The Gold Queen (Prequel)

Book 2 10. The Fort

***Aurora's POV***

He stands up and reaches out his hand, but I shake my head and get up on my own. We head out the front door and start walking down the walkway. We get onto the main street and stroll for a bit, passing a few houses, the library, and a daycare.

After a while, Oliver leads us off the main road and into the woods. A few moments later, a hidden dirt trail appears before us.

"I want to show you something," he says unable to contain his excitement.

His enthusiasm rubs off on me and we both start running down the little path. We reach the end of the trail and stand before a large oak tree with a huge tree house sitting atop its broad branches. A deck wraps around the house and two wooden ladders hang off on either side. A tire swing is suspended by a chain on a thick branch.

"Aurora, welcome to the Fort."

I bounce with excitement and rush over to the swing. Oliver runs after me and begins pushing me gently.

"Higher!"

Oliver obeys and I feel myself fly through the air. I giggle hysterically and hear Oliver chuckle behind me.

"You're such a child!" he laughs.

I slow down a little and jump off, crashing clumsily onto the ground. Oliver sprints over to me and sighs in relief when he sees me laughing my butt off. He helps me to feet.

"Come on, I'll show you inside," he says.

We climb up the ladders and onto the deck. He stops in front of the door and pretends to punch some numbers on the hand-drawn key pad. I burst into laughter. Silly boy.

Oliver opens the door and gets on all fours before crawling inside. I follow his lead and get on my knees. Despite its tiny door, the Fort was actually very spacious inside and we can both stand upright again. There are several bean bags spread throughout the fort and a large air mattress is placed in the right hand corner. Next to it, there's a small shelf with blankets and a few pillows stacked neatly on it. On the far left wall is a large window with a chest sitting just beneath it containing walkie-talkies, toy swords, shields, hand grenades, and board games. Another large chest contains over 20 different nerfs guns, organized by type. The ammunition is stored neatly in a large box beside it.

"It's incredible," I whisper.

"Growing up, Carter, Evan, I spent all our free time here. We'd play for hours until our mom's had to drag us home. Sometimes we'd sneak out and spend the night, telling scary stories and eating marshmallows"

I close my eyes, imagining the three boys launching wars against each other, playing happily till the sun went down.

"When we got older, this place became our safe haven. An escape from reality where we could just be friends and not the future leaders of the pack. On the day of our ceremony as pack leaders, we came here and swore an oath to never forget who we were and to never let out titles change or come between us. We promised to protect our pack with our lives. I still come here sometimes, just to clear my head or find some peace and quiet."

"Why did you bring me here? " I asked shyly.

"Because I-" he pauses for a moment, searching for the right words. "Because I want you to get to know me more, about my childhood, my friendships, my fears, my hopes and dreams. Everything. I became who I am here. I know you still don't trust me but I want to show you everything I am so one day you can."

There are tears in my eyes. He wants me to see him, all of him.

I walk slowly up to him, closing the space between us. I stand on my tippy-toes and wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer to me. Our lips meet, sending waves of electricity throughout my body. I feel his body stiffen from the initial shock before he wraps his arms around my waist. He moves his lips against mine, slowly slipping his tongue in my mouth. We kiss until we run out of breath and have to pull away. He rests his forehead on mine, still panting.

"Thank you for giving me a chance," he whispers, wiping the tears from my cheek.

I smile up at him and place a small kiss on his lips. "I'm glad you brought me here," I say.

"You know, now that I think about it, you're the first girl to ever come up here," he chuckles in to my ears, his hot breath making me shiver with delight. "This is strictly a 'no girls' zone."

"That’s ridiculous!" I laugh into his chest.

"I'm serious! Rosalie once tried to get up here but we shot her down with the nerf guns as she tried to climb up the ladder. Carter got her right in the eye and she cried. She never tried coming up here again!"

"You guys are horrible!" I scold, freeing myself from his arms. I grab a large loaded nerf blaster from the chest and aim at Oliver. "For Rosalie!" I scream dramatically and pull the trigger.

"You're on!"

He dodges the nerf darts and runs directly towards the chest. I shoot more darts before dipping my hand in the ammunition box and stuffing extra darts in my pocket. I run to the door and crawl out as I hear Oliver load his blaster. I quickly dash behind a tree as darts start flying out of the tree house window. When the darts stop coming, I take aim and shoot at the window before I run out of darts and have to reload. Oliver takes advantage and descends from the tree house and attempts to ambush me. I sprint to another tree and start shooting more darts in Oliver's direction. Soon, he is forced to reload. I climb the ladder and quickly crawl back inside. I reload and aim out the window at the tree Oliver's hiding behind. I wait. No one shoots back. Suddenly, darts start hitting my back and I turn to see Oliver aiming ruthlessly at me.

"Stop it!" I giggle.

"Surrender?"

I nod, still laughing. "You win."

"How about a kiss for the victor?" he says closing the space between us.

I drop the nerf gun in hand and wrap my arms around his neck as he drops his blaster and pulls me closer. We kiss, slowly and gently. He bites my lip and I gasp, allowing him to slip his tongue into my mouth to meet mine. We are both panting when we pull away. Oliver cups my face with his warm hands and gently pulls my head forwards, placing his lips on my forehead. He kisses my cheeks and my nose before our lips meet again.

The sound of a phone ringing pulls us back to reality.

"Ugh, what now?" Oliver sighs. He releases my face and wraps an arm around my waist while his free hand pulls his phone out of his pocket. "Hello," he answers with annoyance.

I can hear a female voice on the other side but it's speaking French, so I don't understand what she says. I feel a bit of anger stir in the pit of my stomach and my wolf growls.

"Je serai là bientôt," Oliver responds before hanging up the phone. "I have to go."

"Who was that girl?" I say, trying to mask my jealousy. Needless to say, I fail miserably.

Oliver raises an eyebrow and a huge grin spreads across his face. "Are you- Are you jealous, babe?" he asks with amusement.

I smack his chest and free myself from his grip, causing Oliver to laugh. I attempt to walk away but Oliver grabs my hand and pulls me back into his arms.

"You're cute when you're jealous," he chuckles. "Aurora, I only have eyes for you, nena." He places a kiss on my forehead and I instantly relax. "That was my business partner from the company we own. We have a board meeting coming up and I have a lot of work to finalize."

"Oh," I blush.

Oliver laughs and we head back to the house, hand in hand.