Aurora's POV
The ballroom fell into total silence as everyone watched with different expressions on their faces. What was this? What exactly does this man want? I have nothing to offer, so why was he asking for my hand in marriage right in front of everyone? “So will you take my offer, Aurora?” The Lycan King, Tristan asked with a smile on his face. Even at this moment, my eyes searched the crowd for my ex-husband, Alpha Elijah, and he also looked shaken. “That's a rather hastening decision Lycan,” Father stood between us, “And at that in front of everyone.” I let out a breath of relief when I saw Father in my front. Thank goodness, because how would I have dealt with this situation? “I'm speaking to the lady in question. Do you have a problem with that, sir?” Tristan furrowed his left eyebrows. “My daughter is tired and must retire home,” Father bowed his head as a sign of respect, “Elena you should take her home.” I turned back one more time; Father and the Lycan King were still talking; I wondered what they were talking about. Elena held my hand and walked me out of the ballroom. I didn't dare look anyone in the eyes, I didn't want to know what was going through anyone's mind. “What was that about?” I heard my stepmother's aggravating voice the moment we entered the house. I ignored her and continued walking but she held my shoulder and slammed me to the wall. I didn't say anything to her; even if I wanted to speak to her, she wouldn't understand until someone told her what I was saying. My stepmother removed her hand from my shoulder, “I have other daughters that are more worthy of the Lycan King, so get ready. The suitor we talked about will arrive in the evening, and you must make snacks for him.” “I'm not going to meet any suitors,” I said but my stepmother rolled her eyes because she didn't understand what I was saying. “After your marriage has been finalized, we will fix any of your sister's marriage to the Lycan King,” My Stepmother said to me dreamily, “I don't even know how you charmed him.” I didn't want to hear any of this so I left her and ran to my room. I turned on the light and Elena was standing in the dark in my room. “Why are you here?” I sat on the bed, “I thought you would be with Scott.” Elena sat on the floor next to my feet, she put my leg on her thigh and began to massage it with coconut oil, “Scott, wanted me to be with you, he said that witch is planning your wedding already.” I nodded my head with a small smile on my face. Elena normally refers to my stepmother as a witch. “You can marry him, he is a non ranked and how will you both be able to communicate?” Elena voiced her concern and I completely understood her. “They might reject me again,” I said weakly. I badly want to be rejected this time around. “Maybe you should agree to the Lycan King's proposal, you know, when he becomes serious, you will have no choice but to give in and marry him,” Elena said and I nodded my head. “I'm tired; let's talk about this tomorrow,” I stopped her from massaging my legs, and I climbed the bed. I haven't even had time to process my own emotions since my divorce, and Mother was arranging suitors for me; worse was the Lycan surprise proposal. Why did he do it? What would he gain by marrying me? He already has everything so what is his motive? Someone knocked on the door and entered my room, it was Stepmother's right hand maid, I couldn't even communicate with her, she wouldn't understand anything, “Lady Aurora, Madam has asked you to come downstairs and make snacks for your suitor and his family before they arrive,” I looked outside the window and everywhere was bright. I didn't even sleep a wink I got down from the bed so she would understand I was coming. I followed behind her to the kitchen; I wasn't actually going to make anything; stepmother just wanted me to stand in the kitchen and inhale all the smoke. “Mom, you should arrange my marriage to the Lycan King,” one of my stepsisters, Lola, said excitedly, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. “Why would you want to marry someone who proposed marriage to our sister?” Justin sat on the couch as he picked up the daily paper from the table, “And Indigo, we will actually talk about the disgrace you have brought to this family and your sister.” Justin was the eldest of all of us; he loves us, treats all of us equally, and always protects us. “It's not Indigo's fault that Alpha Elijah fell for beauty so please leave my daughter out of this,” Mother defended Indigo's disgraceful act. Justin glared at stepMother, “Aurora won't get married to a non ranked.” “Who are you to decide that?” stepmother fumed. “You can get ready to see your suitor but when I get back, I will decide your marriage as the eldest in the family,” Justin dropped the paper he was reading