Kristina Pimenova as Alice Genevieve
****
Avalon
~2 weeks later~
"They're coming! The redcoats are coming!" Matthew cries out as he runs around the living room.
"Matthew, what the hell are you doing?" Daniel says as he enters the living room. I turn around and see Daniel standing at the two small stairs that circle around the living room.
"You see, Matthew's playing this dumb little game with these pups. And I told him if he wants to die from.." I stuck my hands out, counting how many pups he was playing with.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 10." I close my eyes trying to remember my numbers.
"Yeah, he's playing with 10 pups, and surely they're gonna crush him," I finish as I grab a hand full of hot Cheetos. I shove a few in my mouth and keep the others in my hand.
Daniel laughs and shakes his head. He walks the two steps of stairs and walks over to me. He moves the bag of hot Cheetos to the side and sits right next to me on the couch.
"Hey!" I stare at him with furrowed brows. He gives me a sheepish look.
"What?" he says as his lips start to tug into a smile. I sit straight and aim my left fist into his muscled biceps. I put all my might into it and punch him. I regretted punching him.
"OW! FÙCK!" I groan as I place my Cheetos on a napkin by a small coffee table and sway my left-hand side to side.
"Haha, that's what you get," Matthew snickers, finally sitting down. I look up, sending him a glare.
"Shut up," I say as I scrunch my face into an annoyed one.
"Oh, Matthew!" a girl's voice sings out. Matthew's eyes grow like saucers.
"Ah, shít," he whispers, he turns around and jumps over the couch, hiding behind it. The little girl runs over and examines the living room. "Where's Matthew?" she asks.
"Who knows where he went," Daniel says, giving me a look.
"Yeah, he must've run off," I add-in, then Daniel and I giving each other a smirk. Daniel and I silently point over to the couch across from us. The girl grins widely and quietly tiptoes over there.
She steps up on the couch, making a creaking sound. I made an ugly face and smack my forehead. Daniel silently chuckles. I roll my eyes, ignoring him, and continue paying attention to the little girl jumping Matthew.
"BOO!" Matthew pops out, extending his arms. The little girl screams falling over, but not until Matthew's arms catch her.
"Alice!" he yells, pulling Alice close to him. I stop for a moment and stare at them in adoration.
"Who's she?" I ask Matthew. He looks up with a tint of pink on his cheeks.
"She's... She's my mate," Matthew shyly says, scratching his neck, while plopping himself on the couch.
I stare at him in shock. "No, fudging way. That's impossible."
Daniel steps forward. "You're kidding, right?" Matthew gives us a grin.
"Why would I? I knew she was mine the second I entered the packhouse," he dreamily says as he looks at Alice in awe.
"Wait, but you're... Freaking 20 years old and she's.." I pause, "how old is she?"
"She's only 10," Matthew bluntly says. I stare at him in disbelief. Daniel starts choking on something. I turn to him. He was eating my Cheetos and his face was tomato red from choking on the Cheeto.
"Are you okay, Alpha?" Alice sweetly asks. Daniel looks up and smiles at the little girl.
"I'm fine, thanks," Daniel replies.
"Alice," Matthew says, motioning her to sit on his lap. Alice squeals and runs over to Matthew. Matthew reaches his hands out and pulls her up to his lap. I couldn't help it, the moment they shared was just so cute. After a few minutes passed of their "flirts", I clear my throat.
"So.. Would you like to continue?" I ask. Suddenly, Daniel tense.
"Actually," he clears his throat, "I wanna say something in this adorable, loving, confusing situation."
"Go on," Matthew nervously says.
"Uh, how are you .. gonna manage this whole mate thing then? I mean, once she grows older, you'll only feel the bond, and your hormones will heighten," Daniel says, putting his hands together. Matthew laughs awkwardly and shrugs.
"That's the thing. I don't know what I'll do. I mean, I've already notified her parents, but... Right now?" he stops, giving me and Daniel a look.
"I'm utterly scared, mate," he replies in an Australian accent. My eyes were about to bulge out. His accent makes me cringe.
"Uhm, what's with the accent?" I ask. Daniel nudges at my ribcage making me groan in pain. My hand makes its way towards my pained rib and rubs it gently.
"Matthew only does that when he's concerned or nervous. Just when he's unsure of something," Daniel explains, quietly. I nod slowly, letting that information settle in.
"Uhm, Matthew... You shouldn't worry. I'll check to see what I can do. I mean, I can probably find a witch or some nice vampire, yeah?" I give him an assured look.
He gives me a hopeful look. "Really?"
I nod sternly. "Yes, but, don't worry Matthew."
"How 'bout, you just hang out with Alice for a while, and don't let this consume you. Promise?" I say, walking over to Matthew and placing my hand on top of his, which was on his knee. I look up, giving him a sad smile.
"I.. uhm.. I promise, Luna," he stops, "thank you for this. I really needed reassurance. But, now that I've got it from my Luna then I'll be happy. I mean, I'll do anything for my Luna. As long as it makes her happy," he explains, smiling at me. I grin back.
A moment too soon ends when Daniel clears his throat. "Um, I don't like this. I don't like it at all."
He points at me and Matthew's closeness. I laugh and pull my hand back. Matthew chuckles.
"Chill, Alpha."
"Well, I can't when you're so close to what's mine," Daniel says in a threatening tone. I roll my eyes and walk back to Daniel.
I place my hand on his arm. "There. Happy?"
Daniel loosens up and relaxes in my touch. Then, he wraps his arms around me, pulling me close to him. He sighs contently.
"Um, so I'm gonna go. 'Cause, you know, both of you guys seem to be in the middle of something," Matthew awkwardly says, scratching the back of his neck.
