25

Acela POV

I sit silently, not moving an inch as the letter I got is passed around the room. Inside the room are important family members, even the King's parents are here, Alfred and Claire Black, who I have not yet met until this unfortunate day.

Kane and Sora are here with Caelan and me, Lisla and her mate could not make it so it's just the important family members of the Black family and I sat inside the room with two of the Kings trusted men, a man named Larson and Lucas sit with a frown on their face as they read through the letter once again.

"There is no mistake, it's Lucius's handwriting." The man named Larson says as he passed the letter back to Kane.

Kane has been watching me carefully for reasons I do not know but it's starting to make me really uncomfortable and Caelan has noticed too how much his family and father have started to look at me.

Kane sighs. "I haven't heard anything from him in over 110 years, if Acela is his daughter she is in danger, he would not show himself unless someone found out about her." He says roughly as he glances around the room until his eyes land on me.

Caelan growls then stands up from the seat next to me to rip the letter from Kane's hands and then scrumples it up in his hands. "I can protect her, I don't need some Lycanthrope to protect my mate." He grits out angrily.

The room tenses and no one is saying anything, it is starting to annoy me how they do not acknowledge me in the room.

I clear my throat and everyone snaps their heads to me. "I want to meet him, alone, if he is my father I deserve to know what is going on." I say seriously and the room frowns.

Caelan's wolf comes out as he growls deeply. "No! You are going nowhere near him, he's dangerous Acela." He growls out and I ignore him as I look at Larson.

"Is he still there?" I ask him and he nods slowly while glancing at Caelan wearily.

"He's there, he is in the hotel and has not left but the lights are on." He simply says and Caelan growls louder.

Caelan sits on the sofa and grabs my hand in his as his empty black eyes stare back at me. "Acela, think about this, he is over thousands of years old, he could be using yo-"

I interrupt him and stand up angrily. I do not want to hear any more of this as I pick up the piece of paper that was ripped but still part of the address and phone number to contact him.

I look at Caelan and sigh. "I'm going to meet him, you can come with me and wait in the car or you can stay here." I say with no discussion as I turn and leave.

I need to grab my coat and phone... damn, am I doing the right thing? Is this crazy...? The room is deadly silent when I leave and Caelan doesn't follow me when I head straight up to his room in the palace to grab my things and change out of these clothes to something warmer as tonight is colder than usual in The Vale.

Upon brushing my teeth and brushing my hair, getting dressed, and wrapped up, I am all ready to go as I leave the Caelan's bedroom in the place and make my way down to the front entrance to get into one of the cars outside.

As I walk down the large palace stairs I see Caelan standing there with his back turned to me, he is wearing his coat. He turns when he hears me coming up behind him, he is frowning and no doubt wants to argue, hoping he could change my mind.

I interlock our hands before he opens his mouth and smile warmly at him as I lead him outside the palace doors when guards open them for us. A driver is already waiting for us as I had hoped, Caelan must've told them we were heading out.

It's currently late, 09:02 PM and the sky is a dark orange, large birds and creatures of The Vale fly around high in the sky. It's cold and getting dark, I hope Lucius does not mind that I show up at this time now that I think about it.

Caelan opens the door for me and I silently mutter a thank you as Caelan and the driver get into the car next, we all settle in and the driver drives off.

The air inside the car is thick with unsaid tension, no doubt Caelan is holding himself back but I can't blame him, it is in his nature to protect as it is in any relationship. I feel so bad for the way I talked in front of him in front of his family and the king.. I feel bad that I snapped but they were not listening to me the first time I said it and they all kept going over the pro's and con's.

It's simple if Lucius if my father I want to know why, why do all this... what does he get out of bringing me into the world and then forgetting all about me and my mother to do god knows what until now, where he thinks he can ask for a second chance after 21 years of my life.

We are almost there and Caelan shifts beside me, I look to him and see he is looking at me while biting his bottom lip. "Promise me you will mindlink me if you need me, I want confirmation every minute Acela, promise me." He begs and I smile and nod.

I lean forward until my head lays on his chest, his arms instantly go around me as he puts his head into my neck and kisses his mark on my neck. "I promise, it will be fine ok?" I say softly and he nods his head.

The car stops and I pull away from Caelan and my heart is beating out of my chest at the sight of meeting not only a famous person in history but also a Lycan King who may or may not be my biological father.

The driver opens the car door for me and before I get out of the car I lean into Caelan and place a soft kiss on his lips. "I'll be out in a flash ok? I love you." I whisper against his lips and he nods and kissing me back before I pull away and get out of the car.

The car is parked over the road from Lucius's hotel room, I get out from the car and wave at Caelan as he sits and watches me like a hawk as I walk over the road and towards the red door that has '97' in large numbers on the front door.

This is it. There is no turning back after this Acela, I breathe in deeply and raise my shaking right hand as I begin to knock loudly on the door of room 97.

I stand and wait until I hear the unlocking of chains on the door and I feel my heart in my mouth, it's beating that fast and I'm so nervous I could throw up.

The door opens slowly and that is when I look at the man named Lucius.

Lucius stands in front of me and I watch as his eyes go wide as his eyes never leave mine.

I swallow deeply and stand awkwardly as I stutter out. "L-Lucius? You a-are him, r-right?"

He nods his head and opens the door wide, I notice his eyes scan behind me until they land on the car, no doubt he has noticed Caelan is here with me.

"...Yes.. um, I'm so happy you came.. would you like to come inside? It's cold and I have coffee." He says politely with a nervous smile and I nod my head shyly.

I turn around and give Caelan a smile so he doesn't worry, he is frowning but nods his head once and then I head inside. Upon entering I notice there is no bags or personal items he brought with him, the bed looks untouched and nothing seems out of place.

I hear the door close and I watch as Lucius moves into the bedroom slash kitchen.

Lucius is young, no older than 40 in my eyes but that is impossible, he is over a thousand years old but you wouldn't think so by looking at him. He is neatly dressed in casual jeans and a sweatshirt with long sleeves, he has short hair with loose curls on his forehead and his eyes are the same blue as mine.