Raven's P•O•V

Piper grabbed my hand and led me into my closet. Grasping my wrist, Piper dragged me into the room, blabbering on about something. I wasn't paying full attention to what she was saying though.

"Everything is perfectly in place," she observed, "what kind of woman are you? Have you not touched any of it?" She turned to me, now detaching her hold. I shook my head and looked around at everything, still not used to the sight of such lavish belongings surrounding me. Usually, everything considered 'beautiful' avoided me like the plague. Never would I believe that such beautiful, eccentric things would be called mine in any sort of circumstance.

"Why not?" Piper furrowed her brow, confusion played out on her face. I looked back to her and sighed.

"Because they're not mine," I told her honestly. She looked at me in shock.

"Raven," Piper sighed and gave me a pitiful look, "I know it's hard to accept this new life, but it's clothes. Accepting them isn't so hard." Piper told me, holding both my hands and gave a smile. I smiled softly in return but still felt uneasy as she led me over to the long line of ball gowns and dresses.

"So can you tell me why we're in here again?" I asked softly as she started inspecting each dress one by one. She stopped and turned her head to look at me.

"It's Alec's birthday today," Piper said with a cheery voice.

"And...?" I looked at her, still confused.

"As long as you bear the name of being his Soulmate, you're entitled to go," Piper said this as if it were simple and I should've guessed by now. Which, come to think of it, I should've. But my hopes of ignoring that word when it was used in reference to me were crushed.

"What an honor..." I muttered, my words dripping with sarcasm as my gaze wandered around the closet.

"Everything will be fine!" Piper insisted. "Everyone just wants to meet you, that's all. There's no harm in giving them a stunning woman to meet."

"Please tell me you're not going to dress me up," I said, my words begging. At that moment Piper grabbed a dress and held it up.

"Of course not!" She said, giving me a look that screamed of her plans to do the exact opposite.

♱

"I look horrid! Why can't you just dress up and go in my place?" I grumbled as Piper waited for me as I changed. I could hear Piper laugh from outside the door.

"I don't think that's possible," She said. "Do you need help?"

"I can't reach the zipper," I huffed. Piper came in and gasped. I turned around to face her.

"I know. I look awful-" I said and started to pull down the off-the-shoulder straps.

"No no no!" She stammered, coming over, and stopped me. She grabbed my shoulders and looked at me with a gentle expression.

"You look absolutely magnificent," She insisted. I looked down at the dress and then back up to her.

"Don't believe me?" Piper questioned and turned me around so I was faced with a full-length mirror. I gasped and froze in shock at the sight in front of me.

I almost didn't recognize the girl standing in front of me. The red, mermaid-styled ball gown fit just to my curves. Red lace and beading accentuated it. My hair was pinned up elegantly. Piper had done my makeup as a dark smokey eye and dark maroon lipstick. I looked better than I think I ever had.

"Oh! One last thing," She said excitedly and rushed over to the drawers of jewelry. All were perfectly laid out like a jeweler's case. She grabbed a necklace and earrings delicately.

"I picked these out for tonight," Piper said and went around me so she could place the necklace around my throat. I looked in the mirror with wide eyes. "I knew diamonds and onyx would be perfect for any dress."

I stared at the beautiful diamond and onyx necklace in awe. I brought my hand up to touch it and sucked in a breath.

"Do you like it?" Piper asked hopefully. I made eye contact with her through the mirror.

"I - I -" I could barely protest. I wanted to tell her that I couldn't accept all of this. I wanted to tell her that I didn't deserve this. I sighed. "I love it," I finally told her, knowing that protesting would go no where. And of course, I did love the necklace.

She smiled at me and I smiled back and continued to inspect myself in the mirror.

"You look stunning," A voice came from behind us. I gasped and turned around.

"Mother," Piper smiled. Irina stood there in her black, lace dress and large diamond crown. She gave me a soft smile and neared us.

"I just wanted to check in and go over everything," Irina informed us.

