Chương 229: THE WELCOME AT NIGHT FOREST

Our convoy entered Night Forest like we were VIPs. The moment we crossed the borders, a couple of black wolves ran next to our car. Only ours, though. They recognized our pack's silver town car easily among the line of dark blue ones. We pulled up in front of the packhouse. I was reminded of how the vampires went to school in snaking long trains of dark cars. Sigh. We had never traveled like this before. It was so Lorent. I blamed Ki. Night Forest had a very long front porch, as if made for such convoys.

The moment we pulled up, warriors ran out to meet us. This never happened before. They were all in black suits, which I had never seen before either. Then again, we had always arrived in a single car, usually our own family car, with Dad driving. This was the first time we came in an official capacity... Or in a Lorent-style convoy. Flynn opened the door for us. The Night Forest warriors stood at attention. The moment my Dad got out, they bowed. Woah, was that why the Lorents always traveled like that?

I had to admit, the effect was pretty cool. Dad helped Mum out of the car, and we followed him into the packhouse. Beta Lucas and Ben were almost instantaneously at our side. In the flurry of walking past the bowing guards, having the large doors flung open, and mostly seeing a lot of black suits, I barely noticed the convoy smoothly leaving the porch. Beta Larson, Uncle Louis's Beta, had come out to greet us. This was normal, except that he was in a dark suit today.

There was also a young man with the same black hair and green eyes standing next to him. I assumed he was the bubble-bath-loving Oscar. Naturally, I smiled. We followed the Night Forest Betas into the receiving hall. Uncle Louis hurried to meet us. He got to us just before we entered the hall. He looked the same as usual, except that he was in a black suit too. He shook Dad's hand.

"I saw your cars come in," he told Dad.

"They were mostly Sam's," Dad told him.

"How is Mother?"

"Oh, okay, okay. She is as well as she could be," Uncle Louis answered.

"She hasn't left her apartment." We went into the receiving room. The girls sprang up from their seats. Aunt Jade came over to Mum for her opinion about something to do with the main hall arrangements, and they both whisked off immediately. Dad was introducing our Betas to Uncle Louis and his Betas.

"Please feel free to use them," I heard Dad say.

"Yes, yes, the extra hands would be useful," Uncle Louis said.

"Hi!" Estella and Esmeralda approached Savy and me. They looked genuinely pleased to see us. Savy and I returned the smile.

"Wow, it's really you. You both changed so much. Is your hair color real?" Estella asked. I nodded. So did Savy.

"Wow. Yeah. It's like, are you really our cousins?" Esmeralda laughed a little. There was a little boy peeking out from behind the girls.

"Oh! Is this Eddy?" I asked. Edgard hid behind Estella. The girls laughed.

"He's very shy," Estella told us.

"And we told him you were the Moon Goddess when he watched you from the main hall," Esmeralda admitted. Both girls laughed happily.

"He's scared of you now, because Mum always says if he is naughty, the Moon Goddess will come and scold him," Estella said.

"Hey, let's bring them up to our apartment to wait," Esmeralda suggested. So the girls led us to the lobby. Grandpa Alpha and Grandma Luna built the packhouse with five apartments on the top floor. One for themselves and another four for each of their sons. Only two of the five apartments were used now, although our family would stay at my Dad's apartment whenever we came. Eddy stuck close to his sisters. We got up to see Flynn, Hank, and some of the men depositing our luggage.

Ben and Oscar were there just to make sure everything we needed was stocked. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"Bye, Oscar!" My cousins waved gaily and laughed as we passed. Oscar smiled a bit and waved back. Ben remained unaffected, his hands on his hips as he waited for Oscar. I laughed at Ben's annoyance. He could be so impatient at times. Estella let us into their family's apartment. Their living room was very white, so Savy and I sat carefully on the white sofas.

"Why don't you go back downstairs to Mum?" Esmeralda asked Eddy. The little boy just clung to Estella. I opened up my backpack and took out the soaps and candy.

"We've got extras for this trip, so these are for you."

"Oh yay!" Estella said about the soaps.

"I love this brand!" Esmeralda chose the cherry-scented one immediately.

"Thanks. I've been wanting to try this one."

"This one is hard to get," Estella told me.

"It's a limited edition." I had no idea. Savy and I just smiled. Estella opened her packet of gummies next. She popped one in her mouth.

"This is nice," she said. Esmeralda didn't open hers. She just helped herself to Estella's pack.

"It's good," Esmeralda said too. Eddy watched wide-eyed at the candy. I gave him my pack of gummies.

"Oh, say thank you to the Moon Goddess," Estella told him. Eddy took the candy and hid behind the sofa. Estella and Esmeralda laughed at that.

"I'm not really the Moon Goddess," I tried to explain.

"Shhh... Don't tell him," Estella said.

"Yeah, he's being so good now," Esmeralda said.

"Your hair and eyes are really nice," Esmeralda told me.

"Yeah, they look so special. I like them so much," Estella said.

"Uh, thanks," I said.

"Savy too," Estella said.

"Your hair is like a doll."

"It's too bad we just have black hair and gray eyes. Black wolf bloodline is so boring," Esmeralda said.

