Chapter 41: _Runaway Bride

Chapter 41: _Runaway Bride Luckily, when I got to the mansion that night, Kaelos was no longer in my room. I crawled into bed, sighing with relief before closing my eyes to get some sleep. The next morning, I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock beside my bed ringing repeatedly and also the chirping of birds and the sun shining through my window. My eyebrows furrowed into a frown even before I opened my eyes. I don’t remember setting an alarm on this stupid thing. Unless... "Kaelos, you son of a bitch." I muttered with a scoff as I groggily sat up from bed and stretched my hand, turning off the alarm clock after a few seconds of struggle. I dimmed my eyes to look at the time. Seven AM. "He’s got some nerve if he thinks he can dictate my sleeping hours after the hell of a day I had yesterday." I harrumphed to myself as I lay back on my bed, getting comfortable on the cold side of my pillow. Unfortunately, before my consciousness could drift back into the dream world, a knock came on my door, causing me to groan. "What?!" I yelled out like a toddler as I sat up on the bed again, staring at the room door. The next thing I heard was a rather meek voice speaking from the other end. "It’s me, ma’am. Caroline." Ugh, for the love of... "Caroline, what’s so special that my husband had to disturb my sleep so early?" I grumbled, even though I knew seven AM wasn’t too early. I just didn’t want to bother myself much after the embarrassment I faced yesterday, first at the market, then with Celine, and finally in the presence of the Alpha king’s council. What’s the point of getting dressed and heading out to see what the pack could offer when it’s been established that everyone in said pack hates me? Well... Almost everyone. "Preparations for the welcoming Ball next week begin today, ma’am," Caroline said just then in response to my last question. Welcoming Ball? "A welcoming ball for who exactly?" I paused after I asked that, realizing that I should probably just tell her to come in. "Come in..." After saying that, the door swung open and Caroline walked in with a slight smile on her face as she bowed slightly in front of me. "Good morning, ma’am." She greeted me. After everything I faced yesterday from beginning to end, it was nice seeing another face that seemed friendly, other than Marcellus, of course. "Good morning Caroline," I muttered, finally getting up from the bed. I stretched my arms, yawning lazily before scratching the back of my head. "So, at the top of today’s agenda, you said we have to make preparations for a welcoming ball," I stated, walking toward the balcony, my back facing Caroline. "What welcoming ball? Also, what sort of preparations?" When I finally got to the balcony, I drew in a deep breath, staring at the morning sky and the birds that flew past. Beautiful views like this were always so hard to come by back in my coven’s territory. Well, mostly because I’d been a lowly witch fighting for scrubs, never bothering myself over something as minuscule as a ’good view.’ Anyway, I heard Caroline joining me reluctantly on the balcony, causing me to glance back at her with an arch of my eyebrows. She bowed her head, still seeming hesitant to keep eye contact. "The welcoming Ball is for the Alpha King of the South American region and his delegates coming next week. Only the elites of the pack and other neighboring packs will be in attendance though." Oh... For an odd reason, I tensed up at the thought. The ’elite’ of any race has always been a tough crowd to mingle with and talk less of werewolves. "Well, I don’t have to attend," I said resolutely, placing my hands on the handrail of the balcony. "I’m a witch and Kaelos isn’t particularly proud of having me around. I doubt he’ll want to show me off as his–" "On the contrary, ma’am..." Caroline interrupted my rant just then, causing me to slowly turn my whole body to face her. "From what I’ve heard, the Alpha King of the South American region is looking to come here to see how deplorable a marriage between a witch and an Alpha King would look like." What the heck? Seeing the confusion on my face, Caroline explained further. "News of your marriage with the Alpha King has spread beyond North America, ma’am. Other Alpha Kings of other continents have their eyes on us, trying to see if our Alpha King made the right decision with this truce." I couldn’t believe my ears. At first, I’d thought I’d only have to deal with the judgment of the packs and covens of the North American region, but now I also had to deal with the scrutiny of the whole fucking planet? "So, you see ma’am, you’re actually an important piece of the welcoming ball." Yeah, no shit. Sighing heavily, I decided there was no need to stall longer with my questions and gestured at the room. "I’ll go have a bath so we can begin these preparations and get this over with." I blurted, brushing my hand through my hair as I walked into the room. It didn’t take long for me to have a bath, and when I was done, I got dressed in a light blue flowy gown with a v-neckline and exposed shoulders. After Catherine helped me in brushing my hair, we walked out of the room and headed straight for the dining room downstairs. "I don’t think I’ve settled down and eaten a good meal since I got into this pack," I uttered, glancing at Caroline who walked beside me with a smile on my face. However, she merely forced a smile, seeming uncomfortable. For an odd reason, that hurt, seeing someone who I was already considering a ’friend’ still being uncomfortable around me because of my race. "You don’t have to be afraid around me, Caroline," I muttered, the disappointment in my voice clear. She whipped her head to me just then, her lips parting as she tried to explain herself. At this point, we’d already gotten to the ground floor and had a view of the dining room from the stairs but I didn’t bother looking there. "N– No, ma’am. I’m not scared of you. It’s just... It’s just I–" "Well, well, well." Suddenly, Kaelos’ voice boomed from the dining room, forcing Caroline and I to swerve our heads there. "Good morning, my runaway bride. Care to tell me where you ran off to last night?" He was dressed in black attire, as usual, his suit hugging his muscles and emphasizing them more. His black hair was tied up in a ponytail, and his piercing silver eyes were fixed on me, following my every movement as I walked toward the dining table. The gazes of a few maids around the table were also fixed on me. Goddess, have mercy...