Betrayed Heiress: My Second Chance Mate is A Lycan King

Aira’s POV

“Happy birthday, dear princess… Happy birthday to you!”

An excited squeal leaves my lips as I jump out of bed and into my father’s arms. My laughter bounces off the walls of my room as he spins me around in the air. He places me on the floor and drops a kiss on my forehead.

My mother carefully drops my cake on my little study table and engulfs me in a big bear hug. She litters my face with kisses, and I try to get her to stop, but all my efforts are to no avail.

“Mommy, stop it!” I screech, but she clearly doesn’t do as I say.

“Oh, I just can’t help it! You are such a big girl now. You are growing up so fast. Very soon you will be all big and ready for marriage; you will have kids of your own and know exactly what it is I am talking about,” she says, and my father steps in to speak his mind.

“Stop talking nonsense, Marilyn! She only just turned ten years old; she is too young to be thinking about marriage and having children,” my father says strongly, and mom rolls her eyes.

“I know, but I am just letting her know, honey.”

“She does not need to know anything. She won’t even have a boyfriend in the next twenty years!” my dad declares, and my mouth falls open.

“But daddy I would be thirty by then! I will be so old!” I defend with a pout, and he smiles down at me. He ruffles my hair, which causes me to shriek. I hate it when he does that!

“Look who is getting better at math,” he remarks, and I stick out my tongue. My teacher told me I am getting the first position in math class. I can’t wait to show mom and dad my report. “And yes, you are not getting a boyfriend until you are at least 30.”

“But my friends said their dads will let them get at 16,” I pout, and a horrified look overtakes his face.

“Well, you won’t! Not under my watch. You are not like your friends; you are far more special,” he says before ruffling my hair once again. I groan in annoyance. He is so controlling.

“Okay, enough talk about friends and boyfriends!” Mom interrupts, then lights the candles on the cake. She brings it to me with a bright, excited smile on her face. “Make a wish and blow out the candles!”

I am about to shut my eyes, but I stop when I remember someone. “Wait, what about Ana? We are supposed to blow out our candles together.”

The smile on mom and dad’s faces vanishes, and they share a glance. “Um, Ana has her own cake, sweetheart. She wanted the both of you to have separate cakes; she has already blown hers out.” Mom says, and my smile falls.

I guess she is still angry at me for blowing out all the candles on our last birthday.

Shutting my eyes, I think of a wish and blow out the candles. Mom drops the cake, and she, along with Dad, engulfs me in another warm hug.

“Happy birthday, princess; we love you so much.” Dad says, and his words make me feel warm and safe inside.

“I love you guys too.”

A tear slides down my face before I even open my eyes. When I open my eyes, I hear the shattering of my own heart before I feel it. If mom and dad were here, I would have been jumping out of bed and running into their arms, ready to blow out the candles on my cake.

But this room is engulfed in nothing but a deafening silence. The beating of my own heart and my reoccurring breaths are the only sounds in the room. This room is void of laughter, void of birthday songs, and void of happiness.

This isn’t my first birthday without my parents, but it still hurts every year.

Wiping my tears away, I get to my feet and take a deep breath. I am not going to spend my day moping and feeling all bad for myself. This is the only day in three hundred and sixty-five days I get to call mine. and Ana’s.

Oh, Ana!

Bolting out of my room, I head down to her room and burst it right open without knocking. My eyes land on her sleeping form on the bed, and I roll my eyes. I consider waking her up, but then I have another thought. Quietly, I head down the stairs to get the cake I ordered yesterday for today.

On getting to the kitchen, my feet come to a halt and my eyes widen as I take in the sight of the beautifully decorated kitchen. The pink balloons over the counter read HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AIRA.

There are trays and platters already set out with all kinds of delicious delicacies and treats. A two-layer pink and white iced cake is situated at the center of it all. It takes me a few minutes to process the sight in front of me.

Tears sting my eyes, and my feet subconsciously take a step back. A surprised gasp leaves my lips when it meets with a hard chest, and I spin on my heel. Alexander is standing behind me with a handsome smirk playing on his lips. His hair is ruffled, and I almost did not notice the dark circles under his eyes.

It is evident that he did not get much sleep last night. Did he stay up trying to fix all of this? For me?

His eyes held emotions. I could not decipher, and I wonder if it is due to the fact that a few strands of his hair are falling above it. It is incredible how attractive this man can look without even having to try.

His voice is a lot deeper and raspier than usual when he says, “You are up early… was just coming up to wake you up and sing for you.”

His last words have me hiking a brow. His rather shy demeanor is amusing; I have never seen him act this way before.

Folding my arms above my chest, I say, “Well, it’s not too late. You can still sing for me.”

