12
Acela POV
I shift uncomfortable trying to get free from this super warm blanket but it won't budge. I can't breathe it's so warm and I'm getting irritated because now I have to wake up and I don't want to.
Blinking my eyes open to adjusting to the sun coming through my curtains, the things thing I see is arms.. big tan strong arms wrapped around my waist in a hug, and then it all comes rushing back to me.
Caelan slept over last night and is sleeping in my bed.
I suddenly feel scared to move in case I wake him up, I slowly go and grab hold of my phone on the bedside table and I see it's only 6 AM, ugh why the hell am I awake this early? The screech from outside makes me groan as the beasts in the sky let everyone know they're awake as they begin to get louder. The Vale has gargoyles, they are the new pigeons in this realm and I'm still not used to the sound of them every morning, but I'm slowly getting there.
I try to get out of Caelan's hold but he is holding onto me so tightly it's making it impossible to break free, and why is he so warm? I really need to pee and he's got a bear grip on me.
"Caelan." I whisper quietly to him. "Caelan I got to pee." I say embarrassingly.
I feel him shift behind me as his arms loosen their hold on me, he moans deeply in my neck and my legs clench at the sound as he causes sparks from his touch. "Morning love." He says in a deep raspy voice as he stirs awake and I feel him move away from me to stretch.
Freedom!
I get up from the bed and tiptoe to the bathroom, trying not to pee myself. I hear his husky laugh as I close the door without looking back at him then lock the door.
I finish up and brush my teeth and wet my face as I open the door to see Caelan is sitting up, he notices me and smirks and my stomach flips at how crazy attractive he is. He's shirtless and only wearing boxers... it took me so long to fall asleep last night, I could feel his big... third hand.. it got so hard to not think about it.
I'm definitely not ready to face that yet, nope.
"Your phone rang while you were in there." He says as I frown. I walk over to my phone and see I have a lot of missed called and texts from multiple people.
"That's odd." I mumble out as I sit on the edge of the bed.
Caelan comes closer. "What's odd?" He breathes out against my face as he rests his chin on my shoulder, looking down at my phone.
Something has happened and Mason is pissed. I haven't seen this many text messages from him ever, he thinks phones are pointless but only uses them for his human friends and me, which I find very sweet. I open the first message I see.
5 Minutes ago.
Mason: Do not come to work! and turn on the TV.
"That is indeed odd." Caelan says amused as I frown and grab my remote to turn the TV on.
Instantly as the TV turns on I see my and Caelan's face plastered on TV with giant letters saying;
"Rumor has it: Prince Caelan found his mate, true or false?"
Two TV presenters begin to talk. "Well Boren, I think we will be seeing a lot more of the mysterious human girl our Prince has been spotted with not once.. but twice! Palace officials have not yet released a statement about these claims but we did get a comment from Princess Lisla, the Prince's sister.
"Princess Lisla, what do you think about the new rumors spreading your brother the Prince has found his mate? Is it true?" A reporter holding a mic asks as Lisla walks with bodyguards.
She smiles knowingly and shrugs. "There's a rumor?" She says laughing softly. "You know I don't gossip." She says before two angry men, most likely her bodyguards shove the camera away and the feed cuts off.
"Well, there we have it." A news presenter says with a humorous laugh.
"Oh hold on viewers! Word just got in, we know the name of the mysterious girl as reports are coming in live from downtown, let's go there live with Ricao."
The camera switches and a man stands outside 'Coffee Heaven' and I instantly pale and hear Caelan curse under his breath, I feel him shift and grab his phone and get off the bed as I listen to the reporter talk outside my shop with panic cursing through my whole body as he talks behind a huge crowd of people outside.
"I'm standing outside 'Coffee Heaven' right now and the crowds are here to get a glimpse of our possible future queen. 21-year-old Acela Shaw, born and raised in the human realm in Europe-"
Caelan turns the TV off as I feel my heartbeat in my ears as I silently panic at what I have just seen, on nation TV, LIVE!
I look to Caelan and he's on the phone, he looks deadly right now and whoever he phoned picks up the phone.
"Put dad on the phone." He says angrily as he starts to pace the room, getting more pissed off with each step.
Oh my god.. what is happening? They knew everything about me in such a small time. This can't be happening.
I feel sick..
My phone keeps ringing from numbers I don't recognize, I look to Caelan and he shakes his head as he grabs hold of my phone and turns it off.
"Someone fucking did!" Caelan says angrily into the phone with a snarl as his eyes shift color.
I grip my head as I try and not have a panic attack, I try to calm my breathing as I begin to sweat and feel my heart rate skyrocket as I recall the number of people that were outside my shop. Oh god.
Mason! I hope he managed to make it out without being spotted or harmed in any way.
Oh god, everyone knows.
They all know who I am.
"Acela?" Caelan says as he kneels in front of me looking up at me worried.
I close my eyes and release a shaky breath. "Do... do they know everything?"
I feel him tense, I open my eyes to see him frown but nod once and I want to disappear into thin air at this moment. "Oh god." I groan into my hands.
"My life.. my shop, w-what a mess." I groan out.
Caelan moves my hands away from my face as holds my hands in his. "I'm so sorry Acela." He sighs out annoyed.
"Someone must've recognized you from your shop or inside the palace. I promise I will fix this." He says reassuringly to me and I shake my head.
"How can you fix this? What if they find out everything else?" I say horrified as I see him frown.
