Chapter 2 - My dragon ate your sparkly vampire!

Arora

I blinked. The colours around me have changed. I blinked again and I could hear a loud roar of applause erupt around me. I felt a hand slip through my fur. My father was standing beside me.

“What a beautiful thing it is to see a future queen turning for the first time.” He wasn’t talking to me. He was looking at the people around us. He also wasn’t proud of me. He was happy he could show me off! “And on that note, I’m pleased to announce that I will be looking for her future king from today.” A stinging sensation shot through my heart. That was the announcement he was talking about, wasn’t it?! Now that I had shown I could shift, I was ripe for the damn plucking!

My father had been waiting for this moment. All he wanted was to use me! Until I turned and showed my worth, I was worth nothing to him! I wanted to run. I wanted to tear through the people and get out of there as fast as my legs could carry me. I didn’t. I stood my ground until he was done showing me off and then returned to my room to shift and change. The evening wasn’t over. I still had my royal duties. Besides, my father wasn’t done showing me off just yet.

All my life, I knew my father hated me. I tried my best not to let it get to me. Tonight, however, was the final straw. It hurt more than any of his previous snarky comments. He was going to paw me off on some guy he thought would make a good king. I was going to spend the rest of my life living as someone’s slave! I looked at my tear-stained face in the mirror. I would prove my father wrong! I would show him that I could rule! I would become the best fighter in his entire damn army!

My sixteenth birthday was the worst night of my entire life. I was sure of it. I walked down the stairs, with my hair and make-up fixed again. I smiled at his guests. I spoke when I was spoken to and thanked the rest for coming. All the while silently making my plans to prove to my father once and for all that I could be a queen. That I could rule our kingdom without the help of a mate!

I crawled into bed late that night. I looked at the picture of my mother on my nightstand. Why did she have to die? I closed my eyes and, in my dreams, my life was different. We were a happy family. My mother was still alive and my father loved me. That was all I wanted. I wanted a loving family of my own. A mate who would look at me and I would know he loved me. I would never treat my children the way my father treated me. I would drown them in love. I just wanted love. Was that so wrong?

IN THE MORNING, I was woken by the ladies who all sounded excited. I could tell from the dress they picked that it was going to be an emotionally draining day for me. They tried their best to cheer me up, but after the dreams I had, it was tough to find my hard outer shell again.

It seemed as though my father had been waiting for this day forever. He didn’t waste any time in showing me off now. First on our schedule was breakfast with some of the royal council. He would require their approval for the future king. The new king wasn’t going to be a blood heir like me. Even thought he would mate the blood heir. They still needed the council to be on board with the entire thing!

In the evening, my father invited me to dine with him. He had never done that before. I always dined alone. The moment I walked into the dining room I knew why. The room was filled to the damn brim with single males on the damn council! Suddenly, the damn breakfast with the council also made more sense! I sat through it all with my head held high and went to bed. I cried myself to sleep.

IN THE MORNING, I got up and was dressed for another day of being shown off.

“OH, YEAH? Well, my dragon ate your sparkly vampire!” Stupid. I know. I was backed into a corner and didn’t know which way to go. Luke had been keeping me company by playing games with me while my father was in his meeting with the pack alphas. There had been numerous attacks on our kingdom and my father wanted to know why.

He could also use this time with them to find out which one of them needed a mate. He could figure out which one he would like to proclaim king! Luke looked after me when we had to attend these meetings. My father believed I had to be seen by the alphas, since he would pick one of them to be my mate and the possible future king. Children and women were meant to be seen and not heard. So, his right-hand man and best friend, Luke, always looked after me at these events.

“You know, little one, you sometimes have to fight for what you want. You can’t always just get it.” Luke teased me, knowing full well how hard I’ve been training these days. I could shift faster than any of the guards. I won almost every fight. I could shoot the perfect spread. Sadly, none of that mattered to my father. All he could see was a female he had to find a husband for and he cared more about possible mates that could rule than he did about my abilities.

“Arora!” My father’s voice interrupted our game. I sighed. Luke jumped up from the ground and held out a hand to help me up. “I would like you to meet Alpha Liam. Liam, this is my daughter Arora.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. My father only ever referred to me as princess Arora when he was trying to impress someone. “Arora, please show Liam around the castle while I have a private talk with his father.” I nodded. I stole a quick look at Luke. He was grinning like an idiot.

“This way.” I showed Liam out.