"They're downstairs, Prince," he revealed, which made me smirk.
"Excellent. Bring them up."
"Yes, Prince."
Once the doors closed, Jayce decided to ask the prime question.
"So what pissed you off?" The question was directed at Aurelia, and the way her energy spiked made the rest of them tense up. Even Onyx was on edge as he held Willow a little tighter.
"Alright," Saint began with his hands up in defense. "If you're going to kill us, just know we didn't hurt Willow at all."
"She knows that," I casually commented and took the risk of walking over to grab a glass of champagne. This conversation wasn't going to need me to be sober, and though I had to be careful about how much I drank, I wasn't going into this next set of madness without a spike of delicious alcohol.
I took a long sip, before turning my head slightly in Aurelia's direction.
"Who fucked with you and why did you prevent Zane from coming here?"
"How do you know Zane?" she countered. "He only works with royalty and Coven leaders."
My poor cheeks were enduring far too much smiling today, but the night, or should I say early hours of the morning, were granting me far too much amusement to not be in a good mood.
I found my mate, returned to my base, and would shortly enjoy some bloodshed. This level of immense joy could be catastrophic if I allowed it.
No one replied, and the silence only confirmed what she was asking. Instead, she turned her attention to Onyx. "Start talking. I already know about Willow's suicide attempt. A recap is only going to make me kill a few more people on the rather lengthy list."
"Who did you kill?" Onyx questioned with a grim voice. I could feel his worry - not for those slain by Aurelia's wrath, but at the idea of what was going to commence afterward if he didn't speak properly.
It amazed me how Willow and Aurelia could make this man question his ability to survive against them, but then again, the idea of facing either powerhouse of estrogen wouldn't be a fight without a few lost limbs.
"Unimportant." Her aura grew further. "Now explain."
"We were supposed to go on a run," Saint spoke up instead. "Jayce and Willow went for a run, only to be ambushed. When we arrived, Dimitris was controlled to blame Willow for Jayce getting hurt. It was a complete setup by Dubai's pack. They had a fae with them, which makes sense with how easily Dimitris was controlled. Things got bloody, but Willow snapped and took care of them. But that triggered her to go on a killing spree at the safe house that we had no clue was being raided. By the time we figured things out, we found suicide notes, and Onyx and Neo were able to locate her."
"Where?" I felt like she already knew where we'd found Willow, but she wanted confirmation.
"The cliff," I responded. "Where she died that first time by that prick."
She didn't seem surprised that we knew the story, or maybe the burning rage that she was fighting to keep inside was overriding that emotion.
"We saved her, Aurelia." Onyx's voice was surprisingly soft. "A third party assisted her, and she was brought to the Alpha Forest. Her wolf was awakened when we arrived."
Aurelia remained quiet but I sensed her gaze went from Onyx to me, and then back to Willow. "She's mated to both of you?"
"That obvious?" Onyx inquired.
"No," she replied. "Your auras blend perfectly," she huffed.
"You don't sound pleased at all," Jayce acknowledged.
"I'm not," she admitted and her eyes landed on me. "You're the one I'm worried about."
"As you should be," I replied just as the elevator dinged and opened. I didn't need to turn my head to sense Dimitris and Viktor's arrival, but I did feel their shift in energy as they walked into the rather tense atmosphere.
"Aurelia?" Viktor questioned. "Why do you look like you're going to murder someone?"
"We were mid-conversation," she huffed. "Aside from the fact I almost lost my best friend due to her killing herself."
Dimitris's energy seemed to dim a bit, and I knew he was still beating himself up about that.
"She already apologized for it, Aurelia," Onyx whispered.
"It shouldn't have happened," she snapped.
"Something really pissed her off on this fine morning," my wolf acknowledged.
"If you're going to continue arguing, can we at least attend to Willow?" I decided to be the brave soul to bring us back on track. I couldn’t care less about whatever look Aurelia was giving me, nor did the fact that her aura was going to consume the room at any moment entice me.
Instead, I took three steps forward and stood before her.
No one else moved - or breathed, for that matter - as I got to the point.
"I'm not your enemy. Nor am I Willow's enemy. I have her best interests at heart, and if you don't believe me, feel free to ask Onyx, who can feel my intentions through this new bond."
"You've been keeping the fact that you're fucking royalty of the most villainous pack in America, if not the damn world, secret, and I'm supposed to be perfectly fine with you being mated with my best friend?"
Was I worried? Nope.
"What?" Viktor decided to ask the prime question, but Onyx sighed.
"Aurelia, stop."
"Who would have thought the prince of this grand legacy would be the billionaire blind artist who goes by the name Neo Rodriguez."
"Aurelia." Dimitris was the one to speak up in warning, but Aurelia was going to say what she had to say.
I wanted her to.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Nicodemus Ramiro."
Pin-drop silence swept through the room, but suddenly something clicked in me, and there was nothing to stop it as I allowed that cynical part to come out and play.
I opened my eyes then and there, and the world of black and coursing energy flashed with color as my magic swirled into the depths of my irises. I was sure those red magic circles spun with trembling force, at least enough to send all my peers but Onyx and Aurelia to the ground on one knee.
"Fuck. Aurelia," Dimitris hissed. "Back down now. I can't control Neo."
I could now see the witch's beauty as she stood there combating my intense dominance. She was lucky that I acknowledged her close connection with my mate, or she'd be dead before she even finished speaking my name.
She held a bit of worthiness to her elemental power, and adding the name of a Clementine to the equation left her on a bridge of power I was far too lazy to cross. She knew of me because her family had no choice but to be on good terms with mine.
Or I'd easily squish their Coven empire like ants gathering around a sandpit.
"Oh no, let her do what she wishes," I said in complete delight, my voice dangerously deep while my eyes took in the tall woman. To say she was fierce in this state of defense would be an insult. She was beyond such a word. She wore a black dress that hugged her upper half while the bottom half showed the front side of her legs that held some magically engraved tattoos, while the back was layered with black lace.
She had to have come from a Coven meeting, but with the knowledge she carried, it finally dawned on me why she was so upset.