Their Hidden Princess Chapter 110

The next evening, I was feeling no better at my current situation and Loren could tell. Was it because I’d been swirling my cereal in the same pattern for the whole hour? Perhaps. But I’d like to think it was because Loren was a wonderful friend.

“Do you…want to talk about it?” she asked as my spoon skimmed past another soggy cheerio. I shrugged.

“Don’t know what there’s to chat about,” I huffed. “All of my fated mates hate me.”

“Zora,” Loren said, plainly. “You have like four. How can they all hate you?”

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Then, I held up one finger.

“Maximus thinks I’m leading him or Valentin along—”

I held up a second finger.

“—Valentin is still marrying Bella and wants nothing to do with me—"

I held up a third finger.

“—Thorne hates me so much he broke our bond—”

One more finger.

“—and Kairos is…I don’t even know honestly,” I mumbled. I dropped my hand back to push my cheerios around again. “Not a single one likes me.”

Loren shifted uncomfortably. “Sound like Kairos has promise!”

I fixed her with a scathing look. She shrunk back in her seat. I sighed and dropped my spoon to rub at my eyes.

“Sorry,” I grumbled. “I didn’t mean that. There’s a lot going on.”

“I’m not shocked you’re stressed,” Loren said which a shrug. “I’d be stressed too if I showed up to school, didn’t know I was a wolf then turned out to have four fated mates. Your parents must’ve been special.”

I shifted in my seat. “Yeah,” I murmured. “Maybe.”

“Ooh!” Loren bubbled up in her seat. “I bet Headmaster Lunerly knows!”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, he knows like everyone. I’m sure he can go through the records and find the wolves who gave you up!”

I rolled my shoulders back. Part of me thought that may be my way out. Loren wanted to poke and I didn’t have the wherewithal to stop her from doing so. If she poked enough, she’d figure it out. Or would she?

“Dunno,” I mumbled. “I don’t think I really care. I mean my parents left me. Should I care about them?”

“True,” Loren mused. “But maybe it would make things less confusing. Especially about the four fated mates thing. Like why do you have so many?”

Because we are the savior of the wolves, Mona stated proudly. I bristled, shaking my head to clear Mona’s voice from it. I didn’t want Loren to know that. Well, I did but I didn’t.

“I—Loren it’s fine,”

But Loren had fuel to her fire and kept going in the overly excited way of hers. She was practically vibrating in her seat.

“Or, or,” she started. “Maybe you’re parents were like, wolf spies and they sent you away to protect you so you wouldn’t grow up to be a spy and then they liked died in duty ya know? So they like meant to come get you but then couldn’t because they passed. Oh wow, that’s morbid. I’m sorry – maybe not. Maybe they died in the war cause like, a lot of people died in the war and that’s why I think you should go to Lunerly because sissy says he knows like everyone and—”

“Loren,” I barked, breaking her out of her spiral. “I don’t care.”

She blinked at me. “Not even a little?”

“I – ugh,” I threw my head in my hands.

I was getting tired of trying to hide my secrets. I kept forgetting who knew what and who was supposed to know what. Part of me knew this was my own fault. I was the one who said I didn’t want anyone to know I was the princess. I was the one who said I’d enroll in Alpha Academy. I didn’t know why the fuck I was still even here! All that was in my future was bedding the same men I’d been pushed upon the previous summer.

All those thoughts were swirling in my head like an oncoming hurricane and I could tell Loren none of it. She was, somehow, the best friend I ever had knew nothing about me. A spike of anxiety rose in me and suddenly, it felt very hard to breathe.

Loren frowned. “You okay? You’re breathing reeeeal heavily.”

“Fine,” I choked out and tried to finish off my bowl of cereal.

Loren didn’t speak for a beat, frown still etched into her skin. She peaked up at me from under her eyelashed. Then, she sighed and spoke.

“You know, don’t you?” she whispered. “Who you’re parents are? Who you are?”

The last question sent me over the edge. My breathing got shallow and it felt like the entire dining hall was starting to spin. I abruptly stood up from my seat. The metal on the floor sounded like nails on a chalkboard. The whole time, my eyes stayed locked on Loren.

“I—I have to go,” I murmured before I took off towards the door.

I was vaguely aware of Loren calling after me but the only sound in my ears was my own breathing and the erratic beat of my heart. The cold air swarmed me as soon as I stepped out on campus. It was dark by then and there was nothing comforting about the silence or the darkness of the campus.

I just kept thinking about Loren.

Loren who’d been by my side through everything. She rarely asked questioned and when she did, they were respectable and kind and genuine. And I just lied right back to her face. Then, I thought about my lies to Maximus and Kairos and how they didn’t know who I was but wanted me regardless. And Valentin who didn’t want me but still helped me.

My life was a mess and I was at the helm of every bit of it. From being at that damn school to getting captured by the vampires and back. They were all my fault. I started wheezing at that moment, my breath coming out haggard and dry.

I bolted across campus, my pulse still thudding in my ears. I ran directly to my dorm room, throwing the door open and stumbling up the stairs like I was drunk. I passed my room and immediately went to the door next to mine. I slammed my fist against the door, still trying to catch up to my breathing.

When Maximus opened the door he looked pissed until he looked at my face. His eyes wandered all over it before locking on my eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” I whimpered before launching into tears. Maximus immediately took me into his arms and pulled me into his room. The door slammed shut and my body began to shake with the sobs I’d been putting off for months.