The Gift Worth Protecting with Life

The package was small, so small that it made her wonder what could be inside it. When she removed the cover, it was a small box with all of its sides covering two inches of space. Aurelia looked up at her grandpa with confusion. The only small thing she could guess it to be was a ring.

Alpha Asher smiled at her reassuringly, signaling her to go ahead. Aurelia removed the lid and the item inside made her even more confused. It looked like an ear stud but was even too small to be that. Moreover, ear studs came in pairs while this thing came in one piece. The whole thing covered only half of the upper phalange of her small finger. One side of the stud was attached to a screw while the other had a small stone engraved in it.

The small stone was fiery red in color. Looking at the stone which was the size of half a side of a small pea, she felt like its color was soothing something inside her chest. She looked up at the Alpha in question. "Grandpa, what is this?" She was sure that this was not an ear stud nor did she have her ears pierced.

Alpha Asher picked the small item from her hand and looked at her affectionately, "do you see that small hole on your right nostril? It's not natural. Your mother pierced it for you."

"What?" She looked stunned. Alpha Asher removed the screw from the stud like thing before putting it on the piercing on her nose and screwed it back from the other side.

"It's a nose pin. Your mother used to wear it. This thing is not common in our kingdom as people like to pierce their ears but your mother was special. I don't know what it meant for her but from the moment I saw her until the last time I saw her, she always wore this nose pin." Alpha Asher watched closely as the calm on his granddaughter's face started to crack.

He patted her head. "She loved you dearly. You're your parents' most precious belonging and she pierced your nose to leave you something that would always remind you of them. This nose pin,." Alpha Asher released a shaky breath, "your father gifted it to your mother and ever since, she never wore any other nose pin. Before she left, she had you wear it."

A question appeared in Aurelia's eyes, and as if reading it, her grandpa continued. "She had some abilities, I don't have much details but she was positive that she could trace your father, so she left. But she loved you a lot too. She loved both of you and wanted you to grow up under your father's affections and that's why she had to leave. I tried to persuade her to not leave alone but she sneaked away and left a letter behind, asking me to look after you until she brings your father back."

Aurelia never felt hurt about people's treatment or expressed much of her emotions but this story always made her heart ache. Except for the nose pin part, her grandpa had narrated this tale to her several times and every time she couldn't help but question, "then why? If she was so sure about her abilities then why..?"

Alpha Asher's eyes held grief. "I don't know either. Few days after she left, we found her body at the gates of Einar mansion. At that time, I totally broke down. You were around two years back then. I couldn't come to see you for some time and a maid tried to steal this nose pin from you. Fortunately, you started crying and Lady Feng was able to find you fighting the maid with your aura. The incident scared me. I couldn't afford to let you lose what connected you to your parents. So I took the nose pin away until you grew up to be able to protect it."

At the end, he tried to smile. "You grew up to be the best child. Your parents must be so proud of you." Both Aurelia and Alpha Asher had unshed tears in their eyes as they tried to smile at each other. Both couldn't afford to lose their composure because they were each other's support.

Aurelia stood up to look in the mirror mounted on the wall of the lounge. In the light of candles, the red stone of her nose pin sparkled brightly, almost blinding one's eyes. The nose pin gave her beautiful face an exotic look making her look even more enchanting than she already was. Turning to look at her grandpa, she smiled.

"Does it look good on me grandpa?"

Her grandpa's voice held a moist touch as he said, "very much. You are the most beautiful girl in this world and now that you look even more beautiful than I thought you are, I can't help but think about your marriage." Although he said that in a lighter tone, Aurelia sensed that he was being serious and couldn't help but stop him from thinking this way.

"C'mon grandpa, you know I am the only werewolf ever to be born without a mate mark. I'm a jinx who can bring the end to werewolves. How am I supposed to get married?" Her straightforwardness hurt her grandpa and she knew that but she had no other option.

"You don't have a mate mark I know, but that doesn't mean you can't marry a human or a vampire. That only means you don't have a werewolf mate. I agree that this will be the first time that a she-wolf would marry one of those races but as long as you can find your happiness, why not?" He too was her grandfather and knew how to make her speechless but she wasn't the one to lose either.

"You forgot one thing, my aura..." Alpha Asher looked at her unhappily. "The quota for heavy subjects is fulfilled for today. Let's talk about it some other day." He stood up to leave. Behind him she snickered. "Of course, you need to come up with some convincing arguments after all."

The sun had already risen when the patriarch stepped out of his granddaughter's courtyard. Aurelia could hear the birds chirping outside as well but thanks to the adventurous night, she decided to have some sleep. She didn't forget to ask aunt Feng to not bother her until the evening tea and get herself some sleep as well. This way, they wouldn't have to wake up after some time to prepare her lunch. If she woke up earlier, she could have it at grandpa's courtyard because her witch aunt wasn't there to stop her.