Chapter 1: Promised

Mikki Auclair was standing in front of her brother’s office, the Royal King, trying to hear what was going on inside. She had just come back from her piano lesson, and her best friend Aleta told her that a very handsome man had walked into the palace and headed straight to the Alpha's office, and since no one seemed to know who the man was, Mikki was curious.

Who could it be and why was he paying a visit to the King of Purnama City? Mikki was never really interested in the affairs of the Royal House, but every once in a while, an unexpected guest would tease her curiosity and she would bring Aleta into her plans with her, trying to solve or be involved in an inexistent situation.

Since her father, the Alpha of the Royal House, died, her older brother Ace inherited the position. Mikki and her brothers knew it would happen one day, of course, but they were not ready for it to be so soon. Not even Ace, who had been trained his whole life for it.

It caused a great impact on their pack, and even allied wolves from other packs were shocked with the King's premature death.

But Ace had been a great substitute ever since, and even though Mikki respected his position as the new Alpha and King, she also couldn’t help but continue to treat him as her brother. And sometimes she was a bit reckless in terms of keeping boundaries.

So the first thing she thought was to find an excuse to enter his office and find out who the mysterious man could be.

“I'll take them some tea,” she said, thinking out loud.

“What do you mean ‘you’ will do it? Don’t you have servants to do it for you?” Aleta asked, surprised. She was one of the Princess’ maids, but also Mikki’s best friend.

“Come on, Aleta. We do, but I need to know who this man is. Everyone in the palace is whispering about him, right? So I can’t keep the suspense and I’m pretty sure my brother won’t tell me if I ask.” Mikki grabbed the doorknob and left her room, ignoring Aleta’s constant warnings.

Without thinking too much, she grabbed the tray from one of the servants on her way up and barged in, unannounced. She had asked the guard in front of the door not to say anything, so she walked past him as he opened the door for her.

Once inside, the first thing that crossed her mind was that she should turn around and walk away. It had been a mistake. She shouldn’t be there and she could tell it from the look on her brother’s face. He wasn’t mad, which was why she was so surprised. He looked at her as if he was shocked but also sorry.

And then she turned to face the man in front of him and her heart skipped a beat. To say that he was handsome was an understatement. She had never seen someone as beautiful as him in her entire life, and her brothers were the gemstones of their pack.

He looked pretty clean and ready for the occasion, of course, everyone still kept the traditions and etiquettes when it came to royalty. He was wearing a very beautiful and fancy suit, his hair combed perfectly, but Mikki could tell he didn’t dress like that on a daily basis.

His brown hair was slightly long, enough to cover his eyebrows if he let it loose. His tanned skin made Mikki wonder where in the world he lived. She had such a fair skin, results from not being able to be outside as much as she would like to. However, it was his deep blue eyes that made Mikki forget what she was doing there in the first place.

Who was this man? He couldn’t be from the Royal House pack, she thought. She would remember seeing him around. No, he had a different aura, something that made her stare without even wanting to. It was like an invisible rope was pulling her towards him. And the way his eyes were questioning her without words made her legs tremble.

“Mikki, what are you doing here?” Ace asked, dropping the pen he was holding on top of the table in front of him. The King’s posture was back, leaving behind the trace of surprise he had on his face by her sudden presence.

“I-I thought I should bring you and your guest some tea,” she pulled herself together, taking a few steps forward, trying to ignore the force coming from the man on the other side.

“I asked one of the servants to do it, you didn’t need to—” Ace argued, but stopped himself almost immediately. “Anyway, I guess it is a good thing you’re here after all,” he confessed. “We can go through this sooner and just rip the bandage off.”

“Are you sure, Ace?” The man spoke for the first time, and Mikki was stunned by his voice. He sounded so masculine and authoritarian, but also worried and thoughtful at the same time. It confused her somehow.

“Yeah, I mean, she needs to know eventually, right?” Ace tried to sound playful, but he was looking at Mikki with that sorrowful expression again.

“I can wait outside if you want,” the man continued. “Maybe she’d like to be alone with you to hear it,” he suggested.

“What's going on?” Mikki questioned, looking from one to another, starting to feel uneasy. They were talking like she wasn’t there, and it pissed her off.

“Take a seat, Mikki. This might take a while,” Ace said, pointing at the chair in front of him.

