15. Her Show

Chapter fifteen

Her Show

*ARDEN*

M y father looks at me, shock and confusion in his eyes. He's clearly struggling to come to terms with my answer; however, he furrows his brows, staring at me. I feel something pushing against my mind, but Cato has his mind link blocked.

Father growls, turning towards his warriors. "I won't let them insult me like that," he huffs.

Beta Jules's eyes widen in shock.

"Catch them and put them in the cells!" my father snarls.

Goddess, is he stupid!? Is he truly going to imprison a lycan princess, someone with direct connection to the Council? Aurelia is Alpha Elden's child—the crown prince's child. The fact he is going to be king means he and his children are direct descendants of one of the first lycans to ever exist.

My father's command seems to be too much for his warriors as they eye each other nervously. "Now!" he bellows, his alpha aura seeping through, making it impossible for them to deny him.

"Poor guys," Aurelia mutters. "I won't kill them."

I whip my head to the side to stare at her. "What?"

"You had your showdown. Now it's mine." She frowns. "He's insulted me more than enough."

It all happens so fast, like a flash before my eyes. I lunge forward to protect her, but before I even move, I notice that Beta Jules and the two warriors have been pushed away. Beta Jules is lying on the ground, curling over in pain; the others are against the wall.

How did she do that?

Cato projects an image in my mind with Aurelia looking at us and smiling brightly. Yes, he is right, our mate is awesome. He shows me more, of how fast she moved, so fast that our eyes couldn't catch it.

Is your gift to be that fast? I ask her.

No, she says. But, I can stop time, at least for a very short moment. Long enough for me to use it in a battle. A few seconds are a lot when you're fighting.

So, that's her gift! It's almost shocking what kind of power it gives to her.

"Cato is so impressed he has actually frozen and just keeps dreaming of you and Maxima," I tell her.

Aurelia breaks into a smile, reaching out her hands to cup my cheek and pull me into a kiss. Once she lets go, I move past our warriors, my eyes locking with Beta Jules.

I am sorry, he links me.

It wasn't your fault, I say.

It's not just today I'm apologizing for, he mutters.

I sigh but ignore him for now and walk to my brother. Grabbing him by his arm, I pull him up. "Get what you need for school," I tell him. "And pack for a couple of days."

Vander looks at me with wide eyes.

"What do you think you are doing?" Dad snarls.

"I'm taking my brother with me," I say shortly. "He isn't safe here!"

"You think I would hurt him," he spats. "He is not half as useless as you are."

I glance at Vander, noticing how he clutches his shoulder, a bruise on his cheek blooming. "You already did," I mutter without glancing at my father. I nod at Vander. "Go," I tell him.

Vander scurries off, dashing upstairs. Meanwhile, I take my phone and, with a heavy heart, write to Prince Eric. I keep it short, but I know there is no avoiding it anymore. Now I have to tell him everything, and it's going to be a terrible talk.

Eric's answer comes swiftly. I sent Emilien to pick Vander up . But, I expect some answers from you now.

I know.

Is my cousin hurt?

I glance at Aurelia, watching how much control and power she oozes while standing in front of my father. She's having a staring contest with him now, not even budging one bit. I think she would laugh if she heard that question, I write.

Thought so. But Arden, I meant it.

I sigh. I know. I don't renege on promises.

If it were just me, I probably would have never told Eric anything, but I'm starting to worry for Vander. I'm my father's favorite punching bag, but after today, I know there is no coming back for me, and there is no guarantee that my father won't shift his negative attention to his former golden child.

Vander takes half an hour to collect his most important things. I give him that much time so he can truly pack without being too stressed and not forget anything. I'm pretty sure he also wants to call Léna. Half an hour is also the time Emilien needs to arrive at the pack, and the time my father needs to realize he fucked up more than usual.

Once my father sees Emilien, he shows his best polite smile. "I am sure we can eradicate this little misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding?" Emilien raises his brows but, other than that, doesn't show a hint of what he truly thinks. "Why don't we let Prince Eric decide that?"

