Chapter 4: A Scent

-Roman-

Daphne and I finally went downstairs, joining the party. We were being greeted left and right by everyone who had attended the party, and when we came into the big ballroom, we knew the show was really going to begin. We had barely taken a few steps. Then someone was calling out to us, wanting to talk, and wanting to get to know Daphne better, as if they hadn’t known her forever. It was all very… fake, really, but Daphne she was the perfect hostess and she was the perfect queen. I was more and more certain of it as the night went on. We would make the official introduction a little later in the night because I knew once that was over, we could escape the party, or at least I could.

“Roman!”

Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice call out to me, and a smile spread across my lips as I saw Shane coming closer. He was a distant relative of mine, but I always referred to him as my cousin and he did the same. We were very closer, and had known each other all our lives. He was a good few years older than me, but the age difference mattered little. We had still always been closer and only gotten closer when I became an adult. We ended up having more things in common. When we got closer, we hugged each other. Then he pulled back, looking at me.

“Always clean up so nicely,” he teased.

“Oh, saying I look good?” I joked.

He had his friends behind him, and I greeted them all as they congratulated me. Shane focused on Daphne, who stood a little nervously behind me. She knew them, of course, but tonight she was a different person. Her position had changed. She was queen, and I knew it felt like things had changed between her and the ones she had known for a so long.

“The crown suits you,” Shane joked, and she chuckled, shaking her head.

“I am not wearing one.”

“Well, then that’s this fool’s fault,” he said and nodded towards me.

“You don’t think crowns are a bit outdated?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“Not when your queen looks this good.”

Daphne chuckled again and waved a hand through the air, as she blushed. “Oh, please.”

We all laughed together, and I wrapped my arm around Daphne, bringing her closer, but as I did, I saw those eyes again, of course. The one who truly wished, or maybe even believed, we could be more. I knew that hope also pushed her to say yes to me, but I knew it would not happen. I hoped she realized that soon enough, and it didn’t break her heart too much.

“So, when will you be official introduced?” Shane asked.

“In just a few minutes, and then I can get out of here.”

“Why?” Daphne asked. “The night is lovely!”

“And I have been counting down the minutes,” I said, making Daphne shake her head, but Shane and his friends just laughed.

“Yeah, you never liked these sorts of things,” Shane said, and pointed to me before he sipped his drink.

“Just not my scene.”

“Or maybe you need something to loosen you up?”

“Oh, you mean get drunk before I take the stage?”

“Exactly.”

Shane winked at me, and I shook my head.

“Actually, I do think I will take a few minutes of fresh air before I get up there.”

“And you never liked to be the center of attention, either. Tell me cousin, what kind of king are you?” he joked.

I just shook my head and then turned to Daphne, who smiled sweetly at me.

“You okay by yourself for a moment?”

She nodded.

“I have dealt with your cousin before.”

“Hey! Why am I the problem?” Shane asked.

We all laughed again, and I shook my head a little.

“You sure?”

“Don’t worry, I will go mingle,” she said. “I see my friends further away.”

I kissed her cheek, and then let go of her before I pushed through the crowd, going to the nearest exit, but just as I was on my way, my feet suddenly froze. A scent hit my nose… it was faint and very masked in everything else going on in the room, but somehow… somehow, I picked it up anyway.

Lavender… it smelled like lavender…

I looked around, confused where the smell came from, but there were so many people, and many of them were trying to get my attention, so they could talk to me. I couldn’t let go of the scent, though. Something in me told me to find the source. Like it was important that I knew where it came from. I tried my best to hold on to it, and it led me through the crowd of people and over to a bar. The source of the scent became stronger, but I couldn’t find the person it belonged to. I looked down and saw a glass in front of me. It was empty and the ice cubes had almost melted. I told myself I was crazy, but I stilled grabbed the glass and smelled it. It smelled… heavenly! And it was mixed with the delightful scent of Scotch. I liked that a lot, but it still didn’t lead me to the true source of where it came from.

Now that I had picked it up a little better, though, I was able to follow it easier. I placed the glass down and went through the crowd again and out of the ballroom. There were fewer people in the hallways now that most had gone to the ballroom where the new queen would be introduced. I knew I should go back. I was the one who had to make the introduction, but I couldn’t… No, my body felt tense and my heart was going crazy inside of my chest. The source of the smell only became stronger and stronger as I went down a long hallway.

Suddenly, though, it seemed to stop. I looked around, confused. Why had it stopped? I could still smell it strongly. But when I tried walking further away, it turned faint. I walked a few steps backwards, feeling it overpower me, then I turned my head and saw a door to my right. I stood there feeling my heart going crazy. It was pumping wildly as an ancient need rose inside of me. What was this? What was going on inside of me? I couldn’t move. I just stood there breathing heavily.

Mmm… that scent.

My wolf woke up, growling darling inside of my head. He moved around uneasily inside of me, growling in a way I had not heard before.

I like it a lot.

“What is it?” I asked.

Open the door.

I took a step closer to it. I felt a little nervous, though. As if I knew behind that door there was something world changing behind it. And I wasn’t talking about the entire world would change, but my world was going to change. I needed to know, though. I had to find out what was going on. I reached out and was about to open the door when it was opened from the inside. The door swung open and in front of me appeared the most beautiful little werewolf I had ever seen. She stopped, shocked, when she noticed me standing in front of her like a wall. She slowly looked up at my body, her eyes growing huge, and then they met mine. Hers were beautiful blue and reminded me of the color of water. Goddess, who was she?

Mate! That’s our mate!

Mate? You mean…

Take her! She is ours!

The little wolf in front of me seemed as frozen as me, but that ancient old need only turned stronger now that she stood in front of me. I reached out and grabbed her by her neck. She gasped shocked, and then I pushed her backwards, closing the door behind us and locking it. Yes, she was trapped now with the big, bad Lycan King.