5. Rosaline — " operation make him hate Ariel"

My smile was sharp enough to cut down a tree but inside, my wolf simmered in anger.

I knew that if I wanted to keep Xavier for myself, I needed to act fast and smart. It was a good thing Ariel was not interested in him but honestly, her input didn't matter, he was going to be mine and her parents had decided and it would be so. 

If she was being honest with herself, this was a losing battle, thank the heavens that she was delusional as well.

My face scrunched with temporary disgust as my sights washed over her, how could a crown princess have the hots for a rat...

A mere warrior.

I'm glad she was tasteless, at least I could be the one with the better taste out of both of us.

That was a weight I could bear.

“Ariel dear, I feel so bad for you and Asher. I mean, I always thought you looked good together.”

My stomach rumbled with the delicious lie, of course, they looked good together.

They needed to...

She sighed. “What can I do to make him hate me?” she asked. Sometimes, she was just too gullible. 

“You know what royalty hates the most, right?”

“Hmm. I’m not so sure.” She replied. See? She was dumb sometimes.

“It’s disrespect. They hate not being curtseyed. They can’t stand rudeness.” I started a matter of factly.

“Ah, I see,” Ariel said, eyes wide open like a child that was just learning to read the alphabet. “But how do I do that?”

“It’s simple. He’s a prince so he’s most likely very arrogant. What do you think you have to do to get on his nerves?”

Ariel cocked her head at me. “Huh. I’m not sure”

“Be rude to him. Make it that he is unable to stand you.” I explained to her sweetly. Internally, I groaned. I watched as her features hardened. I was gradually getting into her head.

Perfect!

“That’s just my two cents though. I want the best for you and I can’t stand to see you looking so sad.”

“Thanks, Rosy. I don’t think I could do anything without you.” She said and for the first time since I came in, she smiled.

I smiled too thinking as a response to that statement:

'let's keep it that way

it was after all the one thing I was very good at. Everyone called me the royal angel because of my smile. But they did not know me, they did not know the nature of the hurt my smile masked. They did not know that my smile wasn’t for their viewing pleasure, that it was something like a weapon of sorts.

Ariel took her seat on the bed and I sat beside her. If I wanted to win against her for once in my life, I needed to sound her out, to be sure she would never get in my way.

“So I met the prince earlier,” I began, watching every little change in her expression as I spoke. If she wanted the prince for herself after I spoke, then it only made the battle tougher but if she remained hung up on her commoner boyfriend, then she was a fool no doubt.

"He was good-looking; I’ll give him that.” I nearly smiled at that fact.

She scoffed. “Isn’t looking good the only duty of a prince?” she asked. She was uninterested in how he looked, I was off to a good start.

I forced high-pitched laughter out of my throat. “I feel inclined to agree with you.” I lied.

I loved fairytales and my lifelong dream had always been to meet a prince charming in shining armor to make me his princess.

It seemed childish to most people so I never really voiced out my dream, not even to Ariel because I knew she would not understand, not with her too radical, too down-to-earth attitude. 

Now, it was the time to make my dream come true, why shouldn’t I take the chance? Especially when the prince seemed to like me too?

“So Operation Make Him Hate Ariel?” I said, interrupting her thoughts.

She nodded and brought her fist towards her mouth to mimic speaking into a walkie-talkie. “Alpha One, are you there? Over.”

I threw my head back and laughed. Getting on my feet, I said, “You might want to shelf that joke. Your father might hear. Over.”

Her eyes glistened with laughter as she said, “Good point.”

As I walked out of the room, I felt her eyes on me. I knew she was probably thinking about how great my plan was and how I was the best thing that ever happened to her.

She was foolish. And foolish people had to pay dearly the cost of their folly.

Immediately I left Ariel, I started to plan a run-in with Prince Xavier. I knew he was in the VIP quarters but what excuse could I use to go there?

He still thought I was the princess but it did not make any sense to visit his quarters unannounced, especially with so many eyes watching.

Sooner or later, he would find out that I wasn’t Ariel, only the accursed cousin and best friend of the princess, and then what?

He would be livid for sure. He might even end up hating me. I had to tell him the truth before he got to find out from someone else. 

I started toward the direction of his quarters but I just couldn’t bring myself to cross the yard and go in. What if the Alpha and his wife found out that I was meeting with the husband-to-be of their daughter?

That would raise suspicions and the last set of people I wanted to get in trouble with was the royal family.

I turned to walk away when a deep voice sounded from out of the shadows.

I 

“What are you doing here?”

I had only conversed with him for a short while but I was now certain I could recognize that voice anywhere.

I froze and waited for him to walk to my front. His hips swayed and his shoulders seemed broader than before, my insides sweetened and his face came under the dimly lit night, I was one breath away from falling on my knees but something kept me standing and the more I took in all of his glory, the more I salivated.

“Did you come to see me, Princess Ariel?” his husky voice dripped like butter in my ears.

In the dim light, I could make out his features and I knew he was smiling. His dark brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail and his brown eyes twinkled in the half-moon. He was so incredibly fine that my breath caught once more. If this continued, I might end up dying from asphyxiation.

“I- Well, not really. I was just passing by.” I stuttered when I finally found my voice back.

His eyes glistened even more as he smiled. “Really? I was thinking we could go for a walk.” He fixed his eager gaze on me after he spoke, clearly waiting for me to say yes.

He need not have asked. 

I was certain I would follow him to the ends of the universe if need be. He was attractive but he was even more attractive because he was a prince. Because his father was the alpha of the moon pack, I could do anything to be with him.

“Sure. I have some time to spare.” I responded in the sweetest manner possible.

He smiled and held out his right hand to me. At that moment, my heart swelled with so much happiness I thought it would burst.

My mind told me I should tell him the truth now, he needed to know I wasn’t Ariel, that I was only her cousin. He needed to know now but I couldn’t bring myself to voice out the truth. 

I wanted to feel this warmth, this joy, this sense of belonging a little longer, perhaps just for a part of this night. 

I would tell him the truth, it was inevitable. But did it have to be now when he was holding my hand, when he was smiling at me, scanning my face to see if I was happy too? Did it have to be right now when the night was still so young?

“The south is so much more different from the north. I was surprised to see your cars.” I said, locking my conflict at the back of my mind.

He laughed, a laughter that traveled through the air like ripples in a stream; a ringing musical laughter. “I was surprised to see you don’t have cars.” He replied.

He was teasing, I could hear it in his tone. I frowned playfully and said defensively, “They got destroyed in the great meltdown as you know.”

He snorted. “Like the great meltdown did not affect us too.”

I liked to listen to him talk, whether it was about the north, himself, or the weather, whether he was bragging or teasing, or just joking. I liked the way his voice sounded in my ears.

“Do you enjoy star gazing?” he asked and that snapped me to attention. I had zoned out while he talked because I was focusing on the feel of his hand on mine.

“The only constellation I can recognize is the big dipper,” I admitted shyly.

“At least you’re better than my sister, Juliet. That girl can probably not differentiate the stars from the sky.”

He laughed and continued to speak. He spoke about his parents, his siblings, how it felt like growing up in the North, his room back in the North, and his first transformation.

 As he continued to talk, a strange fear gripped me. He was only saying all this to me because he thought I was the princess.

At the end of the day, it did not matter if he liked me or not. He was only here in obedience to his father.

“I have something to tell you.” I blurted out in a shaky voice.

He turned to my side, his forehead creased in concentration and I knew that I would never be able to bring myself to confess. At least not tonight.