Blood Star pack, Drexan forest, J country.
******
"Pedro, are you done? Let me take a look." Regina said with curious eyes.
"Yeah. I'm done." he handed to paper to his aunty.
"Wow! Your skills are way better than mine." Regina exclaimed in amazement.
"You can't even draw a cup properly. Don't put me at your level." Pedro muttered.
"Hey, that's not how you speak to your elders." Regina chided.
"That's not how you speak to a kid, either." Pedro got up and ran away from the pavilion, looking upset.
"Pedro!" Regina stood. "Pedro!"
As he ran, he met up with his mom.
"Pedro, what happened?"
"Nothing mum. I just wanna be alone for a while," he said and continued running.
"Son..."
"Just let me be," he said, wiping off his tears.
"Pedro...."
"It's okay. I'll talk to him, honey. Go meet your friend." her husband telepathed her. Maybe he was nearby and saw Pedro was upset.
"Alright, honey. I'm counting on you." Carmelia mind linked him in reply.
"Hmm!" her husband cut off the mind link.
Carmelia sighed and ran forward to the pavilion. She found a sighing Regina.
"What happened?" she asked.
"I don't know. He suddenly became upset after I praised his drawing skills. Could it be about her?" she pointed at the drawing.
Carmelia took it and looked at the drawing of a young lady. It seems the little boy focused mainly on the face. It wasn't all that clear but one could deduce that the girl was a beauty just pretty skinny. Was she a malnourished Omega? She must have a tragic backstory then. Poor her!
They'd just arrived at their pack yesterday and Pedro seemed to not be too affected by what happened. The two males didn't know what the Omega looked like, hence they couldn't provide any useful information. Only Pedro could do so.
Carmelia sighed.
"He is a strong kid. I really hope he can recover from this. It pains me to see him like that." Regina said in concern.
"Please get in touch with the sculptor. We'll need the 3d model by tomorrow and after that, we can discuss the next step." Carmelia said and rose.
"Alright. That will be done." Regina said. Carmelia nodded and left the pavilion.
*******
"Pedro, open up. It's me, your dad!" Rolandro hollered as he continued knocking on the door. "Pedro!"
"Dad, just go away. I don't want to see you. I want to be alone. Just go, please!" Pedro yelled from inside his room.
"Pedro, if you don't wish to open up, then alright. No problem. But I'm your dad; I can't stand seeing you so upset. At least talk to me, ok?"
"Dad, I have nothing to say. I don't want to talk to either of you. Just go. Leave me alone. Even though I'm small, I bathe myself and I deserve privacy, ok? Leave me alone!" Pedro cried with a hoarse voice.
"Honey, it's okay. Don't shout anymore. Dad will wait here until you are ready to come out and talk." Rolandro said in a soothing tone.
The door suddenly opened and Pedro ran out of the room with tears flowing down his cheeks profusely. His body was trembling.
Rolandro stooped to his child's level and wiped off his tears.
"It's okay. It's okay!" he whispered, bringing him into a warm hug.
"Dad, it's all my fault. It's all my fault!" Pedro cried.
"Dear, it's not your fault. It's our fault. We didn't watch over you carefully and that is why this happened. Your parents are to blame, honey. So don't cry like this anymore." Carmelia (who'd just arrived) said.
"Mom!" Pedro left his dad's embrace and ran to hug his mom's legs.
"Mom! I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for disrespecting you earlier." he also turned to face his dad.
"I'm sorry too, dad. I didn't mean it. I.. I..."
"Ssh!" Carmelia caressed her son's head and carried him with one arm, wiping off his tears with her other hand.
"It's okay. We understand. It's already happened. We don't possess the power to turn back time. That's why we are honoring her by making a beautiful statue for her with the best materials we can afford. You can get sit by her everyday once her statue has arrived, okay?" Carmelia pecked her son's forehead and he nodded.
Rolandro was now standing upright.
