It was strange. Darius didn't understand why Nicholai acted as if Audrey was the one who had betrayed him or that she was the one who started the fall of their pack. However, Darius didn't wish to look stupid or clueless in front of her. He looked away from the two other Alphas.
"You shouldn't have bothered. I don't even like seeing her face. If you want to apologize, send her away at this very moment." The father didn't even sound mocking.
"Hm, it seems that my gift is too raw. Oh, well, it's time for you to leave our estate, Audrey Gillard." Nicholai didn't even take his arms off of Darius as he straightened his back. "You have five seconds to leave, or else I will make you."
Instead of being threatened, Audrey even laughed out at the sight of the dismissive Darius. "You want him instead? Take a look at him! He's far too stupid for a mate, even for someone like me. If you're making that choice, then—"
Nicholai extended his hand, and his eyes quickly turned blood-red. "You're the one who made the choice to overstay your welcome."
No one knew how it happened, but Audrey was suddenly thrown away like Nicholai had knocked into her with the force of his dash. The glass walls crumbled and shattered as her body broke through without much resistance. When her body met the ground on the first floor, she couldn't help but choke up some blood. She quickly got on her hands and knees, dashing away in her werewolf form.
As seen from the mezzanine floor, the Gamma soldiers chased her out of the estate. Even if they didn't get into a fight with her, they made sure that she went for a beeline toward the gates. She made a shrill cry that caused the wolves to wince and stop running, but she knew that she couldn't win against any of them.
She already lost to Nicholai once. Without a plan, she would just lose again.
"How ugly. I have indeed made a mistake to let her in." Nicholai only huffed as he unwrapped his arms around Darius. He walked toward the broken glass and took a mental note to get the Omegas to fix his favorite window. "Darius, would you be so kind to—?"
"What was that?" Darius had placed the glass and bottle down before confronting Nicholai by the window. "What are you doing? Do you think my pack kicked me out because she just asked them to? I killed half of my people, and that's not on her. Why do you act like I wanted to see her suffer? I don't even want to see her ever again—do you know that?"
At these words, Nicholai was quiet. His eyes that befell on Darius were cold and stifling, but the father stood his ground. Even if they were getting seen by the Omegas that cleaned the glass shards, he didn't care if he had witnesses to see how he defied the Alpha. Darius could also be struck down by Nicholai under their mocking gazes.
After a few seconds of a cold gaze, Nicholai only smiled. He leaned down a little and cupped his hand on Darius's chin. His thumb caressed the father's cheek. "I see. You are indeed disinformed about the circumstances. Worry not, I am willing to tell you the truth when you're ready."
"Huh?" Darius twitched, but Nicholai had gone to the couch. "What does that mean?"
"Show me that you're ready first." Nicholai took a hold of the jacket that Audrey left and threw it to the side. However, it combusted into ashes as if flames had eaten it up in an instant. "For now, sit down and join me. Let's not spoil the cold bottle that you had brought for me."
"…all right." Darius moved to sit down next to Nicholai. He pulled the remaining glass and poured apple juice into it to the brim. Then, he took the bottle for himself. If Nicholai wanted to drink, he should deal with the overflow of the juice.
Nicholai only chuckled at the choice. It didn't matter if he had to sip on the liquid like an ant. As long as Darius was next to him—his hand resting on the shoulder of the elusive mate; it was good enough for him. He then looked up at the darkening sky that was heralding the night.
"I can't wait for the full moon to come…"
…
Crisp, scratching noises took over all the noises in the playground the next morning. Before the children were allowed to play on them, the Omega maids would have to clean the place from leaves and other things that could have ridden the wind to get there. However, since the place was indeed filled with a lot of trees, the leaves they could rake in every day was enough work.
Today, though, the Omega maids were only watching over a group of kids. Adrian and the three Betas were receiving punishment for their over-the-top actions yesterday. Fighting and asserting dominance were allowed by the Alpha, but endangering others earned them punishment. It was because the leaders of the pack should always think of keeping their people safe.
As for Megan, she was just sweeping even if she wasn't helping at all. Even if she was already five years old in body, she was still very small compared to the boys. Moreover, she was only there because Adrian had to go. If she knew this would happen, she would have slept longer instead.
"This is your fault." The oldest Beta spat at the side before glaring at Adrian. Even if the boy was smaller than him, this boy was born an Alpha. "You were the one who started the fight. Why are we being punished with you?"
"…I'm sorry." Adrian kept on sweeping, not even sparing a glance at the older Beta. "Next time, I will defeat you before Dylan can butt in."
One of the Betas then scratched his head. "Dylan? Who's that? Isn't she named Megan? How did that Dylan butt in? Is there another one that we didn't see?"
The oldest Betas hissed and aimed his broomstick at the one who asked, "What are you saying?! That boy is just crazy! No one else was there with us! There's no Dylan."
"But Coen, even his Daddy mentioned a Dylan…" The other Beta made a long face. "It's even the one who toppled the swings and made everyone fly… it's so scary…"
"Hmph, he's just trying to scare you. They're just trying to scare us!" Coen glared at his supposed cronies, and they shrunk their necks in response. He then glanced at Adrian, who had stopped moving. "Hey, you can't rest! We're not going to work more than you—"
Adrian then turned to him and pouted with a glare. "Dylan tells me to punch your mouth if you keep telling everyone that he's not real. Be quiet. I don't want to get whooped by Daddy for punching you."