"and that's Isaac's room, which he's still mad came after he moved out." Max explained, opening the door to a large bedroom. All of the bedrooms he had showed us were much larger, and had the wonderful benefit of belonging to a single person.
Max had shown us all of the rooms at this point. The once four bedroom house was now seven, with the addition of two more in the guest house, which we hadn't seen yet. The stairs in the house were next to the door to the garage, by the family room in the back. They led up to the three new rooms, with my father's new office, and an odd sort of game room with a foosball table and game consoles.
My brother had also explained that even though all the boys had moved out, Mom and Dad still wanted to expand the house for times like this, when everyone was home. Especially since Max—and apparently Nolan, which I had found out on the "tour"—had found their mates, and started their own families.
Max had also let slip that Nolan's mate, Lucile, was pregnant. So there was another kid on the way. My only response to that was another oh.
Eventually, we made our way back downstairs, past the family and dining rooms, and back into the kitchen. Everyone else was gathered in there already, chatting happily. They all had glasses in front of them, filled with various alcoholic beverages.
Maggie's eyes glanced up to see us. "Oh! Can I get you guys anything? There's wine, beer, soda."
Being offered wine and beer was a new concept. It happening here made it all the stranger.
Max continued on into the kitchen, grabbing himself a beer from the fridge, setting it on the counter next to the fridge. There was a black moon on the label, and a white wolf howling below it.
Obviously, I didn't like the picture on the bottle.
He reluctantly grabbed another one and held it up by the neck. "Here, Princey." Dante rolled his eyes, but he caught the bottle when Max shoved it across the counter.
"I'm not really looking to get buzzed, Maxwell." Nevertheless, Dante twisted off the cap that's really meant to be popped off with a bottle opener, and took a quick sip.
Maggie's eyes curiously bounced between the two of us as I stood next to Dante, rather close. Admittedly, I was standing so close because I was more comfortable next to Dante than I was around my family, especially since Nolan's and Harrison's eyes were drilling into me.
Max raised his eyebrows in a challenge. "It's Christmas. You have to."
Dante let out a laugh, as I peered curiously at the bottle. "But isn't that human alcohol?" I asked quietly, staring at the stupid brown bottle. The brown eye on the wolf was practically gazing back at me, taunting me with its cartoon white coat and fluffy tail.
Still more a wolf that I was, I mentally cursed. Damn, did I hate Batilda. She had taken everything else from me, of course she'd take my wolf as well.
"No. There's some wolfsbane mixed in." Dante answered.
"Are you fine, then? No drink?" Maggie attempted. Her gaze and tone told me she was very cautious with me. It was almost a nurturing tone, inquisitive and caring but careful not to be too loud or too insistent.
"No, thank you." I replied, hating the silence that occupied the room afterwards. They were all walking on eggshells around me, weren't they? Maggie made sense because she was basically a stranger, but these were my brothers, and it was frustratingly painful.
A forced cough came from my left, and I moved my eyes to look at Harrison and Nolan sitting across the table from each other. I desperately tried to ignore the exposed sliding glass doors behind them, the very doors that led to my demise, and the obvious white and dark green scenery that lay outside. I didn't want to look at the forest, nor go anywhere near it.
It was Harrison who coughed, as he ran a hand through his hair and looked at us nervously. "Can I ask a question?"
I blinked, then realized he was talking to me. "Okay." Please don't let it be too invasive.
He picked up his short glass and swirled it, the amber liquid rising around the edges. "What is Dante doing here?"
Goddess. Another one of the big questions. Or maybe everything was just a big question to me, as the entire situation was so very uncomfortable.
"I'm a little curious to that as well." Nolan added.
Harrison continued. "I'd ask you why, uh, your Highness—"
"Not your Highness." Dante cut in.
"He prefers Princey." Max sniggered at his own joke.
"Max," Maggie scolded, sending him a dark look. He rolled his eyes.
"How was that bad?"
She shook her head. "You need to get past the mate thing."
"Mate thing?" Harrison asked.
Maggie realized her mistake. "Uh, no mate thing." Her words came out in a rush.
