Arya's Story
Arya
After all that has happened to me, the most challenging thing by far is sitting here with a smile on my face while trying to pretend that my heart isn’t breaking. Our family, friends and packs have finally been able to come out and witness the Royal Mating Ceremony of the century, only it isn’t mine.
It was meant to be.
It would have been if the Moon Goddess and Fate both didn’t decide to suddenly hate me, but instead, the mate I so foolishly fell head first for, turned out to be no more than a monster.
In fact, he was worse than a monster. He was a rapist, an abuser, a liar... and I’m just glad that he is finally dead. It sounds heartless to say, doesn’t it? But it’s true and I see no point in lying.
When he took his last breath on this earth, I finally realised he wasn’t my true mate and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to describe the weight that left my shoulders in true enough justice. After all, mates can’t harm each other and yet I was the one that was able to pull the trigger to end his life.
Apparently, my status as the King’s only living relative made me a popular choice when it came to his deceit, and some witch not so kindly provided him with a spell that would fool me into thinking he was mine.
And boy, what a fool I was.
For weeks I was smitten. All I saw were his smiles, his sweet words and the feeling of the mate bond that we’ve all been told since we were children to value above anything else. I can still remember how it used to tug at me sometimes, and I’m thankful that it’s just the memory that remains.
I suppose I’ve always been a romantic. After seeing parents like mine as obsessed with each other as mates can get, it’s hard not to want that for yourself. And with this in mind, I didn’t think twice when Stella, my wolf told me that he was the one.
As embarrassing as it is to admit, the only reason that the mating ceremony didn’t go ahead, was the fact that he attacked my wedding planner the day before, with plans to do more than just kill.
At first, I couldn’t believe it, I was still blind and my wolf lashed out in the worst possible way. I will always regret how we acted that night, and it wasn’t until my brother, my loving big brother had to spell it out for me that the penny finally dropped.
How are you meant to go on after something like that? I thought that the Moon Goddess had paired me with the worst of the worst and unless I wanted to lose my soul, he had to continue on living.
Still, I’d have had him killed if it was my choice alone, but it was my brother who shut down the idea. He cared for me too much, still does, and it was his caring that meant that the bastard was alive long enough to escape and find me. To find us.
It’s over now though, I did what I had to do and he’s no longer around to pollute the world.
It just hurts to know how close I was to what I thought was happiness, now to be sitting in a corner alone and wondering if I will ever actually meet my mate. After all, it took my brother 12 years and I’ll be honest, I don’t have that kind of patience.
I want to be loved, to be cared for, to be seen as something more than the stuck-up princess spoilt by her brother, the King.
But it's starting to sound like nothing more than a silly pipedream.