"Son, there are many things that are beyond our control. But we can't send ourselves to the death because of the way things are. You are my son. I can't afford to lose you. She too would not like it if you hurt yourself. If she saw you like this, would she be happy?"
Pedro shook his head, sniffing.
"So my dear, don't blame yourself. If you feel overwhelmed anytime, mom and I are here for you, alright?" Rolandro pated his son's back gently.
Pedro nodded and kissed his mom's cheek.
"For you mom."
"Aww. I'm so lucky." she squealed.
"Hey, young man, where's mine?"
"You are a big man. You call mum 'baby', so I gave her a kiss since we're in the same boat. You can't be petty." Pedro hugged his mum's neck.
"Me? Petty?" Rolandro pointed at himself with widened eyes while his wife chuckled.
"Mimi..."
She shut him up by kissing him.
"Now, that's okay. My baby girl's the best," he said and turned around to leave.
His wolf was exclaiming in happiness.
"Boy, you got another kiss today. Haha, so good!"
"Stop it." Rolandro chided his wolf, who refused to take correction.
"Forget it!" Rolandro touched his lips as he walked away.
"Tonight will be a wild one. Hehe!" a smile formed after he licked his lips.
"Yummy!" he praised.
"Mom?" Pedro called.
"Yes, son,"
"You guys promised to get me a sister right? Time is going. Only a few months left. She needs to arrive in 10 months."
"You..."
"Alright. I'll be flexible. One year at most. Mom, please!"
"I heard you. Dad and I will try our best."
"Thank you, mum."
"What if you don't get a sister?"
"I'll still care for my little brother. I want a sibling so bad, mom," he said with a small voice.
"Pedro, my dear boy." she patted his back gently and entered his room to put him to bed.
He was exhausted and needed a good rest.
She tenderly tucked him in and sat beside the bed, caressing his hair while singing a lullaby in a soft sweet voice.
When she saw he was now fast asleep, she rose and tiptoed out of the room, carefully closing the door behind her.
She then headed out of their home.
She saw her husband discussing with another pack warrior about some vital matters.
"Honey!" she called out and waved as she left.
Rolandro saw her and winked at her, smiling meaningfully.
Carmelia looked away from him with a red face. She increased her walking pace and soon jogged off, causing him to chuckle.
"Sorry, Andrian. You were saying..."
******
An hour later, Regina met up with the sculptor in the human territory.
She started discussing how the statue should be made.
The sculptor, a human, agreed and Regina made a deposit. If she liked the model, then she'd pay up the rest for the preparation of the statue.
Returning back to the pack in a black Camry, she got out and headed to Rolandro's home to share the details.
They all nodded in agreement.
The statue should be ready in a week.
Pedro had woken up and came into the living room to meet his parent and Aunty Regina discussing.
"Oh, you're awake. Come, let mama spoil you with your favourite food." Carmelia said as she walked to him.
"Aunty Regina, please don't mind my behaviour earlier...."
Regina walked to Pedro and stooped then she brought him into a hug.
"Honey, it's fine. You didn't offend me." she patted his head and stood upright.
Carmelia took him to the kitchen.
"So about the competition, what are the plans made? Coz we really can't afford to lose this time. Our pack will disband, and we'll become rogues. I don't want to join another pack and be treated like an outcast." Regina said as she sat on a chair.
"Well, we should scout for more people then. Maybe we can find some good rogues who are willing to be part of our pack.
"It's not that easy. Finding rogues is one thing, convincing the rogues is another. Rogues have backstories and might not even want to join a pack." Mel (who had just entered) said.
"This..." Regina wore a worried expression. There were less than 2 months left. This was where she viewed as home. She often dreeamt of having her children here. Would she do so in another pack?
Not all would be even kind to accept disbanded packs and treat them well.
"Guys, calm down. We'll figure out a way. Worrying excessively will not help us in this matter. If it's not the moon goddess' will, we will not disband." said Rolandro.
