As he had said, Maddox arrived to take me to dinner at 5:15. But by the time that he had arrived, I was already ready.
My black hair had been carefully braided, pulling around my head but with most of it flaring out from underneath. In my hair was a tiara, a bejewelled monstrosity that shimmered with every movement.
"Once you're crowned you will be wearing a proper crown." Haven had told me.
Apparently, dressing up as if you were attending a ball was a regular occurrence for dinner and everyday events.
The dress that they had put me in was a deep forest green. The sleeves ran down the entirety of my arm, flaring out at my hand. The dress clings to my skin, but not in an unattractive way. At the bottom, it flared out, this time on a bigger scale. It pooled around my feet and went back for at least a metre.
"A dress fit for the Luna Queen," Faith had promised me when I was placed in the dress.
When I looked in the mirror all I could see was my bones sharply sticking out, making me look like a Corpse Queen rather than a Luna Queen. Everything looked fake, the expensive dress, the tiara that was for sure a family heirloom, the large diamonds that were hanging off my neck and chest. It didn't look real.
Verity had sworn that the flaws I was finding were stupid, so in the end, I just looked away from the mirror in a hope that somehow, that would change my perspective.
The moment we heard the knock on the door, everything was thrust into action. Eden had run forward and opened the door, letting Maddox in.
All three of my ladies bowed, showing their respect for a King.
Maddox had a pure gold crown tangled in his hair. He wore a well fitted black suit, practically covered in gold medals and buttons. His green eyes shone the moment his eyes landed on me.
"You look beautiful," He bit out, "Shall we go? Dinner has been prepared, they're just waiting for our arrival,"
I looked down and nodded my head. I let him grab my arm and start leading me in the direction to the dining room. The palace was huge, the long walk towards the dining room only solidified that fact. Maddox didn't say a word thankfully.
"My Beta, Gamma and Delta, along with their mates always have dinner with us. I did mean to tell you that, but it must have slipped my mind. I hope that's not too much trouble for you." He said sheepishly when we were finally outside the dining room.
"That's fine," I forced out, even though it was anything but.
As soon as we entered, the entire room went silent. Maddox looked unaffected as he continued walking to the two seats that were at the very top of the table. He pulled the seat out for me, and nervously I sat down, trying not to focus on their unwavering gazes.
"Maddox, is this her?" A girl with platinum blonde hair asked excitedly.
Maddox gave a toothy grin, "This is Elora Reed, my mate."
She let out a squeal, "I knew it!"
I already regretted not having dinner in the privacy of my room.
"Elora this is my Beta Elliot Enderson and his mate Zina, my Gamma Cassius Marshall and his mate Peyton and my Delta Dakota Ciotti and his mate Callie." Maddox introduced,
"AND I'M ARYA! I'M THE OLDEST!"
My attention was suddenly drawn to all of the children. The girl Arya, who would only be four at the most, was sitting in between Peyton and Cassius. In a seat next to her was a toddler,
"Maddie, can I introduce everyone else because I'm your favourite?" Arya asked again, however, Maddox didn't have the opportunity to answer before she started babbling on again, "This is Teo, he's my baby brother and he is really small. Beau and Tayla belongs to Aunty Callie and Uncle Dakota. Beau gets mad because I'm older than him. Then that little baby that Aunty Zina is Seraphine and she was only born... um... not that long ago." She giggled.
"Thank you, Arya," Maddox praised warmly. He turned over to me, "Arya is four and a half, Beau is four, Teo is two and Tayla is three. Seraphine is about five months old." He clarified, "We have dinner so early so the kids can eat with us."
"So how did you guys meet! Maddox hasn't told us anything, he hasn't left you since he found you! We don't know anything," One of the girls asked out, Payton I think.
"Elora was injured in the bombing, I met her in the hospital whilst visiting the patients," Maddox said simply,
"That's horrible! Elora is that how you got that bruise on your neck?" Callie wondered,
I didn't know what to do, so I decided to go with the truth. At the shake of my head, the table went silent.
"If Maddox did that and he forgot to apologise, I can remind now if you want," The little boy, Beau whispered, as if telling me a secret.
"That wouldn't have been Maddox," Dakota said quietly to his son, "Aunty Elora probably just had an accident."
Ayra's ears perked up, "What type of accident? Aunty Elora, will you tell us?"
