Chapter 428

Enzo

I had made up my mind to head back to Mountainview and talk to my pack. It had been a long day, filled with revelations and decisions, and I needed to gather everyone together to discuss our upcoming visit to the Moon Goddess Festival.

It was a crazy idea, and maybe it was a little on a whim, but I couldn’t deny that it was intriguing.

Either that, or I was just looking for excuses to get out of having to call Tim about the debacle with Mila.

I found someone who could open a portal for me—one of Aldric’s assistants, Henry—and stood in front of the swirling blue and purple vortex. Nina, much to her chagrin, had to stay in the werewolf realm. But I wouldn’t be gone for long, and so, with a tiny vial of the perfume for Lori in my hand, I stepped through the portal.

Before I knew it, I was standing in the middle of the forest just outside the campus. I recognized this spot well; I could see the trail that I normally took for my morning jogs behind the athletic fields.

It was exactly where I had asked Henry, who was experienced with opening portals, to send me—just out of sight, but not too far.

I wasted no time and began reaching out to our pack members. I sent a text to the group chat, telling them to meet me in the hockey arena. I was almost immediately met with a picture of a middle finger from Lori, followed by a “Haha, just kidding. Be there soon.”

Rolling my eyes, I pocketed my phone and jogged over to the hockey arena, which wasn’t far at all. Within a short time, they had all arrived; Lori, Matt, Luke, the hockey team, and of course Jessica, who was back on her feet and as spry as ever.

“Enzo,” Jessica said, looking excited. “Watch this.”

Before I could respond, Jessica darted around the outside of the rink, running faster than she ever could as a human. Lori groaned and passed her hand over her weary-looking face.

“She’s gone insane,” Lori said with a sigh. “When Nina gets back, I have a bone to pick with her. She turned my fiancee into a maniac.”

“Oh, you’re just jealous,” Jessica said with a grin, leaning against the bleachers behind her. “Ask Nina to Claim you.”

“Nina isn’t Claiming anyone anymore,” I said with a laugh of my own. “Not until the baby is born. And besides, Jessica, that was a matter of life or death.”

“Yeah,” Lori replied. “And I like being a human. The idea of having another entity inside my head, listening to all my thoughts, freaks me out. No thanks.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Nothing ever changed, that was for sure; our ragtag little group was always bantering or getting up to some shenanigans.

For a moment, I felt a pang of regret as I remembered how I had been considering passing on the pack to Matt; but that thought was still floating around my mind. It wasn’t totally out of the picture, not with the baby on the way and the whole job debacle.

“So, Enzo,” Luke greeted me with a nod, serious as ever. “What’s going on? Why did you call us here?”

I took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to explain my intentions. “I have something important to discuss with all of you,” I began. “The Moon Goddess Festival is approaching, and I want us to attend it together.”

The mention of the festival sparked confusion in their eyes, so I explained it. When I was finished, everyone’s confusion changed to intrigue.

Jessica nodded in agreement. “Count me in,” she said. “It’s been too long since we got to visit the werewolf realm. I’m dying to go.”

However, that was when I pulled the vial of perfume out of my pocket, and held it up with a sigh. “There’s one issue, though,” I said, looking directly at Lori. “Lori, humans aren’t accepted very well there. This perfume might hide your true nature, but we need to test it first. Otherwise, you might not be able to come.”

At my words, a hush fell over the group. Lori narrowed her eyes, stepping forward and snatching the vial from my hand.

“Seriously?” she hissed as she inspected the golden-colored liquid inside. “I’d have to hide who I am just so I can mingle with some hoity-toity racists?”

“Look,” I said with a sigh of regret, “Nina and I want you there, but it’s just the way it is. You can thank the last Luna for that one.”

“It’s just one night, Lori,” Jessica said gently. “You could try it, couldn’t you?”

Lori paused, seemingly considering. Then, nodding, she handed the vial back. “I’m only doing this because you almost died, Jessica, and I’m not letting you out of my sight,” she said. “But never again. ‘Kay?”

With that settled, we set our plans in place. I would be returning to the werewolf realm with Lori, Jessica, Matt, Luke, and the rest of the team, aside from a few who volunteered to stay to keep an eye on the town while we were gone. As we all parted ways, I watched them go, pocketing the vial of perfume again. It would take a bit of preparation before any of us could go, but I looked forward to it.

Matt, however, approached me, pulling me aside. He raised an eyebrow and looked at me with curiosity. “Enzo,” he started, his voice low, “if the people in the werewolf realm are so anti-human that one of our own would have to hide her true nature, why did you even want us to come to begin with?”

I hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words. I thought about saying that it was just for fun, but Matt was smarter than that. He could always tell when I was lying. “I want us to go as a pack,” I admitted. “I want to show the other werewolf packs that we’re a united front, a force to be reckoned with. I want us to be… taken seriously. Because we’re not, at the moment.”

Matt’s expression shifted, and he looked thoughtful. “Enzo,” he said slowly, “just because our pack isn’t taken seriously in the werewolf realm doesn't mean that it’s not real. We have a strong bond, and we’ve faced challenges together. We don’t need external validation to prove our worth.”

His words struck a chord with me, and I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. “You’re right, Matt,” I admitted. “I may have been too focused on how we’re perceived by others. I didn’t mean to imply that our pack isn’t real or strong. It’s just…”

Matt nodded, his expression softening as he interrupted. “It’s okay, Enzo,” he said. “I understand where you’re coming from, but I think we should go to the festival for fun, not to prove anything. We should enjoy the experience and celebrate our pack’s unity.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek, nodding as I ran a hand through my hair. “I know,” I said quietly. “You’re right. We should.”

For a moment, Matt just looked at me, before he nodded himself. “Don’t worry, Enzo. We’ll prove them wrong anyway. But you don’t need to invite us to fancy parties for that, okay?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess not,” I said. “But it’s not just that, I promise. Nina and I want you guys there. Because if we’re going to be spending more time there, we want you guys to be a part of it, too.”

Matt’s eyes brightened slightly, and he grinned, pulling me in for a tight hug.

“That’s the spirit, Enzo,” he said, clapping me on the back as he pulled away. “It’ll be nice to go back to the werewolf realm without some crazy lady trying to kill us all.”

I laughed again. “Yeah. It sure will.”

Matt and I parted ways, but I couldn’t help but wonder as he walked away if it would really be that simple after all.

And, more than anything, I couldn’t help but wonder if someday, somehow, it wouldn’t be some ‘crazy lady’ destroying our pack—but rather me, with my inexperience as a true Alpha.