"Oh, fucking hell." Nolan said, piecing it all together. "You're going to be Queen? That's..." Nolan cut off, shocked at the revelation.
"Queen?" Harrison echoed, his eyes wide. "I mean, that explains your smell, but—"
Maggie couldn't stop her giggles at that, covering her mouth with her thin fingers.
Oh goddess.
I want to disappear. This was a mess. Not at all how I wanted it to come out. I didn't even know if I planned on telling all of them, but now the cat was out of the bag and it was so messy. Nolan was completely shocked that someone as weak and incapable as I was was going to be Queen, Max and his mate had clearly communicated their feelings about this beforehand, and Harrison was bringing up the physicality of our relationship.
"He's my mate, but I'm not discussing the whole queen part of that." Dante let out a rumble at that, probably because he hated my feelings about the whole thing, but I was not going to tell my brothers that I'm not going to be Queen. They'd find that out later, when I finally convinced the man next to me to reject me.
"That's wonderful, though. You being next for the crown." Nolan finally finished.
I almost rolled my eyes. "It's not important."
Dante took a long sip of his beer, giving me a dangerously serious look as he did so.
"You're mad at that?" I asked him, a frustrated huff escaping me. I couldn't do anything without pissing off someone, could I? I couldn't do anything, period. I'm such a wreck.
"I'm holding my tongue." He replied, those blue-green eyes darkening with that blatant irritation.
I opened my mouth to reply, but I was cut off by a little, high pitched voice. "Can I show them my castle now, Mommy?" Venice asked, lingering into the kitchen from the living room.
"Yes, you can." She rushed out, giving me and Dante a bright flash of white teeth. "I'll come with." She escorted Venice out of the kitchen and down to the front hall. "You guys might want to put your jackets on. It's snowing again."
"Jackets?" There was no need for jackets. The house wasn't that cold.
"Yeah, it's only like a minute trek out back to the guesthouse, but it's really cold."
My arms tightened around myself. Out back? As in, the backyard?
I felt those blue-green eyes on me, and I knew he was gauging my reaction to this. He was aware that the forest was where I lost everything, and Dante had gotten to know me well enough to know that I was a complete coward and wouldn't dare stepping a foot out there again.
Too lost in my thoughts, I only saw blurs when Venice ran back into the room, fluffy boots on her feet and a puffy white winter jacket bundling her up. She was so tiny that the jacket absolutely swallowed her, leaving her looking more like a marshmallow than a little girl.
Blinking back into focus, I saw her staring up at me and Dante with wide eyes. "Jackets." She said, and then giggled.
"Do you want me to just get it over with?" Dante whispered, turning to face me. "I don't think she's going to give up."
By the excitement on Venice's face, and her already present obsession with royalty, I didn't think she would either. But that would mean Dante leaving me here alone with a good amount of my family.
Oh, this was a lose-lose situation. I was petrified of alone time with my family, but then there was the issue of the forest. I knew I would absolutely shut down if I had to get any closer to the backyard than I was. Dante leaving was the lesser evil.
"Yeah, you go." I told him, wrapping my arms around myself.
He nodded, giving me one last worried look, before going to get his own coat. The minute he left the room, I felt colder, more vulnerable, in an already suffocating environment. I did my best to fight the urge to run out and remained there until Dante had come back.
"Vámanos!" Venice ran over to him before he even got a step into the room and tugged at his hand to get him to go.
"She really likes Dora." Maggie explained, a smile on her face as she watched her little girl obsess over the Prince.
"Okay, okay. I'm working on it," Dante had barely gotten one arm through his sleeve before Venice tried dragging him to the back door.
I watched Maggie open the door and step out, that frigid wind chilling everyone in the room, as Dante and Venice followed.
He shut the door behind him, and then I was left with Max, Harrison, and Nolan.
My arms crossed over my chest as all three wolves turned their eyes to me.
"How long have you guys been... uh, together?" Harrison asked, nervously scratching the back of his neck. He seemed weirded out by the concept. Me too, Harrison.
