Aria's POV
I woke up to a knock on my door, as I go to get up I'm stopped by something holding me down. I turn around and see Damon gripping my waist, sound asleep. He looks so calm and at peace while he's sleeping. How is this the most hated alpha? I move to brush a price of his hair away from his face but as I'm about to touch his face, I hear the knock again, causing me to flinch and hit Damon in the face. He jolts awake, looking confused.
"What the hell?" He says, looking around the room trying to find what hit him. His eyes then land on me, his eyes soften.
"I'm so sorry! I never me-" I start to ramble, but am cut off by his lips on mine. He pulls away with a content look on his face.
"It's fine, baby." He smiles, then I suddenly remember the door. I spring out of bed and to the door. I open it revealing Sarah.
"Good Morning, Princess. I'm sorry to wake you." She says kindly, giving me a warm smile.
"It's fine, I should have been up by now." I say, keeping the door open enough so she could see me but nothing else.
"I was wondering if you required my help getting ready this morning?"
"I think I will suffice by myself, but thank you."
"Very well, the King would like that Alpha Damon and you come to the meeting at noon today." She waves goodbye and I head back into my bedroom. As I turn around, closing the door, I'm lifted off my feet and into Damon's arms. I laugh as he carries me to the bed. He lays me down on the mattress as he hovers over me.
"Good morning, Damon!" I laugh as he kisses my nose.
"Good Morning, my beautiful mate." I blush at his comment. "I have a question."
"Go right ahead." I urge him.
"Will I become King or will you become my Luna?" He asks, rolling over to lay next to me.
"I'm not quite sure, that's what we're discussing today." I truly didn't know or even think of that.
"Ok, I was just wondering." He mumbles, obviously not happy with my answer. I look over at my clock, it read "11:13".
"Oh goddess, we need to get ready." I exclaim, getting out of bed, before I can get all the way out of bed, I'm pulled back by Damon grabbing my hand. "The meeting is at noon."
"One more kiss." He states, puckering his lips. I smile and give him a peck on the lips, then get out of bed. I walk to my closet, picking out my clothes.
"I'm going to take a shower." I hear Damon yell from the bathroom. I reply with 'ok' and then hear him say something that makes my cheeks heat up. "Care to join me?"
"Damon, shush!" I scold him, hoping no one heard him. I then hear the shower start running. I decided on a light blue halter dress and some black sandals. I start to get ready at my vanity, which was located right outside the bathroom. When I'm finished, Damon walks out of the bathroom in a grey button up and black khakis. He comes up behind me and just hugs me while I fix my hair.
"Damon, I need to go brush my teeth." I sigh, pulling his arms away from my waist. He follows me to the bathroom, then sits in the counter, watching me brush my teeth.
"Why are you staring?" I ask, wiping my mouth.
"I just can't believe you're my mate." He smiles
"Because I'm the Princess?"
"No, because you're so innocent and you shouldn't be mated to me, but I'm too selfish to let you go."
I don't know what to say after that, it was so sweet and meaningful, so I pull him out of the bathroom and into the hall.
"We need to go, Father will be upset if we're late." I say, pulling him towards the meeting hall. But he stops me:
"I don't care if your father will be upset, and neither should you, you don't belong to him anymore, you're mine forever. We can be late if we want to be, sweetheart." he says, cupping my face in his hands, "Aria, can you promise me something?"
"Of course."
"Even if I can't be King, promise me you'll stay with me." He says. Looking down, he seems ashamed.
"No matter what happens, I'll always stay with you. I've only been a princess for 24 hours, I'd give up my title to be your luna whenever I need to." I place my finger under his chin and pull his face up to meet my eyes. I give him a kiss on the cheek, and he smiles. We walk hand-in-hand to the meeting hall. As we walk in, I see my Father's Beta and Daniel, Damon's Beta, as well as my parents Why would they need to be at this meeting?
"Finally! We've been waiting!" My mother exclaims, I tense as I regularly do around my mother. But this time, Damon noticed, as he gives my hand a squeeze.
"Please, sit down." My father grumbles. Damon and I sit down across from my parents. Daniel sits next to Damon, my Father's Beta doing the same to my Father.
"Since you both have high statuses in the werewolf community, we must decide how this will go." My father explains. "I've talked with our elders and they've agreed with me, that since Aria has a kingdom to guide once I step down, you two will become King and Queen."
"What will happen to my pack?" Damon glares, I feel him getting upset so I squeeze his hand. He seems to calm down.
"That's what we will be discussing." My father says obviously annoyed. "Queen Scarlett and I will be stepping down in 4 months, since neither of you have any royal training, that is what you shall be doing in the next 4 months."
