Chapter 5

"What... What have you... What have you done?" I gasped as I watched the letter's remains fly to the ground. He tore the letter. Why would he do that? Why did he do this? 

I know he is the king's Beta, but he has no right. Absolutely no right.

"Why did you..." I moved my gaze from the remains to him. "Do that to the letter? It's my stepmother's letter. Why did you tear it?"

"Her majesty is here; go inside." Without providing an explanation, he simply turned around and walked away. I attempted to follow him but halted abruptly upon spotting the queen mother's vehicle.

Shit. She's here. I need to go inside.

Without wasting another second, I ran into the house and to my room.

I need to bathe. I have to. I can't meet the queen looking and smelling like this. I smell like dried sweat. I smell bad. I must look okay if I'm to meet the queen.

I was skeptical about meeting her but not anymore. My stepmother's earlier behavior has managed to change my mind about things. I know she doesn't want me to meet the queen mother. There must be a reason for that. I want to know her reason for sending me away at such an odd time.

So in order to appear before Her Majesty, I must quickly prepare myself.

**

Writer's POV 

"The queen mother is here, Mom. She's here. We need to welcome her." Genesis ran to her mother's room and knocked on the door.

"Oh, I'll be out in a second," her mom, Beatrice, answered as she placed her last piece of jewelry around her neck.

"Here, I'm done," after checking herself in the mirror, Beatrice rushed out to find Genesis impatiently waiting at the door.

"Where's your father?"

"I believe he is at the gate; let's join him," Genesis answered.

Upon her answer, Beatrice grabbed her daughter's hand and breathed out, "Let's go."

As they reached the front door and were about to step out, an idea suddenly occurred to Genesis.

"Mom, we can't let her meet the queen mother; tell her to stay in her room. You have to tell her to stay..."

"Shush, I've taken care of that; she's not in this house; you don't have to worry about her," Beatrice whispered. 

"She's not?"

"She's not in this house. I sent her to Lucy. Lucy will hold her there until tomorrow. She won't return to the house until tomorrow, so don't think about her. Push all thoughts of her to the back of your head."

"Oh, you did? I was worried; thank you, Mom."

"You don't have to thank me; let's focus on getting you into the palace. You are the king's breeder. The king's future wife. A soon-to-be queen, focus on making the queen mother like you, understood?"

"Yes, Mom," Genesis shook her head, pleased with her mother's quick thinking.

"Where's Sarah?" The moment they reached the gate, Mr. Rowan, Sarah's father and Beatrice's mate, posed the question. He has been waiting for the whole family at the gate. 

"She's probably having her bath. Not sure," Beatrice reluctantly answered, positioning herself beside him.

"Are you sure she's having her bath?"

"You can look for her yourself if you miss her so much," Beatrice rolled her eyes, annoyed by his questions.

"Don't fight, please; the queen mother is getting out of the vehicle now; we need to coordinate ourselves," Genesis whispered to both parents as she took her position beside her mother.

Just then, the royal vehicle opened, and the king's mother stepped out of it. 

"This way, Your Majesty," her chief advisor, Alpha John, who had followed her down there, led the way to Beta Rowan's house.

When the family saw that the queen mother was close enough, they lowered their heads in greetings.

"Welcome to my humble home, Your Majesty. Having you here is a true blessing," Beta Rowan greeted. 

"I couldn't believe my ears when I heard you were coming; it's nice to have you, Your Majesty," Beatrice joyfully welcomed her.

"You have been waiting for me."

"Yes, Your Majesty, we have been waiting for your arrival; please come in." Beta Rowan led the way, and the queen mother followed.

Upon entering his sitting room, Beta Rowan offered the queen mother a specially prepared royal seat.

"You have a nice home, Rowan; good for you." After observing her surroundings, Her Majesty gave her compliments.

"Thank you, your majesty, it's a home I built with my first mate."

"Oh, I heard about your first mate, and I know about her death. Although it's late, I'd love to offer my condolences; she was a brilliant woman."

"Thank you, your majesty."

"Why aren't you having your seats? Sit down. I'm here for a good course, so please have your seats." After noticing how everyone was standing, the queen mother urged them to their seats.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," the family bowed in appreciation before taking their seats in their respective positions.

"Your majesty, we prepared a feast; I don't know if you'd like to have something," Beatrice informed immediately after taking her seat.

"I'm not here for that. It is true that I'm here for a good course, but I don't eat at people's houses. It's best you save your meal. And oh, is this the whole family? Where is your other daughter? I don't see her here."

"She... She's running late, your majesty; she... She's not here." Immediately the question left the queen's lips; Genesis didn't waste a second; she stood up and answered.

"I can see that she's not here. I have eyes. I want to know where she is and when she'll be here."

"Oh, she... she..." As Genesis tried to think of a proper answer to give to the queen mother, Beta Rowan, her father immediately stood up.

