Chapter 7
Terra Mysterium- Aiden
A knock on the door made him growl and slap his hand down on the desk.
“WHAT?!,” he roared.
The door opened and his best friend walked in. He tossed himself onto the couch in the office, crossing his legs at the ankles. He folded his arms behind his head and watched as his friend shifted through what looked like a million papers scattered over his desk.
“So, Aid, how’s it going?”
He growled and tossed yet another stack of papers into the rubbish. “I don't understand how we are in the diamond business and yet we are broke. Dad was a shitty accountant.”
Gregory gave him a sympathetic look. “Is it really that bad?”
“No, but almost. The annual cost of running our pack and our business is close to 9. 5 billion a year. We are barely pulling in 9. 7 billion. That’s not a lot of wiggle room for kids or natural disasters. Let's not even talk about the new yearly cost the human village has asked for. That eats up the majority of the leftover 200 million.” He picked up the next paper and skimmed it, before cursing. “And none of these records are current. They are all at least five years old. So, I really have no clue if we even have enough money to survive through the end of the year.”
“You know, my mother is an accountant.”
Aiden looked up at him. “Is she good?”
A smile played around his lips as he shrugged. “They survive.”
Aiden pushed his seat back. “Out of curiosity, what’s in their bank account?”
“6. 8 million.”
“And how much is from the pack coffers?”
“None. I don’t know if you know, but my father doesn’t take money from the royal family for his service. He does it out of duty.”
“I didn’t know that. I wonder how many others are that way.”
“I don’t know.”
Aiden tapped his fingers on the desk. “What about you? Are you going to take money from the crown?”
“Maybe on the weeks you piss me off,” he teased.
“Dickhead.”
A knock on the door had them falling silent. “Enter!”
The clan’s breeder program leader, an elderly man with gray hair, blue eyes and the thickest framed glasses that a person would ever see, cautiously came in. He bowed deeply to Aiden, before half bowing to an annoyed Gregory.
“Your Highness, King Aiden. Your Gammaship, Gregoy. I hope I am finding you both well on this glorious day.”
Aiden narrowed his eyes. “I am well. Did you need something?,” he asked curtly.
“I have the list of girls for breeding.”
Aiden cursed to himself. How could he have forgotten that that was this year? Everyone had been talking about it for months already. He glanced down at the useless papers spread out in front of him. This was why he didn’t remember. This absolute shit show his father had left for him. He looked back at the scrawny man.
“Well, did you bring the list?”
He handed a sealed envelope to Aiden. “Yes, Your Highness.”
Aiden slid a letter opener under the edge and pulled out a pile of papers with pictures paper clipped to them. He pulled the first up. ‘Kalani Soma, 17. Date of Birth August 21, 2005. Human.’ He looked at the picture. A young, beautiful redhead with hazel looking eyes lay on the ground, dressed in blue jean shorts and an olive green halter top, surrounded by white flowers staring up at the sky. Her arm was behind her neck and she was completely relaxed.
“Hey, Greg, come here.” He glanced at the old man. “Jackson, do all the girls look like this?”
“Mate,” came a growl from slightly behind him.
Aiden’s head snapped up to look at him. “Excuse me?”
Gregory touched the girl’s photo. “Mate! My mate!”
Jackson stared at him. “You know you can’t choose her?”
Gregory glared at him. “And why in the hell can’t I?”
“We are not allowed human mates. Per our law, set by the late King Alastair-”
Aiden held up his hand. “Silence.”
He pulled the first picture out of the paper clip and his mouth dropped open. Gregory’s hand came down on top of the picture with an angry thud.
“What the fuck is that? Why is she dressed in next to nothing?”
“Gamma Gregory, that is so that our clan fully understands what they are getting in a breeder.”
“So, every girl has a lingerie picture?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are these girls even legal? This one here is only 17.”
“She is the youngest. All of the other girls are at least 18.”
