"And here we are. Hope you're done talking boys, as us ladies have arrived."

"Ladies? Where? All I see is the love of my life, the stars to my night, the beat to my heart." My own heart melted at his words as I stared at the man in awe. Once we had stepped inside the room, his head had snapped up, and a heart stopping smile graced his lips. He stood up, and began to speak as he slowly made his way towards us.

He wrapped his arms around Delilah, and gave her a proper embrace that had me looking away. My eyes landed on Xavier, who was rolling his eyes, but smiling nevertheless. He stood up, buttoning up his jacket as he made his way towards us again.

"Hi ma. Thank you, again." He kisses her cheeks as she pulled him to a hug.

"It was no problem. The only room I didn't show her was her bedroom, but I thought you could show her the way..." she trailed off, giving her grandson a small smirk as he groaned.

"No." He looked at who I now assumed was Alex, her mate and the King of all wolves and begged. "Please tell her it's not that."

Alex rubbed his chin as his eyes flickered to me. "I don't know son. Maybe she's right."

I blinked rapidly. They were talking about me?!?

"This is Alex, my husband," Delilah chuckled as she introduced me to the man who was glued to her. Alex unwrapped himself from her and extended a hand, smiling at me.

"Nice to meet you. I do apologize for any pain and danger this boy here has caused towards you. My house is your home for the time you stay with us."

"Thank you. There was no pain involved." I winced and scrunched up my nose. "I mean, it's all in the past. There's nothing to worry about."

"Good to hear. Now, why don't you take her to her room, son. She looks exhausted."

I was tired. My legs hurt, and I was begging for a chair so I could plop my butt down. But I didn't show any indication; I kept my mouth shut, but that didn't mean my heart didn't agree with it. I felt it race in excitement and I blushed as I saw both men look at me.

Sensitive hearing...

"Right. This way." He extended a hand, and I looked at it for a few seconds, confused on what I had to do. I heard Delilah laughing, and I turned to her, embarrassed, hoping she could read the hopefulness in my eyes.

"He means to walk ahead," she whispered in my ear and I blushed.

"Oh." My face was burning as I turned around on my heel and began to walk, keeping my eyes on my shoes. As soon as we were a few feet away, I forgot I had not excused myself, so that caused another round of blushing and cursing.

"What's wrong?"

His voice made me jump, but I looked up to answer him. "I made a total fool of myself back there. I didn't even excuse myself and thanked your grandparents. What a good first impression I made to royalty." I sighed deeply as he slowly led me up the stairs. His hands were behind his back, and he had a genuine smile on his face as he chuckled at me.

"You're fine Eva. Ma hates it when you treat her like royalty, so don't do it. She will annoy you about it, so just continue with what you were doing with her, and you'll be fine."

I nodded at his words as we turned corners and continued to walk down more hallways. I vividly remembered Delilah showing me this part of the wing, especially since it held pictures of the royal family. It felt homey, as if she had taken pictures of parents and grandparents and placed them in the walls for everyone to see. This was no royal castle that people could tour around; this was a home.

"This will be your room until time comes. My sister is right across from you, and the room to the left is empty." He motioned to the door to my right, but I was too busy looking out the window that made up most of the wall.

This side of the place held a gorgeous view. From where I was standing, I could clearly see snowy mountain that were a good few miles away. Between the mountains and us, more miles and rows of trees, all of different sizes and colors. It looked more like a painting than reality.

"This is Mimi's favorite view too. She's the only one who has a room on this side of the hallway. Everyone else either reside on that side or on the floor below us."

"We are on the fifth floor, right?" I had counted that many floors.

"Yes. We have an elevator on that side of the hallway. Sorry I made you walk up the stairs. I'm not used to having a human who isn't used to the vigorous workout we do."

I smiled sheepishly as I unpropped myself from the windows ledge. "Just say it. I'm not in shape."

He frowned. "Don't say that about yourself. You're perfect."

I blinked rapidly at his words, unable to form some of my own. He noticed what he said after a few seconds of silence, and he cleared his throat. "Well, yeah. This is your room. I believe your stuff are already inside, so if you want to shower or change or just relax, you can do that. My room is the very last one on this side of the hallway."