Aunty Elora? I would be lying if I said that hearing that didn't make my heart warm up in my chest. But I had known these people for less than an hour, they really must be closer to each other than anything.
"Just something at work, nothing to worry about really," I said weakly, trying to plaster a smile on my face to cover up my nerves.
Maddox looked over at me, "What do you mean? Elora, I was under the impression that your neck was part of the injuries from the bombing?"
I was suddenly hit with a surge of confidence, "The guards you employ to keep us humans in line can get extremely violent Maddox, perhaps you should pay more attention to what happens in the slums of your city." I spat, regretting everything I said immediately. It went quiet, even the clinking of forks and knives against the children's plates stopped.
I looked down at my plate, I had barely eaten anything.
"You worked in Garment Factory 2? I'll be sure to check in with my guards there. I'm sorry dove, please forgive me," Maddox begged softly, his voice sending sharp pinpricks of pain into my heart.
"It's fine," Suddenly, that overwhelming of fear settling back onto me.
"So Zina was considering bring her family up for a holiday so they can meet Seraphine," Elliot coughed, breaking the awkward silence that I had brought on.
"I grew up in the Southern Continent," Zina quickly interrupted, noticing the confused look on my face, "Elliot found me about a year and a bit ago during a business meeting that He and Maddox had to attend."
That made sense. Her light hair and eye colour weren't very common in the North. Everyone in this room, excluding Zina and her baby had varying shades of brown and black hair and equally dark eyes. While Southern Wolves tending to have paler features and dark brown skin. The heat was more intense down there, or so I had heard. Throughout the night, the topic changed. It ranged from business deals, future outings and get-togethers, my marking.
"Have you started thinking about pups yet?" Callie asked, "Maddox loves pups and has always wanted as many as possible, and now that he's found his mate, it shouldn't be long until the next King of the North arrives!"
Of course, The Royal's first child would always be a boy, the thought alone made my lungs collapse.
"Whenever Elora feels ready to have pups, her health is our priority right now," Maddox stated, though the glimmer in his eye at the mention of a pup betrayed him.
I never understood why the wolves had children as they did. Most families had at least three children and would have them all so quickly.
"I have a question," Zina hesitated, "Why wasn't Peyton, Callie and I made Elora's ladies in waiting? You never gave us an answer to why and I was just wondering..."
"I thought it would have been easier for Elora to transition if she had human help," Maddox said, not making eye contact.
Zina's eyes narrowed, "I would have thought that assisting with the transition to the wolf world and then to the throne would have been better done by the three people who will eventually become her best friends,"
"Zina, my word is final. It is for Elora's wellbeing that her ladies in waiting are humans. It won't stop you all from being friends."
"Maddox, are you sure there isn't another reason?" Payton said tentatively, Teo now resting in her arms.
"Elora's wellbeing was my only thought, now can we please move onto another topic?" Maddox gritted through his teeth.
Callie was observant. That much had been made obvious, she had been picking up on little details this entire time. She was watching me now, her gaze making me squirm.
"Elora, you don't like any of us, do you?" She asked quietly, her words sending the table into a hushed silence.
"Cal, what in the name of the Moon Goddess are you talking about?" Zina asked, flabbergasted.
"She's terrified. That's why her ladies are three human maids instead of us because she can't stand being around us wolves." Callie said with absolutely no malice in her voice, but more understanding.
Everyone was staring at me - save for the children who had fallen asleep - waiting for a yes or no to Callies theory.
I wanted to reply, but nothing came out, which seemed to be an answer within itself.
"I just- I just thought, that Elora would be more comfortable." Maddox choked out,
"I'm not scared," I lied, hoping to change the heartbroken expression of almost everyone sitting at the table, "I've just had um.. bad experiences. And everything is very um, you know, new. So ugh I'm not scared, not at all." My voice shakes more with each word, but it seemed that they believed me, or at least refused to admit to themselves that I may be lying.
"Well, that sure is a relief! You know, I don't know why humans are so scared of us sometimes. They may be frightened if we shift in front of them, but I can't see anything more than that happening." Payton laughed,
I cringed. If only they knew.
Waiters flurried into the room, taking away all the empty plates that remained on the table. They took my half-eaten plate away as well,
Maddox leaned into my ear, "Did you not like dinner? I'll make sure they cook your favourite for tomorrow little dove."
