There was complete silence within the living room, the tension was heavy and nobody knew what to say. Skye's body shook as she tried to hold back her sobs but failed at doing such, her breathing was speeding up and she couldn't quite control herself.
"Skyler, don't say that. Jace is not dead." Her father told her trying to calm her down.
"Then why doesn't he pick up the phone, dad you know he will never do that and I just, I just-." Skye broke off as she dropped the phone and rushed upstairs not wanting anybody to see her like this.
"Skyler, Skyler?" Her father's voice came out through the phone.
Aiden picked up the phone as he looked at Skye go upstairs.
"She left to the room, she's pretty bad. Do you want me to do something Mr. Shawnfield?" Aiden asked him knowing that he would now do anything to make Skye feel better.
"Don't worry we'll be there in a few minutes, I'm not going to let my baby girl suffer this by herself." Skye's father said before he hanged up.
Aiden placed Skye's cell phone on the coffee table before he glanced up at his pack.
"I can't believe she reacted like that." Spencer murmured after a few seconds of dead silence.
"I guess that proves how much she loves and needs Jace." Aiden said in a hard tone.
"Please Aiden don't start, maybe Jace is just a friend of hers, you saw it yourself how she got today when she thought that you were hurt, she even accepted to be your Luna now, maybe Jace is just like her family, that's it they probably grew up together and that is why she loves him but for you that is not the case, she meet you weeks ago and now we are sure that she loves you to the point that she will stay here no matter what, what would the point of accepting to be your Luna would be if she didn't want to stay here with the pack, honestly that doesn't make any sense to me." Cyrus told him trying to make him feel better.
"Cyrus is right Aiden; we all can tell how much Skye loves you. I just think that she wasn't expecting all of this, the whole mate thing, that dude Nigel being back and now Jace being dead, that just caught her off guard. You just have to give her time." Spencer said as she looked at her brother.
"I should probably go and talk with her." Aiden started as he made his way upstairs.
"Don't," Spencer said as she interrupted him. "Just give her some space Aiden, right now she needs to be alone for a few minutes." Spencer told him.
Aiden nodded before he sat on the sofa and ran his fingers through his hair.
He just didn't know what to do now, with a war coming close, the vampires and now Skye having a breakdown this was not looking good at all.
***
"He is not dead, Jace is not dead." Skye repeated to herself over and over again as the tears streamed down her face.
But even Skye knew that she couldn't easily lie to herself like that, in order to know whenever or not he was well she needed to hear Jace's voice, for him to assure her that he was completely fine but the fact that he was not answering any of her calls did not helped at all, in a way this was a punishment for her, to feel the exact same way Jace had felt for the past days.
It was horrible and she regretted it with her whole existence.
"He is not dead." Skye said again with a sob.
Skye had changed into her purple pajamas, they were a bottom purple pants with a long sleeved shirt that had purple and black stripes, along with that she was holding her white teddy bear as childish as it had always sound Skye never went anywhere with it, Jace had given it to her when she was nine, whenever she felt alone or scared her bear Cotton balls was there for her or at least that was what Jace had told her over and over again throughout the years, the pajamas were also a present of Jace, she had gotten then last Christmas along with a very expensive guitar that Jace knew she wanted.
Right now this was all that Skye had that reminded her of Jace; all she had to somehow feel closer to him, but not even that was enough. Skye wanted to see Jace, to hug him tightly and never let go.
As Skye was trapped in her worries and fears a small knock in the door broke her free from them, Skye gazed up to the door wiping her tears away from her face.
"Please Aiden; I don't want the others to see me like this. I want to be alone for a while." Skye told him in a small voice as she tried to make her voice stop breaking without being successful.
"Skye, somebody came to see you." Aiden said in a calm voice.
"I want to be alone." Skye replied softly as she lay back in the bed and threw the covers over her head, hiding her from the outside world.
The door opened and Skye heard some high heels click against the floor.
"Nonsense, I will always be here when you need me the most Skye wasn't that our deal?" Renee said as she headed to the bed.
Renee softly sat next to Skye and pulled the covers off her head to revel Skye's face buried sideways to the pillow as the tears streamed down her face.
"Oh sweetie, please don't cry." Renee said as she hugged her.
Skye sat up and cried against Renee's shoulders.
"It's my fault Renee, it's my fault." Skye sobbed, why didn't she see it coming?
"Don't say that Skye, you know that Jace will protect you no matter what. Whatever he did he never did it against his will, he will do anything for you." Renee said as she smoothed Skye's hair.
