“I’m home,” Aiden heard a young female voice call out, and he wondered who that could be.
“Ah, you’re home early, Anastasia,” Maria greeted softly the teenager that had came into view.
“Hey pumpkin,” was The Troublemaker’s greeting.
He looked at the girl and saw deep sorrow in her eyes. He wondered what could have happened to her. Then realizing Maria had called her Anastasia, he rose to his feet.
“You’re Anastasia?!” He asked, bewildered beyond belief.
“Yeah, who are you?” She asked dispassionately.
“I thought she was two,” he said accusingly as his eyes darted towards his father.
“Me too,” his dad muttered under his breath.
“Dad?” The teenager simply called out, looking unnerved for some reason as she demanded an explanation with a cocked eyebrow.
“Ana, sweetie, meet Jonathan, the alpha ultra of the US,” Blake introduced his dad with a wave of his hand, and she just nodded. “This lovely woman here is his mate, Jasmine.” She nodded once again. “And this little pup here is their son, Aiden, your new bodyguard.”
“New bodyguard?” She repeated.
“I got a clue from the oracle that indicates I might find my mate if I were to follow you,” Aiden hurried to explain as he rearranged a lock of his hair.
“What if I refuse?” She asked no one in particular while cocking an eyebrow at him.
What if I refuse? The words echoed in his mind, sounding like a death sentence to him.
Aiden gulped down, panicking, fearing she just might refuse, and stammered on his words despite his best effort to sound confident earlier, “I… I… You… You won’t even notice I’m here.”
“Where’s here?” She asked anew, her eyes narrowed at him.
“Aiden’s moving in with us, until he finds his mate,” Blake The Troublemaker explained in a flat tone.
She shrugged after a while, letting out an indifferent “Whatever.”
As she was about to leave the living room, however, Anastasia turned to Aiden and told him in a deadly cold voice, “You’re not taking Ace’s room.”
He immediately held his hands up in the air when he realized she meant her mate. “Okay,” he drawled.
“I’m serious,” she told him, eying him suspiciously.
“So am I,” he retorted in the same tone. “I’m here to find my mate, not to replace yours.”
“As if you could ever measure up to him,” he heard her muttering as she ascended the stairs.
Without his consent, a low growl escaped Aiden’s mouth, and he felt the need to shift, to rip something to shreds.
That’s when Maria intervened and apologized for her daughter’s rude behavior. “I’m sorry, folks. She’s going through a phase.” She said.
A phase, my ass, Aiden thought angrily. I can see why her mate would agree to leave her.
“I didn’t think she would have grown so fast,” his mom declared from where she sat next to his dad.
His dad nodded, agreeing immediately, making his son want to roll his eyes. His dad was so whipped.
“Have you forgotten that she is a pureblood?” Blake let out smugly, almost proudly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Aiden let out, perplexed.
“That she was born a vampire, duh,” The Troublemaker explained. “A royal vampire too.”
Yeah, a royal pain in the ass is more like it, Aiden thought to himself. I shouldn’t have cried victory too soon. I
He could only hope he would find his mate soon and be done with the precious pureblood, as he wasn't sure he could stand her standoffish ways too long.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
The following day, as one of Anastasia’s bodyguards drove through town while she and Aiden were seated in the back, he couldn’t help but ask where they were going. “What’s the plan for today?” He let out.
“Well, it’s Sunday. I want to go to the beach first. Then, I have been invited to a werewolf party,” Anastasia told him in what sounded like a bored tone for some reason. “Maybe you’ll find your mate there.”
Aiden couldn’t help the excitement with which his next two words were coated, “You think?”
“I’m no oracle,” she started in a teasing tone, “but a werewolf party is a good start for the big bad alpha ultra to find his mate.”
“I don’t think it’s gonna be that easy,” he muttered after a small pause.
“Oh, who knows?” She shrugged nonchalantly. "It can be easy and you might still mess it up."
From her tone of voice, he gathered that her words were meant to warn him against doing something foolish. She was remembering what she did with her mate, and regretting it.
As the SUV approached the house that was almost bouncing with the blaring music, Aiden and the princess had a little bit of an argument. He had let it slip that Blake might have been trying to lift her spirits, for what he did, in making her attend the werewolf party.
