Making her own path

Chapter 5 - Could this day get any worse?

“Do you ever look where you’re going?” her sister Iona sneered as she brushed down an imaginary wrinkle from her flawless bodycon dress. It was a crimson, high neckline dress that hugged her waist and soft curves perfectly and reached just above her knees that she paired with black heels. Her curly light blond hair reached her mid-back and her whole look made her light blue eyes pop. 

Aysha rolled her eyes and decided there was no point in arguing that she had just as much bumped into her. She started walking past her, but Iona stepped in her way.

“It’s polite to apologize when one bumps into another.” Iona said, crossed her hands, and glared at her.” But maybe you would know that if you were to take a few etiquette classes instead of all that pointless training.”

“It’s not pointless,” Aysha said with a hint of annoyance in her voice, not having the patience to deal with her sister today. “And you have enough of an ego and etiquettes for the both of us.” Aysha put special emphasis on the word “etiquettes”, telling her sister that she did not care what she thought about her. She started walking by her again, and this time her sister did not stop her.

“Be glad that dad is planning to find you a husband, because with that attitude, along with your looks, you’d never find one yourself, granny.” Iona sneered and walked away.

Granny. It was a nickname her sister came up with when they were just kids, and Aysha knew she had no intention to stop using. Aysha used to hate her hair when she was little, and one time even cut it all off, since she became so tired of all the taunts and name-calling for her silver hair and matching silver eyes. She had only started liking her hair when her mother said her color was from an angel who had kissed her while she was in the womb, and it was a blessing and a gift. 

Even though today she knew her mother’s words were just a fairytale to help a kid love herself, she cherished those words and learned to love her unique hair color. 

Aysha continued walking towards her father’s office and because of her run-in with her sister, she did not have any clue as to how she should start the conversation with her father. 

She finally stopped at a large white door with intricate golden designs and knocked. She heard her father’s voice, telling her to come inside so she opened the door and walked into his office.

“Aysha.” Her father, Arthur, said, not looking up from the document he was reading while sitting at his desk. It along with other furniture in the office were made from some dark wood and combined with light brown walls and floor, it gave the room a warm earthy feeling.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Her father added.

“I want to talk to you about this morning,” Aysha said and walked to his desk.

“What about it?”

“I just would like you to reconsider. Surely there are other ways that we could unite our kingdoms.”

At that remark, her father finally put down his document and looked up at her.

“I thought that matter was simple to understand.” He said calmly and ran his fingers through his dirty blond hair.

Aysha knew that she had to tread carefully. She sat down so she would be at eye level with her father.

“I get that there is a looming threat of a vampire attack, and I agree with your view that no kingdom can take care of this threat on their own. But it is a threat that everyone is facing and therefore unification through marriage should not be necessary. Your grandfather didn’t need to…”

“Let me stop you there.” Her father said and raised his hand. “Comparing today with the past is not going to work since the times have changed. Back then our kind was hiding in the shadows and were easier to rally together when they saw that the world was close to being destroyed. Now we have four main werewolf kingdoms and each one has its own set of rules and customs. Not to mention the smaller packs that each kingdom oversees.” Her father stood up from his chair and turned to the window behind his desk. “Besides, you should know that we have a rocky relationship with the kingdom of Dalamar.”

Four werewolf kingdoms were established after the war, each responsible for rebuilding the land assigned to them. Her great grandfather named their kingdom Creden, which came from the Latin word “credo” and meant believe. Dalamar was the kingdom closest to theirs, located in western Asia, and for some reason, there was always some trouble between her father and the alpha of Dalamar. They could never agree on anything without arguing first, once it even ended in a sparring match between their best fighters. The other two kingdoms were Vestnar, located in central Africa, and Yongyuan, located in eastern Asia.

“I know this is not ideal, but since I only have daughters and no sons, I have to think of a way to strengthen our kingdom.” Her dad said while looked out the window that had a view of the ground in front of the castle. 

It was rare for an alpha to not produce a male alpha heir, and even odder having three daughters and no sons. Of course, theoretically, women could rule, but the problem was in the alpha title since women did not possess it, and it made them vulnerable. Therefore, it was almost unheard of that women lead packs, and if they did, they tended not to last long.

“But an arranged marriage is just so outdated father. And to choose husbands for all three of us. Mother would never have agreed…” 

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Her father roared with his alpha tone, and Aysha closed her mouth. He turned to face her and Aysha could see the anger in his eyes. An alpha’s voice had the power to make people submit and it was for that reason why women tended not to last long as leaders. 

The strange thing was the alpha tone did not work on Aysha. She had no idea why, nor why she kept it a secret, but by now it had become routine to fake submission to her father when he got angry.

Aysha lowered her head in submission and knew that she went too far this time by mentioning her mother. Her mother’s name had been Elenora, and she had been killed when Aysha was fifteen. She had been visiting a neighboring pack when it had been attacked by rogues. After that day, any mentioning of her was a touchy subject to her father.

“I’m sorry father, I spoke out of turn.”

 Her father sighed and his rage dissipated from his eyes.

