up the road to the castle. Her mother tries to stop her, but Ariana ignores her, rushing through the crowded streets, hoping she loses her mother on the way. After a few turns, the voice of her mother calling her name disappears. Her feet carried her straight to the castle, to the main gate through which they entered yesterday with the carriage. The guards refuse her entry and force her to turn and leave, but Ariana stubbornly fights with them.