"Okay," I whispered and he bowed slightly before he turned sharply on his heel and walked away. Robotically, I shuffled my way into my room, and closed the door behind me, releasing a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

"Oh my god.... holy shit..." I breathed as I slumped down to the floor. Whatever fate had in store for me was just beginning, and I didn't know if I liked it...

~~~~~~~~~

"This is my aunt Emilee and her husband Dimitri. They are the king and queen of the vampire race." My eyes bugged out as Xavier finished introducing them and they smiled at me. I expected handshakes, but Emilee pulled me into a hug, before she gathered my face in both of her hands and stared into my eyes. She looked for a good ten seconds before she smiled again and looked back at her husband.

"I have a good feeling about her," she announced, making me quickly look down as she released my face.

"That's what I said too!" Came Delilahs voice as she walked into the dining room.

"Hi mom." Emilee embraced her mother with a huge hug, and did the same to her father as Dimitri took his turn saying hi to the family. The entire royal family was present for dinner. and here I was, an intruder standing out like the ugly duckling.

"Great! Everyone is here on time for the first time in years!" Exclaimed Delilah as she clapped her hands. "Wait, no. Where's Alice?"

"She is having a hard time letting go of Lily. You know how she was with our first..." a tall man who had a tumbler in his hands told her and Delilah chuckled.

"Of course. Everyone has their kids knocked out and or distracted with movies?"

A bunch of yeses were thrown at her, but a "fuck yeah!" Made me laugh, which I quickly had to cover with a cough since a few eyes turned to me.

"Then let us begin. Eva, since you are our guest, you get first pick of partner."

"Huh?" Was all I said as I froze midway to my seat.

"Once a week, we all gather to have a family dinner. After our stomachs are full, we play games until someone starts to yawn or a kid comes into the room. Usually, we figure it out by picking out a random name from the box," Xavier motioned with his eyes to a box that was behind Alexes seat. The box was more like a basket, and it was simply decorated with a red ribbon that was woven into it. "But since you're our guest, you get first pick. So, who do you pick?"

I blinked rapidly as I stared at everyone. A few eyes were on me, waiting for my response, but the others were too focused on the plates in front of them. "Well... Umm... I don't really know anyone in here... and I'm not sure which game-"

"Choose Xavier. He's great at everything!" Emilee chirped and I saw the wink she threw at me. I stared at her exasperated and she wiggled her eyebrows before she picked up her drink in front of her and with her head, motioned to Xavier, who sat on my left.

"Ummm..." I stared at him, embarrassed as I felt all eyes on me now. "Do you want to be my partner?" My voice came out as a whisper, but I knew everyone heard it.

Half of his mouth curled into a smile and he nodded. "Sure. If you're good, I'm calling dibs on you from now on." His voice went from normal to practically a yell and that caused a bunch of groans and shouts.

"You can't do that!"

"That's not fair!"

"I wanted to play with her!"

"Damn, this steak is good..."

All eyes went to who I assumed was Alice, who had a fork full of meat. I had heard someone come in during Xavier's explanation, but I didn't see who it was. "What? Don't judge!? I just had a baby for crying out loud, so I have an excuse for eating this delicious meat!"

"So Xavier is out of the pool. We will pick our partners at the end of dinner, so please, let us enjoy before it gets cold."

Forks and occasional chatter was all I heard as I stuffed my face. The food was rich and delicious, and when it came for dessert, I was torn between two items: a slice of chocolate cake or a slice of blueberry pie. I guess Xavier saw me chewing on my lip as I stood by the table because I felt him walk up to me, and then hand me a slice of pie.

"The cake is always made each day, since my mom always craves it. I would go with the pie," he whispered in my ear, and winked before he walked away. I stood there, dumbfounded by that small wink, but nevertheless took the plate and went back to my seat.

I was halfway into the pie, moaning silently between each bite when Alice cleared her throat loudly and said five words that caused the whole room to go to chaos.

"So, let game night begin."

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