6

Acela POV

I take a left turn and head straight to the breakfast dining room, the same room I first met the King and Queen of The Vale. But this time I walk without Elizabeth and definitely not with any breakfast.

I'm meeting ALL of Caelans family, as his mate, apart from his grandparents who couldn't make it.

Since they know about me it's not a big revocation for them but Caelan said there was nothing to worry about since they have already accepted me into the family the instant Caelan knew I was his mate. But I have a feeling this 'meeting' isn't just to get to know each other.

It will be the first time I am meeting Lisla properly though, she seems really nice and her mate Rodale will be there too, I had no idea she had a mate, usually the royal families life is very public but they keep a very tight hold on their personal life, which is no doubt very hard from how many people work in the palace alone, not to mention those who work around the palace outside.

Two guards in uniform outside the doors stare down at me. "State your business." One says.

Before I get a chance to answer a voice interrupts me. "Acela?" Caelan says as he comes up from behind me.

When the hell did he get here? "Hey." I say looking away from the guards who look mad at me for some reason.

Caelan growls scarily which makes my skin crawl. "She's my mate, show some fucking respect." He says annoyed to the two guards which completely catches me off guard by how much his voice got scarier and dominating as both of the guard's freeze. The two guards pale as they bow and avoid eye contact with me while I just stand there baffled. He didn't need to stand up for me or talk that way to them..

"Let's go inside, they are waiting." He says lacing our hands together as he smiles handsomely at me, his voice is back to normal when he speaks to me.

I nod my head nervously as I feel my hand get hot and a little sweaty in his.

Ugh, Acela gross, I hope he doesn't notice.

The doors open for us and Caelan leads us inside, my hand in his tightly as his hold refuses to let me escape his hand. The first thing I notice is how chatty everyone is at the table as they all laugh at something Princess Lisla is saying.

"OH there they are, I thought I heard voices outside the door!" Lisla says happily.

The King turns around and glances at our hands holding and I feel like I just got caught doing something illegal, but then he smiles and stands up and comes towards Caelan and I, I see the Queen, Sora also stands and come and join her husband.

Something incredible happens as the king HUGS me, Caelan releases his hand from mine and the king wraps his large arm around me in a 'bro hug' kind of way then releases me, happier than his half-smile he has earlier. "It's nice to finally meet you Acela." He says and I instantly feel drunk. The King just hugged me and he is happy to meet me. Totally normal.

Queen Sora grins as she stands near her husband. "I knew I had a good feeling about you Acela, welcome to the family." She says lovingly and I feel less tense when she speaks, a sense of calm comes over me like when Caelan is near me.

"You're smothering her." Caelan says annoyed as he puts his arm around my waist while his parents just smile knowingly at each other.

Lisla giggles from the table. "Can you blame them, you finally have a mate! I thought it'd never happen."

Caelan glares at her hard as he leads us to the table to sit, where tea and afternoon sandwiches and snacks are lined up, untouched waiting to be eaten. The king sits at the head table while the queen sits next to him, smiling happily at me and Caelan.

I wonder when Lisla met her mate? I read somewhere that wolves usually find their mate at 18, being 100 makes Caelan seem abnormal meeting me this late, but since I am only 19 that is probably why.. I wonder if he ever felt like he did not have one.. the thought makes me sad and feel guilty about wanting to keep us a secret, he must've waited for this moment ever since he was young, a mate is your other half and without them, wolves feel half full.

"Are you okay?" Caelan whispers in my ear which makes my face go hot as I nod.

The king clears his throat as I look at him to see he is always looking at me. "How old are you Acela? If you don't mind me asking." He asks while causes Sora to frown.

"Kane, why does that matter?" Sora says annoyed.

I decide to spare the king as it's a perfectly normal question.. just a little odd. "I'm 19 sir." I say confidently as I can while my left leg shakes nervously.

He raises a brow and I feel Caelan squeeze my hand a little tighter. "Call me Kane." He says with a smile.

Caelan slams the table and everyone looks to him surprised, I turn to him to see he is glaring at Kane clearly angry. "Can't you just drop it?" He says sounding really mad.

Did I miss something? What the hell is going on?

The man opposite me, Lisla's mate who hasn't spoken until now speaks. "We are just looking out for you Caelan." He says trying to calm him.

"I don't want your fucking opinion, it has nothing to do with you!" Caelan says staring deadly at Rodale, which makes look taken back by what he said.

I feel totally left out at whatever is happening and I don't know what is going on one bit as I try to make myself as small as possible.

The king growls warningly making Caelan growl back just as warningly as there seems to be a silent battle going on without words and the table tenses at the scene unfolding.

"Alright behave, all of you!" Sora says standing up annoyed. "Can we please have tea and not scare poor Acela." The queen says looking at me worriedly as I sink further into my chair as all eyes go to me guilty.

Caelan sighs deeply beside me as he sits and puts his warm hand in mine as I look at him finding his face calmer and his eyes are softer and less angry as he looks at me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He apologizes to me while frowning at the rest of the table.

"Let's move on shall we? Great!" Sora says sounding exhausted as the table silently nod.

*****

We all finished our lunch and tea and talked about where I'm from and my hobbies along with how I feel working here.. All without another argument starting again. Caelan and the king made small talk here and there but it was still very tense between them both as they seemed to avoid each other's gazes, which all at the table noticed.

"I want to apologize, I had hoped it would go right, I hope I didn't ruin your lunch." Caelan says sounding sincere beside me on the bed as I browse through Netflix looking for something to watch.

I smile reassuringly at him as he relaxes slightly. "It's okay, if you want to talk about it you can tell me." I tell him.

He sighs heavily and stares at me without saying anything.

I shift uncomfortably from his gaze as I start playing a random movie just to break the awkward tension in here, plus I'm alone with him again, in my room. He insisted on bringing me back then practically planted himself in my room, took his shoes off, and made himself at home.