Chapter 1: WE SWITCH?
ELLEN EVANS
“This will get me killed!"
I blinked rapidly at my twin sister trying to make sense of her request.
"Prince Sebastian is never going to find out, quit being such a wimp." Elena huffed.
"Just tell him the truth, he's your mate. I can't sleep with him, that is too much to ask for."
Her mouth dropped open in bewilderment.
"Yes, you can and you are going to do it so just relax, it's not that big of a deal." She saw the disgust in my eyes and sighed.
Elena had lost her mind. This was the only explanation for her outrageous request.
The way Elena seemed so calm in this situation doubled my anxiety.
"You're his mate. He can tell your scent from a mile away. Most wolves aren't virgins, he's not a virgin so he can't expect you to be."
"I already told him I've never been touched, you've never been touched so what's the deal?"
"You think you can take advantage of that? I could get killed.”
"Either way one of us is going to get killed. Prince Sebastian's going to kill me if he finds out I had deceived him..." She paused only to tug back her black tresses, "You have a chance of saving my life."
"You mean give mine to save yours?" I gaped at the girl with my face, "That's so selfish of you!"
"No, You're the selfish one!" She flailed her arms in the air.
We yelled accusations at each other before we broke off in silence.
I mentally went over the possibility of wiggling into Prince Sebastian's bed tonight and leaving without being caught.
It's never going to work. I murmured to myself over and again.
Two days ago was our eighteenth birthday, Elena was lucky to find her mate and he was not just anyone, but Prince Sebastian, son and heir to the High King of the Kingdom.
But there was a problem. Elena had presented herself as an innocent wolf to Prince Sebastian, it was the reason he accepted her as his mate. He believed she was untouched but the truth prevailed, my twin sister was far from being a virgin.
“Supposed, I'm nuts enough to want to give this madness a thought…” I started quietly but she intercepted me instantly.
"We'll switch places. We'll mask your scent with plumeria tonight he's never going to know.” She spewed in one breath.
"And what if he marks me? " I sighed at the growing fear in my head, "Your mate is going to mark me, and what if I get pregnant?"
A smile curled on her lips, she had this planned out.
"How does your brain work? Because it's certainly not as smart as mine,"
She settled beside me on my twin bed. Grinning, she wrapped her arms around me.
"It's going to work, stop being so naive." She kissed me lightly on my temple, "Maybe this is why the moon goddess blessed us with each other."
"So I can give my virginity to your mate?" I huffed sarcastically.
"You're me so technically yeah. You're eighteen, did you know statistics show that most girls give their virginity away at eighteen?”
The thoughts of hopping in bed with the handsome prince disturbed my peace. His powerful image filled my mind now I knew I was going to do it.
Elena and I were identical but our hair and eyes told us apart.
The sudden knock on our bedroom door startled me. She chuckled and unwrapped her arms from me. Lady Kordell came in to inform us about the banquet in three days held in the honor of our father, the joy of having his daughter mate off to the Prince.
Lady Kordell as usual talked about our dresses, mannerism and mostly to Elena the object of fancy.
That evening, Elena rambled nonstop about what I needed to do and not do before Sebastian at this dinner date.
"Why don't you just do it yourself?"
"Are we pretending you don't like this? You've always had a crush on Prince Sebastian all your life so here's a chance."
"Disgusting" I scrunch my nose.
She curled out her hair, slipped into a cotton nightwear and returned to help me strengthen my hair and with the honey-brown eye contacts.
I looked more like her than myself in the mirror. This made my confidence spring up.
“My glam team will do your makeup while I lock myself in with a movie marathon to keep me company while you..."
"Don't say it!" I held out my hand with a deadly scowl on my face. “You're lucky I love you."
I was doing this for her. If I didn't then she would be killed for deceit. The chances of Prince Sebastian telling us apart were slim. It had to work.
A few minutes of a complete makeover transformed me into Elena. Comporting myself to fit into the perfect girl mould to match Elena's fine standards was the only challenging task.
I took out some time to breathe in and out just to steady my breath. The goddess was on our side, it had to work. I almost turned back the second I spotted our brother Zedd by the stairs.
His face scanned mine and disapproval was etched on it. He knew.
“I, I, we…"
"Elena, you don't need this much makeup.” He grunted, "Sebastian would appreciate your natural face.”
A smile twitched on my face. It worked. At least Zedd couldn't tell I was Ellen.
I moved away from him smiling. If no one at home could tell I was not Elena then the chances of Prince Sebastian knowing were slim. With the plumeria essential oil and body mist, I was certain as hell this was going to work.
Everyone caught my deceitful smiles and mistook it for joy. In a few more hours, Elena was going to earn the Prince's trust and thanks to me, her life was on track.
I got into the waiting car with nothing but an open mind to how tonight would play out.