SEQUEL: TWENTY-FIVE

Madeline swept out of the cab and up the stairs of the Gustav estate with a black scowl on her face, pushing open the doors to find the butler waiting calmly for her behind the door.
“Welcome home, Miss Madeline…” He greeted her with a warm smile, unfazed by her unwelcoming expression.
“I’ll be going straight to my room, don’t bother me, and make sure no one bothers me.” She said coldly, striding off without waiting for a response.
“Certainly, Miss Madeline,” The butler bowed politely before closing the front doors, used to the only daughter of the Gustav’s coming home in foul moods. It was a good thing her brothers were out for the night and her parents were out of state, because her older brothers would take full advantage of this opportunity to bug her, leading to petty sibling fights that their parents would end up stepping in to end it.
Madeline didn’t turn around at this, going right to her room, it probably wasn’t smart to do something so impulsive but she couldn’t help herself. She needed a clear head to come up with another foolproof plan to get Alina and she couldn’t do it while sharing a bed with the other and pretending to be concerned by whatever stupid conversation they were having.
She practically wrenched her clothes off her body and then got into her bathtub, the bright pink decor calmed her down as well as the ridiculously expensive bubble bath. Her pale pink knees peeked out of the pink bubbles, her hands absently squashing bubbles absently as she stared into space, deep in thought.
Clearly, she had been too tame with her first attempt but there was also no reason to go overkill when a simple move would suffice. An assassination attempt wasn’t Iyla’s style, the bitch would rather see them suffer and as much as Madeline hated her guts, she could appreciate her approach to vengeance.
While she fumed and plotted, the clock ticked, her steaming bath cooling down, forcing her to climb out of her pink claw footed tub. She wore a pale pink bathrobe and padded out of the bathroom with her hair in a bun after being brushed and dried.
Going to bed early always helped her organize her thoughts better so she got comfortable on her bed preparing to sleep. Her phone dinged just as her head touched her pillows and without even looking at it, she knew that it was Alina who had texted her. She didn’t even bother giving the notification a look, sinking into her feather soft pillow, her eyes slipping shut with a small smile.
She was woken up the next morning by loud yells and she woke up in time to find herself nearly getting thrown off the bed because her brothers were jumping on either side of the bed. Without even giving herself a chance to wake up fully, Madeline grabbed her huge pink teddy bear and wielded it like a weapon, aiming for her brothers’ shins and ankles.
That sent them both falling off her bed to the soft carpeting below with antagonized yells. “When did you wake up?” Wesley groaned, clutching his knee which had broken his fall when he fell off the bed.
Madeline didn’t even look the least bit concerned that she might have crippled her older brothers, she clutched the teddy bear close. “How the fuck did you two get in…” She started to demand, only to trail off when she found out that there was a third person standing in the open doorway, his eyes wide in awe as he stared transfixed at her.
He looked familiar like she had seen him somewhere but Madeline pushed that out of her mind, she had other important things to attend to. It was alright far brighter than she had been expecting so it meant that she had slept in - *’Shit! Shit! She had to get back to Alina’*
Just as she started scrambling off the bed, the man standing in the doorway, wearing racing gear took a tentative step forward like his body moved instinctively when he saw that Madeline was trying to leave. “Wait! Y-You’re my… mate?” He said slowly like even he wasn’t sure of his own words.
This made everyone in the room freeze up in shock, Peyton shooting to his feet with a grave expression, “Niki, what the fuck did you just say?”
Madeline’s brain snapped into gear when the man’s name was mentioned, it was surprising that he looked familiar before she found out who she was because she had only heard his name before and had never actually seen him or met him in person.
He was the top racer for the show sponsored by her dad so she had heard his name get mentioned a few times. Did he just insinuate that they were Fated mates? ’*Fated Mates,*’ She scoffed internally fighting the urge to roll her eyes.
Her only Fated mate was the person who could bring her dream to reality and currently, that was Roman so she had no interest in some racecar driver who was further away from royalty than she was.
“That we’re Fated mates,” He said earnestly, taking another step closer to Madeline.
Madeline had to fight the urge to step back in turn, “This has to be some kind of mistake,” She said brashly while trying to remain polite.
“It can’t be a mistake, it feels so right,” Niki said, his voice a little above a whisper, his eyes fixed on Madeline like he was willing her to confirm his statement.
“To you maybe but I don’t even fucking know you.” Madeline said tightly, “I wake up to my annoying brothers and a stranger claiming to be my Fated mate, how did you fucking expect me to react?” She snapped, stomping off to her bathroom.
Peyton and Wesley shared a look of concern, they doubted that they had ever seen their baby sister get that genuinely upset. They slowly looked over to Niki who looked completely heartbroken and Peyton spoke up walking over to him.
