Daughter Dearest...Why Is There A Werewolf In Your Bed...?

I was finally able to shut my balcony door and lock it. Then I walked over to my bedroom door and locked it.

My mother had told me to do these things just in case, whenever a suitor was around. She never told me why I should do it, just that it was important. Now that I had experienced first-hand what happens when you don’t lock your door, I was going to make it a ritual.

I did not want an uninvited guest showing up next to me when I woke up tomorrow morning. I would most likely rip his head off.

I changed in the closet and plopped into bed, pulling the curtains closed. Sleep was so close I could touch it, and then–

Tap! Tap! Tap!

...............

SCRRRRRREEEEEECHHHHHH....

I jumped out of bed and looked around. Then I noticed the hazy figure outside. On the balcony.

Miles waved timidly and put his hand on the glass, near the handle, and made the opening motion. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him. I made no move to go to the door and open it.

He sighed and his shoulders drooped. A bang of thunder erupted from the sky.

Too perfect...

I watched as he turned back to me, a little urgency in his eyes. Truth be told, I was terrified of thunderstorms, but I wasn’t going to let him know that. So I stood my ground, bracing for another bang of thunder as Miles looked at me, starting to turn his urgency into pleading. I shook my head and watched him bite his lip in frustration.

The rain began a few seconds after. A light drizzle that misted the grounds, giving it a spooky, haunted look. Then the heavier drops washed the mist away and clung to Miles’ hair which, in turn, clung to his face. His eyelashes let a few drops of water roll off of them and I continued to observe as his clothes stuck to him.

He put his head on the window and looked up at me through his lashes.

I walked over to the door, Miles perking up a little as he gazed at the handle expectantly.

“There are other rooms, you know,” I commented loudly enough for my voice to get through the glass, “Why do you want to come in my room?”

His face fell as he looked at me again. His eyes turned to the ground.

“The other doors are locked. I tried all of them.”

My heart squeezed at his words. And here I was thinking that he just wanted to see me... I don’t know why it bothered me, but it did. I looked at him coldly before I unlocked the door and went back into my bed, shutting the curtains harshly.

I heard the squelch of his shoes on the carpet as he walked to my door, he unlocked the door and paused for a moment. It sounded as if he turned to say something by the sound of his clothes squishing, but the moment passed and he walked out of my room, closing my door.

I pulled the covers over my head and tried to calm my thumping heart. Why did I care if he didn’t care about me? Did that makes any sense?

I woke up the next morning and threw my pillow at the alarm clock. Another day, another monotonous routine.

I walked to my closet this time and pulled on a pair of black pipe jeans and a grey shirt that had neon color music notes strewn across the front. I put on some socks, anticipating a day of slouching around the house.

I didn’t have to go to school. I graduated when I had been about 11. Yup, I was a little genius. But I would die before I bragged about it, not that my parents don’t already. I was all set in a local college and would be studying medicine. Since I had my mother’s talent for healing, I wanted to learn the other ways to help, in case one day I was too weak to use the powers or if I had been stripped of my powers in some way.

Blaise was all ready for his kingdom that my father would pass down to him in a millennium. My brother had to learn the trade inside out before he could take over. My father had to teach him right. Knowing Blaise it would take a lot longer for the information to sink in...Stupid brother.

Not that I was jealous that my brother inherited the greatest legacy of my family. No. Nope. Not at all.

Well, maybe a little. When he becomes king, I’ll still be a princess of sorts, but it would feel like I was forgotten. Like after my brother becomes king I would walk down the street and people would say, “Didn’t she used to be royal? What was her name again...?”

I knew that it was selfish, but I liked to be in the spotlight, it made everything more interesting. Like if I were to become a doctor I would be more well-known because of my background. I don’t know. I don’t want to sound shallow because I don’t think of myself that way.

I guess what I mean is...that I want a title of my own. Something that would set me apart from just one of the royal family.

I shuffled to the movie room, expecting a full day of nothing when I heard a voice down the hall, followed by a sneeze.

“I’m sorry Dad. I was just out for a run in the woods and I got lost. I knew it had started raining and I got back a little later than expected.”

I recognized the voice as Miles’. I listened as his father told him to feel better and I ducked into the movie room as Mason walked by. I glanced out in to the hallway as Mason turned a corner, no doubt going to get lost again, and walked to the door that was open a crack.

I knocked.

“Ugh, Mom I told you I don’t want any soup...” His voice trailed off as I pushed the door open and looked at him lying in bed. He sniffled and gave a little cough as he stared at me, before he flipped over on his side and gave me a view of his back. His bare back.

I shook my head and concentrated on the question flitting around in my head.

“Why did you lie to your dad?”

The muscles in his back tightened, I could imagine the muscles in his jaw were working too. It was like metal cords all throughout his body were moving under the skin.

I shook my head again. This was just another suitor. Nothing special. Nothing different. It was political obligations that brought him here.

Miles rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling.

“I don’t want you to get in trouble. I bothered you a lot yesterday and I deserved what you did.”

His voice was strained as he looked for the right words; like he wasn’t used to apologizing. I looked at his profile and saw that his eyes were slightly tightened around the edges. It must have been taking him a lot to say those words.

Then something that I didn’t expect–

“I’m sorry.”

It was so quiet that I had thought I imagined it. I simply stared at him, silent until he turned his head to look at me, with a quizzical look.

Shaking myself out of my daze I responded, “You don’t apologize often do you?”

He growled and threw the covers off of his body, showing me that he was only wearing boxers. He got out of the bed and began to walk to the en suite bathroom, but he swayed slightly.

I quickly began to move forward as he fell to the ground, unconscious.