Aurelia's POV...

There are a few men standing in front of us. There were about ten people surrounding us. all looking sharp yet rugged. Like thugs. Beards grown. Only then do I see the nails on the ground. they must be the reason why the bike skidded.

They must have been thrown on the road at the last moment, as Aiden couldn't control the bike even with his keen senses. I look back at the road. Aiden's car has not caught up with us yet.

Aiden rushes towards me, asking, "Are you alright?"

I nod at him, and mind-link him. 'The men'

'I know. By the smell of them, they are humans. Most probably want to steal us. We must act human' He replies via the link.

One of them walks forward and says, "Where is it?"

"What? You can have the money," Aiden says, stepping up in front of me in a protective stance and taking out his wallet.

"Not the money, the girl," the man replies.

"What?" Aiden asks.

"You keep your mouth shut, boy. We are talking to the lady," the man says to us.

"Yes, give us the girl and we will leave you alone." Another guy chimes in.

I am confused. Why do they want me? Earlier, I did not give it much thought but why do they want me? If it was related to work research, they would have targeted the lab, but they are targeting my home and me.

"I don't know what you are talking about." I try to buy us some time by engaging them in talk. Maybe the car can reach us by then.

'Aiden, any chance of reinforcements arriving?'

'T minus minutes, Aurelia '

This is going to be a problem.

'We can't keep them in talks for that long,' I say, groaning through the link.

'Who needs to?' Aiden says through the link and then I turn to look at him.

His eyes flashed with his beast; it was so fast that I'm sure the men couldn't notice.

"Don't think we don't know you are werewolves," the first guy says.

'At the count of three, Aurelia, watch my back'

'Gladly'

Aiden lets out a loud growl that shakes the earth beneath us. The men look at him in horror.

"Then you should also know I am the Alpha King," Aiden says calmly, unleashing his power. His calmness, a stark contrast to the earlier growl, has an intimidating effect on them.

'One... two... three...'

He runs towards the first man, his claws out by now and slashes his neck. The man falls down, his eyes going out of focus.

The other men take a moment to notice this. Aiden was so fast that it was nearly impossible to comprehend what's going on by humans.

I dash behind him, making sure no one attacks him from behind. Now that the men realize that they can't get out of this without a fight, they attack us altogether.

The first man or the second, if you count the one lying dead on the ground, runs towards Aiden while the third one comes for me. I flank Aiden on his left as he approaches us.

The third man tries to punch me in the face but I lean away at the last moment and kick his legs out from under him, letting him fall to the ground.

Meanwhile, I notice from my peripheral vision that Aiden is simultaneously fighting three men.

It occurs to me that killing is the best option right now.

Another man, seeing his friend fall down, tries to kick me but I duck and sock him in the eye with my claws.

This catches him off guard and he brings his hands to his eyes. This leaves his neck unprotected and I claw his neck in a swift moment.

The man who earlier fell on the ground is now up and tries to slice me with a knife in his hand. I wait for the right moment, catch his hand and twist his wrist.

He groans in pain and tries to make me let go of his hand. I swiftly grab the knife and slash his neck. He falls dead.

'Make sure one man remains alive,' Aiden says through the link.

I look around and see six men dead lying on the road. Aiden has already killed the three people he was fighting with.

The remaining four split into two groups and attacked us. Two are targeting each of us.

Aiden lets out a menacing growl and claws the first guy with one hand while squeezing the neck of the other with his other hand.

The other two cautiously approach me but at the last moment, they change directions and attack Aiden.

My beast doesn't like that the king is being attacked. She comes out more. There is excess hair sprouting on the back of my neck.

'Aiden, bend your back a little bit. I need to jump.'

He understands what I am saying and lets go of the man whose neck he was squeezing. The man drops to the ground, clutching his neck and taking deep breaths.

I run towards them, jumping on Aiden's back, who is now bent, and land on one guy, kicking his head, and then jump on his shoulders and squeeze his neck with my thighs. He tries to scratch my thighs but I don't show mercy. I then claw the guys eyes and jump to the ground.

He falls to his knees, crying while holding his eyes. I don't give him a chance and twist his neck with all my strength and his body goes limp.

The other individual attempted to attack me, but Aiden swiftly delivered a roundhouse kick, rendering him unconscious.

The person who was earlier grasping his neck and taking deep breaths tries to attack us, but Aiden is too quick to slash his neck with his claw. He collapses and dies.

Aiden then rushes towards me, hugging me tightly for a moment before releasing me.

"Are you alright?" He inquired, his hands caressing my face and arms, ensuring I was unharmed.

"I am fine but we should tie up this guy," I say, stopping his hands and pointing to the guy who's unconscious.

But then we hear the screeching of tires and several vehicles approach us from both sides of the road. I tense for a bit but then release a breath of relief as Aiden says, 'My men.'

Henry rushes towards Aiden and bows. When there is no one else, it's ok to be beside him but now, in the presence of his men, standing beside him while they submit to him doesn't send the right message.

I try to take a step back from Aiden but he stops me by interlacing his fingers with mine.

I look at him in surprise. He doesn't look at me, though, and orders Henry to raise.

"Imprison the one who's unconscious, no mistakes this time. Aurelia is their Target. Increase the security detail on her. Have someone accompany her to the lab and two should be on duty at the lab too. Call a doctor to Aurelia's home for a checkup. Order some take out to her address. Indian cuisine. Add security detail to Nana too. She must not know that security is present. Call someone and have them repair my Ducati. Comb the entire forest for any unauthorised persons. Be it man, were or vampire, I want this place to be secure from the HQ to the highway." Aiden barks these commands out.

Now holding me by my shoulders, he pulls me along with him and pushes me inside the car. He follows me inside and as soon as he closes the door, the car jerks forward. In a few moments, we arrive at my home.

I step out of the car to see the home lit up. Grandma must be home. Aiden is now beside me, looking at my home.

'Nana must be here.'

I nodded at him in reply.

'A security guard will accompany you to and from work tomorrow. please don't deny.'

I sigh at him. 'Ok.'

'What were the men asking about? Why do they want you?'

I stiffened in response to his question. I can't let him know about my secret. I had hoped he'd forget it. But no such luck.

'I don't know Aiden. It may be related to my research at lab. Why would they target me? I don't know.'

'Hmm' he answers through the link.

'I have to go, Aurelia. Duty calls. My favorite bike is scratched. There is vampire activity so close to my headquarters and you and Nana are in danger. Someone will have to pay for this,' he growls.

Aiden taking this seriously means more complications for me. I thought at the most they would be after my research but they want me? This does not make sense. Even if I presume they want me for my research, what would they do with it? It is useful only for me, right?

'Sorry, Aurelia. I thought I would talk to you about something that I wanted to tell you when we visited the Fae Royals, but I guess this is not the right time either. I have to go. Bye. Take care of yourself and Nana.'

Aiden briefly hugs me before turning around and getting into the car. Suddenly, I remember my bag and groceries.

"Wait, my bag," I say, stopping him.

"They will be delivered to you soon."

Just as he says this, another car appears on the way and he nods towards it.

"Thank you," he just nods at me, closes the back door of his car and the car starts leaving me alone.

For the first time in my life, I am afraid. I look around the forest in fear. Who knows how many men,weres and vampires lurk behind the trees.

A were climbs down the car that had arrived and gives me my bag, nodding at me while the other carries groceries into my home.

"Aurelia, why is a royal guard bringing groceries?" Grandma shouts.

I wince at her tone. I have to make some excuses to placate her. It's going to be a long night.

.......................

Word count: 1632

Another short chapter. 

How was this action sequence? Do Aiden and Aurelia have coordination?

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