Aphrodite And The Magical Forest

The Lycan Prince

                                                                            Thalia Aphrodite Williams

I blinked my eyes repeatedly as the sunlight shone brightly from the window. I massage my head as I felt a jolt of pain when I tried to get up.

Is this what they called 'hangover'?

Probably and it's not a pleasant feeling when awoken after an amazing night out. I got up while massaging my head and looked at the clock on my nightstand. It read 12:35 in the afternoon and I saw a glass of water and tylenol with a note.

A glass of water and tylenol is the answer for an unpleasant hangover. Goodmorning, princess!

After you drink the tylenol, please go straight to my office. We'll have a breakfast together there and you're going to tell me what happened last night. You have so many thing to explain to me.

Mad and Worried,

Alpha Brandon

I sighed but still smile with how sweet he can be. Such an amazing big brother I have. I drunk the tylenol and lie down a little bit. I wait for the medicine to do it's job for a few minutes and then went to the bathroom to wash up. I feel so sticky and dirty.

As I do what I need to do, I tried to remember what happened but it's all so blurry after I gulp 12 shots of vodka. After that, all I can just remember are bits of blurry images. I could see that, there's a guy who sat beside my bar stool and tried to flirt and then the next was that I danced on the dance floor and then a hand wrapped around my waist that made me uncomfortable and then a guy punched the perverted guy but after that I can't remember anymore. All I can remember before the dark totally consumed me is the addictive smell. I don't know if I'm just so intoxicated that time but.. the smell lingers that I can still remember it's smell. It's so manly.

I decided to talk to my wolf to ask her what happened.

Hey, Selene! Do you know what happened last night? I got carried away with the liquor that's why I don't know what happened the rest of the night.

No, I don't know too, Aphrodite. Wolf side will also passed out if the human side of a werewolf passed out. I told you that going to that club is a bad idea. What if that perverted human guy got onto you? That place is dangerous, Aphrodite! Don't ever go to that place, ever again!

I sighed.

I know, I know. But, did you remember what happened before we blacked out? All that I remembered was the smell.

Yeah, well.. a guy saved you before you fell down on the ground. After that I don't know anymore, because I got dizzy too as you passed out.

Okay, thanks and I'm sorry. I should've been more responsible last night. You rest well, okay? I'm just going to talk to Alpha Brandon later.

Okay. Say hi to Alpha Brandon and Alpha Ben for me.

I ended our conversation there and went back to the reality. Alpha Ben is the name of Alpha Brandon's wolf.

After I finished in the bathroom, I went to my walk-in closet and change to a comfortable clothes. Oversized blue t-shirt and sweat pants.

I combed my hair and just leave it hanging to dry. I'm lazy to blow-dry it.

I went out of my room and to the right wing where Alpha Brandon's office is. I knocked and wait for his permission to let me enter.

"Come in" he said in a deep voice. I opened the door and offered a small smile to his expressionless face.

Uh oh. Looks likes I'm in deep, deep trouble.

I went to his front desk and kept my head down. Usually, I'm already sitting at the chair in front of him even without his permission but because I know he's pissed at me then, that's a no, no. Don't want to get in trouble more than I already am.

"Why won't you sit? You usually sits there whenever you want, even without my permission" he said with a cold voice. I bit my bottom lip and sat at the right chair. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. Few minutes past and he still didn't talk that's why I felt like I need to talk first, myself.

"I'm sorry" I mumbled and he turned his head to make his ear closer to me.

"What... did you say?" He asked, I sighed and looked at him nervously.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Hear me out, will you?" I asked with just enough voice for him to hear. He relaxed his body on his office chair and put his arms at either sides of the chair. And then, he entangled his hands together while looking at me sternly.

"I'm all ears" he said and I began explaining to him what I remembered that happened at the bar while we eat breakfast on his table. After we eat, I already finished my story too. The Omegas collected the dishes and left overs and walked out of the office.

"You. Got. Your. Self. Drunk?!" His voice bounced on the walls of his office and almost shattered the glass full of water on his desk.

"What the hell are you thinking, Aphrodite?!" He yelled so loudly again that I think the whole pack house heard him. I jumped from my sit as his voice resonated through out his office.

"I-I l-lost con-t-trol" I said and bit my bottom lip again. Hard. God, why is he so scary sometimes.

"I-I l-lost c-control. The hell with that, Ro! We were so worried about you! Your mom was so worried about you! Christina mind-linked us that she can't find you! We went there and searched for you at the city for whole damn night and then we were going to find out that you were already sleeping peacefully at your room?!" He yelled again and banged his hands on his desk. I jumped again on my sit but I looked at him shocked when I caught on his words.