He turns to a sleepy Alice. "Come on, Alice." He pulls out an arm and Alice's tiny hand touches his rough, yet gentle hand. Matthew scoops her up in his arms, then laying her head on his shoulder.
"Sleep, my princess," he whispers, kissing her temple. He turns to us and mouths a 'bye'.
"Bye.." I say, barely a whisper. And with that, Daniel and I just stayed in the living room watching a few old Disney films.
*2 weeks later*
Avalon
You have been invited to the 40th annual Carnival of the Royals. Join us on July 14th, starting at 2 pm to Midnight. Fireworks will begin after 9 pm. Hope to see you there.
"Woah, what's this?" I ask Daniel as I hand him the card. He looks at me as I approach him. He gives me a curious look as he reaches for the card. I wait while he finishes reading the card. After a minute, he grins as he looks up to me.
"This," he waves towards me, "this is going to be our official first date."
I look at him like he's crazy. I open my mouth to say something, but nothing seems to want to come out.
"You're funny," I say to him as I go over the kitchen island to grab something in the fridge.
"Come onnnnnn. Ever since you've arrived to pack, you've done nothing but hang out with Matthew and Alice—" I was going to interrupt him, but he stops me.
"And don't remind me of Lilly. You two are crazy with your overnight karaokes! 'We belong togetherrrrrrr.'" I gasp. He dares to mock me? I shake my head and open the cap of my coconut mango smoothie that I made last night.
"Hey, don't you dare mock me and Lilly. We're so good, in fact, we got a sign off from Simon." I walk past him while shooting a wink and he rolls his eyes. I feel his arms snake around my waist.
"Pleaseeeeeee," he begs. I ignore him and try to get out of his grasp. I can sense that he's getting tired of this. His hand on my waist twirls me around to face him. Our bodies clashing together. My breath hitches as I realize how extremely close we are. I can feel his breath on my cheek.
"Go with me. Just me. No Matthew and Alice. No Lillian. Just us. Please. I am begging you, Avalon," he says, on his knees. Literally. Oh, geez.
"Okay, okay. Get up and I will go. Come on, Daniel. Is this how a king should act in front of all his people?" As soon as I say that, he looks up at me with bright hazel green eyes.
"Avalon, for my whole life I was a child. I acted for no reason and acted with no meaning. From the day I met you, I promised myself that I would be your king for the rest of my life. Even if that means that I must bow to you and only you. Because you are my Queen. Never in my life have I ever thought that anyone was higher than me. But you, Avalon. You are so much more and you have every right to see me this way."
I let out a soft gasp as I stare down at him. How dare he? Make me look like a sappy fool. No words were said as we both just look into each other's eyes. The windows into the soul.
My brown eyes and his hazel green eyes. So full of earth. Of life. Of passion.
"Okay, I'll go on this date with you," I interrupt. His smile grows and it seems to reach his eyes.
"Great. Saturday, I'll see you at the front at 1:30 pm."
I share the same smile, "okay."
****
"Why are you going with Daniel anyways? I thought you two started it rough."
I send a death glare at Lilly. "Shut up, will you?"
"Will not. Anyways, I sure hope I find the mate of my dreams tonight at the carnival. It's going to be a huge deal, said Matthew," she says, looking down at her phone. Obnoxious sounds erupt from the device.
It soon begins to build up and I get irritated. Only because I was trying to focus on getting these curls right. But I couldn't because of the fact that who was texting Lilly, couldn't resist.
It was ongoing.
"Gah! I swear to the Moon Goddess, you better turn that phone on silent, Lil," I exclaim, throwing my blue hairbrush at her.
"OW! You motherfu—"
"Girls, are you treating each other with respect and fairness?"
My mother, Stella Whites enters the room. Without knocking, of course, but who blames her?
"Hi, mom," I say, not glancing at her as I was trying to finish up these curls. She stalks towards me and gives me a light peck on the back of my head.
"You look darling, Ava," she says, her index finger latching onto one of my curled strands. She smiles at Lilly through the mirror.
"Good morning, Lilly. You're looking better than ever today."
Lilly gives her a toothy grin. "Thank you, Luna. I'm just excited for the carnival today. It's the 40th Annual. That's huge."
Mother shrugs. "Somewhat. I'm excited to meet everyone. This is the first time we're making this carnival international. Which means th-"
"That I could possibly meet my mate!" Lilly shouts while clapping. Mother laughs.
"Will that, too. But it's huge for us because this gives us an opportunity to prove to our allies that we're friendly to everybody."
My brows pull together. "Even our enemies?"
"Even our enemies, Avalon," my mom replies in a way that sent cold chills down my spine.
"So you're saying that there's a possibility that our enemies might cross our border tonight?" Lilly says, worry laced in her voice.
Mother sighs. "Yes, unfortunately. And Daniel said he's going to have the barrier low today. Just for today, though. He doesn't want anything happening."
"That's terrifying. What if—"
"Bitch, you better not jinx anything or I will come murder you in your sleep," I say, turning around to glare at her. She froze. My mother burst out laughing.
"Shut the fuck uppp," Lilly retorts. My mom was still laughing in the background.
"You two are ridiculous. That's enough now," my mom says while wiping away the tears on the corner of her eyes.
"I'll let you two finish getting ready," she says. She leans and whispers in my ear.
"Your king is waiting for you also."
I blush at the statement and try to hide it as best as I can.
"I'll see you later mom! Oh, and happy birthday tomorrow!" I say while waving her goodbye. Ignoring what she literally said to me.
She giggles, saying thank you and closes the door behind her. I reach for my phone and check the time. It was noon already. I have to hurry and finish soon if I want to meet Daniel by 1:30.
I mentally cuss at myself and quickly "took my time" to finish getting ready.
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Just a light chapter before things get messy ;)