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Caden
I growled, the muscles in my body tensing as the door swung open, interrupting our interrogation of Aurora.
I’d ordered everyone to stay downstairs before I followed Aiden upstairs to confront Aurora. Technically, the only werewolves at this party who could defy such an order were my brother and Aurora and they were both in the room with me, so it was such an unpleasant surprise to hear the door swing open to admit an unwanted guest.
Worse yet, I had never met the auburn-haired 6’ 1” tall man who walked into the room with furious green eyes. And even though he was neither one of our invited guests nor a member of my pack and had thus not disobeyed my order, his presence still aggravated my irritation.
Even though I couldn’t put my finger on it, there was something about him that raised my hackles. It could have been the annoying vampire scent or the anger rolling off him like sea waves crashing on the shoreline. Of course, watching Aurora show her dependence on him in the way she raised her hand for a hug like a little girl or the way she tapped his shoulders twice and got him to stop moving did not help.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked, standing to my full height, only to realize that he was a little taller than me.
After giving Aurora his blazer, he turned to face me, staring at me with a condescending look that had never been directed at me before today. “I’m her vampire.”
I glanced at Mateo and received a nod from him, confirming that this was indeed the vampire that Aurora had been fucking in her room.
“Wait, are you Levi? Aurora’s . . .” While Mateo and I had no idea who the vampire was, Aiden seemed to know something about him as he stood up abruptly and moved closer to the vampire and Aurora.
“Yes, I’m Levi, Aurora’s best friend. And you must be the next ruling generation of the Crawford Pack. I haven’t seen much of you, but I’m already disappointed.” He said in a disparaging tone while locking gazes with every one of us.
“Levi, stop. Leave them alone. It’s my fault.” Aurora said, bringing my attention to her and the blazer wrapped around her waist.
“Your fault? How is this your fault? These assholes just think too much of themselves that they think anyone and everyone is after their money . . . and their status. Well, I’ve got news for you. Money isn’t everything in the world and even if it is, Aurora has—” Levi was saying, but he stopped as soon as Aurora stood behind him on the bed and tapped his shoulder twice.
He turned to her, their gazes locking as they shared a silent conversation that was very annoying because I couldn’t understand or take part in it. Whatever exchange they’d had in their silent conversation made the vampire stop talking as he glanced at us once and leaned close to her, scooping her up effortlessly into a bridal carry.
Then, with her face buried in his neck, she apologized in a quiet, hoarse voice that made me doubt myself, once again, for the third time this evening. “I’m sorry. I have no plans to do anything to your family. I just didn’t have any self-control. I can’t leave the Crawford Pack yet, but I’ll definitely disappear from your lives forever once the semester is over.”
With my heart beating so fast that I felt like it would plunge out of my chest, I watched my true mate leave with the unknown vampire. I parted my lips to say something, but I couldn’t find the right words to say as I stood there, in the same spot, warring with myself and trying to reassure myself that I was right. Aurora’s origin and many of her actions were indeed questionable.
As I stood there, rational thinking and my memories of Aurora flashed through my mind, warring against the anger and bitterness that had clouded my judgment all day long. When I thought, without the lens of irrational anger and jealousy, of the way Mateo and I had chosen to confront her by making a public viewing of her having sex with him to everyone at my birthday party, I realized that we might have gone too far. But wasn’t it too late to apologize?
If I ran after her now in front of my pack, then what about my pride? Even if I had made a mistake, she shouldn’t have run away before talking everything out with me. After all, I was her true mate.
Remembering that she was my only true mate in this world made me run down the stairs after her. However, by the time I got outside the mansion, I could only watch the vampire drive away with my mate in the latest Grimes Soul Tiger car, leaving me with the sinking feeling that I’d made a big mistake.
Aiden and I stood outside in the cold breeze for a while, staring after the car that had long disappeared from view. After a single glance at each other, we walked back to the party without speaking to each other, moving straight to the second living room with the big TV through which Mateo had broadcasted his seduction of Aurora.
Before I could do anything though, Aiden kicked the TV to the ground, breaking its screen and revealing just how angry he was at Mateo and I’s plan that involved embarrassing Aurora in front of the whole pack.
Now that I thought about it without the haze of anger, jealousy, and possessiveness that had overcome me when Mateo told me today that he found Aurora fucking a vampire while feeding him her blood, our idea was dumb.
Even if we wanted to confront her, we didn’t have to tarnish her reputation among everyone in the pack and at Crawford University because she wasn’t everyone’s favorite in the first place, especially after the words she said at the bar were spread around the University.
Even though I’d already made what was possibly a grave mistake that could cause an irreparable rift between me and my true mate, I knew I had to remedy it.
I grabbed Ryan’s arm to get his attention and whispered to him, “Gather everyone at this party in the big hall. We need to talk. Tell them . . . anyone who tries any funny business will face my wrath.”
Within ten minutes, the hall was full of people who had come to our party and the murmuring in the hall was rising steadily.
Only a small group of my party guests had been in the hall when the video started playing, so I asked a question first. “If you saw the video in the big living room down the hall, please raise your hand.”
Gradually, people and groups of people peppered in the crowd raised their hands.
“Alright. As your future Alpha, I’m going to give you an important order today. If you recorded any videos or the video was sent to you, you’re going to delete them and any backups you may have made right now. After today, you’re never going to talk about what happened with anyone, including those at this party. Do you understand?” I gave the order with the Alpha dominance that I’d been born with, which my father had helped me train for the purpose of leading the Crawford Pack.
“Understood, Alpha.” Everyone in the hall looked up at me, their eyes glowing as their wolf-halves responded on their behalf.
