~Aurora~

　　It was frustrating me. It infuriates me. How could Prince Emeric do this to me...?

　　Clubbing all my rivals together against me must have satisfied his ego by a lot. Also, ever since we've had that talk, he had completely disappeared from my life. He never interacted, or looked into my direction since that day.

　　It's been a week now. My rage towards Prince Emeric only keeps rising as we stood in a neat formation as contenders, about to begin the Trial of Heirs.

　　Prince Emeric stood tall and prestigious in the middle of the stage. The announcements and the event as a whole took place outside, near the training grounds which were decorated beautifully. From the tall balcony of the common hall above, in the palace, Prince Emeric and five elders of Whispering Pines Lycan Kingdom stood for the ceremony.

　　Cameras and human media reporters were all over the place, hence, we had to look at the LED screens attached to the sides with speakers.

　　We were a total of seventy-two contenders for Trial of Heirs. Each round eliminating more than half of us all.

　　That should mean, the Trial of Heirs will end within five tough rounds, testing us holistically.

　　Prince Emeric held the event diplomatically, but at the time of announcing names out to the media and the world, he had made a small blunder. It made my blood boil.

　　"Miss A-Aurora Fangborn of D-Darkforest Pack, south division." He spoke, and I crushed my eyebrows together. Clenching my jaw at how he ruined my name 'on purpose' I walked towards the Elders who stood in a formation to collect my sword, my hat and my badge. The hat is the indication of my team along with my badge representing my name and pack.

　　"Look at him. Even Prince Emeric cannot refrain himself from laughing at her. She's sure made herself into a laughing stock by joining this competition." A group of Werewolves spoke behind my back as I joined the announced contenders.

　　My fists held the belongings tightly, and I prayed I wouldn't break my badge right after I've just received it. Oh, how badly I wanted to punch their jaws out and watch them call me a dumb girl anymore. I've grown significantly stronger, because someone had motivated me. But now it seems as if Prince Emeric was just mocking me and somehow, I've perceived his mockery as a good things. Shame on myself.

　　~Emeric~

　　Fuck, fuck, fuck!

　　I didn't have to mess it up so bad for the girl. She glared at me from the distance, I couldn't see her but surely felt her glare on my head as I stuttered her name. I was embarrassed myself, appearing weaker as I did so.

　　That calls for certain someone residing in my body to call me out.

　　'Haha! Loser. Way to go. I can feel her anger all over the air.'

　　'It wasn't my intention. You know that best amongst everyone else here.' I replied to Marrok.

　　'Tch! You didn't have to put yourself in that situation if you just complied to my words and accepted Aurora as our mate! Look at her, Emeric. She's beautiful and kind!'

　　The conversation happened after I've announced all seventy-two names in the mic. We were wrapping up the programme, and my mate stood out amongst other contenders. Maybe because she doesn't like mingling with people anymore, she stands out to me.

　　'You can't lie to me, Emeric. I see the way you're looking at her. And I'm pretty sure she will leave to her room for the after party as well. Keep her here, talk to her.' Marrok suggested.

　　'What? Talk to her again? There's no way I will do that again. You've seen how my emotions kept bubbling up because of her, right? Everything I felt, I've never felt those emotions in such extremities ever. She's dangerous to me. To us.'

　　'If that's what you convince yourself with, so be it. But at least track her progress in some sort of way. She looks super strong now. Her aura has changed significantly.' Marrok had predicted. Taking a sip from the champagne, I looked at Aurora again,

　　'Really? How can you feel it when I haven't even gone anywhere close to her in the past few days?'

　　'Strength doesn't need an aura to detect in proximity, Emeric. You and I both know that. And she's so charming and attractive. Why aren't you prepared to accept our mate?'

　　'It's simple. I want to help her from afar. But since we've got no one to observe her like we do, I think I know who's next best tor this task. If you're thinking what I'm thinking.'

　　'Good then, let's go talk to Roman.'

　　It was late into midnight when I next sit on my office chair. Workload is immense and never-ending even during ceremony days. The glass of champagne was sitting empty on the desk as I looked through it. There was a silhouette against it, I hoped it wasn't another contender who came to thank me for accepting them in Trials of Heirs.

　　"Roman..." I sighed in relief.

　　"I thought you called for me, Alpha. Why the long face?" He chuckled, so did I.

　　"I have a task for you."

　　"Anything, your majesty." I allowed the man to step inside. Explaining my situation, I watched Beta Roman pull a smirk up on his lips.

　　"So you've actually found your mate. Why not announce it to the world?"

　　"You know how the elders are. If we do, they'll force her and me to marry and force her to carry my pups too. She's still too young and inexperienced. I wish for the best for her." My eyes widened at the end of the sentence. Roman's reaction was something similar, and I began blushing.

　　"That's new for you, to care for someone, Alpha. But I understand. I've seen the girl, heard about her too. She's not half as bad as we all think." I raised an eyebrow. Folding my arms over my chest, I looked at him for explanation.

　　Shrugging his shoulders and rolling his eyes, he finally revealed,

　　"Okay, I might been observing her even before you've told me to."

　　Cheeky Roman.