Chapter 12

Chapter 12 The next several days passed without incident. Wedding preparations were finally getting underway; Kalea suffered no further episodes, and the chickenpox outbreak was brought under control with all affected pack members safely quarantined. “Nana, why do you have to leave?” Kalea whined from inside her protective warding bubble as the royal family prepared to step through the portal back to the Royal Pack. “Why are you asking her instead of us?” Tobias complained in return. “Come on, Dad—we all know Nana is still the one in charge,” Kalea teased, taking a cheeky dig at his prince status while Amelia still held the crown. scowled at his daughter, which only sent her into a fit of laughter. “Sometimes I wish you were still unconscious,” Tobias grumbled, instantly earning a sharp slap on the arm from Renee. “Watch it, Tobias!” Renee scolded, giving his arm another firm swat for good measure. “Don’t you dare put that out into the universe!” “I was joking!” Tobias protested, rubbing his shoulder with an exaggerated grimace, though the affectionate warmth in his eyes completely betrayed him. “Mostly.” Amelia chuckled softly, her regal demeanor softening into pure grandmotherly warmth as she stepped closer to the edge of the bubble ward. “As much as we would love to stay, Kalea, we have a kingdom to run and an entire species to keep in order,” Amelia said gently. “Plus, with Jax and Angel both pregnant, Maddie and Danny are completely hands-on tending to them.” “I still can’t believe Harper’s already going to be a dad,” Hailey remarked from the side, shaking her head with a faint smile. “Yeah, while the rest of us are still trying,” Kurt grumbled under his breath. Hailey instantly slapped his arm, shooting him a glare—adamant as ever that she wasn’t ready to become a mother just yet. Beside them, Eddie nodded in silent, empathetic agreement with Kurt’s quiet struggle. “At least you f*ckers have your mates,” Jared muttered from next to him, rolling his eyes at the lot of them. “Jared, your mate is out there somewhere. I’m sure of it,” Amelia said, offering him a look of warm sympathy. “Do you think I could visit the Royal Pack to see if she’s there, My Queen?” Jared requested, leaning forward with hopeful eyes. “Why?! So your ass can abandon us?!” Kurt blurted out instantly. “Bro, why would I leave our pack? If my mate is there, she’d leave the Royal Pack and come back here with me… Duh,” Jared responded without missing a beat. “Huh…” Kurt paused, processing the logic, and realized Jared actually made a fair point. “He’s thinking you’d leave because Harper stayed over there after he and Angel found out they were mates,” Kalea explained from her spot, filling in the blanks. “Oh yeah… He stayed because his old pack was kaputski,” Kurt recollected, snapping his fingers as the memory clicked into place. “Yeah, and unlike Harper, my Alpha hasn’t given me a reason to cut ties with him,” Jared said, and winked at Eddie. “Jared, why didn’t you ask sooner?” Eddie questioned, finally finding a window to cut in. “Because I didn’t think about it until now,” Jared responded, crossing his arms. “All this wedding planning, combined with Harper having a kid on the way, makes a man realize he shouldn’t just sit around waiting to find his mate—he should actively go out and hunt for her.” “Well, if it’s alright with Edward, we see no issue with you coming along for a while, Gamma Jared,” Stephen offered smoothly. “You haven’t visited the Royal Pack as often as the others, and I’m sure the Hounds can survive without you for a few days.” “Really?!” Jared exclaimed, turning to the King in genuine surprise. He immediately spun toward Eddie, eyes wide with excitement. “Can I?!” “Who am I to defy the King of our kind?” Eddie smiled, shaking his head. Kalea and Hailey beamed at Jared’s unbridled enthusiasm, the mood lifting into a moment of lighthearted relief. “Pack a bag quickly, Jared,” Amelia added with a warm laugh, gesturing toward the shimmering portal behind her. “We leave in five minutes, and if your mate is waiting in our territory, I doubt she’s going to wait forever.” “Well, if she’s a royal pureblood, Nana, then she’s pretty much already waited forever,” Kalea joked, taking a dig at the royal purebloods who were immortal and had lived centuries without finding their mates. Amelia let out a rich, melodious laugh, entirely unbothered by the jab. “Touché, my dear. Though immortality only makes the waiting feel longer, I assure you.” “Hey, if she’s lived a few centuries, at least she’ll have the patience to handle Jared,” Kurt chimed in with a grin, dodging the jab Jared threw back at his shoulder. “Laugh all you want, boys,” Jared said, backing away toward the hallway with a massive grin. “While you two are stuck here doing perimeter sweeps and wedding prep, I’m going to be living it up in the Royal capital. Give me three minutes to toss some clothes in a bag!” He sprinted off, his heavy footsteps echoing up the stairwell as everyone chuckled at his sudden burst of energy. “I’ve never seen him so excited for anything,” Hailey immediately teased Jared’s retreating figure. “He’s probably more excited to get away from Kalea,” Kurt commented playfully, which earned him a glare from Kalea. Stephen turned back to Eddie, his regal posture softening into something far more grounded and paternal. “We will keep a close eye on him while he’s with us, Edward.” “I’m sure you’ll hear from him as soon as he finds his mate, too,” Amelia giggled. “What if he doesn’t find her, Nana?” Kalea asked, skepticism