"Alright, thank you for your hard work, everyone," Aila said, dismissing everyone in the eting after their orders had been given. She wanted to join them in the search, but first, there was a pressing matter she and Damon wanted to resolve.
"Arie, Rune," Damon called out.
The pair stopped their exit, allowing others to pass by. Rune had been closing the gap between them to speak to Arie separately before their Alpha called them back.
Finn’s steps slowed, but one look from Damon and the Delta left. The Alpha King strolled back from the window to stand by his mate, who now sat at her desk, and gestured for Arie and Rune to sit.
Arie didn’t like the sudden attention on her, especially when Rune sat beside her. She was so attuned to Rune that it was a struggle not to turn and look at him, to follow the contours of his face and lock it safely in a mory.
"Rune." Aila clasped her hands together on the desk while Damon stood imposingly behind her. "From now on, you will no longer be guarding Arie."
Rune sohow sat straighter, his hands clasping at the arms of the chair. It was the only sign that he didn’t accept the news. "Am I incompetent as Arie’s guard?" He asked, totally composed and in control, exactly as Arie expected him to act.
Why would he act any differently?
Damon’s hand tightened on the back of Aila’s chair, the veins in his forearms and hands straining from the tension. ’Damon… He’s Finn’s son,’ Aila scolded him whilst keeping a straight face.
’Then he should know better and act the gentleman Finn is,’ Damon growled back, eyeing Rune almost as badly as he had that Kodi punk.
Aila ignored Damon’s grumblings and focused on Rune. "I think it is best for everyone that you are put elsewhere. We are doubling security on everyone, not just our children." She looked to her daughter, who looked both hopeful and upset by the situation. She was struggling to mask her features but did so before Rune could look at her.
"Arie, Detrius from the Black Forest pack will be your guard from now on-"
"Black Forest pack… That’s a lycan pack-"
"And they have been specially trained. Detrius is the best of the best," Aila interrupted Rune’s outburst, giving him another look that the Delta’s son had to lower his gaze to.
"Should we really look outside our pack for security?" Arie questioned quietly.
"They are trustworthy." Aila’s tone left no room for argunt. Arie slouched further in her chair, for once not sitting and acting the role of a princess.
I do not wish to be rude, Your Majesty," Rune began, keeping his gaze lowered as Damon’s chest rumbled and his eyes shimred like two full moons. Still, he continued, "But I know Arie best. Changing guards is going to make her more anxious when stepping out in public-"
"You know her better than her mother?" Aila’s eyebrow arched up. "You may have once been close, but I carried her for 9 months, and raised her. I can tell when a friendship has grown stale."
Rune bowed his head further, aware that he’d stepped over the line and hopefully wouldn’t voice his thoughts anymore. Alpha Damon watched him like a hawk, muscles tense and jaw ticking.
"Arie, how do you feel about this?" Aila looked at her daughter.
Arie felt Rune’s stare, but she looked at her mum. "I will do as you see fit. I must show my face. There is no doubt about that. We will prove to THEM that we, the Cross family, are in control. The public only knows that there has been an attack on the academies.
Until further information is released, I will prove the Cross family are not wavering."
Pride swelled in Damon and Aila’s chest. Not everyone understood that Arie was the ’face’ of the Cross na besides her older brother and parents. Arie understood the power of the dia and how to use it to her advantage from a young age. Aila thought her daughter took on too much, but she’d proven herself otherwise.
To others, Arie might look shallow and a burst of bubbly energy, but she took every little comnt on the chin and turned the tides of her followers’ opinions and that of the public to her advantage.
"Very well. Detrius should be here by the end of the day."
Arie rose from her chair, only pausing with a frown when she realised the lycan was already en route to Silver Crescent. She looked over her shoulder at her mum.
’I knew you wouldn’t decline this opportunity for so much-needed space,’ Aila mind-linked her before Arie could question her aloud, saving face.
Arie nodded once, then left the room with her head held high. She walked along the corridors, intent on returning to her room, ignoring Rune completely, even as his footsteps quickened and he grasped her wrist.
