Filed to story: The Rejected Werewolf Princess (Camilla & Tyson) by Didi Adeyemi >>
“What about what I think is best mother?” I asked, “I don’t even care about me but what about Audrey? Did you think about her when you made that decision?”
“He will find out about her sooner or later,” she said simply, “And you simply cannot keep leaving things half finished. It has been four years. Camilla and you are still hung up over him. You cannot spend the rest of your life pining over a man.”
“I’m not pining over a man mother,” I resisted the urge to run my hands. through my hair in frustration. “Look, the most important thing to me right now is Audrey. I don’t even know what is going on with Ryker or his. life. I don’t care-,”
“That’s not true,” she cut me off, “If you didn’t care then you wouldn’t have asked me to keep all information about him away from you.”
“That’s not what I meant when I asked for that.”
“Isn’t it?” she asked and I fell silent.
I hate it when my mother does this but she knows that she is right. Maybe I didn’t want to see or hear about Ryker mating with Lauren. I think I would have felt if he did but the distance and the time and the fact that my wolf and I have shut him out all these years. We also never had an official ceremony so the bond isn’t as strong as it can be.
I tried to focus on my daughter and give her the best version of me that I could. I would not have been able to do that if I spent every second of my day crying over my mate like I did while I was pregnant with her.
“Do you remember how you felt when you looked at her for the first time?” mother asked and I hummed. “Do you remember how full you felt and how it felt like your heart was going to burst from the amount of love that you felt for her.”
Emotion gathered in my throat and I nodded.
“You will do anything for her, am I right?” I nodded again because I couldn’t speak. “That is how I felt when I saw you after all those years. It felt the same like it did twenty two years ago when I gave birth to you. The same way you will never do anything to hurt Audrey is the same way I will never do anything that I think will hurt you.”
“I don’t want to see him mother.”
“I know,” she cooed, “But you have to do it sooner or later. You have to either close that door completely or you open it up again.”
“I know that.” I sighed, “When are they arriving?”
“Most people won’t arrive until two weeks but knowing the situation, I would give him a week,”
I swallowed and nodded. I have a week to prepare my mind for anything that might happen. I nodded and started to go back into the room when she stopped me.
“I know you wouldn’t want to know,” she began, “But he hasn’t mated with anyone yet. Do with that information as you will.”
The preparations for the ceremony were underway immediately. I was swept into meeting after meeting and lesson after lesson. I was taught ways that a crowned princess should speak and act and walk. I was taught the things I was allowed to say in public and the things that I wasn’t.
It was as frustrating as it was exhausting and every night I climbed into bed hoping it would be my last lesson but they just seemed to keep going on. Audrey didn’t really understand what was going on, all she knew was that there was going to be a large party and that I was unusually busy.
Christine helped me with her a lot especially when I had a lesson running late or a last minute meeting but I knew she still wanted to spend time with me which is why I requested that both our dress fittings be done together and on the same day. Once again, Audrey didn’t understand the magnitude of the situation, she was just excited and ski pping over the prospect of pretty dresses.
When I arrived in the room that would be used for dress fittings, the women all bowed immediately. Audrey was so shocked by them that she rushed behind me and buried her face into the skirts of my dress. “They’re not going to hurt you,” I whispered as I bent down to her level, “They bow because that is how they greet us.”
She poked her head out from behind me, “Do you pinky promise?” “Yes, I pinky promise,” I h ooked my finger with her tiny one and she finally came out of her hiding spot but kept her hands intertwined with. mine.
The coronation has three main events that I need to be dressed for. The first is the official introduction to the various Alphas; it is a dinner that will be held in the grand hall where I get to be seen for the first time. The second is the actual ceremony where I am crowned princess in front of everyone and the third and final is the after party where I have to mingle with everyone and get to know them for myself so I can have a good guess on who are our allies and who are enemies.
There isn’t a dress scheme for the first or third events but for the second, it is tradition that whatever color I choose has to stand out and no other person would be allowed to use that color. It will most times serve as the color that I am known for. Take my mother for example, on her coronation, she wore a dress that looked like it was dyed in fresh blood and people nicknamed her the Red Queen. I haven’t chosen my color yet and I was dreading it.
“Mummy look at all the pretty dresses,” Audrey got over her initial fright and ran over to the many rows of clothes, “That one is pink, can I have the pink mummy?”
“You can have whatever you want,” I assured her, “But you need to try it on first to see if it’ll fit.”
Unlike me, Audrey only has to attend one event- the coronation. A part of me doesn’t want her there but I know there is little to nothing I can do about it. While she was gushing over the many dresses, I tried on a few ideas for the first and third events.
Prior to this, I had given them an idea of what I wanted so it wasn’t difficult to choose something. For the meeting, I chose a simple off the shoulder silver dress. It had an A line skirt and it flowed down to my ankles where it pooled out into a small train. It wasn’t too much but it was enough to draw attention.
For the after party, I chose a dress made from the softest fabric that looked like a cross between grey, silver and blue. It had a mesh corset like bodice with silver straps and the skirt wrapped around my legs in a way that was both decent and exciting. The material was sheer and I knew it would raise a few brows but I loved it.
I was about to take it off when Audrey appeared in a dress that was almost the same color. It was blue with a ball gown skirt and it had butterflies all over the skirt. She had a butterfly crown in her hair and she was smiling so wide that it looked like her face would split open.
“It’s the same,” she squealed as she rushed over to me and I managed to grab her hands before she put them on my dress. “You look pretty mummy.”
“So do you,” I gasped, “You are the most beautiful person here.” She giggled with excitement and I felt my heart ache as I watched her. “Why don’t you go take it off so you can help me pick out another dress?” She nodded eagerly and allowed the woman lead her back into the dressing room. I was stripped out of the blue dress and I stood in a robe as they showed me color after color but none of them seemed to call out to me.
Audrey returned and I pulled her into my lap and opened up the book of colors in front of her. Her eyes widened and she looked over each page as if she wasn’t sure where to look first. She would hover over a color then fl*p the page and realize that there were more colors there. It felt good to know that I wasn’t the only one who was confused by the entire thing.
“How long do I have before I need to choose a color and a design?” I asked without looking up.
“Three days at most,” I don’t know who answered me but it was enough to put a damper in my mood. “We would need enough time to get the fabric and depending on the complexity of the design.”
“I understand,” I closed the book and handed it to the person closest to me, “I will get back to you in exactly three days.”
They bowed and helped me put on my dress before excusing themselves from the room. I sat there with Audrey for a few minutes longer and she rested her head backwards on my chest.
“Are you okay?” she asked and I hummed, “Are you sad because of the dress?”
I laughed softly as I shook my head, “I’m not sad, I’m just exhausted- it means tired.”
“I’m sorry, do you want a nap?”
I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. I wish I was the kind of tired that required a nap but unfortunately that won’t help my case. I k*ssed her forehead softly to let her know that I appreciated her thoughts.
“Thank you, maybe I’ll get a nap later.”
“I’m hungry mummy,” She pulled herself off my leg and gestured for me to stand so we could go.