I turned to look at an extremely angry Arian glaring at the bartender. I opened my mouth to speak but before I could say anything, I was roughly pulled into his arms. He held me to his chest tightly whispering the word "mine" over and over again, as if trying to convince himself that this is real.

The familiar sparks ran throughout my body, setting my heart on fire. I smiled when his heart rate increased the moment I hugged him, leaving no gap between our bodies. "Yours," I whispered too, albeit shyly. He pulled away and picked me up bridal style and carried me out but not before throwing a glare at Avian.

His Mercedes beeped open and he pretty much dumped me into the car and got in as well. "Arian?" I asked nervously. I'm used to the no-one-is-better-than-me Arian who fires insult after insult until he's satisfied the beast inside of him. I don't know how to behave around my mate.

He reached out to cup my cheek in our hand, his other hand tucking behind a piece of my hair. His gaze was deep, eyes were kind, a gentle touch and heart-melting words. "Mine," he whispered with a smile. His eyes shone with disbelief and happiness. He was looking at me the way I've heard about in romance novels. Like as if I was the reason for him to get up every morning.

I leaned in further, mirroring his actions but before anything could happen, the damn phone rang. "I'll be there," is all he said before slamming the phone onto the seat and then speeding off.

Uh okay.

We got out of the castle to find almost 50 people standing at the brightly-lit entrance decorated with fairy lights and flower petals on the floor. Is this because Arian found his mate? I looked at Milan, Adrian and Avian who stood happily at the entrance.

Allison walked towards the car gracefully and engulfed me into a warm hug. "Welcome to our family, sweetheart," she whispered happily. I smiled sadly and hugged her back. My mom has never hugged me or even shown any bit of love towards me the way Allison has. I'm glad that Allison has accepted me as her son's mate.

I've heard stories about queens hating their son's bride and I do not want to meet that fate. Arian took my hand in his (with a tight grip) and walked to the entrance. A few small children gathered around me and began shooting questions at me excitedly. I felt Arian's hand leave my own, making me feel cold and slightly lost.

"Will you be our Queen?" Danny, the young boy that I had met before, asked.

"Is your name Bella too?" A 13-year old asked.

"You'll have to bake cookies for me if you want me to like you!"

"She's so pretty! If I was old enough I bet she would choose me over King Arian!"

An 8-year old boasted making Arian roll his eyes and tug me behind him possessively. I smiled at his behaviour. It made me feel wanted.

"I bet she'll look lovely in a white gown. What do you think, boys?" Milan teased. I blushed and glanced at Arian whose cheeks turned red when everyone looked at him. We walked in after I finished speaking to everyone but I'm pretty sure it was because Arian was not-so-subtly glaring daggers at everyone that spoke to me.

I walked in with a smile on my face. This time I'm not walking in as Alaska Ivanov. I'm walking in as Arian's soul mate. Will I really be living in this palace soon? Everything seems surreal. "We're watching a movie in the mini-theatre. You guys wanna join?" Adrian asked.

I looked at Arian with innocent eyes. "Sure, whatever," he rolled his eyes. We made our way to the mini-theatre and each of us picked a recliner. Milan and Adrian chose a pair of recliners two rows in front of ours. Avian didn't join us as he had a date. Arian and I chose another pair.

I froze when they told me that they were planning on watching Grudge 3. I've never watched a horror movie because I've always been a coward to be completely honest. Ice seemed to sense my fear. "Scared?" He asked, the amusement clear in his eyes. I nodded shyly.

"Come sit with me. I'll even let you hold my hand," he teased with a sadistic smirk. I glared at him and turned my attention to the screen. If I'm going to die, I'm going to do so with dignity. Twenty minutes into the movie and I was already questioning my dignity.

I quietly crawled onto his seat. He laughed and pulled me onto his lap. "OMG PUT ME DOWN!" I whispered into his ear. He looked at me and frowned. "No," he mumbled, turning his attention back to the screen. "I eat too much so I'm heavy. Now put me down," I growled.

He looked at me with furious eyes. "You're not fat, okay? Eat what you want and if someone tells you something then I'll beat the shit out of them." I don't even realise when the girl gets possessed because I'm too focussed on him and his words.

My heart fluttered at the words that he uttered. I blushed and nodded. He smiled and wrapped his arm around my waist and resumed watching the movie. I jumped when the boyfriend morphed into the creepy white girl and hid my face into Arian's chest.

