Chapter 23 A New Home
twenty-three
A New Home
*FELIX*
The drive back home takes us two days, just like Dario predicted. We take a couple of breaks for Faye in particular, and stay the night in a hotel. Dad made sure we had an actual hotel to stay in on the way, so that everyone was comfortable.
The two days of traveling are surprisingly stress-free.
Nothing weird happens, no one seems to follow us.
Although the raccoon eventually became restless and started to chew on the backseat pillows a few hours ago, so, Gwen has been bribing it with snacks.
He seems to be particularly drawn to her peanut cookies, which finally earns him the name Peanut.
“The otter still doesn’t have a name,” I point out while steering the car from the highway towards a narrow road which will lead us to a forest, and soon take us to pack grounds. Finally.
“I think it should be something water-related,” Gwen says. “I am sorry to burst your bubble, but I suck at naming pets.”
“I figured,” I grin, laughing when she smacks my leg. “What? I mean, Mr. Dot? Tuesday? QQ for Quackquack?”
“You could at least pretend they are cool names,” she complains.
“Sure, they are fantastic,” I deadpan.
Gwen laughs before returning to checking on the otter. “Aqua,” she says.
I snort. “You just had to prove your own point, huh?”
“Now you know that I can as well own up to my bad name-giving,” she says.
All banter aside, I am glad for her being distracted by the pets, because the closer we get to my home, the more anxiety I can feel through our mate bond.
“Felix?” Gwen asks into the silence.
“Yes?”
“I have never asked you, but what exactly do you do? Are you working or do you have a rank in the pack?”
At her question, I can feel my own anxiety spike instantly. Goddess, it’s true, we never talked about that part of my life. She knows I am dyslexic, and she knows about my family and my overall life up to this point, but not about my utter failure at college.
“Hey.” Gwen reaches out her hand to rest it on my knee. “It’s okay. I can feel your emotions all over the place. I am sorry I asked. It’s not important.”
“It is,” I sigh. “I’d just hate for you to think I am a complete loser.”
“I would never think that,” she reassures me.
“You literally moved my two friends and me to your pack without any hesitation. It doesn’t matter what you do in your life.
I just wanted to make small talk to ease my own tension.
For the record, I was working in a shady club until you showed up.
I am the last person to judge anyone.” She pauses. “You didn’t judge me either.”
I swallow thickly. “I suck at studying,” I explain.
“I really tried. My talents are more with sports than with studying. Dario helped me through high school, but I’ve really reached my limits there.
I just can’t, Gwen. I went to all my lectures, I studied like crazy, I handed in my papers, but I have failed most of my classes. ”
“College isn’t for everyone,” she says. “I know it isn’t for me either, though I didn’t necessarily hate school.
I just… like to learn something more practical, if that makes sense.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with that.
Besides, I bet if you find something you are interested in, you would ace it. ”
“Dario says the same,” I admit.
“See? And obviously he knows you better than anyone else!” She smiles. “So, what is it you want to do?”
“I want to quit college,” I say, pausing once I hear my own words. It’s the first time I‘ve said it out loud, and hearing it now clearly makes the fog in my own head go away. “I want to quit college, and instead learn a trade and work in the pack.”
“But that’s perfectly fine!” Gwen exclaims.
I laugh a humorless laugh. “I don’t even know why I went to college in the first place.”
“Did your family want you to?” Gwen asks.
“No, they just wanted me to finish school.” I suddenly remember how my father approached me when he gifted me this trip here. I wonder if he knew how much I hated college and just wanted me to figure it out myself. “I guess I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.”
“Honestly, I bet you could,” Gwen says. “I bet you would be able to get through college, but you would be miserable.”
“You are right, I would be fucking miserable.”
“So, what kind of trade do you want to learn?”
My heart makes a sudden leap at her question, as if it just dawned on me now that I actually have a choice. I can do something I am interested in. “I haven’t thought about it yet, but there is a lot I find interesting, particularly anything mechanical related.”
“Charlie mentioned you fixed your car on the way,” Gwen says.
“I did, but it doesn’t mean that I have talent.”
She looks at me, dumbfounded. “Really?”
“Maybe a bit,” I pause. “What about you?”
“You know what I did for work,” she says.
“You told me about the coffee shop and the club, but what would you want to do if you could choose?”
“You will probably think it’s silly,” she says.
“Now it’s you who is getting anxious over nothing,” I say.
She snorts. “Maybe. Okay, so... I want to work with animals. Apparently, I have a talent for it. I guess if I had a chance to live my dream, I would build my own little animal shelter.”
“I think we could definitely achieve that,” I muse. “We do have the space, and I bet my mother would be all into that idea, too. She loves anything connected to nature.”
“Wait,” Gwen interrupts me. “Do you mean it? You would actually support it?!”
“Sure,” I say. “And I could help out. I have a friend who is a carpenter. We’d need to start small, obviously.”
“Yes,” Gwen exclaims. “I am going to look for a part-time job, but I really want to work on this project.”
Her eyes gleam in a way I haven’t seen before. This is truly something she wants to do, and I swear, I would die to make it happen!
As I drive towards the packhouse, Mom, Dad, Aurelia and Arden are already expecting us. It’s then that it strikes me how real it is. This is really happening! I found my mate, she accepted me and came to the pack with me. To my relief, Dario is right behind me, maneuvering the second car.
