Chapter 24 A New Reality
twenty-four
A New Reality
*GWENDOLYN*
There are so many impressions raining down on me, I barely have time to digest them all. Felix’s family is nothing like I’d imagined, although he told me beforehand that they were exactly that way. It’s just different to see it for myself.
His mom is a tiny person; she looks like she sprang out of a fantasy book and is now sprinkling her fairy dust all over the place.
Seeing her next to Alpha Elden, this tall, strong man, is a sight to behold.
Elden himself is intimidating; he has this aura about him that demands respect.
My former alpha holds no candle against him.
I would be scared to death of Elden if he wasn’t so gentle with his mate and so kind to his children.
Dario and Felix aren’t scared of him at all. Now, a lot of the things Felix told me make more sense. Dario, for example, truly does not have the usual alpha build and aura, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue for Elden at all. In fact, he laughs and jokes with both him and Felix.
Aurelia links our arms. “Don’t worry,” she whispers towards me. “Everyone has the same reaction when they meet my parents for the first time.”
I don’t tell her, but she is pretty intimidating herself.
Felix told me she is going to take over the pack, and I’ve been so curious to see what a female heir to the alpha rank would look like.
Seeing her now, it makes sense to me that she was chosen to take over.
She has an air of power and strength around her, and confidence in her eyes and in her whole posture. I can see a drive to lead in her.
My eyes fall on Charlie, who is still standing next to the car. Right behind her, there is Faye, peaking out of the door curiously. Right! It’s time for her to meet her new pack. I take a deep breath. I am sure Felix would introduce Faye and Marina for me, but I feel like I need to do it myself.
“May I-“ I clear my throat when I realize my voice comes out shaky. Goddess, my nerves, but there is not much I can do about it right now. “May I introduce my friends to you?” I ask Felix’s family. “They are like my family.”
“Of course,” Elden reassures me. “We are happy to meet them.”
I wave at Faye, and it seems like she was just waiting for me to call her. Charlie helps her out of the car, and she dashes towards me. “I am Faye!” she exclaims.
Bless her heart, she isn’t scared at all, just hopeful. It’s that hopefulness that almost breaks my heart. She obviously wants this so badly. Please let her thrive from now on.
Elden and Aurelia let Luna Flora take the first step. My former luna never really did much, but looking at Flora now and how she handles everything, it suddenly strikes me how important it is to have a luna.
“Oh, sweetheart,” Luna Flora beams. “We are so happy to have you here!”
Faye’s eyes light up. “Are you a fairy?” she whispers. “You are so beautiful.”
Flora giggles. I can’t remember the last time I heard an adult woman giggle like that, but weirdly, Flora can pull it off. Her eyes suddenly glint in mischief. “I am many things,” she whispers back.
“Faye is a beautiful name,” Arden says, stepping closer now. “It means fairy, too.”
“Yes,” Faye exclaims. “Gwen says, Mom chose it because I am her little angel.” She eyes Arden curiously. “What is that in your ear?”
Goddess, little kids! I groan inwardly, hoping Arden doesn’t take it as an insult.
He doesn’t; instead, he answers in all seriousness. “It’s a hearing aid. I had an accident as a child, and need it to hear better.”
Faye nods; like most kids, she isn’t judgmental at all, just genuinely curious.
“And who is the giant man?” Faye asks Flora.
Flora stands up and pulls Elden closer, slapping his arm joyfully. “That’s the alpha. And this-“ she points at Aurelia. “Is the future alpha.”
Faye nods before her eyes light up. “Oh, you need to meet Mom!”
She shuffles back to the car and, with Charlie’s help, gets Marina to climb out. As usual, Marina seems to move on autopilot. She does everything she needs to do, but without truly reacting to anyone. The look in her eyes seems to be pinned to something far away, as if she isn’t truly here.
I make sure to take her by her arm and gently lead her to Felix’s family. The look in Elden’s eyes is different now when he looks at Marina. There is a hint of shock in his gaze, but also worry. He takes Arden’s arm and makes him take a step back with him, automatically keeping his distance.
Flora, on the other hand, carefully approaches us. The light air around her is still there, but her eyes are clouded with something I can’t quite put a finger on.
“Welcome to the pack, Marina,” she says, her tone warm and joyful like before.
As usual, Marina doesn’t answer. She doesn’t even look at anyone.
“We are happy to have you and Faye here,” Flora continues as if she is having a normal conversation.
“Isn’t Mom the prettiest?” Faye exclaims.
At this, Flora’s eyes turn sad. “Yes,” she says quietly. “Yes, sweetheart, she is beautiful.”
We only unload the pets for now, making sure they are cared for. The rest of our luggage we will fetch after having our late lunch.
Flora ushers us all inside, with Arden and Dario taking the lead to show us the private dining room of the alpha family, where we will get something to eat. Flora falls back to briefly talk with Elden and Aurelia. I am sure it’s about my whole situation, and probably Marina.
I am just so glad to have Felix here with me.
I never knew how grounding and calming the presence of a mate can be, and he seems to be genuinely happy right now, making sure to show everything to me and explaining every little detail.
He involves Faye, as well. He is already like a big brother to her; it’s so sweet to watch.
When a huge regal cat pats into the living room, we all halt. “That’s Titan,” Arden explains. “Aurelia’s cat… or something like that.”
“Something like that?” I repeat.
“It’s difficult to explain,” Felix says. “But Titan is a cat or looks like a cat, but is also a demon.”
My eyes widen in surprise. “I must have misheard.”
“No, you didn’t,” Arden says. “Felix is right. Titan is a demon. One of two we know about. We are still researching how they arrived here. Flora says, demons have their own realm and shouldn’t be here.”
“I understand,” I say, though I don’t understand a thing.
