Page 76 of Awakened Light

With a gentle squeeze on her hand and a soft smile, I said, “If you love him, you need to tell me, Alpia. I never want to do anything to hurt you, and I can’t marry the man that my sister loves.”

She just looked away and shook her head. “He’s your betrothed.”

“He may be my betrothed, but I don’t love him... and I never will.”

“How can you not love him?” she asked as she turned back to face me. “Uradech is incredible. He’s so handsome, strong, kind...” She stopped herself from going on when she saw the smile growing on my face.

“You do love him.”

“No!” She shook her head so hard I thought it may pop off.

“Yes, you do. And do you know how I can tell? Because I love someone else, too, and I recognize that look in your eyes.”

“You love someone else?” She gasped. “Who?”

“If I tell you, will you be honest with me about Uradech?”

She bit her lip, then nodded.

“I’m in love with Thorne.”

“The vampire?” She practically shrieked.

“Shhhh...” I lifted my finger to my lips, then nodded my head. “Yes.”

“But he’s a vampire,” she whispered. “You can’t be serious! He’s a bloodthirsty monster!”

I shook my head and smiled. “He’s not. In fact, none of his family is. They are kind, wonderful people. All the things we’ve been told about them have been lies. The betrayal of the pact came from our people. The werewolves hunted them down. All these centuries of hatred toward them has been completely misplaced. And Thorne is the most amazing man I’ve ever met. I love him with all of my heart and always will.”

I told her more of the stories of what had really happened all those centuries ago, and about the love that had grown between Thorne and me. A love I knew I couldn’t live without.

When I finished, she just shook her head and said, “Wow.”

“It took everything I had to force myself back here to marry Uradech and take our mother’s throne. It’s not what I want. At all. What I want is a life with Thorne.”

“That may be so, and it sounds like he’s more than worthy of your love, but Mother would never allow it. Never.” Her eyes widened.

With a heavy sigh, I flopped back on the bed. “I know.”

Alpia leaned back with me, and we lay side by side, staring at the thatched ceiling.

“I do love Uradech,” she finally whispered. “With all my heart.”

I rolled my head over and met her teary eyes. “I’m so sorry, Alpia. This must have been torture for you getting me ready for a wedding to the man you love.”

“It’s not fun,” she admitted. “But it’s our duty. It’s your duty to marry him, and my duty to watch you. Uradech and I can never be.”

“Does he share your feelings?” I stroked my fingers through her ebony hair.

She shrugged. “I think so. He’s always coming around doing nice things for me, and I catch him staring at me all the time. And when I turned eighteen, he told me he loved me and tried to kiss me. Of course, I told him he was your betrothed and slapped him.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this?” I bumped her with my elbow. “I’m your sister!”

She shrugged. “Because he’s supposed to be your husband. It didn’t matter how we felt about each other.”

“It does matter. It matters to me. It’s one thing to force myself to give up the man I love, but I’m sure are hell not going to do the same thing to you. I could never live with myself, marrying the man my sister loves. I’m calling off the wedding.”

“You can’t call off the wedding!” She sat up straight.