LUCIUS.
I was stunned when I saw Dusk coming down into the general breakfast hall. She was so unrecognisable, but I knew she was the one. How a person could change overnight was something I just couldn't understand, and as she came to stand in front of everyone, my eyes couldn't leave her face, which had become even more beautiful.
A lot of the people at the table began to ask her questions; just like me, they were curious as to how she'd suddenly changed overnight.
She didn't give anyone an answer, not even my dad, the Alpha of the Kingdom.
Instead, she spoke boldly and bravely as she looked at me.
"I reject you as my mate."
Those few words rang through my brain repeatedly, and I wouldn't have thought she was serious if not for the fact that I was her mate and I was currently the only person she was staring at.
There were sharp intakes of breath as she said those words. How could she reject me? Her mate. I wasn't just any wolf; I was the Alpha king’s son. The future of the pack.
"Right now, do you know what you're saying?" My Father asked, but she didn't stop looking at me.
I stood up from my chair and took her hand.
"Excuse us, please." I said and led her away from the General breakfast hall.
I took her into the first storeroom I saw and turned to face her.
If there was one thing I wouldn't accept, it was rejection.
"You cannot just do as you like." I told her, and she shook her head.
"This is all pointless; what do we both have for each other? Nothing." She exclaimed.
"That doesn't give you the right to reject me. You cannot just wake up one morning and decide to reject me. You cannot just do that." I said, raising my voice, and she raised her voice to match mine.
"I already rejected you as my mate! And nothing's changing that!” She screamed, and I felt anger rushing through me like a river.
"I bought you." I said dangerously, and she looked at me with that same defiant look in her eyes, which didn't even waver a bit.
"You may have bought me, and then I'm your slave, but when it comes to being mates, I have rejected you." She said, and I burned in anger.
"Who told you to do this? Uhn? Who gave you the new look so you could have the audacity to reject me?" He asked, and her expression grew harder.
"Nobody except me knows how being mates with you feels, and so nobody can question me when I say I don't want to be your mate!" She said, and that seemed to hit me straight in the chest. I turned and walked out of the storeroom, leaning on the door to think about everything she had just said.
~
DUSK.
I had been on the bed since the fight with Lucius. He had left without a word, and I couldn't tell if he was just mad or if he was also hurt.
I avoided going out, and when Seline came, I told her about the fight, and she encouraged me, saying it was so nice the way I stood up for myself.
After that, I and Seline went to the garden to paint, and we had a nice time talking about different things, but all the while, half of my mind was on Lucius and what he was probably doing after being rejected by his mate.
"Are you really still thinking about Lucius?" Seline asked when she caught me going blank.
"It's just the thought of having rejected him that's been weighing on my mind," I said, and she made me turn to her.
"He rejected you first with everything. So, just think of it as rejecting him back," she said, and I thought about it.
Lucius had indeed rejected me with everything, but there was a change compared to how he had been in the beginning.
~
The next day, I went to the garden, trying to paint once again. I was drawing a flower that had caught my eye and was trying to make a certain curve but didn't know how to start it.
I turned my hand at different angles, but the brush never touched the canvas because I was scared that not doing it well would ruin my design.
Then Lucius sat next to me, which was quite a shock since I didn't even hear him approach me.
He took the brush from my hand and drew the curve perfectly.
"Go on." He handed the brush back to me.
I couldn't continue drawing no matter how much I tried because he was right there next to me, watching me.
"If this is about yesterday..." I started to say, but he didn't let me finish before speaking.
"Would you accompany me to the forest tomorrow? I think hunting would do me some good." He said, and after seconds of intense staring, I nodded.
"You look nice." He complimented, and I looked at my canvas.
"Yeah, nice," I said without intending to.
"I meant to say you look beautiful. I still don't know how you managed to do it, but you're not that same girl; the energy I sense from you is stronger." He said, and I looked at him.
"You're right. I'm not that same girl." I said, and he smiled.
"So what do you think you're going to catch tomorrow?" He asked, and I thought.
"A deer?" I said, and he laughed.
"With your new energy? Why not go for a tiger?" He said, and I laughed.
"That would be looking for death. A Tiger? Me?" I asked, and he smiled.
"Hungry?" He asked, and I nodded. I did feel a bit hungry since I had been avoiding almost everyone.
We both went to get something to eat, and nothing went wrong with us as we ate. It almost seemed like the previous day never happened.
I ended up spending the whole day with Lucius, who suddenly became the romantic type, doing things for me and being careful around me.
I smiled as I walked to my quarters. The day had been nice.
"So, I see, you've finally removed the seal." Someone said, and I turned around and saw Ethan.
Ethan?
How did Ethan know I had a seal?