Rejected, broken and forgotten

Having doubts

Paris' POV

"I promise to be there for you. You will never be alone in this cruel world again," I hear my sister whisper. I am still awake. It looks like I am sleeping, but I can not sleep. I hope this Nathan guy is worth all my sister's love. I have not met him yet, but I will meet him tomorrow and know if he is the right guy for her. She talks a lot about him, and I can tell London is in love with this guy and that he is genuinely her mate. She is a good person, although she talks like an English snob. Jeffrey is not bad. He seems to be worried about London and me. He is also concerned about the Kingdom and wants the best for the Kingdom. He explained to me that the Kingdom needed my help as Prince Oliver was not the right person to run Essex. He has a lot of admiration for the rebel prince they keep talking about, but I don't know. This rebel prince sounds like trouble, but we will have to wait and see. Wallis is standing near my bed, and I can feel him and my sister watching me as I pretend to sleep. I concentrate on keeping my breaths regular and deep, as if I am sleeping. It feels weird knowing someone is watching me while I sleep.

"She will be okay, Princess London. She is with us now. I already love her, and I will look after her. I will give my life for her as I will for you," I hear Wallis whisper. It saddens me that someone who hardly knows me cares more about me than my parents. Oh, for f**k sake, I am starting to sound like these English people. Saddens, really, Paris!

"Can the two of you let me sleep in peace?" I say. I feel a little irritated as I am tired. I had not slept for a while as I was planning my escape. I was nervous because I knew if the pack caught me, they would kill me. My parents will not mind if I die, nor will Ben. He will have a party as he does not like me at all and sees me as an embarrassment. I am really starting to talk like London and Jeffrey.

"Sorry, my dear sister. We thought you were asleep," London says as she gets up to go to her room. The bed I am lying on is soft and comfortable, and I can't remember the last time I slept in a decent bed.

"It is fine. Sorry, I am a bit grumpy, but I am drained. I had a shitty few days," I say.

"Sleep well. We will talk again in the morning," London says as she and Wallis leave the room. I sigh in relief. I want to be alone, to think. What if I go to England and my grandparents will not let me come back to America? Yeah, right! I forgot for a moment who I was. I am not London, who is loved and cared for by our grandparents. They did not want me. I bet they chose the cute one of the twins. I know London cares about me, but will she still care once she marries Nathan? She will have pups and move on with her life. I can not get too attached to these wolves. I need to remember who I am and that I am not the most lovable creature in the world.

What if my grandparents find out I am not London, and they kill me? I have doubts about this plan, but I will help London as she helped me escape my pack. I will not be the sister that leaves her in the hands of a Prince she does not love or is not mates with. I am tougher than her, and I am sure I will be able to do it when the time comes for me to escape. Yes, the wolves of the Kingdom are better trained as they have been in a war for decades, but I am not as useless as London when it comes to fighting. I finally fall asleep and dream about soldiers chasing me and a war that has nothing to do with me. I wake up, and I still feel a little grumpy. I walk to the kitchen and start looking for coffee, but all I can get is tea. Bloody English wolves and their tea! Coffee! I need coffee.

"Can I help you with something, Princess?" Jeffrey asks from behind me.

"Oh, hi Jeff, I want coffee. I can not drink tea to save my own life, and it tastes like medicine," I say. Jeffrey frowns, and I wonder what I did wrong this time.

"You can just call me Jeffrey, Princess. Jeff sounds so familiar. I will go and find you some coffee. We will tell the King and Queen you learned to drink it in America, so you do not have to drink tea," Jeffrey says. I know he pretends not to like it when I call him Jeff, but I can see him smiling a little, and why would he go and fetch me a coffee if he does not like it? Wallis comes in, and I see him smiling at me.

"Good morning, princess. I hope you slept well," Wallis says.

"Yeah, Wally, I slept okay. You can call me Paris when we are alone, and you do not have to call me Princess, and I am not a real Princess," I say.

"You are a real Princess! You are part of a twin and should have grown up in the Kingdom!" Wallis says. He is smiling as I call him Wally, and I know he likes my pet name as much as Jeff likes his.

"Life does not work like that. I grew up with parents that loved me until my brother arrived, then they pushed me away and did not care about me anymore. All their time and money went to my brother, and I am used to it. I am tough, Wally. Wolves do not scare me. Today, you and I must practice our fighting skills and teach London to fight. She can not go through this life without fighting. You know that she will have to learn to protect herself. One never knows when she might need it," I say.

