"Aurelia! Aurelia! What's wrong?" Aiden shakes me as I sit still in shock.

Some corner of my mind hears his words but the results of the research do not make sense. It can't be possible. I feel him taking my hands in his and rubbing me, then coming close to me.

He is hugging me to himself as he tries to provide comfort. Sparks erupt all over my body and my trance breaks as I hug him back. His shoulders sag in relief as he feels me hugging him back.

"Hey, what is wrong? Are you alright? What was in the results?" Aiden says, cupping my face in his hands, making me look at him.

I look around us and shake my head. I do not want to tell him about this here when we are surrounded by the guards. He looks around before understanding dawns upon him. He nods at me and says, "Come on. Back to the palace."

I nod at him as he helps me get up, his hand still entwined with mine as he leads the way. We get in the elevator and soon the sound of a car coming to life catches my attention.

I realise that we are already seated in the car and the walk from the elevator to the car was involuntary on my part. Aiden must have been guiding me.

My attention then focuses on Aiden, who is sitting beside me with a concerned look on his face before going back to the computer. The image of computer screen flashes in front of me and the data I had written down on the notepad. A shudder runs through me as I feel cold seeping into my skin.

I am shocked at the results. How is it possible? I had tried to recall if I had made any errors but I had cross-checked it multiple times. It now makes sense why the Fae royals were so warm with me.

They knew about me. But yet, they did not tell me. I look beside me once again to see Aiden staring at me. My work desk comes to mind. Wait, I did not log it out.

What if the research gets into the wrong hands? My body reacts before I do as I jump involuntarily in my seat and stare at Aiden in shock.

Aiden looks at me with alertness. "What is wrong?"

"My work computer. I did not log out. We can't let the data get into the wrong hands." I say, anxiously.

Aiden relaxes and says, "Don't worry. I had logged your accounts off. I noticed the apps when you opened them and made sure they stayed that way. Cool down."

Tension leaves me as he says those words and I lean on the car's window, looking out of it, seeing many cars pass away.

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

I am now sitting in Aiden's office in his suite at the royal palace. He sits beside me, squeezing my hands in assurance.

"We are alone now. Nobody can hear us. You can tell me. Trust me." Aiden gazes directly at me, holding his breath, anticipating my response.

"I am part Fae. The remaining twenty-five percent of my DNA is fae. Well, technically, twenty-four point nine percent."

Aiden is confused by my words and then says, "Okay. Your mom must be Fae so you are part Fae, Aurelia. There is nothing to worry about." His words are casual, as if there is nothing to be worried about.

From his point of view, it might be true. But it would have been nice if my mom was Fae but she was a pure-blooded werewolf.

"That is it, Aiden. No one in my entire lineage is Fae."

Now it is Aiden's turn to be silent. He stiffens at my words. He stutters, "What? Are you sure? But then, how?"

I shrug at him. "I do not know either, Aiden. How am I part Fae? I mean, werewolves are themselves part humans, and so are fae."

"Are you sure? Somebody among your ancestors must have been Fae." He says, trying to convince me.

"Even if we assume that one of my earlier ancestors is Fae, I would need parents with the common recessive trait for me to inherit it. It is just not possible. And even recessive traits have a minor percentage in the genetic makeup. Twenty-five is a very high number."

Aiden is now tense as he clenches his jaw and inhales and exhales.

"I think there is only one way we can find out about this." Aiden growls out.

I jerk back in my chair, surprised. "How?"

"Go and get ready; you need to be in something formal. A skirt, preferably." He says this, his eyes roaming the length of my body.

I shiver at his gaze but confusion clouds my mind. "What? Formal wear? How formal?"

I am not sure what he is thinking of but I will do as he says. I do not have fight left within me nor do I have the right frame of mind to figure something out.

My beast is, however, happy that he is not giving me the cold shoulder anymore.

"Business casual will do. Do you have any business dresses?"

I try to recall any dresses but I am not much of a dress girl. The most I have is a skirt.

"Will a plain skirt with a white shirt work?" I ask, cringing at my lack of formal clothing.

I used to have formal dresses a few years back when I was an active partner in the event management company but they are worn out now. They might come in handy for an interview, but I don't think that's the case now.

