I let out a sigh as I looked at the ceiling above my bed. It was a long and tiring journey back home. We had to run for a few miles before reaching a road where a number of cars were parked, with a few more weres guarding them.

After that, it was a long journey home, during which I had fallen asleep. When we reached back, I was shocked to see my uncle in Red deer. When he was not able to link me, he apparently panicked and flew back here.

But when he saw me entering, his worry drained and was replaced with happiness at seeing me home. He had rushed towards me, enveloping me in a hug and swinging me around just the way he did from the time I was a toddler.

He still treated me like a child but my elation was shortlived as he had to face Aiden, who was blazing in fury.

Flashback...

"Who the hell are you?" Aiden growls at him as he sees my uncle hugging me. Aiden walks close to us before pulling me to him.

"Who are you?" My uncle retorts, agitating Aiden further.

Aiden snarls and unleashes his power like he had on the plane. All the others fall to their knees except me.

This is so childish. Why is he even reacting like this? Je is my uncle for god's sake.

I go to Aiden and stand in front of him, my tone laced with anger as I shout at him. "What are you doing? stop it right now."

"Oh yeah. Do you think I would let any other man come near you, let alone touch you? Is this why you said no earlier?" He asks, his anger morphing into hurt.

This is because he is jealous and overprotective. Uggh. Do men become this horrible jealous creatures when they are your mates?

I let out a groan, tugging at my hair. "He is my uncle James. Younger brother of my father."

"What?" he says, now confused.

"Yes, the one who runs the event management company." I say, explaining to him like a child.

Slight pink tinges his cheeks in embarrassment as I let out a sigh in frustration.

"Oh." He reels back his power and my uncle now completely falls to the ground.

I see my grandma and see her gasping for breath. Aiden follows my gaze before groaning and running towards her. "I am sorry, Nanaa. really sorry."

She just nods at him but then asks, "Why were you so agitated?"

Aiden now looks at me for a while before every other were except for Henry leaves the room. He must have commanded them to leave via mind link. The only ones who remain are my uncle, Nana, and Henry.

"Do you want to do the honours or should I?" he says, one of his brows raised in question.

Dam it. He wants to tell everyone we are mates now. I have just entered my home. I had already cleared it to him, that we should not accept this bond.

However, we don't seem to be thinking of the same things.

"We were going to discuss it."

"Yes. We still are, but I will not be lying to your family, and Henry needs to be here for security reasons. I implicitly trust him." Aiden leaves no choice for me. Now my uncle and grandma look at me expectantly.

I groan and mumble, "You do the honours."

His eyes light in triumph as he says to the room, "She is my mate and I thought that Mr. James was her boyfriend. I was jealous."

"What!" Three voices echo in the room yet their words are similar.

And the discussion of how, when and what happened begins.

Flashback ends...

The remaining part of yesterday night was Aiden apologising to my uncle. Grandma was ecstatic. My uncle, however, was not so excited. He was impressed that Aiden was the alpha king but in his eyes, no man could ever be worthy of his niece. So, he forbade Aiden from meeting me at my home.

However, I am distracted by the sound of my window creaking open. Is it the Blood Mafia? I am alert now and jump from the bed to see Aiden climbing in the window.

He is partially shifted, though. His hands and feet are paws for extra grip and fine fur covers his entire body even though he is in human form. His eyes glow with his wolf.

"Hi," he says, landing on my bedroom floor.

His fur now recedes, leaving skin behind, and his hands are back to being normal. He walks towards me and engulfs me in a hug. I stay still, not hugging him back. He steps back and grins at me.

"Why are you here? Do you want to get into an argument with my uncle again? What is the point of sneaking in through the bedroom window? We are weres. My uncle can sense you."

He just shrugs at me before removing his boots and laying on my bed, his arms behind his head acting like a pillow, his feet crossed at the ankle. Huh. It has been this long and Uncle has not reacted yet. I look at my door perplexed.

"He is not home, babe. Nana took him shopping for groceries."

I am getting more confused by the minute. "If that were the case, why sneak in through the window?"

"Just for fun, it feels like we are teenagers sneaking into each other's bedrooms," he says, shrugging.

I purse my lips at his childish behaviour. "We? I did not sneak into your room. You did. And I really doubt anybody can ever sneak into your house, let alone your room. Oh, I am sorry. Let me correct myself. Your palace," I shout at him.

I hear chuckles from outside the house. I look at Aiden in confusion. Did he bring along someone with him?

"It is Henry. given the perilous atmosphere, I could not shake him off. He insisted. So I allowed him to stay out but not listen to others conversations, though." His voice crescendos slightly towards the end, clearly directed at Henry.

I roll my eyes at him. 'So are we not going to have this conversation?'

He now switches the conversation to mindlink. My beast swoons at hearing his voice in our mind.

'Are you going to remain standing there like that?' He adds later.

I glare at him but he just rolls his eyes at me before tugging at our bond. Even though we are not mated, since we acknowledged it, it is strong. My feet trip on their own accord and I fall onto him. He wraps his arms around me and smirks at me. 'There, thats better.'

I narrow my eyes at him and pinch his shoulder. He yelps and removes his hands, giving me a chance to get off of him.

I move towards my study desk and drag the chair with me, placing it beside him. He now glares at me but then sits up, crossing his legs and facing me.

'So Why was I not able to sense that you were my mate earlier? Even your scent is different now. It has this extra sweetness.' Then his eyes widen and now his glare is more intense as he links, ' I did smell you but you said it was the damn marshmallows.'

Now, I gulp and try to smile as I say to him via our link, 'I may be using a scent masking spray.'

'Huh? A Scent masking spray?'

I open my eyes and look at him. 'Well, since you know the truth, maybe it is time you knew the whole thing.'

