AURELIA'S POV...

Things go smoothly after that; there was no more excitement, much to the disappointment of my wolf. We are going back to the laboratory. The car moves ahead. A sense of hope and anticipation fills the air. The captives meant a lead and we could find out why the corpse was there.

However, I doubt I would be a part of this investigation but this didn't disappoint me this time. I had a free lab at my disposal from the day after tomorrow. I had to attend the same shift tomorrow to file paperwork but from the day after that, I could focus on my research.

I sigh internally, happy with what the future holds for me.

Aiden spoke, his words full of caution, "Aurelia, you helped us alot. Thank you, but you can't be part of the investigation any further. It's dangerous for you."

I turned to look at him, and his gaze was full of concern. I beam at him.

" I know and thank you for letting me be a part of this investigation. But this is enough excitement for me; I like my laboratory exploits more, " I joke, smirking at him. Aiden just rolls his eyes in response and turns back, staring at the back of the driver's seat.

" Yes, I saw your exploits today; you were quite fast in testing given your lack of experience." Adrian chimes in, leaning to see me from the front seat.

"Is that a complement? "

"Of course it is," he praises, winking at me.

I hear Aiden scoff and glance at him, my brows raised in question.

He just shrugs in response, his gaze softening a bit before glaring at the back of Adrian's head. It looked like they were both mind-linking with each other.

........................................................................

It's almost time for me to leave, I had finished filing the paperwork, and Adrian was back in his office. Aiden is back to being king.

A sense of normalcy returns. I collect my belongings and walk out. By now, traversing the building had become a reflex action. One I didn't need to think much about.

I strode out of the entrance and walked towards my car when I saw Aiden leaning on it. His car is beside mine in the parking lot.

I arrived at my car to find him blocking my way to the driver's seat door.

"What is wrong, Aiden? Why are you in my way?" My eyebrows furrow in confusion as I inquire.

"Remember, I said Abigail cancelled the date," he adds, smirking at me.

"Yes, but what does it have to do with you not allowing me to enter my vehicle?" I nod, my puzzlement growing by the second.

His smirk widens into a broad grin, his teeth flashing, "Because you are my date now, and you need to get ready; we have errands to run."

My eyes widen in shock and my mouth drops open. He leans close to me, his mouth at my ear and whispers, "It's an order. Don't forget, I am your king."

His words are formal, but his tone and his proximity make shivers run through my spine. I turn my face to look at him, and seeing him smirk makes me blush.

Immediately, I turn my head away and take a step back, maintaining some distance. I fake a cough and look at him in confusion.

He just walks towards me until I am cornered in front of the door of his passenger seat. He leans forward and I lean back, trying to maintain some distance while he reaches up behind me, his arm brushing mine, and opens the door for me.

"Get inside," he says huskily.

Only then do I get some space to move aside. Now I'm completely flustered and keep my eyes downcast. I don't know why but I really feel shy.

"But my car?" I trail off. My eyes are moving here and there, not meeting his, even though I am talking to him.

Just then, a man dressed in black with a royal mark on his chest starts walking towards us and then bows to Aiden.

"Give him your car keys; he'll drop the car at your home," he says smugly.

I try to make excuses to get out of the so-called date.

"but grandma.." I start, only to be cut off by him.

"Nana is enjoying her time in spa, and in the night a guard will be assigned for her protection." It looked like he didn't leave a way for me to deny it.

I just send a subtle glare towards him and then drop my shoulders in defeat, reaching into my pants pockets and taking out the keys and handing them to him.

By now, the door that he had opened earlier had shut and he stretched his hand, holding the door open for me.

Sighing at him, I slide inside the car, taking my backpack off my shoulders and keeping it in my lap, keeping my gaze fixed on the bag in my lap.

He, too, slides into the driver's seat and I look up at him in surprise.

"You are driving but how? " I trail off.

He just scratches the back of his head sheepishly and says, "Consider it one of my exploits."

"Like breaking into the royal library," I tease.

And for the past few days, he has become a friend, but those words and actions, earlier blurred the lines. It looked like he was flirting. But I may be mistaken, too. So I had to bring our conversation back to neutral ground.

He just glares at me in response, narrowing his eyes. He says, "You were my partner in that exploit, as Nana said."

I just wave a hand dismissively and scoff, "I was four and not to be held responsible for my actions."

"Well, I was a child too, just seven years," his gaze narrows more.

I turn towards him, hands on my hips and say, "Exactly. You were seven years old so you were supposed to be more wise."

"Weren't you the one who argued with Adrian and Abigail in my defense that we were wise in our naiveté?" he accuses me, leaning towards me in anger.

"Yes, because I didn't want to be the centre of their jokes," I retort.

Then suddenly we both turn silent, and realising that we are too agitated, get back into our seats. We then glance at eachother and laugh.

