5. CHAPTER 5
It took some clearing up with my dear old father to be allowed to go to San Francisco. It was tricky, especially since the Farrell incident that took place last year, but after I promised left, right, up, and down that I would stay away from their court and keep my nose clean, he finally gave in. I’m sure he wanted me out of the house to get some peace and quiet to figure out how to deal with Garren’s latest shenanigans.
I didn’t mention to him that I’m going to be spending the weekend with humans. Even though I’m disgusted by the thought of it, there is something about Helia that I need to explore further.
It’s been days, and she’s still in the front of my mind. The image of her appeared to me when I tried to get cozy with a female wolf who was visiting the city. She was hot as fuck, but for the first time in my life, my dick didn’t respond to her.
Maybe if you fuck the human once, you’ll be cured?my wolf suggests, and I grunt in agreement.
Garren was the one who seemed to fuck everything with a hole between their legs. I liked to think of myself as being a bit pickier, but maybe I should stop fooling myself.
The only reason why I’m going to the human gala this weekend is to have sex with Helia, and hopefully, get her out of my head forever.
I pull my phone out of my pocket when it chimes with a message. Helia’s name flashes on the screen, and my heart involuntarily skips a beat. It’s her second message to me, the first being dry information about the gala.
“A voice message,” I comment out loud.
I’m chilling on the terrace of my room with no one within the hearing distance. My mother is in my line of sight, tending to her vegetable garden with a peaceful expression on her face.
The hospital must keep her quite busy, my wolf tells me. It must be faster for her to send a voice message than to type.
I click on the three minutes long recording, bracing myself to hear her lovely voice coming through the speaker.
“Hi Grayden,” Helia starts with a greeting, sounding rather breathless. The beeping in the background makes me think that she’s at work. “I’m sorry for not getting in touch with you earlier to confirm the itinerary. If you’re still on board to join me later today—which you don’t need to—but if you are, I want to update you on the information I’ve received about the trip.”
She sounds uncomfortable, my wolf comments, noting the hesitation in her voice.
This should be interesting,I reply with a grin.
“So, anyway, the charity gala will be at The Ritz-Carlton, and umm, the hospital sort of got us the rooms there as well,” Helia continues, then pauses to clear her throat. “Unfortunately, it would look too suspicious for us to get separate rooms, so I hope you’re okay with sharing it. Since you’re doing me a favor, I’ll be more than happy to stay on the sofa. I mean, it’s the least I can do.”
Her name gets called and the audio cuts off abruptly, but not before I’m able to catch the sound of the siren in the background. She must be dealing with a medical emergency.
This is golden,I tell my wolf, loving how the cards have fallen. Once we’re in the room, I’ll bring out my charm and make it impossible for her to resist me.
Maybe, my wolf replies, sounding thoughtful. Or maybe, this will make things even harder for you.
I frown. What do you mean?
Her guard will be up, he explains, saying it as if it’s an actual obstacle.
Then we’ll climb right over it, I tell him with a smile. We’ve never backed away from a challenge before.
I’m picking Helia up after her shift, which should be in an hour or so. I grab the glass of red wine from the table and finish it before setting it back. Once I’m gone, someone will come in and clean it up.
I’m not used to preparing my own suitcase, but I didn’t want to call too much attention to my trip. My father is known for changing his mind, claiming that it’s well within his rights as a king. I always hated that bullshit excuse. One day, someone will force him to be accountable.
I grab my carry-on suitcase from one of the shelves in my walk-in closet, then proceed to fill it up with suits, shirts, ties, underwear, and socks. If I was nice, I would pack a pair of PJs too, but I don’t for two reasons. One, I’m not nice, and two, I plan on sleeping naked. That is if I even get to sleep.
Fingers crossed for your plan to work,my wolf says with a low chuckle. It would be nice to get her out of our heads and finally focus on something or someone more interesting.
This week has been rather dull, hasn’t it?I agree with him.
Apart from trying to get my groove on with the visiting female wolf, I didn’t see much action any other nights. It must’ve been the first time since I can remember that I’ve been staying in and behaving.
We’ve been trying to stay on your father’s good side,my wolf offers an excuse, but we both know it’s a bunch of bull.