The trio were speaking telepathically.
Pedro should not hear about such things.
*******
Lavana was keen on the movie playing on the Tv screen. It was really interesting!
Come to think of it, she only watched Tv as a kid. Now the TVs looked better and there was so much content to watch. That damn Ralton pack really made her miss on a lot of things.
Beatrix was not too interested in watching this movie.
She was busy gaming on Onmoji Arena. She preferred mage or support Shikigami. Currently, she's using Enenra and having a good time bullying the enemy.
Carl had gone out to buy something, so he left them to be at home. No one will be able to harm them anyway. Such a person was simply tired of living.
40 minutes later.
Beatrix was done gaming 5 minutes ago after being bullied by an Enma player who pretended to be a pig to eat the tiger. She was using Menreiki in the last match with her team suffering a terrible defeat 10-50. This Enma player had 35 kills! What nonsense and he got them in so few minutes. She called him a hacker, nearly smashing the phone to the ground but then she recalled it wasn't hers, to begin with.
How annoying! She was the feeder in the team coz this Enma seemed to target her the most. Her Menreiki died a whopping 20 times. 1 good score was beaten out of her. Her idiot teammates wouldn't quit the game nor help her. She was also the type not to give up.
She kept finding ways to attack him by surprise but it was always the other way round. She looked for tears to shed but couldn't find any. It was only when she gave up fighting and just go AFK that the game ended.
Those stupid people! She's noted their usernames down. Whatever it takes, she must find the humans behind the usernames on her team and bully them till they called her grandma, especially that Enma player! But that would only be when she returned to her home safely.
So she tiredly placed the phone on the couch and sighed.
She'd decided that out of sight will be out of mind; so she's trying to enjoy the spiderman cartoon that was playing on screen with Lavana.
At that moment, the door creaked and she saw two feet step in. They were familiar, so there was no need to be alarmed.
Carl had returned to the home.
Soon enough, his head was seen.
"Hello, ladies," he said, waving cheerfully, successfully getting Lavana's attention.
"Oh, you're back. Welcome, Mr Carl." she greeted with a smile.
"Hmm." Carl nodded and walked closer to them. He looked at what was on the screen. It seems she like cartoons.
"What did you get?" she asked as she took the nylons bags from him.
She placed them on the table and knelt on the floor to check them out. She opened the first green fancy nylon bag and gasped.
She saw beautiful fancy slippers. There were 3 in it and they seemed to be her size.
"These... are they mine?" she asked with uncertainty.
Such nice and beautiful slippers could belong to her? Was she dreaming? She felt the urge to pinch herself.
"Yeah, they're yours. I bought them at a shop not too far from here. The prices are okay. And little lady..." Carl picked up the other black nylon bag and took out a pair of white sandals with a rose pattern on the trims. He also took out another pair of black shoes and white ruffle ankle socks.
Beatrix got off the chair and walked to him. She took the shoes and felt all around them.
"They are good quality and nice to look at. Thank you, Mr Carl." she said with a smile and skipped away from the living room. Most likely, she was going to the guest room. She didn't forget to take the phone with her.
Lavana felt that these slippers were all beautiful. But which one should she try out first? After a short while, she chose the one that caught her eye the most.
She put the red slippers on the floor and tested them.
Wah, it fitted so well. It felt so nice to wear too.
"Wah, Mr Carl, I love them. They are very pretty. I've never worn anything as good as this for a long time. Thank you so much." Lavana was teary-eyed. She recalled when her mum would gift her beautiful shoes for her to practice dancing. She was the best cheek and forehead kisser too. She recalled when her dad put on a princess gown to dance with her in the pack's talent show. Though she didn't win but she had a lot of fun.
"Er... it's nothing. No need to be overly excited." Carl looked at her and saw that she seemed to have zoned out. Her teary eyes were welling up and soon tears flowed while she kept staring at the empty wall.
"Miss Lavana?" he felt concerned for her.
