Her secret mate

Last day of school I

Side to side, we crossed the main yard.

This yard holds many memories for both of us.

We experienced a lot of first here and it was hard to imagine that after today nothing will ever be the same.

Tomorrow morning we will both leave for home and we won't see each other until my birthday and our engagement party. It will be one long week, especially because I will be trapped at home with my parents, alone, and that has never ended well.

The image my family has in the werewolf world is complex. Well, mainly because my family has done a lot of f****d up s**t.

We have started wars and crises, we have destroyed and rebuilt the world more than once. If there was some sort of commotion in the world, be sure that someone from my family line or pack was involved.

I believe that is part of the reason why so many wolves hate us. We have caused grief and problems for every pack that we come in contact with and it was a problem.

If you were to believe the legends and our pack's lore, you could blame the fiery blood running through our veins.

As the name of that pack, Pheonix pack implies, we are mostly known for the fiery tempers we all have and for the riches that have been passed down through the generations. You happen to accumulate a lot of wealth when you are the oldest pack in the world, dating our lineage to the first wolves.

And I am sure that wealth was the reason why we always end up burning the world down in a literal or metaphorical way on more than one occasion. With the wealth we control, it's only natural that we have power that we did not earn and so we mess up a lot.

Mix power, money and wealth and you get a true recipe for disaster.

One of the biggest dark marks in our history is the hundred-year war that has almost destroyed the whole werewolf world.

My father was the one that finished it completely before I was born and so it is the reason why he is so admired in the community.

No one really knows that it was a joint effort from both sides of my grandparents that really stopped the war, but my father was the only one that got praise for it.

My parent's marriage was the final piece of the puzzle that solidified the piece we live in right now.

"When are they picking you up?"

Darcie's voice pulled me out of my thought loop and I looked up at him.

"Jason promised to be here at 9 am... so I am pretty sure he will be here at 9.30 if I am lucky. And you?

"Six am."

I feel sorry for him right now.

"That's quite early. What's the rush?

Darcy took a deep breath and I reached out for his hand. He let me wrap my fingers around his while we continued to walk.

"There is a meeting at eight that Father insists that I have to be a part of."

I squeezed his fingers, trying to comfort him. Darcy's father pushed Darcy so much, to be perfect, that I was not sure how Darcy was still sane... Well, maybe he wasn't because he chose me to be his, but I don't let myself go down that road of thoughts right now.

Unlike my father, who didn't really give a f**k what I was doing, Darcy's father was very involved in every aspect of Darcie's life... well, almost every.

I was the only exception.

When Darcy and I started dating, his father was totally against it. It was the only time I have seen Darcy defray his father in such a strong manner. Usually, he was very diplomatic and smart about every move he made, but it was completely the opposite when things came to our relationship. It was kinda crazy seeing him so reckless, but he was determined to keep me.

He straight out told his father if he tried to interfere in our relationship, he would leave the pack.

And that was the biggest threat the alpha's son could make.

His father didn't talk to him for almost a month after that threat, but it worked. His father accepted us together as the new reality. He stopped fighting Darcy, at least publicly, and started looking for ways to make the best out of this situation, like the true businessman he was.

I guess what he realized was that he could get into an alliance with my father and that was a sure way to help him get whatever he could want.

So the union he was so against became Darcy's father's deal of a lifetime.

I was the sole air of my father's pack and empire, the biggest disappointment in my father's life. One thing he wanted the most but couldn't get was a male offspring that he could leave the pack to. My mother couldn't get pregnant after having me and, for the longest time, my father couldn't forgive her for that and me, at the same time, for not being born a man.

I felt Darcie's hand squeeze mine as he drew me back to the current moment.

When I looked up and saw that we were at the front entrance.

Okay, here we go.

Darcy opened the door for me, leading me through the rows of seats to the front, where his dedicated place was and an empty space next to him left for me.

Like the true gentleman he was, he led me to my seat and kissed my hand as he helped me sit down.

I could feel hundreds of eyes staring daggers at me but I was used to it by now.

"Good luck."

I smiled at him as he straightened his back and was ready to walk onto the stage to open the ceremony. With a light chuckle at my words, he turned on his heel and walked onto the stage.

The moment he stepped onto it, the whole crowd around me started clapping and cheering him on. He was the class president and president of a few other clubs, making him extremely popular and influential. That was the reason why they asked him to give the opening speech.

At a slow, confident pace, he stepped onto the main podium, with a simple gesture of lifting his hand, he made the whole room go silent and I got turned on by the power he displayed by just lifting his hand.