"That's the point; he would never be in this situation if it wasn't for who I am. Jace would never be in danger if it wasn't for me, he wouldn't be dead." Skye said in a quiet voice.
"Skyler you know that he is not dead." Her father said as he stormed inside the bedroom with Aiden behind him.
Skye pulled away from Renee and brushed away her tears, she hated when her father saw her like this, so weak and pathetic.
"He is in danger dad." Skye told him trying to stop crying.
"But not dead, you would feel if he died Skyler, you both share a bond and he is your protector, if something tried to harm him you would know so all we have to do now is wait. I have already warned the others in England about Nigel and I have people looking for Jace." Her father said trying to make his daughter brighten up.
"Have they looked in the house that is the only place he would be in at this hour, right?" Skye asked them as she looked up with so much hope.
"Skye, the house was empty when they got there." Renee told her in a soft voice.
Skye looked at her shocked.
"Empty? He wasn't there?" Skye asked her shocked, where could he be?
"That is a good sign Skye; maybe he went to another place to hide, to your father's house or with his new friend Charlotte." Renee said reassuring her.
"I just need him to say that he is alright, I need to hear it come from him." Skye said as she tried to get off the bed but Renee stopped her.
"And you will Skye, right now you need to rest, to stay in bed leave the rest to your father and I, we won't rest until we hear about Jace." Renee said trying to make her get back in bed.
Skye nodded before she let Renee ease her down to the bed, Renee stayed in the bed with her smoothing Skye's hair just the same way she did when she was a child, this was what Skye needed the most right now and Renee was not going to take it away from her, Renee turned around and nodded gesturing James to take off.
"Follow me." James told Aiden as he left the room.
Aiden looked at the bed doubtfully before he gave in and followed Skye's father.
"Why is Jace so important for Skye?" Aiden asked him confused, why had she acted like this?
"I think it is not my place to answer you that but you must know that Skye and Jace have been together their whole lives, Jace always looks out for Skye so the fact of feeling that he could be gone bring an uneasy feeling of not being protected towards Skye, Jace was the one that protected her from Nigel so with Jace away from her Skye has a huge fear that can nearly become a breakdown for her." Skye's father told him.
"But Skye knows I will protect her no matter what." Aiden said in a determinate tone.
James stopped walking; he turned around and looked at Aiden.
"Even when the neighbor packs start to threaten you that are of course if they haven't already?" He told Aiden with a knowing smile.
Aiden looked at him shocked.
"Who told you?" Aiden asked him confused, only Derek, Spencer and Cyrus knew about this.
"Nobody, it is a matter of time before the others packs start to be suspicious about your new relationship with the Vampire King and his daughter, Aiden don't you think it's the best that you ignore this whole mate thing? That way you wouldn't be causing any more trusting issues among the nearby packs, Skyler wouldn't be in constant danger like she is right now and your pack wouldn't either." He told him in a calm voice.
"I don't care about that, Skye is my mate and I don't care what she is or the daughter of who she is, all I care is for what she wants, what she needs, to make her happy and to protect her." Aiden told him as he looked at Skye's father.
"You said that you would give her what she needs, or have I mistaken?" Skye's father asked him.
"No, you heard me correctly." Aiden said as he nodded.
"Aiden, do you know what bloodlust is?" James asked him carefully choosing the word.
Aiden looked at him confused.
"Bloodlust, Skye has that?" He asked shocked, how had he not seen it before?
James nodded.
"Yes, and you see as a vampire or demi-vampire since that is the case of my daughter, once you find your mate you have to be feeding off him. Small amounts a month, just a small taste to create that bond or else the vampire dies in this case my daughter dies. But the question here Aiden is, are you willing to let my daughter feed off of you?" James asked as he looked at Aiden right in the eyes.
Aiden looked at him.
"She would need to feed off of me?" Aiden asked shocked, that would be against any Werewolf law.
"Once you mark each other yes you will, in order for Skyler to be in complete health she will have to feed off of you once in a while or else she will grow weak and eventually die and we both don't want that right? But I guess you have notice by now that whenever Skyler is with you her eyes slightly turn darker as you get near her, that is the bloodlust and at one point she won't be able to contain herself." James told him, he knew this because of previous experience.
"I don't care." Aiden said with a shrug, if he had to he would do it.
James looked at him amused.
"You don't care?" He asked; he knew very well what the thoughts of any werewolf would be in that subject.
