Chapter 30

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Evelyn stared at the ring on her finger. It was a slim pretty looking diamond ring, a family signet ring, the artwork was intricate the four small wolves were holding a diamond in place with their jaws open from four directions. She suspected it was highly valuable and unique and felt extremely uncomfortable sitting on her finger.

If someone told her she would be married at the age of eighteen, she would have laughed them out of the room but now it was surreal.

Evelyn was still not used to it...it seemed like events just flew by...did she make the right choice? Everything in her consciences said so but somewhere deep inside her...she felt she had been hasty, moved with the tide...

It was too late now...too late to do anything...to have second thoughts or even think about them? Were they really second thoughts? Was she not happy? She was...she truly was. Maybe she was being a cynic... she always had been. If something was too good to be true it probably was...she always waited for the other shoe to drop, maybe this time it didn't have to be this way, maybe some people did get their happy ending. Maybe this was hers and she was too petrified to see what it was.

But her life looked like a fairy tale...a nobody now on her way to become a queen one day. And one thing you know about fairy tales were that they were not true...nor the fairies not the tales they told. Honestly she felt like a fraud, she had done nothing to get here, no sense of accomplishment for something that was an accident of fate...people would say she was lucky and they would be right as she had done nothing to deserve this except for being born with the genes that would determine her to the mate of Max.

In short she felt like a fraud!

She sighed for the thousandth time, her braining gnawing away at her.

If somebody told her she would be married at the age of eighteen, she would have laughed them out of the room. But now in three week's time she would get married.

Married!

Her stomach did a somersault at the very thought, the whole thing was like a runaway train she could not control.

The next day after her engagement it was decided that the best course of action was to have the marriage as soon as possible. Roma insisted this for getting her mating legitimized as soon as possible, the human law would provide her additional protection as the wife of the prince rather than fiancée.

She had agreed to it then and now the pessimist in her was having a field day. Not that she didn't want to marry Max, he was her mate, how could she not? But everything was happening too soon and she felt she had no control on what was happening around her.

"Yo. What's this I hear about you getting hitched and all?" A voice broke her out her gloomy thoughts.

"Alex!" She screamed in delight and flung herself in to his arms.

He engulfed her in a tight hug.

"Did you miss good 'ol Alex?" he asked grinning at her "Now that I am here, ditch the looser and run away with me" He wriggled his eyebrows at her.

"Stop trying to steal my mate" a voice broke out.

Both of them turned their head to see Max casually leaning against the wall next to the door of the room.

He looked casual but his eyes...his eyes held a glimmer of warning to Alex.

Alex let Evy go but did not lose his composure "Would it count as stealing if she came willingly?" he said winking at her.

"Alex!" She swatted him on his chest and moved over to Max, to smoother his ruffled feathers. She walked next to him and softly said "Hey" as she stood on her toes and gave him a quick kiss on his lips.

Max relaxed and wrapped his hand around her "hey, back!"

"I thought you were busy today?

"Had a thirty minutes slot free" Max explained.

Alex walked over, he had just returned from the US and had not met Max.

"Good to see you man" Alex said walking over and giving Max a manly hug.

"Great to have you back!" Max hugged him back, he meant it.

"Congrats Max!" Alex said sincerely, he was happy for both of them.

Max gave a full-fledged smile. Sap! Alex thought and grinned. Evy had him wrapped around her little finger.

"So, let's catch up for lunch Evy. I have a lot of gossip to dish" he grinned.

She nodded eagerly and he left the room leaving them alone.

***

"Your mom is driving Jeff cray" Alex declared. They were having lunch in the courtyard, it was a pleasant day and the sun was warm.

"Is she now" Evy asked knowing very well that she was, she spoke to her mother almost every day.

"Yep...Her only daughter is getting married" Alex added.

"Do you know when they will be over?" Evy asked, last she spoke to her mother no definitive plans had been made.

"She wants to fly in at least a week in advance, but it's really up to Jeff and Nick on how they want to work it out" He added.

"Nick is coming as well?" She asked.

"Yep. He wanted to come but at the same time the Alpha and Beta absent from Colorado is not a very good thing right now...so we are making some arrangements." Alex explained. Arrangements included additional soldiers from Roma to secure their borders.

