Rejected, broken and forgotten

Practice makes perfect

Paris' POV

Whoever said practice makes perfect has never learned to walk in high heels. I swear I am going to break my legs. My legs tire after a few minutes, and my feet hurt like hell. How do women work all day in high heels? I am not happy that we started with the practice of walking in high heels right after we had breakfast. I will get my revenge on London and Jeffrey when we practice her fighting skills. I am sure she is not as good as I am, but London is also not as meek as she thinks. Wow, I am learning new words every minute. Meek! I even know what it means. Damn, girl, you better stop yourself, or you will become a walking dictionary.

"Keep your chin up and your back straight. Don't walk like a man wearing high heels for the first time," London laughs.

"I know I must look hilarious, but damn, how can I hold my back straight and chin up when I concentrate on not breaking a leg?" I say, and Jeffrey and London laugh. I look at the five-inch heels I am wearing and wonder how the thin heels on the shoes are not breaking. Damn, I am more comfortable in sneakers than heels. How does one fight in these things? No wonder London can not fight. She must be concentrating the whole day not to break a leg.

"You will get used to it. It is not that difficult once you get the hang of it," London says.

"Wow, I wish I could go back in time. I will kill the guy or woman that came up with this stupid fashion," I say.

"Paris, you can not fix everything with violence. Sometimes you need to use words to fight battles," London says.

"Sticks and stones, my dear sister," I say. Wallis looks at me, confused.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," I explain to Wallis.

"Oh, yeah, I know the saying," Wallis says. He is like me, and I see he finds this training boring.

"Don't worry, Wally. We will train to fight this afternoon. I can train to fight in these shoes," I say. Wallis laughs.

"You can hardly walk in those shoes. How are you going to fight with them?" Wallis asks. He laughs again.

"Do not underestimate me, Wallis! I can fight at any disadvantage," I say. I know I am a great fighter and that my wolf is strong. So, I am the best fighter one can get in human or wolf form. I know this because not even my father can beat me, and he is the strongest fighter in our pack. I will have to fight Wallis to see how strong I really am. I know Wallis will be the strongest wolf I have ever fought.

"We will see how strong you are," Wallis says. He surprise attack me in human form, and I avoid his attack fast and kick him in the back of his knee. It makes him lose his balance and gives me the upper hand. As Wallis falls to the ground, I grab him from behind and kick him with high heels. I hear him moan as I step on his hand with the sharp heels.

"Damn, you are fast. I give up," Wallis says, and I step aside but keep my eyes on him. Wallis will heal fast, so I do not care about his hands bleeding. It is one of the advantages of being a werewolf. We heal fast except if we get wounded by silver or get wolfsbane in our blood. London looks at me in surprise. We are both small built, and I know she must wonder how I can beat the much bigger Wallis.

"I will teach you to fight as I do," I say. London nods.

"I would love that. I have never fought in my life," London says. She looks at Wallis, who is cleaning his wounds that are already busy healing.

"She is good, Princess London. I have never seen someone so fast. I am your best warrior, which is why I am your bodyguard, but damn, Princess Paris is faster than I am. She caught me by surprise, and I was trying to surprise her!" Wallis says.

"I used your weak point against you, Wally. You need to check your knees because you are so tall and muscular that I can only attack your weak points. You can be lucky I did not go for your balls," I say. Wallis blushes, and London laughs. Jeffrey is standing with a young man in the doorway, and he has a smile on his face. I see the young wolf looking uncomfortable, and I keep quiet as I think it must be Nathan, London's mate. I am glad Flame and I do not see him as our mate. I was worried about it since my sister and I were twins. I know Mark was my mate and that London and her wolf were not his mates, but one never knows. I was afraid that Nathan was our second chance mate and that I would lose out on love again. I am happy that London and I do not have the same mates. It would have been awkward as I didn't think she would share Nathan. I don't want Nathan. He looks too soft for me.

"Nathan, honey! This is my sister Paris. Paris, this is my mate Nathan," London says.

"Nice to meet you," I say.

"Wow, you are a great fighter. I have never seen anyone take down Wallis. Nice to meet you, Paris," Nathan says. He kisses Paris, and then he shakes my hand. I can see London watching us, and I can see and feel she is scared as Nathan looks at me with admiration. It is only because I am a good fighter, though. I think that now I am near my twin sister, we are busy bonding and feeling each other's emotions. I am sure she can feel I am not interested in Nathan, but she might be worried that he is interested in me. So I have to say something.

"There are no feelings between Nathan and me, London. You can relax. He feels like a brother," I say. I am always open about my feelings and do not shut up because it is the right thing to do.

"Yeah, honey, you have nothing to worry about. I can see you are twins, but I only love you," Nathan says.