"No, I don't care if she has to feed off of me. If Skye needs that I will gladly do it, she is my mate and I will do whatever it takes for her to be okay." Aiden said without missing a beat.
James looked at him with a smile.
"But you're an Alpha; you don't care what the others will think when you let Skye mark you first, when you let her drink your blood?" He asked him, he would care after all.
"I don't care at all; I don't care if Skye marks me first. She is my mate and I am hers." Aiden said every word wrapped up in truth.
Then Aiden realized that he loved Skye to the point that he didn't care what the pack could possibly think or what his wolf wanted, all he knew was that he wanted Skye and no matter what he had to do to be with her Aiden will do it.
"I'm glad to hear that Aiden; but let me warn you if you hurt my daughter in any way the next war that will threaten your pack won't be a war against some novice werewolves but against the Vampire King itself." James said as he looked at Aiden.
"James, stop scaring the poor kid he won't hurt Skye or else why would he have told us to come here and help Skye?" Renee said as she got to the hallway with them.
"A warning is never unnecessary Renee and you know that very well." James told her with a small smirk.
Renee smiled at him.
"Still, I believe you should take it a little easy on him." Renee told him as she shook her head in amusement.
"How is Skye?" Aiden asked Renee, her mood seemed to lighter now.
Renee looked at him, her brown eyes shining.
"She is fine now; I managed her to calm down. She is asleep and she will be like that for a few hours but I suggest you to be in the room with her when she wakes up or else she will freak out and it will start all over again." Renee told him with a sigh.
Aiden nodded.
"Of course, after you leave I will dismiss the pack and make sure everything is okay with Skye." Aiden told her, he wouldn't even think of leaving Skye's side tonight.
Renee nodded.
"Then we have nothing else to do here, shall we go James?" Renee asked him nicely.
"You'll take care of her?" James asked as he looked at Aiden.
Aiden nodded.
"Absolutely, I'll stay the whole night taking care of her if I have to." Aiden told him knowing that was what he wanted to hear.
James looked at him.
"Then we will call tomorrow Skyler if we find something about Jace." Skye's father said before he and Renee went downstairs and left.
***
When Skye opened her eyes she found nothing but darkness and a heavy feeling around her. Panic and fear crept into her quickly making a small gasp get stuck in her throat.
"Aiden, Aiden where are you?" She asked scared as her voice shook.
She saw something flinch next to the bed and heard something move.
"Yeah, you called?" Aiden said next to her.
Skye turned on the light and saw that Aiden was in a chair next to the bed where she was, he had been sleeping in the chair.
"What are you doing there?" Skye asked him confused, why would anyone sleep in a chair?
"I was taking care of you." Aiden said noticing that he had fallen asleep.
"Asleep?" Skye asked him with a smirk.
"Sorry, I was tired." Aiden said as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"You shouldn't be apologizing for that." Skye said as she sat up in the bed.
"For what should I apologize for then?" Aiden asked her confused.
"For letting your beautiful mate sleep alone in a bed when you could have been perfectly slept next to her, that was mean of you." Skye said with a small smile.
Aiden looked at her surprised.
"You seem better now." Aiden told her, was she bipolar now?
Skye's smile vanished.
"I just, it's better if I ignore it that way it won't be so real, I just need to pretend like it's not happening, like it was a bad dream." Skye said in a soft voice.
Aiden got up from the chair and got in bed with her.
"You don't have to ignore it or pretend that it's not happening, you have all the right to be worried. I would be if you were the one going through all of this." Aiden said as he wrapped his arms around her pulling Skye onto his lap.
"I just feel like all of this is my fault, and it is there is no point on deny that, it's so blatant that I might as well acknowledge it." Skye said as she placed her head against Aiden's chest.
"It's not your fault Skye, none of this is." Aiden told her as he rubbed her back softly.
Skye pulled away from him and looked at his blue eyes.
"You're right, this is your fault." Skye told him glaring at him.
"My fault, why is it my fault?" Aiden asked her shocked.
Skye smiled.
"I was just joking, if somebody here is guilty that is Nigel and I know for sure that my father and I will make him pay for all of this." Skye said; her voice nearly a growl of pure hate.
"Not only you and your dad; I will make sure he will pay for all of this, nobody should make my little dark princess cry." Aiden told her as he looked at her.
Skye wrinkled her nose at him.
"Your dark princess, so does that mean that you're my prince?" Skye asked him with a small smirk.
Aiden looked at her.
"Huh, I never thought about it." Aiden said causing Skye to laugh.
Aiden looked at her.
