"Wait, so- hold up," Val said, holding a hand to her forehead. "Are you seriously telling me that you found out you're mates to the Prince, the soon-to-be Alpha King, one of the most powerful people in the world, and you ran like-" she paused for a second in pure incredulous shock. "You ran like your ass was on fire! Sis, what is up with you?!" She cried.
I sighed and looked down at the floor. "Look, the truth is... well, the truth is that I want to win the contest." Val stared at me blankly.
"What on earth does that have to do with all this, Lee?" I mustered a weak laugh while rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment, my wavy brown locks tangling in my fingers.
"Well... I want to give us all the life we deserve. The life you deserve, Val. And I want to do it on my own terms, not because I'm mated with some rich snob!" I said, looking up at my siblings. Holden looked down at me with a deadpan look, slowly shaking his head.
"You ran from the Prince, your soulmate, your other half, the person who was made to be with you, just because you couldn't deal with your pride getting a little smushed?" I tapped my nails against the hard flooring nervously while fiddling with my hair.
"I mean, when you put it that way, it sounds selfish, but I mean-" Holden sighed and shook his head at me.
"You really didn't think this through, did you?" He said.
"Ummm... kinda? I guess I was mostly, well, caught up in it all. I don't want a rich mate like that, where I'll have to attend countless social events. I don't want to be someone's trophy wife, guys! Besides, I'm only eighteen. Tying myself down like that isn't going to help me out later in life," I explained. "And.. also... yeah. Pride."
Val sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well, at least you know where he is. Let's just hope that he doesn't start a manhunt for you, like that prince did in that old movie. What was it called again?" A small smile slid its way onto my face.
"Cinderella, Val. I think you mean Cinderella," I said.
"Yeah, well, if he does it better not be using an article of clothing. Like, come on, that's just weird!" We all laughed at that. "What? It is!" she exclaimed, and we just kept laughing.