Betrothed to a Prince, In Love With My Bodyguard

Corsets Cause Problems

Red's POV

I can’t shake the image of Rowan’s face when I told him about Dom from my mind for the rest of the weekend.

It wasn’t just then, if I’m being honest with myself. I saw that look in his eyes in the cafeteria that day, too. He was jealous. He was hurt. 

But why? Did he not reject me all those years ago? Has he not had his chance with me?

A lot can happen in a year, he told Eli that morning.

Is it possible? Has he changed his mind? He’s nineteen years old now. When his wolf awakened last year, did he realize that I’m meant to be his mate? When mine awakens, will I realize the same thing about him?

I already have, I admit to myself. I always have.

I avoid him all weekend, laying low in my room and having my meals sent up. Corrin comes to check on me Saturday evening, and we share a pizza while watching wedding flicks.

“I can’t tell if you’re watching these to inspire yourself or to torture yourself,” she tells me.

“A little of both,” I admit as I finish off my third slice and lie back on my bed. “A part of me is excited. I mean, all this time I’ve been the Crescent Princess, I’ve never been able to actually do any good for Canis, have I? I’m glad to be able to change that.”

“I wouldn’t say that. You join the Sentinels on patrol or the Hunters on their hunts every other weekend. You volunteer at the hospital every time there’s a skirmish with the Rogues, and you convince your father to take in stray pups whenever they come to us. I’d say you’re on a first-name basis with half the kingdom, which is, frankly, mindboggling to me.”

Everything she says is true, but it’s not enough. Canis may be the kingdom I grew up in, but it’s not truly home for the wolves. “How many of our Elders still yearn for their homeland of Meridian? How many Alphas in the kingdom whisper about my father’s failures behind his back? How many go hungry while I sit here in this castle?”

“If a wolf goes hungry, he has no one to blame but his own failures in hunting,” Corrin says dismissively. “As for the rest of it, you need to let those worries go. Your grandfather did the best thing for all of us when he treated with the faeries to get us this safe haven. If we had stayed in Meridian, the vampires would have killed us all.”

“But it’s been fifty years, and we’re stronger now. My mother went to Archon for a reason.”

I can see the words forming on Corrin’s lips, but she doesn’t say them out loud: And she died.

My mother went with Kat and a small group of Sentinels against my father’s wishes to beg Ramsay Eaton, the Vampire King of Archon, to allow us to return to Meridian. A bloodbath ensued. Kat managed to escape the fray with my mother’s mangled body in her arms, but by the time they reached our castle, my mother only had minutes left.

“Do not avenge me,” she told me, Eli, and our father as she closed her eyes for good. “You must keep the peace.”

Despite her final words, Eli and I begged for our father’s leave to charge into Archon and slaughter them all. Corrin and Rowan, of course, were with us. But he refused, issuing a public statement to the kingdom that the Oracle of Peace’s final wish was for us to remain safely in Canis.

That’s not what she said, I thought when I read his statement. She didn’t want bloodshed, but she always wanted to take us home.

Corrin always tries to downplay these concerns when I voice them to her. Eli always changes the subject, not wanting to think about it at all. Rowan is the one who really understands. Every time I bring it up, he seems to ignite with the same rage that I feel inside, eager to help me come up with some sort of plan to take us home.

Marrying a Gibbous will be about more than keeping the peace, I decide. I love my father, and I truly believe that we are the rightful royal family, but I can’t deny my support for Gaius Gibbous’ very public belief that we must reclaim Meridian. I disagree with him that we should take it by force, though. I suppose that makes me the potential voice of reason between the two most powerful men in the kingdom. 

Either that, or it makes me a naïve little girl with dreams that will never be actualized.

I think of my love for Rowan. Definitely naïve.

We stop talking at that. When we finish our movie, Corrin takes her leave, wishing me sweet dreams. I dream of my mother, as I often do. When I awaken in tears, my arm is throbbing. I drag myself to the infirmary, where I am surprised to see Rowan.

“Red,” he says, looking just as surprised. He scans my face. It must be clear that I’ve been crying. “Are you okay?”

“Bad dream,” I say dismissively, cursing my blotchy complexion. “What are you doing here?”

The nurse at the front desk slides him a basket, and he accepts it, lifting it to show me. “Got some better supplies to treat your wound with. Didn’t think I’d be able to convince you to come here. But since you’re here, we should have a real Healer look at you.”

He came here for me? 

All I want to do is throw my arms around him and bury my face in his strong, hard chest. All I want to do is tell him that I love him.

“Yeah,” I say instead. “Okay.”

He waits outside the room while the castle Healer looks me over. When I emerge, his silver eyes are eager for news. “Well?”

“He said you did a great job.” I lift my arm to show him that the Healer barely touched it. “He gave me some painkillers and antibiotics. Told me to come back in a week to get the stitches out.”