I don't feel like I can stomach what my father is going to answer, so instead, I return to Aurelia, putting my arm around her to pull her closer. She rests her hand against my chest. "We'll go and have our breakfast date after this," I mutter.

She smiles. "Yes, let's do that."

We stand in silence while waiting for Vander. Here and there, my father casts glances towards Aurelia. It probably dawned on him that she isn't just any she-wolf, and that he fucked with the wrong family. Vander puts us out of this misery, though, as he finally appears. Emilien takes his bag and carries it to the car.

"I'll see you there, Vander," I tell him. "If you don't want to go to school today, it's okay. I know you only have club activities. It's the holidays, so—"

"I want to," he says. "I feel like…" His voice trails off.

He wants some normality, and I can understand. "Of course. Then, I'll see you for dinner."

Vander shows me a smile and nods before turning to our father. "Dad," he mutters. "Talk to you on the phone?"

Dad just shrugs. "Whatever," he says, his voice cold and distant. I can see the hurt in Vander's eyes, a small part of him still hoping that his dad would fight for him, or at least ask him to stay and do the bare minimum you'd wish from a parent, albeit a shitty one.

Aurelia squeezes my hand, and once Emilien and Vander drive off, she and I go to my room and fetch some things. I've always lived rather minimalistic, and I have a good amount of stuff in my room at the Council, but I want to grab some last things. At least my father never stopped me from working for the Council; I have to give him that much. Logically, he probably didn't want to alert Prince Eric, or maybe he was glad I was useful for something. Illogically, I saw it as an ounce of decency he showed towards me.

"You are not taking everything?" Aurelia asks.

I shake my head. "No, I have some stuff at the Council, and most of my books and electronics are there, too. I don't think my father is going to burn Vander's and my rooms down. Now that Prince Eric is on alert, he will want to lie low."

I grab the backpack with my most important stuff and take Aurelia's hand. "Let's go. I'm hungry," I say, although I don't feel hungry at all. This morning was the biggest mess I've ever stumbled into, and most of it was on me. I should have known it would happen, but in my joy of finding my mate, I forgot about my father.

"He is the only parent I have," I mutter to myself.

"Yes," Aurelia says, sadly.

"I've been your mate for not even 24 hours, and I'm already dumping all my messed-up family situation and trauma on you," I say.

"Stop it," she says. "That's what mates are for."

"Trauma dumping?"

She chuckles. "Being there for each other. Just for the record, I found it amazing how you were able to block the alpha command. That was hot."

"You find me hot?"

"Obviously, I do," she says. "What about you?"

"I think I'm mediocre," I muse.

Aurelia looks amused. "I mean, do you find me hot?"

"Oh," I groan inwardly, feeling like the biggest dunce. "You are incredibly hot and beautiful."

"You know what else is hot?" she asks me.

"No."

"Coffee."

I smile, grabbing her hand and kissing it. "Let's grab some. Goddess, knows I need it."

Aurelia came to pick me up with a car she borrowed from the Council, so we soon find ourselves driving towards Paris. Midway, we switch, as she claims it's too confusing for her to drive in a busy city like Paris.

I make sure to drive us to a coffee place where we can order to go, so, we can grab some coffee, croissants, and pain au chocolat, then head out of the busy city to eat somewhere quiet. Both of us don't feel like being surrounded by too many people, at the moment.

When we settle down in a park, just the two of us, we can finally relax and discuss what happened.

"Your father is…" she pauses.

"An asshole?" I offer.

She looks at me shortly but doesn't say anything. "I'm sorry," she says quietly. "I've only known you for a day and already messed up your life."

"No, you didn't," I assure her. "You made it worth living. To my father, I don't count much because I don't have the usual alpha traits."

