Damon's POV
As I sit in Alpha meeting, I can't help but be extremely bored. I've never understood the Royal Kingdom. If I was King I would change so many things. And now that they kept a secret of the next heir makes me believe their unworthy. I only ever came to these meeting, the ball never sparked an interest in me. My beta convinced me to go to the ball this year as I'm now 21 and can't continue to run my pack without my mate. I thought I was doing a good job without a mate and that having one would only complicate things even more but my beta was becoming a pain in my ass. My pack members were excited to finally attend the elegant ball but I certainly was not.
I lean my arm on the chair I was sitting in and place my head in my hand, tuning out the few Alpha's arguing. My fingers fumble around with a pen, when suddenly my wolf perks up. The intoxicatingly smell of mint and chocolate from my dream suddenly flows into the room. I quickly sit up and look around the room but no one has entered. The King notices my alerted look and instantly asks:
"Alpha Damon, is something wrong?" He asks, staring at me. Maybe it's coming from the hall outside the meeting, I needed to find out.
"Will you excuse me for a second?" I ask, the second I get a nod, I'm bolting to the door. I quickly open and close it behind me. I see no one in the hall, but I can still smell the scent. I follow it down the hall and around the corner. Then it gets mixed with another scent, I try to keep following it but it soon disappears.
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Aria's POV
Catarina and I have been talking for awhile, getting to know each other. I found out that she actually comes from Brazil and I got to learn a lot about her heritage. She learned a lot about my life and how I was kept hidden, it felt nice to confide in someone about what I went through.
"So, what is it like having a mate?" I ask, laying down on my bed with Catarina. "I've never really seen what it's like to have a mate, and I'm supposed to meet mine very soon."
"It's the most amazing feeling ever, Thomas is so sweet, I can't wait for you to meet him." She gushes, obviously in love. I'm about to reply, but in rushes Maid Sarah.
"Princess, I'm awfully sorry I'm late, I was helping in the kitchen and lost track of time." Sarah pants, from running through the castle. She then notices the other lady in the room " Who is this?"
"Oh, This is Luna Catarina of The Royal Guard pack." I state, pulling Catarina out of the bed. "This is her first Royal Ball as well, so she's getting ready with me."
"Well, lovely. Now let's get you girls ready." Sarah smiles.
We start off with Sarah doing Catarina's hair in a braided crown while I paint her nails pink since her gown is a sparkly pink. Then vice versa. My hair is now falling down my back in curls with a few pieces pulled up, and my nails are painted a pale blue. Catarina is now doing my makeup while Sarah finishes up my dress in her own room. She hasn't let me see the dress, and I don't remember what it looks like since I was so tired last night.
"Do you think you'll meet your mate tonight?" Catarina asks, applying some foundation and concealer.
"I'm not sure, I had a dream last night that makes me think I will." I sigh, closing my eyes so she can apply eyeshadow. "I'm scared to meet him."
"Do you not want a mate?" She asks.
"I do, it's just I've locked up for so long, I want to explore the world before I find my mate." I sigh, wondering about my mate.
"I promise you, once you see him, you'll only want him forever." She says, "Okay, open you eyes."
"How will I know it's my mate? What if I see him and don't know it's him?"
"Oh Aria, your wolf will tell you." Catarina laughs, applying mascara to my eyelashes.
"I've never had a connection to my wolf, I only shifted once when I turned 16 and that was it." I say, fiddling with my fingers.
"Do you know why you can't shift or feel your wolf?"
"The doctor says I'll have a connection when I meet my mate." I state, as Catarina finishes off my makeup with a pale pink lipstick.
"You're all done and ready for the ball." Catarina smiles, "Except for the dress."
Almost on cue, Sarah comes into my bedroom with a bag, that I'm guessing has my dress in it.
"My goddess, you look gorgeous, Princess." Sarah gushes, coming to give me a hug. "You're growing up and I don't like it."
Both Catarina and I laugh at her. Catarina starts on her own makeup, since I'm no good at makeup. Sarah gushes for a little longer until she realizes the time.
"Oh, you both have to get dressed, Princess, you have to be downstairs in ten minutes." Sarah quickly grabs the bag she brought in. She slowly takes a dress out of the bag, out comes a beautiful pale blue gown with gorgeous blue flowers all over it.
"Thank you so much! This is gorgeous, you outdid yourself!" I smile, as a few tears gather in my eyes.
