The Alpha King's Daughter novel Chapter 7

The rest of the evening went horrifically slow. My Uncle's words replayed in my head on a constant loop along with Viktor's two powerful words.

"Fuck power." His deep and rough voice combatted my Uncle's words with fury.

I found it strange for someone like him to say "fuck power". Someone so huge and much faster than a normal Lycan. He seemed to be swimming in power.

"Shouldn't we put ourselves first for a change?" Aela frowned.

I sighed, wishing it were that simple. "Aela, we're going to have an entire Kingdom to look after. Sometimes it's much bigger than that."

"It's not as hard as you're making it out to be. Our mate was paired with us for a reason, they'll help us." Aela was confident.

"If we ever meet him." I sighed.

I could only imagine how Aela was feeling. Humans and wolves were vastly different when it came to dealing with things. Being the daughter of the Alpha King, Aela's instincts are to protect her people by any means possible. But, she's also bound to our future mate. She couldn't betray him if she tried. Her own nature was in conflict with itself.

While I wanted nothing more than to protect my people, was I prepared for what would happen if I gave up my mate? A lifetime of living with someone who didn't truly make me happy. Sleeping with them, bearing their children, building a life together. It felt like a half life to me, a false life.

If my Mom were alive, she would have scolded my Uncle for putting those words in my head and the responsibility on my shoulders.

I wasn't sure how long I sat on the balcony, enjoying the silence and the cooling breeze that lifted my hair. I watched the sun dive behind the clouds and the garden below darken, absent of it's light. The sun would peek from the clouds and scatter hues of orange and yellow across the garden. My eyes remained on the garden, and Viktor's eyes remained on me.

"Arabella?" A soft voice called out from behind me. One of the servants peeked their head out of the balcony doors, giving me a small smile.

I peeled my lingering gaze away from the sun-lit garden and looked at the servant, "Yes?"

I smiled at her, she seemed new and wary of working in the mansion.

"The Alpha King is awaiting you in the dining room, miss." The young servant girl gave a small smile as she bowed her head.

I stood from the chair and realized how stiff I was. How long had I been sitting here?

"I'll follow you down." I nodded, closing the balcony door behind the three of us.

We walked silently down the wide corridor and I found myself thinking more about my situation.

"So, what's your name?" I smiled down at the girl. She had to be no older than fourteen.

I needed to soothe the conflicting argument in my head, and talking to Jules helped.

Her earth colored eyes widened and a relaxed grin fell on her lips, "Julie, but you can call me Jules."

"How long have you been working here, Jules?" I smiled back.

"Just a couple days now." Jules let out a shaky breath.

I chuckled at her frayed nerves, "There's nothing to worry about. I apologize ahead of time for all of my future messes." That earned a giggle from her.

"I've just never been around so many Lycan's before. I'm home schooled so I don't really get out much." She shrugged sadly.

I nodded, "I understand, I don't get out much either. The Lycan's around here aren't too bad. Just let me know if anyone gives you any trouble."

We walked into the dining room and I locked eyes with Dad.

"Thank you, miss." Jules grinned as she turned and left.

I sighed and sat down at the table. I wasn't feeling too hungry, so I picked around my food.

After a few minutes of silence my Dad cleared his throat, "Arabella, what's wrong?" His dark eyebrow was raised.

I rolled my eyes, he always knew when something was wrong. Now I just had to decide if I wanted to throw my Uncle under the bus or not.

I shrugged, "Just thinking over some things."

"What things?" His eyebrow was still raised. My Dad wasn't one to let things go.

I frowned, and tried to think of a way to express my thoughts without exposing my Uncle.

"Well, I know other rulers are coming to my birthday to try and win me over." I frowned, "I was wondering if I should let them."

My Dad coughed and took a gulp of wine. "Let them?"

"Yeah." I frowned, "Be with one of them. They'd have to come to our aid and it may take some of the stress off of you." I couldn't help but notice how tired he seemed lately.

Dad's silver eyes grew darker, "Your Uncle talked to you didn't he?" He growled.

"What?" I forced a confused frown on my face. "No he didn't talk to me."

"You came to this conclusion all on your own?" He said sceptically.

I shrugged, "Of course. What you both said at dinner yesterday stuck with me. If I can help, shouldn't I?"

The more I thought about giving up on my future mate, the more my stomach twisted into knots. I wasn't sure how other Lycan's did it. How did they muster up the strength to reject their other half?

"Arabella, this is not your fight." My Dad's voice was stern, the tone of the Alpha King.

I went to speak but he cut me off with a wave of his hand.