Arie stopped at his touch, her pulse skyrocketing. "Arie, wait." She stopped and looked down at her wrist.
Rune released her instantly. "It doesn’t have to be this way," he rushed out as Arie started to turn away wordlessly.
She forced herself not to scoff and looked back at his handso features. "Please, I’m the next Delta. I can’t look like I’ve failed at the only job I’ve been trained for."
"These are not my orders," Arie replied, looking away so she wouldn’t fold to the longing in her chest and those deep blue eyes.
"They asked you for your opinion!" Rune stepped forward, but Arie’s sharp look stopped him further. Their relationship was like broken glass, and the only way to converse now was to tread carefully around it.
Rune lowered his voice and calmly added, "You can stop this. Keep
as your guard."
Arie’s wolf snarled, awakening from her slumber at the tone in Rune’s voice. ’Is that an order, Delta heir?’
Although Rune couldn’t hear her, Arie’s eyes sliced through him with the piercing glowing eyes of her wolf. He dropped his gaze in respect.
Instead of voicing her wolf’s bitchiness-
’I’m standing up for us!’
Arie smiled softly, hoping her eyes did not betray her. "I’m sure Wren would feel more comfortable this way."
One ntion of her na and Rune did not utter another word. Arie turned away, ignoring the look on his face; it was the sa look he’d had ever since that day.
Don’t look at
like that.
"Don’t look at
like that…" The whispers of a past mory swept across Arie’s mind as her heels clicked against the ground, echoing as he walked away from him like they did 3 months ago.
"At least you found your mate! It’s a clean slate for you! Whereas I have to ignore…" She thumped her chest, gasping at the sharp pain. If her heart was made from glass, it had shattered into a million pieces.
"Arie…" Rune took a step in her direction, pain etched across his features. He reached out as though to comfort her.
"Don’t…" she hissed, eyes blazing, wolf snarling to protect what was left of her.
Arie shook her hands like shaking away the mory as she returned to her room. There wasn’t ti to dwell on sothing that could never be. She had to go live on her social dia and do what she could for Keira by being her glamorous self.
It had already been three days since her disappearance. When they were younger, it had been five until their parents tracked them down. Arie wouldn’t lose hope. Keira was tough. They all were. She could hold out until they arrived.
Sitting at the vanity table, the lights making her hair more radiant than before, Arie started brushing her make-up brush against her nose and placed so of her tools in front of her. This was a good ti when her followers were online the most.
She set her phone on the tripod by the lighting, which made her even more otherworldly and hit record.
??????????????????????
"You seen this shit?" Ash turned his phone in Kodi’s direction. He barely looked at the screen of Arie Cross smiling and talking to her followers, who gushed at her make-up and asked if she was okay.
"Oh, there’s nothing to worry about, my little pack mbers! As you can see, there’s not a scratch on ." She smiled beautifully at the cara.
Kodi scowled at the phone. "Little pack mbers?"
Ash shrugged. "The humans love it. Probably makes them feel special."
"And you follow her because...?"
"She’s hot?" Ash admitted unashadly.
"Turn it off. Her sunshine, rainbows and sparkles shooting from her ass and glittery personality pisses
off." Kodi reached for the phone as he continued striding through the parking lot.
"Hey!" Ash held the phone to his chest and then put it in his pocket. "You still owe
money for the last one you ruined."
"Stop watching nonsense, and I won’t break your things," Kodi snarled, his eyes glinting dangerously as his wolf rumbled beneath the surface.
Ash jumped back, startled. "Seriously, are you going to tell
what’s up yet? Your wolf is more feral than normal. He scares the shit out of . Isn’t this a good thing? The Princess has been kidnapped-"
Kodi’s hand shot out before Ash could finish, but he dodged it before the rogue’s wolf could hold him by the throat. "Shut up," he said gruffly, barely keeping his wolf restrained, wiping his hand across his face. "Let’s get this over with."
Ash watched Kodi a mont more, remaining quiet but annoyingly observant. Kodi could see him putting the pieces of a puzzle together. He looked ahead again, this ti not stopping as he walked towards the only place he deed worthy of excellent information: one of the rogue Hubs.
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