When I’m all packed and ready to go, a knock on the door announces that it’s time to go.
“Come in,” I call out.
The door opens and Jay’s bald head appears through the gap. I’ve been expecting Tiana to drive me, but since Gavin’s departure and Garren’s massive but top-secret screw-up, she’s been promoted to the Alpha of the Pack of Shadows. Her bump up the ranks pulled Jay along as well, making him the second Beta. He’s also high enough on the ladder to be trusted to drive and protect my royal ass.
“The car’s ready, Your Highness,” Jay announces and glances at the bag by my feet. With a nod from me, he enters the room and grabs it.
I don’t wait for him to guide the way. He quickly catches up, though, and we are lucky enough not to come across any of my family members on the way out.
The black SUV with tinted windows is parked in front of the door. I frown and turn to Jay.
“I requested a limo,” I say, painfully aware that Helia and I won’t have any privacy in the back of the SUV.
Jay bows his head at the neck, averting his gaze to the ground. “Apologies, Your Highness. Your father insisted that we take the SUV.”
“Of course he did,” I mutter under my breath and stalk to the SUV.
He just can’t stay out of it,I complain to my wolf.
What did you expect?my wolf muses. He’s got to have the last word to show us who’s the boss.
A weekend away will do us good,I say, now, more than ever, looking forward to this short getaway.
“Where to, Your Highness?” Jay asks when he takes the driver’s seat.
“White Sparks Medical Center,” I reply, and to his credit, he doesn’t show his surprise.
As Jay starts the engine, I turn my attention to the phone. Helia should be off shift by the time I arrive, but I still want to let her know that I’m on my way.
She doesn’t reply during the whole drive there, and even though I didn’t expect her to, I can’t ignore that I’m disappointed. I’ll see her soon enough. More than that, I’ll get to spend the entire weekend with her, pretending to be her boyfriend.
That should be fun, my wolf comments, making kissing sounds.
Shut up, I order with a ghost of a smile on my face.
It’s too bad she’s not a wolf,he sighs. I bet she’d be beautiful.
Yeah,I agree, sharing his sadness. I think so, too.
“Where should I park?” Jay asks, and I point to the side of the road nearest to the entrance.
“I won’t be long,” I tell him, leaving him in the car to go pick up Helia.
The automatic door of the hospital’s entrance opens and through them walks Helia. My heart skips a beat upon seeing her and a smile appears on my face. I’m so mesmerized by her that I don’t immediately notice that she’s not alone.
“Hey, handsome,” Helia greets me with a gentle warning in her green eyes.
She steps on her toes to give me a quick kiss. Thanks to my wolfish reflexes, I turn my head to the side just enough that she misses my cheek and presses her lips against mine. She exhales in surprise, her mouth slightly opening against mine. I use the opportunity to trail a tongue against her upper lip, finally getting a taste of her.
The pair of women accompanying Helia clear their throats. The sound seems to be enough to bring Helia back to her senses because she moves away from me and hooks her arm through mine instead, turning us to face her friends.
“Jessica, Melissa,” she says, pointing a finger at each of her friends as she talks. “This is Grayden. My boyfriend.”
“Damn, girl,” Jessica curses with a nod of approval. “He’s hot.”
“Umm, thank you?” I say and raise a brow. I’m fighting really hard to keep the smile off my face.
“You seem familiar,” Melissa comments, her eyes narrowing. She taps her chin with her index finger. “Aren’t you the guy from the Base Club?”
“Guilty as charged,” I confirm, forcing my lips to curve into what I hope is an apologetic smile. “I’ve had one too many, and when Helia told me that she’s out with her friends, I wanted to come by to meet you.”
“Worst night possible,” Helia agrees, patting me on the chest before turning to her friends. “He was at his friend’s bachelor party.”
“Yikes,” Jessica says.
Helia turns to me, giving me an apologetic smile of her own that’s surely a lot more convincing than mine. “Jessica and Melissa heard that we’re traveling with your family’s private jet, and they sort of invited themselves along. I hope that’s okay.”
I struggle to keep a pleasant expression on my face while she springs this news on me. With an immense show of will, I suppress my disgust and smile widely at Jessica and Melissa.
