FOUR!!... Moving to the palace

“You're back,” Gisele muttered as I pushed the door open. Diane was sprawled on her bed, her skin looking as pale as ever.

Fear pulsed through me and I rushed to her side quickly.

“How is she?” I asked, brushing her golden hair away from her sweaty forehead. “Gisele?”

I glanced away from Diane to Gisele, to see the older woman staring at me with her jaw open. Her eyes were glued to the flower in my hands.

The blue morning rose.

Hell, I could understand why she was appalled. I would be appalled too if I saw someone walk in randomly with a flower as rare.

“Where,” she whispered, her eyes shining in awe and disbelief. “Where did you get that?”

I thrust the stem at her. “Will it do?”

“Ava,” She called, looking at me this time. “Where on earth did you get that?”

“It doesn't matter,” I replied curtly. There was no need for anyone to know what deal I had to make to get this flower. I trusted Gisele. But she was still a werewolf. And werewolves were bound to bite you in the neck.

And those twin princes are not? My conscience pricked, and I closed my eyes tight, briefly, shaking my head. What mattered now was that there was hope for Diane. I would not lose my only family. That was enough.

“Will this do?”

Gisele's eyes narrowed. She must have sensed the resolve in my voice and known that I wasn't going to spill a word. That was enough.

“No,” She sniffed, reaching for the flower with trembling hands, “It will not. We'll need hundreds of these. But it should be enough to revive her,”

I nodded, tucked my tongue in my cheek and handed it over.

“You really will not tell me where you got this?” She asked as she lowered herself on her knees and fished out a small mortar and pestle out of her knapsack.

“Isn't that obvious?” I asked, sitting beside Diane, watching her face softly.

“Well, I'm glad you found it either way. There's no other way we could have saved Diane otherwise,” Gisele explained.

She ground the delicate petals of the flowers into a pulp. I watched them slowly dissolve into a bluish liquid that gleamed in the dim lantern light. She transferred the liquid into a small bowl and held it against Diane's lips.

I watched the medicine slip through her lips. Her pale skin warmed up, color seeping through the holes in her skin. She let out a soft breath, and my shoulders sagged in relief when her eyes flitted open.

“You're okay,” I mumbled, reaching to stroke her hair. “You're okay,”

“She is,” Gisele said with a smile and rose to her feet. “She's a strong girl, Ava.”

“Thank you so much, Gisele. I'll get back to you on the payment-”

“Oh stop it,” She chuckled, waving her hands in the air. “You owe me nothing. Except perhaps where you got that rose,”

I smiled lightly and shook my head. She laughed, nodding her head. “I figured. You two enjoy your night, will ya?”

And with that, she was gone. When I glanced back at Diane, her eyes had lost their murky gray shade and were a clear, bright brown. What on earth? Just what was in those flowers?

“Diane?” I called, and her lips parted in a wide grin. Something was odd about the way she smiled, but I guess if she was okay, then I was good.

I tucked the blanket around Diane deeper. “I'm glad you're okay, you have no idea how worried I was,”

“Why sad, Ava?” She said, cocking her head to the side, her lips wobbling.

I frowned. Why was she talking like that?

“I-I'm not sad,” I stuttered, trying to adjust to the weird way she spoke.

“Don't cry,” she pouted. “Ava sad, I don't like Ava sad,”

What was happening, was it the effect of the flower or the illness? But her eyes were clearer. Something was evidently not right. It seemed the flower had worked a bit, but that was all it did. It worked a bit.

I would demand for more when we got to the palace. I wanted Diane healed as early as possible, just in case the princes changed their mind.

“I'm not sad,” I replied with the most genuine smile I could muster. “you know what?”

“What?” She asked gleefully.

“The twin Princess will be coming tomorrow,” I explained and chuckled when I saw the confusion on her face.

“Real Princes?” She giggled, and I nodded, reaching for her hands.

“Real Princes. They'll take us away to their fancy palace, where we can get all the blue roses in the world,”

“Are blue roses pretty?” She asked, shaking the blanket excitedly.

“Yeah they are the prettiest,” I replied, and bopped her nose. “But not as pretty as you.”

A childlike peal of laughter slipped out of her lips and she clutched the covers. “I want to see!”

Same here Diane, I thought sadly when, later on, her head dropped sleepily. I wish to see it all.

