Chapter 3

• Iris was standing at the front door of the foyer, tapping her feet. Standing at the top of the stair landing, Jayden smiled, knowing that she would be annoyed that, in her terms, they were running behind.
• He knew that Iris would have already jotted everything in her mind. Knowing how long it would take the car to be packed. The drive from the packhouse to the airport. Iris would have added ten minutes of traffic delays. The time it would take to load the plane and for them to be seated. To the takeoff. It would not have surprised him if she had calculated how long it would take them to get to the palace from the Capital’s main airport. He found this quality in Iris annoying but, at the same time, helpful. It was always a guarantee he would always be on time.
• Jayden watched as Iris’s eyes met his. " We have one hour and twenty-five minutes to get into the air.” Her eyes had gone from Jayden to the men standing behind them. Motioning her head back and forth. “Daddy!?” she scolded.
• Dr. Marko O’Brian smiled at his daughter as he whispered, “She gets this from her mother!”
• “Daddy, you know how much I hate being late. If you needed to have a meeting, why didn’t you hold it last night or at some point yesterday?” Iris was well aware of who was responsible for Jayden’s tardiness, motioning her arms in frustration.
• Dr. Marko O’Brian chuckled as he and Jayden descended the stairs. “And yet you always leave yourself enough time to spare,” he remarked, reaching the foyer first. “You're just like your mother!” He kissed her on the cheeks.
• Jayden, taking her suitcase, replied, “I’ll put this in the car!” He chuckled, confident that they would arrive at the airport with plenty of time to spare. 'I bet if I asked Adrian to stop for coffee ... Iris would freak out. It might be funny!' he thought as he neared the doors.
• As she followed closely behind Jayden, Iris watched as the driver quickly exited the car and opened the door for her. “Daddy, everything is going to be alright!” Iris was trying hard to calm her father’s nerves. “I am going to be gone for six days ... that is only 144 hours. Then I will be back! Please Breath Slowly!”
• Dr. Marko O'Brian was breathing heavily as he watched Jayden pack suitcases in the trunk of the pack owned car. “I don’t like this one bit at all. Things have been too quiet.” he understood Alpha Black O'Donnoly better than he wished. In the back of his mind, warning bells had been going off. His wolf refused to settle down. Believing his father would strike at any moment. And he would not be there to protect his cherished child.
• “Daddy!” Iris wrapped her arms around his neck as Jayden yelled, “all packed.” Whispering in her father's ear, “This is the last bit of the trial. You will see that everything is going to work out great. There is more than enough evidence to put those thunder cunts in jail for life.” She kissed her father on the cheek. “Don’t worry!”
• Dr. Marko O'Brian released his daughter as he gave Jayden a worried glare, “Don’t let Iris out of your sight.”
• Jayden chuckled, “Didn’t plan on it!”
• Iris tossed her hands up in the air, “for the love of all that is innocent and pure,” She was glaring up into the clear blue sky, “Both of you are going to drive me nuts!” She hissed.
• Chuckling, “Don’t worry, Mr. O’Brian!” Jayden wrapped his arm around Iris’s waist, “Iris is going to be well protected. Even with the Alpha meeting happening Iris will never be alone. With the Alpha King's words. He has personally promised Iris’s protection.” Jayden reminded Iris's father as his father had done. "Besides we are positioned at the palace ... no one would dare attack the Alpha King!" he pointed out.
• Dr. Marko O'Brian's heart rate had increased, 'you don't know Alpha Black O'Donnoly like I do! He will most definitely attack the Alpha King.' he thought bitterly to himself.
• Jayden was guiding Iris to the back of the car as the driver was getting in the driver's seat. With Marko close by, huffing and puffing. “Daddy, relax!” She slid into the back of the car. “N.o.th.ing is going to happen. Protection … check! Good daughter … check! Following protocol … double check!” Iris pulled out her hidden blade, “Poker … ch.e.ck!”
• Dr. Marko O'Brian leaned into the car to give Iris one last hug and kiss.
• “WAIT!” Everyone turned to see Iris's stepmom, Maia, with the twins close behind. Running from the pack house's front door. Hugging and puffing, “I thought for a second I was going to miss you.” Maia pushed Dr. Marko O'Brian out of the way as she gave Iris her hug and kiss. Putting her hand into her pocket, she pulled out the family emergency credit card. “Take the time and find a wedding dress.”
• “SHOPPING!” Iris sang the word, “Triple check!” she added with more dramatic emphasis than she usually would.
• Maia glanced over at her husband to see his furrowed brow. 'they don't seem to understand the dangers Iris is heading into!' Dr. Marko O'Brian thought as he sealed his lips tighter.
• As Iris and the twins began to chuckle. Lara pushed her mom out of the way so that she could hug her big sister, “take lots of pictures!” she ordered.
• Blake was the next to push his twin sister out of the way, “Get me a souvenir … something really cool too!” He said as he hugged Iris.
• Stomping his feet, “This is not a vacation!” Dr. Marko O'Brian shouted. “You are to go to the court proceedings and nothing more.”
• Maia had her hands on her hips, “I am certain that between duty and court hearings, Iris has more than enough time to find items for the wedding.”
