To the Future
fifty-one
*FOREST*
Rose hands a list to Betty—or rather, two lists—one, with the items she inherited from her parents and would like to have returned to her.
She claims she doesn’t care about anything else, so if Betty and the maids miss anything, she doesn’t mind.
The second one is a list of names. She already thought about this earlier and set it up before we came here.
It’s pack members who helped her or who were kind to her, those who will be coming to live in our pack, if they want to.
“As usual, you are well prepared,” Betty says approvingly.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Elder Albert says. “This pack really could have had a brilliant luna.”
“Too late,” I chime in, wrapping her in my arms. “She is mine now, and I won’t let her go anywhere, especially not to be luna of another pack. We all love her too much to let her go. She single-handedly pulled my pack into the black again, despite my mother’s gambling.”
“I didn’t do that single-handedly,” she argues. “You, Griffin and Martin did just as much.”
“We were more like your executives,” I say, not letting her share this moment of victory. It was her doing that my pack recovered the way it has. “You took over all the bureaucracy and finances the moment you arrived in the pack. Just accept that you are brilliant.”
“The alpha is right,” Betty chuckles. “You oversaw everything and took note of what the pack needed, and then organized everything accordingly. You are a born luna.”
“My mother really prepared me well for the task,” Rose admits.
“She was great and started to show me the ropes when I was still a small kid. My father, too. He made sure I learned as much about other packs as an alpha would need to know, claiming that ideally, I would one day be my mate’s partner and we would assist each other.
I am so thankful for everything they taught me.
I don’t think I would have survived for that long otherwise. ”
Elder Albert sighs. “Well, it’s this pack’s loss now, and Alpha Forest’s gain.”
“Absolutely,” I chirp.
Albert reaches out his hand to shake Rose’s.
“I will not force you to stay any longer, Luna Rose. I will remain with Elder Betty and have my guards and warriors assist her, and the warriors from your and your allied packs. We have an actual lawyer in the prison pack, and will have him draft a contract for you to buy the pack from you. It will take a while for us to organize everything and rehome the pack members.”
“There is no stress,” Rose tells him. “I am just thankful that you will organize everything. Please take your time. And if you need a place to stay and don’t want it to be here, please come to our pack.”
“We would love to have you as our guest,” I agree. “We’ll prepare a guestroom for you, or if you prefer, I’m sure you can stay with one of our elders.”
“Actually, I would love to meet Dr. Francis,” Albert says with a smile. “Thank you for that gracious offer, Alpha, Luna.”
With that, everything is set for now. Rose and I briefly talk with Griffin and instruct him further before looking for Martin and taking off with him.
The three of us make a detour and stop at a small restaurant to have a late lunch.
For now, I let Griffin deal with everything else.
Rory is there to help him, and they will both assist Betty as well as they can.
“Are you okay?” I ask Rose when we have settled down and ordered our lunch. Funny, it’s an Italian restaurant, like a few months ago when we first met.
“You know what? I actually am,” she says with a smile. “I’m okay. It was good that I went to my old pack. It made me realize something important.”
“And what’s that?”
“That it doesn’t mean anything to me anymore.
I think it lost its meaning a long time ago, and seeing it again today just made me realize it even more.
I don’t feel at home there; there is nothing that remains for me, just some distant memories from the time my parents were still alive.
It also made me realize how much happier I am in your pack, which is my pack now. ”
My heart makes a leap at her words. When I met her, I never expected to fall in love with her, and once I did, I never thought she would return my feelings. But now, here we are, being each other’s chosen family and second chance.
“You know, it’s funny,” Martin says. “I realized it too, recently; just how much you all mean to me.”
I look at him, touched by his words. “This makes me realize that I never truly asked you about your family. I’m a bad friend.”
“There is not much to tell. They are constantly traveling and currently staying somewhere in Canada,” Martin explains. “Not much contact between us, and I doubt that will ever change. And, you are a fantastic friend.”
“It’s funny how we all come from broken homes or packs,” I muse. “My family is obviously trash. Rose was all alone with her psycho of a mate. Then, there is you, Martin, and Griffin’s situation is pretty much the same. And Rory.”
“You are right,” Rose says. “As if the goddess knew it and threw us all together.”
“And we took that chance,” Martin adds. “I am really glad you decided to trust me.”
“It was a risk, considering the position we were in,” I say honestly. “But I genuinely wanted to believe in you, and I am glad I did.”
“It goes without saying that you are obviously one of us now,” Rose chuckles. “In case that wasn’t clear.”
My phone lights up. “That’s Griffin,” I say, scrolling through his message. “He and Rory have wrapped things up. Betty has everything covered with the elders. He is asking if he should stay and oversee that your stuff is packed up accordingly?”
“No,” Rose says. “Tell him to get Rory and meet us here. The elites can stay with Betty and help her. I think it’s easier for her if she doesn’t have Griffin and Rory looming over her.”
