One: The Runaway Bride

SOFIA

If you had told me that my parents were about to force me to get married to a vampire, I would have said you were lying, because that statement is too ridiculous for it to actually hold some truth.

I’d say: in no world would my werewolf parents force me to marry the vampire crowned prince of Drakorya, and I would call you insane.

Well, I guess I’m the insane one because my parents would, in fact, force me to get married to a vampire, but not just any vampire, a vampire prince.

I was in my room texting Simon when they told me, at first I thought it was a joke, but my parents don’t joke, especially when it comes to things like marriage, my mother most especially, would not make a joke regarding marriage and companionship. I laughed when they told me, but then they weren’t laughing; they were dead serious.

“They want the prince to get married to a werewolf to unite the kingdoms,” my father said. “Create an alliance.”

I was awestruck; it felt like I had been hit by a silver bullet, and I was imagining things, but nope, no silver bullet.

Before that day, I had heard a rumour that the prince was looking for a werewolf bride. I thought it was a joke because the prince either goes for vampires or witches, not werewolves.

Especially not me.

“Hold up, did the king say he wanted me?” I asked my parents.

“Yes, you specifically, you are to get married to his son.” My mother said with so much pride. That’s the most she’s ever been proud of me.

“But why me? This doesn’t make any sense. Did you tell him that I… you know, have a disability?”

“Sofia, por favour.” That changed my mother’s mood real quick; she doesn’t like to talk about the fact that I can’t shift like other werewolves.

Every werewolf starts to shift at the age of thirteen, but since I wasn’t shifting, my parents thought I’d be able to shift at the age of fifteen because that is the age for the late bloomers. They thought I was a late bloomer, but then the years passed, sixteen past and I still wasn’t able to shift.

I turned eighteen, nada.

I turned nineteen, nothing.

And when I turned twenty, I realised I had a disability and that something was definitely wrong with me.

People at school saw me as a pariah; everyone in society thought I was strange. I would get bullied, get called nasty names, and receive nasty looks and whispers. Even my own parents were ashamed of me, especially my mother.

So this is why I was confused when my father said yes, that the king does, in fact, know of my disability.

“So why would he still want me to get married to his son? How does this make any sense?”

“We don’t know  Sofia, all we know is that this is a big opportunity and we can’t mess this up,” Mom said. I just stared at her like she was some evil villain out to destroy.

“What about Simon?”

“What about him?” Mom asked in a harsh, defensive tone, which was shocking because I thought she liked Simon.

“Honey, you have to break up with him,” Dad said in a calm voice, which didn’t make it any less harmful.

“What?” I said

So when they left my room, I called Simon, not to break up with him but to meet up with him to tell him everything, and plan an escape.

He was on board with it, and I also told my best friend Marissa, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time since we graduated from school. We still keep in touch, and I wanted her to know if it’d be okay to stay in her house for a while. She was beyond helpful. She said we could stay at hers forever if we’d like.

I got my clothes ready, and Simon got the getaway car. I love him, and he loves me. There’s no way I was going to get married to a vampire prince, no way.

Both Simon and Marissa thought it was strange that they picked me. I mean, they could have easily gotten married to a werewolf princess, but the werewolf royal court only has princes, no princesses in sight. And the vampire prince isn’t gay, and Gods, I wish he was, it would have made my life a whole lot easier.

Even if there wasn’t a single princess, why didn’t they pick any of the noble werewolf girls who could actually shift into werewolves? Why me?

Anyway, I’m not having it. I’m not going to marry that man, no way. I’m running with the love of my life.

It’s nighttime, and my parents are fast asleep. It’s the perfect time for a perfect escape.

I push my bags out the window, and they hit the ground. I’m about to climb out the window. But then I stop, and I look back at my room.

I am going to miss this place. But I should have left a long time ago. I’m an adult woman, and I can do what I want. I shouldn’t let nostalgia trick me. My parents are just as bad as the others when it comes to judging and bullying me. Especially my mother.

So I look away from the room, and I jump out of the window using the tree close to it as support. I might not be able to shift, but I still do things that werewolves can do.

Stupid cunts. I’m just as much of a werewolf as they all are. But anyway, they won’t see me again, for I am leaving Monteluna.

As soon as my feet touch the ground, I pick up my bag, and I make a run for it. I head toward the red getaway car standing miles away from the gate. I open the door, get in, and I close it immediately.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” Simon and I share a passionate kiss, his full lips always taste of adrenaline and sparkles.

He has long light-brown hair that he often ties loosely behind his head, honey-brown eyes, and soft oval facial features that give him a gentle appearance. His muscular build and well-maintained image reflect his disciplined and self-controlled nature.

He’s my man, and I’m his woman. And I’ll be damned if I ever let anyone try to separate us.

We stop kissing.

“Are you ready?” he asks.

I nod. “Yes.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure. I don’t care where we are, I just want to be with you, far away from this place.”

“I just want to be with you, too. I’ll go anywhere in the world with you.”

I smile at his statement, Simon Rodrigo, ever so romantic.

He wasn’t always this confident when we were young; he was shy and awkward. It was Marissa and I who forced him to be our friend.

That’s until the start of senior year, when he came back hot and more confident than ever before. He was the one who asked me out on a date, and I said yes.

Not because he became hot but because he gained this attractive confidence that I just couldn’t ignore. And also, it was nice to have a boyfriend with abs who didn’t care if you could shift or not.

“Alright, let’s do this.” He says, starting the car. Wow, he really wants to do this for me. He really loves me, and I love him too.

We’re going to start our own life together, far away from here.

We’re driving in the dead of night, and my hand holds Simon’s right hand as he uses his left hand to drive. He lifts my hand and plants a kiss on it. I blush because everything he does, every gesture, every movement, makes me blush.

I would not trade him for a prince ever. I’ve got my prince, and we’re going to live our lives as we damn well please.

I believe we’re going to do this. I’m super positive we’re going to escape because we’re far away from the mansion I grew up in, and it seems like we’re about to leave Monteluna.

BOOM!

A sound startles the hell out of us, and next thing, the car starts moving uncontrollably.

“Simon, what’s going on?” I say panicking.

“I think the tyres blew up!” he says, steering the wheel, trying to get the car stable.

“What?” I say, shocked at the possibility.

The car suddenly halts; luckily, there were no cars nearby. But I stand corrected because cars start pulling up everywhere. In front of us, behind us, and at our side. We’re surrounded.

“What the fuck?”

“Sofia Delores Santos, come out now!” I hear my father shout my name, and I feel a chill in my spine. I look at Simon, and then I roll my eyes, and I walk out of the car to face my parents.

But I stop in my tracks when I realise.

My parents and the people with their cars aren’t the only ones here. King Ilya Igor Dragomire is also here.

The king of the vampires.