Audrey

"Well, you ordered a hot coffee. What did you expect?" I questioned, slightly amused. Okay, I was a little more than slightly amused. I mean, my mate tried drinking his coffee right when he got it, then he burned his tongue. And after only two minutes top, he tried again. So he didn't burn himself once, but twice.

Thomas huffed and slouched in the booth across from me. We had ended up going to a café and drinking our coffees in the building. "You're mean" he stated, pursing his lips. I chuckled and sipped on my coffee. I had whipped cream in mine, so it cooled the coffee down faster. "I should just go talk to them" he glanced over my shoulder.

I laughed, already knowing who he was looking at. There was a group of teenage girls who were openly goggling my mate when we walked in, when we ordered, and still now as we were sitting down. Thomas is probably ten years older than them. But nothing was stopping them from checking him out. It was amusing to me.

Most people would get possessive and whatnot. It would be different if they were my age or Thomas' age, but they're like 15. I know for a fact that my mate isn't some creepy pedophile. He might be a sleep-groping pervert, but he's not a pedophile. Plus, I can't really blame those girls. My mate is kinda hot. "Yeah. You have fun with that. Just know, I won't help you out when they get too touchy" I stated.

He cringed as we both saw a flash go off. There were panicked voices behind me. I covered my mouth with my hands as Thomas' eyes went wide. "Did they just-?" he questioned, trailing off. I nodded my head, stifling my laughter. They actually took a picture! Within the next minute, the girls scurried out of their booth and left the café. "I better not be on some random girl's Instagram" he grumbled.

I grinned and shook my head in amusement. "If it helps, you would get a lot of likes" I said. Thomas smiled at me, and I felt a sudden pain in my head. I brought a hand up and massaged my temple. "I'm fine" I assured Thomas, seeing that he had a concerned expression on his face.

He moved to my booth and started massaging my head. I sighed in content and leaned on his shoulder, letting him caress my head. I've been having random shots of pain since we got here. But I kinda just ignored them, thinking it was a side-effect from earlier. "Maybe someone is just trying to get through your wall" Thomas suggested.

I shrugged. "I don't think so. It felt different before. Like knocking or something. But this just hurts" I was sorta whining at the end. But I was in pain, so that's my excuse. I'm allowed to complain about a major headache.

Thomas turned his head to kiss the top of mine. "It could just be multiple people trying to mind-link you. Just let your wall down. Instead of building it up, picture your wall being destroyed" he said softly. I nodded and imagined myself surrounded by a tall wall and it all crumbled around me. Immediately, I was hit with voices.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I groaned. "Just focus on one of the voices. Block the others out" my mate instructed. I nodded my head, trying to push away some of the voices.

'Stacy is so pretty But our friendship would be screwed up if I made a move' I didn't recognize the voice. Nor did I know who the hell Stacy is.

Shaking my head, I pushed that voice away and focused on a new one. 'Why doesn't my husband do that? I want a head rub' that was an older woman's voice. Another one that I didn't recognize. 'Young love is so beautiful' she said in an awed voice.

'Who are you?' I questioned the woman. It was quiet for a few moments. I was thinking that she didn't hear me, so I repeated my question.

This time, she answered. 'Are you my conscious? Or am I going crazy? Jared told me not to drink so much coffee. Now I'm hearing voices in my head' the woman ranted.

"What's happening?" Thomas whispered in my ear.

I quickly pushed away the woman's voice and lifted my head off of his shoulder. "Um... Stacy is pretty. And someone's husband doesn't rub her head" I stated. Thomas' expression mirrored mine. Complete confusion. He lightly tapped my shoulder and nodded towards the counter where we ordered our coffee.

Using my advanced sight I read the name tag of the cashier. Stacy. Behind her was another teenager, who was staring at her as if she was his favorite ice cream. I looked around for the other voice. There was a panicked looking elderly lady. She got up and in hurried motions, she threw away her coffee. "Oh, god. Thoughts. They were thoughts. I was in someone's mind" I blurted. "We gotta go back to the castle" I demanded.

Thomas didn't argue, slipping out of the booth and helping me out. He dropped some cash on the table before we left the café.