"She's in her room; let me call her. I don't think she knows that you are here yet."

"Oh great, bring her out; I need to say this before the whole family, so it's important that she is here," the queen mother relaxed against her chair as Beta Rowan excused himself.

Sarah's POV

After taking a quick bath, I went into my wardrobe to search for a dress. I don't have a nice dress. The only nice dresses I own are the ones from when I was little. The ones from when my mother was still alive. As an adult, I don't have a single nice gown.

My stepmother never allowed it. She never bought me one either. My dad sometimes gives her money to get dresses for us, but she never bought one for me. Only for Genesis. I've never complained, though; I don't go out, and I never saw the usefulness of owning a nice dress, so I never said a word to Dad about it.

Now... I'm kind of regretting it now. What should I wear? I can't wear any of my childhood dresses; they won't even fit.

Maybe I should just go to Genesis's room; maybe I should take one of her dresses and... I was still contemplating to myself when my eyes caught a blue gown amongst my many dresses.

What's that gown? I didn't hesitate to reach out to it. I grabbed the gown and brought it out of the wardrobe, then set it down on my bed.

Moon goddess! What is this dress? Who owns this gown? I've never seen a more beautiful dress in my whole life. 

This is not Genesis's. I know all of Genesis's dresses by heart. This is not hers. I've never seen her with this. Genesis has a way of flaunting her stuff. If this dress were hers, then she would have shown it to me a hundred times. She would have worn it around the house and even shown it off to her friends a thousand times. This dress is definitely not hers. But if it's not hers, then who owns it? And how did the dress get into my wardrobe?

It can't be my stepmother. My stepmother didn't get this dress for me either. She'll never get something as beautiful as this for me. The highest gown my stepmother would ever get me is a sleeping gown and not even a beautiful one at that. Just a normal sleeping gown. She would never get me something this beautiful and expensive.

Then is it my father? Did my father get me this dress? No, it can't be my father either. I don't think he is the one. Why would he get me a dress and not tell me about it?

This is strange. What is happening? Should I just wear the gown? Maybe I should wear it; I can find the owner of the gown later. This might be the moon goddess helping me.

Yes. My mother must be looking out for me.

After deciding on it, I took the gown and quickly wore it. After putting it on, I walked to the mirror to see how it looked on me, and to my greatest shock, I found out that the dress looked perfect on me.

But how? It's as if this dress was made for me. It fits my small body perfectly. I said it. This gown is not Genesis's. Genesis and I have different body structures. She's taller and fatter while I'm petite. This gown was made for me. It's mine! The realization of what was happening got me excited and also gave me goosebumps.

And as if that was not enough, my eyes caught another thing sitting inside my wardrobe. A box. A fucking shoebox!

**

"Sarah, are you in there? You should come out; your attention is needed over here."

Huh, is that my dad at the door? My dad is at the door!

"Sarah, are you listening to me? Open the door; I need to..."

"Dad?"I stood up from my dressing table and rushed to the door. I opened it to find my dad standing there. He looks a bit different. Well, he is not wearing his usual work outfit. He looks good when he is not wearing his work outfit.

"Sarah?"

"Dad, you look great, Dad." I didn't hesitate to compliment his looks, but he didn't return the compliment; neither did he say another word. He just continued standing there. He looks surprised. Truly. He is in shock. I'm also in shock myself. I can't believe how good I look in this dress.

We are both used to seeing me in casual, dirty outfits, so this comes as a shock to both of us. 

After a few minutes of silence, Dad cleared his throat and said, "You... You... You should come out; Her Majesty wants to see you."

Her Majesty wants to see me? "Do you happen to know why, Dad? Why does she want to see me?"

"She wants to see the whole family. Don't keep her waiting."

"Alright, I'm right behind you," I smiled and watched as he slowly walked away. 

After taking a final glance at the mirror, I walked out of my room to join the others.

"She'll be with us soon, Your Majesty; sorry for keeping you," before I enter the sitting room, I overhear my father say to Her Majesty, but the next thing I overhear causes my legs to abruptly stop.

"Tell Her Majesty the truth, dear; Sarah left the house earlier because she didn't want to meet Her Majesty. She's too shy and timid. You didn't see her in her room, did you? Let's not keep Her Majesty waiting; Sarah won't show up."

"And who told you that she won't show up? Sarah is standing right over there; are you too blind to see her? You are a werewolf; how come your vision is this bad? The next line of words that followed my stepmother's words not only shocked me but also shocked everyone present in the room.

What the heck? Did Her Majesty just insult my stepmother? And did she just defend me in front of everyone? Shocking. This is unbelievable. The queen mother is regarded for her calmness and regality. This comes as a surprise.

"Come here, my dear, come and sit beside me; you look very beautiful in that dress," as if the first one was not enough; her majesty dropped another bombshell on us. She wants me to sit beside her. In a seat designated for royalty.

How is this happening?