THIRD PERSON POV...

Aiden's beast paced back and forth in the corners of his mind. He had been restless since his visit to Nana's house and was becoming more so by the minute.

Just then, he was linked by his personal bodyguard. Apparently, an elderly lady approached the entrance and claimed to have been invited by him.

He confirmed that she had indeed been invited and mentally linked his best friend Adrian to receive Nana and her granddaughter. He was happy that Nana had come. He grew weary of the constant pleasantries and was annoyed by the women attempting to attract him.

He felt his beast tug at the ballroom door, but he snapped at it and his beast backed away.

After all the frivolity, he strode toward the table where his best friends were seated. Adrain and Abigail were his closest buddies. They were called Triple A during their schooling years. As he approached the table, Aidden noticed it was filled with laughter; his best friends and Nana were chatting. A lady sat with her back facing him beside Nana, and he wondered who she was.

"I see you are having fun," he said to the group.

"Of course, yes! Nana was talking about your superhero exploits. We were having fun," Adrian replied, laughing along with Abigail.

Right then, the lady and Nana rose, turning towards him and bowing .

"Please raise, and where is my hug, Nana?" he asked.

He stepped forward and hugged her. Only then did Aiden return his gaze to the lady, looking at Nana and him.

"And you are..."

"This is my granddaughter, Aurelia," Nana responded before the lady in question could respond.

Aiden could see the resemblance, despite Aurelia's downcast eyes. The girl—no, the woman—who Aiden was looking at was stunningly beautiful. Sleek black hair hung around her shoulders and it shone in the lights of the ballroom.

She was tall and just a few inches less than Aiden, which was rare as he was 6'4", which was a towering height. She must have been 6' or 5'11' at the very least. Aiden sneakily gazed at her, her physique was fit yet feminine. She could be a model.

But, being who he was, Aiden had seen a lot of attractive women. He smelled the air, trying to recall the scent he had noticed at Nana's house, but sweetness was missing. He pushed his wolf forward, and her wolf didn't even push back. In fact, she moved back.Aurelia barely smelled like a werewolf, and her demeanour suggested she was a lesser wolf.

"I thought your granddaughter, I mean Aurelia, was sixteen years old."

Just then, Aurelia stared at her grandma, confused.

"Oh, you must have thought so; looking at the pictures, she is twenty-three years old," Nana replied."

Aiden just nodded at her grandma.Aurelia felt awkward being in the presence of the king and her beast was getting on her nerves.

Only now did Aurelia have a good look at the king; she had already seen him in photos in various magazines, both human and were. However, she felt the photos didn't do justice.

According to Aurelia, Aiden had deep eyes, and when he looked at her, it felt as if he was looking into her soul. All his features were perfect, including his skin. His chin was clean-shaven. Not even a speck of beard on it.

Wearing a black tuxedo, he was the most handsome man in the room. The power coming off of him almost made her kneel. Her reaction would have been better without the shot. He was a dark-haired man, brooding, she felt.

Meanwhile, Aiden's beast was annoying him too, but both of them could not understand the reason behind their beast's annoyance.

Aiden motioned for all of them to take a seat. Dinner was being served, and he could not wait to start eating. It was the only enjoyable part of having such events.

Meanwhile, Adrian turned to Aurelia and inquired.

"So you are twenty-three years old; I guessed you to be eighteen, and you do not look your age."

Aurelia blushed and responded, "Well, I inherited my genes from grandma, so what do you expect?"

Adrian responded with a laugh. He assumed she was shy and submissive based on her demeanour. Despite her blush, this was not a shy response. Abigail felt envious. Adrian always ignored her, regardless of how beautiful she appeared.

Aiden was intrigued by her response and inquired about her occupation and pack affiliation. He could not seem to place her in any of the packs because each had its own distinct scent that the Alphas could detect, but she didn't.

"I am a weresap, my king, and therefore not a member of any pack. As for what I do, I am pursuing a Ph.D. in genome sciences and aspire to be a scientist," Aurelia said, her eyes downcast.

Aurelia's grandma sighed, and everybody turned towards her and noticed that she had a bit of tears in her eyes.

"What happened, Grandma?" questioned Aurelia.

It was disrespectful to link in the presence of the king, so she inquired aloud.

"Oh, nothing. The way you both interacted reminded me of your childhood. Aiden and you used to play together as kids."

Startled Aiden and Aurelia exchanged glances before shifting their attention to Nana."Don't you two recall?"

"Grandma, I was four years old when you used to take me here with you for work during the summer holidays. what do you think? I was too young."

"Neither do I, Nana."

"I suppose you are right; you two were really young—four and seven years old each—and it was just for a month," said Aurelia's grandmother.

Adrian, sensing more blackmail material, looked at Abigail, who smirked in response, while Aiden and Aurelia exchanged shrugs. By now, the first course had arrived, and they were savoring the delicious chicken kebabs.

Abigail wondered, "So, Nana, what games did these two play anyway?"

Aurelia sensed that more embarrassing stories were about to be revealed and attempted to stop, but was interrupted by Adrian.

"Aurelia, you mentioned you are pursuing a PhD in genome science; what are your thoughts on Down syndrome?"

Aurelia just looked at Adrian with amazement.

"I might have omitted mentioning the fact that I have a PhD in genome sciences with special emphasis on evolutionary genetics."

And that was enough to distract Aurelia, and she went into a highly detailed conversation about genomics. They discovered that Aurelia's PhD mentor was Adrian's lab senior, who had recently completed his PhD. His research was highly successful, so he was given a permanent position at the laboratory.

