“This is the Prince of the Werewolves, Aedan. He is here as our honored guest and as an escort to his sister. I expect everyone to treat him with the respect you would treat me. And of course, you all know Jasper.” Ryan motioned for Aedan andJasper to each take their seats while Ryan led Lucie toward two empty spots next to the king and queen.
“Lucie dear, so good to see you again,” Queen Willa said with a friendly smile. “I’m glad you’ll be staying with us for a little bit. It will help make the adjustment easier.”
“I’m excited to be here as well. Derrick has promised to show me around too, and I’m excited about that.” Lucie batted her eyelashes at Ryan with a sweet smile.
“Whatever my Lucie wants, she gets.” Ryan wrapped his arm around Lucie’s shoulders.
“Lucie.” She heard a sweet-sounding, delicate voice from a few seats down, across the table.
Lucie felt Ryan’s grip on her tighten as he glared at the girl with lethal eyes. She could tell there was some history there that she didn’t know about. This girl even met Ryan’s gaze defiantly.
“It must have been hard this whole time, being away from your betrothed. I’m sure this isn’t the most ideal situation for you.”
Lucie met her brown eyes and smiled. “I’m sorry. I’m afraid I don’t know your name.”
“Amanda,” the girl replied, smiling.
“Amanda, yes, being away from Derrick is very hard. He’s my person after all. What wasn’t ideal was having to live apart this long. After all, who wants to live apart from the person you love?” Lucie could see the girl’s eyes almost bulge open. Meanwhile, there were soft murmurs of awe and people nodding their heads in approval of what Lucie had said. Ryan rubbed her shoulder and smiled down at her. She must have answered appropriately. But she answered honestly, so it was easy. She was talking about her Derrick, not imposter Derrick.
“Oh wow. I didn’t realize … I mean, I just thought it was a marriage of convenience, so who could have hoped for love? That’s … amazing. Almost too good to be true.” Amanda’s voicesounded almost poisonous, her eyes darkening as she looked at Ryan.
“No, what’s too good to be true is that Lucie and Derrick are fated mates.” Jasper spoke up loud and clear and took a sip of his drink. The people around the table began to quietly discuss this shocking news that they hadn’t heard before.
Amanda’s eyes darted between Lucie and Ryan. So did another young lady who was sitting further down, holding a glass in her hand and gripping it tightly, apparently shocked by the news of them being fated mates. Too tight, since the glass shattered in her hands, making everyone turn to look at her.
“Camille, are you alright?” her mother Pamala asked.
“Sorry, I’m a bit clumsy. I was going to propose a toast to our new, fated couple.” Camille smiled sheepishly, trying to recover. Everyone seemed to nod their heads in understanding.
After that incident, the food arrived and everyone ate fairly quietly, with only a few whispers here and there, normal gossip. Anything juicy would have been mindlinked, not wanting to offend the royal family.
After dinner, Lucie was surrounded by a group of women, including Camille and Amanda. Ryan was talking with a group of men on the other side of the room with Aedan and Jasper, while the king and queen were chatting with some other prominent guests.
“So, you must have had other boyfriends. How do they compare with the prince?” Amanda asked with her venomous smile.
Okay, Lucie was getting mad jealousy vibes from this girl. She wondered what her deal was? Did she have a crush on Ryan, or was she also after his position?
“No. I’ve been betrothed since birth. There was never anyone else but Derrick.” Lucie watched as Amanda’s eyes flickered slightly.
“Oh wow. That’s amazing. Well, as long as you don’t hold it against our prince for maybe having a fling here and there. I mean, after all, he is a young male vampire, and those urges are hard to control.” Amanda’s lips curled up maliciously. Her toxic smile stayed on her face as she batted her eyelashes.
Lucie could see she was trying to allude to Ryan having partners. Like she cared. She honestly didn’t care who Ryan saw, since he was not her Derrick. But how should she respond here? She remembered the idea of a mistress wasn’t completely unheard of, so she needed to at least squash that now.
“What matters to me now is that Derrick is mine. And I don’t share what is mine, even if it is his idea. The penalty for cheating on me is death.” Lucie raised her eyebrows and smiled. “I can’t go and kill the prince, so any woman who touches him will face this punishment. I hope the women here are smart enough to stay away from him, or the population will soon be dwindling.” She smirked slightly as she watched Camille’s mouth drop open in shock. So much for her thinking she could be a mistress.
She soon felt arms slide around her waist, and she had to force herself to relax into his touch.
Ryan pulled Lucie against his chest and leaned his head down into her neck, inhaling her scent. He let his nose drag over the side of her face before he left a small kiss on the top of her head.
“It’s only you, Lucie. There will never be anyone in the royal chambers but you,” Ryan said, glancing up to the woman in front of them. He could see Amanda’s face getting red from how intimate he was acting with Lucie, so he nuzzled his nose into her head once more.
Lucie tilted her head up and smiled at him. “Of course it will be only me in there. After all … just because I can’t kill the prince doesn’t mean I wouldn’t make him suffer in the mostexcruciating ways possible.” She batted her eyes innocently at him as his lips curled upward in a Cheshire cat grin.
“See, this is why you’re perfect.” Ryan chuckled. Amanda snorted air out from her nose, drawing the attention of those around her. Ryan’s eyes darkened as he glared at her.
“Oh forgive me. I’m just shocked is all. I’ve never heard his highness speak like this about his fiancée before. I never knew he felt this way about you.” Amanda’s sickening sweet smile curled upward as she batted her own eyelashes at Ryan.
This Amanda wasn’t being subtle at all, and she wasn’t trying. She was trying to let Lucie know that ‘Derrick’ had been talking and hanging around her. Enough that they had talked on a personal and most likely intimate level. But it wasn’t her Derrick … it was Ryan. Still, she was annoyed at Ryan because he was responsible for maintaining Derrick’s image. Lucie narrowed her dark gaze at the girl. This had to get shut down before rumors spread.
