AVELINE
I didn't spend the night at home, the instant the royal officials left my home, I embarked on a journey to the palace.
I had not visited the palace ever since I left home and got married to Alpha Kane, and the last time I heard from my father, he had called to flaunt and boast about Natasha's pregnancy.
He was overjoyed because his daughter would give birth to the next king of the werewolf Kingdom. Their dreams would finally come true; the lineage would not go into extinction.
The Alpha king had been desperate for an heir and this was because he didn't have any other children apart from Prince Johan. It was said that he gave birth to Prince Johan when he was a relatively young man of 21. He ascended the throne at the age of 25, but he neither had any other children nor married another woman.
Rather than remarry, Alpha King Damien of The Imperial Twilight Kingdom continued to mourn the death of Prince Johan's mother, choosing to go by the nickname, The Queenless King”
My step-sister has gotten what she wanted now, always granting interviews, doing live streams and videos, and gracing magazine covers. She was also a prominent member of the popular reality TV show, Wives and Girlfriends Of Royals.
She was having the time of her lives while I was struggling to get medicines and food for the man I was forced to marry.
Throughout the phone conversation with my father on the day he called to front and boast, I listened attentively. Dropping compliments and exclamations. But when it was time for me to tell him how I had been coping, in the life consigned me to, he told me he had to get busy with something and hung up.
During this time, things were getting difficult for me and my late husband and I was going to ask my father for financial assistance. My menial jobs were not paying enough to purchase medicine and pay for Kane’s mental therapy.
Kane suffered a seizure 2 weeks after and passed away.
But if I had known that he was taking a loan from the royal family, I would not have allowed him. For all I knew, Natasha might have been aware of the decision to kick me out of my home and confiscate the only property I owned.
These thoughts lingered in my mind until my driver finally pulled in front of the huge castle which served the royal palace—my stepsister's home.
Due to the urgency of my predicament, I did not spare time to gush at the intricate designs. The manicured gardens, the water fountains and the other beautiful things which the mansion featured. Features I had only ever seen on the television.
I went straight to the lobby, filled in my name and waited for my turn. I was a little lucky to be the only one on the waiting list, so I sat in the middle of the bench, heads buried between my laps.
I would appeal to the king, Natasha or anyone who responded to me. I was now a widow with no means of income. I would plead for more time to pay Kane's debt and request that my home be unlocked. I was now a widow; it would not be appropriate if I also didn't have a roof over my head, or would it?
With every second that passed, I felt my blood evaporating in my veins, my mind conjuring images of doom and distress. I had grown so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice an image towering above me.
“Is there a way I can help you?”
As I lifted my head, my breath got stuck in my lungs. Time froze in his tracks—standing before me was a man whose gaze seems to pierce every wall I had built around my heart.
He was tall, stout with a commanding presencee which radiated both strength and a warmth. His eyes, golden glistened like the sunset. His black hair, which was neatly combed back,bore tiny silver at the edges. His eyes were sharp, mysterious,yet calm..
The moment I looked into his eyes, something clicked. It was as if an invisible thread pulled me toward him, binding us together in a way that felt both familiar.
My heart pounded as a soft whisper filled my mind, Mate. The word resounded within me, stirring something long forgotten, a sense of belonging I hadn’t felt in years.
He seemed to feel it too, his own eyes widening as he took a step closer. “Mate,” he murmured, his voice low and soft, as if I were some cherished treasure he'd only dreamed of finding.
He reached out, his hand trembling slightly as he moved to touch my face, and in that moment, every fear, every hurt I'd endured seemed to dissolve.
But before his hand could graze my cheek, a voice broke through the stillness. A sharp voice, filled with authority.
“Father.”
“What!”
The intruding voice cut into my thoughts and spiraled through me. I rose to my feet struggling to keep my weak legs from crashing under me and there,from seemingly nowhere was Prince Johan.
My chest tightened as realization struck like lightning. The man standing before me, the one I'd felt such a sudden, undeniable bond with, was the Alpha King himself—Alpha King Damien, the ruler of the Imperial Twilight Kingdom, my second-chance mate!
I barely managed to compose myself as the weight of the new Discovery descended on my shoulders, clouding my brain and destabilizing my resolve. My heart was still thumping, my fingers still trembling.
I mention something about being stuck in a nightmare the other time, but turns out I had begun to live a dystopian romantic novel.
“What do you want here Aveline?” Prince Johan growled distastefully, “what are you doing here?”
The last streak of enchantment in my brain vanished at the sound of the voice bringing me back to my predicament and the real purpose I was in a palace.
Just as I was about to move closer to the prince, my eyes fell on the King’s. There was a warmth in them,a soft glare that spoke a thousand words.
I came to the life that instant, my butterflies resurrecting, I wanted him to hold me. And I could feel it, he wanted to hold me too.
Was I delusional?
My heart pounding was the only sound I could hear in the whole room.
“Speak Aveline.”
Did he just mind-link me?
I looked up to find the Alpha King boring holes into my body, his jaw hardened as if trying to set me on fire right there.
But why is there a haunting familiarity in his gaze—his eyes—that hinted at a dark connection between us.