Rejected, Broken And Forgotten
Chapter 16

Paris’ POV

I am tired as I stand before the King and Queen. I had an eventful couple of weeks. The King must see I am tired as he gets up and hugs me. I feel like a traitor. I am sure the King knows I am not London, as I get stiff when he hugs me. I am not used to them and have no bond with them. Besides, I still blame them for leaving me behind with my parents while they took London.

“You are tired. I can tell, London. You need to get some rest. You feel different somehow,” The King says. Damn, I need to play my role better.

“Maybe it is because I lost my mate. It was difficult for me,” I say. Hades might as well just come and take my soul now. I am the biggest liar I know.

“I hope you do not keep it against your sister. It was Nathan’s choice. Maybe he chose her because he thought it was best for the Kingdom. I know Paris is not half the wolf you are, and that is why we chose you,” The King says, and I can feel my b***d boil.

“I have no bad feeling towards Paris, grandfather. She is my sister. Besides, when you came to fetch me, I was only a pup, so how did you know I was stronger?” I ask. I am pissed off. How dare the King imply I was the weaker wolf? London is not even a warrior.

“Well, you were the firstborn, and the firstborn pup is the heir to the throne. A leader of a pack or kingdom is born stronger than the one born second,” The King says. I relax, so that is his excuse. Was he testing me again? Does he know I am not London? It feels that way. Is that why he hugged me to see if he felt the bond? I look at Jeffrey, and he looks worried. Wallis is looking everywhere but at the King. The Queen gets up and hugs me as well. I can see she is also not buying our act. I look at Jeffrey and mouth “Sorry” at him. He pulls up his shoulders as he knows, as I know, we can not go on with this charade.

“Okay fine. I thought I could lie to you, but I could not. I am not London. I am Paris. I am helping London and Nathan. I can not let London marry Oliver. I know you are going to be mad as hell with her, but please don’t. London loves Nathan, and he loves her, and they are true mates. I know you chased my useless mother away because she did not want to marry John, but please do not write London off. I will marry Oliver in her stead if I have to, but I am hoping that the rebel prince will take over Mercia, and then no one has to marry Oliver,” I say in one breath. The King and Queen stare at me as if I am crazy. s**t, they did not know. It was my guilty conscience that made me believe they knew. I look at Jeffrey, who is also looking at the King and Queen.

“What? You are Paris?” The King says. I do not know if he was being sarcastic or if he was genuinely surprised.

“You knew the moment I set foot in the palace,” I say. I refuse to call him grandfather as he is not family of mine, and he is not my King. I have no King, as I do not belong here.

“I am glad you told us the truth, young lady. I was testing you to see how long you would be able to lie to us,” The King says.

“I am not good at lying. London is not returning until the wedding is over or the rebel prince takes over Mercia, and I will pretend to be London until then,” I say.

“I see. So you and London decided this?” The King asks. I am dead. He is going to kill me.

“Sort off. She came to look for me and ask for my help. How did she know about me?” I wonder for the first time.

“We always told her that she had a twin. She could have told us, and we would not have made her marry Oliver. We are not unreasonable,” The King says.

“You chased my mother away when she took my father as her mate,” I say.

“It was different. She was the one that started the war in the first place. I told her it was okay if she did not want to marry John, but she said she would. On the day of the wedding, John stood in front of the altar with the high priest of the Moon Goddess, and she did not show up. She did it to make John and me like fools. You see, she was angry at us for not wanting to let her rule both kingdoms as the Queen. Maren was greedy, and when she did not get her way, she made everyone look like a fool and ran away with your father. I was furious when I found out she was already pregnant with you when she wanted to marry John. You know what a big sin it is to marry a wolf while expecting another’s pups,” The King says.

“Okay, are you going to throw me in jail now?” I ask, and I am not interested in my mother’s story.

“No, because you are not like your mother, Paris. You tried hard to lie to us, but you could not. So was Nathan your mate as well? I know twins sometimes have the same mate,” The King asks.

“Hell no! My first mate was the Alpha of the Ravenstone pack, but he rejected me, and now I have a second chance, mate. Your rebel prince,” I say.

“What? The rebel prince is your mate? So you know who he is,” The King says.

“Yes, I know who he is, but I can not tell anyone as he is my mate, and I can not betray him,” I say. I will not betray my mate.

“We have so much to talk about. I am glad you are protecting your mate. It shows me you are loyal,” The King says.

“Yeah, well, what do we do now?” I ask.

“We keep on pretending you are London, of course. What is your plan of action?” The King asks.

“Well, I can not tell you yet,” I say.

“I understand you do not trust me. I want you to know something, Paris. We know you are the eldest, so we took London. Meran lied to us, but we knew the truth. We left the strongest baby with her. I know it doesn’t seem very empathetic toward you, but you are the heir to the throne, and we knew you would come to us one day. You were also stronger than London, and we somehow knew you would know how to handle Maren. We prayed long and hard to the Moon Goddess, and she told us to take London,” The King says.

