Anaya.

I stayed still as the woman peered at me, as all eyes in the foyer were pinned on me.

"No, not Dahlia," she finally said, "You don't have her eyes."

I was hearing her words and they were making sense. But that was the problem, they shouldn't be making sense.

"What?" I manage.

The man steps forward, putting an arm around the woman and speaking to me, "Sorry dear, you just look like someone we know. Almost exactly like her."

It was getting harder to breathe.

"You knew my mother?" I finally ask.

"Your mother? Dear, what are you talking about?"

"Dahlia. You said Dahlia. That was my mother's name and you said I looked exactly like her except for my eyes. That's my mother. You knew my mother?"

The couple exchanged a look like I was the crazy one. Like I was the one who'd come and started talking about resemblances.

"Well," the woman spoke slowly, "We do know somebody named Dahlia that looks like you. But, Dahlia doesn't have a daughter."

"Shall we proceed to the dining room?" Alex finally asks, stepping forward.

The room relaxes and the couple nods and we all head towards the dining room while I try to calm myself down.

"Are you okay?" Alex whispers to me, his eyes full of concern.

"Yeah," I shook myself, I was making things weird for him, "I'm fine."

We took our seats at the table, Alex at the head, me, beside him.

We were joined by the man who had first visited me in the cell, Alex's Beta, Luke and his mate, Emma.

The man and woman were introduced as James and Laura, chief counsellors to the Lycan King.

My eyes widened when I heard that and the respect Alex obviously had for them made sense.

I'd read a bit about the Lycan royal family in the Lycan history book. All wolves were descended from the moon goddess but the Royal family were said to be direct descendants in that they actually had her blood.

I hadn't gotten to the chapter about the current Royal family but I'd read that all Royals were extremely strong and the normal werewolf abilities were heightened in them by like 100.

All werewolves, Lycan or not were under the Royal family and reported to them. The royals had a small pack of theirs that comprised the family and other high ranking officers under them, one of them being the chief counsellors.

No wonder this dinner was so important to Alex.

Just as we were about to start eating, Selene walked in looking stunning in a black midi dress.

"Sorry I'm late," she tinkled as she took a seat next to me.

I glared at her and then looked at Alex who looked just as surprised to see her, meaning he hadn't invited her. That calmed me down a bit.

We'd had a serious talk after the other afternoon when I'd walked in on them kissing. He'd defended himself saying she had pushed herself on him and he was just about to push her away when I walked in.

Whether that was true or not wasn't my business. I had told him our deal would be off if anything similar happened again. I wasn't going to be humiliated just because I was playing a part.

After that, he had been keeping his distance from her and being downright cold in situations where he was forced to interact with her.

She bared her neck at James and Laura, "Good evening counsellors."

"This is Selene, an old family friend," Alex finally introduced and the couple nodded at her.

The dinner went smoothly after that although instead of normal dinner conversation, they seemed to be interviewing Alex, throwing question after question at him.

Selene played the part of hostess perfectly, asking if they liked the food, if they would prefer white or red wine and it irked me. She wasn't even supposed to be here! I was Alex's mate, she was playing my part!

I didn't know how to chip in though, because they were talking about a lot of things I knew next to nothing about.

"So, Alpha Alexander, I hear you recently found your mate?" James asks.

Alex grins and takes my hand, "Yes I did."

The man raises an eyebrow at our joined hands and flicks a glance at Selene.

"Anaya, you're- not a member of a pack?" It was his not-so-subtle way of confirming that I was a Rogue.

"No I am not," I couldn't help the tone of my voice. I was daring him to say something more about it.

But he doesn't and they move on to other topics.

The dinner ended early because it was getting dark and James and Laura still had to travel back to their pack.

We escorted them to the front door where James and Alex had a quiet discussion before they they finally headed out.

"It was lovely meeting you, Counsellors," Selene said, smiling and baring her neck again.

"Safe journey," I added.

"Thank you," Laura paused and peered at me again, "So much like her. Uncanny."

I smiled politely and waved until they'd left.

Immediately they left, Selene headed to her room, saying goodnight only to Alex while pretending I didn't exist.

"What was that about?" I asked, referring to the dinner.

Alex shrugged, "Nothing."

"C'mooonnnn! Counsellors don't just randomly visit Alphas! What's up?"

"Well," he smiled, "They didn't say anything to me but it might be that they're considering me to be the next Lycan king."

My jaw dropped, "What?"

"I'm not sure!" He warned, "People say the King's health is failing and that the counsellors are worried."

"So there's no heir to the throne?" I asked.

"Well, the king and queen have a daughter. Princess Dahlia. There was some scandal about her years ago that was hushed up by the Royals. But rumour has it she's not exactly fit to rule."

"Scandal?"

He sighed, he was clearly uncomfortable talking about this, "Nobody knows what it was. I heard once that she ran off to be a rogue, as if that could ever happen. An-"

But I had stopped listening, my ears were ringing.

Leaving him, I rushed upstairs and grabbed the Lycan history book I'd left on my bed. I flipped through it hurriedly, barely breathing. I flipped into the chapter of the present Royal family, to the family tree.

On the last page, was a picture of me.

Except that it wasn't me.

It was my mother.

Princess Dahlia.

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