Chapter 5 CONFUSION

The wedding morning came and everyone was filled with smiles and joy as they danced to the bride's room to help her dress up and usher her out. Tomi and Jamie came very early to help with necessary things but Ariana directed them to Gwen's room.

"Help her dress up on time, the wedding will start soon" she told them and they rushed to her room but was greeted by an empty room. "Is she taking her bath?" Jamie wondered and matched to the bathroom but she was nowhere to be found.

Fear gripped them as they started ransacking everywhere to look for her. They quickly alerted her parents and the search party began, everyone was looking for her at one corner or the other but she was not in sight.

For good two hours, everyone keep searching every possible place she might be but it was a futile effort.

Her mother was puzzled about whatever might have happened, different scenario was playing in her head but the wedding was the least of her concerns right now, she needed for find her child. "She was still natural and happy until yesterday night when she went to sleep, could she have ran away to avoid getting married?" she questioned Fred who was just as confused as her. He ruled out the possibility of avoiding the marriage, "No one has ever been excited as her ever since the news of the marriage so I don't think she ran away to avoid the marriage" he defended.

Dan ran in with Larry when they heard the news of her disappearance to help them out. Larry was troubled and disturbed, he knew she disappeared because of how he acted yesterday out of anger and he strongly warned her not to show up for the wedding but he was not expecting her to disappear at the threat.

He had warned Dan to never speak of the relationship between them to anyone so they both didn't talk about whatever might have led to her disappearance.

"The last honor I will give to her is cover her infidelity with you so don't ever mention her affairs with you to her parents" he had strictly warned Dan who agreed just because he knew they might find out the truth if he did, not that he wanted to obey Larry.

"I will send out the soldiers to look for her so you should keep calm for now. When we find her, we can then ask her why she disappeared" Larry consoled them because Ariana was already a crying mess, Gwen was her only daughter after all.

For days, they searched the whole pack and beyond until they came across the bundle of clothes she had taken with her during the escape. It was lying under the pawpaw tree where she was taken by the Rolf's people.

Ariana clutched the clothes tightly to her chest and wailed "It's her clothes, the clothes belong to my baby. What happened to my precious child? Has she been killed by an evil spirit? Where on earth is she?". Larry was feeling extremely guilty for his actions, he shouldn't have torn her like he did, he didn't even give her a chance to explain herself.

"It's my fault, I caused this" he murmured with his palm clenched to his forehead in guilt coupled with regret.

"I should have held unto her, I should have given her a chance" was all he kept thinking about, he didn't even know when tears flowed out of his face.

The search ended and he was in mourning for days, he could neither eat nor sleep well thanks to the guilt eating him up. He also knew if he reveals what happened between them, it will soil her reputation so he just decided to leave it. "This moment shall pass" was his last statement before he finally slept off.

***

I was already having enough of the craze happening around me with unfamiliar handsome guy insisting that I am the lost princess even though I have been trying hard to nail it into his head that I was not the person they were looking for.

The unknown figure that barged into my room came to add to the pressure as I struggled to pinpoint whoever it might be.

"Who is this again?" I thought to myself but was quickly helped out when the maids greeted him "My Alpha".

"The Alpha?" I blurt out and quickly covered my mouth.

The Alpha of the pack was in my room but I don't even know how to greet or address him. I just stood there with my hands covering my mouth thanks to the immense shock I was experiencing. I didn't know if I should address him as the Alpha or father which was making my heart beat but he just pulled me closer to him and gave me a big and warm embrace.

"Thank you for coming back alive my dear daughter. You might have lost your memories for a while but I was told it will return soon so we don't have to worry for long. Even if you don't regain your memory, nothing will change between us. You are still my favorite girl" he cried on my shoulder and my hands just hanged in the air.

I could not hug him back or pull off, I just stood there like a statue, absorbing every words coming out of him. His presence might be intimidating but he was indeed a loving father and he surely loves whoever the princess might be.

"You should just stay here and receive all the love instead of trying to run away" Annie giggled and I rolled my eyes, she was definitely enjoying all of this.

Finally, he released me from the embrace of arrest and turned to the maids in the room, "Make sure you serve her very well now, you are already used to her so you know what her daily life is all about, don't ever try anything funny with her because she lost her memory if you don't want to have issues with me" he growled at them and they trembled as they responded that his wish was their command.

