Chapter 11
“Ariella”
I swallow hard. I know what he is implying, the insult of a princess, a woman, to speak on behalf of her kings. I am acting out of place and I need to return to it. I’m embarrassing my brothers.
Shawn leaned across the table. “She isn’t speaking for us. Princess Ariella has an equal seat at this table o matter.” His tone is deadly serious and unlike anything I have heard from him.
on this
Ethan’s smirk disappears from his face and his face is almost animalistically dark. His eyes zero onto Shawn and I take a moment out of the hot seat to try to regulate my nerves. I’m nauseous, I don’t know if it’s from the baby or if it is mostly Ethan. My heart is racing. I need an answer.
“We propose that Princess Ariella will go with you to your packlands for two weeks and then she will decide if she will marry you or not,” Shawn says as Rafe and Eli nod their heads.
Two weeks? That’s shorter than I was thinking. That was manageable.
Ethan widens his feet and accidentally hits my foot with his, I sit up in my chair and move my feet away from his. He looks over to me and then back to my brothers.
“Fine, two weeks it is.” He finally says after what feels like an eternity. He stands from the table and looks me dead.
my eyes. “We are leaving within the hour.”
in
What? Was he being serious?
Ethan turns and leaves the room before anyone can argue. I turn to my brothers who look as shocked as I feel. “An hour,” I finally say.
“Ari, I don’t think we can do anything to stop it.” Rafe says. His voice is soft and it breaks my heart.
I bury my head in my hands and begin to cry. The reality of everything is sinking in. I’m pregnant and it’s highly likely that it’s Ethan’s baby. I don’t know why I keep holding onto the hope that the baby isn’t Ethan’s. I’m hist breeder. This is my job. But I fear that if he found out that he would never let me leave, I couldn’t do that.
Rafe puts his hand on my shoulder. “It’ll be okay, two weeks will go by so quickly.”
I look up with him and try to smile. I know he’s trying to cheer me up and I appreciate it deeply. But there’s so much that my brothers don’t know that complicates this situation.
I wipe my tears with my fingers as I stand up from the table. “I need to get ready, I don’t have a lot of time.””
My brothers smile at me but I can tell that we are all apprehensive. I start to leave the room.
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Chapter 11
“You don’t have to marry him, remember that.” Shawns says before I am in the hallway.
I don’t have to marry him, I repeat to myself in my head as I walk back to my room. I don’t have to marry him.
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The hour has past and I am approaching Ethan’s caravan of black SUVs. I stand awkwardly, holding my singular suitcase in front of me. I watch as Ethan’s people scurry around loading the vehicles. I don’t know what to do or where to go. I pray that if I am still enough like a statue that they will forget to load me up as well like I’m one of the bags because isn’t that what I am to Ethan, just another possession?
I recognize Ethan’s beta, Kyle and begin to watch him out of the corner of my eye like a hawk, If he sees me, the gig is up. He’s the only person here who knows who I am. I can’t run away even though I desperately want to. I have to hold up my end of the deal, everything is riding on this. I can only hope that Ethan gets bored of me as quickly as possible.
I don’t have to marry him.
My heart stops, I hear familiar voices. I turn my head in the direction of the noise. My brothers are walking to the caravan with Ethan, talking amongst themselves. They finalized all the details of their land deal and signed the documents. There’s no going back now.
But I don’t have to marry him.
“Princess,” Ethan calls from down the yard. I jump at the sound of his voice. “Kyle, she is riding with me.”
The commotion pauses as everyone looks over at me. It’s unsettling. It is apparent that no one expected this statement, I know I didn’t. Kyle snaps his fingers and a very small, for a shifter, but incredibly intimidating man rushes to me and takes my suitcase from my hands. I follow the man to where Ethan and my brothers are standing.
I am emotional, I want to blame the pregnancy hormones but it’s more than that. I don’t want to leave, it feels like that is all I ever do since I can’t remember any of my past. Tears are filling my eyes but I’m trying my best to fight them back. I don’t want to cry in front of Ethan.
I turn to my brothers. I hug each one, squeezing them as hard as Ican-
my courage to leave.
“It’s only two weeks,” I tell myself.
I don’t dare to speak in fear that I will lose
As if Shawn can read my mind, he whispers in my ear as I hug him, “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. If you don’t feel safe at anypoint, let us know. We will be there before you know.”
I smile as I let go of him and nod my head.
“It’s time, Princess,” Ethan informs me.
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I turn around and face him. This will be good. This will be okay. Everything is fine. This is fine. It’s only two weeks.
And I don’t have to marry him..
The small man opens the SUV door and Ethan holds his hand out, indicating for me to get into the car before him. I get into the car. I don’t know where to sit but I don’t have many choices, I have to sit beside him. My brain doesn’t handle being so close to Ethan, it malfunctions. His scent does something to me I barely understand.
I turn to watch my brothers standing in the yard, growing smaller and smaller as the car pulls away.
“I don’t want anyone to know what you are to me,” Ethan says. He doesn’t look at me. If we weren’t alone in the car, I would have assumed that he was talking to someone else.
“What do you mean?” As of right now, I am many things to Ethan. I am his breeder, I am his potential fiance, I am in a treaty with him through my brothers, I was a Luna of one of his packs.
“You are a princess and now you are my guest. That is all.”
His energy isn’t as intense as it was back at my brother’s castle. Was that a facade? I chortle to myself at the thought.
“What is so funny?” His icy blue eyes bore into me.
“Nothing.” I say as quickly as possible.
He clears his throat. “I’ve ordered my staff to prepare everything for you, it will be ready when we arrive.”
“How long till we are there?”
“A few hours.”
Crap, I haven’t been alone with Ethan for more than a few minutes since…well, since that night. That I have no memory of. I am almost tempted to ask him for more details since we are finally alone. But I almost feel like it is better to not know.
I cross my arms over my stomach and watch the scenery passing by through the window. The sadness I felt over leaving my brothers is beginning to be replaced by excitement. I haven’t traveled much in the life I can remember. I want to see another pack, I want to see the whole world if I can.
Ethan is scrolling through his phone as I drift off to sleep. The car hits a bump and I am jostled into him, waking me up. I fall practically onto his lap. I look up and begin to apologize, but his gaze knocks the air from my lungs and I can’t formulate words. I awkwardly get back to my seat.
I can feel my cheeks turning red. I feel hot, overwhelming hot. I can’t look at him. The car smells only of him and my brain is breaking. My thoughts are drifting to places I am not comfortable with and I need a distraction. I turn
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Chapter 11
my attention away from Ethan and back to the window. Nothing looks the same.
“How long was I asleep?” I didn’t mean to ask but the question was out of my mouth before I could stop it.
“Long enough.”
The car slows down as we pass through giant iron gates. I suddenly feel mixed emotions of excitement, fear, and homesickness. Everything feels larger, darker, and more luxurious than back home. I can see the disparity between Ethan’s pack lands and my brothers’
I can’t mess this up, the gravity of it all hits me like a ton of bricks.
But I don’t have to marry him.
“We are finally here, Ariella, Welcome to my home.”