Of course, he instantly knows something is off. Is that your anxiety I am feeling?
Sorry, I say. I don’t even know what I am nervous about.
Felix, they will love Gwen! They have accepted all our siblings’ mates with open arms. They will do the same with Gwen.
I am not scared about that, I say. I know they will accept her. When I talked to Mom on the phone, she was so happy for me.
Then what’s going on?
I don’t want to disappoint them, I admit.
Dario is silent for a moment. Care to elaborate?
I want to quit college, I say. Deep down, I have known it for a while, but talking to Gwen today made it real.
But that’s fine. I had a feeling you would come to this decision soon, Dario says. Just for the record, I fully believe you could have studied and passed. But you absolutely hate it! There are other paths.
I am going to be the only one in our family who hasn’t studied, I say. Even Mom did back in the day, although she was pregnant. Annie became luna and still finished her studies. Marius went back to school.
Freya didn’t, Dario argues, mentioning our brother Finn’s mate.
Freya lived her life as a slave. That’s different. I bet she could have if she had any options.
She had the option once she met Finn, Dario says.
She decided to finish school instead and then attend some additional classes.
You are right, her background is different, she didn’t have opportunities, but what I want to say is: No one cared if she studied or not.
I can’t remember our parents ever asking.
Dad wasn’t happy when Marius quit, I say
Dad wasn’t happy because he knew Marius struggled with a lot of things, but couldn’t tell what. He wasn’t happy, because Marius was depressed and closed up, seemingly going nowhere. You want to quit, because you want to do something else. That’s different.
I know you are right, I say. I don’t know why this makes me freak out so much.
You need to have some trust, Dario answers. It’s okay to be anxious and not want to disappoint anyone, but you made a decision for yourself. I think this is something to be proud of. Making crucial decisions isn’t easy.
Okay, I will try to keep that in mind, I say.
I take a shaky breath, turning my attention back to Gwen, and notice she is freaking out, too, but for other reasons.
“They will love you,” I say, easily able to tell why she is nervous.
“How do you know?”
“They loved every single mate my siblings brought along,” I say gently. “All of them, no matter the background. You are not the only hybrid. Oh, and I told you about Liam, right?”
“He is the oldest brother.”
“Yeah, the born alpha,” I say. “His mate is an omega she-wolf. He didn’t give a shit about her rank, and my parents didn’t care either.”
Gwen looks at me for a long moment. “You are a really good person,” she says. “And Dario is too, from what I can tell.”
I laugh. “What makes you say that?”
“It’s obvious,” she pauses. “And parents who raised their kids to be like that can’t be bad people,” she concludes.
I grin. “Yeah, we are a great family, and now you are part of it, babe!”
I park the car, waiting for Dario to follow.
Then I take Gwen’s hand, squeezing it gently and nodding at her.
When we open the car doors, the raccoon and otter, or rather Peanut and Aqua, are the first to climb out with Tiger following them, landing on Mr. Dot’s head.
We must be a hilarious sight, judging by the expression on Aurelia’s face.
She clasps a hand over her mouth, whispering something to Arden. Dad looks downright amused, while Mom seems to be delighted.
“If you think that’s all,” Dario says as he gets out of the car and stretches his limbs. “Then you are mistaken.”
“Gwendolyn!” Mom exclaims, clapping her hands in joy before making a beeline for my mate.
Gwen is stunned, a usual reaction for anyone who meets my mother for the first time.
She is a small, peculiar woman, almost looking otherworldly at times.
Her gentle laugh rings through the air when she hugs Gwen.
“Welcome to Silverlake,” she says. “We are so happy to have you here.”
“Thank you so much,” Gwen says, still stunned. Her anxiety is almost gone; I can’t feel any of it through our bond. “Thank you for accepting me here.”
“We are very happy to have you, Marina and Faye, here,” Mom says gently.
Mentioning Marina and Faye does something to Gwen. Her eyes turn watery. I put a hand on her back, pulling her towards me. Fortunately, Mom uses the moment to turn around and wave at my dad. “Elden, come here and say how happy you are for Gwendolyn to be here!”
Dad follows her wish like he always does.
When I see my parents still so deeply in love after all these years, it gives me hope to accomplish the same future with my mate.
He steps closer now and reaches out his hand towards Gwen.
He is a tall, broad-shouldered man, typical alpha material, even more so because he is a lycan alpha.
He looks intimidating, but when he reaches out his hand to greet Gwen, he smiles.
“When I sent Dario and Felix on this vacation, I didn’t think they would come home with such a wonderful surprise. ”
Gwen shakes his hand, spell-bound. I can’t blame her, as she doesn’t have the best track record with alphas.
Aurelia and Arden come forward next, both introducing themselves to Gwen.
Arden’s quiet, calm way of carrying himself instantly speaks to Gwen.
I know he doesn’t think he has it in him, but he actually will be very good at handling Luna tasks.
Aurelia herself is a tall woman, beautiful and a bit intimidating.
She has worked her ass off to be worthy of becoming alpha of this pack, and it shows.
When she pulls Gwen into a hug, she grins.
“Finally, more girl power here! Mom and I needed some back-up.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dad asks, amused.
“It’s just good to have someone else in our corner, right, Mom?”
Mom grins and winks at Gwen.