Chapter 1 - Please.
1834 Words
Aurora D´Angelo
“Dad!”
“No.”
He was being unreasonable.
What could happen to me in the human world? I was powerful enough to fend for myself.
I had been ever since I was kidnapped as a baby, and I always would be.
“Aurora, NO…” My father said, and I huffed.
“But…”
“I said no.”
He wasn’t giving me room to argue.
“I lost you once. That was enough.”
I was his firstborn.
The baby who had been stolen and somehow brought home again.
After that came the therapists, the healers, the doctors.
Everyone trying to figure out why the princess without a Lycan never fit where she was supposed to.
I was the product of two extraordinary bloodlines: a father with a Royal Lycan and a mother who was both demon and angel.
They never realized there was anything wrong with me.
“I am not a Lycan… I didn´t shift a year ago… I don't see why I can't pass as a human!” I protested.
He couldn’t keep me locked in here.
In a place where I feel like drowning.
Every instinct screamed that my future wasn't here.
Don’t get me wrong.
I love my family.
But lately, I had been feeling there was something more out there for me.
“It doesn’t matter,” he paused.
“Your aura gives you away. Humans would be able to tell.” He inhaled deeply.
“But things have been better, right?” I asked.
He slowly nodded.
“I mean, you wouldn’t let me or any other supernatural go there if it was too risky…” I bit my lower lip.
“Aurora…” his voice was stern.
“I am just saying that it might be dangerous, but not necessarily for me, but for everyone else…” I rephrased it, and he squinted his eyes.
He knew I was laying the groundwork.
I wanted to corner him.
“It is safe.
For others.”
I lifted my eyebrows.
“I bet the parents who are sending their kids would feel comforted with the idea.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
I was defying him.
He noticed.
As a king that never went right by him.
But I was his princess.
His little girl.
I kinda got a free pass in that area.
Daughter’s privileges.
“The exchange program is closed.”
“The answer will still be no.”
Good, I already had a way around that specific roadblock.
I smirked.
“Actually,”
I paused.
His back stiffened.
He knew I had an ace under my sleeve.
I had learned from the best.
He was the best.
“I got admitted under an alias.”
My smile widened.
“No,” he said.
“Isla Smith,”
“I don’t know anyone with that name.”
He rolled his eyes.
“You are looking at her,” I said triumphantly.
“Still supernatural,” he pressed.
The door of his office opened.
“Marcus asked me to run interference.”
Mom walked in.
My lips curled.
My sweet little brother had called my father’s kryptonite - Mom.
“What is going on?” My mother took the chair beside mine.
She would usually sit on my father’s lap.
That told me everything.
She was not here as his wife, but as a mother.
“Your daughter went behind our backs and applied to the human/supernatural exchange program.” Dad stared at me while informing Mom.
“Did you get in?” Mom asked,
I nodded.
“Congratulations, honey.” Mom beamed.
“I have always said it.
You are as smart as me.”
Her smile glowed in the middle of the dark office.
“Iris,” Dad’s clipped voice broke the moment.
“She is not going.”
“But the program has a couple of years running. It is safe enough.” Mom was about to say something else, but my dad’s sharp glare cut her words.
“Not safe enough for my daughter.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“The program is safe.” He finally admitted.
One small win.
More to come.
“But Aurora’s physical traits scream supernatural.
Not to mention her aura and powers.”
My father said.
Mom smiled. “I thought the problem was the name,” she said.
“Not anymore,” Dad reluctantly informed.
So, my strategy of applying under the name of Isla Smith had paid off.
“How so?” Mom looked curiously between Dad and me.
I didn’t want to gloat, but I was proud of my idea.
“They accepted Isla Smith.”
“Brilliant.” Mom nodded.
“Don’t encourage this,” Dad grumbled.
I almost giggled.
“So, can I go?”
“No. Maybe.” Dad and Mom said at the same time.
“Iris,” Dad said.
Mom gave him a knowing look.
He nodded.
I couldn’t see them talking through their mate bond, but I knew they had reached an agreement.
“Sweetie.” Mom smiled softly.
“Dad isn't saying no because he doesn't want you to go.
You look every bit supernatural.
Your turquoise eyes don´t look human.
Your aura is strong…
Your hair, well, is not a common color or a regular human.”
Mom paused, and I nodded.
I knew that already.
And I also had another ace under my sleeve.