"Don't cry, you'll mess up your makeup." Maid Sarah states. "Here, go put it on and take these shoes with you."
She hands me a pair of light brown heels with details of gold, and I rush into the bathroom to change. When I come out, Catarina is almost out the door, her makeup is done and she has her dress on. I finish strapping up my heels, and stand up straight.
"You look like the princess your supposed to be." Sarah cries. Catarina is out the door, rushing to get to her room. "Here's your tiara, now go to the main foyer."
She places the tiara on my head like this morning and I'm off down the hall. I slowly descent the stairs, seeing my parents at the bottom. My father in his suit with his crown on, my mother in a tight fitting red dress to match my fathers tie, with her crown on. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I almost slip from the heels, but my father catches me. I hear the little snickers coming from my mother.
"Let's head to the entrance, so we can start greeting everyone." My father states, grabbing my mother's hand and walking towards the grand front doors. My father waves his hand at the guard and they slowly open the doors. I slowly walk behind my parents, with my head down. Once the doors are completely open, I'm blinded my the flashing of cameras. The paparazzi is crowding the walk way to the castle as we were standing at the grand entrance to greet all the alpha's. I stand next to my mother since that seems right, the paparazzi is yelling different things that were very hard to make out and I felt a bit overwhelmed. Soon the flashes and yelling stopped as the first dark limo pulled up and out exited our first couple to greet.
The first Alpha and Luna are from the Red moon pack on the outskirts of our land. They bow and shake hands with my father and the same with my mother but when they reach me they only bow and don't shake my hand. I guess you don't do that to Princesses. Next is Alpha Thomas and Luna Catarina, they both look so in love, they both greet my parents like the first couple, but when Catarina got to me she bowed and gave me hug, which I gladly accepted.
Soon we've met all the Alpha's and Luna's. A few Alpha's either haven't met their mate or have lost their mate so there wasn't always a Luna to meet. All the pack members, Beta's, and village members, enter in a different entrance. I see the sun beginning to set, which means the ball will begin soon.
"As always, Alpha Damon doesn't come." My father groans, starting to turn to walk back into the castle.
"Your highness, his beta and pack members have entered the ball, he should be coming shortly." One of the guards inform us.
"Fine, we'll wait five minutes, if he doesn't show up, then the ball will begin without him" My mother harshly states to the guard. Just then a black SUV pulls up with the Blue Crescent pack logo on the hood.
"He's here, Aria, I want you to keep your head down, this Alpha is dangerous." My father warns me, so I do as he says, and keep my head down. As the door opens, the strong smell of orange flows towards me, it was the scent from my dream. The scent keeps getting stronger as I feel a strong presence coming closer, almost as strong as my fathers. I feel like something in my head is jumping around, but I can't tell what.
"You finally decide to come?" My father questions.
"Don't be so rude, Your Highness." A deep voice throws a sly remark at my father. Something with that voice makes feel so calm. All I want to do is look up, but I won't disrespect my father on my first day as a true princess.
"Good evening, My Queen." The voice says, getting closer. The amazing scent is now wrapping around me, and making feel thing that I've never felt. Suddenly a finger pushes my chin up, and I'm met with beautiful chocolate brown eyes. Instantly my breath is taken away and a little voice in my head chants;
Mate! Mate! Mate!
Where his finger is on my chin, explodes with tingles that shot through where he touches my skin. It felt euphoric, his touch, his smell, his eyes, just being in his presence was an overflow of need to be his. Then suddenly he crashes his lips onto mine and my whole body explodes in tingles like I've never felt before.
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Damon's POV
I found her, she was in the castle all along. And know I'm kissing her, this is the best feeling ever. My wolf is freaking out in head, so am I. I pull away from her small body, smiling. She was mine, why does my heart suddenly feel like I'm floating on cloud 9? She was gorgeous, her blonde hair, green eyes like emerald, the smell that was driving me crazy. I wanted to take her away from this world and spend eternity with her, just from one kiss.
"I'm Damon and it's a enormous pleasure to finally meet you." I breath, holding her waist.
"It's nice to meet you Damon, I'm Aria, your mate I guess." I can't help the shudder that goes down my spine when she says my name. She looks over to see her parents gone. "We should head in."
"Can I just have one more minute alone with you?" I beg, not letting go of her waist.