He shoots me a little glare, then casts his gaze at his feet. I take a seat on one of the stools by the counter and wait for him to do the needful.

Alex walks around the table and grabs the cake before coming to stand before me. He meets my eyes and plasters a boyish smile on his face.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Aira… I love you.”

Whatever expression I had completely vanished at his last words. He looks at me cautiously, and I almost would have thought he was scared. but that isn’t possible. Alpha Alexander causes others fear; he doesn’t feel it.

“That’s not part of the song,” I state, and he nods slowly.

“Yeah, I know. That was my personal addition.”Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

My cheeks grow hot, and I feel my heart pound wildly against my chest. “I lo-” He presses his fingers against my lips to silence me.

“Don’t say it,” he starts, and my eyebrows furrow. “Don’t say it if you don’t mean it; don’t say it because you feel the need to respond. I know somewhere deep down you still hoard some sort of resentment towards me.”

He takes his fingers away from my lips, and I don’t say anything. I was too scared to say anything. I mean, do I really love Alexander? When I met him, he was nothing more than a cold, overbearing, and insufferable maniac. But after a while, I like to think he has softened.

Maybe, just maybe, I could forgive him.

He lights the candles on my cake and brings it to me. “I think you are supposed to blow it and wish for something.”

I nodded and shut my eyes. I really do not know what to wish for at this point in my life. I suppose I could wish for Ana and me to have fun today. We would get along, and this would be a great day for all of us.

Yes, that’s definitely it.

I blow out the candles, and he sighs while rolling his eyes. “Finally,” he says, dropping the cake carelessly on the table. I chuckle at his behavior as I hop off the stool.

“Thank you so much for making all of this possible, but could you do me one tiny little favor?”

“What’s that?” he asks, and I gesture to the balloons that say my name.

“Could you please take my name down? You know it’s Ana’s birthday too,” I say, and he scowls bitterly.

“I did not do any of this for her; I did it for you,” he states, and I close the distance between us.

Taking his face in my hands, I muster up the best doggy eyes I could and say, “I know and I really appreciate you for doing all of this, but please just take my name down. Please?”

He groans. “Fine.”

“Thank you!” I place a kiss on his cheek, and he grows still. I march up to the fridge and take out Ana’s cake. Before I leave the kitchen, I turn to Alex as he takes down my name. “Okay, maybe I need one more favor… and you might not like it.”

Thirty minutes later, Alex and I barge into Ana’s room shouting, “SURPISE!”

Ana shoots out of bed, looking disheveled with her hair flying in all directions. Her eyes fall on me, and she rolls her eyes and releases a sigh.

“Damn, I thought these traditions had come to an end,” she mutters before collapsing back on the bed.

I walk up to her with her cake and throw the blankets off her body. She hisses. “As long as I am here, these traditions will never die!”

“Clearly,” I hear her mutter into the pillow, and I roll my eyes.

Pulling her up to a sitting position, I place the cake before her and say, “Come on, make a wish!”

She looks at me, then at Alex, who is dressed in a clown’s costume, and then shakes her head. She shuts her eyes and blows out the candles seconds later!

“Yay! Now Alex is going to chase us around the house, just like how mom and dad used to do when we were kids,” I say, looking at Alex, who looks as though he is ready to snap the neck of anyone that laughs at him in that costume.

“Nah, I am not doing this,” Alex says, turning on his heel and leaving the room.

“Alex!”

“No, it’s fine. I am not ready to run around anyway. I don’t have the same energy as I did when I was a kid,” Ana says boredly, and I pout. “Okay, well, I got us matching dresses. You know, just like how mom and dad would when we were kids! Then we are going to have breakfast and do a little painting and shopping.”

Ana’s smile is tight, and I see something unfamiliar in her eyes. She has such a weird way of expressing joy. “Yay,” she says dryly.

I am sure she is just upset because it won’t be the same as when Mom and Dad were here. but I will do everything within my power to make up for their absence.

Today is going to be perfect. It has to be.

“Alright, I will send a maid to bring you your dress. In the meantime, get ready! Today is going to be so much fun!” I squeal, and she doesn’t say anything as I leave her room.

The next thirty minutes are spent hurriedly getting ready. I stare at myself in the mirror after putting my last touch of makeup on my face. Once I am certain that everything is perfect, I return to Ana’s room.

“Ana, are you ready?” I called out, but there was no response. I step into her room, but I frown when I find an empty room. Where could she be?

I head down the stairs and check the living room, but she isn’t there either. When I step into the kitchen, what I see nearly brings me to my knees.

Slowly, my vision blurred with tears as my body could no longer bear to take in the sight in front of me.

The sight of Alex and Ana kissing on the counter.