Chosen By The Werewolf Prince: Chapter 14

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Chosen By The Werewolf Prince: Chapter 14

*~Vince’s P.O.V~*

I walked into my father’s office without knocking. The room was at least two stories high and immense. The entire far wall was nothing but floor-to-ceiling windows, framed in dark golden silk. A humongous and ornately carved fireplace of white marble took up the left wall. All other available wall space consisted of massive bookshelves crammed with books, papers, scrolls, and odd statuary. The center of the marble floor held a circular carpet in scarlet and gold. A low table of thick glass, which was balanced on the outstretched wings of two angels, was framed by four wing-back chairs of red velvet. My father’s monster of a desk was situated in front of the glass-wall.

Sitting in the desk’s chair, he held some papers in his hands, appearing to be deeply focused on them, his forehead creased and his expression grim.

Great.

“I Didn’t hear you knock.”

Woops. In my haste to get here, I guess I forgot to knock. I shrugged. Too late now.

I went over to the bookshelves and grabbed the first book I saw. I started flipping through it, not really reading anything. I put it back and extracted another one from the shelf, noting that my hands were shaking. In truth, I was nervous. Really nervous. Despite all the attempts of convincing my heart that there was no possible way my father knew, it still hammered in my chest like there was no tomorrow.

What if he did? It was my wolf who spoke, suspicious.

Impossible. I made sure no one I didn‎’t wish to know knew.

How can you be so sure? My wolf countered, his voice uncompromising. It was like him to be so suspicious and untrusting. After all; he was a predator. It was part of him to be so vigilant.

I ignored my wolf. “I was told you wanted to see me,” I said, wanting to know what this all was about and end my torment.

“Yes,” I waited for him to continue, but when he didn’t, I turned to look at him. I found him still viewing his papers.

“And?” I urged, the nervousness I was feeling morphing into fear that gnawed at my heart.

I heard him sigh and watched as he put down the papers. He placed his elbows on the desk and intertwined his fingers, a gesture I knew he made when he meant business. My father’s gaze drifted to me and held mine. My heart skipped a beat at the fierceness his eyes always seemed to possess. Yellow and green eyes stared back, similar to mine.

“Come here, son,” He was using his authoritative voice, and not just as King, but as Supreme Alpha. I was bound to comply, even if I didn’t want to; I was after all just the second in command after him.

I did as he ordered and stood in front of him, waiting, our eyes meeting once again. I searched for any signs of anger or rage, but found none. Either he was really good at hiding his true feelings, or it was something else he wanted to talk to me about. Judging from his expression, it didn’t seem like he knew anything about Serenity. That helped to calm me a little bit, but just a little.

“You are well aware of the conflicts that has been caused by the ‘problems’ going on between our border and Valaria’s,” Relieved that the topic was entirely different than the one I had in mind; I nodded, silently urging him to proceed. He did, “King Dimitri of Valaria will be visiting our kingdom in order to resolve them and put an end to all the bloodshed that’s been happening. We will discuss a treaty between werewolves and vampires, and see how we can continue to hide our threatened existence from the humans.” My father’s expression grew solemn, his eyes hardening. “Our human allies tell us the humans suspect something, and they’ve started sniffing around seeking answers. You understand how dangerous this is? Everything we’ve worked for, everything we’ve established and built could come crashing down in an instant if the human race learns of our existence. Son, we must make haste.” My father’s voice was firm.

“Yes, father.”

“In two days’ time, King Dimitri will be arriving. His stay will last for a month; it will be enough time to plan and prepare the treaty. Vincent,” He looked at me. Really looked at me. It felt as if his gaze had pierced right through me, as if he somehow managed to take a look at what I was hiding. It scared the shit out of me. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “This all must remain a secret; humans are not the only ones who are trying to destroy us –at least the ones who do know we exist. There are some, traitors, among us who seek to expose us. They do not agree with keeping our existence a secret, and wish to enslave humans.”

“I know that,” I told him quietly, well aware of what he meant.

My father’s mouth tightened into a thin line, his eyes as solid and as hard as a wall, “If they find out about the treaty, they’ll do whatever’s in their power to stop it. I want you to make sure nothing, absolutely nothing, jeopardizes it. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

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*~Serenity’s P.O.V~*

Dark clouds of wintery gray smothered the dawn as a first splattering of rain turned into a roaring downpour that soaked the earth.

I stared out my window, feeling cold and alone. Today, when I woke up, I found breakfast sitting on my nightstand with a letter telling me that I’d been chosen to be one of Vincent’s personal maids with it. You can imaging the mountain of questions that suddenly arose in my head.

I thought I was supposed to be tested! But I wasn’t… What did it all mean? Confused beyond the limits that any human mind could bear, I sat in a chair I’d dragged and positioned in front of the window to watch the rain.

‘Helpless’ could not begin to describe my current state. There was a yearning in my heart that refused to be squished no matter how hard I tried. A need, a desire which I absolutely refused to acknowledge. What had my life come to?

The sound of a door unlocking drifted to my ears. I jumped to my feet and whirled around to face the door. A man carrying a basket that had wood in it walked into the room. He went to thefireplace in the wall opposite to my bed and started emptying the basket in it.

Thinking that this was the perfect opportunity to make my escape while he was busy lighting the chimney and the door was unlocked, I looked at the door with hopeful eyes, only to feel a wave of disappointment wash over me when I saw a guard standing by the door, his eyes on me.

A lump formed in my throat, and tears that I desperately suppressed threatened to spill. After the man had accomplished what he’d come to do, he left. The door was locked behind him.

I went over to thefireplace seeking its heat to warm my freezing body, appreciating its glowing warmth as my body soaked it in all the way to my bones. Fire crackled and the flames danced, hot and burning. I could feel something wet trickle down my cheeks. Not bothering to wipe the tears away, I watched the fire. I let myself cry all the sorrow, pain, loneliness and fear out of my system until all that was left was determination. Determination to escape this place and get back to my family.

I don’t know how long I stood staring at the fire, but when I turned around, I found a statuesque woman standing by the door, dressed in an expensively tailored blue gown. Her sleek black hair was upswept in a smooth French twist and pinned with glittering diamond stars. A matching diamond choker blazed around her throat.

“Hello, Serenity.” She smiled slyly, and my heart lurched in my chest. “Come, child. It is time to train you and turn you into the perfect maid. A maid worthy of serving our Prince.”