MATES

T H I R T Y - S E V E N

"I still want to go over there" I said "Why are you taking me away?" 

"I'm saving your Royal ass" she sang to me "My parents are very tradition and if they suspect, even for one second, that you're not following tradition, they'll find a way to make that Mate of yours life a living hell for the rest of his trip here." 

She lowered her voice as we weaved through the crowd "Besides, my father isn't too fond of Wolves so I bet he's itching in his throne to have some fun with your boy toy." 

"Why isn't he fond of Wolves?" 

She nodded towards a servant boy, no more than ten, peaking out of the bustling kitchen door. 

Her had olive skin and bright blue eyes with dark curly hair that was shaved neatly on the sides. 

There was something familiar about him and the more I stared at him, the more pieces began to click together. 

When he spotted Wynter and I just a few feet away from him, he beamed. 

Wynter nodded her head and smiled a quick smile before nodded towards the windows. 

He nodded his head excitedly before disappearing behind the kitchen door. 

Wynter turned to me and I saw sadness in her eyes. 

"My parents had an arranged marriage" she began softly "They knew by the time each of them turned eighteen, they would have to fulfill their responsibilities to the people of Winter." 

 "My dad was always expected to continue to have entanglements with others after they were married but my Mother..." she looked away "My mother was expected to be complete and utterly devoted to my father, regardless of his extracurricular activities." 

"The only thing that my grandparents didn't consider was that my mother was already in love with someone else." 

"A wolf..." I whispered softly "She loved a wolf and they had a child. The boy." 

"My mother tried as hard as she could to stay away from him" Wynter uttered softly "And she did, for three millenniums she managed to stay away from him...but then, after awhile, the pull was just too strong." 

"I guess you could say they were Mates" she continued "We'll never really know because the moment my father found out about Weylyn, he ordered for his father to be executed." 

I gasped "He killed him?" 

 "Father executed him in front of the whole tribe" She nodded, looking sorrowful "Mother was in shambles for a while." 

"She seemed fine tonight" I commented "No signs of distress or sadness at all."