A Romance Sort of Thing

Chapter 19: A Missing Princess

[Zayden's POV]

She's gone. Piercing pains were stabbing my heart, it felt like it would shatter any moment now. Let's find her, my wolf growled. I could feel the tension between me and my wolf. He blamed me for her running off. We can't, father's orders, I replied and felt his anger grow even more. Always following his orders. What about us and our needs? my wolf snarled. I shrugged, not wanting to argue.

The worst feeling in the world is having your mate hate you. Right up there with it, is being at odds with your wolf. We were one, and this was the first time we ever had built up tension between us. It felt like pieces of me were missing. I cringed as I remembered how pained and angry she was. She despised me so much she couldn't even bear the thought of being close to me.

"She will come back, Ryuu is probably out there right now trying to convince her things are okay," my father said reassuringly. He didn't know she was my mate, and if he did, he probably wouldn't care for her to return. "She's just panicked with all this new world stuff," he continued nonchalantly.

"What if something happened, father? They have been gone for hours!" I growled in frustration. My father furrowed his eyebrows, observing my irritation.

"I've never seen you so worked up over something before, what is it?" he questioned.

"Nothing, you're probably right," I sighed. "I am going to say goodnight to everyone," I said flatly and walked out of his office. Not letting my father say anything else, he would just irritate me more. If I wasn't his son, my behavior would have been unacceptable.

"Mother?" I slowly walked into my mother's art room. She loved to paint, especially if she was stressed or worried.

"Darling, what are you doing here?" she asked, focused on her painting. Her dark brown eyes observing every detail she stroked onto the canvas.

"I need to talk to you. Father can't know but I need advice, mother," I said softly, feeling the rush of grief hit me.

I knew it was my fault I was in this position. I hurt Lillith and I should've been honest with her in the beginning.

"What is it, son?" Aya set down her paintbrush and gave me all her attention. I could always confide in her about things that I could never talk to my father about.

"I don't want to marry Jessie," I said under my breath. My mother furrowed her eyebrows.

"She seems like a nice girl and she's gorgeous, why wouldn't you want to?" my mother asked gently.

"She's nice, yes, but shouldn't I be with my mate? Where did that tradition go?" I questioned.

"You found your mate, haven't you?" she looked at me with empathy. I shuffled my feet uncomfortably and nodded my head.

"She hates me and I can't bear it," my voice croaked as I felt a lump form in my throat.

This is the first time since I was a child that I just wanted to cry and give up on everything. I held back those tears, it was disgraceful for a prince to cry.

"Oh sweetie, you know what you're father will do?" she stood up and walked over to me. "He won't crown you king if you choose your mate," she put her hand on my cheek.

The words stung, why couldn't my father be more reasonable? Why did alliances matter more than pure and true love?

"I don't know what to do," my voice barely being heard.

"Your father and I rejected our mates for the crown. To form a stronger society and combine allies," she said softly, "but that doesn't mean you must do the same."

"What?" her words caught me by surprise.

"Son. Rejecting my mate was something I regret to this day. Your father and I get along well enough, but it's not the same. It's not enough most times, and I would hate to see you go through life never truly being happy," she paused, walking back to her painting. "Your father is a stubborn man, but he loves you no doubt."

"He won't ever crown me though if it isn't with an alliance..." I trailed off.

She nodded in disappointment. I was born to lead, I trained for it my whole life. It is my passion and path.

"Is there no way to get him to agree to let me become king one day with my mate? It's Lillith for goddesses sakes! She's a princess," my voice strained, my heart pounding with aching pain. My mother's jaw dropped.

"It's Lillith? That explains why she ran off..." she trailed off.

"She's a princess, mother, why can't that be good enough for father?" I was desperate to find a way to convince my father. Aya shook her head sympathetically.

"Your father might consider a princess, but Lillith is half-witch. The witches will have their own agenda for her," she said softly.

"Their own agenda? They are under our order."

"Yes, but, they still have their own royalty and other allies," she replied.

I was shocked, this was the first I have ever heard of the witches having allies outside of our society.

"She's still half werewolf," I persisted.

"She is, but try telling your father that," she shrugged. "I am sorry Zayden, but this is your choice and yours alone. I cannot tell you what you should do, you need to figure out what is more important to you. I can't convince your father no more then you can." She smiled faintly, getting up and walking over to wrap her arms around me in a hug. It was comforting, but I felt like there was an empty hole, a part of me missing. Lillith.

I couldn't sleep after talking to my mother. I paced the castle hallways all night long, waiting for Lillith to return. My gut kept twisting into a knot and making me nauseous. I knew something bad had happened. There was no word from Ryuu or Lillith and they should have been back long before now. I stormed into my father's office, he was already up and about.

"Zayden," he snapped, "I will not accept your behavior."

"Father, they are missing, why are you not worried?" I growled.

I could see my father tense up, not liking the way I was acting. Usually, I showed him more respect, but right now, the only thing I could think about was Lillith.

"I have already sent out warriors to search the forest," he growled so furiously, it made instinctively take a step back and avert my gaze submissively.

"When?"

"About an hour ago. Believe it or not, I have been worried as well but you have been overacting," he snapped.

"My apologies," I mumbled, realizing that I should've known he didn't care.

"They will report back in a few hours. Until then, you and Jessie need to focus on your wedding ceremony preparations. I will take care of finding Lillith," he stated.

The mention of Jessie's name made me feel disgusted, even though she did nothing wrong. I simply was just not attracted to her and all I could think about was Lillith.

"I will check back in a few hours then," I replied as I walked out of his office.

We must search for mate, my wolf pleaded. They took her, I know it, he growled. By 'they,' I knew my wolf meant the Dark Moon pack. The thought sent chills down my spine, there was no telling what they would do to her.

Audience:

Here's a little different perspective, you could stay dislike Zayden. There's still a lot more to the story ahead (;

What do you think so far?

I know most men don't get emotional, but maybe that tells you something about how Zayden really feels.

Let me know what you think!

Thank you for reading (:

xoxo