on the table, “I won't be having breakfast today,” he said and left the house. I went to get ready under Mother's instructions and only came downstairs when the suitor arrived in the evening. “You should show him around the garden,” Indigo suggested when I greeted Omega Nickolas’ family, “Their world would be so quiet, a deaf and a mute together,” Indigo whispered to one of her sisters. I nodded my head with a smile as I took the young man out to the garden. It was so quiet as we walked, watching the scenery before us. I stopped when the young man touched my shoulder, “I don't want to get married to you.” I was surprised by what he had just said, “Why? Is there a reason?” Not like I wanted to get married but was I that bad? “I don't want to be arranged with someone who was once married to someone as powerful as Alpha Elijah and someone who rejected the Lycan King's proposal, if I get married to you, you will be a danger to my family but they don't see that,” He voiced his concern with a smile on his face. I smiled at him, I wasn't smiling because he didn't want to marry me, I was smiling because it looked beautiful, someone was communicating with me in a language we both understood and he wasn't using his mouth. “I will take care of everything, you shouldn't worry,” I didn't know how I would do that but I was happy that I was going to be free. He looked like a kind young man, I wondered what caused him to be deaf, I was about to put my hand on his ear to heal when I heard my name. I turned to see Elena panting, “Father, Alpha Justin, it's huge, there is a huge drama inside right now.” “What happened?” I questioned Elena, the young man whose name I never got to know dashed into the house with speed. “What were you about to do my Lady? How would you have explained to everyone how he started hearing again? You could have become weaker,” Elena hit me lightly on the shoulder. I didn't think she saw that. I touched Elena's shoulder so she could lift her head up and see what I was going to ask her, “What happened to my brother Justin?” I questioned again, feeling concerned when she didn't respond at first, “What drama is going on inside?” “Yes, the evening paper just came and your Father announced your marriage to the Lycan King, a date for the wedding has even be fixed,” Elena said, I couldn't even tell if she was joking or being serious but I felt she was joking, Father would never do such a thing to me.Lycan Tristan's POVI sat on the bed while the maids massaged my legs and my hair with oil.The first time I saw Aurora, there was something about her that intrigued me so badly, and proposing to her at the party last night wasn't part of my plan. It just kinda happened.“What madness was that?” Mother barged into my room.“We should learn to knock,” with a wave of my hand, the maids picked up their things and left my room, “What madness are we talking about?”“Why did you make such an announcement in front of everyone?” Mother scoffed and folded her hands across her chest.“About my marriage?” I stood up, walked to the table, and poured wine into a cup for her, “I thought you would be happy that I was getting married?”I handed Mother the wine, but she ignored it, and I kept it back on the table, “Yes, I'm happy that my son would finally be getting married, but to a mute? Hell no, I thought it would be Ava.”“Ava?” I raised my left eyebrow, “Ava isn't bad; given the chance, I would m
Aurora's POVFather would never do such a thing, he would never get me married to anyone without telling me. That was Stepmother's nature, not Father's nature.Elena held my hand, “You should understand your father,” I pushed her hand from mine and ran inside the house.“Why would you bring us here to insult us?!” Omega Nickolas yelled at stepmother, and I didn't even care, “We will get to the bottom of this,” He held his wife's hand and left.“Why did you do that without consulting me first?!!” stepMother yelled, “Didn't I say I was going to get one of our youngest daughters married to the Lycan so why did you arrange your daughter's marriage with him?!!”I was angry at Father, but seeing the situation, I couldn't say anything, “Father did the right thing,” Justin said, “I would have done it if he hadn't done it.”“Excuse me?” Stepmother spat as she placed her hand on her waist.“Your eldest daughter destroyed her first Marriage and now you want to get your younger daughter married t
