Chapter 9

“You have no idea what you’re talking about!” She exclaimed, struggling to keep her composure. ”You’re just jealous and regret dropping Lucas!”

I laughed, the horrible flood of memories of Lucas’s cruelty in my past life washed over me like a suffocating wave. “I couldn’t care less that I’ll never have to touch that man. I hope you’re happy now Harper, you’ll be in his bed but you’ll never be his wife.”

I left her there on the steps, a small, choking sound echoing after me down the hall.

I stopped first at the room I had occupied in the castle for the last few months of my engagement, and was not surprised to see Lucas had ordered it to be scrubbed clean. The sheets were changed and all my belongings were packed in a small suitcase by the door.

I sighed, picking them up and preparing for the walk home. I didn’t have much here, Lucas had always made a show of insulting me when I tried to make the room my own. I can’t believe it never occurred to me how much he didn’t want me there.

My parents lived in the same town as the Lycan King’s castle, just over the hill and behind a small, but beautiful patch of forest and garden. They had moved here from Prenia when I was officially engaged to my fated mate, and had looked for a property which most reminded them of home.

I hadn’t spent much time in this house, but anywhere my parents lived still made me feel at ease.

I knocked on the door, and my mother answered, her face lighting up when we met eyes. She embraced me, and I nearly dropped my suitcase.

“She’s back!” She called over her shoulder, and instantly I heard the sound of my father’s feet running towards us.

Before long, I was showered and dressed in pajamas much more comfortable than the wedding dress I had been stuck in all day. My parents both eyed me from their chairs around the fireplace, and my mother spoke first.

“Darling we are so happy to have you back home, but…” she trailed off, and instantly I knew where the conversation was headed.

“But what?” I asked, sitting up taller.

“Truthfully, we’re worried about the decisions you’re making.” My father said slowly, like he was carefully choosing his words. “You’ve been in love with Lucas for as long as either of us can remember, and it isn’t like you to cause so much of a scene, especially not on your wedding day to your fated mate.”

“We want you to be happy,” my mother added, “and we think the best thing for you to do is to apologize to Lucas.”

Her words floored me. “What?”

”Sweetheart, whatever is bothering you can be fixed, I’m sure. You can’t just let one small issue stop you from a marriage as important as this.” My father took a sip of his tea and scratched his beard in thought.

I had to convince them, “Lucas is cruel. You heard in the chapel, he has been sleeping with Harper for ages, even before we were engaged. He might be my mate, but you can’t possibly want me to marry someone who wouldn’t honor our marriage.” I put down the mug I was holding.

”Even besides this, he has plans to subjugate and rule over werewolf like a tyrant. I’ve heard him talk about the ways he wants to be King, the pack would be doomed to a wicked dictatorship.” It wasn’t entirely true, but I couldn’t reveal to them that I knew these things because of my rebirth.

My father rubbed his eyes, and I was surprised by how tired he looked. “This is much bigger than you, Ruby.” He said, sitting further back in his chair. “Lucas might believe you are a profitable match, but the truth is that we need this marriage between you two just as much as he does. We have a royal title and the following of it, but we are just an empty royal family from Prenia.”

He continued. ”The Lycan King has already shown support for Lucas’s succession, and we wouldn’t be able to stand up to the powers of werewolf and the Lycan Kingdom without some connection to Lucas.”

My mother stood and came over to stand behind me, kissing me on the top of my head. “You’ll come around, sweetheart.”

It was infuriating to hear them dismiss me, but I supposed without any proof they must just think I was going crazy. How could I show them just how evil Lucas really was? He killed them in my past life!

Suddenly a mindlink connection nudged its way into my brain, and I heard Lucas’s officer Alex shouting. You ungrateful brat, get your ass back here and apologize to Lucas. There is still time to fix this, otherwise all of werewolf will suffer.

I ignored the threatening tone in his voice, No way in hell, Alex. You can tell Lucas to go fuck himself.

I opened my eyes, to see my parents still nervously watching me.

“You know Lucas has already begun taking the story to the media?” My mother said, turning on the television and switching the channel to the news.

A shaky news camera showed the chaos inside the chapel earlier, with flashing headlines below saying: “HOW DARE THE BASTARD CALEB STEAL THE WIFE OF THE HEIR APPARENT?”

“CALEB IS INDEED THE INFAMOUS ROYAL TUMOR!”

”RUBY’S POSITIVELY ROYAL PRINCESS IMAGE SHATTERED!”

“HOW WILL LUCAS MEND HIS BROKEN HEART AFTER BETRAYAL OF HIS FIANCE AND BROTHER?”

An image of Lucas appeared on the screen with his head in his hands. Seething, I glared at the pitiful expression on his face. How could he so easily lie to the public and everyone around him? The press hungrily ate whatever falsehoods he fed them.

I thought about my past life, and the way even then Lucas had controlled the news and the reporters of the Lycan Kingdom with an iron grip. He meticulously crafted his public image, and mine.

And now that I thought about it, Caleb’s too. When we were first married, Lucas would regularly release statements condemning his older brother for the outrageous extravagance he indulged in. He would bring up the scores of women and whores who went in and out of his bed, the abundance of money he spent on parties and drinking.

But really, how often had I seen this excess? I tried to recall the terrible behavior and I came up with very little. Sleeping around, sure, but wasting the entire Kingdom’s budget on prostitutes and alcohol? There was never any evidence in the financial papers I saw.

Was that image of a bastardized Grand Prince truly entirely Lucas’s doing? Just how deep did Lucas’s manipulation go?

I needed to talk with Caleb more. If today had taught me anything, it was that everything I had thought I understood about these brothers was a lie, and I had to get to the bottom of it all. I refused to waste this second chance at life, and Caleb was somehow at the heart of the solution.

The doorbell rang loudly in the room, cutting through the chaotic noise of the news channel. My father got up to answer it, while I sipped the tea in my hands.

A few moments later, he returned with a letter, sealed neatly in a cream colored envelope. On the back was a blue wax seal, ornamented with gold gilding. “It’s for you,” he says, handing it to me.

I raised an eyebrow, and took it. The seal peeled away easily, and inside was a small notecard scrawled over with surprisingly neat handwriting.

How about we officially announce our wedding date for the first of next month?

Love, Caleb

p.s. meet me tonight?

“Well? Who is it from?” My mother asked, looking between my father’s disappointed face and the grin overtaking mine.

“My future husband,” I responded.