I rise from my chair and walk towards the cupboard near the window and open it, Reaching in a drawer, I take out a box and place it beside him.

I hope he really understands me and doesn't jump to conclusion. I might not want a mate, not that he is lacking in any department. He is the catch. But I rather don't want to drag him into the mess. Well, more than what he already has been dragged into.

I sit again and lean forward, opening it. His eyes widen at the things he sees inside. There are syringes, my oral tablets that I have developed and cans of spray. I grab the spray and give it to him and then reach to the pillow. 'Try smelling it before and after spraying it.'

He looks confused but does as I say, inhaling deeply, my pillow near his nose before spraying and inhaling again, He looks astonished now. 'This is how you hid your scent? But how can you hide your beast? Your power?'

'Those syringes there are my suppression shots.'

'Supression shots?' His tone is now completely perplexed.

'Yes. They suppress my wolf. My werewolf traits, to be precise. They are essentially made of human DNA.'

'Human DNA? But how?' I sigh at him and then elaborate.

'Ok, let me explain. Basically, Werewolf DNA is mostly human, except for about twenty percent, which accounts for the werewolf characteristics. The more our DNA is similar to humans, the less we have our werewolf sense. Usually, DNA gets digested and does not alter our body if we ingest it, but I have created a formula. A chemical that temporarily alters my DNA to more human like structure until it is in my body.'

His eyes widen at my words. 'You are really smart. Aren't you?'

My cheeks tinge red at his words and I avoid his gaze.'Seriously? Just a word about you being smart and you blush. I wonder what your reaction would be when I start complimenting you for real.'

His fingers gingerly brush across my face, and he pinches one of my cheeks affectionately. I swat his hand away and try to compose myself.

He then starts crushing my syringes with his bare hands. "Hey,What are you doing? " I shout.

He shushes me by placing his forefinger on my lips and linking, 'You don't need this. As for your secret, you only have my most trusted men around you. They won't judge nor will they gossip. I don't want your beast to be suppressed. She has as much right to be free as you do.'

His fingers, covered in the fluid that oozed out from the syringes, caress my cheek and my jaw, leaving tingles in their wake. I lean into them, overwhelmed by his words, but then step away and try to divert the topic.

Adrian comes to mind. I hope he is okay.

'How is Adrian?'

His shoulders drop at my words.' He is getting better, though he is not out of the coma yet.' He now looks defeated, unable to help his friend.

'Adrian is your best friend, right?' I ask.

A nostalgic smile graces his face as he remembers him.

'Yes, All three of us are. Me, Adrian and Abigail. We met in our primary school and have stayed friends. Sometimes, Adrian understands me more than I do.'

He lets out a defeated sigh and then continues, 'Well, Hopefully he will wake up soon. Doctors say he is stable now. Abigail's with him.'

'Oh. And what about his parents?'

Aiden's lips form a thin line in sorrow. 'They are dead.'

I winced at hearing those words. It is not easy to live without your parents. It is something common for all three of us. I nod at him in acknowledgement. Silence takes over our link, but I still feel his presence in my mind. I am filled with sorrow for Adrian.

'Why was he attacked? If it was my personal research, he would not have access to it anyway. What is the motive of the blood mafia?'

He now looks at me in surprise at the change of topic but then his expression turns serious. " Maybe because..'

He is cut off again as a growl resonates outside of our house. It is my uncle. I hear the front door slam open, followed by pounding on the stairs. Aiden does not look worried, though; he just glares at my door as it swings open.

'What are you doing here?" My uncle screams, and the pitch is so high that it nearly makes my ears throb.

Not this again. You don't need to have two overprotective men in your life. If you do, you will face the same situation as me. Then fighting over the smallest of things.

"I am with my mate. Hanging out." Aiden's voice is calm, in stark contrast to Uncle's rage. This is not going to end well.

"I advised against meeting her here. Without a mating ceremony, meeting her alone in her room is inappropriate. Please show respect."

Now, Aiden is getting irritated as he scowls in my uncle's direction.

"I can meet her whenever and wherever I want. Do you forget the fact that our plane was hijacked? She needs protection, and you left your niece alone with no protection except for my men outside. Do you think I would leave her alone? The blood mafia is out for her blood. What do you think I would do? Leave her alone in her home, where she has already been kidnapped once, like you did. She is my mate. My other half. What do you expect?"

Now, Uncle looks ashamed as he stutters, "But she..." He does not continue what he was going to say, though, as he then sighs.

"Fine. I suppose your protection is good for her." Uncle looks at me and then assesses Aiden for a moment before nodding at him. Aiden nods back.

"Would you like to have a cup of coffee, King? "

My jaw drops open in shock. Aiden smiles at my uncle's words. It looks like they have buried the hatchet, as Aiden says, "Some other day, sir. But I have something important to discuss."

He has started calling my uncle Sir. Just great. I think I liked them better when they were fighting.

"You are going to leave tomorrow. Aren't you?" Aiden asks.

What is Aiden's concern in this? Why is he so interested?

"Yes. But what has it got to do with you?" My uncle counters pretty much saying the same thing that is running in my mind.

"Will you take Nana with you? I am concerned about her security too. I am also assigning an epsilon and a few guards to you for your safety. They are ready to leave whenever you want. It is better Nana goes from here, this house is surrounded on all sides with forest. There is not much visibility. And if she stays here, it would mean trouble for her. It would be a change of scenery for her too."

Grandma, who all this while was standing at the door, protests, "No. I won't leave Aurelia alone."

"Who says she will be alone?" Aiden cocked an eyebrow at her, his expression smug. I have a feeling he is planning something unpleasant for me.

Word count: 2471