Page 117 of Rogue Alpha Prince
“I don’t think it will work. Your birthday is in the spring, and I swear to God the first two lines mean you would have to be a winter pup, as in—born in winter,” Beta Lucifer sighs, leaning on a window that is getting silently assaulted by the heavy storm rain.
Of course, I was born in April, everyone knows that. Except…
“Asher is convinced I was born in December,” I say, and they just stare at me. Lightning bolts are brightening our faces every few seconds. We don’t hear thunder; this hall is soundproofed for precisely the kind of meetings we are having right now.
“What do you mean convinced? You lied to her or—”
“No. I mean, she has a birth announcement letter from my father that states I was born in December.”
They look at me dumbfounded, but then Beta makes wide eyes.
“What if soon after you were born and the announcement was already sent, the King came to know that prophecy and he changed your birthday to throw future you off?”
“And misplaced it. The scroll, I mean. Maybe that’s why it was so hard to get?” Gamma chirps in.
Thinking about your birthday date being fake is ridiculous, but…
“It’s just a few months and a few Alpha commands, so you guys might be right.”
We all pace the room at this point.
“It still doesn’t change the fact that you would have to be mates with Asher for everything to work,” Beta points out, so we look at him, “If there is anything obvious in this stupid riddle, it’s the fact that ‘promised male, princess foe’ is Asher, right?”
I nod alongside Atlas. She’s the enemy King’s daughter, with a traditionally boyish name. Of course, it’s her. That one is easy.
I must say, I had a good hunch to propose a marriage deal to her in the first place. After hearing a few versions of that fairytale Claudia told us, that started all of this years ago, I had a feeling she might be more useful to us than just the easier access to their University grounds for Atlas.
All versions had one thing in common—two lovers from feuded lands. It was a stretch, but still, proved to be a good choice.
“If I didn’t overlook anything, there is nothing about Moon Goddess here. I don’t think you have to be true mates, Alpha, so it still might work with a regular mark. Maybe,” Beta adds, looking at the photo of the scroll with a tilted head.
I go back to the moment when I started suspecting that we might actually be true mates, but I don’t want to discuss it with them. It would just prompt the whole when-should-I-kill-her talk, and I’m not ready for that. We have different kills to discuss first.
“I don’t think they have to be mates at all, they just need to be in love,” Atlas starts to argue with Lucifer.
“Doesn’t matter, they have to be in love to properly mate, anyway. Right? We have to read about that, I don’t know a thing about proper marking.”
I hide my face in my hands with frustration, while I’m listening to their discussion about me being a heartless Rogue Alpha Prince, and all the ways they can help us somehow fall in love sooner than later.
“Guys, that won’t be a problem,” I say firmly, after five minutes of this torture.
They look at me weirdly.
“No, Alpha, without it, it’s all null, and you know we have to do it quickly.”
“It won’t be a problem,” I repeat.
“What do you mean?” Beta asks skeptically. “It clearly states—"
“I’m fucking in love with her already!”
They stare.
“What, since when?”
I have a sudden realization, I can pinpoint the exact moment it happened. Her first bantering, looking straight into my eyes.
Don’t worry guys, my future husband just likes it rough…
