Dylan is standing there looking solemn and I guess the dark skin, sharp jaw, and friendly-looking eyes man is Theo. They notice me and bow at me which makes me wince in disgust again. I hate that they bow to me for no reason.
"Ready?" Dylan asks seriously which throws me off a little, I'm used to hearing him laugh without care. I look around and notice the place is still filled with the other pack's guests, I get why he can't be goofy now, he has to play the part of the cold serious looking Beta.
I nod and we walk towards a car "Why are we going in the car? It's just a 1-hour walk" I ask curiously.
"We can't let you walk when there might be rogues around, also I'm guessing you're bringing bags with your stuff?" I hear Theo talk "Ah…" he gasps "Sorry, I should've introduced myself first" he rubs the back of his neck and I smile faintly. He seems like a reasonable guy.
"I'm Arnold Theodore Rogers and I have a lot to thank you for" he says while offering his hand for a shake. I shake his hand and wait for his explanation "You helped my parents a lot and… I heard you knew Sophie…" he says with a sad smile.
"I didn't know her" I explain, I don't know who told him that but it's not necessarily true.
He gasps surprised and smiles troubled "Alice Brown" I decide to introduce myself after some uncomfortable silence. I'm glad I don't have to ask about his name now.
We get inside the car, and I look around, it's not the car they used to kidnap me, this is a fancy car but I don't know anything about cars so I don't know the model.
"So… I think I have to apologize" I hear Theo talking and I tilt my head confuse "I wasn't here when Nick decided to kidnap you like an idiot" he says while rolling his eyes annoyed "Like, we learned with Leo that kidnapping wasn't the best strategy but noooooooo, Nick had to be an impatient idiot" he says with an annoyed expression and then covered his mouth as if he realized what he said. He's feeling guilty for talking about the dead mate of someone else. I start to smile faintly.
Finally, someone with common sense. "I knew about Leo" I explain, and he looks at me in surprise.
"Did… did Nick tell you?" he says cautiously, and I shake my head.
I feel the conversation is going in an annoying direction, so I decide to change the topic. "What's the name of your pack?" I ask curiously.
Theo, that was the one driving, suddenly slams the breaks, I feel the belt tightening and securing my body "You don't know!?... that fucking idiot!" Theo shouts and then looks at Dylan "Dylan, what the fuck!? You haven't explained anything to her?"
Dylan growls and says in a low voice "Theo, don't cross the line, we're friends but I'm still your superior".
"Don't give me that superior crap, you brought her to the pack house with no information whatsoever and didn't explain anything afterward!? How the hell is she still holding it together? Dude! Any normal person would've freaked out and tried to run away and with rogues around, we know how that could end! I'm not going to let you put our Luna in danger!"
Dylan flinches at his last words and I wince annoyed, I hate they assume I'm going to stay and be their whatever, but I'm far gladder I'm finally hearing someone speaking something that makes sense.
"It's nice to hear someone seeing things from my point of view but I rather have you answering my questions instead of shouting" I say calmly, it's nice but it's getting annoying, so I rather stop them now before this escalates.
Theo looks at me and turns his head from my face to Dylan's and Dylan sighs with a funny expression as if he was expecting that answer from me, am I that easy to read?
"You're really weird!" Dylan laughs and then answers my question "Blue Lake pack, second only to the royal pack!" he says proudly but I don't have any idea of what the hell that means.
"What's the Royal pack?" I ask curiously. Leaning a little closer as my curiosity increases.
"The pack of the werewolf king" Theo replies this time "They have the best everything, and we are slightly below them! Our pack is one of the strongest and biggest packs, normal packs have around 100 members and among those members, they have like 20 warriors, while we have 12,000 members, almost all town, and every male above 16 years old are trained warriors besides their jobs".
Intriguing, this whole society is really intriguing, the thing I found most interesting was the king thing. So, the alphas of the packs would be like… nobles or something like that? I know what rogues are thanks to the warrior I met when I saved Nick, but I didn't know about the rest.
"What do a gamma and a beta do? I was told Nick is like the boss, but I don't know anything about your kind" I keep asking, I haven't talked with strangers this much in a long time, but this is too interesting to ignore.
"Well, betas are second in command and gammas are third in command but honestly betas are just glorified secretaries, and gammas are just glorified head butlers" Theo laughs happily.
"Hey!" Dylan complains "It's hot glorified secretary! That's the proper way!" Dylan starts laughing now.
They seem like good friends, just like their younger brothers. "All right, we stayed still long enough" Theo says and starts driving again. They keep talking and surprisingly I talk with them, not much but a lot more than what I'm used to.
We arrive at my house, and I casually get out of the car and start walking towards the door. I open it and we all get inside.
"Dad?" I ask calmly but no one replies… my dad always replies… he already told me he was going to be here today… I'm worried.
"Dad?" I ask again, my anxiety increasing but I stop when I see him, not my dad but the one who wouldn't leave us behind.
"Kitchen, too much vodka" he says with a kind goofy smile.
I start fast walking towards the kitchen and there he is, sitting and leaning his face on the kitchen table, hugging a vodka bottle, and with our family picture in front of him.
He raises his head and looks at me "Allie!" he says in a drunken voice "Allie! My babyew" I smile at the way he says baby in his drunken state.
I sigh relieved, I was expecting this already, I'm glad I didn't find the worst-case scenario. I walk toward him and hug him. He leans his head on my shoulder and starts crying uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry Allie, I should've protected you, I shouldn't have accepted this stupid job!" he cried louder "You're all I have left… I don't want to chain you! I want you to be happy and now you're trapped with a narcissist bastard because I choose my career!" he cried and cried while hugging me tighter.
"First my parents, then your mom and Sean, and now you!" He sobs "I'm just left alone over and over… I can't… I just can't" the last words leave as a whisper.
"I'm here" I pat his back soothingly "I'm here" I keep saying. This is why I hate Nick; this is why I despise him; my dad's heart has been broken far too many times… I hate Nick for breaking it again.
After several minutes of patting his back, he raises his head, and he looks a lot better now. "I-I need to take a shower to clear my head" he says slightly embarrassed once he realizes I'm not alone.
"That's alright, I'll go pack some clothes" I reply calmly, and he nods.
"I'll go with him; I know you can manage on your own thunderstorm" I hear my brother say with a troubled smile.
"The hell just happened? What was that?" I hear Dylan ask confused.
"That was the damage you did to me" I say coldly and glared at him "That's the way you hurt the most important person to me, that is why I hate you".
Dylan freezes and Theo places himself in between us "I know you don't understand Alice, but your words have a really heavy consequence on us, you're our Luna, if you say you hate us, we will feel worthless and depressed. I get why you're pissed off, but please…" he didn't finish what he was going to say. I think he realized he didn't have any right to request anything from me, I sigh.
"I'm not apologizing, I meant it, but I will try to not say more hurtful things unless you give me no other option" I say now calm "By the way, get ready, when he comes back, he will tell us a long story, he always does after drinking, until that moment please wait in the living room, I will go pack".
I walk upstairs and once in my room I immediately close the door and lock it, the first thing I do is change my underwear, boxers are comfy, but I don't want to keep using Nick's underwear. I pack enough clothes for the week in a bag and go to the living room. My dad is still not here so we wait in silence.
"Hey…" my dad says once he gets here, and I run up to him and hug him. I always do this after one of these 'drinking episodes'.
"Are you ok?" I ask calmly and he smiles.
"I am now" he hugs me back. I look behind him and I get a thumbs up from Sean.