Alpha Princes Hidden Mate

9- First flight

"Maa.... come and catch me. You too slow! Haaa....haaaa" the boisterous laugh echoed inside the glass dome covered nursery. 

The five year old child was running around on the grass behind the birds and butterflies living there while being chased by his mother.

The giggles of her little munchkin swelled the heart of  Maria as she ran behind him pretending to not be able to catch him. 

" Ah my poor legs, you are running too fast for me E, won't you slow down for your mama, I am so tired baby. "

As he thought his mamma was about to cry, the little munchkin immediately stopped and ran back to her.

"No, no don't cry mum a. I here for you." he said while hugging her tightly around her knees.

Maria scooped him up and sat down on the grass as the warm sunlight filtered from glass roof above them.

" Thank you, my baby. I love you. "

" I love you too, mamma. You will be the only girl I love. "

" Even when you are a big, strong Alpha? "

"Yes, even then." the little boy said with pride in her voice and puffing out his little chest.

This made Maria laugh out loud, he was just too adorable for his own good.

" What about your mate E? Wouldn't you love her too? May be more than me "

"NO... no I won't love anyone but you mamma. You are my mamma. I will send her away. I don't want a mate"

"Now, now E that is not nice at all. Mates are gifts given to us by moon goddess and you know that you never disrespect a gift especially from moon goddess."

Maria could see a pout forming on his cute little mouth.

"Wipe that pout off coz you can love both me and your mate all you want"

She saw his eyes light up at her comment. She just wanted to squeal at the cuteness of this child.

" Of course you can. The love you give me and the love you give your mate will be different. And that little heart of yours can give out both in infinite amounts. "

" Mamma, do you know my mate? "

" Well, I don't know who she would be but I know that she is going to be very very special just like you...." saying this Maria started to tickle the little monster and a loud cheerful voice filled the entire nursery.

" Just remember to accept her, even if you think she is too different for you coz moon goddess does not make mistakes. "

He was shook out of his thoughts by a timid knock on his door. By the sweet fragrance of lilies coming, he knew who was behind.

"Come in"

Arin poked her head from the small gap in the door.

"Everybody is waiting downstairs"

"I will be there in a minute"

He quickly zipped up his bag and hauled all the stuff outside the room before going down. He could see Andrew and others already putting their bags inside the trunk of a beat up grey colored pick up truck. 

" You took your sweet time, Eros." Andrew threw the words his way.

Eros frowned and ignored his friend before putting in his bags and closing the trunk. His eyes caught Arin's warm curious one. 

Did mamma know about her being human? Was that she meant when she said she would be different......

" Are we going in this? " Arin said while pointing towards the truck. The question was directed toward Eros but Andrew butted in causing Eros' frown to deepen.

" Yes of course, little one. This.." he was cut off by a loud threatening growl coming from behind him.

" Don't call her that " Eros growled, coming in between Arin and Andrew. 

His wolf did not like the way Andrew addressed his mate and Andrew pissed him even more when he stepped closer to her.

" And stay in your limits Beta. "

" Geez, who pissed in your breakfast, Alpha? " mocked Andrew while taking a step away from a very pissed off Alpha, he couldn't resist pissing him more.

" I can call her that if she has no problems with it." Andrew said this and tilted sideways to look at Arin over Eros.

" Right, little one? "

" Ugg....Uggg " Arin did not know how to reply as she clearly belonged to Eros and could not go against him but at the same time Eros had told her numerous times that she was her own person, therefore could do whatever she wanted.

Nonetheless, looking at the pissed off Eros she decided to remain quiet.

" Come on...." Andrew threw his hands up. He could not believe Arin would take this grump's side.

" Fine... " finally Andrew compromised as he could see Eros going out of control, the longer he dragged this conversation as small rumbling sounds coming from him were increasing in intensity asking Andrew's submission.

They piled up in the car, with Andrew driving and Beta supreme taking the shot gun. Arin was sitting behind at the window, beside her was Eros, followed by Gamma supreme.

The journey was going to be long so Arin decided to just look out the window at the new life she was about to begin. She could just think of how this life would be without her Mimi and Sophy would be but alas, she could do nothing in this situation.

Her new owners, well maybe they are more like companions, maybe they could be friends, well whatever they were, had told her that  they were on a tour. Their next destination was Galad, another werewolf kingdom, adjacent to Ardor. She had never been there, well truth was she had never been outside of this town, heck she had never kept the foot outside the woods where she lived in a small cottage with her two other family members.

Though now she always felt like what was the use of keeping her sheltered inside their house when still they got to her in her safe havens?

A sigh left her mouth. The moment caught Eros' attention and he looked towards the petite girl sitting beside him. He had caught himself a few too many a times admiring her soft angelic features, the big round eyes curious, wise, young and also carrying a lot of sadness, then there was that cute button nose, plump slightly pink lips, defined feminine jaw and her round cute face with a little pale skin. 

Shit, I am doing it again.

" What's wrong with admiring our mate? "

" Are you sure she is our mate? "

"Moon goddess does not make mistakes E" sighed his wolf who was tired of this same conversation they had a few thousand times already.

Just remember to accept her, even if you think she is too different for you coz moon goddess does not make mistakes

His mother's voice echoed inside his head again saying the same thing.

