Artemis was flying down the road back to her house, going double the speed limit the whole time. Aunt Maddie had already spilled the beans to her when she realized I was too stunned to speak.
Artemis, on the other hand, was livid.
"How dare he?!" she shrieked. "What kind of sick and twisted person trades their daughter off just as her life is getting put back together? And then doesn't even care what happens! It sickens me!"
" Calm down, Artemis. There's nothing we can do now except support Indigo," Aunt Maddie soothed. Artemis glanced in the rear view mirror at me and sighed.
"I guess you're right, it's just... insane," she replied. The car was quiet until we pulled into her driveway.
"You know, it is actually pretty strategic though," Artemis muttered as we walked up to the house.
"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling a little offended.
"Well, think about it. You spent your whole life not being found out because you were an Omega. Nobody cared enough to dig deep into your past. But with you gaining your title, it puts you in a spotlight. It lifts you up from the depths of anonymity, and puts you front and center of the pack and their questions. If he sends you away now, before any of that can happen, he keeps his secret from them."
I stopped walking. I hadn't thought of it like that before, but she was right.
The anger I had already been feeling suddenly morphed into a white, hot rage. I was way past the point of furious. I could feel my blood beginning to boil and I clenched my fists tightly at my sides. Sienna growled in my head.
"That lying, traitorous bastard," she snarled. I could feel her pacing around with her hackles raised. She was not happy about this situation either.
Artemis paused with the key in the lock and turned to look back at me. Her face morphed into one of shock.
"Indigo, your eyes!" she exclaimed.
I was too mad to care about anything right now. I growled and began pacing on her front steps. The pacing wasn't helping so I roared and drove my clenched fist into the side of her house. Just as I did, the outside lights popped and blew out, almost catching fire to the flowers littering the garden below.
Artemis shrieked in surprise and Aunt Maddie backed away. My rage was overcome by the surprise.
"Did I do that?" I whispered.
"Yes, you did, but we don't have time to dwell on it right now. We have to get moving," Aunt Maddie replied. I nodded my head and turned back to them.
"You're eyes are still glowing," Artemis muttered to me.
We walked in the front door and I turned to the mirror hanging in the hallway. I let out a gasp. She was right.
My normally dark purple irises were glowing a brilliant golden white color. When Sienna took control, my eyes were a deep, dark gold, so this was completely new. I stood there and watched as they slowly faded back to their normal color.
"Well that was odd," I voiced aloud, but no one was around to hear. Artemis came plopping back down the stairs with a large suitcase in her hands.
"Here, these are all the clothes you left here, plus some from my collection for you. Also some pictures and things..." She trailed off and tears pooled in her eyes. I took her in for a hug.
"It'll be okay. You'll see me again before you know it," I told her. She just squeezed me back tighter in response.
Aunt Maddie came out from around the corner carrying a smaller back pack and a small purple drawstring pouch with silver scrawling all over it. She handed me the back pack first.
"Here's your things from our house. I brought them over earlier today just in case. And here," she said while holding out the purple bag to me. " This is what I have left of your mother's things. I was hoping to give it to you under better circumstances tonight, but I think you'll need it. Just be warned, don't go through everything at once. Only pull something out when you feel like you need some guidance." I nodded and hugged her tight.
"I'm going to miss you so much," I choked into her ear.
"Shh, now my pup. Everything is as it's destined to be," she soothed.
Suddenly, there were three hard knocks at the door.
"Indigo Murray, open up. We are here to escort you to the border," a loud, male voice announced.
I glanced back at the two people in this world who had loved me. They both gave me small smiles and pulled me in for one last group hug.
I turned, but as I did I saw them give each other a worried look out of the corner of my eye. I decided to ignore it for now and took a deep breath before opening the door to find the two warrior wolves from earlier tonight.
One reached his arm out for my backpack, while the other heaved my suitcase up and down the drive way, then into the back of a waiting car. I slowly made my way down the driveway, and entered the backseat. I turned back to Artemis and Aunt Maddie.
"I love you guys so much, I'll be back as soon as I can!" I yelled just before they shut the door in my face. I watched the house shrink in the distance until I couldn't see it anymore, then laid my head against the window and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
***
An hour and a half flew by, and I was suddenly awoken by the car coming to a sudden halt. I groaned as my head hit the window and rubbed my tired eyes.
Usually, it only takes about a half hour to get to the territory line when you go through town, but we took the back roads so that we wouldn't arouse any suspicion. I glanced down and realized I was still in my party dress. I had never had the time to change. I grimaced at myself, but remembered I still had my pin on me. I straightened it out so it was front and center on my dress. I shouldn't be meeting anyone other than some of DarkBlood's warriors today, so I wasn't too concerned with my look.
Boy, was I wrong.
The minute I got out of the car, my face instantly turned crimson red. Standing before me, were four very regal werewolves, surrounded by eight more intimidating warriors.
"What the hell?!" I screamed in my head to Sienna. "I wasn't supposed to meet them yet! I'm not prepared! What am I going to do?"
