(From Blue''s Perspective)


    He left me dumbfounded, thinking about what he had just told me. He was strange. I did not understand why he could not talk a bit more clearly.


    One thing about him that surprised me a lot was that he could not just read my mind. He always knew what I was talking about, even when I would not make things clear. I wondered if he truly understood that I meant him by the lion.


    I was nervous about tonight''s event. He was going to introduce me to all the werewolves. They were surely going to hate me. I was a human, after all. He said that I would not have to do anything, but just be there. I wondered if he truly meant that.


    I decided to take his word in this case.


    I lie down on the bed, thinking about surviving. Even if I managed to go through tonight''s event, there were going to be other things next as well. The day after tomorrow, I was going to marry him right when I would turn eighteen. I had never thought about marrying this early. Honestly, I never thought about marrying as I always had a feeling that someday Father or Draven would kill me.


    But as it did not happen, and I managed to live, I had to marry him.


    Marrying him did not seem like the worst thing that could happen to me. He was handsome, perfect, and also was good towards me. But there was also an intriguing part of him that always frightened me. Yet as he did not mistreat me, I thought perhaps I could ept him as he was, and then one day, maybe I would understand him and the meaning behind his mysterious words.


    Max would be jealous of me seeing the luxurious things around me. I wished he was here, too. But part of me wanted to p him in the face. He could have put an end to our misery, or at least he could try if he had the courage to go to the police. Even when I tried to go to the police, he stopped me, saying that it would destroy our lives. As if our lives were not destroyed already!


    I heard the door opening. Demetrius said he would not be here till evening. I sat up on the bed to see who it was.


    I did not expect her to be here. It was Evelyn, Demetrius''s sister. She was exquisite, just like her mother. She smiled at me and came to sit beside me.


    "I''m leaving after your wedding. I might not get much time to chat with you, so I thought that this is a perfect time. Were you sleeping?" she asked.


    "No. I was just lying down," I replied.


    "Tired?"


    "No," Iughed. "Demetrius took me on a tour around the castle. Perhaps that''s why I''m just a bit fatigued, not so much though."


    "He has shown you everything?"


    "Kind of. But he did not show me the roof. He said he will show that to meter," I said.


    "Good. Have you been to his study?"


    "Yes. It''s very beautiful."


    "He spends most of his time there. He likes to be alone, you know."


    "He told me that. He said I can go there any time," I said.


    "He said that?" she asked as if it was something very hard to believe.


    "Well, he said that he would like to spend time with me, so if I want to, I can be there."


    "That''s new. He never lets anyone enter the study room without business. He sometimes lets Mother go there, but not always. Especially when he is in a foul mood, everyone stays away from him."


    "Oh," I mumbled. "Does he get really angry?"


    "When he does, he is really hard to face. But he will not hurt you. You''re very precious to him. It''s clear in his eyes every time he looks at you or talks about you."


    "He talks about me?" I asked, surprised. Why would he talk about me? There was no reason for someone to talk about me.


    "He tends to keep things private about him. But he told us about you two months ago. That was when Uncle Victor told him to marry a princess. He refused and said that he had already chosen you as his Queen."


    Two months ago? So he was telling me the truth. He truly knew me for a long time. But was he keeping an eye on me? How did he even see me? His sister did not seem to know much about this thing, so I decided not to ask her.


    "Oh. I didn''t know him that time," I said.


    "He said that you met him only yesterday when he brought you here," she said.


    "Yes."


    "Can I ask you something, Blue?"


    "Yeah, sure."


    "Don''t tell him about this," she said.


    "Don''t worry. I won''t," I promised.


    "Good then. Well, did he force you toe with him?"


    I thought about it for a moment. That time I had wanted to run away from him. But he knew what I wanted to do. He told me that he would take care of me, he would not hurt me and he also said that I would not be able to get too far away from him. He would perhaps force me toe here with him if I tried to run away. But I did not.


    I came here with him willingly. It was not called forced for sure.


    "No. I havee here willingly," I replied.


    "But why? Why would youe with a stranger?"


    I did not know what to tell her this time. I could not just tell her about my family and the things they did to me. I could not tell her that I wanted nothing more than to get away from that family. And for that, if I had to go away with a stranger, I would.


    "That''s a secret between us," I said. "We would like to keep it this way."


    "As you wish. But you can trust me and think of me as a sister."


    "I know, Evelyn. It''s just I would like to cherish our secrets," I said with a smile.


    "So, have you two... I mean, done anything?"


    "Done anything?"


    "You know, mating."


    "No," I said quickly, blushing furiously. "We didn''t do it."


    "Nothing at all?"


    I shook my head, not knowing how to mutter a single word about this. Her question made me think about how it would feel like to be in his embrace fully, how it would feel to kiss him. My own thoughts scared me. I did not know if I wanted to do it or not, but to my horror, I was actually considering it.


    He kissed me on the forehead and brushed his lips against my ear, but he never tried to kiss me on the lips. But he always came very close to me that I would start to feel self-conscious.


    "Anyway, so where are you going?"


    "Merrick and I are going for traveling. This time, Ava wille with us too. We''lle back after six months, perhaps and then we will set out again."


    "Demetrius said you two love traveling."


    "We do. We met this way. I was traveling to a waterfall and Merrick was there, too. Then we traveled together and you know sparks flew. So here we are now," she said, grinning. "We were very young.


    I was eighteen, and he was neen. And here we are, after five years, we are still very much in love."


    "I hope I get a family like this too."


    "Oh, Blue, you have already got a family. I know my brother. You might not believe this, but you are the person he cares about the most, more than anyone else. He will stand up to anyone for you. You might think that as we are his family, he is very close to us. But that''s not the case.


    If there is a fire and he can only save one person, he will choose you without any kind of hesitation," she said. "Do you know why? Because he wants you. He feels some kind of pull towards you. Wolves are hungry, Blue. And the Alphas are even hungrier.


    They get what they want and when they get it, they make sure to take care of it and let no one elsee in between the Alpha and his precious thing. My brother might look very frightening and I won''t lie, he actually is like that. But to you, he is softer than cotton.


    All you have to do is be his only and gain his trust, be with him, and then, he will give the world to you and protect you from whateveres in the way."