Together could mean a lot of things, though. We certainly weren't dating, even if Dante kissed me all the time. You didn't have to be dating to kiss, right? And it wasn't like we were going on dates. I've been in the castle almost entirely, except that one time we went to the art museum. But that wasn't a date. We weren't dating, because he shouldn't be romantically involved with someone as screwed up as I was.
"I've been at the castle for a month, I think." I responded meekly. There was no use of the word together, we just were in the same palace for a while. A temporary while, before I figured things out and got him to reject me.
"You're living together?" Nolan asked, his eyebrows high. "How did you guys find each other?"
My eyes bulged at the insinuation. And it wasn't even really an insinuation as it was a statement, but the concept of living together was far different from the reality that I had spent a short amount of time in the castle, and Dante was also there. But he lived there.
"We're not living together."
Max shifted his weight so he was leaning against the counter across from me, with the other two still looking confused at the dark wood table.
"He didn't seem to like your comment about the crown not being important earlier." Max, the apparent sleuth, pointed out. Of course that would be the one thing he caught.
I picked at a loose thread in the soft sweater, bringing my eyes to stare at the hardwood floors. The boys all seemed to want to know why this was, and that was an in-depth conversation.
"What's wrong with the crown?" Harrison questioned.
"Can we not talk about that?" I whispered, hoping and praying I didn't have to explain my very personal issues with my brothers, who I had always known to be very overprotective. They wouldn't like my self hatred and doubt one bit.
Nolan stood up, and walked over. He passed right in front of me to get some more alcohol, before joining Max on the counter.
Max and Nolan had nothing in common, visually. Max was stockier, with curly hair and smaller eyes. Nolan has always been skeleton-like in his build, but still slightly muscular, as we were werewolves. His face was cleaner, and his hair had barely any texture to it. He looked a lot more like Harrison, actually.
But one thing all of them shared was that calculating stare, and three sets of it were summing me up currently. I kept skipping their questions, but I wasn't ready to answer them, and not answering them made me feel better than delving into everything would.
Nolan seemed to want to keep trying to quiz me. "Have you gotten to know the other royals?"
I nodded, liking the noninvasive question. "I haven't seen King Damon much, though."
Max scratched his chin through his beard. "I've only seen him a handful of times and I've been over there a good amount. He's crazy busy all the time."
Dante was already crazy busy, too. Would he get more busy when he became king? I wouldn't want that, to never see him.
But I'm making him reject me, so that doesn't matter.
The room fell into another silence, a very tense, awkward one, and I hated every second of it. My choices had done this, had made me into a stranger in my own house, and no one else was to blame. I shouldn't have gone into the forest, I should've escaped, and I shouldn't be so cold and awful. But I can't go back in time, I can only hate myself more and more.
"Is this horrible, being back here?" Nolan's voice was just above a whisper, but he seemed careful about his words.
Max elbowed him hard in the side, eliciting an "ow!" from Nolan, while giving him a dark glare.
"I chose my question, ass." Nolan hissed, rubbing his side.
"Dante pushed me to come here. I didn't want to." I mumbled out, stepping back so I could lean against the wall.
"You didn't want to come now, or at all?" It was Harrison this time. He leaned back against his chair, a wine glass in one hand and the other up on the back of the chair next to him.
"At all." Sadness and pain flowed through my veins, but not at giving the response. It was the truth in it. Everything that had happened had ruined me, and if anything my family should know that much. It would at least give them a clue as to why I wouldn't be coming back here, and why this wasn't my home, and why I was just so horrible. I only possessed negativity now.
"Why?"
I shook my head sadly. "I don't belong here anymore."
Max furrowed his brows. "Yes, you do. This is your home."
"I'm stupid, but I'm not dumb enough to believe this is my home. It's changed. I've changed."
"That's okay."
I shook my head, feeling my eyes sting. It wasn't okay. It wasn't.
"So you hate this right now." Nolan clarified.
I thought it over. This, right now, wasn't so bad. They weren't being overly invasive, and I wasn't delving into anything I didn't already think about constantly. But being in this house was horrible, and being with these grown men was not easy.
Before I could come to a conclusion about that, the front door whooshed open, and pairs of footsteps came in. The cold quickly drifted back here, and I was all the more uncomfortable.