“Hahaha, you want me to believe the Moon Goddess talked to you?” I ask. I know she exists, but I don’t think she will talk to mortals like us.

“Well, we did meet her once,” The King says.

“Yeah, right, and I am the Moon Goddess,” I say.

“You do not have to believe me,” The King says with a smile.

“Yeah, I won’t,” I say. The King’s smile is getting bigger. I wonder what is so funny.

“You are so different than the wolves that normally surround us. Everyone is always on their guard when they talk to us, but you are different. You say what you want and don’t care,” The King says.

“I know it is because I am not one of your citizens. Well, not for long anyway, and I do not believe in kings and queens and useless kingdoms. I do not want to be the heir to the throne, and I do not want to be a princess,” I say. I am being honest.

“Well, maybe if you stay here a little longer, you will change your mind. London will be a good Queen, but you will be better as you are born to be the heir to the throne. If you and the rebel prince are mates, you will have to unite the two kingdoms, and who will run them? The wolves around here are used to having kingdoms and would be lost without the royals,” The King says.

“Really? All the royals do is make war, and the wolves have to fight your wars. What else are royal wolves good for? Doesn’t every pack have its own Alpha?” I ask. This time the King laughs out loud.

“My dear, you do not understand how we work. We have been here for generations, and John and Oliver are not real royals. Their families are not of the old royals. Their family fought and took portions of Essex and Sussex and started Mercia. They do not have the right to be called a King or a Prince. You see, the rebel prince is also the heir to the throne of Sussex. Therefore, he is a true Prince, unlike Oliver. Oliver and John know this. They do not have the powers that true royals have, but you must be tired and go to bed. Welcome home, Princess Paris. Also, I think your mate is waiting for you outside. He will want to make sure you are okay,” The King says with a smile.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot Wa … I mean, the rebel prince is waiting for me,” I correct myself before I can say my mate’s name.

“Hahahaha, I know Walker Brooks, and I know he is here in England and is fighting his half-brother,” The King says. I look at the older wolf and wonder if there is something he does not know.

“Your secrets are safe with us,” The Queen says softly. She does not talk much, and I know it is because she is a royal woman who is treated like an ornament. They are only good for looking good, sitting around, and doing nothing all day.

“Your grandmother was a warrior like you and fought alongside me. Not all royal women are useless. Only the younger generation is useless because they mingle with humans too much,” The King says.

“Wow, I see. I should love to hear more about it, but I have to go and tell Walker I am okay, so he can go and rest,” I say. I am not really interested in any of their stories, but I can not be rude as they are older than me, and they have not killed me yet. I am not sure it will stay that way, but they need me to play London and get some peace until the wedding.

“Go, little one. Sweet dreams. We will talk again tomorrow,” The Queen says, and I smile. She is okay, but the King is not too bad himself. Maybe tomorrow, I will feel better and ready to give them a chance. They did welcome me home. However, this place does not feel like home. No place will feel like home because my mate is not here. I walk into my room, and Walker is lying on my bed. How did he get up here? The room is on the third floor of the castle. Some wolves can jump high, but not this high.

“I climbed up the tree and then onto the balcony,” Walker says, as if he can read my mind. I walk out on the balcony and see the tree standing near the balcony. He had to jump to get to the balcony.

“You will break your neck with that jump. What if you miss?” I ask.

“Ahh, my mate cares about me,” Walker says. I roll my eyes.

“I only care because I want to go home one day,” I say, and Walker laughs.

“Keep telling yourself that, darling. You know we belong together, and you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you,” Walker says.

“Dream on!” I say, but I can not help smiling.

“Anyway, did the King know you were not London?” Walker asks.

“Yeah, you knew he would know! Besides, he knows who you are, so I take it you have spoken with him,” I say.

“He knows my name, not my looks, honey. Everyone knows Walker Brooks, but they do not know what I look like. Everyone has only seen my wolf, not my human form,” Walker says.

“Oh, so did you talk to him?” I ask.

“Yes, I did, and he knows who I am and what I look like, but he is the only one that knows,” Walker says.

“Well, I am okay. You can go and fight your war now,” I say. Walker smiles as he walks over to me and k****s me.

“Goodbye, my Princess. I will see you again tomorrow night,” Walker says and bows. Then he walks out on the balcony and jumps into the tree. My heart almost stopped as I saw him jump. It is high, and I do not think a werewolf will be able to survive that fall. I blow him a k**s as he reaches the ground and looks up at me. He laughs as he pretends to capture the k**s and press it to his heart. Then he is gone. Into the night, I miss him as I only feel like I am home when I am with Walker Brooks.