filled with tension as Draco and Aida sat mostly in silence. She stared at him from under her eyelashes, watching as he shoveled food into his mouth, eyes never leaving his book about running a successful business. Tomorrow was their last night in Massachusetts, and this wasn't how Aida wanted to spend it, but the fake tension was the only way to make Kyle believe they were actually going to be separating.

"What time are you going to see your parents tomorrow?"

"

"I'll have two suitcases packed for you when you get home. Come straight to my office and we'll make them believe it as best we can. When it's over, you'll board your parent's plane at BOS, the Royal Jet will be what my mother, father, and myself board a few hours later."

"Where are the planes going?"

"Your plane will be going straight to France, you'll be staying with Stefan and Liam. I'm going to have to go to Greece, but once the threat is neutralized, you'll join me."

"How long will that take?"

"A week, max."

"I bought you a new phone too, it has a Greek number, the stewardess will give it to you when you see them tomorrow."

"I'll be coming to France every night while you're there, okay?"

"How?"

"Don't you worry about that. For now, you need to get a good night's sleep, we have a long day ahead of us." Clearing his throat Draco nodded and stood up leaving his plate behind.

Once again leaving Aida to finish dinner. Her appetite was now lost so with a sigh she began to wash the dishes that had accumulated throughout the day. It was midnight by the time she finished cleaning, yes they had people for that specific job but she needed to take her mind off of things and cleaning always did that.

"How are you doing, Princess?" Luciano smiled at his daughter from another couch.

"I'm alright," she said rubbing her belly.

"And my grandsons?"

She laughed, "they like to keep their momma up."

"When are you due?"

"Mid October. Will you guys be there for the birth?"

Luciano snorted, "of course. I think you're mother having us take the entire month of October off just in case."

Aida rolled her eyes, "that's really not necessary. Anyways, I should probably get going, we're off to France while the palace continues to get set up."

"France? Where?"

"Cannes, his brother and brother-in-law live there." Falling into her father's open arms, Aida hugged him once more. "I'll call you when we land okay? Tell my mom, I said bye." Climbing into the driver's seat, she began

Stepping into their house Aida was surprised to find it empty. There were no maids or butlers or even guards walking around, that's weird. "Hey," she said quietly to her mate who was standing with his back to her.

"I'm rejecting you," his back stayed turned.

A lump formed in her throat but she swallowed it. She knew it was fake, but the thought of it happening one day still hurt her. Unconsciously she rested a hand on her stomach, "what?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I'm rejecting you," he repeated, his back still turned, muscles bulging under his tight fit black dress shirt.

"Say it to my face." His body tensed even more, at her words but he made no effort to move. "Say it to my fucking face Draco!"

Slowly he turned around his silver eyes cold and emotionless. "I, Alpha King Draco Rivers reject you Aida Rivers as my mate, Queen, and Goddess."

She stood there frozen, her mouth slightly parted for eons. It took awhile but she finally composed herself, "I hope she makes you happy." And then she was out the door, and in the car, ready to go.

"I love you so much Celeste. I'm sorry it had to be like that, even if it wasn't real."

"It's okay," she let out a sigh as she drove away from the place. The windows were rolled up, no music played, and she obeyed every traffic law. "I love you too. When will I see you next?"

he said firmly. "You'll see me every evening until Kyle is caught and after that we can be together again. Everyday."

"Everyday," she repeated.

Making a sharp left she headed for the airport, her destination clear in her mind. Her family's jet stood in front of her. The DeLuca's printed on the side in big black letters.

"Have a safe flight Sweetheart. Reach out if you need anything."

"Of course." Slamming the car door, she walked slowly to the plane. Managing two suitcases and a backpack before someone came to help her. "Thank you," she murmured gratefully.

"Get some sleep," his voice rang through her head once more.

"You did what!" Talia screamed, her voice octaves higher than usual.

"I rejected her." A slap echoed throughout the living room, "I probably deserved that."

"Probably?! You just lost the best thing that ever happened to you." Her bright red hair matched her face, she was fuming with anger.

"I was just trying to protect her," Draco roared in her face, causing Jason to step in front of Talia, growling at his Alpha's tone. If Draco had been in his right mind, he would have squashed Jason like a bug for disrespecting him, but he wasn't in his right mind, he was angry—at himself really. "Kyle has people working for him and they said if I didn't reject her, he would kidnap her and mark her and kill her. Have you heard from her?"

Talia shook her head. "I remember her saying that she if her mate ever rejected her she wouldn't stay in Mass, so she's probably half across the world by now."

Draco let out a loud grunt, falling onto the cream colored sofa. He knew exactly where she was, but it still bothered him to not be with her at all times. "It doesn't matter now, I'm going to Greece in three hours. What's done is done—maybe when this whole thing is over I can try to win her back. But not right now, not while Kyle is still alive."

"So you're just going to wait?"

Draco nodded.

"What about your kids, huh? Are you just going to let your sons live without their father?"

"No," Draco grunted and ran a hand through his hair.

"Look man," Jason sighed, a hand dragging down the side of his face. "I know you're worried about Kyle getting to her, but there's no way she would go down without a fight. She's one of the strongest people in our pack, if not the strongest."

Draco's inhale was shallow, tears threatening to fall for the first time in eleven years at the thought of losing his mate.

"She'll be back next month for Daphne's removal, so until then I suggest you give her the space she needs."

"If she reaches out to you," he said, his voice wavering a bit with falsified fear. "Will you let me know, just so that I know she's okay."

Talia's laugh came out cold and high pitched, like nails on a chalkboard. "No. You don't have the right to ask how she's doing after what you did to her."

The Alpha King stared at his female Beta his eyes flashing from red to silver at her tone of disrespect. With a grunt, he pushed off the plush sofa, spun on his heel and walked away,

"I hope the door hits you on the way out!" She called after him.

A growl could be heard as the door slammed, rattling the entire Green house.

"Let's get this over with," Draco sighed to his parents when he met up with them outside the palace.

~

i feel like this part was lowkey confusing ?? lmk in the comments if it was confusing and i'll clear it up lmfao

question of the day: how are you doing today? my page is a safe space, any negative comments towards peoples mental health with be deleted y'all a-holes will be reported 😎 momma dove don't play when it comes to protecting her squab

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