Page 1 of Their Crowned Mate
CHAPTER1
LAVINIA
The moments after the four of us were ushered offstage seemed to pass by in a rapid blur. I had no idea what to even make of everything that had just happened.
I felt a bit like I was struggling to keep my head above choppy waters in my attempts to keep sight of Alexander while the others were pushing me past the crowd, and by the time we got backstage and I was able to break away from Aurelius, I couldn't see him anywhere.
It didn't bode well. If Alexander wanted to see me, surely he would have, and he’d definitely have found me by now.
I was about to go off in search of him, even if that probably wasn't the greatest idea, when a familiar voice made me freeze.
"Someone want to explain what that was?" Jax chastised.
Of course it was Jax.
With adrenaline pumping through my veins, along with frustration over the fact that Alexander was probably long gone by now, I was about to claw his eyes out if he said any of the usual stuff. Even if this time, he kind of had a reason.
Sort of.
Actually, no. Fuck that. And fuck him.
"Not here," Aurelius answered before I had the chance. I looked around and realized he was right. There were others backstage, and we were already getting a few strange looks that were sure to grow if the others realized that this was as much of a surprise to my so-called mates as it was to them.
Yeah, this was a disaster.
Jax looked like he was thinking about arguing, but he grudgingly muttered something under his breath, and stalked toward the back door.
I was about to go in the opposite direction when someone grabbed my arm. I spun around, and I must have looked as furious as I was because Aurelius took his hand off me and held his hands up in defense. "Easy."
We were at a secluded enough point in the hall that I felt comfortable pausing for a second, at least, and lowered my voice to a harsh whisper. "What was that?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You mean me saving our hides?”
"Now my mate thinks I'm carryingyourbaby," I hissed.
"If he's enough of a moron to believe that, are you sure you want him to be your mate?" Aurelius challenged.
I glowered at him, but before I could say anything else, Damon peeked back in through the door. "Are you coming or not?" he asked.
I reluctantly followed him out, but there was no way we were done with this conversation.
Sure enough, it picked up as soon as we got back to the house. Scanning the horizon on the way there had yielded nothing in the way of Alexander, and neither had texting him. Granted, it was still a little weird to be texting an ancient vampire, but he had adapted well enough to modern times and technology.
"All right, take two," Jax said, folding his arms as he stood before us in the center of the living room, waiting expectantly. "What's going on? What do you mean, she's pregnant? You knew and you didn't say anything to any of us?"
Aurelius pressed a hand against his temple like he was exhausted. "Are you serious right now?"
"He obviously didn't know, idiot," Damon muttered. "He was covering for her. Right?"
“Right," Aurelius said with a heavy sigh. He glanced down at me. "While we're on the subject, care to explain?"
"What is there to explain?" I asked defensively. "I assume you guys know where pups come from."
"Whose is it?" Aurelius asked, his tone guarded. If I didn't know better, I would think he was jealous, but that was a joke, if ever there was one. And if he was jealous, well, that would just make me even angrier.
"That's none of your business," I said, folding my arms.
"She probably doesn't even know," Jax taunted. "The little omega has been getting around."
