3. THE MARRIED

~DAHLIA

"What?" I exclaimed as I glared at her in shock.

None of this made sense to me anymore.

"H— how?" I blinked multiple times at her. "You're a human and he's a werewolf. Not just any kind but a Lycan and the King as well."

She folded her arms as she waited for me to finish ranting.

"You're not of the same status or species. He's not in your league. Where did you even see him? When did you fall in love? When did you get married?" I screamed.

Mother smiled. "I told you that I still had charms but you never believed me. I'm not so old, Dahlia. I gave birth to you. I know my worth even if I'm human. No man can resist me, not even a Lycan King."

I parted my lips at the fact that she chose now of all times to brag.

"Mom, do you even realise what you're walking yourself into? It means that you're automatically his Luna and he will take you into his world of supernatural species. Do you think the rest of the werewolves here will be happy about having a human Luna?"

She sighed. "You worry too much. The werewolves here respect their king. They will not dare to do anything that angers me and since we are in love, they will accept me."

I scoffed at that word. "In love, Mom, I've not seen you interested in any man before. Sometimes, I wonder how you even charmed my father— may his soul rest in peace."

She waved at me. "Believe what you want, it won't change the fact that I'm already married and we will be moving in with him immediately."

"We?" I screamed.

"Shut up. Don't  scream at your mother!" She snapped. "I'm doing this for us. How long do you want to keep running from Dimitri? Aren't you tired of moving from place to place? It can't go on forever. Eventually, they will catch us."

I released a shaky breath as an involuntary shiver ran down my spine. I was not just afraid of Dimitri now but also of the triplets from earlier.

"Mom, it's not safe for us here. I did not escape those vampires on my own. Some werewolves showed up and they wanted to claim me," I paused and gave her my most terrified stare. "I have never been so afraid in my entire life. Those men terrified me more than Dimitri and they promised to be back for me."

Mother gritted her teeth for a while before releasing a shaky breath like me. It was something we had in common whenever we were stressed.

"The fact that they let you go means that they have no intentions of hurting you. . . Besides, when we move in with Viktor, he'll make sure that no one dares to harm you. He's also ready to accept you as his daughter, Dahlia."

I swallowed hard. "But Mom, we don't know what we're walking into. You're trapping us to Dark Hollow with this marriage. We won't be able to leave once we move in. There will be no turning back."

"Don't you want to feel the protection of a man around us for once? Don't you want to sleep peacefully at night?" Mother went on in her aim to convince me.

"I'm scared, Mom. I don't want to be trapped anymore. . ."

She hugged me at this moment. "I'm so sorry that I could not give you the protection you deserved as a child but I promise you that this is the best option for us. Viktor will protect us from Dimitri and we can finally stop running."

In the end, I gave in to my mother's request. I just had to go with the flow and allow her to handle things this time.

It was well into the evening before a luxurious black car came to pick us up.

Cars were almost extinct now and only people of high status had access to such luxury. Never in my life did I think that I was ever going to touch or be transported in one until today.

"I told you that it was going to get better, didn't I?" Mom said as she wiggled her brows at me.

A man stepped out of the car and bowed to us. "I am Kelvin and I will be your driver to the Ravenwood Estate. Please, allow me to carry your luggages to the car."

For the first time in my life, a man of higher status than me was talking to me with respect. It felt like a dream.

"Mom, pinch me."

"You're not dreaming, Dahlia. It's real." Then she smiled at Kelvin. "Our luggages are over there."

She pointed at the door where we had stacked everything. He nodded before lifting them two at a time.

I blinked multiple times as I watched him take our bags before he opened the door to the car and let us in.

It was when he started driving us away that everything finally felt real and I started trembling from a mixture of fear, nervousness and excitement at the same time.

I was quiet throughout the drive and only gasped when the Ravenwood Estate came into view. My intake of breath deepened and my nervousness only grew stronger.

"We're here," Mom whispered as I saw the large mansion come into view.

It sat on a vast land of beautiful landscape yet brought with it a strange uneasiness. It provoked questioning feelings within me that I started regretting my actions to go through with my mom's plan.

Kelvin finally parked the car and I saw a man standing with an entourage of maids and guards just before the grand entrance of the mansion.

"Viktor!" Mother cried the moment we got out of the car.

"Camilla, my beloved. I almost thought that you would not come." His voice was authoritative. It carried power and I knew he was not one to be messed with.

"Why would I stay away from you? You're my husband now, remember? You're stuck with me," she giggled.

Viktor turned to me. "You must be Dahlia. I have heard a lot about you from your mother. You look just as beautiful."

He took my hand and planted a warm kiss on the back of my palm. "I'm honoured to have you as a daughter."

I widened my eyes at him. Mother really was not lying when she said he was going to accept me.

"Dahlia, meet my sons, Vladimir, Cassius and Orion," he announced as he stepped aside. "Boys, come out here and welcome your new sister."

I widened my eyes at the fact that my mother had forgotten to add that he had children. The last thing I wanted was to become a babysitter.

His sons finally stepped through the grand doors and I froze in my tracks. Because standing before me were the same triplets whom I had ran into last night.

"What a small world. . ." The green eyed brother whispered.

I felt my blood drain from my body as my brain went blank from the shock. The world instantly began to spin before my eyes, almost as if it was mocking me for daring to think that I could escape danger.

It was too much shock for me to handle because I had just played myself right into the hands of the same monsters that I was trying to run from.

"Dahlia? Are you okay?" I heard Mom call but her voice sounded too far away.

My legs finally gave way up on me and I began to fall.

The last thing I saw was the glowing green eyes of the first brother as he caught me in his warm arms and before the world went dark, I heard him speak.

“Welcome into my territory, sister. . .”