After shopping for some clothes, the girls decided to have lunch at a restaurant. While waiting for their food orders, the three chatted with Iona, who talked more about her life living in the werewolf realm.
When she told how Douglass, who used to be hostile to her and bickering each other every time they met and has now become her overly sweet lover, made Quinn dazed.
Suddenly, she missed her lover in the fairy kingdom and wanted to return to her lover's arms.
However, she knows… once she comes back, she will mentally and physically prepare herself and marry her lover. Once she got married, coming into this mortal realm would not be as easy as now.
Even her father, who was only a human, had never returned to the mortal realm since he decided to move to the fairy kingdom to be with her mother.
A fae's human mate was allowed to marry and become a resident of the fairy kingdom, but it's not easy for a fae to live in the mortal realm, let alone become a citizen here.
Humans would always look suspiciously at the purpose of other creatures coming to the mortal realm. If other creatures went to the mortal realm, vampires, elves, and fae would be heavily guarded. Furthermore, the human would accuse the races if a mishap happened on their arrival.
Only werewolves were allowed to wander into the mortal realm because they were human protectors. And yet, the number was limited only.
Quinn felt sad because she would not be able to come here as easily as now after her marriage. But… as long as she could be with her lover, it's all worth it.
On the other hand, Aria just sat quietly while listening to Iona talk about her lover in the werewolf realm.
Aria couldn't comprehend how someone who once hated each other now adored and was affectionate toward each other. The most bizarre was why she felt like Iona was trying to change how she viewed werewolves?
"The funniest thing was when I caught the flu last winter." continued Iona with the same cheerful tone.
"What happened?"
"At that time, Doug was supposed to be guarding the borderline with Alpha, and he was already there. But as soon as he heard that I had the flu, he immediately ran away from the border area and went home." Iona giggled, remembering how worrywart her lover was.
"Your alpha wasn't angry?"
"Of course he was. But he couldn't do anything about it when he found out that Doug had given his guard spot to the omega. He was too overprotective and worried about me whenever I was weak. I mean, I'm not that weakling little girl, but he always treats me like one."
"Aw… I'm so happy for you." Quinn looked at her childhood friend sincerely and gave her a happy smile. "Tell me, is he a possessive man? I heard all werewolves had this thing about their spouse."
"Don't start with it. At the beginning of my stay there, Doug locked me in his house so I wouldn't glance at other men. There are plenty of compelling and handsome wolf shifters, some even more handsome than Doug." Iona put a sly grin as she continued, "I love to tease him and make him jealous. You should see his face filled with jealousy. He's so cute."
Quinn laughed out loud at that.
"What about you, Quinn? Is there someone already?"
"That… I have found someone I love."
"So? You decided to stay there to be with him."
"Something like that."
Iona grabbed Quinn's hand and gave a gentle smile. "I know there's something you're hiding from me, and I'm not going to find out. But I want you to know that my hand is always open for you if you run into trouble or need help."
Quinn looked at Iona with the sentiment, and Aria felt like a nuisance for a moment. Why did she feel she was in the limelight with these girls' things?
"Oh, my. I almost forgot we weren't alone." Iona's remarks invited Quinn's giggle, and Aria rolled her eyes lazily.
"If we were both men, I would feel jealous of you for snatching my best friend."
"Oh, please. You took my best friend first."
"What? When did I…."
"Remember our childhood?" cut Iona without letting Aria finish her words. "When those kids try to corner you, Quinn always leaves me to help you. And somehow, you always get into trouble every time I play with Quinn."
"Iona," warned Quinn, shaking her head.
"I'm just joking. Don't put it on the heart."
"That's not some funny joke," added Quinn. "Besides, how could I leave her and let those arrogant kids bully her? You did nothing yourself."
"You're right. At that time, I was so young and naive. And I once hated you."
Quinn and Aria gasped in shock at Iona's unexpected declaration.
"You… hated me? Why?" as far as Aria's memory, she had never done anything that made Iona hostile to her.
Not only Iona, but to those bullies and the Chavau girls, she never started anything that would make her their enemy. On the contrary, it was them who had done something to her that now she hated them.
"Everyone hated you ever since you won the junior beauty contest."
What? "I don't remember ever winning or participating in that… ridiculous contest."
"I voted for you, and you won the first place," stated Quinn.
"I did?"
Before Quinn answered her question, Iona continued her sentence. "Not only that, on average, the ones that gave you votes were the boys and also… werewolves boys. They like you, and the girls hate you."
"I don't understand." Aria didn't understand what Iona wanted to talk about.
"The boys like you, Aria. They never hated you nor bullied you on purpose. Well, they were misbehaving and liked to taunt the girl they like, but they secretly adored you."
"Like I would believe that. Can we talk about something else?"
"Yeah, I couldn't believe it either," added Quinn. "What's your point, Iona?" Quinn found it strange how Iona was trying to twist the past reality.
It didn't matter whether the werewolf boys liked Aria or not. The fact that they were bullying Aria was undeniable.
"Let me ask you this. How did you know the kids who bullied you were werewolves and not humans? Have you been able to tell the difference between the two since you were little?"
"That… The elves told me…." Meryl was the one who told her that the werewolf was bullying her.
Or… was she lying?