Page 23 of Promised to the Alpha Prince

I actually said, “Am I allowed?”

And Johannes made this fierce face, like he wanted to punch something, and said that he was going to make it his mission to take me anywhere and everywhere I wanted to go. “Didn’t do much clubbing when you were in college, I take it?”

“N-never,” I said.

“Well,” he said, “we can make up for lost time.”

I felt nervous about that, about crowds and dancing and everything, but also excited. Maybe I’d never let myself consider things like that. I’d always thought it was out of bounds for someone like me.

And then, someone came in and began calling out names in a bored, bland voice and everyone started organizing themselves into couples, in a line.

“Omega, you’ll be announced last,” said the bored servant. “Back here.” She pointed to the end of the line.

I shuffled over.

We walked towards the dining room like that and then all waited.

Each couple was announced as they entered the room. Johannes and Ilse went in together. “Crown Prince Johannes and Crown Princess Ilse,” cried the announcer.

Finally, it was my turn.

I stood in the doorway of the dining room, which was narrow and drafty and just as dreary as the rest of the place. There were actually candles on metal sticks lining the walls, and the air was smoky.

At the long table inside, all of the members of Valhn royalty stood behind their place settings, half-turned in my direction, their hands resting on the backs of their chairs, their faces frozen in a kind of pleasant but unruffled expression, as if they were feigning curiosity.

“Lady Aurelie Le Blanc,” called the announcer’s voice.

I didn’t know where to walk.

Dmitri was at the head of the table and there was an empty place setting next to him, but I had to walk past the entire table to get there, and I wasn’t sure if I was meant to go to the left or right. The others had divided, one on each side, so that they sat opposite each other.

If it had mattered, someone would have told me, wouldn’t they?

Nervous, I picked a side and walked—not too quickly, I hoped—keeping my head up, trying to look regal and poised, all the way down to my place setting.

There.

That scent.

I staggered as my entire being was filled with Dmitri’s scent, and it went all through me, making my body do strange and pleasant things.

I caught myself.

Dmitri was clutching the back of his chair very tightly. His knuckles were white.

I seized the back of my own chair.

It was entirely silent.

Dmitri coughed. He looked down at his plate, not at me. “Your dress is… nice.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” I said softly.

He yanked out his chair, looking annoyed. He sat.

No one else did anything.

He looked up at me. His tone was terse. “You have to sit, too, before anyone else can.”

---