I shook my head rapidly, completely and utterly confused. So confused, that I didn't even acknowledge the sparks that danced around my body from Bennett's touch. I looked up at him, becoming lost in his gray eyes. They were identical to his brother's, but something about them made me want to stare at them for eternity.
Something in me made me realize how upset I was at him. "You lied to me!" I snapped, glaring daggers at him.
"I didn't lie." He had the audacity to chuckle at me. "If you would've caught on and asked me who I really was, I would've told you the truth."
"You did lie. You didn't tell me the truth about who you were when we first met, when you told me your name," I told him, trying my best to not make it seem like I was angry in front of the crowd that was undoubtedly watching us. "Why didn't you just tell me the truth when we first met?" I asked.
"I wanted to make sure you weren't like all the other girls that went after me," he explained. My heart raced and Taryn growled within me at the mention of other girls being all over him. Bennett noticed and chuckled again. Goddess, that chuckle makes my insides churn.
"Am I one of those girls?" I asked.
"Of course not!" I nodded and a few moments later, I changed the subject.
"You fail to tell me how it is that you and Levi knew about me being both of your dates," I mentioned, making sure he doesn't forget about it. Curiosity was getting the better of me at the moment.
"Right." He spun me around and replaced his hand on my waist. His other hand intertwined once again with mine. I couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"Stop. You said you would explain," I told him in between laughs.
"Alright." He laughs along with me. "Alright," he repeats.
Flashback
Bennett
Soon after Norah and I parted ways after leaving the diner I had taken her to, I started the search around the palace for my older brother. He was the person I would tell everything to. I trusted him with my secrets, my feelings, and anything else I could think of. He wouldn't dare tell a single soul until I was ready for it to be out in the open.
"Brother," Levi greeted me as I walked into his bedroom. He sat at the small desk that was located in the corner of his room. I made my way over to him and peered over his shoulder at the paperwork he was working on.
"Shouldn't I be doing that?"
Levi looked over his shoulder and gave me a look. "You should, but you decided to go out knowing that you have things to do."
"Yeah, that was important," I said as I took some of the paperwork from him and grabbed a pen. I scanned the papers one by one before starting to fill things out.
Levi turned to me and gave me a look. "I don't think anything is more important than this. You're going to be king for crying out loud, Bennett. You have to be responsible."
"I think spending time with my mate is more important than any of this," I muttered without looking up from the sheet of paper I was working on. The sound of my older brother's pen sliding across his paper stopped. It was only then when I decided to look up.
Levi was glaring at me, almost as if he was trying to burn a hole through my skull. "You found your mate and didn't even think to tell me!" He shouted, getting up abruptly and throwing his pen on the desk. "How are we going to break the news and get her ready for the ceremony in less than a day! I've had so much work to do and you forget to bring up this minor— this major detail. What am I supposed to—"
"Stop," I cut him off before he burst a blood vessel. Levi has been stressing out about the ceremony more than I have and I could tell it was getting to him more than it should. "She's not getting crowned with me."
The look on his face made me question whether he was relieved or more stressed than he was two seconds ago. "She has to. We cannot function without a Queen, Bennett. You know that."
"She doesn't know who I really am, and by the look of things, she doesn't want to stay with me. I'm not forcing her to stay here, let alone force her to rule an entire species." I wasn't half way done with the first page out of the many that were sprawled out on the desk, but abandoned them anyway.
"Fine, I'll give her time, but she has to do it either way. Who is this girl anyway?"
"Norah Bloodmoon."
Levi raised an eyebrow at me. "Norah Bloodmoon? The Norah Bloodmoon? You mean the same Norah Bloodmoon that has been missing for seventeen years who was just reunited with her family? That Norah Bloodmoon?" They way Levi was acting was concerning me. He's usually serious and proper. It's rare that I ever see him freaking out like this.
"Yes, that's her, and she told me herself that she could never stay here with me and leave her family after she just got back to them. So whether you— or anyone else likes it or not, she isn't staying until she's good and ready." I could tell my wolf present. He was getting overly defensive of her.
"Okay," Levi let out a breath, not wanting to argue over the subject any longer. "When are you going to reveal who you really are to her? She should at least know that."
"She's bound to recognize me at the ceremony, but I was planning on asking her to be my date for it."
"I was planning to asked her aswell," Levi mumbled under his breath. He most likely thought that I wouldn't hear him, but I did, and so did my wolf. He growled and Levi sensed it because he quickly added to it. "Before I found out she was your mate." He cleared his throat before reaching for a glass of water that I didn't know was there. I watched as he took a sip before setting the glass down by him so he would be able to reach for it easily if he ever needed more.
"I guess you still can." I didn't miss the faint smile that was placed on his lips before he bowed his head and got back to work. "But. . ."
"But?" He glanced at me before looking back down again.
"You have to help me break it to her," I told him. There was no way in hell I could do it alone and have to see her mad at me without some moral support.
"How am I supposed to do that?" Levi's words lingered in the air as they awaited my response. The gears in my head turned, trying to formulate a plan.
"I know," I broke the silence after moments of thinking. I didn't have a one hundred percent fool-proof plan, but I didn't think I'd need one. It wasn't like I was planing to commit mass murder without trying to get caught. "We'll both ask her to be our date. She'll probably already know who I truly am by the time we arrive to the party. You'll ask her to dance, and then I'll take your place and explain everything. Easy, right?"
"Right," Levi said hesitantly. He didn't think it was a good plan at all. "What if she's stubborn and refuses to talk to you? You won't be able to explain it and she'll stay mad."
"I'm trying not to look at it from the things that could go wrong perspective, brother. Everything will be fine."
"If you say so."