"Eh, your eyes look purplish actually," I said. The girls laughed.

"No, ours are fake. Contact lenses." It turned out they were trying to dress like one of the LuvMuunMuun singers. Someone knocked on the door, then opened it—I'm beginning to think this was a very Beta thing to do. This time it wasn't my Beta. It was Oscar. Ben sauntered in behind him.

"You guys can't join us!" Estella said. Esmeralda threw a cushion at Oscar.

"Shoo, we are having fun without you." Oscar caught it with a helpless shrug.

"I'm here for the little Alpha." To Eddy he said, "Hey, Alpha, your Luna Mama says your friends are here to play." Eddy took one look at me, then, still grasping the packet of gummies, went over to Oscar and took his hand. Oscar looked surprised at Eddy's compliance.

"Okay? Okay, good! Let's go downstairs." He made a quick polite bow and led his young alpha out. Ben took our backpacks.

"I'll put them in your apartment for you."

"Okay, thanks," I said. Ben cast me one silent look before leaving.

"Is everything okay, Ben?" I asked. It was the first time seeing him here, and it looked like Beta Lucas had left him on his own. Ben nodded.

"I was just checking if you needed anything, Princess." And he was gone.

"He called you Princess," Estella whispered loudly. Well, we were alone in the apartment anyway.

"We should make Oscar call us Princess too," Esmeralda decided. The two girls laughed. I laughed too. It's always like this with Estella and Esmeralda.

"Hey, Sam," Esmeralda had a gleam in her eye, "that Beta, is he your boyfriend?" I shook my head.

"He looks cool," Estella said.

"Are you interested? How about you?" Savy and I both shook our heads, almost vehemently.

"Really?" Esmeralda asked. There was no way Ben and I would be like that!

"I already have a fiancé," I tried to deflect away any further speculation. It sounded weird on my tongue, but I was desperate. A Beta's son and an Alpha's daughter pairing was kind of the usual cliché. You'd be surprised how often people liked to link Ben and me together just for that. Maybe as surprised as how often the Moon Goddess matched mates like this. It was a very standard pairing.

"You've met your mate?" Esmeralda asked.

"That's lucky."

"I wish I could meet my mate too," Estella said wistfully.

"Unless it's Oscar," Esmeralda said.

"Ah! No! Not Oscar! Anyone but that!" Estella waved her hands as if to ward the thought away. And then we all laughed again.

"Later tonight we have to perform a recital," Estella told us.

"Yeah, Mama wants us to play at Grandpa's wake," Esmeralda told us.

"Cool. We can hear you play," I said.

"It's not that great," Estella said, shrugging shyly.

"We didn't practice all that much."

"Yeah, but at least it's a nice song that Grandpa liked. At first Mama wanted us to play a requiem," Esmeralda said.

"But I said I couldn't or I might cry," Estella laughed sheepishly.

"You always cry. She is worse than a white wolf. Remember the time we watched that movie... Even Savy didn't cry, but you... You cried like a cow," Esmeralda scolded her sister. Estella laughed at that.

"But it was such a sad show! Didn't you find it sad?"

"What kind of black wolf are you?" Esmeralda scoffed.

"A very gentle and sensitive black wolf," Estella answered. And then they laughed again. I couldn't stop the smile on my face.

"Oh." Estella stopped laughing. She nodded at the mindlink she received and reported.

"Mama says to bring Sam and Savy downstairs. Grandma is out." Esmeralda sighed.

"If we must, we must." Savy must have gotten a mindlink too. She turned to me.

"Mum says to come downstairs to greet Grandma." My mindlink was shut off as usual. I mean, you would have probably known by now it would be. It's not just because it was my default state, but also because we were at my Grandpa Alpha's wake... And I would like to keep my emotions to myself, thank you very much.

"Grandma has been in her apartment all day," Estella told me.

"And she closed off her mindlink. She only lets Mindy attend to her." Mindy was Grandma Luna's handmaiden. She was a Lycan slave given to Grandma at her betrothal. The White Packlands still had a slave trade, but it was restricted to a certain quantity and only for Alpha- to Gamma-level families and noble human families. It was one of those things Dad wanted to change but could not. My cousins didn't like Mindy. They usually ignored her.

I'm not sure why, but this was not my home or pack, so I had always just followed my cousins' lead. I heard that Mindy got an allowance and her own room with an attached bathroom. She was even given a day off once a month—which was more than what a Beta got. Hahaha. Okay, except a Beta got paid. Well, not my Betas. My Betas won't get paid till I was fully the Alpha.

I heard Dad and Beta Lucas talking about some kind of budget for the future Betas and Gammas, though, so they can claim their gas, wardrobe, and equipment costs. Did that make Ki my slave? Omo. Poor Ki. But as far as slaves went, this one drove his own Merc coupe and had his own online brokerage account. And if Ki ever said he wanted to go, I would have let him leave in a heartbeat. A very sad heartbeat, but I would have let him go. I guess that was the real difference. Ki chose this life.

I had no idea why, but he did. I wondered if anyone had ever asked Mindy what she wanted to do with her life. And then I wondered about Jasper, Grandpa's Assistant. He was also a Lycan slave. I hadn't seen him yet. What would happen to Jasper?