"What?" Skye asked him confused, why was he looking at her like that?
"Right there, your laugh is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard and I will like to hear it more often." Aiden told her making Skye blush.
Skye gave him a small smile.
"I'll try my best." She told him; a promise behind all of this.
"Everything will turn out perfectly fine." Aiden told her as they both lay back on the bed.
"I hope so." Skye said as she placed her head in Aiden's chest and closed her eyes, eventually falling asleep.
***
"Are you sure it has to be today?" Aiden asked as he spoke in the phone.
"Positive, dad said that it had to be today he claimed that he has waited long enough for this." Spencer told him as she kept her voice down.
Aiden gave a sigh.
"Have you told her parents?" Aiden asked her, he needed to know if he could get out of this or if it was too late.
"Yes, I already called them and they agreed to it. But um, Aiden I think you should know that dad also invited Cody and his two betas." Spencer told him waiting for his outburst.
"Why would he do that? Dad knows exactly in what position we are with Cody's pack, so how not being in the same room as other vampires will not create a war?" Aiden asked her angry, his father was just so stupid sometimes.
"Dad said that this was the wise thing to do and to not fight it. He will be waiting for you at seven, okay?" Spencer said before she hanged up.
"More trouble?" Skye asked Aiden as she leaned against the doorway of the kitchen.
"No, more like my dad is trying to drive me nuts." Aiden told her with a groan.
"What is going on today? Where are we going tonight?" Skye asked him with a small smile.
"Family dinner that is where, you, you dad, Renee, my parents, Spencer, the Alpha and his betas of the neighbor pack and me all together for dinner, that is where we are going tonight." Aiden told her hoping that she was against it, that way he would have the perfect excuse.
Skye glared at him.
"You want me to have dinner with your parents, to meet them?" Skye asked him shocked.
"Yeah, what is wrong with that?" Aiden asked her with a smile seeing how Skye had suddenly gotten nervous.
"What is wrong with that? Aiden, I don't want your parents to have a bad impression of me and I don't know if I could handle a family dinner like this one." Skye told him with a silent scream.
"Skye, I didn't care when I met your father why should you?" Aiden asked her confused, what was the big deal about it?
"True you did not care but now both my father and Renee think you are a masochist, possessive and very jealous werewolf." Skye told him with a shrug.
"Really, masochist I am that now?" Aiden asked her shocked.
Skye shrugged.
"Their words not mine." Skye told him with a smile.
"You'll be fine Skye and I don't care if they like you or not. I like you for who you are and that should be enough." Aiden told her making Skye blush once again.
Skye smiled.
"Fine, I'm going to take a shower and start to get ready." Skye told him before she headed upstairs.
***
"I think you should probably go like that." Aiden said as he leaned against the doorway of the bathroom.
Skye snorted.
"You can't be bloody serious Aiden." She said as she rolled her eyes.
"I actually am." Aiden told her as his eyes once again trailed down her body.
Skye looked at her towel that was wrapped around her body and then gazed up at Aiden.
"My father would not only kill me but he would also kill you for letting me come to your parents' house like this in just a towel." Skye told him as she shook her head.
"I think I would come up with a fair explanation." Aiden said as he walked towards Skye wrapping his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him.
"Aiden," Skye said in a warning tone, she knew where all of this was headed.
"I would come up even for a good excuse if we were late." Aiden said before he made Skye sit on top of the sink and kissed her.
Skye immediately wrapped her arms around his neck pressing her body against his, a low groan escaped from the back of his throat as he deepened the kiss and Skye wrapped her legs around Aiden's waist. Suddenly Skye pulled away and looked at Aiden breathless.
"Aiden, please can I? Please?" She asked in a soft voice as her small thin fangs poked through her pink soft lips.
Aiden looked at her and noticed that Skye's gazed was fixed on his neck.
Skye was asking him if she could mark him.
Aiden nodded at her.
"Do it." He said for once accepting it.
Skye's eyes shinned before she gave him a deep kissed and moved towards Aiden's neck. At first she gave him two small kisses before she pierced her fangs through his neck.
Aiden threw his head back fill with pleasure as Skye started to drink his blood, after a few seconds Skye pulled away and moved her hair bearing the right side of her neck.
"Your turn," Skye said with a small smile.
Aiden bit her and Skye felt an explosion of pleasure followed by feeling finally complete, Aiden pulled away after a few seconds his bite had lasted less since he had not stopped to drink blood like she had.
"You belong with me now, only mine." Aiden whispered against her lips.