"Why were we even fighting?" I say this in between my laughter.

He replies, laughing, "I don't know."

His laugh just brightens up his face, eyes crinkling at the corner and a dimple pops up on his left cheek. And in that moment, I realized that we had become good friends.

Laughing, he says, "Buckle up" and reaches for his own seatbelt and buckles up himself. I follow his lead.

He then turns the steering wheel, getting out of the parking lot.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"It's a surprise," he says, winking at me.I widen my eyes at him in response to the wink.

.............

We are in a designer store. Racks full of expensive dresses and jewellery. I immediately recognized the designs.

Aiden walks ahead and talks to the sales woman in hushed tones. I stand a few feet away from him, inspecting the dresses.

Immediately she rushes into a closed door, and it opens in a few moments, accompanied by the designer herself.

The designers gaze focuses on Aiden. She leans in, gives a peck on his cheek and leans back again, maintaining a respectable distance.

"Aiden, lovely seeing you. Here for another custom-made suit, are we?"

"Not quite, Delilah; I'm here for a dress for my dear friend." He says, smiling at her politely.

"Oh, is it? Who's the lucky girl?" She asks.

I'm still by the racks and they start moving towards me. Delilah glances at me and beams.

"This is.." Aiden starts to introduce me, but Delilah interrupts him, saying, "Aurelia, so long."

"Yeah, Delilah. It has been a long time." I reply and give her warm hug.

Aiden keeps staring at us in confusion, his brows scrunched.

"You two know each other?" he asks.

"Of course, how can I not? Both of us are friends. Of course, any bride who wants her wedding to be managed by Aurelias firm is referred to me for her wedding gown and vice versa. However, of course, she doesn't really get much involved in the day-to-day activities but her uncle praises her a lot," Delilah replies, her arm still around my shoulder.

Aiden looks at us in more confusion and says, "Aurelia's firm—wedding—bride—I don't get it."

Sighing I look at him and say, "I am a silent partner in an event management firm that specialises in weddings; my uncle handles it mostly but during the initial days I had a more active role and I know Delilah because of that."

"Oh." Aiden shuffles from side to side on the balls of his feet, not knowing what to do.

I look at him amused by his awkwardness; he must have thought I'm a poor damsel who needed help in the clothing department.

I turn towards Delilah and say, "You know the drill, Delilah; a party dress, please."

"Yeah, yeah, simple, elegant, sophisticated, and stylish. I know your choice, Aurelia, and in fact, I have a dress in white; it would be perfect for you," she says, waving her hand off dismissively and then signalling the saleswoman standing behind Aiden.

Meanwhile, Aiden just stands there, hands in pockets, not knowing what to do.

Delilah and I keep chatting while the woman brings out a garment bag and unzips it, revealing a gorgeous white dress. Intricate handwork adorns its bodice in multiple pastels, not at all dominating the white but giving it a gorgeous contrast. The dress is not at all puffy but has a slight slit at the knee to allow movement while maintaining modesty.

I just nod at Delilah and tell her, "It's perfect as usual, Delilah, and this is the reason why you are the most sought-after designer."

"Thanks for the compliments, Aurelia."

"Which are well deserved," I pitch in.

She signals the attendant to pack the bag and we reach the billing counter. Aiden follows us and reaches into his pocket, taking out his credit card.

I hold his hand and Stop him.

'I will pay.' I linked him, leaving him no other option.

"But" he starts to protest but then stops looking at my serious expression. He then purses his lips together and puts his wallet back inside his pocket.

I take out my purse and give Delilah my credit card, while she keeps glancing back and forth between us.

"Well, how do you two know each other?"

"Long story short, we have a common acquaintance," Aiden says, keeping it vague.

I raise a brow at him and he mindlinks me, 'To avoid rumors.'

..........................................................................................

The road to fae royal castle is long. We had gone to a salon to get ready and I beat Aiden in paying the bill. Aiden was annoyed and surprised. I had sneaked in and injected myself with the supression shot in the salon while changing myself into the gorgeous designer dress.

The usual habit of keeping back up shots was coming in handy these days. But it was starting to take a toll on me and with the red moon so close, it was getting more difficult.

Later, one of his drivers came to pick us from the salon and we embarked on a short but tedious journey. It was about an hour's journey but sitting beside Aiden in the backseat of his car with the royal driver on the front was surreal.

Aiden was so in deep in his element that waves of power just rolled off him and the proximity did not help either. My beast, even suppressed, was whining but she could not understand the reason behind her frustration; she felt as if she was getting pulled but could not say where.

 Add to that the fact that an alpha male, none other than the king himself, was sitting beside her, which made things more complex.

