Hey everybody! How are you guys doing today?

I'm trying to figure out an updating schedule, so can you amazing, beautiful people comment which days you'd prefer I update? I kind of put off writing this chapter...haha... what happened (literally):

*Starts writing chapter*

*finds good book to read in between writing and foraging for dark chocolate in my desk*

*Says "I'll write later" and reads the entire book*

*says "meh one more book"*

*finally starts writing and editing this chapter at four A.M.*

ANYWAYS, I wanted to thank you all so so so so much because this book is already #121 in Fantasy! And, it already has 4K+ reads which is so amazing and I cried because of how happy I was. Again, thank you all.

Have a good day and vote, comment, and share!

Remember to be good to each other! <3

Bye

P.S. Sort of mature content but not really, you've been warned. ;)

Word Count: 2664

Chapter Seven:

An hour.

A full sixty minutes to get my shit together, and I've wasted thirty of those minutes sitting on this bed. Well, sitting on this bed and picking out an outfit.

Inside the closet the prince had directed me to, were fancy dresses and gowns of all kinds. There were mountains of pink that overflowed from the racks and seas emerald green fabric which made me nauseous. Who in Adam and Eve's name would ever wear dresses like these? They were the kind of dresses that pushed your boobs up and made your waist look tiny, the kind that you'd only see in movies.

It was almost as if a princess had lived in this room. Ew, princess.

I hated the word, it just screams something you don't want it too. Princess screams "breakable", "like fine porcelain", "damsel in distress", and so much more, all thanks to the man... Qwalt Fisney, who made all of those princess movies. When I was little, I always wanted to be the prince or the villain, but never the princess, unlike all the other little girls my age. I longed for adventure, excitement, pure thrill and danger, which is what I reenacted for my mothers friends on the couch of my living room. They always laughed and told me I was cute and adorable, I longed for that kind of praise - but I also longed to be someone entirely different. Someone new. Someone who didn't have to hide the fact that they had special powers, someone who had a Mate-Tattoo, someone who had a future ahead of them. Which, even at the feeble, naïve age of seven, I knew would never be a possibility for me.

I have never wanted to be a princess, but I also never wanted to be different.

After I had dug through the entire closet, I had found one single pair of jeans. One. single. pair. of jeans - my holy Coca-Cola. Within my search I had also found a plain black shirt which I hastily pulled on along with the too-tight jeans, which hugged my butt and hips like a life-line.

Glancing around the room, I groaned. I need to get out of here, and soon.

That's when it hit me.

The window you moron!

I dashed to the window and glanced out of it, almost about ready to scream "praise Fate hallelujah" at the top of my lungs. The room which I stood in was only one level above a courtyard which led to gates...which led to a road, which led to my fudging freedom. Even more to my advantage, a sturdy looking pipe was to the right of the window, which ran all the way to the ground.

Glancing around the room one more time, I grinned,

Time to escape.

----

"You don't understand, Sebastian!" Prince Adrian shouted as he stood from his desk chair. The chair flew backward, hitting the bookcase behind him with such force that multi-colored books fell from the cluttered shelves.

"You couldn't possibly understand until you have a mate of your own! I know she's mine. I know. Her touch brings tingles along my skin, her eyes are like the key to my soul, her voice sends shivers down my spine, her lips...her lips ignite a passion, a raw burning fire within me, and her smell. Do you know what she smells like Sebastian? Do you?" Adrian was infuriated, infuriated that Sebastian would even consider the idea that Jade wasn't his mate. Adrian knew she was his, he knew and he wanted to shout it out to the world but he couldn't. He knew he couldn't, not until Jade was officially his, not until she bared his mark upon her skin, and the mating scar upon her wrist.

"No...I-I don't.." Sebastian looked down ashamed, fear quivering on the tips of his voice. He had never seen his brother so...mad. Adrian had a crazed look in his eye, one that scared Sebastian to the core.

Whilst Prince Sebastian had been arguing with his brother, he had brought up the idea that this 'Jade Harvingston', this peasant girl that his brother had been raving about, could not be his mate, it was merely impossible. Prince Adrian could not have a mate for what he bore on his arm, under the fake tattoo his mother had drawn on him, was not something a man with a soul-mate would ever have.

