Chapter 3: Masked Affections

Emily's Pov

I had forgotten how wonderful my birthday feast had been the first time. Everyone was dressed elegantly. Beautiful music played from the speakers to enhance the lively atmosphere. Some wolf packs were invited to the banquet. I am the heir to Alpha David Turner of the Blue Bay Pack. I had to greet everyone who had the courtesy to attend my birthday party. While talking to some guests, Jimmy Doorson appeared through the front door. My wolf Lily stirred within me with feelings of anger and hatred. The emotions were so strong that my claws almost sprang out.

"Emily, I think you should take a quick trip to the bathroom," my uncle Eric Miller whispered in my ear. He's the alpha of the Rainbow Pack. My uncle's eyes were on my claws; he gave me a friendly smile, and I nodded in return. I clenched my hands to hide the wolf claws. I put on a restrained smile and excused myself from the group of guests I was talking to. I hurried to the bathroom, trying to keep Lily under control. I could feel her rebellion, the hatred for Jimmy, and what he did to our former life. My hands returned to normal, and I took a deep breath.

Upon leaving the bathroom, I forced myself to approach Jimmy. He welcomed me with open arms and a smile. "My beloved and beautiful Emily! Happy birthday, my princess." Jimmy announced with a deep and cheerful voice, pulling me closer and hugging me. Even his scent now disgusted me. I returned the hug and tried my best to play the role of a young woman happy and in love with him.

"I was just talking to your father about how perfect this birthday banquet is!" Jimmy praised, and my dad nodded in agreement. Jimmy is an average-looking man, with dark green eyes, short brown hair, and a thick beard. Looking at him now, all that beauty turned into disgust. Many times, I catch myself wondering how I could have been so blindly in love with him in my past life. Perhaps due to his position, Jimmy Doorson is the brother of our late king, Nick Doorson. That enchanted me too much in my old life; he took me to see the castle, to balls, exclusive events that not even Dad, being an alpha, could have taken me to. Jimmy Doorson had influence everywhere, and that got me very deluded.

"All the best for my little wolf," Dad replied with a sharp and serious voice, and I smiled when I heard that.

In my old life, I didn't appreciate anything my parents did for me. At this moment, a memory from my past life comes forcefully.

It's the same banquet for my birthday, but I'm sulking with my parents.

"You just turned eighteen, Emily. You're too young to think about marriage," Mom says with a sweet voice, but to me, it's annoying to hear that.

"I'm eighteen years old, as you just pointed out. I can do whatever I want now. "Jimmy loves me, and I love him so much that I can barely breathe when he's not around," I declare. I'm convinced; I cross my arms in front of my body.

"Sweetheart, it's normal to feel this way, you're young, and you still have so much to live. Why not enjoy the party? All these people came here to honor you. We can talk about the marriage proposal later," Mom suggests and touches my arm, but I dodge it. I see the pain in my mother's eyes when I do that, but it doesn't cause me any remorse.

"I can't wait to get married and leave this house. You don't understand me!" I retort to my mother and leave her presence.

Jimmy caresses my bare back, bringing me back to the present. I was wearing a green dress with small diamond stones in the front. The open back exposed my back. My long hair was loose and wavy; there were looks and many compliments on how I was dressed tonight. Most of the compliments came from Jimmy himself.

The memory of how immature and unfair I was to my mother causes me immense sadness. I can't repeat the same mistakes of the past with my parents. I want to be with them, cherish every minute I have in this new life, and do everything differently.

As my father moved away to talk to other members of our pack and others, Jimmy continued to behave like a true gentleman. "Would you like something to drink, my princess?" Jimmy asked near my ear. In the past, this would have sent shivers down my spine and butterflies in my stomach, now it just made my stomach turn.

"Yes, I would love that, love," I replied with the sweetest voice I could muster. Jimmy moved away from me, and I followed him with my gaze. While Jimmy was standing at the bar waiting to get the drink, I noticed his pheromones becoming more pronounced. I breathed deeply to capture the scent he was emitting. Jimmy was in desire now and not coming towards me.

I looked more carefully around the banquet hall and found Nina a few meters away from Jimmy. She had a drink in hand and a mischievous smile on her lips. I noticed Jimmy smiling at her, and the pheromone became more intense. When I noticed their exchanged looks and smiles, I realized that Jimmy and Nina had been having an affair for much longer than I could imagine. It had started even before my marriage to Jimmy.

