Finally, we reach the second floor; we stand in front of the office.

I've made this way thousands of times; I've entered this room without knocking hundreds of them. But, right now, nothing seems okay with the idea of penetrating it.

I don't want to knock. I don't want them to know I'm standing here. I feel like a criminal about to enter the court to hear my sentence... Maybe they will forget about me. I just need to stop breathing for a while, to make myself forgotten.

But it seems I won't be that lucky, thanks to my escort.

Caleb knocks for me. I peek at him like he was some kind of traitor, even if I know that everybody probably smelled us the moment we reached the door.

Why do I have to live with werewolves? Why do they have to be so good at smelling or hearing?

"Come in."

Eli's voice seems so edgy. I would have appreciated he could be less... this. My body cries to be taken away from here. I don't feel good. The number of powerful auras in this room is overwhelming. These people's force crashes my human body like never before. It feels that the tensions are strong enough to make my no-wolf body sensible to this war of dominance.

Caleb opens the door. The atmosphere inside seems more bizarre than I imagined, like a completely different universe.

Six people are in here, with serious looks on their faces. Everybody's examining me. My discomfort grows bigger as they stay observant of me.

I did not think I could feel sicker - yet I am.

My dad has his jaws tense. My mum looks at me with a comforting look and a gentle smile: the one she keeps on the shunned news. I gulp my saliva as I realize my disquiet makes me salivate a lot.

Eli is avoiding my look, but Julie glances at me with a smile, her arm on Eli's elbow. I know she is helping him not to get enraged. Shit, it really stinks.

"Just go," Caleb whispers in my ear.

I just realize he took his hand off my back. I wish he had done that before, so I was not here now. But it's not like I have a choice but to accept my fate now...

I step inside the room.

I notice the Prince is on the sofa against the wall. He stares at me with his deep green piercing eyes. This whole mess started because of innocent glares, and still, he keeps rubbernecking me. What a jerk!

I turn to look at Eli. He is still evading any eye contact.

Is that a jerk night?

I approach the desk to compel him to look at me. He can't just ignore me. I put my hands on the desk, a little more abruptly than planned. My fists clearly hit it instead of just being put softly on it.

"Eli, what's going on? Is that about the look on the platform? I'm truly sorry, your Highness. I did not..." I turn to the sofa at my side to apologize: it is empty. No more Prince on it.

Where the hell is he? He is gone in a second. I know the lycans can move fast, but not that fast.

I feel Eli's heart angry, almost crazy, as I finish my words in a whisper, almost impossible to catch.

"... intend to be rude."

"That's okay, Miss Evans. I do not hold it against you."

I feel a warm breath on my neck as a masculine voice speaks near my ear. Goosebumps go through my whole body. This voice is so frosty and... riveting.

Yet, this intoxicating blooming flower scent does not help to get my mind clear. The formidable aroma makes my head spin like I'm stuck on a rollercoaster of emotions.

Where the hell does it come from? I turn to the window that is closed. No flowers in the office. The delicious voice takes me out of my thoughts.

"That's not a problem. Lucky you're my mate, or I would have had to punish your insubordination."

Yeah, of course, insubordination means punishment. I knew that. I should have run while I had the chance. Moon Goddess, may he be kind to me! I can't stand as much as a werewolf. Maybe he will show some mercy as I am human.

I feel Eli's heart freezing - of course, it is. Eli will assumably feel my pain. Plus, the entire pack will be seen as the one who got his Alpha's twin disrespecting the Prince, our future King.

So why do I feel like I missed something? Where did it go wrong? Can I ask him why he has to do it? I have to take my chance and go for broke.

I turn over to face the voice. To meet the Prince. His eyes send sparks over my whole body because of his devouring stare.

My eyes can't leave his'.

He is hypnotic. And then it hits me: the part I missed.

I would have punished you.

Why would? What was the beginning of the sentence? Focus, Olivia.

Lucky you're my mate.

That's it.

Oh, shit!

"Mate? What do you mean? I can't be your mate."

I don't understand a word: I must miss another part. I cannot mate with anyone; I have no wolf. I wish I could sound angry, but I just sound like a lost puppy. I almost stutter, and my voice trembles.

I speak more to myself than the others.

"I can't just... It can't." My eyes fill with tears. Tears of disbelief.

The Prince caresses my neck softly.

"I could not prevent myself from smelling you far before I reached your place. And I just got it confirmed when I had to get rid of this pathetic pup before the ceremony."

The Prince's voice is so calm, so peaceful.

His scent, his breath, his voice: all of these things just send shivers down my spine. My whole body responds to his presence.