He kissed my forehead after a few minutes and laughed. "Come on, it's over," he whispered into my ear. I gulped and pulled away. Milan and Adrian were now in front of us, grinning like idiots. "So I guess, this is goodbye for now," Milan smiled sadly and pulled me into a tight hug once we stood up.

"Milan's leaving tomorrow morning," Adrian informed.

I hugged her sadly. She's my only girl friend. Actually, my only friend for now since Noah's missing. I'm not sure if Avian and Adrian are my friends or if they're just here to keep a check on me. Ice? We've always been complicated.

"At least now Verona will know that he's yours," she whispers into my ear. I laugh and pull back. "I'm gonna miss you," I laugh softly. "If Arian gives you trouble just run away from him and pay me a visit, yeah?" She grinned. Arian pulled me into his arms and glared at her.

It was weird, to be honest. Ice and I barely spoke much before we realised that we're mates. Sure, we had something but we'd never defined it. Am I pushing him into someone he doesn't want?

Arian and I headed to his room, giving Milan a while to spend time with her best friend. "Are we going to sleep together?" I asked warily. What if I snore or accidentally kick him in my sleep? He won't want me or el-

"Sweetheart," he cut me off with a chuckle, "we've already slept together, remember? Go change into one of my shirts and join me in bed," he said with a wink at the end. I blushed and walked into the bathroom to change. I tugged on the shirt as I walked out, glancing at Arian.

His eyes left the screen of his laptop and met my own nervous ones. I bit my lip and looked away. "Sleep well. You'll be meeting my people tomorrow morning," he said. I gulped. I suck at meeting new people and impressing them.

"Can't I just text them and say hi?" I asked hopefully.

"No you cant," he chuckled and got back to his work. I spent the next twenty minutes staring at him typing something on the laptop. He'd run his hand through his raven black hair, flexing his muscles.

I watched his eyebrows furrow in concentration as he reread some documents and signed them. I drifted off into a dreamless sleep eventually.

*******

I woke up with a familiar pain in my lower abdomen and a wet feeling in my core. No no no this is too embarrassing. I tried moving but Arian's arm was tightly wrapped around my waist. I took a deep breath and muttered a sorry and bit down on his hand.

"Ouch! Son of a bitch!"

He screeched like a girl and let me go. I pushed out of his grip and ran into the bathroom and slid my underwear down to find a red patch of blood. I gulped. I don't have any pads! I can't you tissue (speaking from really bad experience).

Lol the first time I got my period I figured it will only be for a few hours and so I ended up layering my underwear with tissue. Let's just say that my lower half was dripping red liquid when my mom came home.

"I-Ice?" I asked nervously. As if I don't embarrass myself enough, mother nature has decided to do the job.

"Are you okay?" He called out worriedly, still sounding sleepy. His morning voice is really sexy but you can't really pay attention to your hormones when you've got the red sea between your legs.

"I'm on my period and I don't have a tampon," I mumbled nervously.

"Okay, I'll be back with some. You can shower in the mean time," he called out calmly with the I've-got-everything-under-control voice and shut the door behind him. I breathed out a sigh of relief. I expected him to be disgusted and run away with a cringy expression.

The hot shower soothed my nerves and dimmed the pain a bit. I wrapped a towel around my body and opened the bathroom door. Arian had neatly changed the previously stained bedspread on his own since I doubt he'd let anyone in the room while his mate was showering.

I looked at the contents on the bed and laughed. He'd both five different brands of tampons, chocolates, two KFC burgers, cheesy fries, two advils and a heating pad. "He's sweet," I murmured with a small smile. I slipped into another shirt of his and slid under the covers, taking my two burgers with me along with two candy bars.

As I was on my second burger, Arian entered with two cups of coffee in his hand. He handed me one and sat next to me. "The function is in one hour. Your dad will be there too," he told me. I stared at him blankly. I thought mother nature would save me from meeting people.

"Are you really gonna make a bleeding girl enter a room full of vampires?" I asked innocently with wide eyes.

He shook his head and chuckled. "Vampires are only attracted to fresh blood, smartass. Besides, we can choose what we want to smell and what we want to ignore. Now come on or else we'll be late," he said.

"Being a girl sucks," I huffed.

"Being my girl won't."

Without saying another word, he left with a smug smile on his lips, knowing the effect that his words had on me. I headed over to the walk in closet, smiling to myself, where a dress was kept ready for me. I have to talk to Ice about us.