Chapter 28

Ayla’s POV

We made it home just in time to get changed for Laura’s planned meal. Unlike the other night, it was only for the visiting packs and their hosts. I knew Laura would kill me if I didn’t attend, especially as I had spent the whole day up and about.

Archer drove us back while I slept the whole way on Aiden’s shoulder. Hopefully, it will be just enough to get me through this evening. Then I can finally sleep in my bed. Right now, I didn’t have time to dream of sleep; I had to throw something on that looked like I gave a damn and made at least a small effort to look presentable.

Aiden had insisted; one of his brothers ran to their rooms and grabbed their clothes. He was making them change in my room. He didn’t want me to be alone for even a second. It was kind of sweet. This time though, I will not be looking at them change and getting dirty thoughts; I just don’t have the time!

Less than fifteen minutes later, we were stood at the top of the stairs, with barely any time to spare. Tristan watched me intently; it was odd and a tad off-putting.

“Why is he staring at me?” I thought, of course, my mates heard me.

“Who, Tristan?” Axel asked, staring in the same direction,

“Yeah, he keeps watching me?” it creeps me out a little.

“It’s probably because you look amazing, don’t worry about it; besides, you got us; you have nothing to worry about”, Archer reassured me.

Aiden gave me his arm; I took it and descended the stairs together. I had picked a cobalt lace halter neck dress. It was delicate and vintage, and I loved it. The colour always complimented my hair. I finished my look with black strappy, three-inch pencil heels and modest eye makeup. I had thrown my hair up in a high ponytail as I just hadn’t had time to wash it, so it was going to have to do.

Aiden, on the other hand, looked effortlessly stunning. He had on a three-piece black suit; his shirt was black as well as his tie. He looked important. With his piercing emerald eyes, it was hard not to keep looking at him. Right now, I had to focus on where I was stepping; I would only trip and fall flat on my face if I didn’t.

Archer and Axel followed after us. Axel was in a dark grey suit similar to his brothers, and Archer had on a light grey one, both with black ties. The only difference between them was Archer had his signature top knot in tonight; he was one of the only guys I have ever seen that can entirely pull it off. They looked just as good as Aiden. It was annoying. I couldn’t hold on to all three of them at the same time!

“Ayla, breathe! Remember, it’s fine,” Aiden muttered in my ear. I nod, not daring to talk; walking in heels and talking didn’t mix well for me.

“Tristan”, Aiden nods at the Sun Valley Rep.

“Aiden, hi, and Ayla, you look lovely. I’m so glad to see you feeling better” he smiled at me. Never had Tristan smiled at me, not once the whole time he had been here.

“Thank you” was my simple reply.

“This is Melody, Harrison and Tanya, representatives for the River Stone pack”, he indicated to each new person.

“Hey, it’s nice to meet you; sorry I haven’t said hi sooner; things have been a bit crazy around here for me lately,” I say, feeling slightly overwhelmed.

“That’s not a problem; I really hope you’re feeling better”, Melody replied; she seemed nice,

“Oh, sorry, how rude of me! This is Aiden, Axel and Archer, from the Shadow Forge pack” I introduce my men. Polite greetings were exchanged then we moved on. We needed to find Michael and tell him what we found.

“Over there”, I point him out.

When we approached, my father was in deep conversation with Elder Moira and her guests from the Molten Vale Pack.

“Ah, there she is, this is my daughter Ayla” Michael introduced me to his guests. “This is Layton and Ivy Von Core from the Molten Vale pack.”

“Hi,” I say quietly; they all but stuck their noses up at me. “It was lovely to meet you, but could I steal you for a moment, Alpha Michael, please,” I say with a smile.

“Oh, right, yes, of course” he smiled and stepped away.

“The study would be best,” I say in a calm voice, one only he could hear.

“What is wrong? Something is wrong, isn’t it,” he asks as we weave our way in and out of people to make it to his study.

“Not yet; everyone is still watching”, I utter, moving a little faster than I should. Good job; Aiden still had hold of me as I would have gone down twice by now.

Mason watched me the whole time as I walked with his father across the function room. He had Lucas and a couple of girls I hadn’t seen before. I was surprised I didn’t see Stacy hanging off his arm too.

“Wait, where was Stacy?” I thought, “she wouldn’t miss a function like this, not when it provided an opportunity for her to dress like a hoe and pretend she was classy.

“Focus, Babe, worry about her later”, I hear Axel in my head

Michael closed the door after us once we had all filed in. He looked flustered, a bit how I felt.

“Anyone wants to explain what’s going on?” he looked at each of us as he ran his hands over his chin.

“We found something today; we went for a walk and came across a cave”, I began to explain.

“You know that image on the scroll Aleena Read out to us, the one with the three guys and the girl” Archer pipes up

“Yes, what about it” Michael answered, his forehead furrowed, showing his age a little bit.

