I'm No Cinderella

Chapter 13

** Only lightly edited. If you enjoy, please consider leaving a comment or vote to let me know!**

An Unpleasant Experience

Tears were streaming down my face when I closed the door to what was once my bedroom, and pressed my back against the hard wood. The remnants of the stomach pains were still lingering, but they were nothing compared to the ache from the way my heart had cleaved in two.

'Run away with me, Rose,' his frantic words repeated in my mind, echoing my own thoughts the night of the ball when I had thought I'd be able to get away. 'We can leave right now, just you and me.'

How I wished I could have said yes.

My family had been in the kitchen when I ran back inside, but they didn't stop me as I rushed upstairs. They likely knew exactly the kind of conversation I'd just had. 'I've noticed how crazy the two of you are about each other,' Ash had said on the night of the ball. He couldn't have been the only one.

I should have told Jax about the deal I had made with the prince. I should have called out his name when he turned to walk away, and not let him leave until he understood my side of this. But as I sat there watching the disbelief turn to anger in his eyes– not directed toward me, but at the situation in which we had found ourselves trapped– I couldn't bring myself to say it.

What if I was being tricked? What if the year ran out, and the alpha decided not to honor our arrangement?

'I'm sorry, I have to go. I can't do this,' Jax had said as he turned his back on me, agitated in a way I had never seen, 'I can't watch you do nothing to save yourself.'

I'm trying, I wanted to say, but instead I had just watched him walk away, wondering if I would ever see him again. Wishing he would wait for me, but knowing it was selfish to even ask.

I looked around my room, pondering which of my personal belongings I could even bring back to the castle with me. My clothes were definitely not an option.

That didn't leave many worldly belongings to choose from.

I crossed to the dresser, opening the top drawer to dig through the socks within until I felt the cool touch of metal against my fingertips. The bracelet was a simple thing, a thin chain with a locket, but it was my prized possession.

When I descended the stairs a while later, after saying my– hopefully temporary– farewells to my childhood bedroom, my family was waiting for me in the kitchen. We settled at the table, chatting like old times and pretending we couldn't all feel the weight of the clock ticking against the wall.

When a sudden knock sounded against the front door, the five of us collectively jumped. All eyes turned to me, and I rose unsteadily to my feet. I shot them a reassuring smile, before slowly making my way to the door and opening it, feeling the eyes of my family behind me. Matteo was standing on the porch, eyes briefly flicking behind me as he opened his mouth to speak. "L–"

I quickly stepped outside and closed the door to shield his words from my family's prying ears. He stopped abruptly, tilting his head in confusion at my actions. My brows raised expectantly to distract from the blush I could feel on my cheeks from mild embarrassment.

"I was going to say," he began again, "that it is time to head back to the castle, Luna. Your mate wanted you off the road before sundown."

"Rose," I corrected under my breath, though I knew he could hear me, and glanced back at the door. "May I say goodbye?"

"Of course."

He returned to the transport, while I entered the house once more. It was quieter inside than I had left it, as if everyone could already feel my departure coming.