“Look, I get that you don’t like it, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry that it has to be this way.” Her father sighed. “But you are a princess, and sometimes you have to sacrifice your best interests for the better of the kingdom.”

“Yes, father.” Aysha was still looking at the floor and was trying her best to keep a level head, and not let her father see how disappointed and angry she truly was.

“Now,” Her father continued. “The three alphas that are next in line for the kingdoms will be arriving today.”

“Today?” Aysha gasped.”

“Let me finish.” Her father said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. “As I said, they will be arriving today, and I’ve arranged to invite them all to dinner tonight with us and your sisters for you to meet each other. And the day after tomorrow we will be holding a ball to officially welcome them to the kingdom. Hopefully, it will give you and your sisters time to pair off on your own.”

“You’re giving us less than three days to decide?” Aysha said, baffled by the suggestion. “What if one of them is a major creep or violent, you’re just going to make one of us accept that?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, they are all sons of respected alphas.”

“But father…” 

“I don’t want to hear any more!” Aysha’s father said with a stern voice, sat back at his desk, and picked up his document again. That was his way of saying that the conversation was over, and there was no use in arguing. At least not right now.

“Very well.”

She left his office quietly and closed the door behind her. The anger was boiling inside her, and she could not believe her father. She decided to go back to her room and once there she walked straight into the bathroom. After turning on the faucet in the bathtub, she undressed, put her hair in a bun, and climbed in. She looked through her scents, salts, and bath oils and decided on one of her favorite scents, jasmine, also adding some calming bath salts. When the bath was full, she leaned back and tried her best to calm down, but she could not think about anything other than the conversation she had with her father.

“At least you get a choice of three,” Mel said to Aysha, trying to cheer her up.

“You forget that I have two sisters. My father made this a competition to see who gets the “best” catch.” Aysha sighed and closed her eyes, focusing on the sweet smell of the jasmine in the room.

“When you put it like that…” Mel said quietly and did not say anything else since she did not know what to say to cheer me up.

“This is going to be hell.” Aysha exhaled and before long she managed to drift off.

-----

Aysha had fallen asleep in the bathtub and woken up about when the water had turned cold. She stiffly sat up, emptied the tub, and stood up. Wrapping a towel around her, she walked out of the bathroom and to her closet. She had to start getting ready for dinner since the last thing she wanted was to anger her father even more by being late. 

She was not a big fan of dresses but decided on a navy strapless dress and nude heels. After she put on the dress, she looked in the mirror and had to admit that the dress looked good on her. It hugged her in all the right spots and then flowed freely to her knees. She took her hair out of the bun, and it had formed smooth deep waves that she decided were a good look to go with the dress. After putting a few strands of hair in the right place, Aysha put on her shoes and walked towards her desk. She sat down and pulled out her small cosmetics bag and decided on soft natural makeup, with a peach-colored lipstick. She finished the look with small gold earrings and a simple gold necklace.

“That’s as good as it’s going to get.” Aysha took a moment to look at herself in the mirror and had to admit that she did not look half bad. She noticed it was getting late, got up, and left the room.

----

Aysha entered the main lounge and saw that her sisters were already there. The lounge had a dark wood floor and crème walls. The room had quite a few white armchairs and three large white sofas to match with teal pillows. The tables are brown, and on the wall against the door was a large bar. 

Aysha walked over to her sisters, ignoring the glare from Iona. She had on a tight one-shoulder black dress that Aysha doubted she could breathe in and matching black heels. This time she had her blond curls in an elegant updo with not a hair out of place. Next to her sat her other sister, Helena, she had on a beautiful yellow sheath dress and her light brown hair was pulled back on one side and flowed down the other to her waist. 

Aysha did not say a word and sat down next to Helen.

“Don’t worry, you’re not late,” Helen said softly and Aysha felt herself calm down a little.

“But still cutting it close.” Iona sneered.

Before Aysha could answer the other door to the room opened and her father walked in along with three men.

“Girls, come and meet our guests.” Aysha’s father said, and the girls stood up and walked to him.

“Now, these are my daughters, Iona, Helena, and Aysha.” Her father said and gestured to each of them in turn.

“And these men are; Alpha Jian Li from the eastern Asia Kingdom, Yongyuan.” The man he gestured to was the shortest of the three men, but he was still a little taller than her. He had short black hair and was dressed in a simple black suit.

“Alpha James Chaves from the African kingdom, Vestnar.” James was dark-skinned and had black dreadlocks that reached his shoulders, and were pulled back in a ponytail. He was extremely handsome and well built. He was wearing black pants with a blue shirt. 

“And finally, Alpha Zayne Harris, from the western Asia Kingdom, Dalamar.” The last man was at least a head taller than Aysha and was wearing black jeans with a black blazer and black shirt. His skin had a warm undertone, and he has dark brown hair with an undercut and long fringe that reached his eyes. When he moves his hair out of his face and looked at Aysha, she could not help but gasp at his beautiful hazel eyes.

But what was more alarming was the sound of Mel’s voice in her head.

“Mate.”