"Go over what?" I asked in confusion. Irina started walking around the walk-in closet, looking around.

"Tonight is mostly based on the customs that have been upheld by our kind for centuries."

"Customs?" I questioned. Now it made a lot more sense why Alec's party was being treated more like a ceremony.

"That's what I wanted to go over with you. This isn't just Alec's birthday tonight. It's the first night the kingdom gets to meet you. This ceremony is about you just as much as it is about Alec," She told me seriously, keeping her eyes on mine almost like she wanted to make her point clear and make sure I understood. This just made me even more nervous.

"You're to be beside Alec all night. You and Alec will have to dance in front of the whole kingdom," She stopped there even though she sounded like she had more to say. Her eyes glanced over to Piper's. I looked to both of them in confusion.

"What? Is there something else?" I asked. They both looked back to me. Irina smiled sympathetically.

"No. We just know this is a lot for you," Piper said a little quickly. I nodded slowly and blew it off.

"So I'm guessing there's no cake and happy birthday song?" I asked and they both looked at me in confusion. I shrugged and chuckled a little.

"I guess it's a commoner thing," I told them. They laughed a little. They settled down and Piper came up to rub my shoulders. She smiled at me and put my earrings in.

Irina walked over to the middle of the closet. Piper and I both turned to watch her. She put a code into the new glass case. The glass front retracted into the stand and all three of us stood there looking at the tiara for a second.

Irina took it out gently with careful fingers, even though we all knew that her abilities were incomparable to a clumsy human's. She took her eyes off of the tiara that once was hers and met both of our gazes.

"One final thing," Irina breathed out and stepped over to me. Piper watched me as I froze in my spot.

"I can't -" I tried to protest with the small amount of strength I had to even speak.

"It's not a matter of if you can or cannot," Irina said and stared deep into my eyes. "It's whether or not you have the strength to accept what's now yours." Her eyes brightened as she placed the tiara on my head. The tiara that now was mine.

♱

I looked at Alec as he stood in my doorway. The way he stared made me feel shaky. My heart raced as his eyes brightened to the ruby color of my dress. I swallowed hard and cleared my throat.

"You look-" He choked. I raised my eyebrows in a gesture for him to finish his sentence and stop staring. He snapped out of it, gaining composure and gave a crooked smirk of a smile. His canines were pointed a little more than the last time I saw him.

"You look incredible," He breathed.

"Thanks," I appreciated the compliment, but the uncomfortable feeling was still there.

Piper came up behind me and smiled at her brother. Irina had left earlier to go to the main hall and greet everyone.

"Are you two ready? We have five minutes to get downstairs," Piper said and both Alec and I nodded.

She walked in front of us swiftly. The silence was awkward between Alec and I. Piper seemed to be in her own little world. She looked absolutely marvelous in her gray dress. In my opinion, she fit the bill when it came to being all dressed up. I looked completely out of place in my dress and crown.

A stair case was at the end of the hall. It was faced with an identical staircase. In the center, a huge window let the sunset light up the two staircases. Piper held her dress as she walked down the stairs gracefully.

I could hear voices from the main hall. I held my dress up just like Piper had and started walking down the stairs. I looked to the huge stone entryway. I couldn't tear my eyes away as I started to see people inside the hall. The image looked like something you'd see in a movie. Everyone dressed so sophisticatedly, attending a ball.

I watched as Piper was greeted by some men. They all smiled at her flirtatiously. She smiled politely, obviously acting like she was used to this attention. I felt bad. That kind of life would suck. Living in New York with perverts occasionally hitting on you was enough for me.

In a second, my heel caught on one of the stairs and I felt myself slip. I gasped and braced myself. Arms wrapped themselves around my waist. Opening my eyes I found myself in Alec's arms. I was standing upright. He had me pressed against him firmly in his grasp.

I put my hands against his chest and he got the point. He disconnected himself from me and I straightened out my dress.

"Are you alright?" He asked his expression one of concern. I nodded and dusted myself off.