• Dr. Marko O'Brian could feel the thumping in his chest. In his mind, his wolf was pacing back and forth, uneasy with the thought of Iris out and about. 'anything could happen!' his wolf howled with agreement. In protest, “Jayden can’t see the wedding dress!” he tried a different tactic to convince his daughter to remain in a location that was far away from the public and away from his father's clutches.
• Leaning over, Iris, “I am sure we can figure something out. Whatever Iris wants,” Jayden gave Iris a sideways glance, “Iris will have.”
• “Protection … good daughter and protocol!” Iris held up the credit card, “and a bit of shopping.” She gave Blake a slight nod. A way to ask him to close the door. Taking the hint, Blake made sure Iris was out of the way as he slowly closed the door.
• “Driver!” Jayden called out as the door closed. He was making sure that Dr. Marko O'Brian would not have the opportunity to open the door and pull Iris out.
• Iris twisted her body so that she could wave goodbye to her family as the car began to move away from the pack house. Once out of sight, she repositioned herself so that she was sitting properly. “I know this is serious business that we have to attend to, but I have to say … I am so excited! Not excited that I might be called up to testify. But the fact I get to leave Blind River on good terms. Well as good terms as things can be. Daddy never lets me leave his sight unless I am going to stay with grandma for a while. The idea of leaving here for six whole days is exciting.”
• Jayden was chuckling, “I hadn’t noticed.” a wicked smile grew on Jayden's face. "How about we stop for coffee?" He watched as Iris slowly turned her head away from glaring out the window to him. A nasty glimmer was looking at him, "I take that as a no!"
• Iris listened to Jayden and Adrian chuckle as she shook her head. "No!" she crossed her arms over her chest as she pulled out her phone. Scrolling through her contacts, she stopped on Bradon's name. Again, she glanced at Jayden. "Hey Bradon!"
• Jayden smiled as Iris spoke with their pilot. Asking him if he would be so kind as to pick up a large black with two sugars and an extra large triple triple. The wicked grin on her face had told him that Iris was prepared for his little antics. Singing into her phone, "thank you Brandon!"
• "Nice try!" Iris smiled as she shoved her phone and the family credit card into her purse.
• Giving her a cheeky grin, "You were ready for that weren't you!?" Jayden was putting his hand into his pocket. “Put your parent's credit card away.” He gave Iris the Alpha’s black gold credit card. “Your father spent years building up his revenue. Well, mine is generational.” Jayden watched as Iris took the card and placed it in her purse.
• Iris was apprehensive about spending the pack money. Though she understood the privileges that came with titles. she still felt like she had to earn her money. And taking Jayden's money felt a bit off to her. “You realize that my siblings are going to want me to bring them back a gift, right?” Iris muttered.
• “In less than a year, we are going to be officially related. I have watched those two knuckleheads grow from tiny little terrors to holy terrors.” He chuckled. “A couple hundred dollars spent on them is a drop of a dime. Get them whatever you think they will like. Just make sure with the spending spree … there is a wedding dress that you have ordered.”
• Iris clenched her teeth at the word dress. “I am having a difficult time in that department, aren’t I.” She lowered her head in self-defeat.
• Jayden grasped hold of Iris’s hand gently. Raising her hand, he was giving her a light kiss. “In a year, the pack will have gained their future Luna. And Blind River will have gained a new ‘licenced’ doctor. All we have to do is get through this last couple of days of court hearing … Pack meeting with the Alpha King … and finding a wedding dress you love.” He kissed her hand once more.
• Iris pushed the air out of her lungs. Smiling at him, she could not help but feel slightly off. Iris could not figure things out, but something was off. She loved Jayden with all her being. Yet every time they spoke about the wedding, she was not as excited as she thought she should be. Her mom told her it was the jitters and it was normal to feel that way. "Everything is going to be perfect!" she visualized the list she had written down as a youth. Her life plan was written down as she saw how she wanted her life to be ... 'perfect!'
• A sigh escaped the both of them as Adrian navigated the road. Passing by pedestrians and buildings.
• For the longest time, not a word was spoken as the two glared out the window they sat by. Breaking the silence, Iris pushed the air out of her lungs, “Do you honestly believe I will be accepted as the Luna … as a human?” It had been a question that had been on her mind for some time.
• Jayden continued to look out the window when the Blind River pack jet came into view. “I knew when I was ten that one day I was going to marry you.” He turned his head toward Iris. “I will have no other female as my future Luna. They will accept you! They have no choice in the matter.”
• Nervous, “What about the Alpha King?” Iris asked her question.
• Jayden began to chuckle, “Considering he took up a mistress that works in the art of magic … after his wife died. I don’t think he has a leg to stand on. And if romours are correct ... He was bedding her long before his queen died.”
• Iris leaned into Jayden as the car began to slow down beside the jet. “I try to keep my nose out of other's dirty laundry. Whether they are human, shifters, or practitioners. I would hate for anyone to pry into my personal business.”
• The pilot opened Jayden's door, “We will be ready to leave once the luggage is on board, sir.” Bradon glanced over at Iris. "the coffee's are already on the plane."
• Jayden and Iris snickered as they slid out of the back seat. Iris turned her head to see the workers gathering their belongings from the trunk of the car. With a gentle hand on her back, Iris moved her feet with Jayden. Whispering in her ear, "I can't wait to see your face when we get to the Captial."