Chapter 79

Carol’s POV

“Listen up everybody!” Coach Bower says after practice concluded for the evening. We are seated in the locker room, gathering around to hear what he has to say. We didn’t discuss this beforehand, so I’m not sure what he wants to say. Mr. Whitlock stood by his office door with his arms crossed over his chest, watching. “Mr. Whitlock and I were talking about it and with the championship a month away, we wanted to do something a little different.”

Everyone looks at one another, confused. I meet the eyes of Aiden who clearly has questions, but I just shrug, indicating that I have no idea what’s going on either.

“Mr. Whitlock,” Coach Bower says, motioning for Mr. Whitlock to speak.

Mr. Whitlock crosses the room in long strides, and soon he’s standing in front of everybody. His strong demeanor making the murmurs around the locker room silent immediately.

“We are going to be having a banquet,” he announces, making my jaw drop. “There will be potential to gain new sponsors and improve our ticket sales and I wanted to take the opportunity to promise ourselves and the championship. I have already rented out the event Center and I plan to have this banquet over the weekend. It’s formal attire and I expect each and every one of you there. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” everyone says in unison.

“Details will be given to you later this week, but I need you all prepared by the weekend,” Mr. Whitlock continues. Then he turns to me. “Carol, can I speak with you for a moment?”

“Yes, sir,” I say, standing from the bench I’m sitting on to join him in his office.

Once we are alone, he turns to me and leans against his office desk.

“I want you to take charge of this event. Nobody is as organized and detail-oriented as you and plus, you already know what we need for ticket sales. I don’t trust anyone else to pull this off last minute.”

My mouth falls open.

“You want me to plan a banquet?” I ask, still in shock. “I have never planned anything like this before.”

“I have faith that you’ll know exactly what to do,” he replies. “Use the team to help you if necessary. Can I trust you?”

I think about it for a moment; this is a huge opportunity and I’m honored that he thought of me to do this.

“Yes,” I answer, nodding my head. “You can trust me. I won’t let you down.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” he says, giving me a fond smile.

I don’t tell Aiden what Mr. Whitlock says until we are alone at home. After I finish explaining to him that I’m in charge of this banquet and that it has to be perfect, he agrees to help me to the best of his ability.

I spent the remainder of the week going over everything needed to make this banquet perfect. Mr. Whitlock did the guest list, and I did everything else. I set up the caterers and the entertainment, I made the team help me set up all the tables and decorate the event center. The team also agreed to do ticket sales during the event.

A day before the event, I informed the media about the banquet and let them know it was going to be a hit and that they needed to cover it. I didn’t have to beg for them to agree; they were just as excited about this as I was.

I wore an elegant red dress that rested just under my knees and matching ruby-red heels. My hair was left down but curled and bounced around my shoulders playfully. I put on a little makeup just to make my features brighten. It takes me way too long to get dressed for this event, but it only takes Aiden 10 minutes.

“I have no idea how you manage to look so good, and it takes you less time,” I say, giving him a playful smile.

He just shrugs and then winks.

“You look good without getting dressed up,” he tells me as he leans in and kisses me. I only meant the kiss to be a small peck because I don’t want him to ruin my makeup, but as soon as his lips land on mine, I can’t help but deepen the kiss immediately.

I wrap my arms around him, and I let my tongue explore his mouth, twirling around delicately with his tongue. Hunger and lust filled me, and I could feel heat rushing into my cheeks as I pressed myself against him.

He moans against my lips, whispering my name as he breathes the same air as me. For some reason, his moaning of my name is like a reality call, and I quickly jump away from him as if he had burned me.

“I’m going to ruin my makeup if we keep that up,” I say, wiping my smudged lipstick off my face.

He chuckles and wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me into him again. I don’t fight him, but I keep my guard up, not wanting to fall back into that lust-filled state.

“I love you,” he said, kissing my temple gently.

I blush at his words.

“I love you too,” I say in return, and I truly meant those words.

We arrive at the banquet 20 minutes later and as soon as Jarrod parks in front of the building, my mouth falls open at the amount of people waiting to get inside. The paparazzi were also there, capturing everything that they could. As soon as Aiden and I step out of the car, all eyes turn in our direction, and I’m basically blinded by the flashes.

I stumble backwards and into Aiden who keeps a protective arm around my waist as he guides me towards the front door. I keep my head down, not wanting to discuss anything with the paparazzi. Not after the recent scandal that has been posted about me. I’m still unable to get that news story removed from the tabloids.

Telling from the death glares I’m getting from some women as I walk by them, they also saw the scandal.

“Don’t pay them any attention,” Aiden whispers into my ear.

I nod and we enter the event center.

Everything is set up so perfectly and I’m honestly proud of myself for what I have accomplished. Everybody was dressed elegantly, and the lighthearted music played softly in the background. Caterers walked around with platters of food, offering them to guests, and the team, who are all dressed in their best suits which makes me smile immensely, were walking around and selling tickets. Some were even scouting and introducing themselves. It isn’t just the Statford Freeze team that attended the banquet, there are a bunch of other teams as well as other coaches.

My eyes immediately find Mr. Whitlock who’s speaking to some sponsors; he looks very pleased and that makes me happy.

Coach Bower is with the other coaches, and they are all laughing at whatever is being said.

“You’ve outdone yourself,” Aiden says, smiling proudly at me.

“I couldn’t have done it without you and the others,” I confess, not wanting to take all the credit.

“I beg to differ,” he says, kissing my forehead gently. “You would have done amazing regardless.”

“Thank you,” I beamed.

We walk around the banquet for a while, introducing ourselves to other teams and thanking people for coming. Aiden is incredibly charismatic and I smile admiring him the entire time. He might not realize this, but he’s very much in his element. I assume it’s from all those years living in the capital and training to be an Alpha under his father. But he’s really good at what he does, and I do not doubt in my mind that he’s going to be an incredible Alpha.

A tight knot forms in my stomach at the thought of it because if Aiden becomes an Alpha, what would that make me? A Luna? I’m not any type of Luna and the thought terrifies me to think that I could be the leader of the Capitol.

It has never been a topic that Aiden and I had discussed though and part of me wonders why that is. Is he ashamed of the idea that I could be the Luna? Does he not want me as the Luna? I quickly squashed that thought because Aiden already told me that he loved me. He wouldn’t have said that if he hadn’t meant it and wanted me there by his side.

“What’s on your mind?” Aiden asks, peeking down at me once we had a moment alone.

“The future,” I tell him, biting my lower lip. I didn’t want to lie to him. “After the championship, what’s going to happen? Are you returning to the Capital?”

He’s quiet for a moment and I can tell it isn’t something he wants to discuss.

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t be bringing this up right now,” I quickly stated, giving him a reassuring smile and hoping he can just drop the subject.

He shakes his head and returns my smile.

“No, it’s okay. I know not something we talk about. I never asked to be an Alpha, but I made a promise to my father a long time ago and I have a duty to my pack. I’m hoping when I return, you’ll be by my side. I know it won’t be easy because of how my family treats you, but if they want me, they are going to have to be okay with the fact that you are going to be there too. You are my mate, Carol. I love you and we are a packaged deal now.”

I smiled through my tears as I leaned into him.

I truly do love this man and I was about to tell him just that, but then my eyes caught something in the far side of the room, through the crowd of people.

My entire body tensed. Aiden sees my face fall and his eyes travel to see what I’m seeing.

“Is that…?” He starts to ask and I nod.

“Daniel,” I whispered. “And he brought the woman Zach cheated on me with.”