Chapter 2: Nicholas

I paced my room, it had been two years since my father told me I would be marrying an Alpha’s daughter. Even though I had never met her, I felt a strange connection to her, I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. She was turning eighteen this weekend; I knew she had to hate the idea of an arranged marriage, it would surprise me if she didn’t. I looked in my mirror, my ice blue eyes under my raven black hair drew the most attention; I wanted to look good for my fiance. There was a slight knock on my door, and my father walked in, “Son, are you ready?” I turned to face him, 

“I’m nervous. I hate that this is how I’m getting married.” I told him, but he sighed,

“Nicholas, son, you know the prophecy, the son of a king and the daughter of an Alpha. If this union isn’t made, we return to a state of war. We already wasted enough time for the wolves wanting to wait until she turned eighteen.” I glared,

“What if we don’t want to be together?” 

“Nicholas, we’ve been over this. Do you want to kill our people?” I looked to the ground and shook my head, “Okay then, let’s go. You are expected at the Apha’s house by this evening.” 

“Yes, Father.” He walked out and one of the servants, Amy, walked in, “Amy, you’re up late, did my dad tell you to help me?” she smiled lightly,

“Yes, your highness. His Majesty wants you to meet him in his office. I'm going to take your luggage to the car.” I nodded,

“Okay, thank you. I’ll see you Sunday evening.” I told her as I walked out to go to the office. I knocked on the door then opened it to see my mother and father standing together. 

“Nicholas, come in, we have something for you to give to your bride.” Mother stated, they handed me a small box which I opened, it was a ring with a red diamond, “It’s an engagement ring. We thought you could give it to her at her birthday party.” I smiled,

“Thanks, I’m sure she’ll love it. I better get going, love you.” I hugged my mother and shook my fathers’ hand then left. I saw Amy just outside the garage, “Thanks, Amy.” I smiled, she bowed before heading off. My parents didn’t allow many female servants or any; the only reason Amy was around is because she was gay. I went into the garage to find my cousin,

“Hey Nick, are you ready to go?” He asked, 

“Rick, nice to see you, and yeah, I’m ready. Cool if I sit up-front with you?” he nodded and we got in the car. Rick cranked up the tunes as we pulled out and set out to our destination. As we drove, I let my mind wander to all of the questions I’ve been asking myself for the past two years. 

We pulled up at the big house in the center of the town; it was nighttime, so it was safe for my cousin. We were met by the Alpha, his father, and three others. I stepped out of the car, as well as Rick, we walked up to them, I bowed lightly; I figured that Alpha’s were the royalty of the werewolves for the packs, so why not? The Alpha stepped forward, “Prince Nicholas Serkan of the vampires, I am Jackson Alcmene, Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack.” I shook his hand, “This is my father, and my brothers, Jeffery, Wesley, and Thomas ” he motioned to his entourage, naming each of them, I nodded my head towards them,

“This is my cousin, Patrick Erkan,” I motioned to Rick, he bowed his head as well,

“Thank you for allowing us to stay here for the weekend, we are greatly appreciative.” Jackson chuckled lightly, 

“It was our sisters’ idea, she wants to get to know you.” The shortest of the three brothers, Wesley, stated. I nodded,

“Where are my manners,” Jackson said, “Please, come in.” We all went inside the house, the moment we entered, I saw a girl with auburn brown hair with a streak of white, the second her eyes locked with mine, I was struck; those dark blue eyes. I watched her come down the stairs, her lightly tanned skin looked so delicate against her jeans and baby pink crop top. “Aiday, nice of you to join us. Come meet Prince Nicholas and his cousin.”

“Please, just call me Nick,” I said. Aiday walked right up to me, she looked me up and down like she was trying to decide whether to kill me or not. I was terrified of what she was thinking.

“I’m Aiday, I guess you’re my fiance,” Aiday said, kind of sad but she wasn’t trying to show it. 

We all sat down and talked for a while, I needed to get to know her better. I could feel her eyes on me, watching my every move like she’s ready for me to do something wrong. Aiday got up from the table, “Let me show you where you’ll be staying.” Rick and I got up from the table, 

“Have a goodnight, and thank you again,” I told them before following Aiday upstairs. Aiday turned to face me when we got to the top of the stairs,

“Rick, your room is at the end of the hall to the left.” he nodded and took his bag to his room, “Nick, yours is on the right, across from my room down this hall.” she pointed to the opposite side of the hall, I smiled, 

“Thank you, Aiday, for letting us come.” she smiled lightly, but it went away quickly. She walked me to the room; when she opened the door, we went straight in as she gave me the tour,

“That’s the bathroom and the guest’s rooms only have wardrobes instead of actual closets.” I opened the wardrobe; I glanced over towards the bed to see my bags, “I had the Beta bring up your bags; I made sure there were plenty of towels.” 

“Thanks,” I said, trying my best to smile at her, but she seemed distant. “Oh, tomorrow’s your birthday, right?” she raised an eyebrow,

“Yeah, why?” she asked, clearly curious, I started looking through my bags, trying to find her birthday present; when I finally found it, I handed it to her. She opened it to reveal a gold chain necklace with a ruby jewel. “This is beautiful, thank you.” 

