“Wait, you made them?” Charlie asks.
“Yes. I have been experimenting in the kitchen,” he explains. “My mentor and best friend, Eric, is a good cook and usually provides me with the information I need.”
“Eric is a prince of the Council,” Aurelia explains to us. “He is also my cousin.”
“Oh!” My eyes widen. “And you are working for the Council, too, don’t you, Arden?”
“That’s how I got to know Eric,” he says. “He supported me all along.”
I let his words sink in while grabbing my second quesadilla. Meanwhile, Charlie attempts to eat a taco without spilling everything. Aurelia and I can’t help but laugh. “They are great, but awful to eat,” Charlie says. “Not sexy. I will only eat them in front of Maddox once he is head over heels for me.”
“Something tells me he already is,” Aurelia says.
“We barely talked!”
“But he looked at you,” she says. “He also seemed to be happy when he talked to you.”
“He smiled,” Arden adds. These two words seem to put Charlie in awe. She still looks slightly disbelieving, but also happy.
“I-“ she begins, but before she can say anything more, Tiger suddenly jumps from my shoulder, shrieking and flapping.
“What?” An instinct pushes me to get up. “What are you upset about?”
Aurelia stares at my bird before her eyes wander to the window. There, Titan is sitting, scratching at the window. Tiger flutters around us, from Aurelia to me, then back to me before returning to Aurelia.
Aurelia gets up, opening the window. “Show me,” she says.
Tiger flies out of the window, with the four of us scrambling to climb through the window and follow him. To my surprise, Titan leads us to Aurelia’s car. Aurelia casts a quick glance from Tiger to Titan, then unlocks the car. “Gwen, inform my parents. Arden and I will be following the bird.”
For a moment, I just stare at Tiger, before something in my stomach tugs. Painful and desperate. It squeezes my lungs shut. “This is about Felix!”
“Gwen.” Arden hurries to me and takes my hand. “Aurelia is a very strong lycan. Allow us to help Felix. Talk to Elden, and he will make sure to hurry after us. We will keep you informed,” he pauses. “Please trust us.”
forty-nine
The Attack
*FELIX*
It would be a lie to say I didn’t struggle with my experience of being abducted and tortured two years ago, but now I realize it also helps me keep my cool. When Dario and I returned home after that traumatic event, Dad set us up with a good therapist, and also worked with us himself, to help us cope with such a situation in case it ever happens again.
As for Maddox, he obviously has nerves of steel, or he would have already attacked. I’d bet handling his father prepared him for keeping his cool in such a tense situation.
Maddox and I both jumped out of the car, and now are standing back-to-back and eyeing the wolves circling us. Only one of them steps forward and shifts to his human form.
“We don’t mean harm,” he says, his voice polite but cold.
I am stunned. Granted, I don’t have Dad or Liam’s experience in handling tough situations or being in a standoff with a group of wolves. Maybe they would have been able to talk themselves out of it, or turn the tide in their favor, but I have no idea what the fuck I am supposed to do.
Smells weird.
What?I briefly focus on Kiran.What do you mean?
The dude’s scent. I know it.
Wait a moment! Are you saying we have met him before?
Maybe. Give me a moment.
