Chương 163: FIRST ONES THERE

Henry's home pack was in the Gold Packlands. Formerly known as the Yellow Packlands, the packs here had grown extremely wealthy and lobbied incessantly to have their packland color name changed to Gold. Eventually, they made an insane donation to the High Council, and now the Annual Alpha Conferences were held at five-star hotels, and they were officially the Gold Packlands. If there was a pack to rival the Lorents' pomp and grandeur, it would be found here in the Gold Packlands—particularly Henry's pack.

I guess it was a good thing I didn't just wear a funny T-shirt and jeans. Our car drove through a town. It was a nice one, with glass buildings and manicured shrubs along the walkway.

"This is the nice part of town," Killion remarked. He made it sound like there was a not-nice part. I tried to look out for the not-so-nice parts, but it was all nice along the road we drove on. The GPS dinged to inform Killion to make a right. He did, and we drove through a red-brick, high-walled residential area. If possible, this was an even nicer part of town than the road we passed through.

At least the buildings and walls and flora were even fancier, but there were warriors patrolling the pavements, and their presence made me feel uneasy. One did not post guards unless they expected there to be danger. It also seemed that very few cars ever drove on this nicer road. Ours was the only one at the moment. The guards all took a second take at our unfamiliar car but seemed to find dark blue coupés unthreatening. I supposed if we had gone for the armed pickup truck, we might have been stopped.

At the end of the road was a huge mansion. The gate opened for our car. Killion pulled up at the security check. I wondered what kind of check they would do. Killion wound down the window.

"Alpha Sam here for the project meeting with Alpha Henry." The guard looked at our car, then at me, but quickly straightened.

"Yes, of course. Please drive straight ahead, Alpha. Feel free to leave your car anywhere." Apparently, that was the security check.

"Thanks." Killion smirked and flipped the window up. He drove into the long driveway and pulled up by the large stone entrance. Someone in a suit ran down the steps to open the car door for us.

"Welcome, Alpha Sam. My name is Peter. I am Alpha Henry's future Beta." Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Killion nodded. He reached out for my hand and put it easily in the crook of his arm. I gave Beta Peter a wide smile. He nodded and smiled politely back. I wondered how long Killion was going to pretend to be Alpha Sam. At the grand foyer, Killion immediately helped me out of my coat, politely refusing Peter's help with his.

He handed both coats to the waiting footman. Beta Peter led us through large, chandeliered hallways to a huge double door.

"This is Alpha Henry's study. He is waiting for you." The door opened, and Beta Peter announced, "Alpha Sam is here." Henry, who had been frowning at something on his tablet, looked up from the sofa where he was sitting.

"Hi, Sam." He stood up. Killion and I walked over.

"Hi, Henry," I said.

"You must be Killion." Henry smirked. Killion smiled like an angel.

"At your service, Alpha." They shook hands. Beta Peter looked extremely confused. I flopped back onto the sofa closest to the fireplace. It was a real one, with wood and everything. I could smell pine burning. Mmmm... nice. All our homes were floor-heated, and our fireplaces were electronic. It was a different feeling.

"Comfortable?" Henry asked.

"Can Peter offer you a drink?" Killion had retreated to stand in a guard position behind my seat. Peter, who was still staring at Ki, snapped out of it and offered immediately, "Forgive my lapse, Alpha. May I bring you anything to drink?" I sat up a bit.

"Okay. Thanks." Peter looked perplexed. He looked to Killion, who obliged to tell him, "The princess drinks most types of strawberry-flavored beverages." This made Peter look even more troubled. Killion was all out to make things difficult for Peter. Hahaha. Naughty Killion. I dropped down to the thick carpet on the floor to examine the refreshments piled up high on the coffee table. My eyes lit up at the fruit parfait.

"As carefree as ever, I see," Henry mused.

"Thanks for inviting us!" I said belatedly, selecting a glass of parfait.

"Your people are nice. Your place is pretty cool too. Oh, and your town had fancy plants along its roads." Henry chuckled.

"You dressed like an Alpha today, but you're still... just Sam."

"Yeah, I'm always just Sam," I agreed, quite liking the sound of it.

"How does your pack deal with you?" Henry crossed his legs as he sat back.

"I heard your investiture is next month. Congratulations."

"What's that?" I asked.

"He's referring to the Future Alpha Ceremony, Princess," Killion answered. Was he impersonating Harvey? Because he was doing a good job.

"Mine will be next month too," Henry informed me.

"Cool! We'll be like Alpha twins!" For some reason, Henry was pretty calm today, and just for that, I had to try riling him up a bit.

"Sam, please be serious. I understand if you're just messing around in school, but you're going to be Alpha... Do you even know what that means?" Henry was riling up. Hahaha. So fun.

"It means I'll have a lot more meetings to attend and stuff," I answered glumly.

"I don't know why I even bother." Henry sighed. Then, as if giving up, he simply received a mind link and informed me in turn, "Marcus is here." Hmmm... Wolfie was pretty quiet. No announcements at all. It was as if she was cautiously observing the new territory. This was the first time I was visiting my classmate's home for a project meeting. I was a little nervous about being in a new place at first, but Henry being here made me feel at ease again. And now Marcus was here. This was going to be fun!