"At least the good thing is they don't have to worry about last minute airfare" Alex said.

"You mean...?"Evy asked

"Yep...they will be travelling in style, courtesy of Roma in her private jet. You know that jet has spoilt me travelling commercial airlines." Alex said. Nothing could compare to a privately owned jet not even the best first class in a commercial airliner, which by themselves were pretty impressive.

"By the way, how do you find it living in the palace?" He indicated around her.

"It's surreal" She confessed.

"You will get used to it" he reassured.

She looked at him skeptically. Would she? This palace ran like a well-oiled machinery, like an ultra-luxury hotel. Anything she wanted to eat all she had to do was dial a number presto! It arrived. She learned from Jonathan that the Roma family had fifteen Chef's, fifteen! But to be honest they cooked for the staff and the restaurants in the tourist section of the palace as well.

She had her bed set by someone, the room cleaned by someone and even her clothes folded and neatly stacked, her room was kept impeccable. The palace had its own fucking spa! And that Thai masseuse made her body melt like butter under her expert hands.

She never would get used to this. She would always feel like and outsider.

"Did you check out the pool?" Alex asked eagerly.

She nodded her head vigorously. The palace had two big ass pools one outdoor and another one indoor and both were temperature controlled. She had hit the pool multiple times.

"And how is your training coming along?" he asked wickedly

She groaned and slumped in to her chair, taking a stab at the pasta she was having hoping it was Sebastian. He was beating her to pulp every single day. He was telling her she was improving but it was difficult to see if you were being handed over your ass every single time.

"I am horrible" she confessed.

"Sebastian is training you. Trust me, you can never be horrible" Alex reassured.

"I get my ass handed to me every single day" She bemoaned.

Alex scoffed "If I fight him, I will get my ass handed over in a platter" and added "who do you think trained all of us here? Adrian, me & Max grew up getting our asses beaten by that sadist of a wolf"

"You think Sebastian can beat Max?" She asked wide eyed and curious.

"Now yes, but once he takes over from his mother then it will be impossible to beat Max in a pure physical combat" Every time an Alpha submitted to you, some power of that Alpha would shift over to you and Roma had thousands of Alpha's under her command and when the title passes over to Max so would the power.

"You mean Roma could beat Sebastian?" Evy asked with disbelief, that elegant composed lady in a fight?

"She is the ruler of two thirds of the wolves in the world, Sebastian is no match to her and besides if you think Sebastian would raise a finger at her..." He trailed off, if there was one wolf who was loyal to Roma it was Sebastian. Loyal to death more than him or Adrian or maybe even Max.

"What's his story?" Evelyn asked. She had never made any kind of talk with him, she was too petrified of that wolf.

"Sebastian was Maxim's first stray, even before us" Alex said "One day Maxim Roma drags this troublesome teen wolf in to the palace with him, rescued him from god knows where and then Roma takes him under her wing. Even Maxim had trouble controlling a wild Sebastian but Roma with one look could calm him down and make him comply. Max was just a toddler then. We don't know what Roma did but Sebastian has fierce loyalty to her" Alex explained.

"Sebastian joined the Roma military, came out top, beat every test record in the process and then when Maxim threw him in to Werewolf training he came out top there was well. So Maxim made him Roma's personal guard. He now trains our most elite wolf warriors" Alex added.

Evy just assimilated all the information Alex gave her and saw him in a whole new light.

"Enough about boring stuff" Alex added "What all did you do all this while, what did you see in the capital?" He asked.

"I haven't gone out" She sighed. She felt cooped up even if it was in a palace.

"What!!" Alex said shocked "You have not stepped out of the palace till now?"

"I did go shopping....once" She squeaked. "But Max had the store closed for everyone else"

"What a shame!" Alex said outraged getting up "You and me" he said pointing a finger between them are going out right now.

"Okay" She said getting excited, she did want to go out and see this new country she would call home. "Shall I inform Max?"

Alex gave her a wicked smile "Now where would be the fun in that? Do you want the entire Roma army to follow you in to the city?"

"You mean?" Evy asked not believing what she was hearing.

"Yes, love" he grinned "You and me are sneaking out!"