Sins Among Royals

Indie sat in her room feeling bad for not running after Noah; the morning sped by quickly as her mother brought her boxes and bags so that she could pack things. Many tears were shed, and memories shared as Indie pulled down posters and cleaned as much as she could.

After a few hours of uninterrupted packing she stopped and let herself be enveloped by the silence, it was calming. After throwing a pillow on the floor, Indie lay her head on it and stared up at the ceiling contemplating life.

The ceiling picked up the light of the afternoon sun as shadows danced over Indie’s head with beauty and grace. The branches of the tall trees outside her bedroom window swaying in the breeze, Indie smiled as she felt tears filling her eyes, this room and house had been her home for all the nineteen years she had been on Earth, and now she was to say goodbye. Coming to terms with such strong emotions was difficult as her smile turned in to a choked chuckle and then a giggle, “only this would happen to me,” Indie laughed through her tears.

After a while, her tears dried and the laughter died on her lips. She found herself wondering if Noah would ever be back to get her. Looking around her room, she couldn’t help but sigh. This was it.

Indie calmed down and started to relax when a knock at her bedroom door startled her and made her tense again. She lay there silently staring at the door hoping that she wouldn’t have to leave but no such luck, a few moments later whoever it was knocked again. “Indie, Noah is here to get you.”

Her heart started beating erratically in her chest as she heard her mothers voice, “Okay ma, I’ll be down soon.” Indie desperately tried to steel her emotions to keep from blowing up or breaking down, but she wouldn’t know until she left her room just how emotional she would get.

Pulling herself up off of the floor Indie quickly opened the door and looked at her mother who looked as if she had been crying herself. “Oh, my sweet girl, who would have thought.” Rita smiled as tears gathered in her eyes. She held Indie by the shoulders before pulling her in for a hug.

“Oh mom, please don’t. I only just stopped crying myself.” Though her voice was clear Indie’s shoulders began shaking as the tears started falling again.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help it. Who’s going to side with me now when there’s a boys versus girls disagreement, no one to eat all the really crispy bacon I cook and not complain about it. I won’t even have anyone to shop with,” Rita pulled away from her daughter for a moment but when their gaze met each other both of them crumbled emotionally.

“Oh Rita,” another voice chimed in, “it isn’t like this is forever. We will go and see her and not even their best guards would be able to keep us away.” Indie’s father hugged both of them and kissed Indie’s forehead. “We’re so proud of you Indie; we always have been. This is just another step in the new and exciting life you get to lead. So many people could only dream of where you are going and what you are about to do.” He grinned mischievously at his daughter then, “but if they try and change you too much,” he winked at his daughter, “give ’em hell kiddo.”

“Well we should get you downstairs to your waiting mate, he doesn’t look like the type that likes waiting.” Rita smiled at her daughter. Though she knew it wasn’t forever, it didn’t make sending her off any easier. “Dad and the boys can bring your bags.” Rita slung her arm over Indie’s shoulder and lead her off down the stairs while Hunter, Chase and their father gathered everything Indie had packed and followed them.

The two women of the Jones family walked through the front door and out on to the little porch at the front as some of Noah’s security team stepped around them to get the boxes and bags the men of the family brought out of the house. When Indie spotted Noah standing against the vehicle they would likely be travelling in she felt her breath hitch. She didn’t think she would be so affected by him, but she was.

“I am sorry to have to rush you, but we do need to get going.” Noah barely acknowledged Indie and her mother as they stood a short distance from him. When the security team accompanying Noah had packed the vehicles as best they could they stood and waited, watching for a threat Indie knew would never come.

Saying goodbye was the hardest thing for Indie to do. It wasn’t a permanent goodbye, but she knew it would be some time before she saw her family again and it saddened her greatly. She hugged and kissed each of her family members and climbed into the truck she was instructed to.

Noah had been gentle in rushing her, but no matter how much time he gave her she still wouldn’t be ready to leave, there was very little he could do to ease her into it. Indie and her family were so close, and she hadn’t thought much about her life beyond Aspen, but all choices and decisions were out of her hands. She couldn’t disobey her mate and King. Could she?

Sitting in the back of what felt like the most luxurious vehicle she had ever been in Indie wiped her puffy red eyes in an attempt to forget her pain but it only seemed to set her off again.

Noah, in the seat next to her, sighed again, “I can’t leave you behind.” Noah groaned abruptly when he saw Indie wiping her eyes, “Is this how you’re going to be the whole journey?” The way he spoke utterly infuriated Indie, and in that one moment, she didn’t think she could muster so much hatred for someone.

“I don’t know!” Indie all but yelled at him as she tried to bite back her tears. Her bottom lip trembled, and her shoulders shook, but she managed to stem the wannabe tide of tears from spilling over. “Maybe I’ll get over it when we leave, and maybe I’ll cry for the next week.” She sniffed at the thought, “I don’t know,” she whispered as she turned away from Noah and leaned back in her seat.

Noah saw this and turned away from Indie instinctively, he couldn’t help but furrow his brow as he stared out the window as the driver of the vehicle started the engine and backed out slowly, “don’t you think you’re a little dramatic? It isn’t like you’ll never see them again.” Noah didn’t know how to behave when someone was acting like Indie was, he had minimal experience with women and even less with raw emotions, “I’ve already invited your parents to visit.” He added, hoping it would ease her pain.

Indie heard what he’d said but being in such a delicate state; she didn’t dare say anything till she knew her voice wouldn’t break. The vehicle they were in quickly sped away from her home, and as they drove by the road that led up to Poppy’s house she couldn’t help but shed a tear, she didn’t even get to say bye to Poppy.

