Chapter 2 - A woman's beauty

" What the hell is this feeling I have? Like something is coming?" 

Raphael, future King Alpha of the Blue Sapphire pack, was sitting in front of the window in one of the castle's living rooms, with one hand on his chest and another one in the pocket of his pants, wondering. He did not even hear the door opening, so deep he was in his thoughts.

White arms came behind him and got him into a hug. He could recognize the red nails everywhere. It was his future Luna. He could feel how she would place her head on his back, but he was dead inside. In some other time and place, he would have felt something at her touch, but now? It was like she was trying to hug a well-done statue. Just that too many were at stake, and he could not just remove her from him so easily.

" You came here to think at our ball?" she asked. Her voice was deep. The voice that would make a man crazy and would make him think only about the time they would spend in bed...

But not him. He had that feeling that would not let him be and, in the last days, sleep. And she betrayed him, with his Beta. He had to remove him but keep her. The fight he had with his parents... He shook his head easily and still couldn't believe that his parents would betray him in such a manner.

"You will marry her, and that is my last word!" his father yelled at him. He clenched his fists, remembering. " It was your choice in the first place. You cannot pass as a weak ruler crying in a corner because she slept with your best friend." His mom interfered, but not to make things better. " You just make sure she makes a pup or two and you don't have to bear her anymore... You can send her away, to one of our castles, as soon as you have them, the heirs." His sickness in his stomach sickness felt so bad that he almost thought he would go and throw up. It wasn't the fact that he needed to marry her, even if she did what she did, but he would have to take advantage of her in the worst possible way. His father's last words when they fought were like an echo in his ears. " She is the best breed, you will find nothing better in the whole kingdom. So you will take her, no matter what." His last word was final, and he felt like he would just love to punch something. Maybe his Beta's face. But the coward had made a run for his life.

He cleared him through. He did not want to offend her, but he was also not in the mood to have her anywhere near him. He removed her hands from him while he turned with his face toward her,

" I have things to do. You should better go and prepare."

Luna narrowed her beautiful hazel eyes, making a morose face. She was beautiful. And she knew that. Raphael was attracted to her since the first year of high school, when she was so much ahead of all her colleagues. She had all the round spots in their place, and it was fun. But somehow, he could not feel that connection with her along the way. The connection an Alpha has with his Luna. She was still very attractive but still, but he had the impression that something was missing. He decided to get over that because he had no time to find any true mate anymore, and he needed to take the throne from his father. His duty was to find me a woman. wherewith he would procreate and stay by his side. Fantasies with mates were passed for him. But he never thought she would do such an offense to him and he was only hoping he could sleep with her again, in one day. The problem was that the day was coming really fast. 

He walked next to her returning to the papers that were on the table next to him, giving her the impression that he was working.

She kept her eyes narrowed at him and said in an angry voice,

" If you want this shit to work, you should give me some more attention. It is like you even have forgotten I exist!"

Raphael clenched his fists looking at her back going towards the door and felt again like he really wants to hit something. Thinking that probably he should start boxing before losing his mind. 

The time to go to the party came so fast that Selene had the impression that she just blinked and there it was! She went to the town with her mother so she could buy her dress, and the few hours they spent together flew by like the wind. She had already done her makeup, nothing fancy. Some black pencil lines were bringing out the color of her eyes. Eyes that she chose to hide during the entire school day after a mean remark. She made eye contact, which made her eyes black, but her eyes were purple. Then she thought that they looked strange enough to have someone pick on her, but not now. She also kept her hair only in a dull bun at the back, but not anymore. Her dark silver silk hair flowed down her back until her waist. She was sitting relaxed, leaning on the closet door while looking at what dress she could wear. The days that she was trying to hide from her bullies were long gone. She was going to their engagement party. She wrinkled her nose, pinching slowly with two fingers while she closed her eyes. How she would like to turn back in time and have the confidence she had gained after 4 years of university... She wasn't the same girl anymore, and to be damn if she would not say something to someone if they would raise even an eyebrow at her. She had done to be the nice little mouse, tossed into a corner, afraid.

She heard her mom knocking at the door,

"Come in," she said to her while she was still looking in the closet, trying to decide. 

