~Aurora~

　　The third Elder, who was always and always against me, no matter what was the case. My heart began thumping against my chest. One ring had gone off, yet I was still standing against the bed like a statue.

　　"Hey," Emeric put his hand over my shoulder. He was standing as well, behind me.

　　"You should take that call." Suggested the man. After a few seconds, I nodded. I decided to call back on the number I 'missed' attending.

　　"Elder…" I slowly uttered into the phone, "Aurora Fangborn. We are coming to the kingdom to discuss. There is a lot to clear, and a lot to save for both our pack and their Kingdom. Prepare yourself." Saying his words sternly, he cut the call. I couldn't even respond to his words, and he cut the call abruptly!

　　Somewhere in me, I was feeling sad that he didn't congratulate me for my victory. I won for our pack, but they have no regard towards me, whatsoever. It pains me, in my heart. I endured all of this…for them. Didn't I?

　　Anyway, I sprung back to normal after Emeric hugged me tightly to his chest. I knew he would come up with a solution. But seeing the situation at the moment, I don't think they will allow Emeric to interfere with my matters anymore. If anything, that will aggravate the situation even more!

　　I was more than upset…

　　Over the fact of the scandal, I was upset that Alexia ruined everything else for me. What does she even mean with Emeric assisting me with the trials!? It was as if SHE was accusing ME of cheating! She's good at the art of cheating, not me! She is good at getting things her way, even if it was by force, not me!

　　Everything that I've achieved with my own hardwork and incredible endurance has gone to waste now. Just one rumor about it all, and I've lost all integrity, once again. All those initial days of public taunt and misinformation about me was coming back to haunt me. If anything, this rumor only added up.

　　Emeric and I turned to my phone, which was suddenly being blasted with messages! They were all unknown contacts. Messages, social media rumors, newsletters and in short news bulletin notifications…all of them were about me!

　　"Your phone was hacked. Leave it here, and go back to your room. I'll handle—" in the midst of Emeric trying to assure me about the issue, there was a loud knock at his door. He nodded at me, and allowed the person to come in.

　　"Emeric, this is not going well. Alexia Thorn just dropped by and you wouldn't believe who is with her." Beta Roman looked at us both as his panicked face revealed my guess,

　　"Leif Lupus?" I asked, thinking it wouldn't be him. But it was indeed…HIM!

　　"Oh Goddess…"

　　"Why do you look upset? Aurora, are you hiding something from me?" He pressed on the topic again. There's no way I'm letting him know the actual past Leif and I shared! With the way things are going between Emeric and I, Emeric is sure to strangle Leif to death if he knew Leif caused me such pain in the past!

　　"I'm not hiding anything at the moment, Emeric. But…I don't know. I need to get back to my room."

　　"Take a shower. We will talk later. And your pack's elders along with Beta Torin might come by in a few hours as well. We need to prepare ourselves. Let us discuss and clear this out once and for all." As Beta Roman stood by the door and watched us interact, I could tell he was utterly confused.

　　However, he offered to walk me back to my room since there will be other workers in the corridors. I might be slandered by them. I turned him down politely, saying,

　　"I'm not the girl I used to be, Beta Roman. I've got this. And…thank you for being loyal to him."

　　"I'd always be loyal to my future king. He always does what's best for the people. And for now, we ARE his people." His words for Prince Emeric brought a big smile to my face.

　　Patting my shoulder he said, "Now go and freshen up. The day is going to be long enough."

　　And then, I went back to my room.

　　Even there, I couldn't stop pondering about the rumor. The scandal. There is no way anyone would accuse Prince Emeric of favoritism and all of those things. He's the most selfless man I've ever seen! Even I knew he used to give out free pieces of advice to everyone! He wouldn't interfere with my training as well. We would just train ourselves physically, side by side.

　　Sighing, I stepped into the shower. I had deliberately taken a cold shower to calm me down. The sprinkling of ice cold water would probably make me sick, but at this point, I can't afford to give a damn.

　　Elders from my pack, Beta Torin who's been the interim alpha of my pack, few other leaders and Leif would be coming here by evening. To wreak havoc in my life once again. It would be embarrassing to be in the presence of Leif and Alexia at this point. I loathe them with my entire heart.

　　I must defend my pride at all costs today. I don't care where the discussion might spiral, but I have only my pride and Emeric's accusation to defend. Even if I'll have to be aggressive…