Aurora's POV Looking at myself in the mirror, I could see a girl wearing a beautiful wedding dress with no smile on her face. She didn't look happy. I prayed something would happen and the wedding would get canceled but nothing. I was staring at my empty self, waiting to be taken to the altar. “You look beautiful, even more precious than last time,” Elena complimented but I wasn't feeling any compliment at the time. “What's going on now?” I asked curiously, “I have been in this dressing room for a long time.” “Nothing, your Father will come soon; everyone is already at the church waiting,” Happiness radiated from Elena's face as she stared at me. “Aurora,” I turned towards the door when I heard Father's voice and I ran to hug him, “Let's go,” I nodded my head and followed Father. I held Father by his arms as we walked down the aisle; the hall was so full, and there weren't many people at my wedding with Alpha Elijah, but this was different. I lowered my gaze the whole time to
Aurora's POV When the light came on, the concern on Tristan's face slowly turned to disappointment then anger. “What the hell are you doing in my room?!!!” Tristan yelled and I felt it in my bones, “Why are you dressed like that?” What type of stupid question was he asking? Didn't he ask them to take me to this room earlier and wasn't he the one who kept this night garment on the bed? “How dare you come into my room dressed in such a manner?!!” Tristan yelled, he looked around the room with disgust, “What is going on with my room? Why is it like that?” I could feel the anger all the way across the room, Tristan picked up a robe and shoved it forcefully into my hand. He held my arms and dragged me out of the room. Tristan pushed me, and just as I was about to fall, His Grandma held me, and I fell into her arms. I stood up to thank her when I realized almost everyone in his family was standing in front of his door. Tristan's loud voice must have brought them here. “What's going o
Aurora's POV “You shouldn't mind what you just saw, they are just best friends,” Travis assured me with a smile on his face. I followed behind him till we got to the west wing, “The place you were is the North wing of this house, nobody is allowed there without Tristan's permission,” Travis opened the door, “This is your room.” The room looked extremely beautiful and elegant; it looked like a princess would live there. I wanted to express myself but Elena and Scott weren't here to help me out. Travis looked at me with concern, he held my hand and carefully walked me to the table in the room. He drew out the chair and made me sit on it. I looked carefully at him wondering what he was doing, when he brought out a paper and an ink, “Write whatever you want to tell me.” Thank goodness, someone with some sense, I picked up the ink and wrote, “Why is no one allowed in the North wing of this house?” “Tristan is the only person who stays there, and he likes his privacy; I will advise y
Aurora's POV I was scared; I didn't understand what was going on. I cooked it the way everyone would cook it and with the normal ingredients. Travis tasted from the plate of food Tristan had eaten from without any hesitation, “It has garlic.” I was surprised that despite Tristan was lying on the floor looking lifeless, Travis tasted the food, if I had poisoned the food, Travis would have also eaten the food without any hesitation Tristan's mother stood up with teary eyes. She pushed me, and I lost my balance, “Have you gone mad?!! Did you want to kill my son so bad that you served him garlic?” “Call the physician now!! Get him from his quarters immediately!!!” Grandma yelled to no one in particular but different staff ran to call the physician. Travis stood in between me and Tristan's mom and said, “You shouldn't take your anger out on your son's wife; if you want to blame anyone, it should be Ava and the kitchen staff; she doesn't even know that Tristan doesn't eat garlic
Aurora's POV “Ever since you got back from Tristan's room yesterday you have been dead silent,” Elena voiced her concern, “You may leave us now,” She said to the staff getting me ready for our wedding reception. I contemplated telling her what I found out, Elena held my hand and led me to sit on the bed, “Look, you know I'm your sister and I will do everything in your best interest, so what happened in that room?” I took a deep breath, “Tristan can't differentiate between colors, he is colorblind.” Elena's jaw dropped lower than my grade in school, “Are you serious? That is deceit, how could he not tell you about it?” I shrugged my shoulders, “I can't even say anything to him.” “I know, now that I'm here, I'm going to confront him, but for now, make sure you smile so your Father won't worry,” Elena touched my chin with a proud smile on her face, “He was worried when we were sent for earlier than the date we agreed.” “Is something the matter?” Grandma entered the room and