"Just calm down," she replied. "You have to look strong and put together. One of those men out there might be your mate, and if not, you need to be tough enough and respectful enough that they want to keep you around. So get your shit together, and go play the game."
She was right. I took a breath and wiped all emotion from my face and stepped from my seat to take them all in.
The person standing in the front, who I assumed was the DarkBlood king based off of his intense and powerful aura, was an older man who had cropped, brown hair that was so dark it was almost black. His eyes were the same color, but his skin was a beautiful olive tone. His mouth was set into a thin, hard line and gave away no emotion.
On his left, was a small, elegant woman with long, dark red locks and brilliant green eyes. Her skin was the complete opposite of the King's, almost alabaster in color. She was stunning.
Behind them were two younger looking males. They were both tall and muscular, but shockingly different in appearance.
The one on the right had a slightly lighter skin tone than the older king, but with long, light brown hair that he had tied back and ocean blue eyes. His features were sharp and his jawline was drool worthy, with a lean body that just screamed agile. He had no emotion on his face, save for a look that was similar to that of boredom.
The man on the left was very well built with more muscle mass than the other, but he had the same skin tone as the woman. His hair was ink black and was slightly longer on the top than the bottom and sides. His eyebrows were a dark contrast on his face, and I was mesmerized by the icy blue pools. Unlike his brother, he looked angry. Very angry. I couldn't help but feel this anger was directed at me, so I lowered my eyes to the ground out of respect and made my way forward.
When I was about a yard from the group, I realized my father and Beta Alexander were there. "Welcome, your majesties. As promised, this is my first born daughter Indigo. She has been informed of the arrangement we made, and is ready embark on this journey," he announced.
I couldn't even look at him. Who knew how I would react if I did.
"I'm surprised, Alistair," the older male said. "I was thinking you were going to back out of our deal. However, we've never seen her at any royal events. How do we know she is really your daughter?" At this, I lifted my head and stared at my father. He grit his teeth.
"She was born of an affair before any of my other daughters were. She is the first born heir, albeit her lineage was kept a secret from the rest of my pack. However, that is not of my concern anymore. She is yours now, so do as you please."
Anger boiled in my body and I had to clench my fists to keep myself from attacking him. Sienna growled in my head just as I heard someone clear their throat. My eyes shot to the man across from me.
"Well, then it is our pleasure to welcome you, Indigo. I am King Ruben of the DarkBlood pack. This is my Queen, Stella." He motioned to the beautiful woman at his side. She gave me a slight smile, but said nothing. I bowed in respect.
"The pleasure is all mine, your majesties," I replied. King Ruben smiled at me.
"And these," he said motioning to the men in the back, "are my sons. The princes of the kingdom, Valen", he pointed to the one with black hair, "and Von," he said while gesturing to the other.
I bowed again. "Greetings, your majesties." Von cracked a smile and shimmied forward to inspect me. I did notice, however, he never actually crossed the border line.
"So, you're supposedly one of our mates, eh?" he asked. I gave him a stiff nod and he laughed.
"Well, we'll see about that. Still, it could be worse. At least you look like you can handle your own."
"Thank you," I replied. Valen huffed in annoyance.
"This whole thing is ridiculous! She could end up not being either of our mates, and then we're stuck with a pathetic she-wolf who is probably good for nothing. She'll just take up room in the kingdom, or we'll have to kill her. We should just leave now and forget this nonsense," he said while his eyes flashed red.
"Enough," said King Ruben. "We made this treaty, and we are going to adhere to it. No excuses, no exceptions." He was using his alpha tone and I was surprised at it's strength. I stepped forward a little.
"I am not a good for nothing she-wolf. I have worked damn hard to achieve the top student title in our academy, and I will not be talked about as if I'm not here," I said.
I instantly realized I had made a mistake when, once again, Valen's eyes flashed red. He was up in my face faster than my mind could process. I could feel his hot breath against my skin, and it made me shiver as he looked down at me.
"I will not be disrespected again. Take this as your only warning," he spat out before turning away and stalking to one of the black SUVs waiting for us.
I released the breath I hadn't realized I was holding and bowed in submission.
"I apologize for my outburst. It was wrong of me to do that. It won't happen again." King Ruben just laughed.
"Its alright, young one. Sometimes he needs someone to put him on his ass. Come. Lets get your things. We have a long journey ahead of us."
I grabbed my luggage and took a heavy step over the border line. The moment I did, the line to the pack link was severed and I felt an overwhelming ache of loneliness rattle through my bones. Although I hadn't been treated well by most of them, they were still my pack.
Regardless, I threw my shoulders back and marched on to the unknown.
Author's Note:
Whew! I feel like this chapter was really long, but splitting it up didn't seem right. What do you guys think of the DarkBlood royalty so far? Do you like the long chapters, or should I keep them shorter? Let me know!
And as always, please vote and comment! I appreciate all of you!
Xoxo
CrimsynIris