Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“Well, he seems to think that we are mates, and that we will know for sure when we are eighteen. He told me that I can’t break up with him because we need to be together when I turn eighteen. He is older than me by a year, so he says he will know sooner.”
“Oh, hell no.” Sereia shook her head and narrowed her eyes at me. “He did not say that to you.”
“Yes, he did.” I nodded at her.
“You know what that sounds like to me?” She put her hands on her hips as she rose to her feet to loom over me. “It sounds like he is trying to force you into being his mate. It’s like he is trying to brainwash you into thinking that there won’t ever be another possible mate for you. That doesn’t sit right with me at all.” She looked so offended and hurt on my behalf that I didn’t know what to think.
“You really think he is trying to do that?” I asked her.
“I agree with her, Talia. How come you didn’t tell me sooner? This is wrong. If he is meant to be your mate, then you will know whether you are dating at the time or not. I think that he is trying to force a connection with the royal family, no matter how it happens. And I would never sleep with him if I were you. He might get you pregnant on purpose so that he and his family can be considered royals because of the baby.”
“Really? Y..you really think he wants to do that?”
I was at a loss as I listened to what Sereia had to say. I didn’t think that Arthur would go that far, but I knew that he wanted to be with me forever. Was it me that he wanted though? Or was it the connection to the power that my family had? Now that I thought about it, I wasn’t sure how I was able to overlook what he was doing for so long.
We hadn’t been together for that long, yet Arthur was trying to treat me like I was his and nobody else’s. He was trying to act like I was going to be his forever and that he was going to be in power at some point. He even told me several times that I should stop training to take over the underworld and that I should take over for my mom instead. I told him that wasn’t an option though, and he did get upset about it.
“I..I think that you are right.” The more that I thought about it, the more that it all seemed to make sense to me. “I think that he is more interested in the power than in me.”
“I don’t know for sure, Talia, but that’s how it seems to me.” Sereia sat in front of me and took my hands in hers, it was a comforting gesture and was actually helping me. “If I were you, I would start to talk about things with him, serious things. And if you keep getting these uneasy feelings, then you need to break up with him. You’re not his property, Talia. You’re a princess and he shouldn’t have access to your power if he won’t respect you.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” I nodded at her. “Thank you so much, Sereia. And you as well, Ada. I didn’t want to see it before, but you two saw it so clearly. I will talk to him as soon as I can.”
“That’s good, Talia. We’re here for you. What else are friends for?” Ada put her hand over top of Sereia’s and held both of ours. I felt the love that they had for me in that moment and I was happy to have them here in my life. They were truly good friends.
For a moment I was just a little stunned. I wasn’t used to having moments like this. I had friends, that was true, but I never got this close with them. And I had not told anyone what was going on with me. I didn’t know how they would take it, and that really made me feel anxious. Now, though, I could see that my friends were on my side and just wanted me to be safe.
I felt something in my heart then, a sort of thrumming that I had never felt before. These two girls were my friends, and even though I just met Sereia I loved them both. They were the best friends that I could ask for, and I knew that I didn’t want to be without them. I hoped that they would be with me forever. I wanted to be able to see them as my friends and sisters of my heart now, ten years from now, even a hundred years from now. And I hoped that none of this would ever change between us.
****
Talia
****
The party continued after that serious moment. We were also finally able to move, as the girls had proven when they came closer to me during that serious discussion. I was able to move as well, even though I still felt like I was overly stuffed.
We continued with all the things that people said were the standard for a sleepover. We did facials, makeup, hair, and all that. But we didn’t change out of our pajamas that we had put on. So, we were only half dressed up for the night. That was fine though, the pajamas were a lot more comfortable, and I would rather be in them than the dresses and things like that.
After the 鈥榞irly’ part of the sleepover was over, we moved onto other things. Though, I think it bears mentioning that the 鈥榞irly’ stuff wasn’t the pink and frilly things that the boys probably thought we were into. We all had hair that was styled in the 鈥榞oth’ or 鈥榩unk’ styles that I had heard about. And the makeup was darker and less feminine. It was our style though, and that was fine with us.
We played some games. Ocean and Makai were really into video games, even now that they were adults, so the five of us started playing a massive game with each other. I liked that they were so fun and willing to act like kids with their kids. It made them feel more relatable.
After the video games, which Sereia had won, we moved on to boardgames. There was one that was like a cross between old family games that I played with my parents. It was almost like Guess Who and Clue. In the game you had to figure out who killed you by eliminating the suspects from the other players. It was pretty cool, and I was happy to be playing a new game that I hadn’t played before.
I decided that I was going to be a little childish that night, and I wanted to do some prank phone calls. There were ways of blocking your number, so I knew that they weren’t going to know it was me calling. And after I suggested it Ada and Sereia both decided that they wanted to be a part of this as well. We were going to be calling a list of people that we knew and pretending to be other people and giving fake instructions.
…..
Ada was calling her brother Matthew, who was in college, and her cousin Laney who lived in Florida. Sereia was going to call her brothers in California, and her uncles Grantham, Ben and Ryan. Apparently, Ben and Ryan were Ocean and Makai’s friends from high school who were adopted and became members of the family. It was all pretty cool. I decided that I was going to call Reagan and Arthur. I wanted to see what my calm, cool, and collected brother was going to do when I pranked him. And if he knew that it was me. And, well, I don’t really know why I chose Arthur. I just knew that he was going to be on my list.
Sereia went first, and of course she called her brothers first. They knew it was her right away, but that was because they knew each other so well. They were triplets and had been raised together, so they knew everything about each other. They didn’t fall for her fake voice for a second and we were all laughing hysterically when it was over.
After that, she called her Uncle Grantham. He was a good sport about it, and he didn’t know that it was Sereia until she told him the truth. It was really funny to hear how confused he sounded. Unfortunately, though, Ben and Ryan didn’t answer. They were out for the night. Sereia said they were probably on a date because they were married to each other.
Ada went next. She made her brother think that he was in trouble at school until her laughter got too loud and gave her away. He figured out that it was her and he started to get mad. Then he started to laugh with her and wasn’t mad anymore. Laney, her cousin, was convinced that Ada was a concert executive for her favorite band and that she was going to get tickets to see them in person. I could hear the excitement in her voice and the sorrow when she realized it was Ada. I vowed to buy her the tickets so that she could still go to the concert and she was in good spirits when the call ended.
After that it was my turn. I called Reagan first. I knew that he would be the harder one for me to trick. He was my brother, and he was used to me and my voice.
“Hello?” Reagan said when he answered the call.
“I know what you are.” I tried to change my voice.
“Who is this?” He sounded angry for a moment.
“I am someone that knows what you are.” I told him again.”
“And what am I?” He asked, seemingly unperturbed. He was getting his composure back.
“A BUTTHEAD!” I cackled into the phone. I heard him groan and then laugh in response.
“Talia, you brat.”
“Ha ha ha.” I just laughed some more. “You actually fell for it.”