"C-Christina didn't b-brought me h-home? T-then how did I g-got here? I-I thought C-Christina brought me h-home?" I mumbled silently but enough for him to hear.

"Oh, I don't know! Maybe you magic your self and then, poofed! You got your self in your room" he said sarcastically, clenching his jaw tightly.

"Are you really that drunk to not know how you got home?!" He asked again with gritted teeth.

"W-well, the last t-thing I r-remembered is t-that there was a g-guy that caught me before I fall to the ground" I said and divert my eyes to the ground again, thinking.

"Jesus! Ro! A guy?! And then, because your drunk as a skunk, that's all you remembered and passed out the whole night?! What if that guy did something bad to you! What will you do? You and your wolf was weak that time and you're alone with a guy!" He said and paced back and forth while combing his hair because of frustration.

"You're not allowed to go out of the pack's territory except when you go to school, in a month. You're going to go to school and then straight home, no hanging out with friends outside the pack house, you understand me?" He said looking at me straight in the eye.

"B-but-!" I tried to protest but he immediately cut me off

"You have no problem just being in your room the whole day in the past, Aphrodite. No. Buts. I'm doing this for you. You will also help clean the garden every time you went home for school, an hour a day, as a punishment." He said and I just nodded my head. Few minutes without anyone talking I stood up.

"Permission to leave, Alpha?" I asked quietly, still looking at the ground.

"You may leave" he said and went back to his chair and sit. I turned on my heels and walk towards the door. As I turned the knob of the door, the Alpha spoke.

"You know I care about you, right? That's why I'm doing this" he said softly and I offered a small smile and nodded towards him and he returned a small smile too. I went out of his office and went back to my room, deciding to just read a book like what I usually do. I went to my book shelf to chose a book to read and lie down on my bed. Minutes passed as I read a Sci-fi novel, a knock echoed through out my silent room.

"Sweetie, can I come in?" Said the soft voice of my mother.

"Yeah, come in mom" I replied and sat up.

"Hey, sweetie." She said and smiled at me as she sat on the edge of my bed. I said a small hey back.

"How's the hangover? Is it bad? Alpha Brandon said he already gave you a tylenol." She asked looking at me worriedly. I looked at her and bit my bottom lip.

"I-I'm sorry about last night. I d-didn't mean to make y-you so w-worried about me." I said and turned my eyes to my fidgeting hands. I don't know what to do as this is the first time that I did a risky thing, ever. Worst, I made her so worried.

"Oh, sweetie. It's okay, you just want to have fun and I understand that. The only thing that I didn't like is that, you got your self so drunk, sweetie. Being drunk like that is a sign of being weak and people in the city might take advantage of your weakness. I can't afford having something bad happen to you. I just can't. We already lost your dad, I can't afford to lose you too." She said and her eyes glistened of upcoming tears as she mentioned dad. My eyes glistened too. My dad died 3 years ago because of a rogue attack. 3 years ago but it still hurts whenever that thought crosses our mind.

"I'm so so sorry, mom. I'm not doing this again, I promise. I'm so sorry I made you so worried" I said as I went to her and hug her. We stayed like that with tears flowing down our eyes as we remembered dad. Minutes passed, she let go of me and looked at me with a small smile. Her eyes together with her nose, are puffy and red.

"What did Alpha said? He's pretty pissed at you" she asked and I told her what my punishments are.

"But, it's okay. Like what he said I'm pretty used with just staying all day in my room, so no worries. I'm just going to read or have a movie marathon alone. I can also invite Sophie or Christina or go play with the kids." I said, shrugging.

"Alright, if you said so. If you need anything just mind-linked me and I'll be here as soon as possible. Okay, sweetie?" She said and stood up. I nodded and smiled at her as she walked out of my room. I sighed and continued reading my book. Hours passed, there's another knock. Who would this be?

"The door is open!" I shout and the door slammed open as an angry Christina walked in. I sat up with eyes wide open.

"You b***h! Don't ever make me worry like that! You understand me?!" She hissed with a death glare throwing straight at me. Then, the most unexpected thing happened, her eyes are watery. My jaw drops. The confident tough girl I ever saw has tears because she's mad or worried about me?

"S-sorry" I said still shocked. She went towards me and pinched my arm. Hard.

"Aww! That hurts!" I said and covered the part on my left arm where she pinched me with my right hand.

"That's your punishment, you little s**t!" She said and wiped angrily the lone tear that escaped from her eyes. Then, I started laughing at her. She looks like a kid that's mad about her stolen candies.

