Chapter 4

D-did he just growl? I gripped my dress tightly as I saw him make his way up the stairs ,his eyes shooting daggers ,he moved almost as if someone else was in control of his body. His breathing was hard and he looked ready to pounce on someone. I took a deep gulp as he reached me in an instant, before anyone could react he gripped my waist tightly and pulled me in front of him, almost as if to hide my body from the crowd.I gasped at the shock of his touch ,my skin burning where his hands rested on my body.Immediately I could feel an irresistible pull towards him,a pull I couldn't explain even if I wanted to. Mate. What was that? Why did I keep hearing that voice in my head?I wanted to scream at him to stop touching me so that all these feelings and the voice in my head would go away but I knew that would only cause a scene. His eyes burned into my skin as we just stood there staring at each other,another growl escaped his mouth as he picked me up bridal style and paced out the hall away from all prying eyes. He opened his room door and slammed it shut before throwing me onto the bed. "What the f**k are you wearing?"He demanded. "W-what?"I stammered . His eyes narrowed as they travelled up and down my body, taking every inch in,I felt my body tremble in response."Do you like the attention of men so much that you would wear something like this?" My eyes widened ."You do not know a single thing about me to be accusing me of such utter nonsense, this dress was already picked out for me , I didn't choose it." "Austin get out here!"The queen's angry voice came from the doorway. "This discussion isn't over."He promised before leaving me to go talk to his mother. After a few minutes Maya entered the room with sympathy in her eyes."Are you okay?" I nodded my head. "I saw everything...well everyone saw everything,I have no idea what Austin was thinking or what came over him for that matter." "Does your brother usually... growl like that?"I inquired suddenly remembering his earlier actions."I felt like I was looking at a completely different person , if that makes any sense." Now that I thought about it, the growl sounded very familiar to the one I had heard coming from the woods earlier today. Maya's eyes widened for a second before she quickly tried to hide her reaction from me."Growl?I didn't hear any growling ." "But--" "Can we continue this discussion later Lucy?We have to give you a proper introduction to the people and it's getting a bit late."She cut me off. Was she deliberately trying to change the topic?This was the second time for the day she tried to change the topic, something didn't seem right at all.I was beginning to think they were hiding something from me. I nodded my head in agreement and followed her outside where Austin was waiting not looking to happy, whatever discussion he had with his mother didn't help his mood, it seemed to make it worse. "Put a smile on your face so my people don't suspect anything about the wedding."He warned. "Don't worry, I'm used to forcing a smile when I'm unhappy." It was the truth, I often had to feign happiness in front of the people back home in order to hide being mistreated by the royal family.So this wasn't anything new to me.If anything ,it only made me feel like I was back home. Austin turned to study me upon hearing my words, his eyes tracing my face as if trying to figure out what exactly I meant by it. "Guys."Maya cut in."I really think we should do the introduction now." Austin reluctantly moved his gaze from me to look at his sister before nodding his head and the three of us walked back into the hall where the king and queen waited with worried looks to their faces. The entire crowd got quiet at our entrance, everyones gazes held a hint of curiosity ,awe and jealousy all in one. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, as you all may already know ,tonight's main focus is to introduce Prince Austin's lovely wife Princess Lucy to our people.I know that everyone will welcome her and show her all the love and support you've always shown to us our entire lives.Anyone who'd like to get to know her better ,please feel free to come introduce yourself to her personally."The king announced. It didn't take long for people to start surrounding me , throwing questions upon questions at me, I didn't mind since they were all kind for the most part.Austin's parents and sister stayed by my side the entire time, Austin on the other hand had disappeared yet again,something I was getting used to by now. What confused me was that no one seemed to mention Austin's behavior from earlier on, did I really just imagine the growling in my head?I wouldn't be surprised considering the strange voice I had been hearing in my head ever since I arrived here. "It seems I need to make an appointment to meet my own sister in law."A voice whispered catching my attention. My eyes snapped up to meet gorgeous blue eyes ,and a face strikingly similar to that of Austin's."I'm Lucas ,Austin's brother."He introduced himself with a bright smile. I returned his smile."It's a pleasure to meet you Prince Lucas." "Uh-uh ,it's just Lucas to you Princess."He gently scolded me. I smiled."And it's just Lucy to you ." Another nice member of the family, was everyone in the family nice except for Austin ?That's highly unfortunate for me, but I was used to all the bad luck by now. I was deep in my thoughts when I felt the presence of someone behind me.I slowly turned and was greeted by a middle aged man,his eyes were studying me intently , searching my face as if he were seeing someone else and for a minute I could have sworn his eyes narrowed. Who was this man? Something about him made me feel uneasy inside. "Are you going to introduce me to the lovely princess?'He asked the queen. "Oh yes , Lucy dear this is a very old friend of ours Eric Bradwin, he has never hesitated to help us in the past and we couldn't be more lucky to have someone like him in our lives." "You're to modest Lisa.When I heard from Ariana that Austin had gotten married ,I was shocked but thrilled at the news." I felt the queen stiffen besides me at the mention of this Ariana. Ariana?Who was she? "Ariana is my daughter."He added as if reading my mind."In fact let me introduce you two so you can be good friends from now on." "Ariana"He called. The person I saw next made me feel sick to my stomach. It was her. The one I had seen earlier with her arms wrapped around Austin!