Aiden was so preoccupied with the kebabs that he did not realize all his secrets had been revealed until he heard Abigail giggling.

"Wow! Really, these two sneaked off to the royal library and tore pages out of the books."

That piqued both Aiden and Aurelia's interest.

"Really, Grandma! I sneaked into the Royal Library!" Aurelia exclaimed out loud.

"Technically, no, because you were with the king—I mean, prince—but sneaking was not the naughtiest part. You two sneaked into the library's restricted section."

"Did we, Nana?" Aiden asked, briefly glancing at Aurelia before returning his attention to Nana.

"Yes, and did I mention that you both had tubs of ice cream in your hands and decided to clean your hands with paper?"

"Apparently, you thought that because the library had important books, you went to the old and dusty part of the library that was covered in cobwebs, where there were boring books, climbed on a stool, took the oldest book, tore a piece of paper, and wiped your hands clean." Nana expressed pleasure in their discomfort.

Adrian and Abigail remained quiet for a while and burst out laughing.

"What did you think, Aiden, wiping with paper?" Adrian chucked throatily.

"Because grandma said it was dusty, we must have thought those books were not that important," Aiden replied.

"Really??" Abigail exclaimed.

"Of course, even in our naivete, we were wise; we did not want to damage a valuable book and only the junk, am I right, My King?" Aurelia defended.

"Of course, Aurelia," Aiden said in agreement.

"Oh gosh, no wonder you two sneaked off; you think alike," Adrian mocked, and Abigail laughed.

Aurelia and Aiden simply sighed in defeat as they looked at them, while Nana rejoiced in their cuteness.

"These two were the cutest," Nana commented.

Adrian and Abigail chorused, "Aww, Aww."

The evening was full of laughter and teasing. Despite his annoyance at the narration of his childhood stories, Aiden was content with his happiness.

Even Aurelia felt as if she had friends watching the king and his companions interact. Nana was overjoyed to see Aurelia banter; she was such a serious child, but in her current company, she also acted her age.

The king had to go and dance with some customary companions, while Abigail and Adrian too joined him on the dance floor. 

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

AURELIA POV...

Grandma and I sat at our table and stood, turning our chairs towards the dance floor. We then sat, leaning back, facing the dance floor. i could see many magical beings: vampires with their distinct rustic smell, which made sense since their main source of food was blood; humans with their sweaty stenches permeating the air; and weres with their own unique scents. Many Alphas were in attendance.

Each Alpha pair took the chance and joined the floor one by one. The couples emitted love. peaceful atmosphere prevailed. Some vampires asked a few were ladies to dance. The treaty that the king had brokered would bring peace to the entire supernatural realm. Even a few fae were in attendance.

Unlike in the books that humans read, Fae did not have physical wings but had the ability to float in the air. However, just float, not fly. At the most, they could glide a few feet above the ground. The stronger the fae, the higher they could float.

I then turned my eyes towards the king, leaning my head on grandma's shoulder as she too gazed at him while she stroked my hair in affection. He was a great dancer. I do not know who his companion was, but they both moved like fluid, twisting and turning; every movement of theirs was precise.

'You will find a true best friend and your life partner soon, child; like I did, I know you are lonely' my grandma linked.

I leaned away from her and twisted, facing her.Looking at her. She was my best friend and as for my love and life partner, I knew i could not have one. My grandma, too, turned to look at me and scrutinized my face, searching for something. 

'I have you, gradma thats all that matters and you know why I cant have a friend or a partner.'

'Shh, nobody knows what fate has in store' she told me via the link and pecked my forehead.

I turned back towards the dance floor, avoiding meeting my grandma's eyes. When king approached us, we leaned forward, bending at the waist, to stand.

" Please sit," he told us, and then continued, "Now Nana, may I have a dance with you?"

"But, my king, I..." she hestitated.

"Oh, come on, Nana," he pleaded.

She just nodded and said, "Yes, lead the way."

The king smiled in response and took her hand, leading her towards the dance floor. The crowd parted, making way for them.

He gently took her hand and started dancing with my grandma, swaying back and forth. nothing elaborate or exhausting. After a while, Adrian cut in, dancing with my grandma while Abigail danced with the king. 

I was lost in seeing my grandma dance when a human approached me. It was none other than Dr. Cyrus.

"Aurelia, it's a pleasure seeing you here," he greeted.

I hastily stood, brushing my hands against my thighs, and shook his hand. It was surprising to see him here. 

"Like wise sir, pleasure and surprising," I replied.

"Yes, well, Dr. Cummins invited me here, but how are you here?" He trailed off, gesturing to the ball with his hands.

"Of course, Mr. King invited my grandma, and I was her plus one," I added. Understanding dawned on his face, and he smiled.

Just then, someone called him, and he went on to excuse himself with a perplexed expression on his face. He went a few steps ahead but then turned, looking at me head to toe, then spun around and went ahead.

Shrugging at his behaviour, i sat back on my chair, watching grandma alternate between Adrian and Aiden. They both kept her busy.

They returned after a while, and the ball had ended. After exchanging pleasantries, we left. The ball had been a success, and Grandma was delighted, which was all that mattered.

_______________________

A/N:

Another character was introduced. Dr. Cummins.

What do you think about him?

As usual vote and share and comment.

Thinking of dedicating each chapter to one of my followers.

What do you think about that? Yayy? or Nayy?(comment ofcourse*winking here*)

Toodles...