Mikki pondered if she should do as she was told, but now it was too late to back down. She left the tray on another table and walked towards the chair. Ace sat back on his own and the mysterious man also took a seat by her side, which made Mikki a bit nervous. More than she already was.

His scent was inebriating, she couldn’t ignore it. Her wolf senses were all over the place, but she had to calm herself to hear whatever her brother had to say. She couldn’t let her primitive side take the best of her in a moment like this, because whatever it was he had to share with her, it sounded very important.

“I’ll explain everything to you, but you need to promise me you'll listen first,” Ace started, examining her face.

Mikki looked up, her mind coming up with all sorts of possible scenarios. But in the end, she had no idea of what it could be. She was never involved in the Royal House affairs, so there was only so much she could even speculate.

She nodded, clenching her hands, trying to ease her heartbeat. It was pretty obvious that they could tell how nervous she was, because they looked at her with worried expressions on their faces.

“The council gave me some news a few days ago about a prophecy that involves, well… you,” Ace continued, going straight to the point. “I wasn’t aware of it until then and I promise you I’d have told you sooner if I had known. There are a few things that our father left out of my knowledge.”

Mikki felt sorry for Ace; he lost his entire youth training to be a good King, and after their father died, he took so much on his shoulders that it seemed unfair sometimes. Mikki always tried to help out however she could, but some things only the King could solve, no matter how much others wanted or tried to help.

“What do you mean, a prophecy? What does it say?” she managed to ask.

Ace sighed.

“I’ll give you more details later, since Max needs to leave,” Ace pointed at the man. “Oh, by the way, this is Max Grosvenor. He’s the Alpha of the Lusine Pack, from Aveline City.”

Mikki looked at him, her politeness not allowing her to ignore him completely; she was a princess after all and she learned how to treat others with good manners.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness,” he uttered, bowing his head at her.

She nodded in return.

“Likewise, Mr. Grosvenor,” she said, clearing her throat to disguise her shaken voice.

“Anyway, long story short, the prophecy says you need to get married on your 21st birthday, with an Alpha, and Max just offered to be this man,” Ace concluded, looking into her eyes, expecting her reaction.

But all Mikki managed to do was blink, speechless and dumbfounded. She could hear him, but she couldn’t make sense of what he was really saying. Her 21st birthday? Get married?

“I don’t want to get married,” she whispered, more to herself than to the two men around her. “Not now. I mean… Can’t you do anything about it?” she asked, lifting her eyes to him, pleading.

Ace shook his head, his eyes carrying the same look hers probably had.

“I'm sorry, Mikki. But I can’t.”

Mikki felt like she could cry. She knew things like this happened with royals all the time. But as the only Princess alive, she hoped she could marry someone she loved.

She wasn’t expecting to be anything other than that anyway, like her brother Ace was expected to be the King someday, for example, so why couldn’t she have that kind of freedom? Why did she have to marry someone she didn't even know?

“I don’t plan to make you marry me without your consent, Princess,” Max added, not caring to be interfering in the King’s speech. “I just offered because I’m one of your brother’s best friends and I only have the interest of the Royal House in mind,” he explained, his voice as serious and polished as before.

Mikki looked at him, and as she stared into his eyes, she could tell something different was happening inside of her. She heard of mates before, of course, how could she not? But that wasn’t a luxury the Royals had in life.

It was basically impossible that the council approved a mating bond between royals, or nobles, and the commoners. Some exceptions were made, but mostly, they ignored the mating connection completely.

But as she stared into his eyes, nothing but honesty and truthfulness coming out of it, she wondered if those feelings inside of her meant what she thought it did.

Could he be her mate? He was an Alpha, her brother said so, and she could also tell just by looking at him.

But Mikki didn’t think he was a noble, which meant that they shouldn’t be together. So why was Ace accepting something like that? Why could he be the one marrying her? Did the council have a say in this?

The man suddenly rose up from his seat, surprising her.

“I’ll take my leave, Ace. I think you need to talk to your sister, and I have some things to do before going back to my city. You know where to find me.” Max bowed to both siblings before turning to the door and leaving the room.

Mikki felt like the room missed a very powerful presence, but she didn’t want to think deeper into it yet. She had more important things to deal with right now.

Like the fact that she was the subject of a prophecy.