“The same image was on the cave wall, but with some writing under it”, Archer continued

“Okay, and you’re sure it was the same image” he pushed

“Yes, and Ayla could read it”, Axel added

“What? You could” he turned to me, confused.

“Yes, I put my hand on it, and suddenly I knew what it said, that was until I was thrown backwards by some unseen force” I was reliving the pain. “It said, Alune will rise again”, I recite “, whatever an Alune is, I don’t know.”

“We need to see Aleena”, He stated. “But we have to do your mother’s party first; you know how angry she would get if we bailed” we both made the same screwed-up face. Laura was sweet, but you never wanted to piss her off.

“When then?” I ask

“Tonight, once the party is over, meet me here, and we will go to the archives and see her; maybe she will know what to do, or at least where to look” Michael formulated our plan. “Now, go and look like you’re enjoying yourselves, oh and boys, hands to yourselves, remember,” he told them; he looked so stern, I rolled my eyes at him.

Aiden held the door for me; I stepped out, followed by the others, once more confronted with an entire room of people I didn’t want to spend my time with.

“Let’s get this over with then”, I sigh,

Stacy’s POV

Stupid formal meal, why did I have to go anyway. I didn’t feel like dressing up and throwing myself into a room with Jacob and Mason; they would both be there tonight. It would be impossible to avoid them both all night. I had laid my clothes on the dining room table, ready to change, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I wanted to stay here and curl up in my bed.

“Oh wait, I can’t! Bloody Miranda has my bed” I would scream and cry if I had the energy.

“Stacy, are you are getting ready, my love” I hear my mother calling from the kitchen,

There was no way she would let me get out of this meal either, not after I had begged her to make it so we could come too. My mother had a way of getting what she wanted. She had managed to persuade Laura to let the host family’s children attend tonight as well, so there was no way I could get out of it now,

“Yes, mum, I won’t be long” I heaved myself off the blow-up mattress. I pulled my baby blue bodycon dress over my head and looked at my makeup.

“It will take a miracle to make this mess look decent” I look at myself in the mirror and sigh, I looked awful, and I knew it.

Jaxon came to hurry me up ten minutes later, but I was already done. I wasn’t doing my whole make-up tonight; I didn’t feel like it. Instead, I went for simple make-up that at least made me look fresh and not like I had been crying all afternoon. I left my hair loose and wore matching baby blue classic heels. I could do classy if I wanted to. I just typically chose to do sexy.

“Oh, you’re ready!” my brother sounded surprised. “Stacy, you look nice, by the way; that look suits you.”

“Thanks”, I mutter; I didn’t have it in me today to give him a sarcastic response.

“Let’s go; everyone is in the car waiting already” he ushered me out the door.

The driveway leading up to the pack house was full of cars tonight. So, we had to park further away and walk up to the doors. I didn’t even complain about that either. Usually, I would insist my father drop me by the door so I could make a grand entrance; today, I walked through the door behind my brother, hoping to just slip off to the side unnoticed.

For me, it was customary to be the centre of attention; I was always the boldest, sometimes loudest, and always looked the best. So, this more dressed, quiet look I had gone for was doing what I needed. I was able to hover around at the back and people-watch. I had already spotted Jacob. He was standing with his family. He didn’t look thrilled to be here either. My heart ached when I looked at him.

I then watched Ayla and the chase brothers nip off with the Alpha. They were gone for a short while. Something was going on there. I saw Mason on the other side of the room, watching too. He looked ready to explode.

“If I could find out what was going on and then be the one to tell Mason, maybe he would look at me the way he was looking at that other girl earlier,” I thought to myself; a plan started to formulate in my mind.

That’s when Mason locked eyes with me. He looked mad; I thought he would lose his shit with me, but then he smiled and started to walk over. My heart was in my mouth; what was he going to say. I couldn’t bear any more rejection today.

“Stacy, I was looking for you”, he cooed at me.

“Really, well, here I am” I tried to play it cool. He looked amazing as always, his sleeves were rolled to the elbow, and his top button was undone.

“Of course, you left my room so fast earlier I didn’t get to find out what you needed,” he said as he stepped closer to me, forcing me to look up at him. He ran his hand down my arm, making me feel like I couldn’t breathe, like I had lost the ability to speak correctly. All this time chasing him, and now he’s paying me attention, I didn’t know what to do with it.

“Oh, I …umm….it was nothing important”, I stammer whilst another bout of tingles ran through my body; I shivered. He was affecting me.

“You look beautiful tonight, by the way”, he had bent to whisper in my ear. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I saw Jacob from the corner of my eye; he was watching us and fuming. I tried to block him out but couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“Thanks…umm… Mason” I sounded so dumb right now; if it were anyone else, I would be laughing my head off at them.

“Say, if you are free later, you could come to see me in my room if you like” he kissed my cheek, winked at me and walked away.

“What the hell just happened” I couldn’t wrap my head around the massive change of events, and part of me didn’t want to.