Jaden's POV
Love was an emotion I scorned, a treacherous path I had vowed never to tread as I embraced solitude, finding comfort in the predictable patterns of my existence as the vampire prince and next in line to rule. I had my life all planned out, and love was not part of it. I can have a queen and children, but that doesn't force love into it because I can marry without falling in love.
In my eyes, the world was a constant cycle of fleeting connections, leaving behind scars of betrayal and shattered expectations, so I had vowed to shield myself from such entanglements, locking my heart away, safe from the agony that love brought.
My heart was the most precious part of me and the most vulnerable—the easiest path to my destruction—so I vowed to protect it and never hand it to any woman, knowing it was indirectly a death wish. It was suicidal.
I really thought it worked until now.
After almost 15 years of being celibate and all to myself, rejecting every single lady that advanced at me, I was so sure I wouldn't fall in love, but at this moment, I really don't understand anymore.
Selene.
This girl sitting in front of me with these mesmerizing pairs of eyes penetrating my soul.
She was someone who had taken away my breath and left me lost, wondering what charm she was using because, at first sight, I had lost my ground.
Her touch was literally something else, sending sparks through my skin. Her voice is so soothing that it replays in my head like musical notes. Her smile was like the morning sunshine that brings light to my dark heart. Her figure and everything about her were so different and special in some way that no matter how much I thought, I couldn't define them.
I know it can't be that I am falling in love, but what I don't know is what it could be. I won't believe I was falling in love, but why I felt so attracted and happy around her can't be explained without mentioning love.
Just how possible can it be that a werewolf like her was the one who was able to break the walls around my heart? She was no where close to being the most beautiful girl I had met, nor did she look sophisticated or adorned with nice dresses and jewelry.
She was more like a street beggar in physical appearance, but that wasn't what she appeared to be when I gazed at her. She looks unkempt and pathetic, yet it doesn't affect these strange feelings of intense attraction and affection I was having for her. In my eyes, she was just like a rare diamond covered with rags and ashes.
"Jaden, we can make this work, you know? Forget about our differences, what matters is our hearts. How we feel for each other. That's why I have your precious bracelet. It isn't a coincidence. It's fate." She whispered breathlessly, her blue eyes wet with emotions, making them sparkle like ripples in the ocean.
My heart began to race as those eyes I had been avoiding rested on mine, pulling me into its depth. They were the parts of her body that were my weakness, always ready to drag me into her charms again and again in a way I always failed to resist, but I knew it was time to let go of her.
My stay in her life would only put her in deadly danger. Once my people find out about my relationship with her, they will do everything in their power to kill her, and I will be seen as a betrayal, which could cause everyone to resent me and probably cause me to end up losing the throne.
"Selene, I came here to pick up my bracelet because if my mother notices I don't have it around my wrist, she will be curious to know where I kept it. Funny enough, she told me to only give it to the love of my life." I shrugged, and she laughed excitedly—the tone of her laughter was really sweet.
"You were really cold and indifferent towards me when you first came in. I was so scared that your love for me had faded and that you no longer cared. Day and night, I think of you. Your bracelet reminds me of you, and I feel like you're always with me, and that gave me the strength to get going. I..."
"Shut up and hand the bracelet to me, now!" I ordered curtly, and her brows furrowed, shock evident in her eyes.
"I will do that, but please hear me out. I..."
"Your people are coming, and I won't want any of them to see me. If you don't hand it to me, I will have to force you!" I snapped coldly, my initial tenderness gone.
She dipped her hand inside the pocket of her trousers and brought it out, tears cascading down her cheeks.
"Here is it. When are we meeting again? Please, I need to tell you a lot of things. You are the only one I have..." She was almost crying as she said those words, her hands stretching out to hold me, but I pulled back. She clutched her chest tightly, an agonizing whimper slipping from her lips.
"You're hurting me already " she breathed in sadness.
"You will find your mate, a wolf like you. Forget those crazy fantasies you were having about us being mates. It can never work." I seethed, taking the bracelet and putting it on before turning over to the window where I came in from.