"Do we have guests?" The feminine voice came from the entrance hall.
Oh, goddess.
Before I could even think about running out of here, Max jumped off the counter to go greet them, walking right past me.
I needed Dante here. I couldn't face my parents without him. But of course he was out back, and we weren't mated, so there was no way I could contact him to get him here.
My eyes searched the gray-walled kitchen, looking for anything to get me out of this situation. To my right, the original hallway that led to the bedrooms stood, and to my left, the passage to the living room and further down, the family room and the stairs.
My brain was screaming at me to go right, hide in the room so untouched that dust sat on many of the surfaces, with its purple walls and horrible memories. But my body, the ever-traitorous, weak thing it was, remained frozen in place.
Not a minute later, my father walked in, his face aged and cheeks flushed from being in the cold. He had obvious wrinkles and crows feet lines that had accumulated in my absence.
"Do we really already have the beer out, at four in the afternoon?" He joked, pulling his phone out of his pocket and setting it on the table. He then brought his focus back to everyone in the room.
His eyes landed on Harrison, still seated at the table, first, noticing Nolan in the kitchen, and then landing on me.
It didn't take long for him to tense, the smile falling, to be replaced with complete seriousness.
My father had always been a very warm presence, always joyful and kind, but also serious and no nonsense when he needed to be. With Harrison and Hayden always causing trouble, and Isaac's carefree attitude, there was a good amount of no nonsense with them. But he had never had to even raise his voice with me.
His hand went to rub his chin, his jaw dropping as he stared at me. He must know. Max and Harrison didn't know at first sight, so they were much more casual with me. Nolan, however, had frozen, at a loss for words. My father was the same way.
I saw his eyes get glassy, only the littlest bit. It made my own heart ache, knowing how much pain I must be bringing everyone else by being here.
I had never seen my father cry. Right now, with his wet eyes and stupefied expression, was the closest he had ever gotten.
I should leave. This instant, before my broken heart shattered any more. It was all too much for me.
Surprisingly, I was the first one to speak. Maybe it was the pain overflowing and forcing me to do things I shouldn't, but it happened.
"I'm sorry." I whispered, and then tears came rolling down my face. "I'm so sorry."
I shouldn't be back here. That was the most obvious thing. I had tried to tell Dante that, but in my stupid, vulnerable state last night, I had told him the opposite, and now I was here. My reappearance was very clearly bringing pain to others.
All too quickly, I was wrapped in warm arms, the familiar comfort that came from my father surrounding me. Uncontrollably, I broke into sobs, and my dad just rubbed my back. Thankfully, above my wound so I wouldn't flinch.
"Why would you ever be sorry?" He whispered, his voice thick with emotion.
I cried harder at this, knowing there was so much to be apologetic for. My failure to escape, letting myself be abducted in the first place, turning into this shell of a person... My mind ran wild with all my regrets.
Nevertheless, my arms wrapped around him. Harrison hugging me had been odd because we had never hugged, but my father had always been my rock. Where Max was my best friend, my dad was the one I always came to when I was sad or hurt. My mother had always envied that her only daughter was a daddy's girl, but she understood. My father was impossible not to love.
"Thomas?" My mothers voice came from the hallway, and then her footsteps, joined by someone else's, entered the kitchen. Like everyone else, they then froze, as she probably stared at her mate with some stranger.
"So we do have guests." The voice was easy to identify as Isaac's, sounding from near where my mother was.
"Goddess." Her voice cracked. As if practiced, my dad then broke off from me to turn to my mom, who I found break down immediately.
She took a few hesitating steps forward, stopping just out of arms reach. "My baby." Her hand went to clutch her chest.
I was taller than her. Only by an inch or two, but I was. That was a scary fact. I wiped my eyes, deciding I didn't have time to focus on scary stuff, and only focus on this, right now.
I may have expected her to wrap me up in a hug as my father had, since she had always been the touchy, emotional one, but she just leaned back against the island in front of us, looking devastated. "I... I don't know what to do." She said, before tears started falling down her face. My mom hurriedly wiped at them, but they didn't stop.
