With how convinced she is of us having met before, it doesn’t surprise me she’s trying to reason it away by saying my memories of her were taken. “Babe, it’s impossible for me to have met you. I know in my heart you’re my mate... nothing would be strong enough to overpower the pull between us. Please trust me on this. We’ve never met before.”
Scoffing, she says, “I should remove the spell just to prove you wrong.” Her hand comes up to my chest and she starts tracing a pattern with her finger before mumbling, “I just don’t want you to remember why you hate me so much. As much as it pains me to admit, I’ve missed you.”
Hate her? Why would I ever have a reason to hate her? Kissing the top of her head to reassure her, I whisper, “I would never be able to hate you. Perform your spell so you can learn the truth. Please, Babe, your rejection is ripping me up inside, something needs to change for you to trust me. If this spell is it, I’m begging you to do it.”
“You obviously hated me, Marcellus, because you rejected me first. I’ve never rejected you once! I gave you my heart, my everything, and you stomped all over it. I can’t trust you again just to let you repeat history.” How am I ever supposed to convince her something isn’t true when she’s this convicted in her beliefs?
Pulling back, I hold her face again, peering deep into her gorgeous blue eyes. Fates, I can get lost in her eyes. “I need you to listen to me.You, my dear girl, are my mate. There’s a bond between us. Do you feel the slight buzz under your skin when we touch? That’s our bond. It’s stronger than anything else in this universe, it withstands the test of time, and you better bet it would withstand the test of some spell you think would wipe you from my memory.
“Not only is our bond stronger than anything else in this universe, it’s a direct connection between each other. You would know without a doubt if I ever felt true hate for you if you just reach inside yourself to recognize what the bond is telling you. The bond doesn’t lie. Look at it, Babe, what does it tell you?” Please, Fates! Please make her realize and accept the truth. I need her to stop pushing me away. She needs it too whether she wants to admit it or not.
She studies my face for a moment, shock in her eyes, before closing them. Parting her soft lips, she sucks in a surprised gasp before opening her eyes again. “You don’t hate me, not even a little bit.”
“Not even a little bit,” I whisper to her as her eyes beckon for me to come closer.
“Since when did you get so knowledgeable about the bond?” she questions with suspicion in her squinted eyes. The question shows me she’s not only giving serious thought into what the bond is saying, but also into what I said. Not instantly pushing away my words shows progress. It also says something that she knows what I’m talking about when I mentioned the bond. She didn’t ask what I meant, just how I knew about it. The guys and I theorized in private about her possibly being some kind of witch, her talking about spells and knowing about the bond seems to support the theory.
I smirk with newfound confidence before giving her the answer. “We are taught from our youth about the bond, it’s something to be cherished and highly valued by our people. Something I’ll never take for granted.”
She lets out an exaggerated sigh filled with exhaustion. “I hate myself for wanting to forgive you.” Gazing up into my eyes, the struggle is apparent within hers.
Placing a kiss on her forehead, my lips linger as I breathe out my reply against her skin, “Let me prove myself, Babe.” Yeah, my desperation may be visible in true Alex form, but I can’t find it in myself to care. I’m not above begging, which I’ll do if she denies me this.
I breathe in her scent, calming my nerves as I wait for her to reply. “My parents performed a spell in an act to try and protect me, causing all memories of me to be removed from my people. I’m Her Royal Highness Cecily, Queen of the Shifters.”
Her words act as a key unlocking my mind, and I’m flooded with memories of my childhood. Specifics of what I am, and the things I’m capable of. Conversations suddenly come back that Derrick tried to have with us. At the time, they went through one ear and out the other. Minute details have returned, changing the way I view everything.
Staring at Cecily again, I’m transported back to when I was a kid.
I crouch down behind a bush waiting for Alexander to run toward me, into the trap Nicholas and I set up. The three of us always end up playing in the gardens together when our parents bring us to the Queen’s castle. I wouldn’t call them my friends, but we get along well enough.
