Ariels POV

　　Deciding that Marie's offer was my best bet of getting out of here I did as she said. I got dressed into an emerald green dress that hung off the shoulders which flowed to the floor. The dress matched my eyes so I figured this would convince my mother when I tell her I needed time to truly consider what I was being offered. Sitting on the edge of the bed waiting to be called had me on edge, so many 'what ifs' where swirling inside my head. What if Marie's plan failed, what if she wasn't on my side as she had told me and was all a ploy to get me to play along, heading willingly into a trap. One thing was for sure though, it was now that i regretted having rejected my mate.

　　"I told you not to reject him, had we just stayed and gone with him this would have all been avoided" Jade sneered in my head still pissed that I made a haste choice without her getting a say.

　　"At the time it was what needed to be done. We needed to know where our mother was and dad was the only one with the answer I needed, or so he had us believe" I tell her.

　　"Well now we know where she is and it's not where we want to be. So, everything you said was for nothing. Now we just have to hope and pray we can get out of this sticky situation and find our mate and take back your rejection" she growled while walking in circles.

　　I was snapped out of my conversation with Jade as someone knocked at my door. Before I could say anything, a man walked in and began to walk around me taking in my appearance. His eyes pink just like the vampires that found me, his skin pale which had me wondering if he too would sparkle in the moonlight.

　　"It's like a reverse of twilight hahaha" Jade chuckled in my mind; I loved her sense of humour however at this moment in time I needed my face to remain straight, so I forced myself not to smile at her mockery.

　　"Wonderful choice of attire. This colour suits you immensely. I shall have a coronation gown in a similar shade made up once your changing ceremony has been completed. Now child if you would" he gestured for me to leave the room.

　　As I stepped out of my room Marie stood there an expressionless look on her face. One that conveyed no emotion. Nothing to give away which side she was playing for. Marie gave me a nod before turning her back to me and walking down the corridor to which I assumed I was to follow.

　　Following her through the dark corridors everything was silent. All except the wind that was blowing viciously as it pounded the walls outside. As we reached the bottom of the stairs, I noticed how the walls were lined with candle styled lights the only thing that offered any form of warmth to this place.

　　"Miss Ariel, please wait here until signalled" said a man that stood in front of a set of dark oak double doors.

　　"This place gives me the creeps; you better convince your mum to hold off on this ceremony otherwise when I get killed off, I'm going to beg Selena to let me come back and haunt you" Jade's voice the only comfort I had.

　　"Jezz forever with the dramatics" I responded trying not to let my smile show to the man in front of me.

　　Suddenly the doors began to creak as they opened revealing a massive hall. The hall was a lot brighter than the other parts of the manor I had seen for massive tinted windows sat each end of the room. Portraits of men and woman hung along the walls the last of which I noticed was one of my mum with a man I assumed was Lord Vladamir. As I walked further into the room a group of people stood to the side watching me, their eyes pink while a few were red. I wondered why they were different but would have to wait to find out. At the end of the walkway sat my mother on the lap of a young-looking man with light brown hair his eyes a shade of red that resembled fresh blood.

　　"Ah young Ariel how nice of your to finally grace us with your presence." Lord Vladamir's voice deep and alluring as he rose from his chair making his way towards me stopping to kiss the back of my hand. The feeling of his cold wet lips touching me made my skin crawl. "What you are being offered is a once in a lifetime gift, it's a chance to live forever. Be part of the superior race"

　　"You mean a mongrel? An abomination?" I spat at him as I stepped backwards.

　　"Well, that's a sure way to get us killed" Jade growled while slowly edging forward incase we needed to shift.

　　"HAHAHA you are funny. No dear not a 'mongrel' as you put it, you are to become pure vampire. I will do the same as I have with your mother. Erase your wolf" he held a sinister smile as he spoke.

　　"But love you said she..."

　　"Silence will you" he snapped at my mum cutting her off mid-sentence. "I said I would think about her becoming a hybrid and I have decided she is to be like us"

　　Lord Vladamir held so much authority in his voice, authority that demanded respect. Something I realised my father's voice never held.

　　"Hey, I was going to consider the change to hybrid but there is no way in f**king hell I am becoming a cold heartless monster like you" i said continuing to edge back towards the door I entered in.

　　As I got what I thought was a safe enough distance away I turned around to bolt it only to slam into a big stone-built man causing me to fall flat on my arse. He smelt like Marie, so I figured he was another one of their hybrids. Before I could even stand the man grabbed my wrist and lifted me off the ground holding me in place as Lord Vladamir and my mum walked towards me.

　　"I will never become like you so just kill me and get it over with"

　　Nicks POV

　　"So, how's Benson holding up?" I asked Jake as we set up the training mats ready for this morning's session.

　　"Well, he didn't want to attend Alice's funeral but, in the end, he did turn up, he finally held Megan, but Angel said he's still not ready to be on his own with her"

　　"Megan?"

　　"Yeh his daughter, Megan was Alice's favourite name, so he honoured her by using it"

　　Training had been going well, the royal pack members had come a really long way with their progress. Rita had been in contact with the moon goddess who had informed her that the war we had all been dreading was well on its way. It was only a matter of time before they were on our doorstep, so it was more important then ever that we had every wolf in the Kingdom prepared. As much as I was dreading what was to come, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of excitement at the thought of seeing Marie again. I know being made into a hybrid would have changed her and deep down I knew she wouldn't remember me, but it didn't matter. As long as she was alive that's all that mattered to me.

　　"What if she tries to kill us?" Haze whined at the thought of seeing his mate again.

　　"Let her try, she won't succeed. Besides we need her to come so we can return her to the world of the living" I reminded him.

　　After clearing away the mats and equipment, Jake and I headed to William's office for an update. William had been giving us regular updates regarding the new security protocols he had put into place around the Kingdoms territory. We had trip wires installed all along the outskirts of the territory, motion detectors on every entrance and Henrik had even put an anti-shimmer ward over the entire Kingdom. Now if someone tried to shimmer in, we would be silently alerted to the threat. All we had to do now was sit back and wait.