Aspen’s P.O.V. I smelled it the moment Jax opened the door, but I had to be sure so I sniffed the air to make sure. I told him I wanted to see the three of them in Daniel’s office, but apparently the tone I used hadn’t been a good one. Jax came in to the dining-room to get their breakfast and coffee and when he answered my question I knew I had upset my Daughter. Everyone asked me during breakfast what had happened but I couldn’t tell them, even though I knew I was to blame. I see Hunter walk into the office and I know that a shit storm is about to hit us. I try to explain to Daniel why I wanted to talk to them, but Hunter shoots me down and I realize that this was the last straw for her. I never kept anything a secret from her and I didn’t tell her what I had figured out, not even after she blew up at Pops. Not after she moved out of the Palace, not even after I realized she was going to ignore Pops and her Mates. Daniel asks me if I understand what Hunter was talking about, “Daniel, she told us how she would react if we wouldn’t tell her about her Mate and I chose to keep it a secret. I was worse than Pops, at least he told her he knew and I know she didn’t like the fact he wasn’t going to say anything else. When I told Jax I wanted to talk to them in your office I probably didn’t use the right tone and I think Hunter thought I was mad at them and what happened. They are Mates and sleeping in one bed will make certain things happen, I just wanted to make sure they know that there are things they can’t do.” I look at him over my shoulder and I see his mind is running. “I never apologized to her for not telling her what I suspected and I know that that bothers her the most. Pops apologized and so did the boys, but the rest of us never did.” He nods his head and I just hope I will get the chance to apologize before she leaves again. Daniel’s P.O.V. Aspen is right, none of us ever apologized to Hunter for not telling her and I know I have to make sure that everyone knows that they should do it fast. Drake’s men will be arriving before dinner and Jason and Justin will be home shortly after dinner. If she can everything organized she will be able to leave in the morning and who knows how long it will be before she comes home again. At least I know she will let her Mates know where she will be and she has her protection detail with her. She will also have her friends, her Cousin Max and her Uncle Luke with her, so I know they will inform us if she runs into trouble anywhere along the way and that sets my mind and my Lycan at ease.I know Aspen will be heartbroken if she leaves before they have a chance to talk and I try to think of a way to accomplish that. It won’t be easy with how headstrong our Daughter is, but I at least have to try and get her to listen to her Mother. I link Dad and ask him to bring Thomas with him to my office, I need their help and advice on this. Aspen runs into her Father’s arms the moment the door closes behind them and I hate to hear her cry. Once she has calmed down I tell them what happened and ask them for their advice. Thomas looks at the both of us and says, “You are not going to like what I have to say. I side with my Granddaughter on this. I know you are not mad at her, but all of you are to blame for the situation between her and her Mates. She is seventeen…” Aspen holds up her hand and Thomas stares at her before he turns and walks out of my office. We both stare after him, not understanding what his problem is. Dad is the one to spell it out for us, “It is her birthday.” I hear Reginald growls as he walks out as well and I curse under my breath as I realize we forgot her birthday. Jayce’s P.O.V. I can feel her body tremble as she is quietly sobbing in Jax’s arms and I know it is not really the best time, but I decide to do it anyway. I lift my head from her lap and move my face in front of hers as I whisper, “Happy Birthday, Princess.” She gives me a small smile and I tell her that we didn’t forget, but that we had other priorities that morning. She blushes as I remind her of what happened and I kiss the tip of her nose. “You will get your present when Jason and Justin are home.” Jax says. “Were you serious when you told Mom that you were leaving tomorrow?” I ask, but I already know the answer and truth be told I can’t blame her. Last night she told us that she didn’t understand why no one else apologized for keeping it a secret and it had taken us a moment to realize that she was right. None of the others had apologized, even after she walked out on us after we came clean with her. “Why don’t you link Emma and Ella and make sure they are ready to leave? I will link Victor and make sure he informs your team, Max and your Uncle.” I say. Half an hour later we are packing our own bags and the bags for Jason and Justin, that way they can leave the bag they have with them here. “Jax, should I pack one or two sweatsuits?” She asks and we all start to laugh. We know that Matt is not a big fan of them and the fact that she has them in eleven different colors doesn’t make it any better. “Do you want me to ask Matt?” he asks as he looks at her with a huge grin on his face, she just shakes her head before she disappears into the closet again. There is a knock on the door and Jax walks out of the closet to see who is out there. I don’t think it will be Mom or Dad as Hunter made it very clear she didn’t want to see them. I can hear Jax talking, but in such a low voice I can’t make out what he is saying or who he is talking to. Suddenly the door to our bed room opens and Papa and Pops start singing “Happy Birthday to you”, making Hunter burst into tears. I know she was upset that no one wished her a Happy Birthday and that that was partially the reason she blew at Mom. Both men stop singing as they hear her cry and they immediately start to apologize, but Hunter tells them she thought everyone had forgotten her birthday. I want to kick my own ass if it were possible, because Jax and I had been to preoccupied to remember as well. Luckily we already had a gift for her and when we found out Jason and Justin would be returning today Jax and I had decided to wait until they were present to give it to her. Pops hands her a wrapped box and tells her it is a present from him and Papa. She takes the gift as she tells them to follow her to our living-room, I pull her onto my lap before she can sit down. Jax sits down next to us as she peels open the wrappings. She slowly pushes the box out of the side she opened and I see her eyes widen as she is holding a new laptop in her hands. “We figured that with your studies you might like to have a bigger screen.” The laptop she is currently using has a fourteen inch screen, while this one has a sixteen inch screen. She shoves the box in Jax’s hands as she jumps up and hugs both her Grandfathers. Yeah, our Princess likes her present and I know she will really like the present we got her, Justin was the one that came up with the idea. Jason purchased it to make sure it was ready to go when we would give it to her and we all know she will be jumping up and down from joy. There is not much Hunter wants in life, but the things she does want she will get and I don’t care if anyone thinks we are spoiling her. She is our Princess and Mate, which in my book means we get to spoil her as much as we want. Even though I have an idea Papa and Uncle Drake will spoil her way worse than we will. Matt links me that they are coming up with her cake and I smile as I remember the discussion between Martha and Max on the flavor of the cake. Max wanted chocolate, while Martha wanted strawberries and I nearly gave them a heart attack when I told them Hunter didn’t like either. Unfortunately Jason had to ruin it by walking in to the kitchen and tell them that both were her favorite flavor. I had smacked him on the head, making him understand that I had been teasing the two of them.