Only Anastasia didn’t have a clue about what her dad had done, and thus she threw a fit when he refused to tell her.
“Hey Anastasia,” the she-wolf who opened the door greeted the vampire princess warmly. “Who’s your friend?” She asked while her eyes appraised Aiden at leisure.
“He’s not a friend,” she told her tautly.
“I’m her bodyguard,” he explained matter-of-factly. Although he felt flattered to know he had a certain effect on she-wolves, he would rather have his mate by his side.
Her eyes widened while her mouth opened only to let out a small “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh,” Anastasia let out dismissively. “Now where’s the booze?”
“Anastasia,” Aiden called out after her.
She ignored him, and followed Claire inside the house. He caught up to her soon enough and placed a hand on her elbow, making her stop in her tracks.
She turned to face him, glaring at the hand that kept her from advancing.
“Hands off,” she all but barked at him for some reason he didn’t fully understand.
He obliged and put his hands up in the air in surrender. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” he let out in a shaky breath.
“But you did,” she let out on a sigh.
“Well, I thought you knew that your father was the one who told Ace to leave,” he countered hotly before he realized what he had let slip.
She shook her head negatively. “You’re lying,” She held an accusing finger at his chest as tears started to gather in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized.
One second he was apologizing, the very next one she was chugging down alcohol like it was water.
He knew what she was trying to do. Vampires and werewolves could not get drunk, but they could be less on edge, and bring themselves to feel less. She was testing that theory, it would seem.
Aiden was merely watching Anastasia dance, having already figured out by scents alone that his mate was not in the house, when a guy made a beeline towards her but stopped at a few feet from her.
He watched their exchange with mild amusement, realizing that the brown-eyed raven who exuded confidence was undoubtedly her mate.
Just as Anastasia denied her mate the satisfaction of telling him she missed him, or any sweet nothings of the sort, a brunette teenager came stumbling into Ace and hit on him, making the princess see red, it would seem.
In a fit of jealousy, Anastasia awakened at last, and had the human girl in a death grip in a matter of seconds.
Aiden, who was prepared to take action and put a stop to what was happening, watched how Ace managed to calm his mate with a simple touch and a few meaningful words.
Hello, mate. Nice to meet you, he thought to himself amusedly.
After the much unexpected turn of events at the werewolf party, the princess decided to head home, and Ace and Aiden were only too pleased to agree. Jeff and Peter, being simply bodyguards, had no say in the matter. Being in the same car as two mates who had been reunited after a week’s separation wasn’t Aiden’s idea of fun, but he couldn’t help it. The oracle did say Follow Anastasia.Ace pleaded with Anastasia to behave, and she did with obvious reluctance.Aiden, on the other hand, tried to make small talk with the princess’ mate. When the vampire princess tried to kiss her mate and he stopped her for the second time that evening, one could almost feel her hurt and anger.“You just awakened,” the raven-haired vampire explained softly, “it just doesn’t seem right.”“Listen to your mate,” Aiden chimed in, almost as if he couldn’t help himself. “I do
The diner where Karen worked at part-time was small and cozy, and didn’t have many clients – outside of the usual ones, that was.Nevertheless, on a sunny September day in her senior year, five strangers came in the diner.Her encounter with them would change her life irrevocably… she just didn’t know that yet.That day, Karen had styled her mid-length blonde hair into a messy bun, put very little make-up on, and dressed casually.There was nothing fancy about her.So how was it that one of the most gorgeous guys she had ever had the chance of coming across was eying her like she was the most beautiful woman he ever laid eyes on?She felt fidgety and self-conscious in front of him, under his scrutinizing gaze, as she took their order.She tried not to show how uncomfortable he was making her, but then, reaching the point of no return, she asked bluntly, voice cold, hard almost, “Anybody
Transferring schools was an easy feat when one knew the right people. Stalking one’s mate by having the same classes as hers was not that difficult either – one only needed to bribe the board into overlooking that.And thus, the following week, when Aiden arrived at school, all excited to see his mate for a second time – well, not truly a second time since he had been following her around from afar like a lost puppy – he was hopeful for the new year.Being the next alpha ultra in line made him a bit overconfident about his wooing skills… not that he had ever tried them on anyone.Yes, Aiden was a virgin.Even better – or worse? He couldn’t decide – he had never kissed a girl before. That would make everything he was to hopefully share with his mate his first… and that was the way it should be in his opinion.Let’s get this started, he said to himself as he killed the engine and got out o