"Yeah, just not used to wearing six-inch heels," I muttered. My clumsiness and his abilities had started to get on my nerves. It had me looking like I couldn't handle myself. Which was probably true, but I would never want anyone to see that in me.

"Here," He said and held out his hand. I shrugged and put my hand in his. He held it high, not intertwining our fingers. I accepted it as polite assistance and nothing more.

We went down the rest of the stairs and were faced with the grand entrance of the main hall. I gulped and looked all around. Candelabras were lit and two men in tuxes stood at the doors. They saw us and hurried into the ballroom. A second later, trumpets started playing. Everyone went silent and looked up from their tables to us standing in the entrance.

I looked at Alec and felt my pulse raise. Nerves filled my body and I almost turned around and ran up the stairs. Alec turned his head and looked at me.

"I can't do this," I whispered, looking straight into the room as everyone looked at me. Alec put his hand gently on the small of my back. I drew in a sharp intake of breath.

"It's okay," He whispered back and gently nudged me forward and we started walking. The clicking on my heels seemed to distract me from the wine glasses filled with dark red liquid. I knew all too well that it wasn't wine. Alec and I walked in between the spread-out tables. The aisle turned into an empty circle. On the other end of the dance floor were Dimitri and Irina sitting in their thrones comfortably. Piper sat beside Irina and DeMalo beside Dimitri.

My eyes caught DeMalo staring at me. His eyes stared at me intensely. He looked at me like I was some delectable desert. He tilted his head upwards and roamed his eyes over me swiftly. I flicked my eyes away from his gaze quickly and let out the breath I didn't notice I had been holding.

"Everything alright?" Alec asked quietly as we walked through the empty ballroom floor.

"Yes," I said quickly and looked back to DeMalo, "everything is fine."

The trumpets stopped and so did Alec and I. We were perfectly in the center of the dance floor. At my feet was a beautiful display of different colored marbles laid in a design. Irina and Dimitri stood.

"Thank you all for coming today to help us celebrate Prince Alec's 21st aging," Irina announced, her voice echoing in the proximity of the immense hall. She then looked at me and smiled.

"Also, on this day I'd like to proudly introduce to you Alec's chosen Soulmate, Raven Selene Carmichael." Once she said this, everyone looked back to me once again. I was greeted with fanged grins and also some blank expressions. I looked around, my breathing a little faster than normal. I took in all the people that stared at me.

"Please, sit and admire with me as Alec and his new found love share in their first dance," Irina said properly. I mentally cringed at her words. I knew that this is what the custom called for.

I turned to face Alec as he turned to face me. I looked up at him through my eyelashes and grabbed his hands. It was supposed to be a typical waltz. He looked down at me and I stared up at him. All I could see was the man I had seen the day before, running around with the horse. For a second, I almost didn't see him as my captor. I flicked my eyes down to my feet and avoided his eyes.

I hadn't even noticed the music playing. I was too zoned out. He stepped, I stepped. It wasn't anything I would've expected. Dancing with my kidnapper. How romantic. I expected more of a crime show type of deal. Handcuffs and a dirty basement. Not a castle and lavish things.

"Is this how they'll always look at me?" I whispered. Alec cracked a smile.

"It'll get better," He told me. He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "You know they can hear everything you say, right?" His breath was hot against my earlobe. I shivered, his mouth too close to my neck. I managed to nod. It took him a second to pull himself away.

We continued to dance as the small orchestra played. I caught Irina and Piper smiling at me. I managed a small smile to them before the song ended and everyone erupted into cheer. Alec and I stood there staring at each other, standing still with our hands still held.

My body was bottling up the tension. I let go of his hands and turned to walk away from him. I looked over to Piper and found the empty seat beside her they had told me to sit in. I walked swiftly to it and sat down stiffly. Alec stood in the center of the room, looking at me. I looked back at him and the room was silent. Had he expected me to act like there was something between us? Was that part of the script? Did Irina fail to mention that I was supposed act like there was a connection?

Because it was starting to feel like that.

❤️