Chapter 134

Carol’s POV

I sat in the waiting room with bated breath. Aiden’s parents hated me, but that didn’t mean I wanted anything to happen to either of them. After being stuck on an island for days, I had a new appreciation for life and all that it has to offer. If Aiden needed us to stay at the Capitol so he could take on the role of Alpha, then I would adapt and be his Luna.

I glanced at one of the nurses at the front desk who was busy typing away on her computer. I stood and walked over to her.

“Excuse me, Mam?” I asked, getting her attention.

She glanced up at me and frowned; her icy gaze penetrating my soul. I shivered from her stare, and I fought the urge to take a step back. We were in pack territory, and I knew because I was human it would take a while for them to warm up to me.

Even though I just found out recently that I wasn’t exactly human, I didn’t want to flaunt a status I didn’t even want. Especially considering those in the palace wanted me dead. I didn’t feel like royalty despite what my biological father said.

For right now, it’s best if nobody knows about who and what I am.

I forced a smile, standing my ground and not letting this she-wolf intimidate me.

“Do you need something?” She asked, her brows pinched together.

If looks could kill…

“Can I use a phone?” I asked her. “I don’t have mine on me.”

In truth, my phone was destroyed during the plane crash. Aiden promised me that he would get me a new one soon, but I’m sure my family and Fiona were worried about me. I needed to call them and tell them that I was okay.

The nurse stared at me for a moment longer like I had just grown another head. I stood there awkwardly for a moment before she rolled her eyes and pushed the chorded phone in my direction.

“Thanks,” I muttered as I grabbed the phone and dialed my mother’s phone number.

“Hello?” My mother answered the phone quickly and she sounded out of breath with a mix of worry.

I wonder if she’s been waiting for me to call her.

“Hey, Mom,” I said to her, a bit hesitantly.

“Carol? Is that you?” My mom asked, sounding as if she wanted to break down and cry.

“Is that Carol?” I heard my father ask in the background.

“I think so. Carol, honey. Say something. Is it really you?”

“Yes, it’s me,” I told them, leaning against the desk and ignoring the glaring of the nurse. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to call you till now.”

“We’ve been so worried. We heard on the news that there was a plane that disappeared, and we worried that it could have been you!”

I thought about lying to them and telling them that it wasn’t me. But my mother always could see through my lies, and I didn’t want to damage their trust in me. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes.

“It was my plane,” I admitted.

They both sucked in a sharp breath.

“What?” My father asked, his voice practically booming through the phone. “Are you saying you were in the plane that disappeared?”

“It didn’t just disappear, Dad,” I told him, biting my lower lip. “It crashed.”

“Oh, my God,” my mother shrieked. “Are you serious? You aren’t playing a joke on us?”

“I wouldn’t joke about something like that,” I said as tears welled up in my eyes. “I was so scared. I didn’t think we were going to survive. It took me a while to find Joseph, but I eventually found him.”

“How did you get rescued?” My father asked.

“The front of the plane was recovered, and it had a radio. Aiden was able to fix it and get into contact with his beta,” I answered.

“Oh, my sweet girl,” my mother cried. “I knew something was wrong,” she told my father. “I told you we should have come to the capital.”

“It’s okay, Mom. Really,” I tried to assure her. “I’m okay. I’m alive.”

“But it could have been so much worse,” my mother sobbed. “If anything happened to you—”

“We can’t think like that,” my father interrupted her. “We just have to be grateful that it didn’t end up worse and that our Carol is okay.”

“How did something like this happen?” My mother asked, and I could hear the twinge of anger in her voice. “Isn’t the pilot of the plane trained??”

“Yeah, he was trained. He was drugged,” I said, sighing.

“What?”

They both gasped at the same time.

“Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure,” I told them. “The pack doctor said that it was a slow-moving drug. It didn’t take effect until we were in the air. Then, he died.”

“Oh, God!” My mother sobbed. Her voice became muffled, so I knew my father was holding her and trying to soothe her. “My poor baby…”

“I’m honestly okay,” I assured them. “I’m a little shaken. But it’s nothing a little rest won't take care of. I promise I’ll be okay.”

“Where are you now?” My father asked.

“The pack hospital,” I answer without much thought.

My father asked with a sharp breath.

“We will come visit you right away,” my father said hurriedly.

“What? No!” I all but shouted. The pack was having trouble accepting me and from the nasty looks this nurse was giving me, I had a feeling if I brought in more humans right now, it wouldn’t end well for any of us. “I’m not here because of me,” I told them. “I’m visiting Aiden’s father.”

I heard my father sighing in relief.

“How is he doing?”

“He woke up,” I told him. “So, Aiden is speaking with him now. I’m in the waiting room on the nurse's phone because mine broke in the crash.”

My mother let out another sob.

“Please, don’t cry for me, Mom. It’s going to be okay. I’ll be okay. I’ll come to see you soon so you can see for yourself.”

“Okay, sweetie,” my other sniffled. “We will call Fiona and let her know that you are okay. She’s been worried too.”

“Thanks. I’ll make sure to call her later.”

“We love you, Carol,” my father said.

“I love you guys too,” I told them.

Then, without another word, I hung up the phone.

The nurse glared at me even more and I shrunk away from her. I didn’t want to stay here with this nurse any longer but thankfully Oliver appeared at the doorway of the main entrance.

“Hey, is everything okay?” He asked me, noticing my frown and the tears in my eyes.

“I just got off the phone with my parents. They were worried about me,” I told him.

“Yeah, the plane disappearance hit the news like wildfire,” he told me. “I’m sure everyone will forget about it in a week.”

I nodded, knowing how rapidly the news moves. I glanced over at my shoulder and saw that the nurse was still glancing in my direction periodically, her eyes sending angry daggers at me, making me shudder.

I turned back to Oliver with my lips pressed in a thin line.

“Is there a reason why that nurse is glaring at me like I ate her firstborn?” I asked him, trying to keep my voice low.

Oliver glanced over my head and in the direction of the nurse who quickly turned her attention back to her computer.

He rolled his eyes before looking back at me.

“That’s Sophie,” he explained. “Her, like every other she-wolf around here, has a huge thing for Aiden.”

My stomach twisted and I folded my arms across my chest in defiance, making Oliver laugh.

“You have nothing to worry about, Carol. He loves you. You are his mate.”

I knew he was right, but the thought of other women wanting him left an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

“I’ll go talk to her if you’d like,” he said, and before I could answer he was about to step around me, but I held up my hand and put it on his chest, stopping him.

“No, it’s my battle. I don’t need you or Aiden to fight for me. I’ll be fine,” I told him.

He pinched his brows together, but they related and nodded.

“Okay, but if you change your mind. You can tell me. I’m your Beta as much as I’m Aiden’s. Plus, I’d like to think we are friends.”

I smiled at him, feeling my stomach twist even more. Friends don’t keep things from friends, and I was keeping a huge secret from him. But I knew it was for the best for right now. I couldn’t tell Oliver without Joseph.

So, I nodded.

“We are friends,” I assured him.

“Let’s go find Joseph. Is he with his father?”

“Yes,” I answered.

I went with Oliver through the emergency room doors and down the hallway where his father was being kept. When we walked around the corner, some familiar voices halted us and the words spoken left to left me feeling paralyzed and Oliver looking paler than I had ever seen him before.

“You knew that the King’s Beta was Oliver’s father??”