A butterfly’s dream

The mighty king that trampled all over my heart left before I blinked again, the aftershocks of his touch still ran mercilessly through my body, enslaving it into craving more. While all that was left of him was the black cloak that he discarded on the floor.

It was not like him to go out without it, his cloak was as precious to him as his honor. I thought about this for a while… was he trying to tell me something by his actions instead of his words? Or was it just my silly mind playing tricks on me and begging me to believe what he had said before he ran away... that come a day, he would claim me as his queen and his mate.

It wasn't impossible, we lived in a world where bonds were held above all. And our bond couldn't be more powerful than what it already was.

"Nonsense," I whispered. He could've done so if he wanted to... If he wanted me. If he saw me as queen material.

I took a breath that didn't quite fill my lungs then sighed the thought away. I was not going to leave this chamber with false hopes. The life that I had been raised for and the queen role were no more now. My hopes and dreams of the world I wanted to build would only weigh me down if I carried them with me.

It was time to face reality, my life with Arthur was a butterfly's dream. It ended before it even began, such was the lifespan of fragile things.

When I looked at the female in the mirror this time, she looked back at me from beneath her veil with eyes that were burning with determination. If I was to belong to a pack of werewolves now and become their Luna, I would not settle for less than their ultimate respect. And for that to happen, I should not fill my head with ideas about butterflies.

I should become a lioness amongst the wolves.

"Connor Turner," I hissed the name of my future husband out. The man who was once my only friend is as of now, my only enemy. But I knew that these statistics were about to change drastically as well. Soon, I would have a list full of enemies.

Werewolves and vampires?

"As if this union could ever work…" I scoffed at the idiotic notion.

The creatures of the night as humans referred to did have a treaty. And on the surface, things were not too bad between them, that much was true. The treaty kept both sides in check and kept their interactions smooth under the governance of the elders. But on the inside, vampires and werewolves were like oil and water, they didn't necessarily need to fight each other, but they'd always end up finding their separate ways.

I sighed again when I heard a commotion by the door that the king closed behind him. It was time. I nodded to myself and stood up. Feeling the weight of the vintage Victorian wedding dress over me. I didn't pick this dress out. It was a task that I simply delegated to my head maid.

What was the point of wearing a human wedding dress when it was a union between a pureblood and a werewolf? I couldn't understand why Connor insisted on that.

I took slow but sure steps towards the door and then opened it, the maids were taken aback by the fact that I went out before they came in to get me. They bowed down before me.

"Princess, we were coming to get you, your…" my head maid trailed off, she was at a loss for words.

"…Is the Alpha here?" I said in a proud tone.

"Y-yes, princess. Should I ask for the king's guard to summon him here to get you, perhaps?" She implied smartly.

"That is fine, I will go down and meet him myself,"

She frowned deeply, wrinkles filling her face.

"He is standing by the front gate, he refused to come inside,"

"…Is that so…"

The point in a place where the proud Alpha took his bride from spoke volumes. I understood that he wouldn't come to my chamber to take me because it would be degrading for him to do so, but I at least imagined that he would be somewhere inside the mansion waiting for me.

Out by the gate… My humiliation was endless today. So, I held my head up high.

"…These males don't know what I am capable of just yet," I murmured to myself, too low for the maids' human ears to hear.

"Call for two of the king's best guards, Helen, I want one on either of my sides. This gown is too heavy, I need someone to lean my weight on,"

My three maids looked flustered at my strange request, they must be questioning the once potential queen's sanity. Even the human maids knew how possessive Alpha males were of their mates. And word that Connor had come and claimed me as his mate must be all over the mansion by now.

"Do as I say," I spoke more firmly this time when none of them moved.

"Yes, princess," my maids said in one voice as I dismissed them with a light hand gesture.

I took one more step closer and stood in the middle of my Juliette-like balcony that's merged with the outdoor patio space for what could be the last time in my life. I eyed the exterior stairs that led to the garden downstairs. If the Alpha is standing at the front gate then there was no point in going inside the mansion and taking the inner stairs. I would save myself some grief this way.

I took a deeper breath now, the morning air was the first good thing that my body registered since I woke up on this fated day.

A few moments later, two of the king's guards ran in vampire speed and bowed before me.

"Look up," I ordered softly.

Yellow eyes, these were Arthur's guards.

"Kindly escort me down where the Alpha is,"

"Princess," they both said, acknowledging my order with stoic faces.

"Good, now, your hands please," I lifted both of my hands up as if they were about to kiss them. The guards stood up and took my hands.

I didn't need to lean my weight on anyone, of course, purebloods were incredibly strong. If I was to go into a fight with either of the guards that were escorting me right now, there was no doubt in my head that I would be the one winning.

The maids, the guards, the king, and the Alpha… all of them would know this too. I smiled feeling a bit mischievous or a bit crazy, let them consider this my passive resistance then.

We started descending the outer stairs, ideas about the last time I saw Connor ran through my head. It was three days after I had turned sixteen and went through my coming-of-age ceremony as a fully mature pureblood female. I was so devastated that Arthur didn't claim me as his queen that day... Ironically, I ran to see Connor, my only friend in the world. It was the first time he acted that cold around me and wouldn't even allow me to finish what I had to say. He asked me not to come to him anymore, that our friendship was over. That he was going to a university in another state.

My childhood friend left without so much as a goodbye. And after all these years, he returned to stab me in the back like this, knowing how I felt towards Arthur all too well.

I wondered what kind of a look he would give me when our eyes meet for the first time after years of separation. How would his face look like now when he knew that he completely destroyed the happiness I waited so long for?