"I was not worried," London says, and I laugh. She sticks her tongue out at me. I know London is as old as I am. I am eighteen, and I guess Nathan is a little older than us. I think he is about twenty-three.

"Well, Paris Sawyer, I, London Wellington, Princess of Essex, accept you as a citizen of Essex. You are now part of the royal wolf pack and a warrior of the Kingdom of Essex," London says. She cuts her hand and mine and binds us with blood. Werewolves have blood rituals for everything. I can feel myself becoming part of the pack and wonder if the King will not feel it.

"We get new citizens and members by the minute. Our packs accept new members that become part of the Kingdom's army, so the King would not feel it," Jeffrey says, as if he could read my mind.

"Yeah, well, it is one thing to become part of the Kingdom, but I have become part of the Royal Pack," I say.

"All our citizens become part of the Royal Pack as we need to mind-link them during the war," Jeffrey explains.

"So your alphas can accept citizens and Royal Pack members?" I ask and still have so much to learn about the Kingdom of Essex.

"Yes, our King gave them special permission during war times. Alphas, Betas and Royal Family members can all accept new wolves into our pack as long as they are not from the enemy. If they are from the enemy and want to join, they will need special permission from the King himself, and no matter how many times someone accepts them, they will not become part of the Royal Wolf Pack of Essex," Jeffrey explains. It is an earful, and I ignore it as I will not accept anyone into the Royal Wolf Pack. I am not an Alpha, Beta or Royal Family member, so it is not my problem.

"Yeah, well, that has nothing to do with me. As soon as I can come back to America, I will break all bonds with the Kingdom and the Pack," I say.

"That will make you a rogue," London says, and she frowns.

"So? I was a rogue before you accepted me into your pack and Kingdom," I say.

"It is not safe to be a rogue," Wallis says.

"It is okay in America as long as you do not go into any pack's territory," I say.

"What if you have to?" Wallis asks.

"Then you go to the Alpha of the pack and ask permission to travel or do business in his territory. Most Alphas do not mind as long as you do not cause trouble for their pack," I say.

"Americans are weird. What if you bring harm to their pack?" Wallis asks again.

"Your Kingdom is old-fashioned, and we are not weird! If you cause trouble for the pack, they will kill you," I say.

"Wow. So they kill you for nothing? Like your pack wanted to kill you for leaving them?" Wallis asks.

"Yeah, it is a rule that you can not come back once you leave the pack. Who are you to talk about killing for nothing? You people die every day in a war that makes no sense, and your kings allow it," I say.

"Paris, you are walking in heels like you are used to it," London says, and I realize that I have been walking up and down while talking to Wallis without even noticing the high heels.

"Wow, I did not realize it. Anyway, it does not mean that I like them," I say. I look at London's dress and think there is no way they are getting me into a dress.

"You will have to wear dresses sometimes. Even ball gowns," London says. I know she knows what I am feeling, and I sigh.

"Fine, but only if I have to," I say. Jeffrey has a map of the castle, and he shows me everything I need to know about the castle. London tells me everything about her childhood and what her favourite food is. I also learn about her duties and think she has a boring life, but I keep it to myself and keep my shield up around her. I don't know why I am letting myself into all this, but then I look at London and Nathan and see how happy they are.

"Damn, my soft heart! I should not be doing this," I say to Flame.

"Think of it as an adventure and to see another part of the world you would not have seen if you did not meet your sister," Flame says.

"It is true. I can live with that," I say.

"You are not thinking of backing out, are you," London asks, and I can see she is worried.

"Nope, I will help you and Nathan, but as soon as my mission is done, I will only keep in contact with you and Nathan, Jeff and Wally," I say. I hear Jeffrey sigh. I smile at him, as I know he hates me calling him Jeff.

"Princess Paris, I prefer you call me by my full name," Jeffrey says in his British accent.

"Of course, my good lord. I will call you Jeffrey when we are among other people," I tease him as I mimic his accent.

"Well, that was damn good! You sounded like Princess London," Wallis says.

"I did? Well, I will be damned," I say. Wally laughs. I already love Wallis and Jeffrey. They may sometimes be a pain in my butt, but I like them. I will not tell them, though. They may think I am a softy.

"Princess Paris, will you teach us to fight like you?" Wallis asks. We start to practice our fighting skills, and it is my turn to laugh, as London is, obviously not used to fighting, and she slaps everyone. I teach her to use her fists, and she apologizes to Nathan when she strikes him, and he falls on his butt. I laugh as Nathan joins us in the fighting class. I will make warriors of the two lovers soon. Jeffrey and Wallis are good at fighting, and I enjoy skirmishing with them. The apartment is big and even has a gym, so we practice fighting until we are tired and hungry.