The Wolf Princess’s Seven Promised Mates Chapter 08

The Wolf Princess’s Seven Promised Mates Chapter 08

I had twisted the lock shut tight, yet Damian still pried my bedroom door open with effortless ease.

“Get out. I don’t want to see you.” My eyes burned red with unshed tears. “A locked door means I’m refusing you. Don’t pick the lock so blatantly right in front of me!”

A faint, helpless smile tugged at Damian’s lips. “Sorry. It’s a bad habit I picked up back when I was wandering alone.”

He settled down beside me, his tone dropping into a low, reminiscing murmur. “After my pack was destroyed, I drifted aimlessly with nothing, penniless and starving. I did all sorts of petty, desperate things just to survive.”

A trace of quiet sorrow lingered in his voice. “During those darkest, most hopeless days, only Selina stayed by my side. She’s the most important person in my life.”

He turned to look at me then, his eyes deep and fathomless like the endless ocean I’d always loved. No one could ever truly read what lay hidden beneath his gaze.

“Aurora, I’m truly grateful for your father taking Selina and me in. I’m willing to do anything for you.”

His tone turned firm and unyielding. “But only if you accept Selina. She’s my sister, my only family in this world. I will never let anyone hurt her—not even you.”

For a split second, I almost believed his words.

Until he called her his sister.

Sister? Did real siblings kiss the way they did?

He was nothing but a liar.

“So what you’re saying is, even if we form our official mate bond in the future, Selina will always come first?” I asked calmly, a hollow smile on my lips.

“Yes.” Damian did not hesitate for a single second. “Selina will always be my top priority.”

He softened his tone slightly, as if to soothe me. “But once we’re bonded, I’ll spoil you and protect you just as the Alpha King commands. I’ll make sure you never feel the slightest bit of unhappiness.”

I kept smiling until my eyes ached with the pain of it.

Damian, you claim you’ll never let me be sad, yet every bit of my sorrow has always been because of you.

I said nothing in reply. It no longer mattered.

From now on, when I was hurt or upset, Asher Knight would be the one to comfort me.

Damian barely stayed five minutes in my room before a phone call from Selina pulled him away.

Before he left, he set a gift box on my vanity and pressed a light kiss to my forehead, acting every inch the devoted knight. “Tomorrow is your birthday. Happy birthday, my princess.”

Inside the box lay a set of blue diamond jewelry, exquisite and valuable, yet undeniably inferior to the Tear of the Ocean.

It was exactly as Damian had promised. He would dote on me, but only sparingly. Selina would always be his first priority, and I would always come second.

I glanced indifferently at the jewelry box, then tossed it straight into the trash without a single shred of hesitation.

My destined mate must put me above everyone and everything else.

If I was only ever meant to be second best, then I wanted no part of this man at all.

The next day dawned on my twentieth birthday.

My father had long told me that on this very day, he would gradually hand over the kingdom’s power to me and publicly announce the identity of my future official mate.

The birthday gala was grander than any celebration the kingdom had ever seen. Every influential figure across the realm gathered for the occasion. Alphas from all fifty-six packs, leaders of two hundred and forty clans, noble vampires, and even delegates from the human world.

I dressed in a one-of-a-kind limited-edition evening gown, crafted exclusively for me across the globe.

The only pity was that the Tear of the Ocean now belonged to Selina. It would have been the perfect match for my gown.

Just then, a soft knock echoed through my suite.

A man stepped inside, holding an elegantly wrapped gift box in his hands. He locked the door behind him the moment he entered, casting a quiet, dangerous sense of seclusion over the room.

Asher Knight.

Snow stirred alertly inside my mind. We could both feel the terrifying, immense power rolling off his figure.

He bent slightly to press a gentlemanly kiss to the back of my hand, his icy cold lips sending a faint shiver down my spine.

“Your Highness. I know you were upset about the jewelry stolen from you at the auction. So I traveled all the way to South Africa to find you something far more precious.”

He opened the gift box, and brilliant light burst forth from within. A stunning large pigeon-blood red diamond outshone everything in the room, drowning all surrounding splendor in its glow.

Pigeon-blood red diamonds were the most precious and rare of all colored diamonds.

“I’ve named this set Heart of Blood Oath. May I have the honor of placing it on you?”

I calmed Snow’s restlessness and tilted my neck forward, baring my vulnerable skin to him.

I trusted him, even though we had only met once in our childhood.

He fastened the red diamond necklace gently around my neck. Our gazes tangled and locked through the surface of the mirror.

“It looks stunning on you. It was my greatest pleasure to personally deliver your birthday gift.”

He carried himself with noble grace and quiet depth, nothing like the wild, unrestrained nature of the wolf Alphas.

I stared at my own reflection in the mirror. Draped in the most priceless gemstone, every inch of me exuded supreme regal dignity.

A destined marriage was never something trivial, where any partner would suffice.

In that moment, I felt endless gratitude for choosing Asher.

I turned on my heel, stood on my tiptoes, and pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his lips. “Thank you. I love it dearly.”

At this moment, I was completely unaware that the locked door behind me had slowly creaked open…