"I have found my wolf mate. He is Callen, the Alpha son who was about to rape me before you stormed in. He planned to reject me at the party and wanted to forcefully have sex with me. He said he was going to do it anytime he wanted, and I have no choice. There's no way I can stop him! He said, I am his toy!" She shrieked, burying her face in her palm as she sobbed bitterly.
My heart was stabbed by what she just uttered.
"Fuck. Why will he do that to his fated mate? It doesn't make any sense. How can the next Alpha be this despicable?" I gritted my teeth, feeling enraged as my fists clenched tight.
"I am in constant fear. Can you be my guardian angel. Take me anywhere, as long as I leave here. I can serve as a slave in your kingdom. It is better than staying in this hell!" She sulked, so morose.
The numerous footsteps got louder, and I knew that Callen had beckoned many bodyguards to come for me. He doesn't know who I am, I guess he thought I was one of the werewolves.
"They are coming." Selene sniffed, wiping her eyes, which wouldn't stop brimming with tears.
"I would have loved to kill Callen, but he is the Alpha's son. The next heir. So I can't. And I can't take you away as well." I shrugged. "I am sorry, there's nothing I can do. We have to stay apart."
"So we won't meet again? You are rejecting me too?" She moaned in sadness, heartbroken.
"We will. But probably on the battle field. We are brutal enemies. Let it sink in our heads so we don't keep deceiving ourselves!" I hissed and jumped out of the window, but she leaped and sped towards me, grabbed my hand halfway as I was about to glide down through the wall.
"I'll be waiting for you." Her voice was inaudible, but her tears spoke of her pain so loudly in my ears. I really felt hurt deep in my heart for what I was doing, but the best I could do was stay away.
"Stop chasing the shadows!" I scoffed, and her hand released sharply from mine as she let out a gasp. Both eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
I had to hurry and leave before she noticed my teary eyes because hearing all she had said and watching the helpless girl whose life was a mess had made my heart really heavy and moved me to tears.
I hope she survives it, though, and luckily she finds a second chance mate and her life becomes better.
"We both know we don't want that. We want her." My vampire inner animal cut in with a deep sigh.
"It should be kept a secret till we forget about her and move on. We are lucky my parents hadn't known of this nonsense relationship we are having with that girl, or else she would be in real danger." I snorted, hurrying over to the hall where the party was going on.
As soon as I entered, the first person my eyes fell on was Jake. I was sure he sat there, just beside the door, so I would see him. Angry at him for taking me to that stupid shaman, I ignored him and went to sit somewhere else, further away from him.
In a few seconds, he walked over, a glass of wine in his hand and a little smile on his face.
"I don't want you to sit with me. We didn't come together, so stay off!" I scowled, and he chuckled and sipped the wine.
"You were in this pack all this time. Since we left that shaman's place, you came here instead of returning home, huh?" He shook his head, pursing his lips as he stared intently at me.
"It is none of your business." I shot back, and he laughed shortly this time and made a head gesture at a corner, so I followed the trail, and my eyes fell on two of the vampire spies who came with Callen. They were scowling and sneering at me, shaking their heads in disbelief as if I had done something abominable.
"Hey, why are you looking at me like that?" I shouted at them, loud enough for them to hear me even with the loud speakers jamming music in the hall. He shrugged and looked away.
"Let me give you an answer," he said wryly, placing the tumbler on the table as he sat.
"Your secret has been exposed by the shaman, and by now, I'm sure it must have already spread like wildfire in the kingdom. Everybody knows that the great, prestigious prince who they all respected and looked up to had fallen in love with a wolf girl." Jake's words rolled out of his lips gently, but in my head, it was like a bomb blasting my skull as the weight of what he said struck me down.
"No, this can't be." I muttered breathlessly. He shook his head and exhaled.
"The only way out is to prove the shaman wrong. I should ask you first, do you still love her?" Jake demanded.