Aria's POV
As I sit on the shower floor, I can't hold it in anymore. I've been pushing my feelings down and I need to let it out. I feel the tears roll down my face with the droplets of water. I feel the pain of losing my father, the stress of becoming Queen. A sob breaks through my body as I pull my knees up to my chin. It feels like I just started to get my father to become my father, but then he was ripped away from me. I'm not ready to be Queen, my mother was right, she should have given me away. I'm going to fail the kingdom, I'll soon be overthrown. Why did I ever think I could do this?
"Aria? Baby where are you?" I hear Damon in our bedroom, I ignore him, hoping he'll leave. He didn't deserve to deal with a mate like this, he deserved a strong, powerful mate who didn't need to hide in a shower and cry. I hear his footsteps become closer.
"Aria, you know I can feel where you are and I can sense your feelings now that I marked you, right?" I hear him say through the bathroom door, I forgot about that part. I see him slowly open the bathroom door through the foggy glass of the shower. I stand up from the bottom of the shower, tears still running down my face.
"What do you want, Damon?" I say coldly.
"Are you okay?" He asks, I give him no reply. "Screw this."
I feel another wave of anxiety and grief run over me. My breathing becomes quick and thoughts cloud my head. A sob racks my body as I hear clothes shuffling, then soon see the shower door opening. My mate steps in, naked, might I add. My eyes shot straight to his, not daring to look any farther down. As soon as he sees me he wraps me in a hug, which causes me to break even more. He runs his fingers through my wet hair as I sob into his shoulder.
"It's okay, baby, everything will be alright." He whispers, holding me.
"No, it's not, I'm not ready to be queen. I need my father back." I sob, clutching him tighter to me.
"Stop lying, you're going to be an amazing queen." He says, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
"I want my father back, he was starting to change." I cry.
"Aria, this is a part of life, we will go through hard times but the important part is that we help each other through everything." Damon puts his hands on either side of my face, pulling my head up to look at him. "I hate seeing you like this."
"Kiss mate, pleaseee!"
I hear the voice in my head, but it's louder now. This voice always seems to give my courage to do anything, so I place a kiss on Damon's lips.
"Ahh, mate is so tasty." The voice says again, It's never said anything like that before.
"Hello, Aria, my name is Kai. I'm your wolf!"
Wait what? I quickly push Damon away and clutch my head. Did I finally get my wolf?
"Yes, you did. I've never been able to reach you like this before, but mates mark made it possible."
"Aria? Why are you scared?" Damon frantically says, grabbing my arms.
"I got my wolf.." I say breathlessly, staring at Damon.
~~~~~
"Can you explain to me why you didn't get your wolf till now?" Damon asks.
I was now sitting in our bed, sometimes communicating with Kai. As Damon sits at my feet, asking me about my wolf. He says his wolf can feel mine, but he can't feel my wolf and vice versa.
"The royal doctor said that I wouldn't get my wolf until I met my mate and even then it may not happen. So when I met you I never really thought about how I didn't get my wolf. I started to hear a little voice in my head saying small stuff, but today I found out that little voice is my wolf. She says you marking me caused us to be able to connect."
"Have you shifted?" Damon asks.
"Once, when I turned 16. But I can't now." I say. A pang if sadness hits me as I remember how embarrassed my parents were that I can't shift.
"Don't worry, mate is all we need now, we don't need parents." Kai says, jumping around my head like a bunny.
I look up at Damon, his eyes show a look of sympathy. He grabs my leg and pulls me into his lap. I snuggle into his warm chest, wrapping my arms around his torso.
"Do think I'll make a good king?" Damon whispers, almost like he's scared to ask.
"You'll be amazing, the kingdom will love you." I smile, placing a kiss on his chest. "Are you okay? Are you happy becoming King?"
"It's nerve racking for sure, this was something I had never really wanted until I met you. I always had wants to change the choices your father made but I never actually saw myself doing it you know?" He says, playing with my hair.
"You are going to be an amazing King, you were practically made for it!" I reassure him.
"Those royal balls and social events are gonna take a lot of getting used to though. I have never enjoyed attending those. But having a gorgeous Queen on my arm might make things better"
And that's how we peacefully feel asleep.
~~~~~
I was woken up by a loud knock on my door. Strong, warm arms engulfing me in Damon's embrace.
A deep groan comes after.
"What do they want now?" Damon says, his morning voice peeking through. I feel the warmth of his arms leave as the bed dips. I open my eyes to see Damon's bare, muscled back walking towards the door. I can't help but stare at the beauty that was my mate. I don't have a chance to tell him to put a shirt on by the time he opens the door and starts talking to whoever is behind the door. I slowly get out of bed and walk up behind Damon.
I see a guard outside the door, I wrap my arms around Damon's waist just peeking over his shoulder.
"Everything is ready, we just need you two." The guard says. He's talking about the coronation, it's today.
"Thank you, you're dismissed." Damon says, closing the door. "Alright baby, are you ready?"
"I don't think I'll ever be..." I say, hugging him tighter.
"You're gonna do great, let's get ready." He says, pulling me into the closet. I grab my coronation dress and head to the bathroom to change. The coronation dress I had picked was actually my grandmother dress but I had a few alterations made to make it a bit of my own.
From what I've heard, my mother hated all of my grandmothers traditions and heirlooms. She had her own crown and gowns made when she became queen. The crown and coronation gown has always been passed down since the very first coronation. I'm glad to be able to use my ancestors heirlooms and keep the tradition. I slip on gold heels and do my hair. I carefully put on my tiara, today I will exchange it for the royal crown.
I walk out of the bathroom to see Damon, dressed and ready to go.
"You look gorgeous, Aria." He says, pulling me into a kiss. I smile into the kiss, he truly gives me confidence in becoming queen. He looks quite dashing in his navy blue suit fitted perfectly for him, I will never get used to how perfect he looks in a suit.
"Are you ready?" I say, pulling away from the kiss.
"As ready as I can get." He says pulling out of our bedroom. We walk hand-in-hand towards the throne room.
Overnight the servants of the castle worked, they sent invitations to all the Alpha's and high ranking wolves. They set up the ballroom ready for the after party. The maids had filled the room with chairs for all of our guests, and managed to set up a whole stage for our coronation. The amount of maids and servants running around the castle was hectic. They all managed to pull off a royal coronation overnight, and were more ready for it than I am.
Damon and I head to the overhead room, above the throne room. This room was generally used for guards to watch over the King and Queen. We both look through the small window looking over the crowd. Every Alpha and Luna were here, hundreds of camera crew and photographers were stuffed at the back of the gigantic room. It was custom for the coronation to be broadcasted for all wolves to see. I spot Connor and Damon's parents, they look so happy.
"Look! It's your family, in the front row." I exclaim to Damon, pointing at them.
"You mean our family, my love, what's mine is yours." he sweetly said, placing a kiss on my temple. We stayed there for a few more minutes, pointing out different people we recognized or thought had a funny outfit.
Our people-watching was interrupted by an Elder Charles.
"The ceremony is about to start." He says.
I look at Damon, he squeezes my hand and smiles at me.
Here we go.
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Merry (late) Christmas everyone!!!
Word count: 1607