Her mother came in with a surprise mime on her face,

"Selene, why are you wearing your silk robe? We are supposed to leave in 45 minutes," she continued in a lower voice, trying to make her daughter resonate. " We cannot be late. It would be an offense."

Selene turned to her mother with sparkling eyes. She wanted to say some more about the 'personalities' that would get offended about their late arrival, but she swallowed her words and said,

"In 20 minutes, I will be downstairs, Mom."

Her mother nodded her head; she knew that because of that, she could trust her daughter. Her face softened, and she was about to burst into tears when looking at her daughter,

"You are so beautiful, my baby. A blossomed beautiful woman..." She came to hug her very quickly, saying, " I am so happy that you have returned home. I hope you stay for as long as possible," and she went out. Selene closed her eyes, gathering strength from her mother's hug. She was quite sure she would need it. 

In the end, Selene decided to wear a long purple satin dress, with a long V and a high split, necked back, with no straps. It was a beautiful dress, but 4 years ago, she would have run out of the room only to see a mannequin dressed in it. Now, with the confidence she gained, she knew that she would hold her head high. Maybe some of her former colleagues would be impressed, some would not even recognize her. She put the dress on and the silver heels, and she looked for the last time in the mirror. Yeah, the former frightened girl disappeared. The dress looked magnificent in the way it changed color with the light, black and purple, reflecting in her eyes. Her long, brown over-the-waist hair with locks of silver hair looked exquisite. At first, she said just a few strands of silver hair, and she thought it was early aging of hair, but after a few times, she discovered she had locks of silver hair that people thought she had manually done. She could not understand what that was or why, but she liked the effect on her brown hair that she thought about all the time was dull. Now it seemed like there was a general interest in her leaving her hair loose, which she avoided doing. Until tonight. She needed all her weapons, and this was one of them. She was pleased with her looks, so she decided to meet her parents downstairs. She still had 1 minute. She applied her peony perfume, her favorite, and out she went.

While going downstairs, she thought that she would want to have Cindy, her best friend, near her on such a night. She was feeling that she needed all the courage she could get from the nearest people in her heart. Cindy was one of them, but unfortunately, the royal family put Cindy's family in disgrace because of her brother, the former Beta. He had done something so bad that he had been banished from the castle. But nobody would know exactly what. Cindy told Selene that she had tried to find something from her brother, but ever since he returned to disgrace back at his family, he bearly spoke a few words. 

They were nearly at the gate of the castle, and Selene felt like she would lose control soon. She was feeling a slight panic about meeting all the people she never wanted to meet again. Her father, who was just next to her in the limousine, probably felt her anxiety, and he took her and squeezed her gently to give her some of his strength.

"Breath, my dear. The night will finish in no time," he whispered to her while winking at her, " just be sure no guy breaks his head because of you," he finished, smiling. " Maybe a glass of champagne?" he asked while he already leaned to pour some for her. She had the strength only to nod her head. She knew her father was dear and very sensitive towards her needs, but now he was just so great...

She looked at him and she burst into a little laugh. From home, both her parents complimented her that she would be the beauty of the ball. She did not want that, especially because she was sure that Luna wanted to be the beauty of her engagement ball. Selene was just hoping that, indeed, soon this would end.

The way from the gate to the front entrance was 20 minutes on the clock, time enough for Selene to admire the mansion of the Alpha. It was huge! She believed from the place where she was staying and how she could see it, that she probably had five hundred, if not more, rooms. An immense garden with a huge terrain. She had never visited the mansion, but her parents said yes, so she had little idea about the looks, but now that she was seeing it, she was overwhelmed. That meant the house could keep all the community inside if they wanted, in times of need.

Just a minute later, her door was opened by a valet, and she went out. She found herself in front of some long stairs that were the front entrance, and from where nice music and voices came. The gardens were near because she could smell all kinds of flowers and herbs, making her want to go into the middle and inhale them.

Her father took her arm gently and placed it on his elbow, like her mother, cutting her dreams. She smiled at him but knew that soon she would have little time. She would run in the garden. Even if it was for five minutes. They slowly started to go up the stairs, approaching the entrance more and more.