Chapter 4: Taking In

Mikki went to her room after her talk with her brother, trying to assimilate everything she heard for the past hour. Her heart seemed to have been shrunk as she realized what it really meant to be married to someone.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about it before, but she never really wanted to believe that something like this would ever happen to her. Since she was young, her parents never once told her she could end up with someone she didn’t want to.

But as far as she was concerned, from what Ace told her, her parents knew about it all along, especially if her mother was supposed to be the subject of the prophecy herself. So why didn’t they talk to her about it before they died?

Mikki shook her head. She was being unfair. Both her parents died unexpectedly, so maybe they planned on telling her this when she was older and ready to receive such impactful news.

Even by being a princess, sometimes things didn’t happen the way she wanted. She should be used to it by now. So why wasn’t she? Why was she still surprised that her life had been decided for her?

A knock on the door brought her back to reality.

“It's me, Aleta.” She heard her friend’s muffled voice on the other side.

Mikki took a deep breath before telling her to come in. She wanted to be alone, but maybe taking everything out of her heart wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Aleta did as she was told, and Mikki stood there, staring at the floor, zoning out for a moment.

“Hey, is everything okay? How did it go? Why are you on the floor?” Aleta sat by her side, frowning at the sight of the Princess of the Royal House sitting on the floor like an ordinary person.

Mikki didn’t even realize she was seated on the floor, if she was being honest. Her whole body seemed to be functioning automatically; her mind was miles away from there.

“I don’t know.” Her voice was weak and hoarse. “I just came back and ended up here,” she explained.

Aleta’s worried expression made Mikki aware of how odd the scene could be to her friend.

“I'm fine, really,” she tried to reassure her friend.

“What happened? Why wouldn’t you be fine? You’re scaring me, Mik,” Aleta said, preoccupied.

Mikki stared at her, feeling her eyes burning for the first time ever since she left Ace’s office. But she wasn’t going to cry. She was a princess, and she shouldn’t be that weak. She was a wolf after all, and her nature taught her to be strong. So why couldn’t her heart and mind help her a bit?

“I need to get married,” she simply said.

Aleta blinked a few times before being able to form a proper sentence.

“You need what?” Her voice came out in a whisper.

“Yeah, I know. It sounds absurd, doesn’t it? I mean, not that absurd, since this happens in my family all the time, but… I don’t know, I thought I could be spared,” Mikki sighed.

Aleta continued to look at her as if she had just grown three heads. Mikki pulled herself together for a while and explained everything that had happened in the past hour. When she finished, Aleta’s face was laughable to say the least.

“I just… I’m sorry, I can’t find the right words,” she confessed, rubbing her face and hair, trying to bring her senses back to full function. “At least he seems to be a nice guy, from what the King told you, right? I guess this should count for something. Imagine if this other bad guy was the one marrying you? Ugh, I can’t even…”

“I guess it should," Mikki murmured. “I felt something weird when I looked at him. Do you think the Moon is allowing me to have at least that? Marry my mate in order to fulfill the prophecy? That would be a great twist in fate, right?” Mikki smiled slightly.

“Hmm,” Aleta pondered. “Maybe. It’s hard to say. Fate works in so many different ways, it’s hard to tell,” Aleta concluded, but she was the one distracted now. And Mikki knew why. They had this conversation several times before, during long sleepover nights, where they both dreamed about their own Prince Charming.

Mikki knew that Aleta had feelings for her brother Fitz since forever. It always made her curious about how their nature worked. Not all mate bonds happened instantly. In fact, some wolves didn’t even experience them. But for Aleta and Fitz, it was really odd.

When she was young, Aleta had felt something similar from what Mikki felt with Max in her brother’s office. Fitz and Aleta had known each other since Aleta’s mother worked for the Auclair Luna, Mikki’s mother.

They grew up together, and Fitz was actually really nice to her. But it was just it; he never showed anything different towards Aleta, and even though Mikki tried to ask him a few times, he would just change the subject and give her nothing.

It was also true that Fitz was a very charming man, and the women from the Court and from the Royal House pack were infatuated by him. He was a hard bait, if not untouchable, as Aleta had said to Mikki numerous times.

Not to mention the fact that Aleta was a commoner, a servant from the palace, and he was a Royal, the Beta to say the least. The second most important in the line of succession.

“Maybe I should just be grateful,” Mikki said, feeling bad for bringing back sad memories to Aleta. She should be grateful if the Moon was allowing her to at least marry her mate, even though he was only marrying her to fulfill his duty.

He could end up not falling in love with her, but she should at least accept that she had more luck than most wolves she knew. Her brother Ace and her friend Aleta to start.

“Maybe you’ll be surprised, Mik. What if you end up falling for each other? I mean, can you ask for anything else?” Aleta smiled at her.

Mikki could easily see herself going down that road. But she couldn’t say the same about Max.

“I don’t think he feels the same way. I mean, it seemed as if he was just offering to fulfill his duty to the King and the packs. What if he never feels the same? What if he didn’t feel the bond connection?” Mikki was overthinking, she knew it. It was hard to draw conclusions with just that brief encounter they had earlier.

“I guess only time will tell. So, stop worrying too much. Just let things be. One thing is certain, I’ll definitely miss you around here,” Aleta confessed.

Mikki frowned.

“Why would you miss me, silly? I’m right here.”

Aleta gulped.

“Well, you’ll probably move out from the palace once you complete the Ceremony, won’t you?” Aleta looked confused for a moment. “Isn’t that how things happen?”

Mikki widened her eyes. She hadn’t thought about that. Of course, she’d have to live with the Alpha and his pack. At least that’s how things happened whenever a marriage was involved. Should it be different with the Royals?

But she didn’t have time to think it through, because one second later, another knock on the door was heard, and before she could say anything, the door burst open and she saw her sixteen-year-old brother pop his head inside, with his messy hair all over the place and his cheeks red from running.

“Don, what’s going on? You should knock and wait for my—”

“Sorry, sis, but we don’t have time for that now. Fitz is freaking out with Ace about your wedding or something like that. I think you should come,” he said with a mischievous smile on his lips.

Mikki rolled her eyes.

Another day at the Auclair family. Don being the naughty kid, Fitz, the problematic; Ace, the responsible; and Mikki, the peacemaker.

“I guess some things will never change,” she stated, getting up from the floor and following her younger brother to another family reunion.