She wanted to please her king and whenever I contradicted him, she got annoyed that I was not obeying the king.In her eyes, every wolf had to obey and submit to the king. No matter how much I tried to make her understand that we are friends with the king, it fell on deaf ears.

I felt Aiden staring at me and turned to look at him.

"We are here," he says. Lost in thoughts, I had not realised that we had reached the grand castle. Only then did I notice the approaching grand castle. While the Were palace had modern hints to it, this palace looked as if it were carved out of a fairy tale.

As we got closer, I tasted the sweetness in the air—sugary and intoxicating.

"The smell—I know fae scents have certain sweetness but this is just so much more."

"Yes, It is. The fae are in their element here and magic is just more strong here," Aiden explains and then continues, "Magic, Fae can do magic but not the kind you would expect."

"But.." I start but he silences me by putting his finger on my lips.

"It is not the place to talk these things, not even with the Mind link. Fae kind are much more cunning than you know."

The car now comes to a halt and Aiden climbs out his side of the door. I follow his lead and open the door, only to see him standing outside my door.

He used his werewolf speed but I could say that he was way faster than the average werewolf. In all our interactions so far, even when we captured the vampire, he was controlled, except for once when we were ambushed. But now, He was letting it all out. There is no lid on his power.

He extends his hand towards me and says playfully, "Madam."

I too play along with him, clasp his hand in his and say, "Thank you, sir."

He helps me step out of the car and then I get a view of the entrance. With all the cars in line and men and women in tuxedos, it was more than just a child's birthday party. And I noticed that there were a lot of gentlemen present. More than the ladies.

Aiden shuts the door behind me and brings my palm to his fore arm, keeping it there. I look at him in surprise, caught off guard by his gesture. We have danced earlier but this, in the presence of so many people-supernatural creatures-walking in line with him was a big thing.

Even though the king can bring dates, all his dates must walk a step behind him, unless it is some situation where she could not avoid but be in the same stature of the king, like the supper or dance but walking, dates must be behind the king. It is one of the rules of Were-Kingdom but apparently Aiden has forgotten it.

'Aiden, I think you might have forgotten I can't walk beside you, the royal protocol...' I trail off, not knowing what more to say.

'I am aware of the royal protocol; just follow my lead, okay.' He says via the mindlink, leaving me in confusion.

I just frown at him in response while he looks at me intensely. His gaze was not easy to decode. I could sense he was thinking of something but he was not letting me know about what was on his mind.

We then, arm in arm, stride towards the entrance of the palace when a fae male by the scent comes our way and greets Aiden. I look at the man in question, my gaze resting on the mark on his front pocket of the suit.

Meanwhile, Aiden says my name to the man and he nods and bows, telling us he will lead the way.

After many turns, we finally reach the party. It is being hoisted on the palace grounds, with a glass portico extending half way, various tables beneath it and an open-air dance area a stage set for it.

It was almost time for sunset and the breath-taking view of the sky against the fairy lights hung all around the area was so gorgeous. I was so engrossed with the view that I did not realize I was squeezing Aiden's arm.

"Ouch, Aurelia, even though we heal quick, that does not mean we don't feel pain," Aiden says softly.

I look at him and murmur a quick sorry. " I was bowled over by the beauty of this place."

"That means we are successful in our goal," a lady who is approaching us says. She was still three yards away but her voice echoed in my head. I was confused. My confusion must have been apparent as Aiden said, " The fae royals can enter anyone's minds. It is a gift that they are bestowed with."

"Yes, Goddess Nychta gave us the boon," the lady says, now standing in front of us.

I bow towards her, and she just nods in response, intently gazing at my hand resting on Aiden's arm.

"This is the fae princess, Maria, the birthday girl," Aiden introduces.

When he asked me on a date, he said the Fae King's daughter's birthday was the event and I assumed it was a kid. I did not think more about this. I raise from my bow and wish the lady.

"Happy birthday, maam."

"Oh, please, Maria is fine, Aurelia," she says.

I look up at her in surprise.

How does she know my name?

"As Aiden said, we are gifted. We might not be able to read the inner workings and thoughts of person but we certainly can mindlink any person on land and feel their emotions. It helps us understand the nature of the person," she explains.

" Oh, That's quite an unusual gift."

"Yes, unusual yet powerful," she says.

I just give her a tentative smile but she continues, "And I feel very strong emotions coming off of you, two but they are not clear but I can sense you have a very strong bond."

She grins at us, while Aiden just keeps staring at her.

"Well, I won't keep you with me anymore. Please mingle, and yes, you do not need to worry about secrecy. All here are in on the secret." She winks and then walks away.

.........................

Word count: 2991

A/N:

How was the chapter?

Any input to improve my writing?

Guys, please, please, and pretty, please vote on the chapter.

Your comments will give me an insight into your views.