"Don't laugh at me, you shitface! I'm not kidding!" She yelled but I just continued laughing at her. As I laugh so hard, I can't help but to snort while laughing, so she laugh as well when she heard it. Yeah, so unlady-like, but who cares? Atleast I made her laughed.

We continued laughing for a little while. Few minutes after, I smiled at her as she laugh.

"I'm so so sorry about last night, Chris. I should've been more responsible." I said, looking serious now. She looked at me with a serious face too.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too. I should've been more of a good friend last night. I mean, I know you're new about all of that and I just let you wander around alone while I'm busy talking to other shitface for the rest of the night. I'm really sorry for being a shitty best friend." She said and I immediately protest.

"No, no, Chris. You're not a shitty best friend. I mean, yeah you can be bitchy sometimes-" I said and she pinched me again.

"Aww! That hurts! That's two strike in just, like an hour!" I said and she just threw another death glare towards me.

"What? Don't deny it, it's true! You're bitchy sometimes but atleast a true friend. I don't need a perfect best friend but a true friend. Someone that tells me that I really suck at dancing. I don't need a plastic bitchy friend but a true bitchy friend. Like you, so you're not a shitty best friend just because you went there and hangout with your other friends. I don't need a babysitter, for your information." I said and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"You're saying that to make me forgive you, aren't you?" She said and I pretended like I am thinking about what she said.

"Well... is it working?" I asked and she threw a pillow straight at my face.

"You, shitface!" She yelled and I grab a pillow too from beside me and strike at her.

"Pillow fight!"

"Pillow fight!"

We both yelled at the same time and threw pillows at each others faces. And we spent the rest of the day just hanging out together in my room since I'm not allowed to go out. Sun set came and she went home and I spent the night just watching movies. I slept that night so happy and peacefully even though I earned a punishment. I felt so happy that I didn't think something will make me sad

But I'm wrong...

So. Wrong...

Morning came and I woke up with a loud knock and yelling of my mother outside my room. I groaned.

"Five more minutes, Mom!" I said and buried my face again on my pillows. Seconds passed by without any noise and I smiled. Wait for me, my handsome prince!

But my dream crumbles as soon as the knock intensified even more than earlier.

"Get up or else, I'm going to drag your lazy a*s down to the dining hall!" My mom yelled and I immediately sat up. Any threats of my mother should be taken seriously.

"Fine! I'm up! I'm up!" I yelled back and my mother finally stop. I laid back on my bed and hugged my pillow close to my body. I'm already building back my crumbled dream when a loud knock echoed again through out my room.

"I'm up, Mom! Would you please stop the annoying knocks?! We are not the only one here!" I yelled and stood up from my bed since I already gave up from building back the dream I had.

"You should be getting ready right now, young lady! You should be there within 15 minutes!" She yelled again and I rolled my eyes. My mom can be so sweet when she wants to, but she can also be so scary whenever she wants to.

I walk towards my bathroom and lazily brushed my teeth. Then, I stripped to go to the shower and took the fastest shower I've ever had. I went to my walk-in closet in just a towel and just throw on what I could see first. Oversized black t-shirt and paired with a high-waisted blue jeans. I ribboned my top on the front to make it fitted to my body. Then, I combed my hair with my hands since I can't find my hair brush. I just left my hair wet again as I'm really lazy to blow-dry it. I grab my bag and the books, then went down towards the dining hall. I jogged down the stairs and carefully went passed the people surrounding the main hall. As I finally reached the dining hall, I could see from here that some of the long dining tables are still a little crowded. Yeah, long dining tables. As in long, there are exactly 5 long tables that can be occupied by 300 people each. Meaning, there are approximately 1,500 seats in the dining hall for the pack members. Imagine how many dishes the Omegas do for all of us in the pack house to eat. That's why as much as possible I stayed out of the kitchen.

I jogged towards where my mom and sister are and sits beside my sister who keeps on talking so sweetly on her phone with her new boyfriend. Ugh, gross.

"Good, you're finally here. Are you going to school with the Peters twin?" She asked and pushed the bacon and egg in front of me. I nodded at her and grab my breakfast.

I quickly grab an egg, 2 bacons and an apple. I munched on my breakfast, happily and my sister looked at me with disgust all over her face. I just munched on my apple loudly to tease her more and she looked away while shaking her head, turning back on her phone with her disgustingly flirty voice. After a few minutes, I already finished munching on my breakfast and quickly jogged to the front door, throwing a quick goodbye and kiss on the cheek to my mother.

My phone beeped and I grab my phone from my back pocket. I saw a message from Sophie saying that they already are at the front yard. I click a quick reply while muttering soft apologies to the people I bumped into. As soon as I sent the message, a body engulf me into a tight hug. My eyes widen and I hug back the person as I smelled the familiar scent of Sophie.

