She shrugs. “I don’t like it either, but everyone already knew anyway.” She makes a dismissive gesture with her hand. “I have you and Marilou, and you like me for who I am. That’s enough for me.”
Marilou turns around and waves at us. “Hurry up, girls.”
We nod, running to catch up with her and Aurelia.
I didn’t know what I’d expected, but I happened to have a fun lunch break. I’m a bit socially awkward normally, and meeting new people is difficult for me, but Aurelia’s friends are really chill and nice. She introduces them to us and vice versa. I know who they are already, they are the cool kids. Everyone naturally knows the cool kids.
I just didn’t expect the cool kids to be so normal.
“And did you make Donnie cry?” Lionel, a tall boy with alpha blood and wild blond hair, asks Aurelia with a grin.
“She absolutely did,” Jazz chuckles.
“Oh, rich coming from the girl who insulted his dick,” Aurelia grins.
They all laugh.
Aurelia’s friends are surprisingly friendly. I notice that Lionel is the only guy with alpha blood. The others are all betas, just like Jazz and me. And the girl, the twin sister of the guy Marilou has a little crush on… she’s an omega. It seems they all grew up together and have been friends since primary school.
Marilou and I instantly hit it off with the twins, while Jazz seems to get along well with the guys. After lunch, they invite us to join their huge bonfire in two weeks. Apparently, it’s a major event for the teens of the pack and they are allowed to invite their friends to it too.
“I’ll ask my brother, but I’m sure he’s okay with it,” Jazz beams. “Silverlake is an allied pack, and I know there are a lot of kids from Moon Blood joining the party.”
Marilou smiles. “I’ll ask my Luna.”
Aurelia looks at her, surprised. “You…” she pauses. “You have no one else to ask?” she finally asks, as subtle as you can ask someone if they are orphaned.
“My parents died when I was young,” she tells them. “An older lady of the pack took care of me. She’s like a mom and granny in one person, so I’m okay, really. She wasn’t allowed to adopt me though, because… well… you know the story about my previous alpha.”
They all nod. I know that Aurelia was even part of the battle. She fought with the advanced warriors back then, now she’s training with the elites. She’s a living legend in our school.
“So, you have to ask the formal way,” Aurelia’s friend Nox muses. He doesn’t talk much at all, he’s rather quiet, a bit dark and gloomy, but he seems like a good guy.
“Yes.”
He nods his understanding. “It’s the same for me. I can sympathize. Pretty annoying sometimes.”
Marilou giggles. “Yes, but Luna Annalise is so nice to me. I can always come to her when I have any problems. She will always listen to me.”
Jazz beams. “Goddess, I almost forgot! I’ll meet her today. I’m so excited. Do you guys know her?”
“Of course, they know her,” Aurelia laughs. “She’s my brother’s mate and wife, after all.”
Jazz facepalms. “Right. I forgot.”
“She’s pretty dope,” Lionel states in a matter-of-fact tone. “Saw us sneaking out once and didn’t even bust us.”
“We got really lucky that time,” Aurelia admits. “We were in a rebellious phase back then and got into trouble all the time. We’d been in some trouble previously. Had she told on us, my father would have been so pissed.”
“Alpha Elden is always fair in his punishments though,” Nox says evenly.
The twins grin. “Nox kisses the ground Alpha Elden walks on,” Terry, the male twin, teases.
“He spared Nox’s life, that’s why,” Lionel agrees while rolling his eyes.
The others tease him a bit more. Only Aurelia smiles happily. She seems to like the fact that Nox is so loyal to her father and family. In her position, that’s indeed something good. Their talk surprises me though… did Nox originally betray the pack? He’s still around though, and he has friends here. He’s even friends with the Alpha’s daughter.
Maybe there is hope for me too, in terms of forgiveness.