I just nodded, agreeing with him as I watched a new group of waiters come in, their plates decorated with colourful sweets and desserts. The pups, mainly Ayra and Beau flashed their canines happily, ready to stuff their faces with whatever creamy, sugary desserts covered the plates.
Maddox cut a slice of cake and placed it onto a plate, before pushing it in my direction, "Try it, you'll love it."
It was dark brown, almost black, covered in a fluffy, white icing. I pushed my fork into it, taking away the smallest bit. I placed it into my mouth and almost moaned at the sweet chocolaty taste,
A small giggle erupted from the table, "Aunty Lora you look like you've never had cake before! That's funny,"
I put my fork down in embarrassment, quickly swallowing the piece I had put in my mouth. She tilted her head, "Haven't you?"
I shook my head, "Ugh no. We didn't really have any bakeries, stuff like this was more of a wolf privilege."
"Then what would you eat?"
I took a breath, "Meat that was a little bit off, that was always cheap. A lot of potatoes, and if the boys brought home a little extra then I'd buy a can of soup. But yeah, mainly meat, bread and whatever vegetables were cheapest." I was at the point where I was forcing myself to be comfortable with these people.
"Elora, how much did you make?" Dakota asked suspiciously,
I gulped, my heart rate suddenly increasing, "Elijah and Isaiah would make about fifteen every fortnight? Something like that... they didn't pay me in money, I was paid in cloth which I used to fix their uniforms that always ended up ripping. It was tight for some weeks, but we were fine. There were other families who had it worse."
"I could have sworn that the wages for humans were higher than that, at least twenty a fortnight..." Cassius trailed off.
I shook my head, "They were lowered a couple of years ago, but the wages definitely weren't twenty, my brothers work pretty long hours every day."
I was ready to leave, if any of these canines asked me another question I was convinced that I was going to explode.
Payton sighed, 'I think we should finish up now, Teo is practically asleep and Ayra isn't far off."
Everyone seemed to agree and the conversation was cut off. They all started saying goodnight, Dakota picked up Tayla, Callie taking Beau into her arms and walking upstairs, both Cassius and Peyton doing something similar with Arya and Teo. Elliot took the baby out of Zina's arms and cradled her close to his chest before walking upstairs, his arm around his mate.
I stood up out of the chair and smoothed out the dress and starting to walk. I had no idea where I was really going, but knowing Maddox, he would probably take over ina second. And he did, he also started talking.
"I hope you enjoyed dinner, I know that you'll come to love Peyton, Zina and Callie. Dakota, Cassius and Elliot too,-" I stopped listening after that.
He started telling me all about how they met each other and about their kids. I was only half listening. I was tired and wished only that a bed would magically appear in front of me so I didn't have to walk anymore. The walk didn't feel as long this time as we turned down a familiar hallway.
"So we usually have breakfast together as well, which is about seven-thirty, so I'll come in and get you at maybe seven-fifteen?" He asked hopefully, pausing in front of my door.
"Actually Maddox, I think I'd like to eat my meals in my room, alone." I trembled.
His shoulders dropped, "All of your meals?" I just nodded. "Oh, that's fine. Of course, I'll have them send your meals to your room, are you sure you want to be alone? I'd be happy to join you?"
"I'm sure," I confirmed softly.
"All right then, I l- I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked, the hopeful glimmer returning again, regardless of how many times I seemed to destroy it.
I gave a half-smile, "Sure,"
That answer seemed to be good enough for him, as he gave a small bow before rushing off to his room. I pulled the tiara out of my complicated braid and let it drop to the floor. I barely handled today, how on earth was I supposed to be able to survive a lifetime?
I pushed open my door and took in its emptiness, Verity, Haven and Faith seemingly disappeared. I changed into the soft, silky pyjamas that had been left on my bed, letting myself fall asleep with the hope that this was indeed a dream.
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OMG YOU GUYS ARE SERIOUSLY THE BEST!!! Currently this story is sitting at just over 70 reads, which is actually mind blowing. I've been getting some new reads lately, so hi! Welcome to the story!
So, how was the chapter? It's a bit of a filler but hopefully brought a smile to your face! Comment your opinions below.
Really hoping that I can maybe reach 20 votes by the end of this week - which is chapter 10 I think? - anyway, if your reading this, please vote on my chapters, it seriously makes my day and makes me feel so much better about this story XD
Anyway, hope you all have a great day!
See you in the next chapter,
Eryn