It was not something anyone should ever have. No one deserved what Prince Adrian bore on his right forearm. No one deserved the pain and pure agony the young prince had endured.

"She smells like lavender, Sebastian. Lavender, coconut, vanilla, and the morning dew that sticks to the rose leaves in the garden. It's quizzical, enticing, and well... beautiful. She smells like innocence as well, an innocence that I plan to take away someday. To make her mine." Prince Adrian wasn't sure where these words of adoration were coming from, but his heart willed him to speak them, and his tongue and lips complied, spinning out words like poetry. Words that described her.

Just the thought of Jade sent shivers down Adrian's spine. It was a strange feeling in his chest. A feeling he had never felt before, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to feel it, after so many years of being so numb.

"Oh..." Sebastian looked down, his eyes meeting the soft carpet beneath him, his feet shifting back and forth as his suit jingled quietly. The formal suit that Prince Sebastian and Prince Felix wore were much less decorated than Prince Adrian's, though the two younger princes did not fight in the war like their brother had, nor did they ever want to see the front lines like their brother had. "I'm sorry brother, please forgive me." the boy glanced up at his brother with pleading eyes as Adrian sent him a soft smile.

"Of course, you nitwit. Now let's go get Felix and collect Jade." Prince Adrian sent a wide smile at his younger brother while thinking about his beautiful, precious mate. The two nodded at each other before leaving The Crowned Prince's office and heading towards the youngest princes' room.

----

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Fudgenuggets." Halfway through climbing down the pipe - which I was currently clinging to for dear life - I had remembered something very important which I had forgotten.

Shoes.

"You idjit!" I cried out quietly to myself as my bare foot nearly slipped from the place I had just stepped on. Why had I forgotten shoes? I have no fudging clue. Why I hadn't noticed I wasn't wearing any until I was too far down to turn back? I still have no fudging clue, but I couldn't go back now. The prince - I'm sure - would already be making his way towards the bedroom I had slept in, Royal Guards possibly in tow, and I had to be out the gates by then.

Biting my lip, I reached with one solo foot towards the ground, and found the relief of soft, wet soil beneath me. Solid ground. Never had I been so happy in my life to be walking on solid ground or in this case running on solid ground.

I was off in a blur, my feet kicking up dirt and gravel behind me as I made a straight bee-line for the silver gates in front of me that were wide open, calling for me.

I was silently thanking my ninth grade geography teacher, because she had forced us to learn as much as we could about the Royal Palace in Drendann, and I had learned that there was a forest right next to it, meaning if I ran hard enough, fast enough, I could lose any guards on my tail.

Just as my feet were about to pass the entrance of the open gates, I was basically tackled to the ground with a loud "oof".

The person grabbed me by my shoulders as I started squirming and tried to pin me down, unfortunately for the man...my knees had a large enough space to hit this dick...in the dick. He groaned rolling over as I smirked flipping us so I was on top and punching him square in the jaw, hard enough for him to see stars. The guy struggled more, and I punched him again, this time on the nose.

If I could get him to pass out than I could possibly make dash towards the forest and lose the rest of the guards.

My fist raised to hit him in the temple and knock him out when I heard someone shout my name.

"Jade!" The voice was shrill, surprised, authoritative, and made me shiver. The Crowned Prince.

Of course, this is the part when I realize the man who I was currently straddling and had given a bloody nose was a Royal Guard. Not only that, an Elite Royal Guard, a fudging general. "Ah, Prince Adrian, fancy seeing you here." I sent a smirk his way before raising my fist higher ready to punch the guard beneath me so hard he'd be napping for a month when someone grabbed my wrist and tore me away from the bloodied Elite.

I struggled. My feet flew in the air as I was ripped back, like I was a page being torn from a book.

"Let me go!" I shouted out in frustration tugging with each shoulder trying set myself free. I felt cool metal wrap around my wrists as I yanked one last time - to no avail. The persons bone crushing grip around my wrists never faltered as they stood completely still. Looking up, I noticed Prince Adrian stood in front of me, his eyes narrowed.

"You climbed out of your window? Seriously?" He looked astonished, annoyed, and flustered by my outburst. I think I liked him that way....ew, did I seriously just think that?

