The royals of Milar

Chapter-1

•Gabriel•

I stand in front of the mirror staring at the innocent face in it, her greenish blue eyes staring back at me, holding a look of mystery. I splash cold water over my face and watch as the water droplets trickle down her little tulip nose reaching her plump lips and then her sharp chin. Her almond shaped face held vulnerability, the kind that could move the coldest hearts. She was beautiful. Deception. It was all deception, a mask to hide the beast underneath.

I cup some more water in my hands and splash it on my face, secretly hoping it takes away this unwanted beauty. This fake delicacy. This deceiving look of naivety. All which comes with a heavy price, with a responsibility.

The ringing of the phone distracted me from my thoughts. I dig into my jeans pocket and pull my iphone out. My sisters name flashes on the screen. Rafael.

After a mental argument with my self as to pick up the phone or not, i slide the green circle to the right.

"Gabe?", rafael's musical voice asks hesitantly.

"Anything important?", i try to put on my gravest tone.

"Gabe, please get over it, okay? You cant be mad at me for ever!"

"It amazes me how you cant even see what you have done. So unless something very important comes up, do not bother to call. And its not a request", i hiss. She drives me crazy.

"Look what i have done must be wrong but just once try to put yourself in my fucking shoes! We're sisters for God's sake!" Why the hell was she the one yelling? Shouldn't it be me?

"We were sister, Rafael, we aren't anymore. Our relationship ended the day you backed out and left me all alone"

"I just couldn't do it, Gabriel, i just-"

I end the call.

No explanation can make up for what she has done. She left her kind, put her family down, abandoned me and left me all alone to take up the responsibility which was too heavy to rest upon just one shoulder because it was meant for two. Hers and mines. I had spent days trying to understand her, to find reasons to forgive her after all our relationship was of flesh and blood and she was my fucking twin! My best friend!

As kids, we never got along well, perhaps sibling rivalry or the greed to have our parents all to ourselves. We were a terrible excuse for sister our mother says until we turned ten and Raf was sent away. She was sent to America to live a normal human life , to keep up with the modern world. She was the bridge between humans and our kind whereas i stayed back in the castle and had a traditional upbringing. It was her absence that made me realise her importance, those lonely wandering in the royal garden made me miss her and those lonely games in our room made me want her back. I missed my sister.

Only after her return five years later did i realised how much she had grown, how much we both had grown. As kids we had got used to our similar appearances but it amazed me how alike we were, damn we were mirror images! And then she did something unexpected, something i never thought she would have done- she hugged me. We weren't two rebellious little girls anymore, we were grown teenagers who needed each other terribly. And since then, we had been inseparable. Until we turned eighteen. Until Raf performed the reversal.

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•Rafael•

I put the phone down as a sigh escapes my lips. Only if Gabe understood.

Someone slowly pulls me back and i feel my back coming in contact with something hard yet soft at the same time. I don't have to turn to look who it is, i already know it. Only his touch is enough to make me melt under it, only a sniff of his familiar scent is enough to run chills down my body.

Two huge arms envelop me, soothing me in a strange way and i instantly relax.

"What's wrong?", he asks as he rests his chin on my head, he's that tall and yes, i am that short! His voice is hoarse the way it always is after a good night sleep.

I turn around and dig my head in his strong chest, inhaling his sweet smell.

"Gabe is still mad", i mumble.

He hugs me tighter and i love the feel of it. The feeling of home.

"She'll come around, trust me, she will" the way he says it i want to believe him but i know Gabe well enough to know that she wouldn't.

I lift my face up to look inti his eyes and yet again, even after knowing him for a year, it feels like our first eye contact- magical.

"We'll find a way, Raf, we'll do it together", he whispers and i know that he means every word of it. Oh God, how did i deserve him?

"Lucas", i say,"theres something you should know"

"What is it, Raf?", his eyes hold such concern that it kills me.

I lower my gaze, i couldn't do this. But i have to.

"I want you to listen to me, please don't come to conclusions without hearing everything out"

I look at him as if waiting for him to say something.

"Go on", is all he says.

"I know i should have told you before , i know we shouldn't keep secrets from each other but i was scared, Luke, i couldn't risk loosing you. I love you too much. Just too much! As cheesy as it sounds, i love you more than words can say and you know that me and cheesy shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence"

I hear him stifle a soft chuckle and his eyes give me an encouraging look.

"I have told you that Gabe isn't talking to me, my parents have disowned me but i haven't told you why and you have been so patient with me all through this. How much ever i have been trying to avoid this confession, i know that if not today i have to go through this tomorrow. So-"

"Are you on drugs? Is that it?" Really, Luke, really? Drugs were all you could come up with? My cute idiot baby!

I give a humourless laugh, more like laughing on myself. " Drugs stand in no comparison, Luke"

This widens his eyes a bit.

"Roof, i swear your freaking me out. Please cut the chase"

Lucas calls me Roof when he's adoring. No, Luke is always adoring with me.

So Scratch that.

Luke calls me Roof when he's super super adoring.

Roof? I am about to tell you my darkest secret and still you call me Roof? How can you love me so fucking much?

"Just don't hate me after this, please, whoever i was, i am not anymore. I've changed, Luke, i have changed for you. I have stopped being the person i was the very day i turned eighteen"

I take a deep breath, trying to fight the lump in my throat. It takes a lot of effort to gather my voice and bring it to my throat.

"Luke, i am a shapeshifter. A panther"

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