"Absolutely, I can't believe this, I'm speechless." She says looking up at me, she was the perfect height compare to me, right below my shoulders.
"You're my mate, this is the best day of my life." I gush, wrapping my arms tighter around her to bring her into a hug. She squeals as a pick her off of the ground and spin her around.
"What do we do now? My heart doesn't want to leave your side and I don't even know who you are. I feel like I've known you for years but I don't even know your favorite color." She laughs, obviously thinking though all her feelings.
"Well my favorite color is blue which by the way, looks beautiful on you." I smirk towards her, causing her to blush. "And I believe we go attend this royal ball together and begin to learn about each other."
"Yeah, I think we should head in, please don't leave my side." She pleads, I can't help but want to wrap her up in my arms again and promise that I will never leave her. I push away the urge and grab her hand, and lead her towards the ball room. I know this is her first Royal Ball, so I hope that I can bring her comfort. She suddenly stops in her tracks walk when we enter the ball room. I turn to look at her, she's looking around with wide eyes.
"It's a lot to take in, huh?" I whisper in her ear, she slowly nods her head. "Come on, let's head in farther."
She follows me into the center of room, most people dancing to the live music that was being played. I grab her hand and waist, urging her to dance with me.
"I don't know how to dance, I was never taught." She shyly, lowers her gaze to the floor.
"No worries, I can teach you later for other balls." I smile, pulling her off the dance floor. She then stops to talk to somebody. It's Luna Catarina, I guess since she's from the Royal Guard, she knows Aria. I stand next to her with my hand on the small of her back as I tune out their conversation. I was scanning the crowd for my pack members and also for any possible threats towards my mate or I. I never felt safe at these events as it was very easy for a mass attack to happen, All Alphas, Lunas, and Betas in one place is a very easy target. While I'm sure the King has plenty of security, I still don't feel safe that my newly found mate was without any sort of guard other than me when she was just announced to the world as the Princess.
Wait, does that mean I'm going to be king, or is Aria going to come back to my pack with me. There's so many thing I want to know about her. I wish I could just have her all to myself but I was glad she was finally able to experience a royal ball.
"Damon, this is my friend, Catarina and her mate, Thomas." Aria says, getting my attention. I quickly greet them and was about to start a conversation but the King and Queen walk on stage.
"Welcome, everyone to the 94th annual Royal Ball." The King announces, he's always seemed so annoying to me. Everyone starts clapping, even Aria next to me. I slowly start to clap but then it dies down. The King does a long speech and when he finishes everyone goes back to what they were doing.
"Aria, I want you to meet someone, come with me." I say, leaning down to her ear, so she can hear me over the crowd. I don't miss the shudder that rolls down her back. I pull her to where my beta and my parents are talking.
"Hello, son, who might this be clinging to your arm?" My father insults, he's always been judgmental to any women I introduce to him as it was very common that women would clinge to me due to my title, but I had always saved myself for my mate. I didn't even realize she was holding my arm until she starts to pull away, but I quickly stop her, it felt so natural like she was meant to be there.
"I would like to introduce, Princess Aria." All three of them bow, my mother locking eyes with Aria. "My mate."
"What?!" My mother yells, choking on the glass of champagne she was drinking. My father looks in shock, but Daniel, my beta, doesn't look surprised.
"It's lovely to meet you, I'm Beta Daniel of The Blue Creek pack." Daniel introduces himself, shaking Aria's hand. "I saw you two walk in together and knew you were mates from the start."
Aria and I spend the evening getting to know each other, walking around the large ballroom while sipping on a few different drink. She would be pulled away to talk to some important member of the village or pack but I always made sure to stay right by her side. As the night began to wind down, only a few linger in ball room, including the King and Queen. A maid comes up to Aria and whispers something in her ear.
"I'll be right back." She says, the kisses my cheek as she leaves. She walks over to her parents and starts talking to them. She looks so beautiful, I'm so lucky. I take off my suit coat and untie my tie, leaving it hanging around my neck. She walks back over to me, looking much less happier than before. She standing in front of me, with her hands playing with the ends of my tie. I reach up and start twirling a piece of her hair. I could tell she was nervous about what she had to ask.
"Can you stay the night?" She asks.
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The 3rd is done!! Don't forget to add the book so you get notifications when I update, and share, comment, and vote!!
Word count: 2903