Aurora's POV If eyes could kill, this would be the moment Tristan's eyes killed me. Someone was trying to set me up, I didn't say anything to Elijah and Elijah doesn't even know sign language. “Why are you all spewing nonsense?” Tristan's mother asked, either out of irritation or she was trying to conceal the truth. Tristan held my wrist very tight, “You, come with me,” he held my hand, dragged me to his room, and pushed me to the floor. “Have you gone mad?!! How did you even find out I couldn't tell the colors?!!!” I placed both hands on my ears when he yelled. Tristan squatted close to me, “Do you love your ex husband that much,” he forcefully removed my hands from my ear, “I'm talking to you!!!” “For what you just did, I promise, I will make you pay,” Tristan stood up, “I will make you understand how it feels when your weakness is used against you.” Tristan glared at me and left the room. I hated this; I couldn't even speak, so how could I defend myself? I stood up from th
Aurora’s POV “Grandma,” I ran to sit where she was lying with tears all over my face, “Go and get someone,” I raised her head and placed it on my lap.“Grandma, please stay with me,” I tapped her face continuously. Grandma managed to raise her hand, she pointed at the beginning of the stairs. I looked at the stairs and there was no one there, just as I turned my attention to Grandma, I noticed a shadow or maybe it was my imagination.“Grandma, who did this to you!” I questioned and a lone tear left Grandma’s eyes before she closed her eyes.“Grandma!!!” Tristan yelled. I turned to look at him, and I noticed that almost everyone in the family and guests followed behind him.He ran to pick Grandma from my leg, “What happened to her?” Tristan yelled, “Get the physician immediately and take Aurora to her room.” Before I could protest, Tristan ran with Grandma in his arms, “Seal the gate,” Travis ordered, “No one leaves this palace until the Lycan orders it.”Elena helped me stand up fr
Aurora’s POV I felt a rush of dizziness hit me when I opened my eyes, “My lady,” Elena rushed to my side. She helped me sit up on the bed and handed me a cup of water.I returned the cup after drinking from it, “What happened?” I questioned. The last thing I remembered was me trying to stand up in Tristan’s room.“My lady, I don’t know, the Lycan brought you here and told me to look after you,” Elena picked up a napkin and used it to wipe my lips, “What did you do?” I looked outside and everywhere was dark. The party must have started, “Has the party started?” I questioned to be sure.“It started not too long ago; you have been out since morning,” Elena said; I removed the cover cloth from my legs and climbed down the bed.I was about to fall when Elena quickly grabbed onto me, “Where are you going?”“Our plan, I can’t just let it flop,” I pushed her away from myself lightly and held the bed to stand on my own.“My lady, you are weak and part of your hair is white,” I already had a
Aurora’s POV Walking around the ballroom, I was filled with nothing but happiness seeing the ballroom arranged just the way I wanted it to be.Tristan opened the door to the ballroom, “What kind of instructions did you give?” He held my wrist and turned me to face him.I pulled my wrist out of his hold, “Can’t you see you are hurting me?”“Why are there a lot of mirrors in the ballroom and all over the kingdom?” Tristan questioned. I smiled internally, Elena and Scott must have been quick with it.I wanted to tell him the truth badly, but I didn’t know if he would believe anything I said at the moment.“The people cannot afford mirrors, so I placed them in every corner of the kingdom, and for the ballroom, I just wanted everyone to admire their beauty as they danced away the night,” I lied, and Tristan scoffed.“Why didn’t you ask me before going ahead with this?” Tristan's face turned red. Anyone could clearly see the way he was holding his anger.Instead of arguing more, I just sai
Aurora’s POV I accidentally gasped when Diana began to apply pressure on her personal maid’s neck, “Who is there?” She let go of the maid’s neck.I wasn’t scared of her, I wanted to make myself known to her. Just as I was about to open the door, someone wrapped his hand around my mouth and pulled me away.“Have you gone..” I paused when I saw it was Scott, “Why did you do that?” Scott put his finger on his lips, “Shhhhh,” he held my hand and led me back to my room.When I entered the room, Scott shut the door behind us and Elena was sitting on my bed. The moment she saw me, she ran and engulfed me in a tight hug.“You two are back early,” I was surprised, I thought they wouldn’t be back till like two days.“I found something. I didn’t know if I should continue looking for more information or if I should inform you personally,” Maybe it was just me, but Scott looked worried.“Is anything the matter?” I inquired, he looked way too serious.“Diana, she is married,” I looked at Scott wi
