|Grey|

I watched as a pack member escorted Everleigh to show her around the packhouse as well as to take her to her new room. She looked panicked the whole time, but I gave her an encouraging smile but cursed at my stupidity deep inside. How uncomfortable might she be feeling?

I felt as if I should've known it was going to happen. She must be feeling scared and lonely, but I couldn't go after her and help her.

"Okay, now, talk." mom said with her hands on her hips.

"About what?" I asked with a fake yawn, thinking I might get a chance to escape from the conversation.

"Don't act like you don't know. What is this? First, tell me what nonsense is going inside your head?!" she snapped.

"What do you mean? I just brought her here, as I told you before. Now don't tell me you can't remember it." I say in the equal voice she used.

"Don't you raise your voice at me," she said.

I took a deep breath. There was no way I was going to be mad at my mom because of a reason like that. I was her son, she was my mother, and I had to respect her.

"I am sorry... what did I do wrong now?" I asked.

"Everything. You- you didn't tell us everything, did you? She's mute... she's a small omega that looks so beaten up and- and as the pack's alpha, are you sure you can present her in front of a heavy crowd as your mate? Do you think these pack members would accept her as their Luna? Especially when she can't even stand properly. How do you expect everyone to respect someone like her??" she argued.

"Great, mom! Great. Here I thought you would look at her differently. I thought you would give her a chance to prove herself to you. But you are only looking at the things she lacks, and yes, I am ready to present her to the whole pack as my mate even now." I said as calmly as I could.

"I am trying to look at her differently. But I- I just can't accept her to rule beside you! She's just a tiny girl who might not even know the duties of a pack member."

"I agree that she has a lot to learn. She's young in age and everything, but I believe you can help her with them as the prior Luna." I trickily said.

"I can... But..."

"But?"

"If I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have sent you to the Blue Crystal Packhouse..." she disappointedly said at the end and walked away.

I stood there staring at the marble floor. Then I sent my right hand through my hair with a slight groan. I lean on a nearby wall, still staring at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in this world.

"Alpha, oh god, what happened?" Kavin appeared with a big bag.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Oh. Your laundry," he said.

"I told you not to do my laundry. See, I have two healthy hands." I groaned in utter frustration as I raised both my hands in front of him.

"It's not about me now, is it? What happened? I saw prior Luna dashing out in furry." he said as he dropped the bag on the ground.

"Yes! And I think it's fair for me to get mad at her! She's saying bad things about Everleigh. I don't see an end to this problem." I said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she thinks everyone has to be like her, perfect in every way!" I exclaimed.

"Everything has a solution, alpha. But only if you look at it more carefully. You see, your mother came from a strong pack, a strong and wealthy background. She was taught how to fight and how to lead a pack since birth because she was the first daughter of the alpha in her pack. But Everleigh, she's just a pack member since the start."

"What's your point?"

"Prior Luna thinks everyone should be like that... I guess. I mean, no offence, it's just my opinion."

"No. You are right... she expects Everleigh to be just like her. Perfect in every way. But I don't want her to be like that. I mean... most of the time, I wonder, looking at other people's parents, why my parents are always so formal with me. Even when we laugh and joke, there is always a small barrier between us. I can't stand it... why do they seek so much perfection?" I rhetorically asked.

"The solution is, I think Everleigh should be trained meanwhile. At least a bit so your parents will approve of her. And about the barrier you talked about... I can't help but accept your words. You see, my family line was always the beta of the pack, from my grandparents to dad to me now. It's so formal at home. Even when we have a family meal, it's all about the pack's safety and if I am doing my job well as a beta. Sometimes... sometimes you can't stop it-"

"You have to go with the flow." I completed his words.

"We are on the same side, alpha. I know it sucks to be like this sometimes. We have so many things in our bucket, so many sides to consider about before we make a decision...." he trailed off. "I am going to the mate masquerade ball, by the way," he added.

"What the hell... why?" I asked, confused.

"I heard most singles come there. I want to find my mate too. It is high time I do. I am in my mid-thirties. And my parents are up my sleeve nagging me all the time." he said, scrunching his nose.

"Duh, but now please put this idea to my parent's heads. They will try to send me to the ball too."

"Eew, no. Can't I just be without you even for a few hours?" he asked, fake puking.

"I see. Do you maybe like to run a few extra laps during training tomorrow?" I smirked.

"No, thanks!" Kavin winked and quickly fled from there with the laundry bag in his hands. I laughed at the way he almost tripped off.

Then I remembered how I forgot to ask him to tell Everleigh the location I wanted to meet her.

'Hey.' I called him through the mind link.

'And you are troubling me again. I want to be free from you, at least in my next life.'

'We are a package.' I joked. 'Anyways, find Everleigh and tell her to meet me at the main door.'

'Ooo~ Why should I help you with this?' he teased.

'Fifty extra laps tomorrow?'

'Stop bullying me! You know how much I hate running!'

I walked to my room and lay on my bed to rest. I didn't mind removing my jacket or even the boots I was wearing because I was deep in my thoughts.

I quickly took out my phone and checked the time on it. It was near lunchtime, and there was plenty of time till late at night when I had planned to meet up with Everleigh.

Then again, I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of how much I thought about her in a single day. Thousand times? No, at least a million times.

It was all her in my mind, from the time I opened my eyes till I fell asleep at night time. And it was really surprising how the little astray wolf whom I found in the woods slowly stole my heart. She was sneaky indeed.

And it made me remember that I still couldn't take the words out of her about the wounds that were scattered around her body.

On the one hand, I was also pretty sure someone bullied her in my absence. Though she told me no one bullied her, I knew she was lying, so I won't get angry. Damn it, thinking about it made my blood boil. Who dared to touch her?!