Once A Princess, Now A Slave

30- Failed

Keslie's POV

"I think they knew what we were doing," I said when Garnor left.

I looked at Connor and caught him staring at me.

His eyes dropped to my chest and back to my face. "D*mn it," he whispered while shaking his head. He massaged his temples and pressed the bridge of his nose.

I nod my head at him. "Yeah, right, d*mn it," I agreed and mimic what he said.

I made a step backward when he suddenly closed our gaps with his huge steps. Before I can react, he reach for the sides of my waist and pulled me closer to him. I furrowed my brows, confused by what he is doing. He then started fixing the buttons on my shirt. I just realized that my buttons don't perfectly match their holes.

"T-Thanks," I said after he fixed them. I bite my lower lip before looking at his face with a worried expression. "Sh*t. You think they noticed it?" I asked.

"What if they did? It's none of their business," he answered casually.

I shoot a brow up. I think he's missing the part that I was never the wanted girl in this pack.

"Let ne remind you that the way people treat us aren't the same. Even when I was the daughter's alpha, they barely respected me? What more now?" I answered.

"They won't touch you because you are my mate."

I won't lie. My heart skipped at the moment he mentioned that he was my mate. But then, I always have my integrity with me.

"We already rejected each other," I said.

"No. You're the one who rejected me. I did not accept it."

My jaw drop at what he said. So all this time, it was the mate bond? The sense of belongingness to someone, the faint sweet smell that devours my nose every time he's around... all this time, I thought it was just an after-effect of our mate bond. Little did I know, it is still an actual mate bond.

He made a step backward and looked at my chest to scrutinize if I'm wearing it correctly. I feel the sudden urge to cross my arms over my chest to cover them. In the end, I just cleared my throat and turn to face the door. "I think I s-should go..."

I was about to exit the room however, I only made a single step before I felt his hand holding my wrist to stop me from leaving.

My eyes dropped to it and crawled up to his face. "What?" I asked innocently.

"You're still my mate, Kelsie," he said in a serious tone. I felt him gently squeezing my wrist, probably telling me to say something.

"W-We already t-talked about t-this--"

"I know you like me too," he said without stuttering. I looked at him, speechless. "You won't let me touch every inch of your body if you don't like me," he added.

I gulp. I pressed my lips together, refusing to give him an answer. At the moment, I assessed myself.

I won't deny it. I like him. But I already rejected him.

'What if he'll just say that I accepted him because he is already an Alpha?'

He sighed.

"Kelsie... I don't think that way." My eyes widens and my lips parted. "We're still mates, remember? I can still hear your thoughts."

He gave me an answer but it made me more confused."B-But, didn't I r-reject you?" I clarified and free my wrist from him. He let me have my way and inserted his hands into his pockets as he languidly stare at me.

He nods. "You did... by words. But you did not reject me by heart."

I blink uncontrollably while his eyes stayed on me.

"S-So... are w-we still m-mates?" I asked hesitantly.

I just said earlier that I always have my integrity with me, but what the hell is this?!

"Why? You don't want to?" he asked.

I pursed my lips to stop myself from smiling. I may be confused for the past weeks, but now, it all makes sense to me.

The way I disguised not caring while being irritated with my stepsister whenever I see her lurking around Connor's presence, the disturbance I felt whenever he was mad or disappointed, and the way my heart pounds whenever he is this inch closer to me. Now I understand why.

"Connor..." I completely turn on my back to see him. The confidence plastered on his face is very evident. "I will say this out loud since I know you can read my thoughts whenever I am this close to you," I said and paused. I locked my eyes on him. The sparkle in his gaze made me more enthusiastic and excited.

"I want to be your mate," I exclaimed.

The sides of his lips rise for a smile, and so do I. We spent another couple of minutes smiling at each other. The soft chuckles from him made me giggle.

Connor grabbed my waist and planted a swift kiss on my lips. I pursed my lips to stop myself from smirking, but in the end, I just chuckle. I cup his cheek and collided our lips.

Our kisses earlier when I step inside this room are vague, confused, and unsure. But now, all I can feel is certainty and genuinity.

We are both panting heavily and our chests are rising up and down after our long and passionate kiss.

"I have to say something..." I said in between my breaths. His hands are still on the sides of my waist. I felt them snaking around my hips as he locked me in his arms.

Connor tilt his head and narrowed his eyes at me.

"Don't you dare take back what you said. You already agreed," he said monotonously.

I burst out laughing. My head falls back. Good thing his hands are on my waist for support.

When my laugh faded, I look at him with pure seriousness. I hook my hands on the back of his neck. I unconsciously lick my lower lip. I notice how his gaze dropped to it.

"I'm not going to take it back. But I want us to keep it low first."