" She was right you know " saying this, his wolf retreated back inside his head.

Maybe, just maybe, he could give this a try after all it was the will of the moon goddess.

Soon they reached the town where they changed the pick up truck to their royal SUVs. Other warriors also made it here on time. Looking at the entourage caused Arin to go into another panic attack which Eros was able to get under control.

Though Arin's reaction was understandably natural, what baffled him was the reaction of his warriors. None of them found it weird to have a human female amongst them. It was not a common occurrence in their kingdom or matter fact anywhere. Werewolves do not mingle with humans so casually.

Later he found out from his Beta who was approached by a few warriors asking for their new companion.

" Eros I think Arin had been given something by those slavers. That is the only decent explanation of why the warriors think of Arin as a she-wolf on suppressants and not a human. "

Eros was a little taken aback with information.

How could have they achieved this?

It was normal nowadays for she-wolves of high status to suppress their natural scent in order to not have males getting attached to them or for safety issues or in some cases when they don't want to find their mate. But using it on humans? Unheard, unseen. Also, suppressants were not easy to get for commoners, let alone rogues. This further strengthened his suspicion that some high ranking werewolf was involved in this slave trade and driving a wedge between humans and werewolves.

Nonetheless, it would come handy to Eros now as he no longer had to worry about explaining this to the Royals of Galad.

Soon they reached the private airstrip where the royal jet was waiting for Eros and his team. 

Eros entered the jet and saw the same air hostess, who was there at the time they visited The Guardian Wolf pack, making googly eyes at him. Uh, young crush on the handsome prince. Eros just ignored and went to sit opposite to Arin who looked nervous inside this metal cage.

Eros tried hard not to laugh at Arin who jumped so high when the speakers were turned on and the frown that etched itself on her face when captain made the announcement of take off and to put on their seat belt. Then he saw her struggling with her seat belt. Sighing, he decided to end her misery.

"Need some help there, little one?"

Arin was startled as she heard Eros' voice.

"Ugg... I... please?" Arin frowned even more as her words came out more as a question rather than statement.

" Is this your first time on a plane, Arin? " Eros asked as he helped her put up her seatbelt.

" Ug.. yes.. I have seen some pictures in the books Mimi gave me but that's all. "

" No problem. Do you want me to sit with you for the take off? "

" Okay " Arin didn't understand why Eros needed to sit besides her but she was not about to decline his offer. She liked him near her. She liked the warmth he provided.

It was soon when Arin understood why Eros sat besides her when she found herself clutching on his arms for dear life as the plane started to take off. The tilt was scary but the sparks she felt when she touched Eros were distracting her enough. She didn't understand what those sparks meant but she liked to feel them nonetheless. They chased her nightmares away.

After the plane was stable, Eros went back to his seat though somewhat reluctantly. He did like seating with her so close, clutching on to his arms. The sparks were really addicting but he could not do that. He could already feel the mate bond beginning to get strong due to their close proximity, something he could not afford without knowing everything about the situation. 

" Your coffee, Prince Eros " the air hostess came to Eros.

" Thank you Janet " said Eros without looking at the blushing Janet too engrossed in the reports in his hand.

Though her reaction did not go unnoticed by Arin. She frowned as she saw the girl blushing like a teenager in love. She felt a foreign emotion taking hold of her heart. She did not like this girl looking at her Eros like that, like a love sick puppy. 

Eros was hers, just her.

This thought startled Arin, she could not believe that she just thought of Eros as hers. He was just a werewolf who was nice enough to treat her with humanity. Nothing more. But somewhere inside her, there was a hope that had kindled that maybe, maybe he could be hers and she, his'.

Arin quickly took off her belt and went off towards the bathroom. After a few tries now she seemed to get a hang of how that damn restricting thing worked.

When she reached the bathroom door, she heard her name being said in a whispered tone behind the drawn curtains.

"Have you looked at her? She did not look like someone our young handsome prince Eros should hang out with." one of the air hostess said to Janet.

" I know. What the hell was she even wearing? Pathetic! Forget about her after all she is a nobody. Do you know prince remembered my name and"

Arin did not bother to listen further and quickly went inside the bathroom. Tears threatened to break free from her eyes as she looked at her disheveled face. She looked at her pale skin. She knew why they would think of her like that. She clearly was not somebody compared to Eros, who was definitely someone of high status. 

Weren't those girls calling him prince?

She knew then and there that she had to stop whatever she was feeling for Eros, clearly she was reading more into the situation. Eros was just helping her. Simple as that. He was a prince after all and she was nothing but a human girl, who had the status of a slave. She strengthened the walls around her and braced herself for facing the tides.

Just don't go too close and you will be fine Arin. Mimi did say not to trust any werewolves when you came and that is all you have to remember.

Arin got back to her seat without giving  Eros a glance.

Eros could feel a change in the atmosphere as he looked at Arin. She seemed closed off and miles away. He frowned and tried to think of what could have happened. Nothing came to his mind.

Did somebody say anything to her?

"Are you okay Arin? Has anything happened when you went back there? "

" Everything is fine Prince Eros. Nothing happened, " Arin replied in a closed off manner without looking at him.

Eros frowned again before her words registered in her mind.

Prince. s**t, how did she know?