Aiden removed the second picture on all the papers without looking at any of them, before quickly scanning the rest of the information. When he was done, he frowned at Jackson.
“There are only twelve girls here. I thought we were supposed to get an extra one.”
“I removed her from the list and have already made a note to tell Madame Anastasia that we wish to decline her as a breeder.”
Aiden leaned back in his desk chair. “Why was she removed exactly?”
“She is defective, your highness.”
“Meaning what?”
“She has a handicap.”
“And what is her handicap?”
“She is blind, sir.”
Aiden stared at him. “Blind?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why does that make her defective enough to be declined?”
“We only accept the purest women for breeding-”
“You know my mother was deaf? I was deaf for the first three years of my life until Mikhail woke up. Am I defective?”
“N-no, sir.”
“So, tell me again why she was put in the decline pile?”
“I.. uhmm.. I suppose she should be moved back to the accept pile.”
“You think?,” Aiden snapped. He flipped through the pictures again. “Where is her information?”
“In my office, Your highness.”
“Go get it. I want to see this girl you deemed unworthy.” Jackson didn’t move. “RIGHT NOW!,” he yelled, his frustration apparent.
Jackson darted out of the room and Aiden immediately turned his chair to face Gregory.
“Do you want her?”
“Of course I fucking want her! She is my mate,” he snarled.
“Look, we have to play by their rules. At least for a bit. Let me see what I can do, so you can be with her. I need you to trust me not as your king, but as your friend.”
His eyes flashed black as Dayan, his other half, surfaced behind his eyes. “Make this right, please, Aid. I need her. Dayan is going crazy at the thought of not having her.”
“Just relax. I will figure something out, I promise. Do you want this lingerie picture?”
“No! There is no way she consented to that picture. She looks sad.”
Aiden nodded.
“Alright.”
He walked to the fire burning in the fireplace and threw all of the lingerie pictures in. Gregory ran his fingers agitatedly through his tight curls.
“Thanks.”
He sat back on the couch, his body giving off murderous vibes. Jackson walked back in with an envelope clutched in his hand. He bowed low as he handed Aiden the envelope. Aiden opened it and dumped the single paper with two pictures out. He turned the picture over and his heart skipped a beat as he gazed down at the redhead with white eyes. Her strawberry colored lips made him long to kiss her and the skin on her neck made him want to spend hours licking and sucking on her there, just to see how she would respond. He wanted to soothe the bite on her lip from her teeth. What was she reading that made her do that? He cleared his throat, before putting 11 of the files back into the original envelope. He laid it flat over the other two.
“You may have these back. Do not show them to anybody else. I want all the laws and rules on my desk for this absurd activity before the end of the day.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Aiden lifted the envelope up, slyly sliding other papers over the other two files. Jackson took it and hurried out of the office, shutting the door behind him. Aiden uncovered the last file again to study the picture again. Mikhail moved in his mind, watching through his eyes.
‘Mate,’ he purred. ‘Let’s go get her.’
‘We have to wait until she comes here. Then I promise you, we will have her.’
‘We better, because I will move Heaven and Hell for her. She is ours,’ he growled.
“Whose that, Aid?,” Gregory asked.
He covered the picture and handed him Kalani’s file.
“She’s my mate,” he said breathlessly. “I need you to pick her at the ceremony, but please, do not sleep with her. I promise to fix this for us.”
Gregory sighed. “Make this right, Aiden. I want my mate.”
Aiden bared his teeth at him. “Don’t you think I want mine, too?”
“I’m sure you do, but you are king. I am not. Nobody would question you taking a woman away from another. I, on the other hand, am not that lucky.”
He stormed out of the office. Aiden looked back at his mate’s file. He lifted the top picture. His breath slammed out of his lungs and his cock hardened immediately. The look of pleasure on her face made him angry. He should be the only one to put that look on her face. Her curly red hair cascaded over her chest and all he wanted to do was put her on his lap and let her ride him as he watched her full breasts bounce in his face.