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"So... What you're saying is that you read minds?" Dave asked, holding a sleeping Riley on his hip. I don't know how he can carry her all the time. I nodded my head to answer his question. "Okay. So what am I thinking?" he questioned.

I focused, but got nothing from him. "I don't know" I muttered. I tried reading anyone's mind. We got back to the castle and immediately told my family about my newfound ability. "Riley's dreaming" I whispered with a soft smile on my face. "She wishes that she could stay in the castle. With all of us" I stated.

Dave looked surprised, as did everyone else. They were kinda hesitant about believing me, but honestly, I wouldn't have believed me either. "When she wakes up, ask her what her dream was about" I suggested. Dave nodded. "I can't read your minds" I told everyone else.

Thomas stepped forward. "Try mine. We're not mated or anything, so we wouldn't even be able to read each others' minds" he explained.

I slowly nodded and my eyes drifted closed as I focused. 'I'm so lucky to have Audrey as a mate. She's perfect. Funny. Absolutely gorgeous. Smart. Headstrong. And she's so tiny. My shirts dwarf her. I love when she wears my shirts. She smells like me' I smiled and laughed at his weird thoughts.

"Thanks" I said softly, leaning into his chest and wrapping my arms around his waist. "I'm lucky to have you as a mate. Even though you are dumb at times" I stated.

Thomas' chest vibrated as he chuckled. "Like you're one to talk" he shot back. I grinned, knowing that we're both really stupid sometimes. "So. Um... That worked" Thomas said slowly.

I turned so I could face my family and Thomas' arms were wrapped around my waist with my back to his front. "Maybe because you guys are Royals, I can't get into your minds" I guessed.

They nodded their heads, before Mom squealed. "I'm sorry. I can't help it. You guys are just so cute!" she exclaimed. She even went as far as to pinch our cheeks. "Okay. Okay. Okay" she said in defeat as her mate pried her off of us.

Mothers. "So what now?" I questioned.

Gar was actually the one to speak up this time. "We keep this a secret. Bad things happened when Mom let out the secret of her powers. Only tell those who we can actually trust. No one else. Not the Council. Not the whole pack. Not any of our packs. Just the ones close to us" she instructed. I nodded my head in agreement.

Mom and Dad started listing off names to tell. It was mostly everyone I had met already. Except that Henry guy. I still haven't met him. But he's Shawn's and Britney's son. They're good people, so I would only expect the same from their son. While they spoke, I grabbed Thomas' hand and dragged him away from my family.

We ended up in one of the living rooms. "We have to talk" I stated. I walked over to the couch, still pulling him along.

He on one end and I sat on the other. My legs were crossed and my body was facing him. Thomas sighed and looked at me. "Four words can be very frightening" he informed me.

I nodded and ran a hand through my hair to get it out of my face. "Before we do this whole thing with Naomi, I need to know what you know. This ritual thing. It requires us to be in each others' minds. I wasn't worried about Riley's seeing as she just a child. But there's things that you know, and that you're not sharing with me. You can tell me now, or I'll find out during the spell" I stated. I know that I should've brought up the going into each other's minds thing earlier.

Honestly, my original plan was to go through with the spell and just find out what he knew about my kidnapping. But he's actually done a lot for me today. And its not just cause he bought me coffee. Thomas nodded his head. "I had Keith's name on that list because his parents might be involved. There had to be a reason that Anthony chose Keith to be mated with you. He could have chosen any kid, but he chose Keith" he stated.

"We were best friends at the time" I reminded him. "When I was in witch school, we became friends" I was about five or six I think. Keith and I had other friends. We just mostly hung out with each other. A frown appeared on his face, and I could tell that he was getting jealous. "Only best friends" I said with a small smile.

Thomas mustered up his own smile and pulled me towards him. I moved around so I was sitting sideways on his lap with my back against the armrest. "I know. It's just that he got to know you longer. That could've been us. If Anthony didn't take you. We could've grown up together because Eve and my dad are friends and whatnot" he stated.

