Five

I was soon in the midst of a group of people, it was made up of both male and female wolves who were attending the Mate Choosing for the first time, they were laughing and discussing something that I soon lost interest in, more like bragging about their packs and how organized and strong it was. I didn’t know anything about the princess pack so I quietly sipped from my champagne glass and pretended to be interested. It was comfortable to be around people my age and no one was releasing their pheromones or I would have found it difficult to stay upright and that might give my identity away.

Suddenly I noticed my ‘loving’ siblings strolling over to where the group was. Elizabeth and Brian were walking side by side and anyone could see that they were siblings, I became nervous, scared that they might recognize me. “Your highness.” Brian bowed his head towards me while Elizabeth tried to curtsy but it was weird.

I giggled softly while the others burst into laughter. “That looked like you are trying to take a poop.” One of the females said.

Elizabeth looked embarrassed and I didn’t want to miss the chance to humiliate her. “She has never met royalty, how do you expect her to know a simple curtsy.”

A frown appeared on Elizabeth’s face and she glared at me. It was amusing that none of the twins recognized me, I felt relieved since my cover won’t be blown that easily.

“Watch how you look at the princess, it’s just going to take a few moves from her to put you in your place.” Blaze released his pheromones on her and she whimpered as she submitted. In the end, it all depends on having strength.

I took the chance to glance at her badge, she had a five for strength which wasn’t surprising because she never took training seriously but she was better, compared to me who has never trained.

“I apologize for my sister’s disrespect,” Brian said with a smile that could cause any lady to swoon but not me, I have seen his dark side and that was forever imprinted in my mind.

“I would forgive her insolence but-

“Princess since when did you become lenient, you should pluck out her eyeballs and shove them down her throat.” Blaze mumbled earning gasps from some of the people listening.

“Blaze-” I couldn’t do as he said since I wasn’t the princess, hell! I wasn’t even bold enough to stab a person.

“I’m sorry for speaking out of turn, Princess.”

“It’s fine, we wouldn’t want to cause a commotion on such a special day.” I smiled. The looks that Elizabeth received were not so nice but I didn’t feel an ounce of pity for her.

“Do you think the Demon Alpha might attend this Choosing?” Someone inquired. The topic piqued my interest and I wanted to know more.

“He has never attended any of the previous ones, do you think he might show up for this one?”

“I pity the female that would end up as his mate.”

“I heard he’s so ruthless and his pack members hate him so much.”

“He might kill his mate within a week.”

“My father told me that he would attend and I shouldn’t try to catch his attention.”

The conversations were making me uncomfortable and I didn’t want to listen any longer. It was less than thirty minutes before the Choosing ceremony, the platform was being set up, I was confused to see a curtain but I didn’t bother to ask questions. Seeing as the others were engrossed with their conversation, I took that chance to sneak off without Blaze.

It wasn’t easy to get away as some people stopped me for a chat but I quickly made excuses to leave. As I left the hall, I removed the tiara and held it tightly, it felt very heavy on my head and was like a reminder that the identity I was using isn’t mine. I could finally breath while away from the people and without having Blaze behind me, watching my every action like a hawk. There was no sign of Ron but he might not be far away, he took his protection task with all seriousness.

My eyes fell on a man, from his physique, I knew he was an alpha. He didn’t notice me since I was behind him and a few feet away. His back was straightened like nothing could cause him to bend, I felt an air of loneliness around him but my senses screamed that he was dangerous.

Suddenly, he turned around and arrived before me. The Alpha was taller than me with a large build, his chest was wide and toned, his tattooed arms were bulging from under his shirt, and his chiseled jawline perfectly accentuated the godly proportions of his face. His face was something even Adonis couldn’t compare, dark red hair that was almost black shined and seemed inviting to touch. A small mole was under his left eye, it seemed like even the world would stop rotating just to stare at his unparalleled beauty.

He was handsome but internally, I was terrified of his aura. He was so calm and scary because his face was void of all emotions like a zombie- completely clear from all thoughts and emotions. I gulped nervously and stumbled but his hands steadies me and held me upright. His hands were strong and firm as if they were made from steel, I glanced at his badge

Axel Reed, Strength (10/10), Age (21), Rank (Alpha).

“Alp-Alpha.” I stammered before moving away from him. I looked at the ground, unknowingly submitting to him, I even hid the tiara behind me. ‘Please walk away, please.”

“Look at me,” He said slowly but I didn’t dare to obey, I was so scared that he might kill me and I didn’t think that my fake identity as princess could save me. “I said look at me!” He growled.