Aiden purses his lips into a flat line at my words. "No. nevermind, you will have a few dresses delivered to you in an hour at the most. Maybe you should get freshened up in the meantime."

I nod at him but ask out of curiosity." Where are we going?"

"You will know that in an hour or two. Just let me confirm once." Aiden replies, striding towards the chair at the back of his office table and taking a seat.

He waves me off with his hand in a dismissive gesture and the cold version of Aiden is back. I twist my lips in distaste but do as he says. If I want to know what he is thinking, I will have to play along.

I get up from my chair, put it back in its place, then proceed to his bedroom and enter the bathroom to take a shower.

In a haze of anger, I do not realise that I did not carry a spare set of clothes with me until I am done with my shower. I look around the bathroom and find a white robe hanging. I take it and put it on.

It smells like Aiden. Chocolate and cinnamon rolled into a delicious scent that calms me and my beast down. My beast wants to roll around in his scent.

If it were up to my beast, Katherine, we would have accepted our bond with Aiden by now. I try to pacify her and make her realise my concerns but she brushes them off. According to her, if the Monn goddess thought it was Aiden who should be our mate, then things would fall into place.

Sighing I open the bathroom door and enter the bedroom. Aiden stands there at the cupboard, ruffling through his clothes, while a few lady Weres roll in a rack of dresses ranging from business to casual. All are in neutral colours except for a few, which are in red. Not bright red, though, they are in blood red.

One of the maids who were rolling in the rack, turns towards Aiden and says, "All the dresses are brought in, King."

Aiden waves them off with his hand again. Maybe this is the code language of the royals. I have noticed him do that many times. All the maids bow and go out of the room. I stand at the bathroom door, noticing it all.

Letting out a sigh, I turn to close the door. As I turn back around, I see Aiden staring at me. I raise a brow at him in question. He shakes his head in a nothing festure but then starts glaring at the cupboard, taking a dress shirt and a pair of slacks before striding towards me and pushing against my shoulder to move me out of the way.

He knocks me aside with his shoulder before closing the bathroom door behind him. I roll my eyes at his behaviour and walk to the dressing table, searching for a hair dryer in its drawers.

I am detangling my hair when Aiden walks out of the bathroom and gazes at me. He walks ahead towards me and leans in, picking up a comb from in front of me. He looks good in the black dress shirt and the white slacks that he wears.

He smooths his hair out and then keeps the comb back in its place before picking up a perfume and spraying it on. The fragrance of the perfume permeates the air, and the cinnamon notes hit me. So this is why there is a cinnamon tinge in his scent.

He leans back in to keep the perfume back and I try to shake these feelings off while I gather my hair up in a ponytail. He looks at me through the mirror and holds my hand, halting me.

"Open hair look's good on you." He says this as he removes my grip on my hair and lets my hair drop. They fall in slight waves down my shoulders. Our gazes lock through the mirror but he breaks our eye contact by clearing his throat.

He straightens himself before looking around the room.

"We will need to leave in half an hour. Be quick. Meet me in the office after you get ready."

He then leaves the room, leaving me alone to get ready.

I chose a blood red bodycon dress and paired it with red stilletos and a white blazer. The dress hugs my curves but is decent at the same time. The white blazer balances the colour. Quickly applying some mascara and kohl and a touch of tinted lip balm, I reach for my purse and keep them back in it.

I open the door connecting to the office and step out to see Aiden's back facing me. He too wears a white blazer matching his slacks. Hearing the sound of the door, he turns around and assesses me before nodding to himself.

He jerks his head towards the door, saying, "Come on, we need to go."

I nod as I walk towards him, as he holds the door open for me. My heels click in the office, their sound echoing in the room.

I stand at the door as he waits for me to exit. "At least tell me now where we are going."

He sighs and meets my gaze. " We are going to visit the..."

Word Count: 1843

Sorry for disrupting the weekend schedule!

I will be continuing the updating schedule from this week.

Another cliffhanger! I know you are all annoyed with me by now.

How do you like the chapter?

How many guessed that she was part Fae?

I would love to know your answers!!