The Seven Sons (BTS WEREWOLF FAN-FICTION)

Chapter One: The Girl

"Isn't he? He's really grown up this past year, and he's done well in his lessons. I don't think you should count him out."

Jin rolled his shoulders. "As long as it's not me, I'm good with Jungkook on the throne."

I sighed. I couldn't begin to understand Jin's reasons for rejecting the marriage. I only knew mine, and it wasn't that I was opposed to marrying a princess, even if she wasn't my mate. It was that if I married her, the crown of Etheria would be on my head. The entire population, werewolf and human alike, would be depending on me to bring them out of this perilous time. And I never, ever, wanted that.

"Just meet the girl," Namjoon was saying. "I hear she's got a good head on her shoulders, and her wits about her. You don't have to fall in love, just marry her and get along."

"Easy for you to say," Jin replied. "You already have your mate. You're content to make one of us miserable with a princess from some foreign land, cursed to be forever without our true mate. Do you have any idea what that would be like?"

Our brother's shoulders drooped. He put his elbows on the table and buried his hands in his hair. "No, I don't know. I only know that without this marriage, Etheria is without food, weapons and soldiers. The king is gone, and we are the Seven Sons. It's up to us to save Etheria, and we no longer have the luxury of picking and choosing the terms of our alliances."

Seokjin, Hoseok and I shared a glance. Our brother looked tired. He was bearing this weight alone.

In the end, it was Jin who spoke up. "We'll meet her," he said. "We don't have to decide right away. You never know, maybe one of us will have a liking for her, or she for us, and we can work with that."

The heavy silence served as reluctant agreement. I kept my expression neutral, but on the inside, I was fuming. I would not be king, not if I could help it.

I would never be king.

NOVA'S P. O. V.   

The rhythm of a moving carriage should have been soothing, but my every nerve was alive. Although the curtains were drawn, I could feel that the ground beneath the wheels had changed, becoming rough as opposed to the smooth terrain of Cosmia.

I was getting close.

Close to the Etherian capital, to the castle, wherein which my future husband resided. Whoever he would be.

My father had told me there were three—the youngest, third youngest, and the eldest—and it was up to them to sort out who would marry me. I felt like an object in a confusing and frightening game, with no control over what my fate would be. I could only hope that the werewolves of Etheria were not as terrifying as the Cosmian people had described.

Grisly faces, burly frames, glowing, red eyes. I shuddered. The drawings in our history books spared no detail. According to my reading, they were known to roast and eat those who displeased them.

However, I had an inkling of hope. Along with the blood-curdling tales, there was also the story of how the king and the Seven Sons strived to protect humans from enemy kingdoms. How, when the king had fled, the Sons had been battling to keep their people safe.

With that in mind, could they really be so awful? I would only find out once we reached the capital.

The carriage was slowing, and somebody drew back the curtain.

"Not long now, Your Highness," one of the guards on horseback informed me. "We'll be approaching the castle in a matter of hours."

"Thank you," I replied, and put the curtain back before the guard could notice how extraordinarily pale and shaky I was. My stomach twisted, and I was suddenly hit with the intensity of my situation.