He smiles so widely, it makes me want to embrace him all over again. “I’m so glad. By the time they’re out, you’ll be a week away from eighteen. Once your wolf awakens, that scar will heal right up.”

Hearing him mention my wolf awakening reminds me of the many reasons I’ve avoided him all weekend, and I stiffen. He seems to sense it.

“Well,” he says, “I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

I nod, avoiding his gaze. “Tomorrow.”

- - - - -

The rest of the week is as surreal as the past few days. Corrin and I are back to normal in no time, and other than a grumble here and there about how ridiculous it is that I’m to marry a Gibbous, Eli is the same as usual. But Rowan and Dom…

It frustrates me, how different Rowan acts around me now. I should understand, I suppose, given my own feelings for him. How would I feel if I found out he was betrothed to another she-wolf? Would my own behavior not become erratic and jealous? 

But if he had just made his move sooner… maybe things would be different. If I had told my father I already loved another…

Who am I kidding? We marry for responsibility, not for love. It wouldn’t have mattered.

Maybe Rowan knows that. Maybe there is a reason he never made his move.

As for Dom, he seems to become more and more enthralled with me with every passing day. On Wednesday, I see him waiting for me at the entrance to the dining hall, dark eyes hopeful and expectant.

I ignore the stiff body language of Rowan next to me, offering Dom a friendly smile.

“Could I borrow you for a minute?” Dom asks me politely, gesturing to an empty classroom nearby.

Rowan takes a step forward, and for an instant, I almost think I hear a growl escape him. But it’s gone as quick as it came, and I say to Dom, “Of course.”

Corrin and Eli head into the dining hall. Rowan stands rooted in place, watching me and Dom as we step into the empty room.

“What’s with him?” Dom asks me as he closes the door behind him. I tense a bit, but I’m not too worried. With Rowan twenty feet away, Dom couldn’t do anything to me if he wanted to.

“He’s… the family bodyguard.” I hate the taste of the words as they escape my lips. Rowan is so much more than that. Can he hear me? Wolves’ hearing improves by miles when their inner wolves awaken… “He’s just protective.”

“Makes sense. Thought he looked a little old for high school.”

I don’t know why, but I want to slap him for that comment.

He seems to sense my annoyance, and he backpedals nicely. “I’m so excited for this weekend, Tempest. I haven’t told anyone outside my pack, but… I want to.”

Tempest?

“You should call me Red,” I say. “Nobody calls me Tempest.”

He takes a step forward. I suddenly become very aware of how close he is to me. The blood rushes to my cheeks. His dark eyes glint with mischief when he responds. “Maybe that’s why I prefer it.”

I hold his gaze, heart beginning to pound. He’s not Rowan, but he’s not without his charms. He certainly knows how to make me feel lightheaded.

He reaches out to touch my hair, which he tucks behind my ear. He leans in close—so close, for a split second, I’m sure he’s going to kiss me—and moves his lips to my ear. When he speaks, his breath tickles me.

“I can’t wait to see you in a dress.”

When we emerge from the room, I’m sure that my skin is nearly as red as my hair. Dom walks ahead of me, leaving me to rejoin his pack at their table. Flushed and heart still pounding, I turn my gaze to Rowan, who hasn’t moved an inch.

His expression is murderous.

- - - - -

Despite his very clear resentment of my classroom tryst with Dom, Rowan doesn’t say a word about it for the rest of the week. He’s colder to me, though, and more distant. It hurts, but a part of me feels forced to accept that it’s for the best. If he’s mad at me, it’s harder for him to love me.

Unfortunately, it’s not any harder for me to love him.

Finally the day of the party is upon us, and Corrin shows up to my room just after breakfast holding a dress that makes my jaw drop. It’s made of red satin, with a deep, plunging neckline, a tight, cinched waist, and a loose, flared skirt with a giant slit up the leg.

“Tell me that’s for you.”

“Nope,” she says cheerfully. “Rowan’s picking mine up from town—I had to get it altered. This one’s yours.”

“I can’t wear that! My dad would have a conniption! My brother would have a conniption! Your brother would have a conniption!”

“It was designed by the same wolf who designed your mother’s engagement and wedding dresses, along with Kat’s and even my mother’s. You know how this works. An engagement party is a coming-of-age announcement for a she-wolf. It’s expected that you show the community you’ve… matured.”

I know she’s right. It’s an unfortunate aspect of our culture that I’ll never fully understand. When a she-wolf turns eighteen, a whole lot of things happen all at once: she embraces her sexuality, she finds her mate, and she tells the world. If I wasn’t already betrothed, my father would throw me a similar party in a few weeks to find me a proper husband, and I’d be expected to wear a dress like this, anyway.

“Fine,” I say, heaving a sigh. “What else are you planning to torture me with?”