"But what about Damon's pack?" I suddenly ask, tired of them avoiding the question.
"Over the next 3 months, you will be staying with Damon in his pack, it is your decision if you would like to bring anyone from your pack into the Royal Village and who takes over Blue Crescent for you. In the final month, you will be back at the castle preparing for your coronations."
I slowly take it all in, they had it all planned out. I don't even get a say in it.
"You may start packing as your heading to Blue Crescent pack very soon." My father finished, I slowly stand up, bow and walk out without worrying about Damon. I was in a state of shock from how much they controlled my life. I enter my room and start packing.
"Hey, are you okay?" Damon asks walking into my bedroom. I sigh grabbing my clothes, only taking what I want since I will be back here in 3 months.
"I just wish they would have given me a choice. I want to be with you no matter what but they didn't give us an option. I'm used to this treatment but you're an Alpha and should never be told to just follow what they say like this." I say, looking up at Damon. He tries to give me a reassuring smile but I can tell he doesn't like this either.
"Once I'm King.... a lot will change." He says sitting down in a chair, staring off into space. I wonder if he's mind-linking, I've never done that. My parents wouldn't let me since then all the Royal Village would wonder who I am. I finish up packing and look over at Damon. He's still zoned out, I walk up to him and tap his shoulder. He then snaps out of his trance and looks up at me.
"I'm done packing, if you're ready to go." I state, gesturing to my bag.
"Oh yeah, we can go, I was just mind-linking some people to make sure they were ready for arrival." He says, hopping up from the chair. I go to grab my bag, but he stops me. "I've got this."
He grabs both our bags and we start heading to the main foyer. As we arrive, I see Maid Sarah waiting for us. I forgot how much I'm going to miss her, I had never spent a day of my life without her.
"Princess, your parents could not see you off because of a meeting, but they wish you the best." She smiles.
"Very well, I guess we'll be on our way." I say sadly. Sarah pulls me into a hug and i never wanted to let go.
"I'll miss you, Your Highness." I hear Sarah sniffle.
"Please don't cry, I'll be back soon!" I try to soothe her. I pull away and wipe her tears. I say a quick goodbye to her and then head out of the castle.
"You ready?" Damon asks, putting our bags in the back of a black SUV. I nod my head as he closes the trunk of the car. He opens the passenger side of the car and I hop inside. I've never really been in a car before, I've read about them in books and have seen my parents in them many times but I've never driven in one. Damon closes my door then walks to the other side of the car and hops in as well.
"Buckle up." He states, I slowly try to figure out what he means. I'm guessing he senses my confusion because he looks over at me. "Have you ever been in a car before?"
"No, I'm sorry." I blush, feeling stupid.
"It's okay, so this is the seatbelt, it keeps you safe." He pulls a strap thing across me and then puts in to something and it makes a 'pop' noise. I quietly thank him and then he places a key into the car and then a grumbling noise starts. My eyes go wide and I think this car is about the blow up.
"Aria, it's okay, this is normal." Damon laughs, placing his hand on my knee.
"Oh."
We start moving and I try to act calm. Damon grabs my hand and interlaced our fingers.
"Why did your parents keep you hidden for so long?" He asks, keeping his eyes on the road.
"I was the first born, since I was a female, I was a disgrace to them."
"But why didn't they just get over it?"
"My parents loved their popularity, having me would have be horrible for their reputations." I state, used to this, but Damon was very shocked.
"You have horrible parents." He states, gripping the steering wheel.
"I've learned to accept it. Sarah was like a mother to me." I start to wonder about his childhood. "What was your childhood like?"
"My parents were different from many Alpha's, they let me have a childhood but when I turned 16, I started Alpha training."
"Was Daniel your best friend?" I had always heard stories about how close an Alpha and Beta were and how they normally grew up together.
"Actually, yeah, he's actually older than me by a few months but we grew up together."
"That's so cute." I gush, I've always wanted a best friend. Sarah was the closest I had to one but she was more of a mother figure than a best friend.
"It's a really long drive, you should sleep." Damon changes the topic. I decided I should probably get some sleep, so I lean my head against the window and doze off.
When I wake up, it's dark outside but I see a big building in front of us. As we drive closer, I see a very large group of werewolves.
"Welcome to Blue Crescent pack." Damon smiles, squeezing my hand in pride at me seeing his beautiful pack. He parks the car and I open the door. I step out in front of the group of werewolves, there was so many of them, it was overwhelming and stressful
"Welcome, Princess Aria!" they all said in unison.
Then I black out.
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Word count: 2072