Bullied Mate Of The Lycan Kings
Chapter 116

Aiden's pov

Standing in front of the full length mirror in my bedroom, I stared at my reflection. There was nothing different about how I looked today, after all it was a school day which meant school uniform. My uniform was impeccable as always, shirt freshly pressed, a thick leather belt around my waist, my tom ford shoes, tie knotted to perfection and hair styled in it's usual way.

The only thing different about me today was the big, hopeful smile on my lips as I sampled the two bouquets of flowers that I was currently holding up to my chest in front of my floor to ceiling mirror.

One of the bouquets was filled with soft pink, white and red dahlia flowers while the other had darker shades of blue, purple and black.

I was sure that I had been standing here for longer than I had expected, wondering which bouquet she would prefer.

Did she like soft colours or dark colours that reflected a very mellow mood like I did?

I tried to look back to all of the times that I had seen her and all of those times, I realized that she was glaring at me in most of my memories, making it hard for me to actually be sure that I could replace an answer to my question.

I hated that I could not quickly replace an answer to something like this, another thing that showed that I didn't know anything substantial about my mate.

Restlessness grew in my chest as I recalled that Ren would probably know the answer since he showed up time and time again at the hospital just how much he knew about her, indirectly shedding light on the fact that I might not know her at all.

The door opened and from the mirror, I could see Maya walk in, her eyes widening in surprise as she took in the bouquets in my hand.

"What bouquet would you prefer if your mate were to give one to you?" I asked, trying to not sound too obsessed with knowing the answer and giving her an almost passive glance.

She took a few beats too long to make up her mind and I sighed in exasperation before she could answer. I shook my head, afraid that her answer would contradict mine. "Never mind, Maya. I've gotten my answer." I said, deciding to just give Lily both bouquets.

Yes, she'd definitely like that, won't she?

"Young master?" She said, her voice worried and when I realized that I was smiling very hard at my reflection in the mirror, I cleared my throat nervously and adjusted my tie.

I was very excited to go to school today because for me, this was a fresh start. I had spent the entire night thinking of a way to ask Lily out and had even sent Bia, Lily's best friend a message, asking her a couple of questions to help me out. Surprisingly, she was nice enough to give me the answers I needed and it boosted my hope that perhaps I did have a chance to win Lily's heart.

From what she told me, Lily was not the type that liked things that were not well thought out and things that were flashy but meaningless so whatever I did had to show that I had thought about her and it made perfect sense. It also made me understand why she liked Ren so much, I thought with a sour face. Everything he did was carefully thought out, calmly and rationally calculated. If he was a gentle breeze, I was more like a burning comet, hurtling into the earth.

"Who's the girl? I'm excited to meet her." Maya said and I realized that she was still watching me closely, her eyes on the flowers.

"My mate, Maya. I finally found her and I am going to ask her out today. Wish me luck?"

Her eyes widened and her wrinkled skin crinkled at her eyes and lips as she grinned wide, closing the distance between us to pat me gently on the back, her face beaming with pride.

"Of course, my darling. I wish you all the luck in the world. I know how important it is for you Night shade men to replace your mates." She answered and I nodded because of all the pack wolves, the men from the Night shade pack have the highest record of going feral if they didn't replace their mate in their lifetime. Or worse, they risked losing their humanity, their sense of life and the urge to live if they lose their mates.

Maya didn't say it but I could see it in her eyes everyday whenever I summoned my shadow creatures to keep me company that she worried about my humanity. My worrisome lack of companionship.

She had watched me carefully since my parents died and even I was not sure that my humanity was still salvageable until Lily. Perhaps she was a sign that all hope was not lost for me. My shining star in the dark, the way her favourite flowers were. "If you don't mind asking, what do you have planned in store and how can I be of help to you?"

Excitement exploded out of my fingertips and I decided to answer, because my plan might need more ideas and I needed a woman's opinion.

"Something small for now. I've spoken to the servants and I want to hold a small movie date in the theatre room downstairs. I am going to invite some of our friends so that it doesn't seem like a real date and scare her away too soon but I hope that it'll give me a chance to get to know more about her. If she'll let me." My last words came out muffled and filled with dread and Maya gave me a reassuring pat on the head.

"I wish you the best of luck, my prince. And I hope I'll get to meet her."

"Of course, Maya." I answered with a smile, my hope renewed that perhaps today will turn out fine.

Hopping into the car, I kept the bouquets at the back and drove to school, drumming my fingers anxiously on the steering wheel, trying my best to ignore the fact that for the first time in forever, the great Aiden Vanderbilt was anxious about something and I realized that this was the first time I had ever asked a girl out.

Most of my relationships, if I could even call it that, were shallow and a means to satisfy my needs and the girls usually always wanted more at the end of the day, more than I was able to give so they almost always ended.

Lily was not the same. For the first time, I wanted to give something, anything she wanted if she would even have me and that was why as I drove into the private parking lot, I felt sweat dribble down the side of my face despite the air conditioning working. My heart was pounding hard as I fisted and unfisted my clammy hands, adjusting my tie in the rearview mirror.

Trying and failing to get out a complete sentence without sounding like a dork as I tried to practice my lines in front of the mirror, I decided that I was going to just speak from my heart and hope that Lily could see the genuineness in my request.

I was just reaching into the backseat for the bouquets when I saw Ren's car roll into the parking space. My face immediately lit up because I knew that despite our differences in the past few days, he would help me out if I asked him. We were brothers. More than brothers.

I opened the door as he parked, about to call out to him when I saw Ren come down and jog over to the passenger door and I froze when Lily came down, her smile wide as Ren pulled her in for a kiss that made her hold on to him tight as she stood on her tiptoes. Hurt snapped something in my chest in two. Jealousy raged like a burning inferno in me and I slammed the door shut, the bouquet of flowers and my offer for a date forgotten as I approached them.