****

The next morning, a loud knock on our door informed me of the Prince's arrival. My heart lodged itself in my throat as I walked towards the door, dressed in the best frock I could find, a tattered green dress that billowed around my waist and had a neckline that was a tad too low and a bit too tight. My breasts were propped up rather unsightly but while the dress was as brazen as it could get, it was the most decent I could find.

I yanked on the fragile door knob lightly, heard the door creak as it opened, revealing the gorgeous men who stared down at me in amusement.

They were dressed in similar black pants, while Adam wore a blue shirt that had half its buttons undone, revealing a bronzed hardened chest, Antonio had a white one on, buttoned properly.

“My,” Adam grinned, his eyes fixed on my bosom. “What a lovely view, isn't it, Brother? Almost like a wonderful breakfast, about to be served.”

I blushed at his comment, feeling both uncomfortable and incredibly turned on by his words. How the hell was he so quick to incite these damned flutters in my belly. My gaze drifted to Antonio to see his darkened gaze drift from my breasts to my face.

“You look lovely, Ava,” He muttered thickly.

“There is certainly no need to butter me up with lies. I have agreed to play charades with you, haven't I?” I said with a curtsy.

I didn't need their lies. I didn't want their pity. And I was no fool. The last thing I would ever do was trust the compliments of werewolves.

Antonio's face fell at my words. He glanced at Adam, whose eyes narrowed in anger. I didn't need to be a werewolf to feel his heat. I knew he was mad. His eyes flashed, and a low growl sounded in his throat.

Before any of us could react, however, a loud squeal caught our attention. Diane appeared beside me, staring up at the men in awe.

“These are the Princes? Have they come to take us away, Ava? Have they?!” She screamed, jumping up and down in her huge pink dress.

Antonio chuckled, gave a mock bow and stretched out his hands, “Ah, this must be Princess Diane,”

I watched my sister blush and tried to curtsy. “Hello Prince,”

“Hello Princess,” Antonio parroted and while he kept up with her antics, A large hand clasped around mine and yanked me to the side. I gasped when Adam drew me closer to him, glaring down at me, his nose flaring in fury.

“You might want to watch that lithe tongue of yours, human,” he hissed. “You're only with us because of a contract and that alone. I will not condone any sharp, witty shit that falls out of that pretty mouth. The only time I want it moving rapidly, is when it's down on my fucking cock!”

I ignored the burning in my cheeks and glared right back at him. “About that contract, what happened yesterday will not happen again,”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I don't want either of you touching me. There will be no sex. I only agree to be your fake mate because I want Diane to get well. Nothing more.” I explained.

Adam stared at me incredulously then smiled a slow, shuddering smile. I watched his tongue dart out to lick his canines before he threw his head back in laughter.

“You certainly are an interesting one, Ava,” He grinned and released his grip on me, before walking towards his brother. I had no idea what they said to each other. I didn't care. As long as I got what I wanted and as long as they kept their paws off me. I would be fine.

****

We rode on the fastest carriage I had ever seen in my life. Perhaps it was because I had barely seen a carriage before, but I really hadn't expected it to be that fast. By evening, we reached the Palace of the Silvermore pack.

Only one word could describe the mansion.

It was magnificent.

I held my breath and held on to Diane's hand right as Antonio and Adam led us through the hallways. The werewolves hanging around stared at us in part shock, part disgust. I kept my gaze to the ground as we walked, fighting the urge to shrink to the ground from their gaze.

I had no idea how we reached the room we entered. I had no idea where we were. All I knew was that somehow, we had landed in a massive ass filled with giant wolf statues and a man with very familiar blue eyes sitting on a high chair. He had only a brown bathing robe on, his salt and pepper hair damp as if he had just stepped out of the shower, and a very annoyed look on his face.

“This better be good, boys,” he grumbled, glaring at the princes. “I should be with your mother right now, not having a dumbass audience with you. And who's the chick behind you? And the… Is that a child or a woman?”

“Father,” Antonio said, rolling his eyes.

The king! The Lycan king? I dropped to my knees and yanked Diane down with me, trembling with fear.

“We have found our mate,” He continued.

There was a pregnant silence and suddenly, the room darkened. When I glanced up, the Lycan king was on his feet, eyes golden and glowing in anger.

“What?”