Genevieve

Chapter 4: Confusion

Markus decided to give the girls a tour of the mansion. It was humongous, with various floors, staircases, elevators, escalators, and magnificent chandeliers. But one thing which caught their eyes was the mirrors and portraits in every corner.

"Do you know what the name Markus means? It means 'Of Mars'. And it seems like this king is actually a little weird." Gen spoke in a low tone gesturing towards Markus who would always take a glimpse of himself as he passed through the mirrors. "Mirror-mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" She joked.

"It's called being self-obsessed. I just hope he doesn't have his portraits in the restroom." Bella remarked and Gen couldn't help but laugh.

What the girls didn't realize was that werewolves had really good hearing and everyone in the mansion could hear their conversation. Markus, who was also one of them, felt slightly offended but decided to let them off the hook.

"This place is called the pack house. This is where we hold meetings and have parties. It can fit in more than 2000 people and the rooms are soundproof since we, werewolves, have exceptionally good hearing and we all like to have our privacy in our rooms." Markus elaborated and that's when the girls realized what they had done. The girls felt embarrassed for bad-mouthing the king, but they had spoken the truth.

The question which lingered in Markus' mind was: which one of the two was his mate? He inspected the two girls and tried to form a judgement. For him, first impressions were the last impressions. On one hand there was Bella. She was older than Gen, more mature, tall, slender, and dressed appropriately. She had sleek jet-black hair, perfectly shaped brows, expertly done make-up and the finest jewelry which shone from a distance.

Genevieve, on the other hand, was... ordinary. She had an average height and an average figure. She had brown hair, brown eyes, and her dressing was comparatively casual. But she wore a huge special on her face, which shone as her best feature and made her look pretty.

But Bella met Markus' expectations in what he thought a queen should look like. Poise, sophisticated and mature. She carried herself well in her prim and proper suit and tall heels. He thought they would make the perfect match.

"This is my room." His room was so huge, it could fit 10 elephants, and it had mirrors everywhere. It was Markus' hobby to look at himself in the mirror whenever he was bored or go for shopping. His wardrobe was filled with the finest suits, watches, ties, and shoes. According to him, 'You can never have enough.'

"Next to my room, is your room." The girls didn't expect to see an even bigger room compared to Markus'. Markus wanted to make the best impression on his mate. Which was why the day that he heard that his mate would be visiting, he reserved the largest room for her. It had the biggest bed, wardrobe, and bathroom. Markus had already filled his mate's closet with all types of clothes in every size, but he still made a mental note to take his mate for shopping.

"Thank you, King Markus, for all that you've done for us. You've done so much, but there was no need." Genevieve felt flabbergasted as she saw all the arrangements he had done. She was not used to such fancy treatment.

"I hope you like it. Feel free to use whatever you want; it is all for you. And please call me Markus." Markus asked gentlemanly.

"Since we've had a long journey, we'd like to rest now." Bella answered. Markus was a little disheartened to leave them but consoled himself that they'd be here for 1.2 months.

"If you need anything, you can come to my room. You don't have to hesitate." Markus prayed internally that somehow, they would. Gen just passed a smile and wished him 'goodnight'. Markus knew that he wasn't getting any sleep as he was going to be occupied with the thoughts of his mate, who was in his house and in the next room.

For breakfast, he had a feast prepared for them. He had a variety of food prepared- from eggs to French toasts. He personally loved eating meat, and his favourite was the rabbit cooked rare. His attention was diverted by the sound of footsteps which signaled that the girls were coming downstairs. The girls were taken aback at the sight of a long table filled with food. But to their surprise, it was just the three of them on the dining table.

"When are the rest of the people joining us?" Gen inquired, to which Markus answered, "All of this is for us. Please have a seat and enjoy."

Gen's mouth watered at the sight of buttermilk pancakes and maple syrup. She just wanted to dive into it. But Markus waited for Bella's reaction who had a scrunched-up nose and a scowl on her face.

"Is there anything which is vegan and gluten-free?" Bella asked as she eyed the table distastefully. Everything on the table either had eggs or milk. Markus was upset to see her reaction and called his chefs to make something which Bella would like.

"Gen, I'm going to our room, you know I'm on a strict diet and I can't eat all of this." She felt tempted to eat the food but restrained herself since she had a diet to maintain. Markus was furious at her remark and just wanted to flip the table over. But another girl ate happily, without a single complaint.

"Go and make something delicious for Bella. Now!" Markus scolded the chefs and they scurried to the kitchen.

"If you don't mind, I know what Bella likes to eat for breakfast so I can make it for her." Gen offered and Markus came up with an idea.

"How about you tell me what to do, and I make it for her?" Markus really wanted to impress his mate. It was only their second day in the southern kingdom, and he felt like he had messed up.

Genevieve instructed him to make an easy granola and vegan yogurt bowl which was Bella's favorite. "This was easy. What else does she like to eat?" Markus questioned.

"She has a sweet-tooth, so she likes brownies, peanut butter cookies and apple pies. For savory, she likes pastas, soups, and salads. She is really conscious about her weight, so she tries all sorts of diets." Markus made a mental note of Gen's words but was also concerned about Bella's health. It was good that she was trying to eat clean, but she shouldn't be too strict.

Markus took Bella's breakfast to her room and knocked before he entered. Bella was a little surprised to see him.

"You didn't have to come yourself. You should've sent Gen or someone else. Or I could've come downstairs." She eyed the bowl in his hand and her eyes lit up in delight.

"I prepared this myself, specially for you. I apologize that there was nothing on the dining table which was to your liking. You can make me a list of the foods you like, and I will personally make them for you every day." Markus offered and Bella was touched.

"Thank you, king Markus, that is very sweet of you." She replied. Markus observed her eat her food and felt a little accomplished that he was able to impress his mate.

But a doubt still lingered in his head. Was she really his mate? Markus was never wrong, if he felt that it was Bella, it had to be her.

"We are going to have a party tomorrow." He told Bella and also communicated it to the rest of his pack through the mind-link. In the party, he was going to introduce his mate to everyone.

Author's Note:

There is a party in the Southern Kingdom in the next chapter. Stay tuned. Please read, vote, and comment! Lots of love xoxo