Aurora’s POV “That’s the Lycan’s cup?” I asked to be sure I heard well and Travis nodded his head.Why did she hold it like that? I’m sure she knew that wasn’t her cup.Without hesitation, I opened the door and I noticed she hurriedly dropped the cup back on the table.“Are you meant to interrupt us?” Diana questioned.I ignored her, “I want to speak to you, Lycan; it is important.”“Queen Aurora,” Diana yelled and ignored her again.“It is not about our marriage; I’m here as a subject to speak to his lordship,” I said to Tristan, and he looked at me with confusion, “I will appreciate it if Queen Diana can excuse us.”“Lycan,” Diana whined.“Excuse us, I will call you later,” Tristan used his hand to signal Travis to escort Diana out of his room.“What do you wish to speak about?” Tristan sat on the chair and I took the one opposite him.“I do not know which of the packs but one has fallen sick and the disease is spreading, I met a lady when I was locked up and she said she saw a sha
Aurora’s POV Was he speaking to me or was he not? He didn’t look at me when he said, “Don’t embarrass me,” Maybe he was warning Diana.“My lady, what are you thinking so hard about?” Elena asked when I got down from the carriage and I handed her my cloak.“I thought you would be half dead by now,” I heard Ava’s agitating voice.I looked around, and I didn’t see her minion, “I didn’t think you would be waiting for me, and I haven’t seen your minion in a long time.”“You are a Queen so I believe you know how to look for people,” Ava smiled.“Why should I look for her? She is my enemy,” I smiled back at Ava even though I didn’t have it in me to smile.“What was the judgment?” I heard Grandma’s voice from inside the house. I used my hand to lightly push Ava from the entrance of the door.I entered the house and greeted Grandma and Mother, “I was given thirty days to prove that I didn’t do anything,” I lowered my gaze, “If I’m not able to prove it, then I will dissolve my marriage with th
Aurora’s POV I was made to stand before the council member; Tristan was sitting on his chair as judge and king, Diana was standing next to me, and some other figures were in the crowd.“Present your case,” Tristan announced strictly, not once since I entered this place did he look at me.“I’m the legal advocate and I’m here to help Queen Diana get justice against her co wife, Queen Aurora, who has abused her physically and verbally and maltreated her,” Diana’s legal advocate said.“What? I abused you? Where? How? When?” I yelled and Diana hid behind her legal advocate.“You can see what she is doing, if Queen Aurora can behave like this with Queen Diana in public then don’t you think she can do more in private,” The legal advocate said and never in my 20 years plus in life did I feel like pulling someone’s hair until they become bald till this very moment.“Do you have any evidence?” Tristan questioned and for the first time since I got here, he glanced at me.“Evidence?” Diana spoke
Aurora’s POV I sat there helplessly, not knowing what to think or what to do; why did Diana report me?“What? When was that? Why wasn’t I informed? Where is that Diana?!!” Tristan yelled; he had so many questions but no answer.“Why exactly is she being summoned?” Grandma asked Travis.“I do not know the details, I was only asked to inform the king and queen so they would be prepared,” Travis responded.“I will find out,” Just as Tristan turned to leave, the guards from the council came in, “What gave you the right to enter the palace?!!!”“We are sorry, but we have been ordered to come with Queen Aurora,” One of the guards bowed his head, and the other followed.“What are her charges, that it had to go through the council and not me,” Tristan asked angrily.“Her charges?” A man from the group of guards scoffed as he walked forward and I immediately recognized him. He was among the men who tried to prove Tristan couldn’t see a thing in color.“Queen Aurora’s charges are maltreatment
Aurora’s POV I used my hand to trace the tattoo on Tristan’s back in the dark. I turned off the lamps in the room after we were done, I was too shy to face him. “Aren’t you going to bed? You have been doing that for hours,” His back vibrated against my hand and I immediately stopped.Tristan turned to face me, he stood up and put on one of the lanterns in the room, “Aurora,” His voice sounded disturbed.This was the same tone he used earlier, “Are you okay?” I hurriedly asked out of concern, “The mark, the mark,” I touched his hand and gave him a soft nod when he paused, “The mark on your belly, how did you get it?”I removed the cover sheet from my body, pointed at the mark, and he nodded his head, “It’s a birthmark; even my mom had it.”“Your… your mom had it?” Tristan looked even more disturbed, “Do you know if it’s something anyone can have? Or..”I placed my hand on his chin, “Tristan breathe,” He paused, then took a deep breath, “Is there something that’s troubling you?”Tris