"I'm lost." Isaac said from the back of the room as my mom cried into my shoulder.
Me, too. What do you do with family you haven't seen in a decade? You can't just pick things up and resume them, but you also can't start anew. I'm not their Florence, but I'm still a Florence, right? Dante would argue I'm the same daughter they've always had, but that's because he's always arguing the opposite of what I feel.
My mom tried wiping her eyes again, dabbing at the corners, but seconds later more tears were soaking into her skin.
"You're..." My mother hesitated, sniffling and taking a long look at me. "So beautiful. You're a woman now." She mumbled that last part, her lips dropping sadly.
That wasn't entirely true, as I certainly didn't feel like a woman. But I wasn't going to correct her. The shakiness and sadness I still felt would keep me from doing any of that.
"Anyone else smell the Prince?" Isaac asked again, sniffing the air and then settling his green eyes on me. "You definitely smell of the Prince."
Did Isaac know Dante, too? He must've, if he knew his scent. Of course Dante knows all of my brothers better than I do. Another one of the Goddess' cruel tricks on me.
Nevertheless, my cheeks reddened at his statement, but at least no one said anything.
Isaac didn't recognize me. It didn't hurt as much as the first or second time of this happening, but it wasn't painless.
"Where were you?" My mom whispered.
My dad's arm went to wrap around her and pull her into him. She looked ready to cry again.
"She doesn't like that question." Nolan said from behind them, forcing them to remember they had other children in the room.
My father furrowed his brows, which made me notice both he and my mother had grayed. My moms once vibrant red hair had dulled to a lesser bright red, with a couple gray strands, while my father had completely grayed, all over. The last time I saw them their hair had been youthful. Have I truly been gone this long?
Maybe I caused those grays. Being so reckless like I had and disappearing into thin air. I certainly caused more than enough problems as it was, what was to say that I didn't cause the aging of their hair.
The back door slid open loudly, causing me to stiffen up, as Maggie strolled back in, Venice and Dante behind her.
"Hey guys." Maggie greeted, taking off her scarf. She gave a wide eyed look at my parents and I. Dante also kept his eyes on me, seemingly cautious to my reaction.
Isaac spoke again. "I knew Dante was here. What's up, man?" He asked, walking over to Dante. They shook hands, but Dante's eyes didn't leave me.
"Hey, Isaac."
My parents turned around, confusion clear as day. "Y-your highness?" My mother asked. She glanced back at me, eyebrows furrowed.
"Just Dante, please."
"Maxwell didn't tell us he invited anyone." My mother said quietly, before her face heated bright red. "N-not that you aren't more than welcome, your hi—er, Dante." She rushed out.
Max walked back into the kitchen then, rolling his eyes. "It slipped my mind." He walked over to his bundled-up daughter and picked her up. She let out a giggle, holding onto his neck, before he took her back to the front entrance.
My mother turned back around, and took my appearance in one more time. "How did you get here?"
My eyes flickered back up to Dante, before going back to my mother. Her green eyes were still glassy.
"Dante brought us here."
She blinked. "Is that why you smell like him?" I almost groaned at another reminder of that, but she continued. "How do you two know each other?"
A pause ensued. The brothers that knew the answer to that looked on with great interest, knowing this was a big deal. Had things been normal, I would have been so excited to tell my parents that I found my mate, and they would've been so overjoyed at the news, albeit a little sad that I'd have to leave the nest.
I had already left the nest a long time ago. This was just me clarifying to them that I wasn't really here to stay. Would the news make them even the slightest bit happy? Probably not.
The words came out anyway. "We're mates."
Deafening silence met my revelation, for a good long minute. My arms wrapped tighter around myself, imitating the rope-like coiling around my heart that came of such pain. Nothing was good, this was horrible, and I had changed too much to fit any of my goddess-chosen roles.
My mom finally let out a big breath, her eyes big. "T-that is... so g-great." She turned around to take in Dante. "I m-mean, you're a woman now, s-so," Suddenly, she burst out sobbing, and my dad pulled her into his chest, rubbing her back.