“She’s very testy right after she wakes up so give her a break but were you serious about what you just said?” Peyton asked for the second time, needing to confirm. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe that Maddie could find her Fated mate but how complicated that made things.
“I’ve never been more serious about anything else in my life,” Niki ruffled his curly brown hair, hazel eyes distraught, “Did I make her upset? Is she mad at me?”
Peyton sighed inwardly and then slung an arm around Niki’s shoulders to guide him out of his sister’s room, he was friends with the race car driver so he couldn’t lie to him. “I’d like to say everything is alright but it most likely isn’t, how about you head back to the course and I’ll try to talk to her”
Niki chuckled but it was an empty hollow sound, “I can take rejection, you don’t have to butter me up, you know but yeah, I’ll take your advice.” He nodded to Wesley who had been quietly following behind them the entire time. “Thanks, I’ll see ya later.” He mumbled, heading off with his head hanging.
Peyton and Wesley drifted to the living room to have their conversation. “Do you really think you can change her mind?” Wes asked dryly, his long blond hair in a lazy ponytail.
Peyton slumped on the couch, dislodging a few colorful throw pillows. “Actually no, but this is her Fated mate we’re talking about, she has got to at least consider it.”
Wes fell silent, he highly doubted that but he didn’t want to douse his older brother’s flames before he even got the chance to try. So he went over to the in-built wet bar to pour himself a drink although it was like 8 AM in the morning, he just felt like he would really need it soon.
And he wasn’t wrong because half an hour later, Madeline came prancing out, clearly headed for the front door.
“Maddie, wait!” Peyton called to her.
Madeline slowed to a stop and turned around because this was exactly why she had gone through the trouble of going through the living room, she wanted an update on what was going on.
“Niki left,” Peyton said quietly, gauging her expression.
“You say it like I’m the one that invited him over.” Madeline said flippantly, hiking her bag higher on her shoulder.
“I’m not… look, he’s your Fated mate-“ Peyton tried to argue.
“He claims he is, there’s no proof that he is.” Madeline quickly cut down that line of conversation.
“W-What?” Peyton stumbled over his words, “What do you mean- don’t you feel anything for him?” He demanded in disbelief.
If Madeline was being truly honest with herself, she would admit to Nikit feeling familiar in a safe and comforting way but those were emotions not big enough to overshadow her desperation to be a princess so she shoved them down.
“Sure having Fated mates is an integral part of our history but you don’t expect me to instantly fall head over heels for a complete stranger just because he claims we’re fated?!”
Peyton looked disappointed at this, “Why are you… you’re speaking like a human would.”
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Madeline’s voice dropped to a dangerous pitch, her forefinger pointing sharply in his direction. “Don’t you dare compare me to some lowlife human?”
“Hell! Even a human was able to come to terms with this but not you?” Peyton lashed out, starting to get irked by her stubbornness. “Do you know how many would kill to be in your position right now?”
“Then let them go on a fucking homicidal spree goddammit!” She raised her voice before calming down substantially. “The day I let other people define my life is the day I fucking die, do you understand me?”
Peyton rubbed his eyes with his fingers, looking exhausted, “Is this still about you being a ‘Princess’?”
Madeline’s expression darkened at this, “Don’t fucking say it like it’s some silly dream of a five year old girl.” She said through gritted teeth, her hands clenched into fists by her side.
“And it isn’t?” Peyton cocked a brow.
Wesley winced and took another swig of tequila, straight from the bottle. He knew he had been smart to start drinking before the conversation began so by the time they eventually got to this point, he would already be drunk.
Without stopping to think, Madeline surged forward and grabbed the decorative vase on the side table close to her, and hurled it at her older brother.
Peyton came really close to having the side of his head cut into shreds by the heavy porcelain smashing into his face but he managed to dodge it in time.
“Say that again, Peyton. Say it, I fucking dare you.” Madeline whispered in a rage, her eyes flashing.
Peyton knew that doing that would only spell his doom but keeping silent didn’t change his stance on it. His sister was getting older, she couldn’t keep chasing after a pipe dream.
“No one fucking bats their eyelids when you two say you want to do anything but the moment it’s my turn every one wants to start acting up,” She bit out in a cold voice. “I’m the problem for not wanting to get with my ‘Fated mate’ huh, how rich… Don’t forget that if either of you two morons had mated Alina we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”
Wesley’s jaw tightened, “Don’t bring Lina into this.” He spoke up for the first time, his eyes narrowed.
Madeline just rolled her eyes, “Since neither of you are capable, I’m going to figure shit out myself. And unless Niki is a secret werewolf, Prince, I never want to hear about him again.” She concluded decisively, striding out in clicking heels.