I grabbed his hands and started playing with his fingers. I brought his hand up to my lips and kissed his knuckles. "I was thinking that it all might have been planned. Like Keith's parents were on Anthony's side before you were born. And they ended up having a son. Maybe they put Keith in that school so you guys would get close" he informed me.

It's possible. But all that just so I could bond with Keith. Honestly, I don't get it. All that work just so I would bond with a specific person. "I don't know Keith's parents. I met his mom like once. And his dad died before Keith was born" I stated. Keith never really talked about his parents, anyways. He never knew his dad. And his mom raised him as a rogue witch. I'm not sure why she was rogue in the first place.

"Do you know either of their names?" Thomas questioned.

I shook my head. "Keith doesn't even know his father's name. His mom never told him, and she died when we were fifteen. Her name was Kathy, I think. It was short for something. Maybe Kathryn?" it was more of a question than it was a response.

Thomas sighed. "Do you know what coven they came from?" he asked. I shook my head again. Keith's mom was always very secretive about her life before Keith. We thought it was just because it brought back memories of Keith's father. And Keith didn't want to make her sad about it, so he eventually stopped asking.

We fell into a silence with Thomas playing with my hair and me playing with his hand. His hand is surprisingly soft. "I figured out why he chose you" Thomas mumbled. My hand stilled as I moved my head to look at him. "You're the first born. Therefore the strongest one out of the three of you. The hair thing was probably just a bonus. He probably would've taken you if you were blonde like Dave and Gar. He could've just said you looked like your mother" he explained.

"He just wanted someone strong" I muttered. Thomas kissed my head and I rested it on his shoulder. It was so obvious. Why couldn't I have seen it? He was on Malcom's side. They both wanted to make a strong werewolf. A werewolf part witch. With me being from a Royal and an Alpha, also the first born; I would be a strong werewolf already. They just needed the witch part.

I sighed, my breath blowing on Thomas' covered chest. "He's an asshole" I whispered. "Anthony is such an asshole" Thomas didn't say anything. He rubbed my back and kissed my head again.

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We ended up cuddling on the couch until it was time to do the spell. Reluctantly, we got off the couch and followed Naomi to the backyard. Riley was rubbing her eyes, standing next to Dave. "Hey, Ri-Ri" I said softly as I kissed the top of her head. I pulled her away from Dave and went to stand next to Naomi and Thomas.

We all held hands as Naomi and I started chanting the spell. There was the bright light before we went into someone's head. We quickly went through Riley's memories. Then mine played. It was like watching a movie in fast forward. We could have slowed them down a little, but we just went through all of them to get to Naomi's.

One second in someone else's mind is like a minute in actual time. We quickly skipped through Thomas' mind. And I saw a few things that I might question him about later. Then we finally got to Naomi's mind. I focused on each thought, trying to slow down the memories.

We eventually got to the memory she was telling me about. Naomi held a tray of waffles. She was going up to my room to give them to me. She passed by my dad's office. Leo was in there, her late husband.

I could feel her curiosity. We stopped by the door, listening into the meeting. "I'm sure that's his kid" Leo stated.

Naomi's ear was pressed against the door. "Would the mother join us?" Anthony asked. I could hear a sigh through the door, but I couldn't tell who sighed. "Why not?" Anthony questioned.

"She's rogue. Something about her old coven. They kicked her out when they kicked him out" Leo informed Anthony.

I could hear Anthony hum as he mulled over Leo's words. "He had a little secret" I could barely make out the words that came out of Anthony's mouth. "Odin had a little son" The bright light flashed again and we were back in reality.

"Who the hell is Odin?"

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Who remembers Odin???? It's okay if you don't. It'll be explained in the next chapter and whatnot.

The sequel to Saving the Beta's Daughter will be posted right after I update this. So please read that. It can be read as a stand-alone. I honestly don't know if its called a 'stand-alone'. Basically you don't need to read Saving the Beta's Daughter to understand the sequel. Kay? Kay

Anywho...

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it!!!!

Or Happy Friday!!! Or Happy Saturday!!! Or possibly even Happy Thursday!!!

Kayyyyzzz Byeeezzzz

~A.J.