Chapter 128 - Your prince knows

EMMA

Alex walks through the open doorway of my room as I take a stack of clothes from my dresser to the bed.

“Seriously, a day after the wedding?” She complains. Her annoyance is clear and it’s a collective state of mind at the moment. The mood in the house is grim as reality sets in.

I place the clothes in the black backpack on my bed. Dex handed them out this morning together with the announcement that we will be leaving the day after the wedding.

Which is in two days. There were protests from everyone, but Dex wouldn’t be deterred. His resolve was steadfast.

“He’s gone crazy,” Alex says as she hands me a stainless steel bottle. The sloshing sound of water comes from the bottle as it moves around.

I take the bottle from her and place it in the side compartment of the backpack. It’s the moment where we’ve been training for and I feel severely unprepared. Or maybe I just don’t want to face it yet.

Alex flops down on my bed and turns to lie on her stomach. Her legs hang over the side. “Are you wearing that to the wedding?”

I look up at the short-sleeve blush dress hanging on a wall. It’s one that Kelsey had lying around. “Yeah.”

Alex frowns and grimaces. “I thought you wanted to wear the blue strapless one.”

The blue dress in the bottom drawer of my dresser has a soft flow to it that reminds me of water. “I do, but it shows my shoulders.”

Alex shrugs her shoulders. “So?”

“It will show my mark.” I clarify. Every morning I have to think about the mark on my shoulder. I’m annoyed that I have to, a part of me doesn’t want to cover it at all. The confinement of the fabric is uncomfortable.

“Right, forgot.” She leans her head on her hand and her elbow sinks into the mattress. “So the strangest thing happened last night…”

“What happened?” I'm debating on packing another sweater. The nights can be cold, but I cannot take everything with me. Leaving my things here, while I might not come back feels… strange.

Alex frowns in concentration as if she cannot wrap her head around something. “I slept.”

A grin tugs at her lips and I sigh. I should have known that she would find a way to tease me. I ignore Alex and zip my backpack. I pick it up, place the backpack by the door and move to store the other clothes in the dresser.

Alex rolls to her back and stretches her arms. Her shoulder pops with the stretch and she releases a dramatic groan. “Really good too. Must have been all the silence around.” Mock drips from her words.

“Good for you,” I mutter. I can’t help the sourness in my voice. Alex is hinting at the fact that I slept alone last night. Hadrian didn’t appear at my window. I debated climbing to his room but quickly realized that I was terrified to fall.

Alex sits up. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I scoff and sit down on the bed, my back turned to her. “So that you can make fun of me?”

“I won’t.” There’s no teasing now.

I turn to look at Alex. To say that I’m skeptical is an understatement. “You don’t have to pretend. I know you don’t like Hadrian.”

“I see his value,” Alex says with a shrug of her shoulders. “I don’t have to like him, but I won’t project my own feelings.”

I sigh again. “Hadrian asked me to marry him.”

“And you don’t want to marry a mutating monster?” The question rolls off her tongue with ease, not even hesitating at the insult.

I scowl at her and Alex holds her hands up in defense. “Sorry, It’s a habit.”

Ever since Hadrian told me that I was his fated mate, my mind has been running in overdrive. I realized what Hadrian was trying to say all along. He does recognize me as his mate. He feels the connection that the Moon Goddess has granted, even if I cannot.

At first, I was ecstatic and relieved. Hadrian marked me and I can’t say that I was upset. I was floating on a cloud. Through the uncertainty and risks, I could feel only bliss. I let it consume me and for a few days, everything seemed perfect. Things didn’t take the worst turn as I expected.

I was getting faster and stronger. It gave me a boost of confidence that made me skirt the rules that we’ve created. Nothing could take away how I felt. I had forgotten that things would never be perfect.

“He’s a werewolf, they don’t have weddings. Obviously, he doesn’t know what he’s asking.”

When Hadrian asked me to marry him, I could see his devotion. He would never leave me, because that’s not how he’s built. He’s a werewolf, they mate for a lifetime. Their fate is dictated to them.

That is not how marriage works.

Humans marry because they want to be together. They choose to because they love each other. There is no higher power pushing them. It’s their own free will.

“I think he knows more than you give him credit for.” Alex refutes and I’m surprised.

“What makes you think that?” I raise a skeptical brow at her and search for deceit, but only find honesty.

“Because he’s crazy about you.” She says matter-of-factly as she matches my stare. “You know that I’m skeptical about them. But I know that he loves you.”

“You don’t know that.” I say. Hadrian views me as his fated mate. He’s meant to feel a deep connection to me. He doesn’t have a choice.

“I do,” Alex argues. “Remember when you found us arguing the other day?”

She effectively catches my attention. I do remember, because they left me out of their argument. I’ve been curious, but my ego didn’t want to relent and ask. “What was it about?”

“I told him that your favorite place was the water tower because it has a view of Aldea.”

Dex makes us climb up the water tower during one of the many training exercises. I hate that one even if it has the most amazing view during sunset. I love the view and it would be my favorite place if not for the fact…

“That thing is at least a hundred-fifty feet!” There is a high pitch to my clamor.

Alex scoffs. “Well, I didn’t know you were afraid of heights.”

“I’m not,” I mutter and embarrassment flushes to my cheeks.

“But you don’t like them either.” Alex pushes one finger onto my shoulder. “You never told any of us.”

I haven’t told her many things. Over the months I have kept a close hold on my emotions. I pretended to be brave when I didn't feel it. I held my tears when I felt like crying. I swallowed my heartbreak and longing when they threatened to consume me. I had an iron grip on my heart because it was the only way I could move forward.

“But your prince knows.”

Hadrian has seen my fears. He has soothed my pain. He has seen my tears. I shrug my shoulders. “So?”

“I can’t believe I’m vouching for him.” Alex groans. Her grimace shows the effort it’s taking her. “He cares enough to learn these little things about you, he loves you.”

I get up and pick up the ring resting on my nightstand. It shines in the light. The hidden display of blue changes with every angle. The desire to wear it and let the stone catch the sunlight with every step is unquestionable. The ring fits perfectly around my finger, it belongs there.

But something still fuels the simmering doubt in my stomach.

Hadrian never even told me that he loved me.