"And you're mine as well." Skye said before she kissed him letting the towel slip off of her.
Skye immediately pulled away and covered herself with the towel.
"What? Is something wrong?" Aiden asked her, what had happened?
Skye shook her head.
"Then what is it?" He asked her confused.
"We shouldn't, we only have one hour left to get ready and besides you don't look that good, I think I may have drank more blood than I needed, take a shower and get ready, alright?" Skye said before she kissed him, got off the sink and left the bathroom.
"You're such a tease." Aiden murmured as he watched Skye leave.
***
"You look perfectly fine Skye." Aiden said reassuring her.
Skye gave a sigh, she was wearing a short satin red dress that clutched to her waist perfectly, she had placed on her black peep toes high heels, she had made her hair completely curly from her cheekbones down and she was only wearing her small heart necklace that used to belong to her mother. Skye gazed at her face through the mirror, her glossy red lips were perfect showing off her pearl white teeth, it complemented her fair skin and her eyes had a small hint of peach eye shadow with eye liner in her upper and lower waterline, Skye had been careful with every single detail even when she had placed on her small pearl earrings.
"Are you sure I'm presentable?" Skye asked him nervously.
"You look amazing with that dress Skyler, so hot that I am seriously fighting the urge to turn on the car and head back to the house where we can be alone." Aiden said as he looked at Skye, his brown eyes shinned with a small hint of lust and passion in his eyes.
Skye looked down as she felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment.
"Aiden please, we are at your father's house." Skye said when she felt Aiden's hand on her thigh.
"Outside, it doesn't count." He told her as he smirked at her.
"We'll be struck by lightning for being such sinners." Skye hissed as Aiden's hand made his way up.
"Wouldn't mind it, everything comes with a price." Aiden said with a small chuckle.
"Well I do mind, let's go." Skye said as she pulled away Aiden's hand.
"Wait here." Aiden suddenly said before he got out of the car.
Skye looked at him confused until he saw Aiden get to the side of the car where she was and he opened the door.
"How chivalrous, milord." Skye said flattered.
"I will do whatever for milady." Aiden said following that little game of hers.
Skye laughed before the both of them headed to the front door, Aiden opened the door and immediately the first thing they heard was Spencer singing in the living room.
"Spence, what song is that one?" Aiden yelled out as they entered the house.
"It's Ain't It Fun." Spencer yelled back before she continued to sing.
"Who sings it?" Aiden yelled loudly at her.
"Paramore, so don't go crying!" Spencer said as she got to the bridge.
"Well then let them do their job! There is a reason why Haley Williams gets paid to sing and not you!" Aiden said as they entered the living room.
"That was mean, Aiden." Skye said next to him as she nudged him.
"Someone had to tell her the cold hearted truth before she could get hurt." Aiden said with a shrug.
"Well I don't care what you say." Spencer said as she glared at her brother.
Skye noticed that Spencer and Derek where there in the living room apparently waiting for them.
"Just ignore him; that is the wisest thing to do." Derek told her trying to make his mate feel better.
But Spencer wasn't looking at Derek; her gaze was fixed on Skye as she shyly stood next to Aiden, his arm around her waist.
"Whoa, Skye you look hot in that dress. You look like a model, a Victoria's Secret model." Spencer told her with a low whistle.
"You're wrong; she is way hotter than those models." Aiden said as he looked at Skye.
Skye smiled shyly.
"You also look hot in that black dress." Skye told Spencer trying to get the attention off her.
"Why thank you, now let's go to the dining room. I bet your parents will get here any moment." Spencer told her with a smile.
A few minutes after they had sat down Skye's father and Renee joined them but before any of them could say anything three guys entered.
One had light brown hair and hazel eyes, meanwhile the others had dark hair and fair skin making their brown eyes pop more.
"So you are the Vampire Princess that is supposed to be Aiden's mate?" The guy said as he looked at her with a smirk.
"I would be careful enough to be wise with my words if I were you." Skye's father said warning him.
"I'm Cody, Alpha of the neighbor pack. So you are his mate, now I can tell why Aiden really wants you as a mate." Cody said as his eyes traveled down Skye's body.
Skye heard two growls as Aiden and her father got up from their chairs.
"You better be careful with what you say or even do Cody, she is my mate after all." Aiden said with a growl.
Skye bit her lip as she looked around nervously, family dinner, she had always hated them somehow they would end up in gruesome trouble and this one seemed to not be the exception of it.
This was going to be some very awkward dinner.