“The more the merrier,” I say, hoping that the smile makes me sound believable. “There’s plenty of space on the jet.”
“Yay!” Melissa and Jessica exclaim, clapping their hands.
They grab their suitcases I only now notice and carry them past us to the SUV. Helia squeezes my arm to get my attention. I try very hard not to look annoyed when I glance down at her. All the negativity seems to evaporate when she mouths thank you, her eyes shining with gratitude.
I take a deep breath and roll my eyes. A genuine smile on my face takes the sting off the gesture. With an arm over her shoulder, I tuck her by my side to take us to the SUV, making a mental note to make sure that Jay keeps his mouth shut about this.
The girls sit in the back, which leaves me with no choice but to take a seat next to Jay. To his credit, he keeps any sign of disgust off his face.
A true professional,my wolf comments.
“Airport,” I say to Jay when he starts the car.
Not wanting to encourage the girls to talk to me with Jay present, I turn on the music loud enough to make any conversation impossible. Even though the drive doesn’t take more than twenty minutes, it still feels like the longest one I’ve ever taken.
Only when Jay drives past airport security and stops in front of our private hangar do I allow myself to exhale in relief. Jay wordlessly gets out and helps with the luggage. While I usually wouldn’t stoop so low as to take my own suitcase, I want to have a moment alone with him before he returns to the Grey Manor.
“Go ahead,” I tell Helia with a nod at the stairs leading up to my family’s private jet. “I’ll join you in a moment.”
“Okay,” she replies with a smile before following Jessica and Melissa up the stairs.
With a sigh, I round the corner of the car to come up to Jay who’s taking the suitcases out of the trunk. He pretends not to notice me, but his body is too stiff for that to actually be true. Not to mention the fact that he’s a wolf.
“We need to talk,” I tell him with a firm tone full of authority.
“At your service, Your Highness,” Jay says as he sets the suitcase down to face me.
“I need you to keep your mouth shut about what you witnessed today,” I tell him, not bothering to at least try to be subtle. “If I even hear the slightest of rumors about my involvement with humans, I’ll automatically assume it came from you. I might not be as scary as my brothers, but trust me when I say that you don’t want to get on my bad side.”
“You have nothing to worry about, Your Highness,” Jay assures me, looking me straight in the eyes.
“Okay,” I say after the longest of seconds, then lean past him and grab my own suitcases. “Load it up, and then go home.”
“Yes, sir,” Jay confirms and goes back to work.
I take my suitcase all the way to the stairs, but instead of taking it up, I leave it on the bottom. I’ve already done more than my fair share of work.
“Everything okay?” Helia asks me when I join her and her two friends on the plane.
“We’re almost ready for take-off,” I reply and smile as I meet her green eyes.
I take a seat next to her as Jessica and Melissa sit opposite us with a table in between. Their faces are full of excitement as they’re undoubtedly traveling in style for the first time in their lives.
“So, are you two also doctors?” I ask to get a conversation going, earning myself two identical looks of surprise that make no sense to me. When I glance at Helia, she averts her eyes down and anxiously nibbles on her lower lip.
“Are you seriously telling me that you never mentioned us?” Jessica accuses Helia with a hint of hurt in her tone.
Idiot, my wolf mutters, realizing the mistake at the same time I did.
“Of course, she did,” I lie quickly, saving Helia from answering. “But I would prefer to hear your stories straight from you. I don’t want to assume that I know you or anything like that.”
Jessica narrows her eyes at me for the longest of moments. Even though I try to be a picture of nonchalance, I’m the exact opposite. The palms of my hands might be casually pressed against my thighs, but that’s just to hide the slight tremble as I’m under her scrutiny. My brows might be questioningly lifted up, but even that’s in an attempt to narrow my own eyes at her and put her in her place.
“Nice save,” she says at last, the corners of her mouth lifting up as she gives me a smile that brightens up her face.
“She’s a trauma surgeon,” Helia explains, finally speaking up and giving me information that explains why her friend is so good under pressure. “Melissa’s a general surgeon.”
“Very nice,” I say with an approving nod.
“What do you do?” Melissa asks, returning the spotlight back to me. Even Helia turns her head, although her expression is carefully controlled so her two friends wouldn’t realize that she has no idea either.