What happened that made her mood suddenly change? Or did he do something wrong? He recalled that she was a mermaid. If what he'd read in the legends was true wouldn't crying too much cause her to go blind or worse still send her to the death?
He shuddered at the thought of the latter option. That mustn't happen.
He walked to her and carefully touched her shoulder.
She looked at him.
"Mr Carl, is there any issue?" she asked, looking at him confused.
"Here, have it. You need it." he said and gave his hanky to her.
She brought her right hand to her face and touched it. Yes, it was indeed wet. She was crying?
Mr Carl saw her crying?
"I think you should sit down, miss Lavana." he said softly.
She let him lead her to the chair and she sat down. He sat beside her and asked her if he did anything wrong. But she shook her head.
"No, Mr Carl. You didn't do anything wrong. I don't know why I can't control these tears." she said, sniffing and wiping the tears that didn't want to stop flowing.
"Did you remember something awful?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"No, Mr Carl. It wasn't a terrible memory. I remembered good things. The wonderful memories of my early stage of life with my dad and my mom and my people. I remembered the happiness..." she continued crying, resigning to stop using the hanky to wipe the never-ending tears.
"Miss Lavana... look at me," he said but she looked away instead.
"Look at me."
"I won't," she said with a hoarse voice.
"Why? Am I hideous to look at?"
"No. I'm currently hideous. You are the fine-looking man.
"Oh? I'm handsome? Shouldn't you as a girl be looking at this handsome man here? If you don't look at me, I'll take it that you hate me so much."
"I don't hate you. Why would I?" Lavana's voice deepened and she looked at him finally.
"Look..." he wiped off her tears with his hand and used it to rub his face.
"Your tears are like expensive oil. If you keep wasting it like this, I'll have no choice but to use them as a facial cleanser."
"You..."
"Miss Lavana, you are a mermaid. You aren't supposed to cry this much. Do you want to go blind?" he asked.
"Who said I'd go blind?" she asked looking pissed, her eyes had turned orange.
He raised his hands in surrender.
"I was wrong, dear."
"Hmph! You saw nothing." she used the hanky to wipe off the remaining tear stains quickly.
Looking at him she saw his pained expression.
"Are you feeling hurt somewhere?" she asked.
"I am hurt. Your tears are the best moisturizer..." he said but in the next moment, his eyes widened.
He felt his neck become so cold.
He looked at her and saw that from her hand, an ice chain come out and wrapped around his neck.
"My tears are precious. You have no right to covet them." Lavana said with a different voice. Her eyes were glowing.
He was just teasing her. How did it bring about this reaction.?
"I'm sorry. I was just joking. I told you myself that your tears are precious, right?"
"My tears aren't comparable to essential oil. They are worth more than sapphires!" he heard her say again.
"And she isn't just a mermaid." he heard her say again in another voice.
"Who gave you the right to touch her face? Are you tired of living?" he heard another voice. The other two voices he heard also caused her eyes to change too. He felt frightened.
"If you touch her again without kowtowing 100 times, I'll rip your pathetic head off." this voice was a little childlike but Lavana's expression showed how pissed 'she' was.
Carl nodded. The ice chain wasn't tight. It was just placed around his neck. Seems she didn't have any intention to kill him. Soon, her eyes changed back to normal and she fainted on the couch, causing the ice chain to lose weight and break.
It quickly vanished like it was never there if not for the coldness he still felt around his neck and the chill in his heart.
As much as he wanted to help her out of the couch, he'd just been forbidden to touch her. Of course, he must obey if he still wanted his head intact.
There was only one person who could touch her and it was...
At this moment, the door of the guestroom opened.
"Big sister." Beatrix ran out of the room in haste and panic.
A/n:
Hello, I'm sorry for the late updates. I'm not fully back yet. I'm currently writing Alpha's Luna is a Fae-Siren Mage! it's nearing completion. You can have a look to kill time.