The Alpha Rogue

Chapter Fourteen

Tonight was the night of Aurora's party and I had no clue how to feel. Throughout my years leading my pack, it was a rare occurrence that anyone had a good relationship with their mate. So, I was feeling protective over her, worried that she might go through the same thing. However, while I hoped she wouldn't go through that and have a decent mate, I would admit I was slightly jealous at the thought. I didn't want to be, especially since jealousy was a sign that my little crush on her wasn't so little. And as I told Rosa, I truly did want her to be happy, even if it wasn't with me. Unfortunately, that didn't prevent my feelings of jealousy.

Begrudgingly, I got ready, making sure I looked nice. Even though I was mainly going to this event for Aurora, I was unintentionally representing my pack. Members of the council who were in charge of determining if my pack was going to be official or not were going to be. So, unfortunately, I had to be really aware of every choice I made. I had to look and act professionally.

Once I was ready, I made my way down to the ballroom. The party started at seven, so I was a tad bit early but Aurora told me to come whenever. I wasn't exactly sure as to why, but who was I to say no to the princess?

"Alexa! You came early!" Aurora exclaimed, pulling me into a hug as soon as she saw me.

"Of course I did," I chuckled. "You told me to. Remember?"

She vigorously nodded her head as she grinned up at me. "I wanted to make sure we spent as much time together as we can! Unfortunately, since it's my party, I think I'll be expected to socialise with other people which is fun, but no one is as fun as you!" She exclaimed.

My cheeks heated up at her statement, though thankfully not noticeably, as my heart fluttered. That definitely didn't help my crush on her. "I'm glad you think so. I also enjoy hanging out with you," I told her truthfully.

"Thank you!" She hugged me tightly before releasing me—"Now, what should we do? Oh! Let me tell you about what happened last night!"

I listened as she rambled on and on about everything that she did last night after I left her. Was I interested in any of it, even the parts about her brother? Not really. But I still listened because I was interested in whatever she wanted to tell me, even if it was boring. The more interesting part of listening to her ramble was not really her words, though it was adorable how excited she got and remembered stuff randomly, watching her. Maybe it was the fact I had a pretty massive crush on her but I couldn't help but be enticed by every part of her. My eyes mainly studied her face, noticing small little quirks she had, but sometimes they'd drift to her hands which would flap slightly when she got too excited or her feet would bounce when she remembered something. All these tiny little things were just so... adorable.

However, sadly, our time was cut short as guests finally started to arrive. Aurora did her best to stay with me as people talked with her. Some would drag her away for short periods of time, leaving me to stand awkwardly alone at one of the tables; but, she always came back.

"All these people really want to talk to me and I don't understand why," she muttered after coming back from being dragged away for the fish time.

I replied, "You're really great to talk to." It was true. I enjoyed conversing with her, though I did prefer our conversations to be like we had before her party. Her just speaking while I listened and only talked every once in a while were probably the most entertaining conversations I ever had.

"But that's with you," she sighed, playing with her pink skirt. "With you, I feel comfortable being myself. With others though, I feel like a fake version of me. I try way too hard to be the princess they want me to be, and when I fail at that, I can tell they don't like it. They don't like me. Only the idea of me."