2. Meeting The Troublemaker

Aiden watched anxiously, gulping down his fear and dread, as his mother pressed on the door bell of the house where supposedly the royal vampire known as Blake The Troublemaker resided.

He was almost feeling unwell, and his parents could probably sense it miles away.

“Relax, son,” his dad told him, the ghost of a smirk on his lips.

“Yeah, relax, Aiden,” his mom admonished. “Blake doesn’t bite.”

The door opened revealing a smiling brunette who just let out in a suggestive manner, “Oh, he does.”

“Maria!” His mother exclaimed, sounding happy, almost as if it was a friends’ reunion, before she engulfed the seemingly young vampire in her embrace.

“Jasmine,” the woman breathed out, “my friend.”

When a man appeared next to Maria, Aiden had no doubt that it was Blake freaking The Troublemaker. Not only because the man had black hair, green eyes, and his looks screamed bad boy, but also because he suddenly recalled meeting the couple before, although he couldn’t for the life of him remember when, or any details for that matter.

“Blake,” his father greeted coolly, extending a hand out, and Blake simply let out sarcastically, “So cold, kiddo,” right before he brought his father in for a man-hug.

Did he just call his father kiddo? Oh yeah, you bet he did. Rumor has it that since he was over a thousand years old, Blake called almost everyone kiddo, aside from his mate whom he called cara.

Was that last bit true?

“You’re standing in the doorway, cara,” he let out softly after a moment, unknowingly answering Aiden’s inner question.

Then, his eyes landed on him, and Aiden willed his tongue to function normally, “Hello.”

His greeting sounded weak even to his own ears.

How pathetic could he be? He was next in line to be the alpha ultra of the US, and he hated himself for sounding the way he did.

“You must be Aiden,” Maria greeted with a smile as she opened her arms in a welcoming manner.

What could she possibly want? Surely, she wasn’t about to hug him too, was she?

His mother nudged him and he, soon enough, found himself hugging the beautiful vampire.

After getting inside and much polite civilities, his father told Blake in what almost sounded like a shy pleading voice, “We have a rather…” he paused, seemingly at loss for words before continuing, “peculiar request.”

“I’m listening,” Blake shrugged.

Here goes nothing, Aiden told him, preparing himself for rejection to come.

“We’d appreciate it if you allowed Aiden to become your daughter’s bodyguard.”

Her bodyguard? Aiden’s eyes widened. What was his father thinking? He was neither a baby-sitter, nor a bodyguard.

Blake’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline whereas his mate let out a dumbfounded, “I beg your pardon?”

And that’s when his mother decided to intervene and explain. “My son is very anxious to meet his mate, you see…”

Before she could carry on, Maria told her matter-of-factly, almost dismissively, “Anastasia has already met hers.”

She did? Aiden’s eyes bulged anew. Wasn’t the girl like two years old?

“Oh, she did?” His mother exclaimed happily, “congratulations!”

“Don’t,” Maria told her with a frown. “Just don’t.”

“What’s the matter?” He heard his mom ask.

“She went out on a date with a werewolf last week,” Aiden’s mouth fell open in shock at that, “which prompted my dear mate here to advise Ace, her mate, to leave. Now, she’s depressed.”

“Why would you do that, Blake?” His mom then demanded to know, although very politely.

“She was ignoring him, hurting him and making him jealous purposefully even,” Blake shrugged. “She needed to come to terms with her feelings. I didn’t think she’d do so, so soon.”

How could he sound so unrepentant for hurting his own daughter that way?

Blake must have sensed the anger radiating from Aiden for he told him defiantly, “Speak your mind.”

“I cannot believe you’d be so cruel as to do this to your own daughter,” Aiden heard himself say in a loud voice, his eyes bulging upon realizing he had just spoken his mind, just as he had been instructed to.

“Did he just…?” He asked no one in particular.

“Yes, Blake can persuade supernaturals,” his dad explained.

Can you say dangerous again? Was Aiden’s only thought.

“Let’s just say that my daughter needed to be taught a lesson in life,” Blake told him, explaining to him what he couldn’t grasp. “It’s called savoir-vivre.”

“Savor what?” Aiden repeated dumbly.

“Manners,” The Troublemaker clarified.

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that,” Aiden’s mom let out, “But I understand your point of view, Blake. Back to our request please…”

“I’m still listening,” he said off-handedly, in an almost bored tone.

“My son went to the oracle,” she started.

“To find his mate, I presume,” he smiled at no one in particular.

“And she said,” his mother carried on after nodding, “and I quote, Follow Anastasia. I figured she must mean your daughter.”

“I see,” Blake nodded curtly while his mate let out a dumbfounded oh.

After a small pause, The renowned Troublemaker said with a smile, “Welcome to the family, pup.”

Did he just call me pup? Aiden wondered, glaring into the distance before he realized what he had just said.

“Seriously?” He couldn’t help but ask, feeling jubilant.

“Yes, seriously,” Blake told him.

Aiden grinned like a fool. He was one step closer to finding his mate.