I looked away when I saw Jimmy picking up my drink; in a few seconds, he was back by my side. "Here you go, my princess." Jimmy Doorson handed me the drink with a sweet smile on his face.

"You two look so beautiful together," declared a guest near us. Jimmy played his role as a fake lover very well, running his hand over my waist and pulling me closer. His eyes sparkled as he looked at me; however, there was no scent like the one he had towards my sister a few minutes ago.

"She is the beautiful, perfect, and amazing one!" he praised. During dinner, I could still notice more glances exchanged between Nina and Jimmy. Despite Jimmy Doorson saying beautiful words to me, his scent of desire was entirely for my sister. I played my part of being in love with him. I kept affectionate smiles on my lips. I repeated sweet and innocent words that once held total sincerity. Now, they were just empty words.

Lily, my wolf, remained restless, her emotions revolving around revenge. I could keep her under control, but it wasn't an easy task. I wanted to act with savagery. I still wanted to let Lily take control, but I knew that would result in nothing but a declaration of war against the pack Jimmy Doorson belonged to. It was nothing less than the Lycan Kingdom, the empire that ruled our lands and the other packs.

At the end of the dinner, Jimmy asked me to accompany him to the garden. As we did, I recalled the marriage proposal he had made in my past life. Everything was repeating itself. We entered the small maze of bushes surrounding our house.

"Emily, my princess." Jimmy's voice was warm and friendly. It was now that the proposal would happen. "Today is your birthday, and I want to give you a very special gift, something that I believe will make both you and me very happy." He said as he began to kneel in front of me, taking a small red velvet box from the pocket of his jacket and opening it in front of me. I recalled the first time he did this in my past life. I had been ecstatic with happiness, my heart somersaulting inside me. Even Lily seemed to want to howl with joy.

"Emily Turner, would you do me the honor and happiness of becoming my wife?" Jimmy asked with a sweet voice.

"Jimmy..." I said his name a bit apprehensive. It was time to completely change the course of my story. "You are a wonderful and incredible man. I am truly flattered by the proposal, really." I spoke with a restrained voice, and Jimmy raised an eyebrow at me, confused about the direction things were going. "Unfortunately, I cannot accept your proposal." I declared in the end.

Jimmy quickly stood up in front of me, his eyes expressing confusion and disbelief. "Emily, why? Did I do something wrong?" Jimmy's voice came out hurriedly and alarmed.

I wanted to answer yes. That he did everything wrong, that he killed me and our child, that he is cruel and deserves to die. I took a deep breath and extended my hand to take his. "No, dear. You did nothing wrong. It's just that I'm only eighteen, and I believe I can't make this decision so young. I want to stay a little longer with my parents, enjoy this new phase of adulthood to learn more about our pack and life." I explained with the gentlest voice, my heart racing in my chest. I couldn't let my displeasure with Jimmy's cruelty show, couldn't put the Blue Bay Pack or my parents' lives at risk.

I could see in Jimmy's expression of confusion and disbelief that he was trying to find the little girl in love and naive that he knew. Jimmy sighed in disappointment and put the ring back in his pocket. "Okay, Emily. I understand your answer. We don't need to get married tomorrow, obviously." Jimmy declared with determination. I realized that I hurt his pride by denying the proposal, but I knew he wouldn't give up so easily on marrying me.

With his wounded pride, Jimmy left me alone in the maze; I breathed a sigh of relief and headed toward the end of the party. "Look who's the birthday girl!" I heard someone animatedly shout behind me. I looked back and found Amy and her father Nelson, a beta who had served in the military on behalf of the king.

"Amy, you're back!" I declared excitedly. Amy ran towards me, and we hugged. It had been a long time since I had seen her. We talked until the end of the party; she told me about her life, and I did the same.

"I can't believe almost all the alphas came to your birthday party," Amy commented with humor in her voice, and I laughed. "Not everyone. The alpha of the Nightfall Pack didn't show up." I replied. "But he would never come, you know that. No one even knows what he looks like." Amy said, and I nodded.

"Didn't get the chance to talk to Alpha Benson," I announce to Amy. Benson Doorson is Jimmy Doorson's nephew, an alpha I haven't met until now.

"Really?" Amy asks, surprised, and I nod. Amy tells me a bit more about Benson, things I had no idea about.

"He's our age, maybe just a year older. They say he and his uncle don't get along very well," Amy whispered the information, and it sparked a new idea in me. The more Amy told me about what she heard about Benson, the more I began to plan a way to reject Jimmy during the next Blue Bay Pack birthday. Benson Doorson was the key to making this plan work.