Chapter 3

Leah Pov

"Who are you?" A scratchy voice asked, waking me up from the half-sleep I had slipped into. 

I was so tired after all the hours pushing myself to make medicine to heal the princess, the small bread I begged a maid for, the only thing in my stomach. 

The little magic I pushed into the herb mixture sapped up the last of my strength and nearly sent me into another dead faint. 

"You're awake princess, that's good. Let me tell someone to inform your father," I stood up tentatively, staggering to the door to call one of the guards when the princess's voice stopped me in my tracks. 

"No. Don't call them yet, please," Princess Anne begged, her light blue eyes shiny with tears in the dim light of the room. 

"But your father will be worried. He needs to know you are alive and well, and my life depends on this too. I'm hungry and tired and I can't wait any longer, I need to make a deal with your father if I hope to survive the coming days at least," I informed her, my tiredness loosening my tongue and pulling the words out of my mouth. 

"What deal is that?" The princess asked, her head tipping to the side slightly in curiosity, as she sat up slowly on the bed. 

"I have nowhere to go, and I need a place to stay for a while. I helped heal you, so I'm hoping your father will allow me to stay here for some time, till I can find another place to go to," 

"Wait! How did you heal me? I made sure what I took didn't have a cure. Nothing should have been able to heal me, well, except the forbidden arts," 

Looking at me with a suspicious look in her eyes, she asked. 

"Did you use magic?" 

"What!? N- no! I don't know what you are talking about. I just mixed a few herbs, which I gave you to drink and you were cured" I stammered, caught off guard. 

I needed to get out of this room immediately before the princess put me in deep trouble. 

"That's impossible. I did my research about the poison before I drank it. There is no cure for it, except if magic is used, and since magic is forbidden, there are no magic users, which would have allowed me to die like I wanted!" 

"Why would you want to kill yourself?" I asked, surprised at the princess's vehemence. 

At my sudden question, the princess burst into tears, sobbing softly. 

"It's all father's fault. If he had just allowed me to go with Elias instead, but no! I have to tie myself to that beastly Alpha instead, all in the name of the betterment of the pack," She spat, still crying. 

"Beastly Alpha?" I probed, my tiredness pushed to the side to satisfy my curiosity. 

But Princess Anne shook her head adamantly instead. 

"Not yet. I will tell you everything, but first, there is something I need you to do for me," She stated, her gaze glittery in a way that made me feel cautious. 

What does the princess want from me too?

****

I observed my image in the mirror in front of me, as the servants of the Risenmoon pack dress me up. 

This was my job as a servant in my pack, to clean up after important members of the pack, and now here I am. Talk about a role reversal. 

It's been five days since I healed the princess and we came to an agreement. 

By now, the princess should have reunited with her love, Elias, and the illusion magic would have faded off her, leaving me the only one wearing the illusion mask. 

I studied my appearance, which was no longer the way it used to be. 

My vibrant auburn hair was now wheat blonde, my grassy green eyes, now the light blue of a cloudless sky, my heart-shape face now a perfect oval, my curves gone, my body now slim and slender. 

I was now the Princess, Anne. That was what the princess had wanted me to do. To cast an illusion spell so we could switch appearance. 

With my appearance, the princess had left Risenmoon pack lands to reunite with her lover, who was waiting for her at another pack, leaving me at Risenmoon pack to bear the brunt of her responsibility.

"Don't be scared Princess, today is not the mating ceremony. The Alpha had it pushed to two days time, so you can have enough time to recuperate from the poisoning," One of the servants said in an effort to console me, and I needed the consoling. 

I was way over her head here, and for the hundredth time, I wondered why I had agreed to the Princess's idea. 

"Anddd… done!" They announced simultaneously, then shuffled me out of the dressing room, to the meeting room where I would be meeting my soon-to-be mate, Alpha Damian. 

The Alpha, Princess Anne had called cruel and cold in the most disgusted tone.

And from the manner in which she had spoken of him, I was expecting a lewd old man, with grabby hands. 

Just my luck to be tied to an old man, instead of the one I wanted, which was Thomas. I quickly pushed the painful thought away before I found myself curled up in a fetal position from thinking about him. 

Standing by the window of the meeting room, I observed the plant life outside and tried to quiet my anxious thoughts. 

I needed to act natural, like I was really the princess. They mustn't suspect anything was wrong or I was as good as dead. 

Lost in the thoughts of the different ways the Alpha of Rivermoon would kill me for what I have done, I didn't hear the meeting room door open, till the most refreshing scent I have ever smelled, wafted faintly into the room. 

"Uhmm… What's that smell?" I murmured, as I turned to face the door, my eyes colliding with the light brown of the male who just walked in. 

The male stood quietly as I studied him, my eyes brushing past his face to rest on his broad shoulders, then headed downwards to his flat stomach, the loose flannel shirt he was wearing unable to hide the fold of muscles there. 

Of their own accord, my eyes moved to his slim strong hips, and muscular long legs, encased in black slacks, before snapping back to his strong carved face, which his wavy dark hair didn't soften a bit. 

The male standing in front of me wasn't what anyone would call handsome by any standards. His facial features were too bold, too roughly hewned for him to be considered handsome. 

No. He looked wild. Untethered. And wildly attractive. 

The kind of look that stopped people with its bold power and made them stare with fascination and a little bit of fear. 

I certainly would have kept on staring at him if not for the flash of confusion and anger I saw in his eyes briefly before it became cold and expressionless again. 

"Do you need something?" I managed to ask, trying to pull my senses away from his magnetism, and noticing that the faint sweet refreshing scent was coming from him. 

The scent was making me feel so calm, and restless at the same time. Suddenly, I felt a slight rustling inside me, before it went silent again. 

Uhn… What was happening? A flash of fear went through me at the feeling. 

It's nothing, just mind tricks. My wolf has been quiet for so long, my mind is playing tricks on me. I tell myself, exhaling a soft breath of relief. 

My wolf remaining inactive was the only way mine and Princess Anne's plan was going to work successfully. 

"Maybe," The powerful figure in front of me answered, his husky baritone shooting a jolt of pure lust through me that my body seized for a moment, warm liquid pooling in between my legs, startling me. 

The heck? I wondered, staring wide-eyed at the stranger in front of me.