*Picture Reference: Beach house in Italy towards the end of the chapter.*
**Quick Note: Sorry for the long wait on the update! Please comment your thoughts, comments make me smile. :) Thank you for reading!**
Elian's POV
"...My looks. I need to cover up my looks."
I mentally glared at myself as I shook my head in a depressed notion. The confession obtained partial truth to it, sort of. Fairies do have a natural glow, almost like a halo, to the human eye. Without the concealing factor of a spell, they would be easily recognized for the odd appearance if they were ever in the human realm. Though, there were alternative ways to cover up the natural glow without draining yourself of energy. There were materialistic things like powder or other non-magical spells.
The Alphas before me seemed completely confused.
"Wait, what?" Kaspar asked before glancing at Kasey warily.
I shyly nodded and explained the natural glow to the pair of Alphas and they were about to buy the lie before they realized something that I had feared they would notice.
"Eli, none of your Fae warriors are drained of energy. And I doubt all of them use this powder, I could easily ask each of them. Enough with the lies," Kasey obviously stated.
"You dare question my honesty? Go ahead and ask my people, by all means. I already explained the deprivation of energy that I am experiencing, you don't have to care about my well-being, just my protection."
My insides felt as if they were trying to crawl out of me, the lies I was spewing out left my feeling guilty and shameful. This would leave a rift in our relationship but I couldn't jeopardize the realization of the pull of mates.
"As you wish, Lord Elian. Your protection is secured for tomorrow with the meeting with the merfolk. Sleep well, we will see you in the morning," Kaspar spoke in an emotionless tone, using my formal name instead of the familiar nickname that I have grown to love.
They exited my room and headed to their own room, presumably. At the moment in time, I knew I couldn't undo the secrets and cover-ups that I had told them. Kaspar and Kasey were now distancing themselves from me and doing their jobs. No strings attached.
<<<>>>
In the morning, the tension and awkwardness was worse than the night before. I performed the enchantment once more before I stepped out of the hotel, feeling slightly lightheaded. After breakfast, I felt much better and ready to start the journey. As the wolves and Fae warriors brought the cars to the front of the hotel, Kaspar cleared his throat to catch my attention before I entered the car with Jasper seated in the driver's seat.
"You can ride with Maddox and Arvel if you'd like."
Of course, the ride between the two Alphas would be unnerving and tense. I nodded my head and headed to the first car with the two other werewolves. As I slipped into the backseat, the two males turned around and greeted me.
"Hi, Lord Elian. Riding with us today?" Maddox asked, his green eyes filled with curiosity.
"Yes, and if you prefer, you can just call me by name, Elian."
Arvel nodded and started the car, "If you don't mind, Elian, why are you with us today?"
"The Alphas suggested that I keep you company, I suppose."
Maddox scoffed, "I find that highly unlikely, they haven't kept their eyes off of you since we left the woods in Austria where you were situated before the journey. They're surely taking their jobs seriously."
I looked out of the window, smiling sadly as the green and brown blurs of the forests were passing by, "I guess."
"Though, they don't seem to depressed about the mate situation back home. It's odd. They were so persistent in finding our future Luna," Arvel mentioned as I sighed.
It may be because he is right underneath their noses all of the time, too frightened to come forward.
"I know plenty on your kind, but could you remind me the significance of a Luna to a pack?" I asked the wolves before me.
"Sure. A Luna is everything to a pack. She's the heart and soul. Though, there was an unorthodox case in a region not too far from our land that had a Luna as a male. Not saying that there is anything wrong with it, but some werewolves are heavily traditional in having a female Luna. It's simply something that always happens, well obviously not anymore. Whether it is a male or female, a Luna would have the same traits as the next Luna. The Alphas always have the protection, order, and structure of the pack to maintain and keep stable. Whereas, a Luna brings the happiness, love, and compassion into the mixture for a strong, unified pack. Respect is always given to the Luna, as it is returned as well. She or he holds the power to lead just as much as an Alpha. A Luna is forever treasured in a pack."