Alpha Axel’s hand grasped my chin and pushed it upwards, my eyes unwilling met his. All I wanted was to escape but I doubt I could make it out of the hallway without being caught. He stared into my eyes for a few seconds as if he was trying to read my mind. He fingered my badge to see it clearly, his eyes widened in surprise for a bit before it was masked with indifference. After that, he let go of me and stepped back. “Your highness, where are your guards?” His voice was cold.

I was finally able to breath a little. “They will be here soon,” I wasn’t sure if I had blown my cover but I had to remain calm and think rationally in front of this Alpha that could see through me. “Please excuse me.”

“Stop.”

I stopped midway and turned to look at him with a smile etched on my face. “Do you need something?”

Axel took two steps and was before me once again, he reached out to collect the tiara which I had been clenching. I was confused until he placed it on my head, he took a glance at me before he walked away with dominance in his posture. When the Alpha was out of sight, I let out a deep breath. ‘That was close, the aura around him was domineering and I submitted. What do I do?’

“Princess, it’s time.” I was standing in the middle of the hallway contemplating on whether or not to escape when I heard Ron’s voice behind me.

That just threw my escape plan out the window. I nodded and followed him back to the hall. A woman rushed towards me as soon as I entered the hall. “Princess, we were worried about you.”

“I needed some air.” I replied curtly, I wasn’t sure if I was going to get a mate. If I didn’t, I could simply return to the palace and try to be the princess while I searched for the real princess. It was going to be difficult and my life was at stake.

The woman led me to an area behind the curtains, I gave her a questioning look. “Your highness, you have a special identity and it is important that you meet your true mate. So for this ceremony, a set of females would be arranged behind the curtains and any Alpha that turn out to be her mate can simply walk through and claim her.” She immediately explained.

That was a good idea, I knew that a lot of Alpha’s would want to claim the princess because of the numerous advantages that it would bring so as long as the curtains are in place, no one would know which one was concealing the princess except her true mate. In this case, I was the princess.

Some females were arranged behind each curtain, a few hands reached through and brought them out. This caused cheers to resound in the hall. After about ten minutes, the woman sniffed me. “The scent blockers are no longer working, Your Highness.”

I had a scent?

I was confused but had no time to think about it before she made me stand behind one of the curtains. I was nervous and silently prayed to the Moon Goddess for her mercy, this was the only chance for me to get away from my family.

I noticed the silence that filled the hall, no more cheers or noise. My heart was pounding in my chest, threatening to jump out while the tattoo on my skin was tingling. ‘Was this a sign?’ I asked myself and before I could come up with a conclusion, a hand reached through the curtains and pulled me through.

A pin drop silence filled the hall, I found myself face to face with the Alpha that I had met earlier and a genuine smile appeared on my face. I felt like crying, knowing that there was no way my family could get to me and even if they tried, there was a possibility that it would fail because no Alpha would ever willing give up on his Luna except in certain situations.

Alpha Axel was staring right at me with a bit of twinkle in his eyes and a smirk on his face. The whole hall was silent but I didn’t notice. His stare made me feel like I was the only one in the world. I stood rooted to the ground, trembling slightly with accelerated breathing and my heart racing as an euphoric sensation overwhelmed my body.

He gently held my hand and said something but I didn’t hear a thing except the thumping of my heart. He grabbed my waist in a possessive manner and I instinctively glanced at him, studying his side profile as I made a selfish decision to fully indulge in this dream without consequences.

I had a mate!

I wanted to yell it to the whole world, it incited a docile sense of comfort, trust and security, the kind of feelings that stemmed from love. These feelings were completely unfamiliar to me. Since I was discovered to be wolfless, I had never felt any kind of love from another person, even from my family which hurts. I no longer had something that everyone seemed to have at least once in their lifetime be it parental, friendship or romantic love but all that was going to change now that I had a mate.

“The princess is the Demon Alpha’s mate? How?” someone muttered and it was heard in the silent hall.

This snapped me back to reality as I recalled everything that I had heard about the Demon Alpha, about the terror he caused. I recalled how domineering he was and how his pheromones caused me to instantly submit. Was the Mood Goddess playing games? How could she hate me so much that I ended up as the mate to the most feared and dangerous Alpha.

‘Was he upset that he got a mate? Would he kill me?’ I took a second look at him but his face had returned to being expressionless and cold.

My breaths became labored as the tattoo in my hand tingled, it started to hurt at a point and I hissed in pain. ‘What would he do if he found out that I was not the princess? What if he found out that I’m just a weak omega without a mate?’

So many questions were running through my mind that I found it hard to breath, it felt like I was detached from reality, I could see Axel’s lips moving but I couldn’t hear a word, black spots dotted my view. The darkness threatened to engulf me and I passed out with hopes that everything that was happening was just a crazy dream that I would soon wake up to,

-but boy was I wrong.