Untie my heart

Well, this is what I call a party River

Becca's firm grip on my hand is sending powerful pleasurable tingles all the way up my arm as she drags me towards the party. I can't help but notice that the sparks from the mate bond are so much stronger today than they were yesterday.

While making this observation my wolf chimes in, "it's because we are fully mated now" he says with a whimper. I can't help but feel bad for him, my wolf has wanted a mate for as long as I have known him, always excited at the idea of having the other half of his soul, I know this is not how he imagined it would turn out.

Laughing at the irony in my mind, my wolf pipes up, "dude don't feel bad for me, she may have forced my submission but she raped you", he said in a teasing tone.

I can't help but roll my eyes at this, he and I are one in the same, but I know the idea of being overpowered is harder for him to handle than me as male wolves are prideful and expected to be the more dominate in the relationship. I am sure last nights events hit him harder than me, being forced to submit and being overpowered by a female wolf must have been a major blow to his ego.

"Hey dude", he butts in, "just drop it already okay?"

I sigh, and pull my attention to my current situation. Becca and I are standing off to the side, behind the curtain of a large stage. I see the current king standing at a podium speaking authoritatively to the crowd. I peek toward the crowd and I am shocked, there has to be 4,000 people standing quietly, all eyes on the king, listening intently. My stomach drops at the thought of being on stage with all of those eyes on me.

Becca squeezes my hand and looks over to me sweetly, "don't worry babe, it won't be that bad" she says while looking deep into my eyes. I take a deep breath and turn my attention back to the king, he is going on about the royal packs successes and future goals. After what feels like forever the king finally starts talking about Becca.

"And now" the king says, "for the real reason you have all come to this party" he says jokingly, "my beautiful daughter Rebecca has turned 18 and found her mate!!!"

The crowd explodes with cheers, the sound is almost deafening with the insane number of people here.

The entire crowd instantly quiets as the king lifts his hand, drawing attention back to his speech. "Now it is my great pleasure to introduce Rebecca and her mate River, your future queen and king!!"

The crowd explodes into cheers again as Becca pulls me on stage with a perfect smile plastered on her beautiful face. As we approached the center of the stage Becca release my hand and gives her father and mother each a hug. As soon as the hugs are done Becca grabs my hand again pulling me closer to her and wrapping her arm around my waist.

She continues to smile brightly as she pulls herself closer and whispers in my ear, "it's show time love, don't disappoint me". Becca then places a lingering kiss on my cheek and the crowd lets out a series of awwws at the sweet display of affection.

The king once again raises his hand to silence the crowd, "in addition to our future king River, we are also welcoming River's sister Hope into the royal pack as our adopted daughter and new princess, the king proclaims!"

With that announcement Hope walks on stage, entering from the opposite side that Becca and I came from. I take a deep breath, relief floods my mind as I watch Hope, looking beautiful, walk towards the king and queen. Hope quickly gives the king and queen a hug before running over to me and Becca pulling us into a 3 person hug.

Hope is giddy with excitement and she smiles brightly, "I am so happy for you River", she screams, "I can't believe you have such an awesome mate!"

I can't help but smile genuinely down at her, she looks so happy, not scared or angry, just happy. Looking at the scene in front of me it almost seems real, everyone is smiling and the crowd is going wild with cheers but I can't allow myself to enjoy this moment because I know the truth, this is not real, we are not a happily mated couple. The truth that we cannot escape is that we are hostages to the crown, held against our will with my sisters safely solely decided by the mate that rejected me.

I try to maintain a smile while the king continues his speech, "royal pack and our honored guests, I am pleased to have you here tonight to witness future king River and princess Hope's initiation into the royal pack! Hope, River, please join me here for the joining ceremony", the king says as he waves his hand to his left side, indicating where he would like us to stand.

I take a deep, hesitant breath as I grab Hopes hand and start making my way to the king. You could hear a pin drop as Hope and I approach the king, suddenly as if a gift from the goddess, I hear yelling coming from outside.

All eyes turn to the doors as the yelling gets louder and suddenly the loud sound of what I think was an explosion shakes the hall and panic erupts in the crowd. Turning quickly to the king I see his eyes are pitch black and he begins barking orders at the warriors in the crowd.

I grab Hopes hand tightly as a group of warriors guide Hope and I off the stage. Looking around I don't see Becca anywhere but I really can't focus on that as the entire hall is in chaos.

I realize this may be our only hope of escape, I look to the warriors and ask, "do you know what's going on?" The warrior to my right quickly replies, fear in his eyes, "we are under attack by the rogue queen your grace".