After Maddox finished his explanation of the role of a Luna, happiness and warmth spread through my body as he constantly kept referring to the Luna as a female or a male. It represented that he, as a werewolf, respected the Luna position regardless of its gender.
As Arvel drove the vehicle, he checked up on my quiet self in the rear-view mirror from time to time. I spoke to the both of them about their traditions, their mates and pups that were left back home, and other relevant topics. The love they had for their families were shown when they spoke of them so highly and passionately. Soon enough, we had arrived to a beach house the was close to the rocky waves of the Mediterranean Sea.
"We've arrived! To be honest, I am excited to meet these merfolk, I've never met a mermaid or merman before. Can't wait to tell these stories to my pups," Maddox spoke in an excited tone.
"Well, their appearances won't be any different than you and I. They attain human legs when they are on land. Very simple, if I must say."
Their animated expressions faltered slightly when they exited the vehicle. When I stepped out of the car, I looked back and found the Alphas and Jasper stepping out of their car as well. I straightened out my clothes, as the smell of salt was in the air and sounds of the crashing waves soothed my tense composure. My Fae warriors were always two steps ahead of everyone and were waiting on the porch of the beach house.
As I walked up the stairs of the average-looking beach house, the Fae warriors greeted me warmly, and they werewolves were behind me. I nodded in response and went to knock on the door, but before my fist connected the hard surface of the door, it was opened immediately. On the other side, were the King and Queen of the merfolk, with the same appearances that I had clearly remembered all those years ago. King Caspian and Queen Cara beamed at me from the inside of their home and ushered my entourage and I into their house.
In the house, I was able to free my wings and fly around freely. Queen Cara noticed them and commented on the tremendous growth I have had since we had last seen each other.
As soon as we were all situated in the house, Queen Cara came over and hugged me tightly, her familiar scent enveloped my senses and a wave of nostalgia came over me.
"Cara, you will suffocate the boy." King Caspian spoke with a humorous tone.
She laughed softly as she released me from her warm embrace and smiled brightly.
"Caspian, I simply wanted to welcome him. It's been so long since we have seen you."
I nodded in agreement as we moved to the living room. While we walked into the other room, I brushed past the Alphas and they visibly stiffened. The sadness of our circumstance returned and my enlightened mood lessened. When everyone was seated or standing in a comfortable spot, I introduced all of the people that accompanied me to the pair of royal merfolk before me.
Cara and Caspian caught up with what was going on with my life at the moment. We discussed my visit with the vampires the day before and the agreements I had made with Ambrogio. Cara soon left to make dinner for everyone prior to leaving and being on our way.
"The merfolk are all well, hesitant about the few oil spills we have experienced in the past year. Though, there are no disturbances present. All is well, and I hope that you and your kind are too. Quite frankly, you know that we will always be there for you when you need us. You are like a son to Cara and I, and a brother to Daniel." Caspian said in a loving tone.
Before I responded with a similar heartfelt statement, the front door slammed open and the Alphas who have been quiet the entire time, rushed to position themselves in front of me like a human shield. The person that abruptly entered the house, yelled out and headed for the living room.
"Elian is here?! Mom!" The familiar voice rang through the house.
I laughed softly before separating Kasey and Kaspar from me, in their protests, I walked towards the voice. As soon as I cornered the entrance to the living room, Daniel immediately wrapped his arms around me and twirled me around in the air. Growls were heard in the background as I rolled my eyes, knowing it was the pair of twins.
When Daniel placed me on the ground once again, a grin was permanent on his face, "What are you doing here?"
"I was in Italy for a meeting with the vampires about our terms of being allies. And I figured I'd come down here and visit quickly before I have to meet others on this journey. Why? Surprised Danny?" I smirked as I called him by his childhood nickname.
"Hell yeah!"
Caspian cleared his throat before Daniel noticed his father was present and so were a lot of other people he didn't know.
"Whoa, you've got quite the protection squad here. Care to introduce them, Elian?"
