The masquerade party at the academy was held once a year, and once every five years, the academy would invite werewolf alumni to the party. The primary purpose was not only to strengthen the association between humans and the werewolf clan but also to help the lone warriors find their mate in the mortal realm.
Thus, the human lord would allow werewolves to come to the mortal realm without requiring special permission for this specific occasion.
The human lord could have held it every year, but the risk of having several rogues coming and killing humans was enormous. Therefore, the human lord will only set one day in a year to let the portal connecting the two realms open.
Each pack will send their best warriors to guard around the portal door to maintain the truce and trust. They would not allow the rogues to infiltrate the mortal realm and destroy their treaty.
And today was the day, and coincidentally, the masquerade party was held two days before Lyod's twenty-first birthday.
If Lyod had managed to meet Aria and convinced the girl that she was his mate, Lyod would have immediately brought the girl to his realm. He would take the girl to his parents and meet his pack as well as crown her as their Luna.
Lyod felt excited and could not wait to meet her. He wanted to have her ultimately and put his mark on her delicate neck.
He wanted to hear her angelic voice once more while singing his name when he pleasured her. He wanted to inhale all over her scent, especially her arousal smell.
He wanted to do so much with his beloved mate that he forgot a crucial fact.
"You should know that Aria… she hated werewolves the most."
As if someone had shot a cannon right at his heart, Lyod felt his soul being torn to pieces.
He had expected it. He knew Aria would not easily forgive his past actions… but… it still hurt to hear it in person.
Unbearable to see the suffering-filled expression from the Alpha, Iona hastily offered her help.
"Maybe I can help." Iona could barely contain her laughter when she saw the bright glow in Lyod's golden eyes. "I won't promise if my plan will work, but I'll try to get her to come to the masquerade party."
"She is going to the party, isn't she?" inquired Douglass, as if he couldn't understand why a girl would miss a masquerade party that a werewolf alumnus would attend.
"Of course, she would have come if elves and ordinary humans had attended this party. But… I doubt she would come this year after knowing there would be many werewolves in participation."
How was he supposed to meet the girl officially if Aria didn't come to the party?
"Can you get her to come to the party?"
"I can't. But I know someone who can."
"Who?"
"Quinn. The only human that Aria was very close to was Quinn, and I'll have Quinn persuade her to come to the party on Friday."
"You think she'll do it?"
"Of course. I'll call her now."
Without waiting for the response of the two dumbfounded men to her unexpected plan, Iona ran to her room to get her phone.
On the other hand, Quinn had just finished her portion of ice cream when she heard her ringing phone. She casually answered her childhood friend's call while Aria got up to go to the lavatory.
After washing her face, she looked into the mirror, where an exact face was looking at her with an even gaze.
For years, she felt confident in her decision and was ready to leave the Chavau family once she graduated from the academy.
But for some reason, she felt something holding her back as if someone didn't want her to leave.
Now she knew that she was not fully human but had fae blood in her veins; she didn't know what to do. Furthermore, she was clueless about whether her fae gene was more dominant than the human one.
If it turned out that the fae gene was more dominant, shouldn't she go to the fairy kingdom? Maybe she could find her parents there, yet… something was telling her that she was forbidden to go there.
Even though she settled in the human world and planned to stay in the elven territory, Aria doubted whether she would survive there.
Yes, the elves were kind to her and always helped her every time a group of bullies surrounded her. But they didn't have a position to stand against the nobles or werewolves who occasionally wanted to cause trouble with them.
In addition, The magic ointment was still in her hands. She was still unsure whether she should return to the werewolf realm to return it or keep it.
She guessed the white wolf must have picked up her scent and would tighten the guard on his house. It was unlikely that she would be able to infiltrate the White Bridge Pack a second time.
But… if one day the Alpha King realized that someone had stolen his magic ointment and decided to hunt her down… wouldn't her presence be a burden to those around her?
Aria took a deep breath while wiping her wet face with a tissue. Then she walked out to return to where her best friend was waiting for her.
"So, have you thought about it?"
"Thought of what?"
"Come to the party with me."
"…"
"Come on. This is my last party, and I want to spend it with my two best friends."
"Two?"
"You still remember Iona, right? She now lives in the werewolf realm since one of the werewolves made her his mate."
"..." Of course, Aria remembered. Iona was Quinn's childhood friend, but… she was not very close to the girl. "She will come too?"
"Yes. Please, come. I beg you."
"…"
"Aren't you my sweet best friend? Do you have the heart to make me feel sorry for not being able to be with my best friend before I get married?"
Aria sighed in resignation. She was a little pushover every time Quinn begged her so desperately like this. After all, Quinn is the one she cherishes the most among the human kids in this realm.
"Fine. I'll come with you. But only if that evil mistress gave her permission."
"Let me handle it. I'll come to get you, and we'll see if she dares to stop you from going."
Aria giggled at the confident tone of her best friend. That ugly evil mistress surely would give her permission if her friend asked her to go.
The woman would never scratch her image as a good benefactor in people's eyes.