"Girly! I missed you!" She squealed and I acted like I'm choking as her hug became a little bitsy tight.

"Careful sis, or you're going to choke my favorite person in the world." Said the familiar voice of Sophie's twin, Damon.

"Damon! I missed you!" I squealed and hug Damon next. He hugged me too and lift me up from the ground. I giggled like a little girl when he started spinning me around.

"Okay! Okay! Children stop already your lovey dovey session. We're going to be late at school! Whoo! I can sense so much s****l tension between you two! It's coming in a big, big wave!" Christina shouted, leaning on Damon's car. I just chuckled on her stupid joke and hugged her too.

"Woah! Woah! I'm sorry, nerd but I don't swing that way." She said and I chuckled more while letting her go.

"Since when did you care about being late on school by the way?" I asked and went to the front seat where I always sits since Damon got his car. Damon and Sophie got into the car too and Damon started the car's engine. The car roared into life and we drove off towards the school. And the usual happened, the bickering of Christina and Damon, the teasing between Damon and Sophie. And me, was always just laughing while watching them banter like little kids. After minutes of long drive, we finally reached the school and Damon was just parking the car. After Damon parked, Christina and Sophie immediately went out and I was just about to open the car door when a hand stop me.

"Hey, can you stay a bit with me?" He said and I turned to him.

"Yeah, sure. Is there something wrong?" I asked worriedly as I notice that he's nervous.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine. I j-just want to give you s-something" he said and I frowned. After a little while, my eyes widen.

"Oh! Is it your present for me? Let me see, let me see, let me see!" I said excitedly like a kid who was given a cotton candy in front of her. I'm a fun of surprises and presents.

"Okay, but! Close your eyes, will you?" He asked and I shut my eyes closed. I can sense that he got something from the back of his car. And a pop of something that has been opened.

"Now, open your eyes" he said and I open my eyes. What I saw shocked me to the core. A silver necklace that has a pendant of a moon and stars that is covered with many little crystals. I looked at him with wide eyes.

"I-it's beautiful" I said still in awe, I was about to touch it when I remembered something.

"But it's silver, you know very well that we can't touch any things that is silver" I said but he just chuvkled

"Yeah, I know that, Ro. But this necklace is special, I asked a witch friend of my mom to put a spell on this for you to be the only one who can touch it without burning your self. So, put it on." He said and I became mortified even more. Wow.

"I-it's pretty a-and as what you said s-special, so I'm sure it's expensive. I can't accept that, Damon." I said and he pouted..

"Money is not an issue for me, Ro. I-it's just that, when I saw this, you immediately come into my mind and I know that this present is the only thing that suits you. I mean, I already went to all stores in the city and malls near grandma's house, but nothing caught me eyes. But when I went to this jewelry store a little far from the city and saw this, I knew that this is the present that suits you. Simple but elegant." He said and I hugged him tightly while he stiffened because of my sudden action.

"Thank you, Damon. I will take a very good care of this, I promise." I said and he returned my hug while chuckling. After a few minutes, we let go of each other and I  slowly touch the necklace. At first when I touched it, I retreat my hand a little and felt my hand if it has a burn but I saw nothing. I carefully held the necklace in my hands and looked at it more closely now. I stared at it in awe and turned my eyes for a second to Damon as he chuckled. It's so cold on my hands.

I put it on me and felt the coldness around my neck. I muttered another thank you to Damon.

"You're welcome, beautiful. You deserve it." He said and we were engulf with silence as I still ogled at the necklace.

"We should probably go or we'll be late." He said and I nodded. We got out of the car and went to the front double doors of the school that was crowded with other students. Some talks to each other, some was greeting their friends as they didn't see each other for a few months. We walked side by side but when we reached the main hall, Damon bid a goodbye to me and went to his group of friends. The football team.

As I made my way through the crowds to my locker, I suddenly smell that same smell from the bar. The manly scent of the guy that saved me. It smells so addictive and alluring that I can't help but to sniff around me for that addictive smell.

I followed the smell for a few minutes but I got confused when I reached a crowded place. I can smell many scent making the addictive scent faint. I sniff atound me, trying to trace the smell but the bell rang, a signal that class will start soon and as much as I want to know whose scent it is, I can't afford to have a detention right now as I still have a punishment from Alpha Brandon. I turned around and went to my locker to get my things quickly but before I went to my first class, I turned to where I last traced the smell and saw that it's not crowded anymore and saw the Lycans standing at the corner talking with each other. I can't help but to stare at them. Particularly, the most handsome guy I've ever seen, the Lycan Prince.

Prince Alejandro Valentin Ivanov.