His forehead furrowed. He then sighs. His hands on my waist are slowly slipping down, but I quickly held onto them.

"Connor, I know you are aware of how people treated me in this pack..."

"I know. It will change the moment they knew you're mine."

I shake my head. "You don't understand--"

"Trust me, I do."

"Connor..." I sigh. His pleading eyes are making it hard for me, but this time, I am confident that I know what I am doing. "When I was the daughter's alpha, did they treat me the way I wished to be treated? Now that I am the mate of the current Alpha, do you think there will be changes?"

Connor lips parted to say a word, but nothing escaped. "Connor, I hate to say this to you since I also do not want to break it to myself, but the truth is, in order for me to be an effective Luna in the future, I need the pack to trust me."

His eyes blinked as if I said something unbelievable.

"The test... I realize just now that I have to take it seriously," I paused. I place his hands back on my waist and my hand on the back of his neck. I tiptoed and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

"Connor, I want to show everyone that I can and I will," I said.

***

I grace my way back to the quarters of the Guardians. Connor already agreed with what we talked about. I will take and ace this test to show everyone that I am not the spoiled brat they thought I was.

I cannot be the Luna of this pack just because Connor and I want each other. If I were to be a Luna, I want my pack to trust and accept me. In order to do that, I have to upgrade my social skills.

Just by thinking of the years I spent alone in my bedroom because I hate having people around, and the situations in which I can easily turn my back instead of resorting to a fight whenever someone's talking sh*t about me, then I might be in good terms to a number of people now.

I sigh. I cannot turn back the time but I have the opportunity to make things right. And I'll start today.

I pushed open the door of the Guardians' quarters. Unlike earlier when I was late, this time, I caught everyone's attention. All eyes are on me.

I did not overthink it since they probably looked in my direction because I was the only one who stepped inside the room. I notice my stepsister standing on the corner with two girls beside her. She crosses her arms over her chest and tilts her head. She raised a brow at me and throw a glare. Instead of replying to her, I avoided my gaze in her direction.

I notice on the other side the group of girls who were whispering. When they see me looking at them, they stopped.

I sighed with my lips closed. I thought this is easy.

I mentally count from one to five in order to give myself time to calm down.

I travel my eyes to the other side of the room while flashing a friendly smile. I walk towards the girl nearest to me. She avoided her gaze and attended to the elder who is sitting on the couch with her.

"Uhm, hi! May I know where Mrs. Percy is?" I asked even though her back is already facing me.

I can sense her shutting her eyes closed and lightly shaking her head before facing me. She lift her chin and looked at me. She then roams her eyes around before darting them to the elder beside her.

"I-I do n-not know. Probably i-in her o-office," she replied.

"Great, thank you!" I responded.

Her eyes widened and panic crossed over her facial expression. Her eyes landed in my step-sister's direction before they darted back to me.

"I wasn't sure! I d-didn't help you at all!"

Before I can react, she already stands on her feet and went to the other side of the room to exit. She stopped in front of my step-sister and lightly bowed her head at her. Kristine, on the other hand, only rolled her eyes at her. The girl immediately exited the room.

'Weird,' I commented in my mind.

'What's weird?' I almost jump in my place when I hear his voice inside my head. When I realized who it was, I sighed in relief.

'Stop getting into my thoughts,' I pouted.

'Then learn to block them. I am not the only one who can read your mind. Anyone with whom you shared a connection can exercise mind-linking to you,' he explained.

'I know. But, you're the only one I shared a connection with,' I quickly replied. '... so far,' I added.

It took him a couple of seconds before responding. 'Alright. I won't read your thoughts without asking for your permission.'

'Good!'

I started walking towards Mrs. Percy's office. I am in the middle of organizing my thoughts to explain to her what I and Connor talked about when Connor once again jumped inside my head.

'Where are you heading?' he asked.

'I thought we already talked about unconsented mind-linking!'

'I can't help it. You should learn how to block your thoughts.'

I sigh. 'I will learn it. I'm heading to Mrs. Percy's office to tell her about retaking the test,' I explained.

'Do you want me to go with you?' he asked. I frowned.

'We already talked about this. I do not like any special treatment and I do not want anyone to know about us until I can prove my worth.'

If everyone will know about us being mates, my hard work will be thrown into nothing. They will all think that I get where I would be because of him and I do not want that.

'Okay okay...' I swear, I can imagine him raising his hands up in the air as if he's giving up. 'I will let you handle this.'

'Good!'

'Good luck, my princess. Do well, my future Luna,' he said before disconnecting our minds.

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Unedited. English is not my first language. My apologies for the grammar, sentence construction, and wrong spelling.

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Once A Princess, Now A Slave

By: Joanne Cristel

©2023