The Alpha King and His Mysterious Mate

You are not the only one with a secret

[ Elizabeth's pov ]

3 years have gone by since I shared the contents of the nightmare that has been haunting me my whole life with Blake. It still haunts me often, but not on an everyday basis like it used to. Talking to my best friend helped and now I manage to get just enough sleep to manage my work and studies.

For the last 3 years, I have been working for a small, private airline, called Royal Skies, located near my school. They had two Cessnas Caravan, of 8 seats each, when I started, and now we even have a Beechcraft B1900 with 18 seats. In total at this moment, we have 10 airplanes and I contributed a lot to this expansion despite my young age. You could say I made the whole thing happen, but that would be bragging, although... since it is the truth... is it really bragging?

I started working at Royal Skies as a dispatcher and in those 3 years, I have been through multiple roles within the company. I have been trained as a pilot and as a crew controller, any role there is I have done it, from genitor to being part of the legal team. Although some, like crew controller were easy tasks since we didn't have a lot of crew in the beginning. I excelled in every job assigned to me, not because I am a perfectionist or an overachiever, well maybe just a little bit, but because I had no one. My only family is Blake and, just like me, she is an orphan, so the only people we could count on are ourselves. We would help each other no matter what, but none of us at this point, at least financially, could cover the expenses of the other, so technically, we didn't have anyone. Like the song says, it is just me, myself and I.

So I worked harder than anyone and barely slept since there are only twenty-four hours in a day and I had school to attend to and a full-time job on top of that. My efforts, however, didn't go unnoticed. A few overtimes and a couple of insightful suggestions here and there about how we can expand our business did the trick. It was not long before I became the right hand of our owner, Chris. He was always on-site during operating hours and he saw my talent for business, when I didn't even know I had one.

Chris ensured I saw the company from each and every aspect, from every position, which really helped me understand what needed to be done. Many more insightful ideas on how we can grow, chase the right opportunities and implement the right decisions came to me. Thanks to that, investors were attracted, deals were closed, money was made and taadaa we got 10 airplanes. Turns out I indeed had the business gift and a keen eye for opportunities.

This year we are ready to expand even more and it could not come at a better time for me because I am starting my university business degree in a week's time. Hopefully, I'll be able to implement all the things I will learn straight away and maybe even more successful deals will be struck.

High school is almost behind me, of course, with honors, valedictorian of our class and every title a nerd like me could possibly need for her CV. Accumulating all those trophies and titles gave me the courage to apply to multiple universities all over the country. I got accepted to all, even the expensive ones I couldn't possibly afford. Well, at least not the ones that didn't offer me a full scholarship.

Explain this to me. What is a 50% scholarship? If I am applying for a scholarship, this means that I am obviously broke. Where am I supposed to find the other 50%?

I know partially it is my fault, whoever took into account my CV, could see that I have been attending the most prestigious boarding school in the world all my life. A boarding school that doesn't have a scholarship program, so they clearly thought I was loaded, or my parents at least. Yet that could not be furthest from the truth and, up to this day, I still have no idea who paid for my tuition. A dead end received all my efforts, every time I tried to find out even the tiniest piece of information about my parents or whoever was behind those payments.

I was accepted to many universities, but eventually, I decided to stay close to home. Blake was my only family and I was not just going to move across the country and risk losing her. We were both accepted on full scholarships, although with different degrees, to one of the most elite universities, here in the city.

Blake is a biology buff, so we won't have classes together, but at least we will live in the same dorm, as we do now, in the school.

I always loved the safety aspect of the airline industry, so my degree is in business management and airline safety. You understand how crucial it is to be safe when you are 30,000 feet above the ground and the only thing keeping you alive is that metal tube around you. One tiny sparkle, one cigarette that was not put out completely and that is it. My wish and my career goal, therefore, is to make any trip a safe trip for everyone; no crashes, no accidental fires, no threats and, consequentially, no heartbreaking families of passengers. Peace in the sky is my motto. Of course, I am not that selfless nor a saint. A woman has to eat, so I didn't mind making some, or preferably a lot of money in the process.