I had the room to myself and Annie once again after everyone left the room and it became quiet. If I decide to stay, then I will have to live my life forever as the princess and that was not my plan when I ran from home, it was just for a while but with this situation, it will be forever.

The thoughts of not seeing my parents anymore crept into my heart and tears rolled down my cheeks, "I shouldn't have ran away from home, I should have just faced the shame" I cried to myself but immediately the door flew open once again, I dived under the huge blanket to clean my tears.

The maids came in with a huge tray containing varieties of food and set it on the table at the side of the room. I was still peeking under the duvet when the annoying handsome man came to pull it off in a whim.

"Why would you do that? You didn't even know if I was naked" I yelled at him and he smirked. "When do you ever take off your clothes? You don't like to get cold" he remarked coolly and I scoffed. "I hate putting on many clothes" I screamed and he paused for a bit to look at me.

I realized that he had slipped a secret about the princess and just laughed to go with the flow, "I hate the fact that I get clothes easily so I have to pretend as if I love many clothes" I corrected myself and Annie snorted

"You bitch!" I cursed her silently but she only giggled the more.

"You should come and have some food, you didn't eat anything except the pawpaw today" he stated and I came down from the bed.

I was hungry like I would die few hours ago and now I am graced with a table that might burst my stomach. I settled down at the table to dig into the food and found some delicacies I have never seen in my life.

"This is it! This is royalty" Annie squeaked and I giggled, making everyone's attention fall on me but I was fast enough to get put on a straight face.

I made sure to have a taste of everything on the table except the plate containing fish. I was still stuffing my face when the annoying handsome man walked up to me with a folded arm and shifted the fish plate in front of me.

"You love fish so much, why are you skipping it" he questioned and I shrunk my face in disgust.

"I hate fish with my life, I hate it so much that I can't stand the smell" I slammed without thinking twice until Annie scolded me,. "Please use your head Gwen! Think before you speak!" she shouted at me angrily and I folded my lips to stop my words.

"I just wanted to see your reaction, why would I hate fish that I love with all my life? I was only reserving it for later" I smiled and dug into the fish.

I have never tasted something so disgusting for the past twenty years of my life. I was stuffing it in my throat and swallowing it without chewing because I couldn't bear the taste. "Are you satisfied" I said to him and showed him the clean plate before he signaled to the maids to take the tray away.

"You should rest up for today, we will begin your treatment fully tomorrow so please be prepared" he said to me and bowed. "What is.." before I could finish asking for his name, he was already out of the door.

My nose scrunched at his attitude and spat out a pissed "What a rude brat!" as I watched him leave but I was happy deep down, at least no one will be disturbing me or glaring at me till tomorrow.

The book shelf behind caught my interest so I diverted my attention there to tour the shelf when my stomach growled a bit. I ignored it and continued the book search when it growled again, this time harder and louder. "You glutton, I only told you to play along and not kill me with this foul thing" Annie winced and I felt my stomach turn.

I had eaten too much fish, at a very high speed at that. I ran to the bathroom and only managed to get there before I vomited every bits of the fish I ate. "You never do anything right" Annie yelled as she coughed serially until I took some water to calm her down.

"I am sorry, I didn't think it well. I just wanted to play along" I apologized and she finally stopped grumbling.

I walked around the room to get a better view until I saw the portrait of the princess hung on the wall. She was my look alike! No wonder everyone kept insisting that I was the lost princess. There was no difference between my face and hers, that scared me for a bit.

"I was never told that I have a twin, what is this coincidence?" I almost shouted but I shut my mouth before drawing unnecessary attention.

There is no way out for me anymore, this I am sure of. No one will ever believe that I am not the lost princess so I should just give it a rest and enjoy the rest of my life here till the heavens is ready to intervene, I might find my way back home then.

"I think we will have to live the rest of our lives here, Annie" I pouted but she was silent. The fish was taking a toll on her and I knew I needed to rest soon so she can also recover.

I finally went to the bed with the book I picked up titled Rose and thorns. I began reading the book and was enjoying every bits of it till I fell asleep.

I didn't even know when the morning crept in but I was woken up by the sound of someone trying to enter the room. I rumbled on the bed as I struggled to stand up and check what was happening but I haven't even stood up when I saw an unfamiliar figure in the room.

"You are really back" he blurt with a scoff that expressed bitterness.