Time passed, and soon Aspen was a mirage on the horizon behind them, and Indie felt confident enough to say something, “thank you,” she muttered as she stared out the window, “my mom would probably love to visit a castle.” She wasn’t sure they would be living in a castle, but she had heard from people that had visited the family that the Blackwood family home was indeed the size of a castle.

Noah didn’t even acknowledge her as he stared out the window but he did hear the sincerity in her voice. His lack of acknowledgement seemed to anger Indie and frustrated her almost instantly as she took it as a sign of lack of interest.

With her emotions so unstable Indie couldn’t help but lose her cool at Noah, “Listen I know we don’t get a choice in who we choose to be with. The Moon Gods and Jupiter and the bloody Easter Bunny get to decide all that long before we are born, and I’m sorry you’re stuck with me.” The tone of her voice and her body language when Noah turned to look at her made him question what she was about to say. She looked like she was ready to fight him.“Actually, I’m not sorry! You should be sorry! You came to my home and demanded I leave all that I know and love behind to join you in some mythical fairy tale castle as your subservient mate.” Taking a deep breath, Indie continued berating Noah with her angry words. “Well guess what! I am not going to be subservient, you aren’t going to push me around, and you aren’t going to change anything about me that you may find unsavory. Do I make myself clear?”

Through the insistence in her voice, Noah understood that he hadn’t found someone quiet and meek as he had initially thought. He saw that she had a fire in her and that it would prove useful in the future, useful and potentially problematic. She seemed strong-willed and bull-headed, and he knew that although they might clash from time to time, it was possible that their union would be strong and everlasting. She could be exactly what he needed, precisely what his pack and people required and although she looked physically weak what she had just displayed to him seemed far more appealing than anything else. It excited him.

As his thoughts changed and shifted, Noah couldn’t help but grin. “After that little display, I wouldn’t want to change a single thing about you Indie Jones.” It was an honest statement he felt necessary to share. Though her words were strong, they also reeked of insecurity which he hoped would not be a big issue. He had enough vulnerabilities to last both of them a lifetime.

Looking more than a little taken aback by his words Indies eyes widened slightly as the meaning of what he’d said sunk in, she was not expecting it at all. “Good! I’m glad we’re on the same page,” Indie paused for a moment to think about the next words from her mouth. “I just wanted you to know that I am not someone you can boss around.” Though Chase and Hunter sometimes demanded Indie do things it wasn’t very often and she never really listened, only her mother and father had ever had that kind of power over Indie, and that was just because of their threats.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Noah replied with a grin as he turned his attention back to the window.

Indie was not at all what he’d expected. All his life he had grown up thinking he would marry and be mated to a girl from his pack. The first surprise was that his mate belonged to a pack that lay quite a distance from his own. The second surprise that she was the complete opposite of what he expected and the third surprise was that he didn’t mind one any of it one bit. He thought many times that she would be a challenge, that he would need to educate her in everything but with her strong will and silent determination he began to think that it would be Indie that had a thing or two to teach him.

“How long till we get there?” Indie questioned the driver as she forgot her immense anger momentarily.

“Three days,” Noah replied instead. Short, sharp and to the point. “This evening we will lodge with my oldest sister. Tomorrow evening with my mother’s sister and the third night we shall lodge with and Alpha Christiansen.”

In Indies eyes, it all seemed somewhat formal and unnecessary. Why couldn’t they drive through the night and get there faster? She wanted to put some distance between herself and Noah as quickly as possible for as long ass possible. The back seat of an SUV felt like a prison cell.

“You mean Albert Christiansen?” Indie repeated with a slight stutter. If it was the Alpha she was thinking of, then he had a reputation for being cruel, vicious and deadly. He was also charged with keeping a pack of highly trained men in peak physical condition. They were the Royal families personal guards and usually accompanied them everywhere. It surprised Indie that Noah travelled with so few of them. Indie remembered that Hunter once tried convincing her of an urban legend about the Royal Guards when their service to the family ended many of them went rogue because of what they’d been put through. The retired guards were nicknamed Predators, and one only saw them before death. They were silent and deadly. Because of the nature of Alpha Christiansen and his men, the nickname stuck to them as well even if they were often seen protecting the royal family.

“The one and only.” He grinned before he noticed something a little off about his mate. “Don’t worry.” Noah tried to comfort Indie as she started shaking suddenly. “I won’t let him use you for target practice.” More than anything it was the Predators he was scared of and not Albert himself. Indie had heard stories of Albert and his six daughters and one son. Everyone was lulled into thinking it was the son that was the worst but she had heard horror stories about his daughters, and it seemed none of them was particularly friendly.

“Well, that’s comforting.” Indie laughed nervously, “Should I know anything about your sister?” She asked trying to make conversation. If she was going to be part of his world she needed to know things about everything.

“No. Not really,” Noah responded as he looked out the window. “She’s my oldest sister and is a little bitter with my father for not letting her husband ascend the throne and be King. Her name is Ebony, and she has two children.” As Noah rattled off a few facts about his sister Indie couldn’t help but wonder what part of not really this was. They were all important things that she needed to know.

“And you think it’s a good idea staying with someone who is bitter about you being the future King?” Indie asked with a scoff and a bit of sarcasm. It seemed like such a bad idea staying with someone who was pissed off at someone else for not giving them what they wanted and yet Noah seemed more than okay staying with his sister.

Indie chanced a glance at Noah and saw the deathly glare he cast her way, “How dare you question me!” In an instant, the mood in the back seat changed. Though it had always been tense. “My sister would never let anything harm me. She is my blood.” And with that Noah turned his body entirely in the opposite direction. To Indie he was having a tantrum, and his anger seemed laughable.

What was his problem? She found herself wondering silently if she’d been paired with a Queen with the way he was acting.