Starting today is our last week at the boarding school. We are graduating and all of our affairs have been settled. Next week we are officially moving to the university, the big girls' club as we like to call it.

Blake was cooking and I was tasked with picking up a bottle of bubbly. It was our first time trying any alcohol, being 18 and all. Plus, we wanted to celebrate our successful entry into higher education as well as reminisce on all the good times we had in our room, before this apartment became somebody else's home away from home. Or maybe, on a more realistic note, a home of some rich kids, who will complain to daddy that the apartment is smaller than their room back home, just like all of our classmates did on a regular basis.

I reached our cozy apartment and breathed in the delicious cooking of my best friend.

"- It smells so yummy Blake. You really have outdone yourself!" I said while drooling like I hadn't eaten for ages."I see you made a lot of food. Are you cooking for those children again? Was it Emmet and Charles? Who are they to you again?" Seeing as Blake once again avoided telling me who they are exactly, besides the fact that they are brothers of an old friend, I didn't push her. Not because I wasn't curious, but mainly because I was extremely hungry.

"- I am going to change and set up the table and maybe afterward you will explain to me who those kids are. Perhaps after that, we can take the food to them together" I said, unwilling to give up completely.

I changed faster than the speed of light and in no time the table was set. Holding the knife and fork already in my hands, I patiently waited, like a small child, for Blake to serve the food. Fine, not exactly patiently, I was banging my fists holding the cutlery on the table and yelling food, food, food. Don't blame me, I was hungry.

"- Gosh, you are a small child. How did you manage to help buy 8 airplanes and close all the deals while you couldn't even be patient for 5 minutes? Now stop drooling all over the table, you ate like two hours ago" she said with her motherly tone, although she was just a month older than me. She then served herself first, on purpose, may I add, just to see me suffer from hunger a little longer. So much for a best friend.

"- For your information, I just have a healthy appetite" I gave her a death glare while keeping my eyes locked on her already overfilled plate, fully aware of the saliva tsunami in my mouth.

Finally, I received my share and kindly asked for seconds, in no time, although making sure to leave enough for the boys. Two hours later, we were still reminiscing about our time here. The place was filled with laughter and joy from all the funny stories we were telling each other. Blake is truly my sister, my family. I couldn't imagine my life without her. All the moments we had here, the challenges we faced and the bond we shared grew stronger each day. In this very apartment, we experienced our first heartbreaks when a boy didn't like us back. Heartbreaks we quickly got over, when, due to our absent-mindedness and crying, we failed to revise and received scores below 95% on impromptu test days. One more hour of laughter and funny stories went by and our dinner was coming to an end.

"- Will you tell me about those kids now? They have barely been in our school a week and you went all mother bear on them. Who are they? The full story this time" I warned her, making my expectations clear.

Suddenly, I saw my friend becoming a chameleon. I swear she changed at least 10 colors and worry was written all over her face.

"- Blake, what is going on? Your anxiety wave has filled the whole room, what is it B? " I stared at her expectedly. My words obviously startled her and it took her a minute to regain her composure. She was struggling with an answer, her mouth kept on opening and closing, failing to find words to communicate.

"- Did I say something wrong B? If you don't want to tell me, it is fine. We don't have to share everything. It is a stupid promise we made as kids. You don't have to keep it if you don't want to. I won't be upset, it took me almost 5 years after we made that promise to tell you about my nightmare, so I have no right to judge or expect anything" I pouted, as I quickly stood up to gather the plates, unable to hide the sad look in my eyes.

"- No!" she shouted as she grabbed my hand and forced me to sit back. This little woman, barely half my size, has the strength of a superwoman. "I will tell you" She sighed. "You are not the only one who has a secret. I wanted to tell you 3 years ago, but after you told me about your nightmare, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't want to lose you so I chickened out."