“I wanted to do a silver chain but I know that silver hurts wolves so I got a gold chain instead.” she blushed lightly, “Could I put it on you?” she nodded as she took it out of the box; I went behind her and latched the necklace. Clearing my throat, I stepped back from her as she turned around, “Beautiful,” I muttered,

“I should let you get settled. Goodnight.” Aiday walked out, shutting the door behind her. I smiled lightly as I started unpacking, after my stuff was put away, I decided to take a shower. The hot water hit my body while my thoughts began flowing like a flood: Aiday was so beautiful, I don’t know what it is but there is just something about her. Once I was out and dressed, I laid down in the bed, allowing my thoughts to wash over me as I drifted off to sleep.

The morning was bustling with people getting ready for the party tonight. I quickly got dressed and went downstairs; Aiday was sitting at the counter eating breakfast. Taking a deep breath, I walked towards her, “Good morning, Aiday.” she glanced over at me, then back at her pancakes,

“Good morning.” I looked around seeing many women cooking in the kitchen, “They’re going ahead and making dinner for tonight. My brother wanted tonight to be great since I have to get married.” Hearing how sad she was when she said the last bit felt like a wooden stake to the heart; but it just encouraged me more to show Aiday who I was and prove that I could be good to her.

“What can I do to help?” Aiday looked up,

“You want to help?”

“Yeah, I’m a decent cook or I could help decorate. Just tell me what you want me to do.” she raised an eyebrow,

“Fine, go ask the Beta’s mate, Merissa, what she needs done.” She pointed over to a tall blonde woman with dark green eyes, “I’m about to go back to my room, maybe go for a run.” I nodded,

“Okay, I’ll see you later.” she forced a small smile before I went over to Merissa; she looked at me, a bit scared but she hid it well, “Aiday told me to ask you what I could do to help, so, what can I do?” she raised a brow, staring me up and down, just like Aiday, I honestly wondered if they were related,

“Fine,” she said, “You can help get in here to set up for the buffet.” I smiled,

“Sure, thank you.” I started helping some of the guys move furniture out of the way before setting up tables and decorating them. In a corner of the room, Merissa wanted a table for gifts, which I took care of; even going as far as hanging a sign that said gifts on it. Continuing to help, I could hear a lot of the others talking about me; my cousin was over talking to Thomas, seeming to be having a pleasant conversation.

 I helped more where I could before the Alpha summoned me over to him. I went over quickly while untangling some fairy lights, "Alpha, is there something I can help you with?" I asked, trying to keep eye contact while pulling cords from the tangled ball,

"I wanted to see how your first day here is going? You'll be my brother-in-law one day soon, so it's time to start acting like it." I smiled, taking his hand, “Now then, I believe my father wanted to speak to you.”

“Okay, let me just finish untangling these for the photo section. Merissa said that Aiday really wanted a photo booth so I wanted to fix this for her.” I chuckled lightly, 

“I’ll let him know.” Jackson turned to walk away, “Oh, and Nick, give Aiday some time; she always does what’s best for her pack, even if she hates it. With this, though she’s acting strong about it, she’s angry and scared, just try to let her get to know you, she’s been through a lot since the arrangement and we don’t want to stress her out more.”

“I understand; if I may be honest, I felt the same way. My father forced this upon me, not asking me if this is what I wanted, but like Aiday, I do what is best for my people.” Jackson smiled lightly before walking away. 

Once I had everything set up for photos I went on the hunt for Aiday's father. I found him sitting on a bench next to a little pond; he seemed lost in thought. I cleared my throat, he turned to face me, his face was slightly red and his eyes were puffy, "Nicholas, come sit." I did as he said,

"Mr. Alcmene, Jackson said that you wanted to speak to me?" He nodded,

"Yes, and please, call me Henry." I smiled lightly and nodded, his face seemed grim as he glanced back at the pond, "This is where I met my wife, where we shared our first kiss, where I asked her to marry me when we learned that we were mates." I listened carefully, hearing his voice begin to crack,

"You must have truly loved her," I said,

"I did. Aiday reminds me so much of her, just as spirited and hardheaded. My wife insisted that Aiday was born for a reason; she wasn't supposed to have any more children after the triplets due to it being a risk to her life, but about seven years later, she was pregnant again with Aiday." I sat there silent, unsure of his point, "The day Aiday was born was the happiest day of my life, because I had gained a beautiful daughter, with the deepest blue eyes, more so than the ocean itself, and Summer was alive. The moment she held her in her arms, she smiled and told me that Aiday would be intended for something truly amazing, and I never doubted her, not once."

"Wow, that's amazing," I said sincerely, but I was trying to figure out what he was trying to tell me; does it have something to do with Aiday? He sniffled then stood,

"Well now, you don't want to keep everyone waiting. Run along and get ready, I'll make sure everything is ready here." 

"Thank you, sir, for everything." I told him, Henry shook my hand before I took off towards the house to get ready.