Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Elara

I was dressed in a cream-white gown and did my hair and make-up to perfection. It is the day of our engagement party. I am nervous.

‘Hi, sweetheart. Are you ready?’ My father asks. I look up to him and nod. I stand up from my vanity table as he approaches my bedroom. I smile at him, and he gives me a charming smile back. My father is so good-looking. One might think he’s still thirty-five. Werewolves age slowly.

‘So handsome,’ I caress his stubble beard. He brings my hand to his lips and kisses it.

‘You’re even more beautiful,’ he tells me. ‘ Elara, I love you so much,’

I know that. I am his little girl. His only daughter.

‘I love you, too,’

No sooner did he leave, had the door opened. This time it was my two best friends Brendon and Solena who entered. They were dressed for the party.

‘Beautiful girl,’ Brendon cheers, kissing my cheek.

‘Your mom asked us to come get you,’ Solena says, taking pictures of us. I pose for the pictures happily.

‘Your wedding is the talk of the town,’ she informs me. I knew that. The most successful, handsome bachelor was marrying a wolf princess.

‘Have you seen Zuriel?’ I ask, my heart pounding at the thought of him.

‘No, but his mother is here,’ Answers Brendon. Was Zuriel going to show up? I wondered. If Zuriel didn’t show up, the stories that will come up will be vicious.

‘You’re too worried, relax!’ Brendon says, jerking me slightly. I can’t relax though. My nerves are a wretch. I can hear the chattering of people downstairs.

‘Who has come?’ I ask.

‘Almost all the Alphas and lunas of the region are here. And higher ranks in the pack. Total of one hundred,’ Solena informs me. That was so many people. My parents said it would only be close friends and family.

‘Oh, Alpha Bryon is here too… Sulking a little,’ Brendon tells me. Bryon is the new Alpha to one of the large packs. He used to court me, and everyone thought we’d get married because of how well we got along. We never kissed or did anything. I frown, remembering how he didn’t answer my calls after the video of me was posted. I’m sure he thought I was a whore princess like the others.

We go outside. I stand before the double oak door while my friends go inside. I take a deep breath repeatedly, trying to calm myself. I stiffen when I feel Zuriel’s scent hit my nose. I don’t turn to him immediately.

‘We should walk in together,’ his voice is soft. I nod and turn to him. My breath gets caught in my chest. He’s breathtaking. He’s wearing a black tux. His hair is shaved in the sides, and the rest is in a man bun. It gives him a sexy look. Zuriel is undeniably the most handsome man in the world!

‘Done gawking?’ he asks sternly. Shit. I always do this when I see him. I openly gawk at him until he notices. My cheeks are red.

‘Are you ready?’ I ask him to ignore the shyness I’m feeling. He opens his arm to me, and I link mine to his. The guards open the doors, and we walk through to the balcony where we look over the crowd.

I am astounded by the beautiful decoration in the ballroom. The decorators did a fine job indeed. It is all so classy. Everything and everyone is so elegant. Everyone claps softly as we descend the stairs.

I slowly look up at Zuriel, but his eyes look straight ahead. His expression is unreadable.

People are still coming to us as soon as we stop, congratulating us on our engagement. I am a little overwhelmed with everything, but I remain calm. I wish Zuriel could look at me once, but he doesn’t.

He doesn’t want this. However, he gave his word to everyone and won’t back out. He leaves me to talk to some people. My gaze keeps going to Zuriel. He is talking to a handsome man with brown hair. I’ve seen them together a few times, too. The man waves at me when he catches me staring at them. He whispers something to Zuriel, and he comes to me.

‘Hello, Princess Elara,’ he bows politely to me. He has a smile on his lips that makes me feel at ease.

‘I’m Bruce. Zuriel’s friend, but don’t tell him I told you that,’ he says, and I chuckle.

Bruce is friendly and the opposite of Zuriel. He tells me they have been friends for a long time. Like me, he always followed him until Zuriel got used to his presence. I was happy to hear Zuriel has one friend who truly cared for him.

I’m too engrossed in the jokes Bruce is telling me that I didn’t notice Zuriel earlier. I stop breathing when he stands close to me. His eyes locked on my face.

‘Artemis is searching for you,’ he says to Bruce. Bruce looks around like he spotted a ghost and excuses himself. He doesn’t want Artemis to see him. I’m left with Zuriel. We are not speaking, but his gaze is intense on me. I don’t shy away from his gaze, either.

‘Are you alright?’ Zuriel asked, breaking the silence between us. I look around us to make sure he is talking to me.

‘Me?’ I ask. ‘Are you talking to me?’

‘It’s just us here,’ he almost hisses.

‘I just wanted to make sure, especially since you didn’t look at me once the entire evening,’ I sneer.

‘It’s not like you want this either, little princess,’ he says.

‘Why do you hate me so much?’ I ask. I am frustrated with him detesting me. I don’t even know why he dislikes me so much!

‘I have no problem with you,’ he says.

‘Well, I think you do because I can feel the hate radiating off your body. Zuriel, we are getting married next week, and we’ll spend our lives together. I just want some sort of reassurance from you,’ I almost shout. I look around, checking if someone heard us. They are all busy with their dancing and chatting.

‘What kind of assurance?’ he sighs.

‘For starters, stop glaring at me, and let’s get along,’ I say. He looks surprised.

‘Fine, little princess,’

‘Elara, my name is Elara. Let’s start there,’