To say Karen was surprised to see Aiden showing up at her school would be the understatement of the year – scratch that, of the century.Although her high school wasn’t small enough that she’d know everybody, she was fairly sure, she would have noticed a senior who looked so good. Because let’s admit it, he looked dashing, panty-droppingly gorgeous… and she wasn’t blind enough or stupid enough to think otherwise.The problem was he was taking interest in her. And she didn’t do relationships – or flings for that matter. She was set on graduating with high colors and getting the hell out of this hellish town. That was her goal.Her goal wasn’t to fall for some random guy’s charms just because he lusted after her somehow. It also wasn’t to suck faces with anyone in the hallways of the school – like the couple to her right was doing – and then be given a detention for it.She wasn&
Aiden had to make Karen his. He didn’t know how to go about it, but he just had to.A few days into the new school, he was patiently waiting for her to arrive, so that she would light up his whole world as per usual… and was harshly disappointed when came noon and she had yet to make an appearance.What was going on? Could it be her schedule was changed drastically for some reason – like his stalking her?Easy, boy, he told himself after a while. Think rationally.Could it be possible she had just skipped?That seemed more logical. He inwardly face-palmed at his stupidity and his eagerness to make assumptions.Only one day since he last saw her, and already he felt like he was suffering from withdrawal. What was she doing to him?“You’ve become a sap,” his wolf sing-sang in his head.“As if you’re any better,” he scoffed at him, inwardly rolling his eyes.
Aiden was devastated and all kinds of enraged when he saw the bruises on Karen’s face. When he remembered images of his smiling mate, he couldn’t fathom how someone could be so cruel as to hit her. He couldn’t control the tone of his voice when he had asked her what the hell had happened. And it seemed like his sweet mate wasn’t in the least bit scared by the shift in his eyes color – maybe she simply hadn’t noticed? – for she spat out with venom, “What the hell brought you here?” “Do not speak to me that way,” his wolf had taken over and hissed at her, and she flinched, almost as if she had been slapped. He tried to get some self-control back, by closing his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, and inhaling and exhaling loudly. “Why are you so pissed anyways? You shouldn’t have sought me out,” she carried on in a rather sad almost resigned voice. “Because I care a great deal about you! Can’t you see that?” He retorted in a strong voice, ope
“Where are we going?” Karen asked him as she got in the car rather obediently. “To Jacksonville,” Aiden told her, a fond smirk stretching his lips. He had good memories there. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Anastasia – The Troublemaker’s daughter – was good company… when she wasn’t mourning the absence of her mate, that was. He briefly wondered how she was faring in the vampire academy, and made a note to himself to call her or Ace later on. Karen kept quiet the entire ride to Jacksonville, and although Aiden wasn’t particularly affected by the silence, he preferred when she was arguing with him than her distracted state of mind. “I need to be back home before 5 pm,” she announced just as he parked the car in front of a big house. His bodyguards were naturally in another car, following closely behind, not knowing what to expect, but probably reporting everything to his mom… yes, his mom, not his dad. She was overprotective and
It was in a werewolf’s genes to hunt. The urge was even more intense if they needed to give chase to their mate.And although Aiden, next in line to be the alpha ultra, was usually a composed teenager who knew how to control himself, he had trouble handling his wolf at the moment.Run, little girl. Run, his wolf basically sang.Aiden could picture the wolfish grin all too well.Don’t, he tried to fight him. She’s scared.Even as he told him that mentally, his wolf started taking control of his body. His eyes stung as they went black and his fingernails elongated into claws.“I’m giving you a head start,” he sing-sang before chuckling, “make good use of it, little mate.”The next thing Aiden knew, he lost the fight, and he was hurrying down the white hallways of the pack’s clinic. He could hear her screaming for help. He then saw her almost begging, reaching out for someone at the door of another room… But what werewolf would dare touch what was his?H