“I will give you the details later,” Felix promises.
Faye dashes off to look at everything. Meanwhile, Elden, Flora, and Aurelia join us as well. “Oh, right,” Dario turns to Felix and me. “The rest of the family will visit on Sunday. I’ve briefly talked to Liam. He is super happy for both of you and can’t wait to meet you.”
Sunday is only in three days! Barely time to prepare for meeting Felix’s brothers and their mates. Goddess, this makes me nervous all over again.
“Gwendolyn,” Flora moves towards me. It looks like she is dancing when she walks. “I noticed Felix calls you Gwen. Do you prefer that?”
“I don’t mind Gwendolyn,” I reassure her. “But I am used to Gwen.”
“Then, Gwen it is,” she smiles brightly. “I hope you are hungry!”
“We are,” Felix answers.
“I know you are,” she grins. “You always are!”
She is so kind. Whenever I feel her presence, it seems I calm down immediately. “I am hungry too,” I admit.
“Is there anything Faye doesn’t eat?” she asks me.
“I am not sure. We ate pretty simple stuff,” I admit. “But so far she hasn’t been a fussy eater.”
“We have plenty of food prepared,” Flora says. “If she doesn’t like anything, she doesn’t need to pretend.”
She hurries off to talk to one of the maids. Meanwhile, Elden approaches me. “Gwen,” he says quietly. “There is something we need to discuss.”
I nod, dread settling inside me.
“It’s about your living situation here. Felix mentioned beforehand that Marina’s situation is special, but that Faye likes to be with her.”
The dread I just felt makes way for relief. He is not telling us to leave.
“She loves her,” I tell him. “To her, she is her mom, although Marina never reacts to her.”
“Yes,” Elden says, a hint of worry in his eyes. “I am not sure this is going to be healthy for Faye long term.”
“I know,” I say quietly. “I’ve been worried about this ever since they returned to the pack. My old pack, I mean.”
Elden gazes at Faye, who is currently holding Marina’s hand and talking to her. Aurelia and Arden are with them now, both of them looking thoughtful. “Do you know what happened? She wasn’t always like this, was she?”
“She was like any other wolf before she left,” I mutter. “I don’t know what went down with her mate.”
“She has a mate?”
“I think so, but I don’t know any details.”
“Did your former alpha – Alpha Jacob wasn’t it – did he ever say anything?”
“No, I tried to push for answers, but to no avail,” I admit.
Elden frowns. A sudden aura of anger surrounds him that makes it difficult to breathe for a moment. He controls himself immediately, though. “We’ll need to get to the bottom of this.”
“Really?” I exclaim, not able to hide my surprise. “I… I already gave up hope of ever finding out what happened and finding help for Marina.”
“Don’t worry, I will not let this rest,” Elden promises me, looking up when he sees Aurelia approaching us.
“Faye is a sweet girl,” she says, before looking at her father, her eyes glossing over. She must be mind-linking him. “Gwen,” she continues. “What do you think if we tried to push the motherly bond between Marina and Faye?”
“Faye clearly wants to be close to her,” Elden agrees.
“Mom and Arden prepared a cottage for Felix and you,” Aurelia continues. “It’s right behind the packhouse. There aren’t any other houses there.”
“It belonged to my mother,” Elden adds. “I never had the heart to let it go and use it for the pack, but I think it would be perfect for both of you. It has a garden and a smaller additional building you could use as a shed for the pets.”
“Right,” Aurelia says. “The original plan was to have Faye and Marina move either in with you or to a smaller cottage close to you. But what do you think if we moved them to an apartment in the packhouse? They would still be very close but be surrounded by other lycans in case of an emergency. We’d also have a maid and nurse with them. ”
“We have an elderly omega here; she was our cook before she retired a year ago. She is good friends with Flora and has always loved Felix and Dario in particular. I’ve talked to her, and she would be over the moon to help out,” Elden explains.
“I would pay her for her work, of course. She would be taking turns with another maid.”
“And we’d have a nurse checking in on them daily,” Aurelia adds.
There is a tension in my shoulders that I wasn’t aware of until now. “Is this… is this really okay?” I ask. “I can’t possibly… this is too much.”
“You absolutely can,” Elden says earnestly. “As Felix’s mate, you are part of the family now, and we take pride in looking after our family.”
There is the old guilt I feel whenever I think of asking someone else for help with Faye and Marina. It feels like I am failing them, like I should be stronger. But I am so tired, so fucking tired. “I would love to try,” I say. “Thank you so much. I have no words. I…” Tears fill my eyes.
Elden’s expression turns warm. “You have done more than enough,” he tells me. “Frankly, it’s amazing how you pushed through at such a young age with barely any help. Now it’s time for others to step up.”
“Yes, and don’t worry, we’ll discuss everything with you before anything happens,” Aurelia says. “You will always have the last word.”
Felix puts his arms around me. It’s mind-boggling how quickly a relationship between shifters can progress.
I always felt like an outsider, believing I would have a human experience, but now that I am amidst it myself, I know the difference.
I don’t even question my relationship with Felix anymore, although I’ve only known him for a couple of days.
He already fills my mind with his presence. I don’t even know yet how we will cope with living together, and how our lives will continue, considering we are both still so young. I know other shifters have done it before me, I know it’s normal, but my mind can barely catch up with my emotions.
My heart is fully in this, but my rational mind will probably need a while to arrive here.
Felix doesn’t seem to mind, though. He is willing to do everything at my pace and support my dreams.
My own cottage with Felix, and a shed I can turn into a proper barn for my pets. I bet in the garden there would be space for a manmade little water place for my otter and capybara.
My heart makes a leap of joy. Despite my mind still struggling, I am full of hope for the future, for the first time in my life.