End of flashback
Norah
"So that was your master plan?" I asked teasingly, making him laugh. I took a sip of my wine and so did Bennett. We were now standing by my family's assigned table, watching as couples danced around the dance floor.
"It worked. That's all that matters."
My smile quickly faded as I spotted someone across the room. He was wearing an all-black suit, but that isn't what made him stand out to me. The fact that he was eyeing Bennett and I all while keeping a conversation going with someone was what made him stand out among the rest. When Bennett saw that I didn't respond, he followed my gaze. I glanced at him for a second— just one second, and when I looked back, the man was gone.
The air started thickening and I couldn't breathe. I could sense something wasn't right at all.
"Are you okay?" Bennett asked and I shook my head, feeling like I would suffocate if I spoke.
"Tell me you sense that too." Rowan came up from behind us and placed a hand on my tense shoulders.
"I feel it too," I finally spoke, feeling as if the wind was knocked out of me. "I caught someone staring at me and then in a split second they were gone. Now the air feels thick and something doesn't feel right." I turned to Bennett. "Something isn't right at all."
Bennett clearly sensed my worry and nodded. "I'll go tell the guards to look for any possible threats if that eases your—"
He didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence when suddenly, I heard glass shattering, followed by glass flying everywhere. As soon as that happened, utter chaos erupted all around the room. People's screaming was heard from all different directions. Some nearly trampled others as they fled the room.
Wolves. Huge wolves burst through the already broken windows and through the doors. Tables were turned over, drinks were spilled, table cloths were torn to shreds. In just minutes, the room was completely turned upside down.
The guards' first instinct was to surround the royal family, more importantly, their newly crowned king. They had their weapons drawn as they began to escort each member of the family out what looked to be like a hidden passage way.
Gun shots started to ring in the air, but I knew they were from our side considering the intruders were shifted. I left Bennetts side to join my brothers, who was fighting off the wolves, only to be pulled back by him.
"You are not going," he said, pulling me along as he was being escorted towards the passage. I easily pulled my hand out of his grip.
"I'll be fine. I can protect myself." he tried reaching for me again, but I was long gone and the guards wouldn't let him go back to get me. He was their priority. And he and my family were mine.
Bodies were everywhere, but it didn't faze me. They were all from our enemies side. I noticed they were not going after anyone. Like us, they had a priority, but theirs was the complete opposite of ours. We wanted to protect our king, while they wanted to rip him off his own two feet. They had a target, and they intended to hit the bullseye. One by one, they lunged towards the king, only they didn't make it in time before they were gunned down by either the guards, or my brother and I.
This was the first time I had seen Rowan using his powers. He seemed to shy away from using them unless it was absolutely necessary. I however, used them more recklessly. I used them as a tool to make my life easier, while Rowan only used them for defense.
There weren't many left at this point. "I'm going to look for our parents!" I yelled at Rowan over the chaos. He nodded slightly, but didn't turn to look at me. He was busy handling the rest of the intruders.
Most of the guests were out of the room and most likely taken to a safe room in the palace. I spotted my parents ushering the last of the people out of the room. I ran up to them, breathless at this point. "You need to get out of here." They weren't in any immediate danger considering the wolves weren't going after any guests, but my priority was to get them out of dangers way, even if it wasn't major.
"We're fine. We'll leave when everyone is out of the room and safe," my mother assured me.
"Where's Rowan?" Orion asked and I looked back in my brother's direction.
"He's fighting them off. He's handling himself." The crowd slowly decreased and I urged my parents to go to wherever everyone else was. They eventually agreed and both hugged me before they left. Something about that hug didn't feel all too good. It felt like a hug you would give someone just in case something terrible happened and you couldn't be reunited. I thought about the immense pain I would feel if the only people I had left were gone. The feeling didn't sit well with me.
The rest of the wolves were taken care of and I met back up with Rowan. "I didn't think that would be so easy," I laughed nervously, my attempt at lightening the tense mood failed misserably.
"I don't think It'll be so easy for everyone here to just forget about this," He said. He wasn't wrong. This was a traumatic experience for everyone here. There were no deaths on our part, which I was incredibly thankful for, but many were injured. Whether it was from getting in the way of one of the wolves, or being trampled by the panicking crowd of people that frantically tried leaving the room.
I looked around the room at all the destruction. I could already imagine how much money it would take to fix all of this. It looked like a tornado burst through the room.
"This is a disaster," I breathed out, scanning the room. So many hours of work put into making the room look perfect was destroyed in less than half an hour.
I motioned for one of the guards that was helping clean up the mess. "Do you know who the probable cause of all this is."
The man nodded. "We most likely think it was the Destroyers," he told me before getting back to his work.
I turned back to Rowan and told him the obvious. "This wasn't any random attack. This was an attempt on the King."
____________________________________
Hey!! Guess what today is???? I'm posting this in honor of Norah and Rowan's birthday today!!!
I didn't actually remember that it was today until I saw someone's comment.
Sooooo. . . I need help. I'm working on a new project, but I still need a title and a cover for it, so if any of y'all could come up with anything and give me ideas, that would be very much appreciated. The book will be a Romance/Action book about two assassins who are part of rival mafia families. They end up meeting and insane stuff goes down!! The main character's name is Amara if that helps any more. Now, this book probably won't be out until Hidden Away is complete. I can't wait to see what you guys come up with.
On another note, my birthday's on Monday and do you know what else is on Monday?? Labor day. That is literally everything I have to say about that.
School starts for me on Tuesday and we were split into two groups. We're alternating between online and in person schooling so I think thats great as long as people follow the rules and wear masks and social distance. Are you guys doing online school or in person schooling?
I think that's all for right now. Make sure to keep an eye on my conversation board on my profile for updates on when updates will be. Did that even make sense?
Anyways, I'll see y'all in the next chapter!