Drink, fuck, repeat,my wolf jokes with a low chuckle. While he’s clearly enjoying himself, I don’t appreciate his humor or its timing.
“I, umm, work in my father’s company,” I say awkwardly, my brain suddenly coming up with all blanks.
“It must be a very successful company if you’re able to afford a private jet,” Melissa comments, but it’s not a jab. She actually sounds impressed.
“What does it do?” Jessica asks, taking over the interrogation.
“A bunch of confidential government and military stuff,” I reply without saying too much. I mean, it’s impossible to explain the humans how the wolf’s system functions. The hierarchies and the marriage arrangements alone are far too confusing for them to even understand much less appreciate the importance of keeping the royal line pure and powerful.
You could definitely work on the powerful part? my wolf comments with an added emotion down the connection.
What is that? I ask him, having trouble pinpointing what he wants me to feel. Anger? Disappointment? Annoyance?
All of the above,he mutters. We could’ve done so much more. We could’ve actually been someone, but no, all you want to do is fuck and drink.
What’s wrong with that?I argue. Besides, we are someone.
Only because we got lucky in the family department,he counters. We’re almost twenty-eight years old and there’s nothing we can be proud of. We don’t even have an actual job.
Do you want to spend your days locked up in the office, fighting a headache as we’re trying to crunch a bunch of stupid numbers?I snap, slowly losing patience with his whining.
No,he replies firmly, then sighs. But there has to be something better waiting for us out there.
Whatever,I mutter back, then give him a mental push further into the background. It effectively ends our conversation, but not before he growls loudly in annoyance, making me flinch.
“Are you okay?” Helia asks, her eyes regarding me with worry.
“Huh?” I blink in confusion. “Yeah. Why? What happened?”
“You zoned out and then flinched,” Jessica explains, tilting her head to the side as she studies me.
“Did I?” I ask, then shake my head and force out a chuckle. “I didn’t sleep well, and I have a lot on my mind.”
“Oooh, did you lovebirds have a long night?” Melissa teases, her eyes darting from mine to Helia’s.
“He slept at his place yesterday,” Helia replies with ease.
I nod to corroborate her story and because of the little devil that I am, I also add, “It’s tonight that we don’t plan on sleeping at all.”
Helia has a coughing fit. Her cheeks turn red, and it takes her a while to recover. When she does, she turns to me and gently punches me in the arm.
“Ow!” I complain and rub the spot, faking to be hurt.
I can’t keep a grin off my face, slowly easing into the fun part of the trip, which is pretending to be her boyfriend. Helia rolls her eyes, but a ghost of a smile tugs at her lips.
A flight attendant comes from the front of the plane, her eyes locking straight on mine. My entire back stiffens when she slightly bows her head.
“Would Your Highness like a bottle of champagne before take-off?” she asks, and I mentally curse myself for not warning her not to address me according to the protocol.
“That’d be great, thanks,” I reply, pretending not to notice the three heads turn my way with questioning looks in their eyes.
“Okay, explain,” Jessica says when I ignore them.
“Why did she call you ‘Your Highness’?” Melissa asks as if I need clarification.
It’s Helia’s silence that strikes me the most. Her tense posture alone is enough indication that she wants to know what the hell’s going on, but she’s also stuck because it’s not like she can admit to her friends that she has no idea who I am.
I let out a heavy sigh, the most genuine reaction I”ve managed around them so far. The words that follow almost close the conversation, but not entirely.
“Because I’m a spoiled rich kid who likes to be pampered and treated like royalty,” I say, pushing down a reminder of how close this is to the truth.
“Okay,” Jessica says at the same time as Melissa shrugs her shoulders in a cool sort of way.
I risk a glance at Helia to see if she’s buying the story but get interrupted by the flight attendant. We each take our own glass of champagne from her tray, and when Helia’s clinks against mine, she gives me a smile that confirms we’re good.
This weekend might end up being more trouble than it’s worth,my wolf warns me.
Not if it helps me get her out of my head,I reply as I take a sip of champagne, my brain already coming up with all the positions I want to do with the beautiful green-eyed doctor.