Belonging to a Castle

Part 4

Here's the next part. Above is the entrance hall. Hope you like it. I will get a photo of the ballroom (the steps) up after this. The next update will probably be next week but I might still get something up sooner.

Thanks for reading, voting and commenting!

CC;)

The week goes by with Tamara telling me about the past balls they have held. She told me about one where one of the Alpha's past one night stands' hair had caught on fire from a candle that a passing busboy was carrying. She said that no one liked her and there was a conspiracy theory that someone paid the busboy. I asked if it was her and got a wink in response.

It's Friday and we are both sat in my room in front of my mirror getting ready.

"I haven't asked you, have you found your 'mate' yet?" I ask Tamara. Mates in the shifter world are different, books and werewolves usually say that you know your mate from the very beginning of knowing them, but in the shifter world when you meet your mate, you have two weeks until you actually know that you have met your mate, during that time you can't shift and you slowly get more and more affections on your own for your mate. It doesn't always work out, some people start off hating their mate and after the two weeks when they find out that they are their mate, the person rejects them. If you get rejected it's not the end of the world, well it feels like it for a month, and then it starts all over again when you meet a different person. Sometimes the second person is better for you. You are always going to be given another chance. If you meet your mate and connect as mates you can't get another mate. It's pretty simple if you think about it.

"No. Not yet." She replies. "What about you?"

"Nope, I'm not really looking forward to meeting them, knowing my luck I won't find the one I connect with until I'm 80 and then he will die straight away." Tamara shifts uncomfortably.

"What's wrong did I say something wrong?"

"You didn't know, I've been told that I will find my mate that I connect with, and then I will die alongside my mate 3 days later, I don't know when and how so if I find my mate when I'm young, I die young."

"It could be false, who told you?"

"The pack psychic and I had a dream once where I talked to the shifter goddess and she confirmed it."

"It still might be wrong; it could have just been that, a dream."

"I'm not worried, at least I will die with my mate, and it might not even be until I'm older so I'm living every minute to the fullest I can. And if I don't want to die yet then I just reject everyone until I am ready to die." She says with a sad smile.

"Let's talk about something else that's a bit lighter. Like are there any hot guys in your pack?" I say wiggling my eyebrows.

*****

Once we are all dressed and made up we make our way down the stairs, nearly headfirst for me.

"Wow, girls you both look beautiful! Are we ready?" My dad says. I smile and nod. We all walk out to the car and get in.

After a 10 minute drive (2 just for the driveway) we pull up to the house I picked Tamara up from. I look out of the window up at it. It's a big white three storey house, with a balcony only on the top floor. There were two sets of stairs leading up to the two front doors with a fountain between the two. I turned to Tamara.

"You live here?"

"Yeah, you saw it the other day."

"Yeah, but I wasn't paying attention to the house." I answer. A man comes and opens my door. I smile and get out.

"Thank you." I say warmly. The man looks down and avoids eye contact. My smile wavers a bit.

"They've been told by the Alpha to do their job. He doesn't want to get told off and punished by him." Tamara explains having seen my expression.

"They shouldn't have to bow their heads if they get praise." I say looking at the man who still had his head bent.

"It's just the way it is, until the Luna or the Alpha says otherwise." She responds with a sad smile.

"Speaking of the Luna and Alpha, what are they like?"

"We used to have both a Luna and Alpha, but they passed the title onto their son, a couple of years ago."

"How old is he?"

"20, he's turning 21, next week and they are having a big party to celebrate, I could probably get you an invite." She says.

"Um, I'll see how I like him first." I say. I look up and we have just come to the top of the stairs. We walk up to the doors and are greeted by a man wearing a suit in his late forties; he has a thick head of brown, nearly black, hair. His grey eyes have wrinkles around them as if he hasn't stopped smiling, which he hasn't since I have seen him. The lady next to him is the total opposite. Her blonde hair is pulled up into a sleek updo and her light blue eyes are hard and cold. She holds herself as if she is better than everybody. She has a small smile on her face, but it looks strained, like she doesn't do it often.

"You must be the shifters that already lived here, I'm Tyler and this is my wife Geraldine. We used to be Alpha and Luna before we passed the title off to our son." He says.

"I'm Jim, and this is my wife Mary and our daughter Trixie. It's nice to meet you." My dad says extending his hand to both of them. Tyler takes it and shakes it vigorously and when my dad extends it to Geraldine she looks at it like it just came off the bottom of her shoe. My dad's smile falters a bit but he just smiles and retracts it.

"Not the handshaking type then." He says laughing it off. I don't think that's what it is Dad.

"Is the Alpha around?"

"No. He'll be here later." Geraldine says.

"Well go in and enjoy the ball." Tyler says with a warm smile. We thank him and enter. The entrance hall was grand; it was made of white marble and had a staircase going up one side of the space. There was a chandelier hanging in the middle and doors leading off on one side. We walked through the doors and came into the ballroom. We walked down one of the couple of steps that was next to each other and down onto the crowded dance floor. Like the entrance hall this had a chandelier in the middle of the room.

"Ready? Tamara asks me.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I answer walking into the crowd.

****

We mingled for what felt like hours and somewhere in the midst I lost Tamara, my mom and dad.

I had just finished talking to a kind old lady, and turned going to try and find my parents and Tamara when I bumped into something hard and something soaked my dress.