A splinter from the stick I hold in my hand pokes into my palm. Ignoring it, I hold my fake sword, ready for my opponent to show up. Alex’s footsteps can be heard walking along the dirt path approaching me. He needs to work on having lighter feet if he wants to sneak up on anyone.
Just as he’s about to reach me, I jump out, holding my sword up. With quick reflexes, Alex blocks my attack, our sticks striking against each other, causing a reverberation to travel up my arm. We trade a few hits back and forth before a gardener comes into view after rounding a bend in the path.
“Hey, you rotten pups! Get off of those chamomile plants! Out of here, both of you!” Oops, we were so distracted by our fight we forgot to pay attention to where we were stepping. Scampering off, we run into Nicholas who’s lounging against a tree, so much for him helping me out in the battle.
We begin a game of chase as we run back toward the castle, not wanting to incur the gardener’s wrath any further. Alex is the first one to spot her, peeking out of a window watching us play. “Oh, no! You guys, the princess has been captured and is trapped inside the castle! We need to go save her!” His sword is held in the air, encouraging us to charge to the defense of the fair maiden.
Following his lead, we do just that. Charging into the castle, we run through the halls, and up the staircase to the floor where we saw her staring out the window. She looked so sad and left out, like she wanted to join us but couldn’t. Our laughter bounces off the walls as we fight off imaginary foes.
Suddenly a door opens and all of our parents exit the room, along with the South Pack Alpha and his wife. Their expressions are stern from the looks of it; guess we were being too noisy. The three of us instantly straighten up and hide our swords behind our backs, knowing we shouldn’t have brought them inside with us. Our parents come to a stop and beckon us over to them. When I get close enough, my mother grabs me by the scruff of my neck. She must mean business, holding me in a way to cause instant submissiveness. Can’t wait till I’m older and considered an Alpha.
She drops her hold, as the Queen comes out of the room they just exited, with the Princess by her side. Princess Cecily is more beautiful than any flower I’ve ever seen. We’ve been in the castle several times, but she’s never played with us once, much to our disappointment. Although, it’s probably a good thing. We all would’ve fought over who gets to have her on his team.
Every person in the hall, aside from the guards, drops into a bow, showing respect toward the Royals who just came into view. Our parents bow as well, even though they just left their presence. After the Queen tells us to rise, my father is the first one to speak up, “Your Majesty, may we introduce our heirs? This is my son, Marcellus, heir to the North Pack. Alexander, heir to the East Pack, and Nicholas, heir to the West Pack.” He claps a hand on the South Pack’s Alpha and says, “Hopefully, we can soon introduce the heir to the South Pack.”
The Queen offers a smile. “A pleasure to meet you, boys. Make sure you work hard at learning your roles. My Cecily here will need strong leaders for the Packs when she becomes Queen someday. Who knows, one of you may even end up being her fated mate. Come along, Cecily. We have your second training session scheduled next. I’ll see you all at the feast tonight.” With her parting words, she walks away with the Princess, taking along with them our hopes of the Princess joining our games.
Blinking away the memory, I peer into blue depths, hope swimming around waiting to see my response. “I remember the first time I saw you,” I say on a shocked exhale.
She winces before letting out a groan. “Ugh, that was a rather painful event, was it not? With Silas constantly interrupting and me asking how old you were.” She gives a nervous chuckle at the memory of meeting someone else, although my curiosity is piqued with the mention of my uncle.
“Uhhh, no... I was referring to the time we met you in the hallway, inside your old castle when we were kids. Alex and Klaus were there too. Really, we didn’t actually meet, you didn’t even say a word.” She gives me untrusting eyes again.
“You swore you never remembered that, that you had never left Silas’ castle or even met your parents.” Damn, I didn’t realize my girl was a bit crazy.
“Babe, you’re confusing me with someone else. We met in the castle that used to be right here.” It would be great if we could just get past this mistaken identity bullshit.
