THE POWER OF TRUE LOVE

CHAPTER 17

ROSE'S POV
All of us were almost ready. Crystal was braiding Zoey's hair while Sarah was completing Ashley's make up. "Done" Crystal announced after she had completed braiding Zoey's hair. "Me too" Sarah said after completing Ashley's make up. Before anyone of us could say anything else, a loud 'click' echoed throughout the place. All of us turned our heads towards the door of the room to see Ethan and the other guys enter. All of them were reflecting only one thing : Royalty. All of them were dressed as if they were Disney princes.

All of them looked at us and...Smiled!...like not one of those creepy smile but a genuine smile. My eyes widened as I looked at Ethan. But the moment was short lived, the smile only lasted for mere moments before they turned their faces back to that cold expression. "let's go" Liam said as each one of them grabbed each of our wrists and dragged us out of the room.

I just pray that all of us will make it out alive...

After walking for some time, we reached a door which looked like it was an entrance to the Heaven itself. As soon as all of us reached the door, the guards guarding the door, opened it and what we saw next blew our minds! It was a grand hall! like not even a small or medium sized hall, but a freaking huge hall!. It was heavily decorated along with a beautiful chandelier hanging at the centre at the ceiling. It took me a moment to take in it's beauty but as soon as I looked at the centre of the hall, my awe was replaced by confusion. There were 5 different stages spread across the hall, forming a U. But that was not what confused me. The fact that a couple was standing on each of the stages was what confused me. There were 5 couples in total. All of them appeared to be in their middle fifties or early sixties. Before we could say anything, Lycans started moving inside the hall, while we were being dragged behind them.

CRYSTAL'S POV
Ethan started dragging me towards the couple who was standing on the middle stage. We reached the stage and climbed up the stairs to where the couple was standing. When we reached them, I noticed that Ethan had a lot of resemblance to them with respect to physical features, so I am guessing they are his parents. Both of them were smiling softly at me and even though it might sound like a lie, their presence actually made me feel a little comfortable. Their smiles were genuine and it provided me a sense of comfort. "Crystal I would like you to meet my parents" Ethan said looking at the couple with a smile. Something that all of them rarely did. The woman's smile brightened as she looked at me. "Crystal. What a lovely name" she said. Even her voice was soft and comforting. "My name is Rebecca Blake Carson and this is my husband, Rafael Blake Carson. It's so nice to finally meet you" She said introducing both of them. The man gave me a hearted smile as well. I am guess he is not much of a talker. Ignoring the intensity of the situation I gave both of them a small smile. "It's nice to meet you too Mr and Mrs Carson" I said. Then out of nowhere Mrs Carson put out her hand in front of me, her palm open. To say I was confused was an underestimate, I was beyond confused! What is happening?!. "Crystal, I want you to place your palm in my mother's palm" Ethan said from beside me. I gave me him a weird yet confused look. "just do it" he said with a heavy sigh. I knew he was getting impatient but I didn't dare move my arm. God knows what happen if I did. I shook my head slightly and subconsciously took a step back. Suddenly, without any warning, Ethan grabbed my wrist, a little painfully, I might add, and placed my plam in his mother's hand. "I think you are aware that I don't like to repeat myself" he said with gritted teeth. I was about to pull my hand back but suddenly Mrs Carson closed her palm, grabbing my hand. I tried to pull it back by some force but her grip only tightened. I noticed that her eyes were closed and she was mumbling something. Then suddenly, she opened her eyes and I almost screamed my throat out. Her eyes were deep red, completely. Not even her eyeball was visible. This time I started struggling, trying with full force, to get my hand out of her grip but she was a lot stronger than me. Then her eyes landed on my feet and she started looking up, as if examining my body. WTH is happening!. "It's a family ritual" Ethan said noticing my confused and terrified face. "Our families have been following this ritual since centuries. This ritual is performed before any of our family member decides to marry. In this ritual the Lycan's mother, whether it's a boy or a girl, sees whether this marriage is true or not. She makes sure that the bride and the groom, both, are real mates and none of them is being forced in the marriage" he stops to look at me but I don't say anything because I'm still trying to process all of this information. He takes the silence as his cue to continue. "she does this by looking through the partner's body. She examines their soul and gives the final statement" My eyes widened and a ray of hope flashed inside of me. "so that means..." I trailed off. "Yes. If she denies this, then we  cannot get married. The same goes with all of us" Ethan said referring to his and my friends. My heart started racing and I turned my head to look at Mrs Carson with hopeful eyes. She had closed her eyes again and was mumbling again. As seconds ticked by, my heart was beating like crazy. Every fibre in my body was praying that she said no. There was a hope in me that maybe, just maybe, me and my friends will be able to get out of this alive...with the true loves of our lives. After what felt like eternity but were probably only a few minutes, she opened her eyes. They had turned back to normal which I was really glad for.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes again for a moment.

"so what is it mother" I heard Ethan ask from my side. But I couldn't concentrate on him or anything else for that matter.
My mind and ears were only focused on Mrs Carson.

She has to reject this!

She opened her eyes and looked at both of us.

"It's a yes"

Hey guys. So this was chapter 17. I hope you all are enjoying my work.
Thanks for reading!
Bye! ❤