She stops chewing on her croissant, making me halt as well. "Eric told me about you throughout the last couple of months. He told me he has a young assistant here who is more intelligent than any other lycan or werewolf he has ever met. He also told me he had said young assistant take an IQ test and that despite all his knowledge and talents, he is very humble." She frowns. "You are not the problem, Arden. You are fine the way you are. Your father, however, is an idiot."

I chuckle. I've never met someone so blunt yet charming as her. "He wasn't always like that," I admit. "My mother passed away, and it was just him, Vander and me. We were still little when he grabbed us and moved us to Paris. Mom was from this pack. She was an alpha's daughter, and they desperately needed someone to reign, so Dad did it. Everything went well, as well as it could without Mom here. Then, the accident happened."

"The accident that caused your hearing loss?" she asks.

"There was a detonation," I say. "Well, first, there was a fire. I was in a restaurant, and due to technical issues, a fire began to spread. I made it out with everyone else. At the time, I was eleven years old. I hurried back into the building because a woman and a child were still in there."

"You went in there to save them?" Aurelia concludes, sounding impressed. "That's amazing, Arden! You were only eleven, yet ready to save someone else. Like a true leader."

"I did help them get outside, but I stumbled. And then, there was an explosion too close to me. That's how I lost most of my hearing." I sigh. "For a human, that might not have been the worst outcome, but for a lycan? At first, my father hoped that Cato would be able to heal me."

"But he can't repair what has been destroyed," Aurelia mutters. "The injury was probably too deep." She understood it immediately.

"Yes, the same way our wolves can't grow back a limb. There are limits, and this was Cato's and mine." I pause. "The worst for my dad was that Cato had the same hearing ailment. An alpha lycan who can barely hear."

"Again, your father is an idiot," she mutters. "He should have been proud of you and encouraged you, helped you train your other senses. It's true that a hearing impairment is not a good predicament for an alpha, but you wouldn't have needed to rule on your own."

"Clearly, I don't need to rule alone because the goddess mated me to you," I say. "She knew what she was doing."

"She did," Aurelia agrees.

"I know you are going to inherit the alpha position," I say.

"Arden, I know it's the elephant in the room, but we don't have to talk about that now."

"We do," I say. "Eric talked a lot about you. And I know the pack you are from and that you are not going to leave it behind. I don't want you to do that, either. My father will never make me an alpha, and to be honest, I don't mind. I think my brother would be at least as good as I am. What I am saying is, I don't mind coming with you and supporting you. I'm not sure if I'm made for the task of a luna or lune, but I could be—"

"My co-alpha?" she suggests.

"If that's what you want," I say. "I could also be an advisor to you."

"We don't need to make any decisions immediately," she says. "I'm glad to have you at my side, either way. You're not—" she pauses. "You are not just saying all that to appease me?"

"No," I reassure her. "I'm saying all that because that's how things are, and that's how I want them to be."

I bet she finds it weird that I have no real emotional connection to my pack, and that I chose this logical approach. This reminds me that I also didn't get her flowers or anything. "I should have gotten you flowers," I mutter, feeling like an idiot. Coralie used to make fun of my inability to be romantic.

Aurelia laughs. "What, why?"

"For you, as a gift, because you are my mate."

"What would I do with flowers here?" she asks me.

"I have no idea."

"By this logic I should have gotten you flowers as well," she says.

I frown. "Right, why didn't you?"

She laughs, playfully punching my shoulder. "I like breakfast," she says and takes her second croissant. "You got me coffee and food. That's pretty much my love language. And you stood up for me in front of your father."

"I don't always get these things," I admit. "I mean, between a guy and a girl. So, if you ever feel like I'm not paying enough attention to you or your feelings or your needs, tell me. I promise I will never make fun of you when you do that. Just hit me with a brick here and there."

She bends forward, her hand at the back of my head to pull me closer. "Okay," she says before I can lean into the kiss. "Just remember my birthday and our anniversary."

"Just to be sure," I say. "Our anniversary… is that today or yesterday?"

"You accepted me as your mate today," she says. "So, let's make it today."