Martin laughs, “True.” His face softens. “Besides, I don’t think Rory is too eager to stay any longer.”
Rose nods. “I agree.”
I reply swiftly, just as the waitress brings us our food. I order something for Griffin and Rory too, so that they will have something to eat once they arrive, and won’t need to wait for too long.
To our surprise, Griffin comes alone. “You look disappointed,” he grins before nudging Martin with his elbow. “You in particular.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Martin asks.
Griffin winks. “Just saying.”
“Is Rory not coming?” Rose asks, ignoring Griffin’s teasing. She is good at that. It’s like she always remains completely unfazed by his silly remarks.
“Nah, he decided to drive separately,” Griffin explains. “Once he heard that you offered for the omegas and some other chosen pack members to stay with our pack, he dashed off. Said something about an old friend.”
“Oh, Maria,” I say. “She was his old friend, right?”
“Yes,” Rose verifies. “We all thought they were dating, but she was his cover and his best friend. Plus, she saved my life. I’m happy to have her in our pack, that is, if she agrees.”
“Do you know any more?” I ask Griffin.
“Betty talked to some of the omegas already. They were over the moon to come to your pack,” he explains. “From what I know, she also talked to Maria, which is pretty much why Rory took off. He said he will help her pack and then drive with her.”
“If they make it in time and we are still here, tell him to drop by with her,” I say. “They can also have some lunch with us.”
“Well, I for one, am hungry,” Martin says. “I can definitely have a second main dish until they arrive.”
Griffin laughs. “Me too.”
“Then it’s set.”
Our conversation turns to much lighter topics now, with all of us sharing our plans for the next weeks, now that the whole shitshow has been dealt with.
Griffin and Martin will both get their own offices in the pack house, just like Rose will get her own.
Griffin also wants to move to a cottage closer to the packhouse, while Martin tells us he and Rory will probably move in together and renovate Martin’s place—so that they aren’t alone and will have someone to hang out with.
None of us comments on it or teases him, not even Griffin, but I guess Rose is right that these two will hook up sooner than later, in case it hasn’t happened already.
We also make plans for the new pack members, planning where to have them stay. Rose wants to talk to all of them, to see where they want to work and what they want to do in the pack, so they know they have a choice.
Meanwhile, Rose and I have decided to completely renovate the old alpha suite and have the orphanage there, so that the kids will truly be at the heart of the pack.
She and I will stay in my suite—it’s spacious, and when we decide to have kids, there will be plenty of space for them.
Besides, the place feels much more like our own than the original alpha suite would.
The last topic we talk about is the alpha and luna ceremony.
It’s a rather boring event, and Rose and I both want to keep it simple.
The pack does not need a huge celebration for us taking over.
First of all, we pretty much are the alpha and luna already, and second, my family brought so much drama to the pack I don’t want to have a lavish celebration.
“It feels good,” Griffin says. “To talk about normal stuff like this. I guess from now on our lives will be a lot easier.”
“Yes,” Rose chuckles. “But you will probably be as busy as before.”
“That’s fine,” Griffin grins.
“Personally, I’ll be glad to get back to our actual work,” Martin says. “I have talked to Alpha Tristan’s beta, and I think we could benefit from some security updates, just like Luna Rose suggested.”
“Let’s make sure to set up a meeting,” Rose says.
Griffin and I exchange a look and grin. “We’ll leave the boring organizational side of events to both of you,” Griffin says.
“Yeah, you are more than capable,” I add.
Now it’s Rose and Martin who exchange a look. “It feels like we ended up with the short straw,” Martin huffs.
“It’s fine,” Rose laughs. “I guess it’s part of our ranks, and probably also what we are good at.”
Before any of us can add something, the door to the small restaurant opens and Rory enters it together with a tall, black-haired woman. She has an interesting look, dressed in flowy clothes, but with tattoos covering her arms, and her left ear is fully pierced.
“Maria!” Rose calls out.
Maria’s face lights up when she spots us, a smile curling her lips. Then, however, she freezes. Rory frowns, whispering something towards her, but she doesn’t answer. She just keeps staring at—
“Fucking unbelievable,” Griffin says, before putting his fork aside and getting up. He brushes through his hair, his expression something between surprised and joyful. Then, he walks towards Rory and Maria, basically shoving Rory to the side and offering Maria his hand with a broad grin.
Martin’s mouth drops open as he watches, but he isn’t the only one surprised, because when Rory joins us, sitting down at the space between Martin and Rose, he shakes his head in amusement. “Funny. I thought I couldn’t be surprised anymore.”
“For real,” Rose says. “But, at least it’s a good surprise.”
“Let’s order wine to celebrate,” Martin suggests. “To toast to Griffin and Maria.”
“And to Rose and Forest,” Rory says.
“And our newfound freedom,” Rose adds.
I smile. “And our chosen family.”
Griffin approaches us, one hand around Maria’s shoulders, while with his free one, he squeezes Martin’s shoulder first, then Rory’s. “And whatever else is to come.”