Chapter 71 - The future queen!

Samantha

I leaned forward on the edge of the terrace and the strong scent of the rose garden struck me. I could imagine living in this beautiful castle with the incredible gardens, but I knew there was no way I would ever live here. Some other lucky girl would soon find the king’s gaze, and we would hear the announcement. In the meantime, I could just stand there smelling the roses and pretend it was my home.

I heard a scuffle of people behind me and ducked behind one of the tick curtains hanging in front of the enormous French doors. People only moved that fast whenever a royal was nearby, and I really didn’t want to see any of them. It was bad enough that my parents made me come here in the first place. To see one of the royals and to see their disapproval would just ruin my peaceful night.

“Where the hell could she be?!” Our new king’s voice echoed, and a shiver ran down the back of my spine as his scent drifted over. Everything else disappeared the moment it enveloped me. My eyes shot open at the realization!

“Mate!” My wolf howled inside my mind. It couldn’t be! There was no way the moon goddess would destine the king to be mated to a traitor! I knew I wasn’t one, but people saw me as part of the families who betrayed our kingdom. The people wouldn’t allow it! I closed my eyes and ducked back inside before he could see me.

Tears filled my eyes as I quickly made my way through the crowd to find my mother. I knew I wouldn’t have to say much. She would take one look at me and think that it had all become too much for me and we would leave. I quickly found her and, as I thought, she found my dad in seconds, and we rushed down the stairs and out of the castle. Our car was waiting, and I breathed a sigh of relief as soon as we were on our way. My mind was going a mile a minute. My dad wanted to know who said what that upset me so terribly and my mother told him not to bother me. She frowned when she looked at me.

“You know how cruel people can be.” My mother sighed deeply, and I closed my eyes to blink away the tears. If she knew the king was my destined mate … I couldn’t think about it! I couldn’t think about any of it, but his image kept popping into my head while my wolf cried out for him!

Adam

Her scent hit me as I stood outside trying to find her. My eyes shot from the left to the right and I made a point of looking each of the females in the eyes, but none of them registered as my mate. I followed her scent to the edge of the terrace and all the way to the curtain. It clung to the thick red velvet curtains hanging in front of the French doors but unfortunately disappeared into the crowd.

I followed it feeling my heart race as I did so. Something told me she knew and that she had left, but I couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t imagine that my mate would leave me without looking me in the eye! I had to force myself to face the truth when I reached the car park and her scent disappeared. Did she know? Did she leave when she found out?!

I could only imagine that she was from a pack that didn’t like us. Why else would she have left?!! Who finds their mate and then runs away?! I had been standing in the car park for a while when my parents found me. I was tired. I felt utterly heartbroken, but I couldn’t show it. I couldn’t tell my parents that my mate had run from me.

What would they think? What was the pack and the kingdom going to think when they found out my mate couldn’t even stick around to reject me? She just ran! We went inside, and I tried my best to fake it, but it was difficult. My mother kept asking me what was wrong, and I could see she was trying to figure out if I had found my mate or not.

When the evening finally came to a close, and we had greeted the last of our guests, we walked upstairs, and I was trapped in a never-ending circle of regret!

“Maybe she left before she realized who you are.” My mom sighed and my dad agreed. I just nodded without a word. I still hadn’t told them what I thought really happened. I didn’t have the heart.

“Don’t worry, son.” My father patted me on the back at the top of the stairs. “The moon goddess has a way of bringing mates together, no matter what.” He smiled, and I wondered if he knew something or whether he had just hit a nerve without realizing it. We said goodnight and I walked down the long empty passage.

I was alone. I had my parents and my sister, but I was alone. I was the king and I had found my mate, but she didn’t want me. I was sure that if she did, she would have found me. I couldn’t believe that she left without knowing.

My parents were in my office first thing in the morning. They were trying to figure out exactly what happened, and I had to tell them everything. I couldn’t hide it from them. I knew them too well. They weren’t going to just let it go. My mother looked simply heartbroken that I felt the way I did. My dad was the optimist. He quickly thought of all the reasons why the young lady would have left.

All of them were reasonable reasons and none of them were because she didn’t want me. I had to give it to them. They knew how to pull me out of a fowl mood and give me hope again!