Corrin squeals, pulling out her bag of tricks and handing me a revolting push-up corset set to wear under the dress. “Put this on before I start your hair and makeup."

I snatch it from her with a glare, stealing into the bathroom to change while she sets up her beautification station at my desk. I’ve never worn a corset like this before in my life, and the matching underwear, garter, and tights that accompany it are just as confusing. When I’ve managed to get all the articles of clothing on my body one way or another, I emerge from the bathroom. Corrin laughs as she comes over to me to lace me up and fix all the mistakes I’ve made. When she is finished, she takes a step back, eyes wide.

“You’re a goddess,” she marvels. “Dom is one lucky wolf, Red.”

I glance down at myself doubtfully, avoiding the mirror. My average-sized breasts look enormous in this getup. The abdomen I’ve worked to strengthen with everyday training has been squeezed so tight, it seems to barely exist at all. Is this really considered sexy? I feel like a plastic doll.

Corrin is nearly finished with my hair and makeup when the knock sounds at the door. I stand up, reaching for my robe, but haven’t gotten the chance to put it on yet before Corrin yells, “Come in!”

“Cor!” I snap at her, but it’s too late; Rowan steps into my room, Corrin’s dress in his arms. When he sees me, he freezes, eyes glued to me with an expression so lustful and hungry, I start to feel burning in places I’ve never felt before.

I freeze, too, robe still dangling from my hands, utterly exposed to him. For several seconds, we stare at each other. The heat seems to radiate between us, even at the twenty feet apart that we stand. I don’t want him to look away. I could drink in the way he’s looking at me for the rest of time. My mind begins reeling as I think of the thoughts he must be having about me, of the things I can only hope he wants to do to me, of the things I want him to do to me—

“Gross,” Corrin says, taking my robe and putting it on for me. “Never seen you two ogle each other before.”

I love her, but she’s as oblivious as it gets. I’m glad I never told her about our kiss, if “gross” is her reaction to our stares.

I’ve never had thoughts like this before. I’ve thought of kissing him, of holding him… of loving him… but this?

“Sorry,” he finally stammers. His voice is about three octaves higher than usual. His face is bright red. “I didn’t realize…”

“Yeah, yeah, I shouldn’t have said ‘come in.’ Thought we were all family here, guess I should have known wolves will be wolves… Hey, Red, at least now you know how sexy you look.”

I manage a choppy, strange laugh that is just as high-pitched as his voice was. 

- - - - -

When the next knock sounds on my door, I’m alone. Corrin left me about ten minutes ago to fetch Dom. It’s customary at engagement parties for the future bride and groom to enter arm in arm.

I take one last look at my reflection. My messy, wavy red hair has been braided, pinned, and blown into a half-up, half-down work of art. My normally pink lips are as red as my dress, and the jet-black liner and thick, heavy lashes around my eyes seem to scream seduction. This is how I’m supposed to look? I think, shaking my head. What kind of messed up kingdom do I live in?

I make a mental note to attempt to change this custom if I ever gain any semblance of real power.

You won’t. You’ll be an Alpha’s wife and have his pups.

I feel strangely depressed as I open the door for Dom, but my depression is instantly replaced with a different feeling when I see him.

What is going on with me? I wonder as a less intense version of the same burning sensation that I felt when I caught Rowan staring at me creeps over me. Is this normal for she-wolves when they near their eighteenth birthdays? Is my inner wolf awakening early?

Dom's jet-black suit clings to his muscles in a distractingly attractive way. His cropped, black hair looks freshly cut, revealing more than usual of his strong, chiseled face. When he smiles at me, his white teeth glint in the evening light pouring in through the window.

And the way he’s looking at me…

Well, it’s not quite as tantalizing as the way Rowan looked at me, but it’s a little too close.

“You sure you want to go this party?” he asks me with a smug little grin. “We could spend the evening in this this bedroom of yours, if you prefer.”

I laugh as I push him back into the hallway, closing my bedroom door behind me. I’m flattered by his words, but I’m not nearly ready to accept the thought of anyone but Rowan taking me into my bedroom.

Wait. What?

I shouldn’t be ready to accept the thought of anyone taking me into my bedroom, Rowan included!

I push my thoughts away as he offers me his arm. “You look ravishing,” he says as I take it and we begin to walk. “If it wasn’t obvious from my inappropriate comment.”

“Thanks,” I say shyly. “You do, too.”

We say nothing more as we descend the staircase, but the tension between us is so palpable, I find myself wondering yet again whether it might not be such a bad thing to marry the Gibbous Prince. He’s no Rowan, but he’s certainly got his perks.

But then we reach the grand staircase, and as I look down at the sea of wolves below us, I hear the words of Corrin and Rowan’s father announcing us: “Introducing the future Mr. and Mrs. Gibbous!”

Mrs. Gibbous.

Suddenly I feel overwhelmed with the urge to vomit.