“In fact, even calling yourself Isla Smith, looking at your eye color, humans would know you are not only supernatural, but royal.”
Dad added.
“We can work it out,” I tried to defend my place in the program.
“Also, human college kids… They go through so many hurdles.
Things there are not how things are here.”
Mom paused,
“Would you be willing to go through them?” Mom paused.
“You have never struggled in your life,” Dad added.
“Character-building experience,” I mumbled,
Their faces fell.
“So you plan to go there.
Pretend to be human with what?
Eye contact and hair dye?” Dad glared in my direction.
I was not budging.
He was getting frustrated.
Mom was amused.
That was the perfect scenario for me.
“Right now your only objection is that I look supernatural enough to be noticed in the human world.” I wanted to close this negotiation.
My father would call it a pointless argument.
But for me it was a life-altering moment.
Dad nodded.
Mom followed.
They were trying to find the middle ground. And I appreciated it.
They were powerful.
But above all, they always tried to be fair.
“So, again… if I looked human, and I used the alias, will you let me go?” I asked them.
Silence.
No one moved.
"Even if you can hide yourself..."
He stopped.
His jaw tightened.
"It doesn't change what could happen if someone discovers who you are."
Silence.
My father took a shaky inhale.
It was the sound of defeat.
The sound of a father coming to terms with his little girl having grown up.
“I might, yes…” He finally conceded.
“But changing your whole nature is not possible,” he added.
I slowly stood up.
This was the moment to show what I was made of.
My mother and father just followed my movements with their eyes.
I moved to an open space in his office.
Breathe, Aurora.
You can do this.
I gave myself a small pep-talk.
I have done this in private.
Practiced.
This was the first time doing it in public.
I lifted my hands.
Brilliant light spilled from my fingertips.
I closed my eyes. Every ounce of my focus went into summoning my powers.
I pictured my true self.
My eyes, hair color, features.
Then I changed them.
Big turquoise eyes, replaced with soft grey ones.
Silver hair, changing into ashy blonde.
My once-powerful aura dimmed until it was almost nonexistent.
When I opened my eyes, I saw my parents' shocked expression.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them breathed.
“How?”
Dad’s jaw was agape.
“It is who I am, Daddy,” I muttered.
This had been the most terrifying thing I had ever done in my life.
My parents had spent a lifetime trying to understand me.
Now I was finally showing them why they never could.
Mom’s arms wrapped around my shoulders.
“And you are amazing,” she said.
“Incredible.” Dad smiled.
Deep in his eyes, pride flashed.
My breath shivered.
They had accepted me, no questions asked.
“Well, f**k me…” Dad smirked.
Mom slapped his shoulder.
“Language, Matei.” Mom chastised him, as if she was chastising my brother, Marcus.
Dad scratched the back of his neck.
His eyes then moved to me.
“You don’t look like my daughter.
Your aura doesn’t feel like part of mine.
But…” he gulped down.
“Deep down, in my heart.
In my soul.
You are still my little princess.”
His voice broke, and I swore I saw a tear in his eye.
My defenses crumbled.
All the edge of the discussion faded away.
The only thing left was this.
Us.
A family.
And a future waiting to be decided.
“Please,” I whispered.
“Dad, please,” I said it with a bit more force.
One heartbeat.
Two.
“I won’t lose you again,” he whispered.
“So, is it a yes?” I looked at them, hopeful.
“A yes, with conditions,” Dad finally conceded.
I jumped.
Actually jumped.
A laugh escaped me as I clapped my hands together.
I'd waited for this moment.
Dreamed about it.
Fought for it.
And now...
It was finally mine.
“Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.”
They gave me a minute to enjoy my small victory, then Dad pointed at the chair.
“Sit.”
I did.
He looked straight in my eyes.
“The conditions,” he began.
I held my breath.
“Honey, not now…” Mom said.
I looked, and silently thanked her.
“We will get to them,” she said, in a silent promise that I was not completely off the hook, but for now, they would let me enjoy the moment.
“I love you, Mom and Dad…” I jumped into their arms, and allowed myself to fuse with them in a warm embrace.
Dad tenderly kissed my temple.
Mom leaned into him, while her hand wrapped around me.
“This is going to be hard.” Dad paused.
“You will be away,” he said, and I nodded.
“And no matter what, you will always have us.”
Goddess. They were not wrong,
But deep down, inside my bones.
Every instinct whispered one word.
Go.
My life was about to change forever.
- Writer