He unties my long brown curly hair, and I feel him smelling it. I smell back at him, as his face is so immediate to mine. This is it. This is... him.

"You are the flowers. It can't be true. It can't happen". I can feel myself slipping away, away from this inconceivable truth. This can only be a farce.

My eyes travel from Eli to the Prince. My mum just keeps on smiling at me gently. I just want to run into her arms. But I'm just frozen.

"I already told your brother and parents that I would take you home tomorrow."

I'm almost sure that I can discern his heartbeat: it is faster than before. Is he eager at the idea of taking me away from my home, my family? I don't understand a single thing that is occurring.

I take some time to process what he said. Then I react.

"Home? I'm home. I'm not moving anywhere. Why would I do that? I don't even know you. No way. Eli, do something."

I look at my brother. My eyes fill with tears. Of fear this time. I don't want to go anywhere. I want to stay at home with my parents. I have not made up my mind about traveling yet. And I don't want to go with this man, Prince or not.

"I want to stay here. In fact, I made up my mind. Eli, please..." I lean on the desk to look at Elijah, who does not look at me anymore.

"Elijah, fucking look at me," I scream with my face covered with a river of cries. His knuckles are getting white as he tightens his fists to control himself.

"I'm sorry, Olivia, but I can't do anything. You know we can't do anything against mate-bonds."

It fills my brother's voice: hatred. He hates the idea that nothing can be done. I know about mate-bonds, but it is for wolves.

Did he forget I cannot shift? That a human cannot link with a wolf? Far less with a lycan? I could fucking die from mating with a lycan. This Prince is more than powerful, and I am nothing but soft flesh and breakable bones. There must be a solution to end this madness.

I shift to my parents: they may know something. I see their looks, and I understand I can't state anything to change my fortune. No one can say anything to change my future.

I'm unaided on it. More alone than I have ever been before. In the end, I should have left before, living my mortal life in the human world. But, instead, I just doomed myself to some impossible life or painful death. Don't know which one is the worst.

It's like my universe is falling apart. My mind is renouncing my body to escape everything. But maybe I am too drunk, and that is just a nightmare.

I'm going to wake up. Please, make me wake up.

Suddenly, I touch a hand that intertwines with mine. The contact is warm but still not enough to comfort me after the news I've just got. I notice someone is guiding me out of the office. Nothing is clear to me. I barely see my parents, Julie and Eli's faces as the hand keeps on pulling me away from them.

No more links with Elijah. I don't know if I closed my mind or if he did. But I can't reach him anymore.

Why does he abandon me?

My feet follow the lead.

I raise my head, and I see the Prince is calmly driving me to the stairs. Before we start to climb them, I feel a hand on my lower back while the other is still interlaced with mine.

He looks at me, his eyes still a shiny green, with some shades of darker green.

No emotions can be read on his face.

Does he have a heart? Can lycan love as kindly as wolves? A wolf would be challenging to live with as a human. How is it going to work with a lycan? Is it even possible? I've never heard of such a thing. What has Moon Goddess done?

We climb the stairs. When we reach the floor, I want to go to the right to hide in my room and cry on my bed. Maybe if I turn too desperate, he will show pity or mercy. Perhaps he'll realize I can't be his mate, as I am too flimsy. Maybe he will reject me, and I'll be able to get away from here.

Nevertheless, I'm taken to the left to reach the VIP suite.

So, he is the one in the VIP room. All the prep that has been made was to be my prison. A golden cage for the wolf-less Lycan Prince's mate. That would be an excellent terrible movie name.

I freeze at the door. I don't want to be a prisoner.

The Prince doesn't drag me inside. Instead, he stops at the door and looks at me.

"Come in. Or do you want me to carry you inside? "the Prince grins.

I can't say if I feel it like a sadistic grin or just a clumsy attempt to make me feel better.

I don't react.

My feet are no more on the ground. The Prince enters the room with my stunned body in his arms. I don't fight back.

What would be the point? I can't face a lycan, anyway.

He lays me softly on the bed. He goes back to the door to close it. Then he turns, and here it is: emotion.

He smiles at me. An actual beam, full of benevolence this time. He can feel.

"Okay, Olivia. You have to relax. That's gonna be fine. I'm not going to eat you."

But I'm just startled, unable to move. I don't understand what's going on. What am I going to do? All of this is just so... unreal. How can this already crazy night turn crazier?

Impossible, I think to myself.

"Don't tell me it's impossible. Love isn't random; we are chosen. You're mine. For Infinity," he adds, slowly, still next to the door.

Well, reading my mind... Crazier is possible.