I nodded and dragged him over to the Alphas first. Kasey and Kaspar did not look pleased at all. Instead, irritated expressions were plastered on their flawless faces.
"Danny, this is Alpha Kaspar and Alpha Kasey of the Celestial Hala Pack back in Poland. We met up in Austria before starting our trip to Italy. It only took a day or so."
"Well, nice to meet you!" Danny extended his hand for a handshake and Kaspar and Kasey kindly returned the gesture.
I introduced Danny to Maddox, Arvel, Jasper, Nikolai, and the other Fae warriors. Danny was welcoming and by the end, he even remembered everyone's names. Soon after, Cara came out of the kitchen and announced that dinner was ready. When everyone was seated with their meals, whether it be the living room, the kitchen, or the dining room, Danny started conversing with the Alphas about mates. I was regretting having Kaspar and Kasey in the same table as Danny. Once this persistent merman was on a fascinating topic, he would never stop asking questions. Caspian and Cara just sat at the head of the table, observing the conversations flying around and occasionally whispering to one another.
"I mean, that must suck to have to wait to cross paths with your mate. She could be in America for all we know! I'm glad that merfolk don't have destined mates, that would be awful."
Kasey frowned at the comment but kept his mouth quiet while Kaspar spoke up in disagreement, "Well, although you don't have mates by fate, werewolves have a more close, magical bond with their mates. There is only one mate out there for everyone, well except for twins sometimes, Kasey and I will share one mate."
Danny sighed and placed his utensil on his plate, "I mean, yeah, that's great man. But what if your mate turns out to be the opposite gender than what you were originally attracted to?"
"We would love them just as equally," Kasey simply answered and returned to his meal.
"Kudos to you guys, I would hate if my mate was a girl instead of a guy," Danny mentioned when my eyes widened and turned my head to face him.
"You're gay?" I asked, making my voice known for the first time during the dinner.
Danny wore a confused expression as he replied, "Yeah, you didn't know that? I was out after you stopped visiting regularly though, so you may not have known now that I think about it. We can go search for guys together now!"
After that announcement, more utensils were being dropped onto plates and Kasey and Kaspar tilted their heads in confusion almost like a dog.
"You're gay?" Kaspar asked in a ridiculous tone.
"Surprise..." I quietly said as I quickly excused myself from the table and headed outside.
Due to being outside where humans usually roam around, I had to hide my wings and walk instead. Once I reached the bottom of the stairs that lead from the house to the beach, there was a light breeze that made me shiver every few seconds. My present attire was not warm enough for me and the fact that it was completely different than what I was used to. Today, when I got out of the shower, there was a bag of regular, human clothes and a note on top.
It was a note from the Alphas, telling me to wear the clothes in the bag and not my normal clothes because I would probably be seen by humans on this trip to the beach house. The bag consisted of black jogger-like pants in which I was familiar with, a red hoodie, and these white shoes that had ALL-STAR in the back of them. Overall, it was not that bad, comfy actually. Though, I do miss my cloak, it was a like a security blanket for my emotions.
The Alphas were right though, while I walked down the beach, I saw some humans glance at me. Some with pets of their own, and others were accompanied with the opposite gender and holding hands as they walked together. The sun was setting as I treaded lightly on the beach, I soon found a few rocks that lined up into the ocean but not completely covered in water. As I sat on these said rocks, there were a million thoughts that were swarming around inside of my head.
I know now from the time that they stayed in my hotel room that they wouldn't care if they mate was either male or female. However, that didn't mean that they wouldn't be opposed to familiarizing themselves with gay people. What if they were just saying those things to seem nice about the entire situation but secretly hope their mate is a female. Kind of like what Daniel was pointing out at dinner.
Would they distance themselves even more now?
"There you are."
I looked to my right and spotted Danny right next to me, and he came over to sit with me.
"Here I am," I say in an obvious tone.
"Elian, you're mates with those Alphas in the house, right?"
I sighed in defeat and told the truth for once in a long time, "Yeah, they're mine."