Chapter 20
Emily
Well as you may remember we are now back at the beginning of our journey. That's right, we are back in Irwin Pennsylvania. And to think that it took us a little over five years to be back here together, who knew it would be this long. Hunter and I interlock our hands and begin to walk towards his village, all the while I was telling him about the fight and the past five years. Everything was turning out alright for the first time since I found out I was a shifter, and it was pretty nice.
We walk into the village only to be greeted by the royal council, "Well my queen, you sure are a hard cat to find, now aren't you." The council composed of three men and four women, each a member of very powerful tribe from each of the seven continents. And now they had found me, and were going to officially make me the queen of the shifting world. I feel Hunter's hand tighten around mine as I do the same to his, "Yes well I had to get the world to follow me, so that took some time. Also I had to find my mate, you see..." "We don't care about what you did with your mate! He is meaningless to you anyway, all we need is you and we will be able to resume business as usual." Hunter takes a step towards the council, "What are you going to do? Separate us again? I will just find her and take her again." I feel his anger rise and mine is pretty high up there as well. "Why is he meaningless? Don't you need me to carry on my bloodline?" "We do, but we would rather you do it with another snow leopard. In order to keep the line pure." I stare in awe at the council, "You have got to be shitting me. You want the line pure?! Look at me, I come from a line of humans! And you want to keep my bloodline pure when it's already tainted? You are way to stupid to be a royal council."
They all took a step back and Hunter started to snicker. I look at Hunter, "Come on, let's get away from these idiots. They have no idea what they're talking about anyways." We started to walk away, but one of the council members grabbed me from behind and another went behind Hunter, only to knock him out with a blow to the head. I see another talk into a cuff piece as I am dragged away from my mate, "We have the queen, set up the arrangements." Then I am knocked out by an alcohol soaked cloth.
When I wake up there are no shackles or anything, there is just a large cushioned bed. This was a surprise, anytime I had been knocked out before I was either shackled to the bed or it was some kind of cheap cot like thing. But now I was on the softest bed I had ever slept on.
A figure comes into the room, a small petite woman who is holding a clipboard, "My lady, you need to get up. We need to fit you for your dress." "Why do I need a dress?" She smiles, "Because you are getting married to the chief of the snow leopards tomorrow." I leap out of the bed, "But I already have a mate, please I can't do this." "The arrangements have already been made, there is no turning back now." The smile had left her lips and it was replaced by a stern line. Her lips pressed in a line and her expression cold. It sent shivers up my spine, and she grabbed my hand. "You need to learn how to listen to the council before they control you forever." I look at the woman, "They are already controlling me all they need to do now is control my mind." I said it meaning for it to be a glum joke, but she just nodded, "That's exactly what they will do to you. You need to play your cards right and make sure they never do that to you. If they try, think about the things you love most. That will keep their spell off your mind." After she said that we walked in silence.
I was being fitted for a beautiful wedding gown, the fit was perfect, with a slit up the middle of the back down to the hem of the dress to show the puffy innards. I have no idea what to call them, but it's the poofy part underneath the pretty part. You know what I'm talking about. Anyway, there were pearls lining the breasts of the dress, giving it an elegant shine. Everything about it was beautiful, and elegant, and so not me.
