30

~Aurelia Williams~

There was a knock at my door in the morning. Like every day, it could only be Stevens picking me up for breakfast. And I was right. Who else would it be?

"Good morning sleepyhead."

"Morning," I muttered into my pillow. I had become a real morning grouch here, but how could you even get out of this big comfortable bed? It was like sleeping on clouds.

It was my penultimate night here. The ball would be tomorrow. That same night, when the alpha and all the other wolves are distracted anyway, we want to get out of here.

"Are you sure you want to leave your pack?" I asked uncertainly. "This is your home, your family. You shouldn't give this up for me." Even if I would like to have him there, I don't want him to regret it later.

"Auri, I would die for you too. That means yes, I'm sure. All I want is to know you're safe. Besides, who would drive you? Or have you recently got a driver's license?"

"No," I admitted, embarrassed. Who could have paid me for that? Certainly not my father.

"Come on, get dressed and off to breakfast."

Said and done.

After breakfast I changed into black leggings and a blue sports bra.

Steven and I had arranged to go jogging. After all, I have nothing else to do. In addition, we could continue to tinker with our plan. His things were already in the car. He still had something with him at home and yesterday he packed up and got everything he needed.

It made me nervous thinking about tomorrow night. I hoped everything would go according to plan and if not, we still had plan B, which is where Inala comes in.

"Ready?" Steven asked, grabbing me as soon as I left my room.

"Yes, let's go."

We jogged a bit away from the pack house and stopped at a small pond. This had been my favorite place for the past few days. It was quiet here and you could see two swans swimming on the pond.

Here we sat on the edge and looked at the calm water.

"I'm a little afraid of tomorrow, Steven," I admitted.

"Don't worry, it's going to go wrong," he began to calm me down. "Um, about tomorrow...?"

"Yes?" I turned my head to Steven and saw him looking at me and blushing a little. "What about tomorrow?"

"Would you go to the ball with me?" He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Of course I'll go with you, dumbass." I nudged him lightly and we both started laughing.

Steven started tickling me and bent over me until he was lying on top of me. His face inches from mine. Our lips so close we could feel each other's breath.

We stopped laughing and made a first face. I stared into his ice blue eyes, which glared at me. It was as if I could see deep into his soul. And all I saw there was sincerity and love. But how do I feel about him? Can years of friendship suddenly turn into love if I've never felt before?

Steven bridged the last few millimeters and kissed me gently. His kisses felt feather light on my lips and I sank into the kiss. I opened my mouth and Steven accepted the invitation to suck his cock into my mouth.

Even if it felt nice, something wasn't right about it... Still, I continued to kiss him back. He was far too good a kisser to just stop.

It felt like we had been kissing for hours when he finally stopped. He pulled away and gave a crooked grin. Then he got up and gave me his hand to then pull me up.

Instead of withdrawing my hand, I decided to just keep holding Steven's hand. So we walked leisurely back to the pack house.

"Do you dare to talk to the alpha alone?" he broke the comfortable silence.

"Not really. Why?"

"I was hoping we could put your suitcase in the car. But if the alpha or the beta crosses our path, someone needs to distract them and I don't think it would be that noticeable for you."

"If they cross our path..." I began, emphasizing the 'if'. "...I'm sure I'll think of something."

We finally arrived at the pack house hand in hand and immediately went to my room to get the suitcase.

In fact, we were lucky and nobody met us in the house. We also got to Steven's jeep unhindered and were able to load the suitcase in the trunk. Unfortunately, luck stopped there again, because suddenly I heard the voice of the beta. "Steven, what are you and Aurelia doing at the cars?"

Heck, he must have gotten suspicious and had to make sure we didn't try to escape.

But all good, because we wouldn't do that until tomorrow night.

I couldn't see the beta yet, but his footsteps were getting closer. Suddenly Steven grabbed my waist and pushed me to the car. Shortly thereafter, he began to kiss me stormily.

Are you serious? That would only make the beta even more suspicious. A werewolf kissing a human? He's definitely not going to like that. Most wolves here despise me too much for that.

But now it was too late anyway. The beta pulled around the car and found us snogging.

Before I could pull away from Steven, the Beta grabbed his shoulders and pinned him to the side of the car next to the Jeep. He began to growl low and menacingly.

"You have no right to touch her!" he yelled at Steven.

What did he have now? Is it really that bad that I'm human? Wasn't my best friend even allowed to touch me? Am I poisonous?...So I was right in my assumption.

Steven's expression went from shocked to angry. Surely he wouldn't

"WHO SAYS THAT?" Steven yelled angrily and headbutted the Beta, sending him staggering back.

"JUST BECAUSE SHE IS HUMAN? YOU ALL HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE PEOPLE! YOU DON'T EVEN TRY TO GET TO KNOW THEM." Steven freed himself and swung back. It was brave of him to protect me from the beta. I also found him very brave at that moment, even though my worries about him outweighed it.

The Beta deftly deflected Steven's punch and snapped his arm. The next moment Steven was already with his head on the ground. The Beta twisted his arm behind his back, locking Steven in that position.

"Never forget your rank, kid!" he began to snarl. "You're lucky I'm the beta. If the alpha were here, he would have bitten your head off."

Then he released Steven, before that he pushed his arm up hard, making Steven whimper, and then he grabbed my upper arm and pulled me with him.

"Let go of me!" I snapped, trying to break free of his grip, but no chance with a werewolf.

The beta kept pulling me and eventually took me to the pack house and then on to my room. He pushed me in gently and then slammed the door and locked it. I didn't even know he had a key too.

Great, now I'm locked in my room alone again. What a step backwards.