"I agree, Paris. I will help you to teach her, but who taught you to fight?" Wallis asks.

"My father, before my brother arrived and later, I watched my father teach my brother and train the warriors, so I learned from watching them. I practised at night in the woods when everyone was sleeping. My wolf and I are strong. Her name is Flame," I say.

"My wolf is called Mountain because he is so big," Wallis says.

"Well, my wolf is called Fire because she takes after me," I laugh.

"Your wolf has to be strong. I can feel your power, Paris. You are a unique wolf. You are a rebel like a rebel Prince," Wallis says.

"Well, I do not understand why you still have kingdoms. I feel everyone is equal, and royals should rule no one. An Alpha is enough for a pack. Why should an Alpha and a King rule packs in a Kingdom? I do not get it. What is the use of royals anyway? They sit around, cause wars, and do nothing for the wolves in their kingdoms. The poor wolves have to fight their wars for them. I know London is a princess of the Kingdom, but she can not even fight. If royals make wars, they should also fight," I say. Wallis looks at me as if I am crazy.

"But our royals do fight. Only the ladies of the court do not fight," Wallis says.

"Oh yeah? When was the last time your king went to war? Does Prince Oliver fight his own battles?" I asked. From what I understand, none of them fights.

"Our King is too old to fight. He used to fight all the time with his men. Prince Oliver is a coward and hides in his palace, and he does not fight," Wallis has to admit.

"Well, it is not fair towards the people of the Kingdom. Don't you think? Why can't they make peace without forcing London to marry the coward prince?" I ask.

"I do not know. It is how the royals work—the rebel prince fight. He is not afraid to fight, and he deserves to be a King," Wallis says.

"Well, he is an asshole for keeping a war going. If he is so good, he can end the war without making someone get married. Or is it his plan to let London and Oliver get married so he can take over both kingdoms? I know you all think he is a superhero or something, but I think he is greedy and wants everything for himself," I say.

"Walker is not like that! Everyone knows he is a tough fighter and does not treat his people like they are beneath him!" Wallis says. I can see he is angry at me, but I do not care. I am not going to join the fan club of the rebel prince. I will go there and set the people free! I will fight for their freedom and become a rebel myself.

"Oh, Paris, get a f*****g hold of yourself! You do not even have enough friends to join you on a quest like that! No one will follow you, and you can not make others' problems yours," I talk to myself, well, only in my head. I know I can not speak in front of Wallis or others with myself. They will think I am crazy. I am used to talking to myself as no one else spoke to me except for Doc and Aunt Violet.

"What are you two talking about?" London asks as she walks into the kitchen.

"Princess Paris thinks the royals are useless and make us fight their wars, Princess London. Also, she thinks the rebel prince is greedy," Wallis says. He still glares at me.

"Well, she is not wrong about the royals, but you should not judge the rebel prince before you meet him. Maybe he is not as bad as you think, Paris," London says.

"I doubt it. Why does he not stop the war and take over Mercia? Does he want you to marry Oliver so he can take both kingdoms?" I ask again.

"Or maybe he wants to set the Kingdoms free from the rule of the royals. Did you think about that?" London says. I look at her and frown. She can be right, but I do not know. I will see if this rebel prince is all they make him out to be. I will judge for myself if I meet him, but I hope I don't, as everyone is kissing his ass, and I am not an ass-kisser.

"Well, we will see. He can still stop the wedding. Why do you have to marry Oliver anyway to stop the war?" I ask.

"They want to unite the two kingdoms, and grandfather wants us to live in peace. He is tired of the war and is willing to give Oliver a chance," London says.

"I think giving a coward two kingdoms to rule is stupid if he can not even rule one. He and his family are useless," I say.

"Well, it is all politics, and it is not for the women of the court to talk about politics," London says.

"Oh, for f**k sake! My Goddess! Why on earth are you letting men tell you how to live your lives? I am having doubts about your plan. You should stand up to your grandfather and tell him you will not marry the coward!" I say. Women have no rights in that Kingdom, and I will not stand for it! I can not stand it!

"Paris, please do not back out. Grandfather is old, and it can cause his death. I will tell him once Nathan and I are happily married, and the rebel prince defeated Oliver," London says. I look at London and shake my head. I can not believe she is waiting for someone who she does not even know or met before to save her and Nathan.

"I still think you should stand up for yourself, but I will go and help you. I want to meet my grandparents," I say. I do not tell her I am planning to give them a piece of my mind. Selfish bastards! How dare they force someone to get married?