Chapter 1
Aurora
I dreamt again. For the past few years, it was always the same dream. A man was looking at me out of strange old coin bronze eyes that didn't even look human and he seemed to be waiting for me to make a move. A huge white and silver wolf was standing behind him, looking at me through the same eyes.
I learned by the age of 5 that I would be marrying the future Werewolf King so I dreamt of him often. Although I had never seen his wolf, I was sure that it was him. Since the Creatures of the Night rose, the humans tried to get the werewolves as allies. To seal this alliance, I was to become the bride of the future King.
I hadn't seen him since we were kids but he was a bit older than me. The werewolves were supposed to arrive today for the ceremony and soon my mom would burst into the room to wake me up.
Queen Eva was many things but patient wasn't one of them. She raised me to be like her but I was like my dad, cool and I hated crowds. Bad when I was the next Princess but I would become Queen of the wolves so I didn't really care.
"Get up, Aurora. They'll be here any minute, the werewolves are ponctual." She said, pushing the doors and opening the curtains as if she owned the place.
I groaned before hiding my face in my pillow. I wouldn't see Preston before the ceremony anyway. I would just be spending the entire day getting ready for the wedding. Nice...
"Come on." She tsked angrily. "We have much to do before your ceremony. Your father is already waiting for them outside with your brother."
My brother, Helios, would be the next King and he was as enthousiast about it as me. Frankly, we were way too young for this but my fate was decided at birth since the Alpha Prince was male and I was female. I didn't mind much, we were friends as kids but around thirteen, he stopped talking to me somehow. Maybe he didn't want to marry me. There was nothing we could do about this situation.
"I'm up..." I grunted as I stood up from my bed.
"Perfect." She sighed, visibly displeased with me. "Take off your clothes and go to the bathroom. The maids will help you get ready before we put on your dress. I hope he'll like it."
"He doesn't even like me." I answered.
"That's not true." She glared. "He asks about you every time we go there."
"Why isn't he asking me directly," I asked.
She lowered her eyes as if she was hiding something from me. What? What could she be hiding? Was I missing something?
"It's more complicated than you think. Come on, we don't have time." She pressed me to the bathroom.
Sure. 'It's complicated' was her favorite sentence when she didn't understand something. I would need to ask my husband I supposed.
The next hours were torture. I wasn't particularly the make-up expert, I liked when it was light but my mom insisted for a heavier one for my wedding. 'It would look better on pictures' she said. Right. We would look so happy, I was sure. They also put me through pedicure, manicure and of course, waxing. I hurt, literally everywhere. They then did my hair and I barely recognised myself as I looked at myself in the mirror.
My moss green eyes were looking back but they seemed... Bigger somehow? Make-up could do that? Wow. Even my white skin seemed less pale and my light brown hair seemed almost... Shiny. Those girls knew how to make you beautiful for sure.
"You look lovely, honey." My mom said with a tremor in her voice.
"You're not going to cry right?" I smiled at her.
"Not yet." She chuckled. "We'll see after the ceremony."
They helped me put on a heavy white as snow dress that was made of embroideries, perls and silver threads. A light veil came to cover my face and a very worrying thought struck me. I was going to get married to a total stranger. He wasn't just that, he was a werewolf.
During all those years, my parents taught me all they knew about werewolf's culture and protocol. I was technically ready but I wasn't your average Princess. I was reckless, I loved to be outside more than I liked to study or look pretty. I couldn't care less about my lessons but maybe that was what my husband wanted? It was too late to change a thing now. In a few hours, we would be married.
I started getting nervous but my mom put the bouquet in my jittering hands. She offered me a kind smile and I was a bit reassured. If anything went wrong, my family would still be there for me. I took a deep breath and followed her to the antechamber. I would be waiting there until it was time for me to walk down the aisle.
My mom excused herself to go fetch my father and there was a knock on the door. I opened it to fing a grinning Will behind it. Will was supposed to be Preston's Beta, his second and his best friend. Of course, we were also always together as kids but Will kept talking to me when Preston took his distance.
I jumped at his neck with how happy I was to see him and he laughed. His deep brown eyes were full of mirth as he laid me back down gently. He was wearing a black tux that showed how muscled he became and his usually wild black hair, were tamed with gel.
"It's so nice to see you." I grinned at him.
"I know I'm not supposed to be here but I wanted to be the first to greet you." He said with a bright smile that showed even white teeths. "Pres will kill me but I don't care, you're gorgeous. I barely recognise you, human."
"That's all right, I barely recognise myself." I chuckled. "How is he? I'm sure that he's not thrilled about this."
"Hey." He frowned. "Of course, he's ecstatic. He's been talking about this nonstop, you know? I almost thought that you were his true mate with how he growled at me when I told him to stop."
"I doubt that, he would have talked to me if that was true." I sighed.
"Don't be like that, it's complicated. You'll be free to talk about it with him tonight. I know there won't be much talking involved but, you humans are fragiles." He smirked.
I punched him in the shoulder and he laughed harder when he noticed that I had actually hurt myself.
"I'll see you later before you break your hand and Preston breaks my neck. Trust me, he's very fond of you. Never doubt that. If one thing, wolves are loyal and you're his. We all respect that."
That was the honest truth. Wolves married for life and there was almost no divorce. There wouldn't be one for me or that would be catastrophic. I shouldn't be worried about that then.
Will left the room and my father soon replaced him. He offered me his arm and I could see in his eyes that he looked sorry. I wasn't so I offered him a small reassuring smile. I wouldn't marry for love like he did my mom but maybe I would grow to love my husband. Preston was nice in my memories, it meant that he might still be. Will's words reassured me on the fact that he, at least, cared about me. That was good to know when I was going to commit to him for my whole life.
"It's going to be fine, dad." I said.
"You're brave, Aurora. The wolves will get the best Queen they could have ever asked for. Preston will get the best wife and partner out of this marriage."
"Thank you." I said as I tried to keep the tears at bay.
"We'll always be there for you and I'll kick his ass if he ever does anything wrong to you." He added.
I was chuckling as we entered the aisle. I looked down to where my future husband was. My jaw almost dropped seeing him. He was exactly like in my dreams, except his eyes were amber and not bronze, exactly how I remembered. That reassured me to take the next step confidently.
