Chapter 18

Alekai and I lay cuddling in the car's back seat, his arms holding me tightly to him as I play with his hair. His eyes are closed lightly, and I smile as he dozes off. The last few days, I have noticed how tired he has been, knowing now that it was for unveiling a new school that will help the future of the Kingdom. The car continues along the road, and I stare out the window, wondering what surprise Alekai has for me. The city is long gone, and nothing but farmland and crops fill my view. The simplicity of it is breathtaking and quaint. Time passes, with Alekai still dozing and me watching the scenery until the car turns onto a simple dirt road and slows down to a stop in front of a large farmhouse.

“Alekai, I think we are here,” I whisper, shaking him slightly. He groans and mumbles something under his breath, his arms hugging me tighter. I chuckle, enjoying his childish behaviour and shake his shoulders once more.

“Alekai, wake up,” I call out slightly louder, feeling the man holding me stir until his eyes slowly open and a yawn escapes his lips.

“Are we there yet?” He mumbles, rubbing his eyes, and I giggle.

“You tell me, considering you never told me where we are going,” is my retort, gaining an eye roll in an un-princely manner. He sighs, letting go of me and pushing himself up into a sitting position, looking out the window as a large grin spreads across his face.

“Yeah, we are here.” His chuckle makes me smile as I sit up, taking a better look at the farmhouse while smoothing out my clothes, Alekai taking the time to button his pants and give me a once over, making sure both of us look presentable.

“You ready for your surprise now?” His question excites me, and I nod, excited to stretch my legs, breathe in the fresh country air, and find out what we are doing here. He chuckles again, running his fingers through his hair one last time before opening the door, exiting the vehicle before offering a hand out to me that I graciously take and—with his help—exit the vehicle. Nick is leaning against the driver's door, a lit cigarette in hand as he nods at us respectfully. Alekai leads me towards the back. As we grow closer, the distinct sounds of puppies reach my ears, and a giddy feeling rises inside me.

"Are those…?" I ask excitedly, stopping in my tracks at the prospect of owning a pet.

“Why don’t you go and see?” With his permission, I smile and quickly release Alekai’s hand, running the rest of the way to where the sound is coming from, seeing a pen full of puppies of different colours exploring the backyard.

“So, do you like your surprise?” Alekai comes up behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist as I watch the fluffy creatures chase after one another.

“I love it! I was never allowed to own a pet growing up. I had planned to adopt one, maybe a cat, once my studies were finished.” I answer happily, noticing a small white puppy ignored by all but one of their littermates.

“Your Highness, glad to see you came!” A voice calls out, and a man comes walking towards us from a building just slightly off to the right, with six large dogs trailing behind him.

“Thank you, Jones. As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to bring my girlfriend here for a gift. Do you have any recommendations?” I listen as Alekai takes the lead, my eyes still on the two pups, a white one with fur that shimmers in the light and a pure black one that shields her from the other pups that try to bully her.

“Well, as you know, our wolfdogs are popular with the nobles, so I would suggest one of the largest of the litters we have. All are twelve weeks old and ready to go.” Jones, the man who I assume is the breeder states, and I frown. The two pups that have caught my attention were outcasts, that much I can tell, and as wolfdogs, they would not survive in the pack.

“What do you do with the runts and outcasts?” I ask, watching a larger wolfdog walk over to the two pups and growl at the black one for biting a grey pup that tried to attack the white one.

“We sell those for cheap to the nobles or to other farmers as farm dogs. But most of the time, we find them dead because of the pack’s animosity to them.” He states plainly. I frown at his answer, walking away from the two and carefully scooping the black and white pups into my arms, doing my best not to startle them as I notice a surprised look on Jones’ face and an amused smile on Alekai’s.

“I’ll take these two,” I state, determined to keep these two pups from any harm.

“Are… Are you sure?” Jones asks, perplexed by my statement.

“Very. They need a good home, and I plan to give them one.” I stare adamantly at the breeder before looking at Alekai, hoping he will say yes to this.

“I did say this is your surprise, and if those two are what you want, then we’ll take them, Lyra.” A grin spreads across my face as Alekai consents, and I look down at the pups in my hands, both staring at me with bright blue eyes.

“If you insist, I will sell them to you at the regular discount. By the way, these two are from completely different litters if you wish to breed them.” I look up at the two men, happy to know that my surprise is something I wanted as a child, and wonder if Alekai already knew this about me. He is a business partner with Uncle Elyse, and in the Duke’s house, it was common knowledge that I wanted a pet. Alekai leaves with the man to pay for the wolfdog pups in my arms while I decide to sit on the grass, petting the two new members of my family. I start pondering the possibility of breeding my own wolfdog pack if I want to, and realize that Alekai had called me his girlfriend to Jones.

“Ready to go?” Alekai calls out, snapping my attention to him.

“Yes. Thank you for the surprise.” I carefully stand, keeping the two pups in my arms and make my way to where Alekai stands, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and kissing my forehead.

“Why don’t we head home then and get these two settled in.” I nod and lean into his embrace as we walk back to the car.

“I see she didn’t run away,” Nick states the moment I step into view.

“Why would I? I have a home and a boyfriend,” I snap back, my statement causing Alekai to chuckle.

“That’s right, and I have a girlfriend,” He agrees, kissing my forehead once more and helping me into the car. Nick grumbles something under his breath. I ignore the man; instead, I settle the pups onto the seat beside me as Alekai climbs in and closes the door before the car drives away and back home.

“Any idea on what to call these two?” He asks, and I turn to look at the now-sleeping pups.

“Nova for the girl and Chaos for the boy.”