31

Acela POV

It's been a week since the execution of Rudo.

I have not heard or seen from Lucius since I told him I never wanted to see him again, him or my 'mother' who is now alive and well, no doubt living with Lucius.

After they left I did get to talk to my 'half brothers' about the situation, they have welcomed me anytime to visit, write or even phone if I needed anything or simply wanted to talk. Since then I have kept in regular contact with all three, becoming good friends with Leon, Christophe, and Maximus.

Caelan and I have never been better, after that night with Lucius and the Execution... I had found out I was indeed pregnant...

Let's say I was not amused like Caelan was, it still feels too soon, but the man is insatiable with impregnating me, wolves are all the same in his culture, starting a family as soon as possible.

Nobody but family and friends know, I don't want news getting out about my personal life, if we can, Caelan and I want to keep it a secret till the end, for the pups sake at a normal welcoming into the world.

Irelia and I are drinking ice tea in the garden of my and Caelan's new home, we finally moved in yesterday and everything has been rearranged with new furniture. I sold my apartment and my business with Mason is now officially mine, I own the shop but no longer work there, with the two attempts on my life, Caelan refused to let me, which I completely understand.

With a new life growing inside of me, I feel overprotective over the little one, Caelan too, if not worse than me, he fusses over everything and doesn't let me go anywhere by myself or do anything alone.

"So what's new with you and Justin?" I ask Irelia who drinks her tea with a sudden grin.

She flashes me a ring and I zero in on it. "We eloped!" She says happily showing me her hand.

I smile widely at the ring and hold her hand to get a better look. "Holy crap, congratulations! When did this happen?" I ask her as she giggles happily.

"Last week, it was magical Acela, he was so weird the whole day, asking me if I was warm or cold the whole day, eventually it got cold during our date near the lake and he took out a magical ruby heat stone, except he didn't give it to me, he pulled me up to stand and he got down on one knee and boom! Like that the stone turned into a ring with the ruby inside." She says as she dreamily admires her hand with the ring on it.

I move to sit next to her and hug her which she accepts with a laugh. "It's so gorgeous! Wow, I can't believe Justin, that is so romantic." I say with a sigh as I grin at her happiness.

"What's romantic?" A voice says, startling Irelia and I.

Caelan walks out through the double doors and into the garden where we are sitting, he's carrying a bag of bagels and a tray of drinks, with my shop logo on them.

I smile at him in appreciation and admire how good-looking he is, dressed casually with his hair messy, I love him when he is like this, like a normal man and not the next King of The Vale.

"Irelia and Justin got married last week!" I tell him happily as I show him her hand which Irelia shows giddily with a grin on her face.

His eyes widen slightly then he smiles. "Congratulations." He says to her and she smiles happily and thanks to him as she admires her ring with a loving smile.

Caelan sits next to me and places a bagel on my lap with a drink and hands Irelia her food too. I look to Caelan and he's oddly quiet, usually, he is talking a lot more than this, even with company.

I try to listen in on his thoughts but I'm still not good at it, not from lack of practice, but I can feel that he is nervous slightly, maybe worried? Not fear, I can't place it, he's acting odd..

He sees me looking at him and he winks at me with a smirk, I blush and turn and dig into my bagel, filled with everything that I love, he amazes me every day with how much he pays attention to every single thing if I eat something more than once, he knows I like it and will buy it often for me, same with everything else, he is really the cutest sometimes.

After we are done eating, Justin came to collect Irelia, she told me they were going on vacation in the human realm, to which Caelan upgraded their flight plan with his private plane as a marriage gift from both of us, he had told me when they left that he had also changed their hotel rooms to the honeymoon suite, to which Justin will probably get some bonus points from Irelia once she is done freaking out.

Caelan and I are sitting in the kitchen and he is reading something in the newspaper as I try to figure out what he is hiding. "Anything interesting?" I ask, hinting towards the paper.

He smiles and shrugs. "Nope." He simply says.

He closes the newspaper then turns to me, he holds my hand and kisses it, looking into my eyes he grins. "I'm taking you out tonight." He says and I laugh nodding my head.

I gasp jokingly as he holds my hand. "Is this a date Mr. Black?" I say and he grins.

He shrugs. "Yes, our first of many."

He swallows hard and I catch him deep a deep breath. "I need to go somewhere.. uh.. yeah.. I will be back in an hour, is that enough time to get ready?" He asks nervously as he rubs the back of his neck and I watch amusingly at how weird he is being.

I think about it and nod my head. "Yeah, that should be fine." I say smiling at his nervousness.

He gets up from his seat and smiles. He leans in and kisses me on the forehead then on my lips softly. "I love you, I'll see you in a little while." He says as he looks down at me lovingly.

I laugh and nod my head. "I love you too, now shoo." I say jokingly and he laughs huskily, grabbing his car keys.

I watch him leave and his ears are slightly red, telling me everything in that instant, he was nervous to ask me on a date! Definitely, maybe it's his first date? Or maybe it's because this will be my first date?

Oh crap, what do I wear? I forgot to ask Caelan and he is out the door and in his car driving off.

Now I'm the nervous one.. moving from my seat I go to our bedroom bathroom and begin to get ready, my nerves all over the place as I start the shower.

I'm getting excited for tonight, I wonder what Caelan has been up to..

*****

I get ready in record time within an hour and I must say, I have done quite a good job on myself.

I went with a wrap hem satin dress with straps, it's baby blue and it was a gift from Caelan I haven't had a chance to wear until now, he got me a completely new wardrobe full of everything I would need, clothes with all my right sizes, even the bras were the right size which still makes me happy, Caelan never seems to stop surprising me.

Finishing up the final touches on my makeup, I hear the front door and someone is knocking.

Odd, did Caelan forget his keys? He had them on his car keys the last time I checked.

I frown and walk out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the front door, I see the shadow of a man from the glass window on the door and it's not Caelan.