Prince Kai Grimclaw. Adopted son of King Blanchard, nicknamed the Dark Prince.
My mind whirred as I thought of everything I had heard about him.
He was rumored to be the most unattractive among his brothers. He was also the youngest brother and apparently the one most likely to be found between a woman's sheet.
But what had earned him his nickname was his eyes. Rumored to be darker than midnight they portrayed exactly how weak he was.
In our continent, Avaloria, the power of the royal family is reflected in our eyes.
The children strong enough to be Lycans are denoted by their light eyes ringed with gold. The more gold a child has, the stronger the child is predicted to become.
After Lycans, come the alphas. They are very strong and are denoted by their brown eyes with flecks of gold.
Next are the Betas. Like Pratap who has light honey brown eyes.
And then there are the general pack members. Who has dark brown eyes?
But even lower than them is Prince Kai. He was born with black eyes.
And now I'm married to him. How shameful.
————-
The day of the wedding
————-
I can't breathe. My hands clawed at my chest as I wheezed and gasped on the floor.
I'm going to die. I just know it. I can't live without Pratap.
"Serena?! Help me with the princess!" I could hear Mami's shouts but it felt like I was underwater and connected to a naked source of current.
Pain sliced through my center as my mate bond with Pratap began to cleave.
"STOP!" Mami begged.
"Stop this, please! You'll kill her!"
She was right. I gasped in pain as the room spun about me, going in and out of vision.
"Get her off the floor this instant! This is disgraceful!" Baba snapped.
I felt hands grab onto me and try to pull me off the floor but it was too late.
My chest felt hollow, my mate bond was gone and now my life would follow.
Where was Pratap? Would he watch me die?
"I'm sorry Rena," I heard him whisper in my head for the last time as my wolf howled in pain.
Everything went black.
******
"Your majesty, please calm down," Mami's soothing voice woke me up.
"Calm?! I have over one thousand guests! Four Lycan Kings! Everyone is gathered here to see Princess Serena get married and you want me to calm down?"
My eyes flew open as Father shouted and I blinked away the gloom from my head. Pain racked through me as I felt the hollow ache in my chest where my mate Bond had once resided.
"Mami?" I sat up to face her and her palm cupped my cheek immediately.
"Stop coddling her and get her prepared instantly!" Baba hissed at us while Nadia chuckled.
"Prepared?" I whispered. "Prepared for what?"
"Baba has decided that you'll marry the dark prince to save the family name from the disgrace of your rejection," Nadia chuckled.
What?! The room seemed to spin around me and I raised one hand to clutch Mami's skirt tightly.
"What is she talking about ?" Tears I didn't realize I was holding leaked from my eyes.
"Your majesty please reconsider," Mami begged. "You can't seriously want to wed her to that cretin. Serena has bright blue eyes! Ringed with gold. If she were a man, she would be lycan and now you want to marry her off to that black-eyed monster?!"
"He's a prince! A more eligible match than the Beta she tried to marry,"
"But she just lost her mate," Mami's voice cracked with tears. "It's too soon to marry her off,"
"But we have people waiting for a ceremony," Nadia argued.
"Think of it, Baba. Do you really want that shame and stigma on our family? Then I would never be able to get married and your power as a lycan will be undermined. Lycan Kings and Alphas have traveled from the provinces for the wedding of your first daughter. So give them a wedding. The groom is insignificant."
"Nadia stop it!" Mami hissed in anger. "Serena will never marry that madman—"
"ENOUGH!"
Baba shouted and the room descended into silence. Before he spoke, dread pooled in my stomach.
"Get ready. The ceremony is in fifteen minutes," That was all he said as he stormed out of the dressing room.
"No, no," my sobs threatened to choke me as Mami sank to the floor with me and held me. She stroked my hair as I cried and shook in her arms.
"It's okay princess. You don't have to marry him. I still have family in Xintha, if we leave now we can make it before nightfall,"
My head snapped up to Mami and I stared at her through my teary eyes in shock.
What she suggested was treason punishable by death.
"No," I rasped in fear "Mami stop,"
"It'll be okay. We won't take any load, we just need some gold and—"
The determined look in her eyes sent chills down my spine.
"No Mami,"
Maybe it was the strength in her voice. The uncertainty of my future or how I had watched my birth mother being cut down for showing courage.
But I couldn't let Mami do it. I couldn't let her go against Baba's decision, not when it could cost her life.
I wiped my eyes and strengthened my resolve.
I have no one. The only person who has loved me is Mami. I can never let her die because I would be well and truly alone.
"Serena, you don't have to," Mami shook her head. "We could run. We'll sell the gold and-"
"No," I refused and shook my head vehemently. "I have made a decision,"
My insides went numb as I whispered to Nadia's delight.
I'll go through with the ceremony. I will marry the dark prince,"
The next hour passed in a blur. Mami feigned sickness because she couldn't bring herself to watch me start my nightmare.
Siha fixed my makeup in five minutes and the last time I saw Mami was when she dropped my veil.
As I walked down the aisle with Baba at my side, I didn't cry or scream. I was numb, watching the proceeding like it was an out of body experience.
If the guests noticed Princess Serena was getting married to someone different from her mate, they didn't mention it.
My hand was tied to the substitute as the pack elder carried out the joining chants.
"I Serena Frostblade. First daughter and Princess of Canthea take Kai Grimclaw, Bastard of the capital, Prince of Devania as my husband,"
The words fell from my lips silently and the substitute pushed the gold ring onto my gloved finger.
I almost made it through the ceremony without breaking but as the ring was pushed onto my finger, far across the hall, on the top of the staircase, Pratap stared at me expressionlessly.
My heart flipped. Did he realize his mistake? Was he coming for me? Did I—
Not daring to take my eyes off him, I made to take off my ring and announce my love and willingness to forgive him.
But wait. Why isn't he coming down the staircase? Confusion and dreadful realization filled me as Pratap turned his back on me and walked away.
It hurt like hell. It hurt more than the rejection.
"I now pronounce you as husband and wife!" The pack elder declared.
Twin teardrops ran down my cheeks, the hall erupted in applause as the guests stood to their feet.
Through it all, I couldn't shake the victorious glint in Nadia's eyes or the fake kiss she blew me from the front of the hall.
Baba came to take my hand and guide me out of the hall towards where the royal carriage awaited to take me to my new province.
On the outside, I was a beautiful bride holding her father. Inside I was frozen. Scared to look through my feelings lest I melt down in front of thousands of people.
Rose petals and flowers were thrown in the hair. Loud joyful music. Everyone pushed to say congratulations and the overwhelming perfumes of people mixed together.
"Thank you, thank you!" Baba preened under the attention, his grip on me tightened as we moved closer to the exit.
Several people pushed around just to catch a glimpse of me or yell a word at me.
Nadia stood amongst the crowd smiling happily and as I approached, she leaned in and whispered.
"Pratap is such a good guy. I didn't even have to do much to convince him to dump you,"
What! My head whipped back wide eyed to stare at Nadia but I had already been pulled away from her towards the exit by the crowd.