I stayed completely silent, watching as the prince paced in front of me, his white hair strewn across his forehead. That's when I noticed two other boys standing about five feet away from The Prince. The two younger siblings of Prince Adrian, Prince Sebastian and Prince Felix, stood warily behind their brother, their eyes wandering from me, to him.

"What should we do with her?" The man who had put me in handcuffs asked. Although I could not see the man from the position he held me in - one of my arms held so far behind my back it might snap at any second - I could tell he was tall, muscular, and that he probably liked beards. Prince Adrian sighed, troubled by the thought that his supposed mate would try and leave him.

"I'll take her back to her bedroom, alone. I want guards posted at the bottom of her windows and outside her doors at all times. Now," The Crowned Prince reached out and grabbed my arm, roughly yanking me towards him. He leaned in towards my ear and whispered so quietly I could barely hear, "Let's have a little talk.."

I shuddered at the heat of his breath and the huskiness of his voice, and gulped as he chuckled just as softly against my skin.

"Brothers," The Prince looked up to the two young boys who stared at us, perplexed by the situation in front of them. I sighed in relief as his breath left my skin, "Have the chauffeur pick us up at five instead of at noon, I have some things to deal with." Prince Adrian suddenly nudged me forward, holding my wrists by the hand cuffs the guard had placed on me, and slowly leading me away from the scene I had caused.

I bit my lip hard as the prince and I turned around corridor, walking slowly down a desolate hallway. My arms were forced behind my back, and the prince was no longer holding me by the handcuffs, but rather the curve of my waist, his head never leaving the crook of my neck. My heart was beating erratically against my ribcage as his hot breath fanned against the bare skin of my neck.

I held my breath as we finally made it to the door of the bedroom I had stayed in, the door still wide open. Abruptly, the prince shoved me in and slammed the door behind him. His eyes were dark, hungry, lustful, and I was scared. What the hell was he planning on doing?

He stalked closer to me, like a predator chasing his prey, his rosy pink lips quirked in a seductive smirk. "I've never had a girl run away from me..." He mumbled as he stepped closer, and I stepped back until I was forced up against the pole on the side of the bed. My heart started beating impossibly harder as my head started running a million miles an hour, trying to figure out what was happening.

Everything about the prince drove me crazy - whether that was a good or a bad thing I had yet to tell - but I knew he couldn't possibly be my mate, because I don't have a mate, so it must be something else. The prince's head dipped into my neck and my breath hitched as his lips were pressed lightly against my flesh, "I must say...I like the chase." His chuckle was dark, and like water, secrets lurked in its depths, untold truths swam on the surface, and desire laced each drip - each word.

"M-Maybe you should g-go?" I stuttered trying to push him off me, but I was to stunned by his sudden approach to be strong enough. He loomed over me, the lights playing with his shadow as his shoulders stooped and his head stayed between my head and neck.

"Why do you run from me, Jade? I've known you less than a week and yet you run. You barely know me and yet you run," he took in a sharp inhale of breath which made some strange feeling rise in my stomach. "Am I not appealing to you? Am I not as desirable to you as you are to me? Is there another? Someone who can offer you more?" He bit at a delicate spot on my neck and I let out a soft whimper - not one of pain, but....desire?

"Is there someone who can make you feel better than I could? Is there someone you'd rather have in your bed than me?" Prince Adrian dragged his lips up my neck making me shiver as the tingles spread trailed behind where his lips touched. My breathing was labored as I tried to remain calm. What was the prince doing to me? I didn't know what to say so I stayed silent, quietly biting on my bottom lip.

Adrian pulled his head away from my neck to look me dead in the eyes, desire filled the green orbs I stared into, and it seemed as if the desire he felt was passing into me. I gulped, biting my lip harder.

"Because I know for a fact..." The prince's smirk widened as his eyes trailed my face up and down, "that I could have you screaming my name with only two of my fingers." One of his hands traced the curve of my hip as his head swooped back down into my neck, biting gently against my skin and pressing his hips hard against mine.

It was strange, I had never felt something like this before. I had never wanted more in my life than to give in to him, and let him have his way with me, it was hypnotizing, entrancing and I wanted more. I let out a soft moan and then gasped, silencing myself. The prince chuckled before pulling away and stepping backwards.

"I'll see you at five," he hummed before swiftly opening and closing the door behind him, leaving me in a confused, fuzzy-headed daze.