Chapter 50: Chapter 50

~Aurelia Williams~

"Aurelia," Inala's voice called and I turned to her.

"Thank God, there you are. I was worried." I said, trying to pretend that a creepy old man hadn't just chatted me up and started talking crazy things.

Still, I turned back to the guy. But this one was no longer there. I looked around confused, but he was nowhere to be seen. Where did he go so quickly? Did I just imagine that?

"What's going on?" Inala asked worried.

"Did you just see the man? With the gray hair and green eyes. He was right next to me." I asked.

"No, there was no one there. Are you doing well?"

"Funny, I could have sworn that..." I got no further because I saw Arsen coming towards us, who looked a little pale.

"What are you doing here?" I asked confused.

But he ignored my question and asked a counter question: "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, why are you all asking me that?" What the hell is going on here?

"All good arsenic. She just imagined someone.", Inala laughed. But Arsen was dead serious.

"How did he look?" He looked me in the face and I could immediately sense that something was wrong. Inala now also noticed the seriousness of the situation and stopped laughing.

"He was a little taller than me and had gray hair. He also had green eyes, like yours. No wait..." I took a closer look at Arsen's eyes. "They look just like yours."

"Fuck." Arsen cursed and took some bags from me. Then he grabbed my upper arm and dragged me out of the mall. Inala followed us.

"Who was that Arsenic?" I asked. It seemed pretty serious and that's what scared me a bit now. Also, I don't know Arsenic that nervous. Who can scare the big bad alpha, please?

We got to the car and loaded everything in the trunk. Then we got in and Arsenic sped off at a terrific pace, which I was clearly not used to.

Now that we were all trapped here in the car, I tried again: “Arsenic! Please tell me what's going on here!"

"This man. That was my grandfather," he blurted out.

"But wouldn't he have to be Alpha then?"

"No. The alpha change doesn't always happen through the death of the old one. Most of the time this happens peacefully when the old alpha sees the point in giving way to his son, who is usually stronger by then. If this does not happen, the successor can also challenge him. If the old alpha wins, it means that the son is still too weak. If the son wins, he becomes the next alpha. Or just the old alpha dies. As did my father." Arsen took a breath before finally continuing, "My father challenged my grandfather back when he was getting too old and won. But because the Storms have a powerful bloodline, my grandfather was chosen to be the eldest of North America The elders of each continent form a council that, so to speak, watches over all packs and decides on the laws...

"Yeah, he said he wanted to make sure of the rumours," I replied.

"Then I assume Alpha Black reported that we have a human in the pack." He exhaled in frustration.

Inala sat in the back seat the whole time and didn't say a word. Arsen continued to drive tensely through the city. Just as he was putting his hand on the shifter, I put my hand over his and stroked the back of his hand soothingly. This physical contact also calmed me down.

"Aurelia," Arsen sighed, relaxing a bit again. "I'll drop you off at home and then I'll go away for a few days. I need to work this out with the council of elders before they want to take you away from me."

Now it was he who cupped my hand and then brought it to his lips for a kiss.

-----

When we finally got there, we unloaded our things from the car. Arsenic helped me carry it and Costa rushed over to take the bags from his loved one. I think he has an instinct that Inala could use more help in the near future, he just doesn't know yet.

"Costa? You have to take over the pack for a few days. I have to travel to the Council of Elders about Aurelia." my mate started talking.

"All right, Arsenic. I wish you the best of luck," Costa then replied.

We parted in the hallway and Arsen and I went up another flight of stairs to our room. When we got to our room, Arsen put the bags in front of the closet and wanted to help me unpack. However, I immediately panicked as he grabbed the bag of underwear right there.

"You don't need to help me." I said a little nervously.

"Sure, I want to know what you bought with my money." Arsen smiled a little, but you could still clearly see the tension in his face.

"But you wanted to go and maybe...ehm..." I thought about it for a moment. "...you still have to pack." I pulled a duffel bag from the closet and handed these arsenic. Arsen didn't ask any more questions, but just packed his things. Even if he was a bit confused about my nervousness, he then smiled.

"So you want to get rid of me," he snarled, mock-offended. "You want to hang out with that bastard Steven?" Now his insult suddenly turned to anger and he got a little louder. Man, this guy really had mood swings.

"So 1. Steven isn't a shithead and 2. I've told you a few times that he and I are just friends." I was a little angry, too.

I remembered why he would freak out so easily, but it just got annoying and didn't give him the right to insult my best friend.

I got up angrily and left the room. It was unbearable. His jealousy really pissed me off. That's why I'm going to Steven now. After all, Steven is still my best friend. But since Arsen and I have been sleeping in the same room, I've seen him far too seldom.