My father's expression looked saddened. "You said no boys until you were forty." He said quietly.
My shoulders dropped. "You know I can't—"
He shook his head, his lips upturning just the slightest bit. "I know. I'm happy for you, baby."
Those words meant a lot more to me than he'd ever know, and a sense of relief rushed out of me. They weren't unhappy that I had a mate. And judging by their lack of protest, they didn't seem to have any sort of reason to not approve of Dante, either.
"Do you want your beer, Dante?" Nolan asked, moving to the bottle to the other side of the counter, where Dante was.
"Thanks." He said, taking a sip of his beer before setting it back down. His green-blue eyes locked intensely with mine, but he didn't say a word. It seemed he wanted me to be in control of this situation.
Harrison cleared his throat from the table. "Can we find out where you were now?"
Nolan nodded from the kitchen. "We're all basically here."
I scanned the room, finding everyone interested in what I would say.
I let out a sigh. "But Hayden—"
"Will land at around one in the morning. We can fill him in later." Harrison finished for me.
Shoot. He took away the only excuse I could think of.
"Okay." I finally relented. My eyes wandered behind me, to find the living room staring back at me. "I, uh, think I would be more comfortable delving into this in there than in here."
My father blinked at this, but then shrugged. "Alright. Let's go, Theresa."
My parents passed by me and went into the living room, followed by Nolan. I then turned to join them, but Dante stopped me.
"Florence?"
I turned around just before entering the room.
"Just one second." He said, seemingly trying to get me over to him.
Isaac then decided to figure things out. "Florence?" He breathed out.
I almost sighed, only a couple steps away from Dante now. "I know, Isaac." The surprise had become familiar now, and I didn't want much more of it.
"Can you give us a sec, Isaac?" Dante asked. Harrison had slowly made his way out, but he still remained around, and Max still stood by the entrance to kitchen.
"B-but—" Isaac tried, his expression clearly stupefied.
"Let's go, bud." Max said, patting Isaac's shoulder as he passed him. Slowly, Isaac joined him, but those green eyes he got from our mom never left me.
Finally, when the kitchen was just Dante and I, and we were an arms length apart, Dante spoke up.
He was quiet, very aware of the fact that my family were wolves with very good hearing. "Are you alright? I missed a lot being with your niece."
I cringed at that title, closing my eyes. "Don't call her that." I whispered, the 'niece' title so strange to me.
"Fine. I missed a lot being with Venice."
I sighed, running a hand down my face. "You did."
"Are you sure you don't want a drink? Alcohol is great for stress relief."
Peeking one eye open, I found him completely serious. "I thought you said me and alcohol didn't mix?"
He smiled at that. "You and getting drunk don't mix. A glass of wine might help you loosen up. I can feel how frightened you are."
My eyes found his stupid wolf beer next to us. "What about that?"
He grimaced slightly. "I don't think you're going to like that."
I raised a brow. "I already don't like the label."
"It's not very tasteful, no."
Impulsively, I grabbed it and inspected it, the happy expression on the wolf as it howled at the moon taunting me. "Who thinks of these things?" It was rhetorical, and I didn't expect an answer as I downed some of the drink.
Immediately after the horrid, vile liquid got to the back of my throat, I regretted my bold decision, setting the drink back down and letting out a few coughs. Goddess, it was disgusting. Dante put a hand on my back, as I swallowed the rest of the drink.
"Oh, that's so gross." I let out in between the last few coughs.
"I did not think you would enjoy that."
Max must've peeked back into the room, because he made a reappearance verbally. "What's the holdup, Princey?"
Dante narrowed his eyes at the direction of the voice. "Your sister decided to choke."
"Well why would you do that, Florence?" His voice was full of amusement, and I almost turned around to glare at him like Dante, but I kept it in.
"Well be in in a quick second, Maxwell." Dante replied, and Max shut up.
He grabbed my hand when I had fully recovered from that awful drink. "I'm here, okay? I know you've been dreading this the most."
A relieved sigh escaped me. "I know." But that isn't going to make this any easier.
So I let go of his hand, turned around, and entered my doom.