on her face. “Well, darling, we all know that finding one’s mate isn’t guaranteed. But Goddess forbid Jared doesn’t find her here; there are several other packs in the world he can search. Fate isn't something that can be forced, no matter how much someone might want it to be,” Amelia responded diplomatically. “She may even be in this pack, just not old enough yet,” Eddie suggested. “Yeah, but with Jared in his mid-twenties now, I’m sure he would have sensed her by now, Eddie—even if she were still underage,” Kalea countered. “Especially since he’s a Gamma and comes from a pure bloodline.” “She has a point, Edward,” Tobias stated. “It’s more likely that Jared’s mate isn’t a pack member here, but elsewhere and still underage. It’s not unheard of for our kind to have larger age gaps—look at the General and my grandmother.” “Ain’t that the truth,” Kalea muttered, thinking about the century-plus age gap between her great-grandparents. “What if she is at the Royal pack? And is someone who’s been waiting for their mate for a long time. Wouldn’t that make her like—you know—extra old?” Hailey said. “Who cares? It’s like Kurt said, at least she’ll have built up the patience to put up with Jared,” Kalea joked, making the room break out into light laughter once again. “I’m not saying age-wise, K, I mean look-wise. I mean, I don’t want Jared to be mated to someone who isn’t just the age of a great-grandmother, but looks like one, too,” Hailey stated, her comment shallow and immature. “That’s not our problem, Hailey,” Kalea countered. “So what if she does look older than Jared? If he doesn’t care, and she doesn’t, and they accept one another, it’s our duty as his friends and his superiors to accept her as well. Plus, if she is older, you and I could probably learn a thing or two from her.” “I’m with the Luna!” Jared said, his voice ringing out as he bounded down the stairs, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. “I’m too old to care about looks at this point. All I care about is that she’s kind, has a pure heart, wants a family, and will only have eyes for me—just like I will for her. Besides, I’m sure if she is older, she’d love having a youngin like me f*****g her brains out, yeah?” Jared spoke proudly, which made the men chuckle and the women roll their eyes in unison. “Okay, just go,” Kalea said, shooing him away with her hands. “Well, darling, we have to go, too then,” Amelia said smoothly. “No!” Kalea immediately pouted, stomping her foot inside her protective bubble. “I’m sorry, darling, we have to. But you know where we are, and we know where you are. This portal is always accessible to our family, so just swing by whenever you want,” Amelia said, blowing her a kiss. Kalea pouted once more, but accepted that it was time for her family to leave. Renee blew her a kiss as well, and Tobias pressed his forehead against the bubble’s surface; inside, Kalea matched the gesture. Everyone grabbed their belongings and walked toward the portal entrance, with Jared following closely behind the Royal family. However, Amelia paused and turned to Benny. “Not you,” she said. “I beg your pardon?” Benny asked, furrowing his brows. “You stay here and keep an eye on her, just like old times,” Amelia replied. “What?!” Benny exclaimed. “Well, I thought about it just now. If we’re taking their Gamma, it’s only right that the Royal Gamma stays here in his place.” “When was this decided?” “Just now.” Amelia smiled and patted his shoulder before stepping into the portal. Benny gawked at her retreating figure, then looked at Stephen, who only shrugged and laughed at Benny’s new—yet familiar—assignment. Renee and Tobias smiled with gratitude that Benny had been voluntold to keep an eye on Kalea once again, following close behind the King and Queen. Jared shrugged, chuckled, and walked through the portal as well, which closed tightly behind him. “Since when did I become a glorified babysitter?!” Benny shouted at the now-closed portal. “The day I was born, Mr. Scout,” Kalea said playfully. Hailey burst into laughter. “Yo! I forgot Benny used to be our teacher!” she wheezed, continuing to laugh. “Bloody hell, you’ve got to be taking the piss,” Benny muttered, throwing his hands up in utter disbelief. “I am a high-ranking Royal Gamma! I command entire divisions! I’ve fought in historic pack wars, and now I’m being traded off like a draft pick so Jared can go on a speed-dating spree in the capital?!” He whirled around, glaring at the space where the portal had just vanished. “And ‘voluntold’?! She didn’t even give me a second to process!” “I’ll buy you a box of those Hostess Ho-Hos you like, Mr. Scout,” Kalea continued, teasing her former teacher. Benny turned his sharp glare onto her, though the twitch at the corner of his mustache betrayed his exasperation. “Don’t you start, young lady. I spent fifteen years grading your atrocious handwriting and listening to you hide snacks in your locker. I’ve done my time!” “Hey, to be fair, you were a brilliant teacher,” Hailey cackled, clutching her stomach. “Remember when my brother tried to throw a stink bomb in the hallway, and you caught it mid-air without even looking up from your lesson plan?” “I should have let the bloody thing explode,” Benny grumbled, crossing his arms with a heavy, defeated sigh. He looked over at Eddie, who was trying—and failing—to hide a massive smirk. “Don’t just stand there grinning like a Cheshire cat, Alpha. If I’m stuck filling in as your temporary Gamma, I expect double rations and an office that doesn’t smell like teenage werewolf angst. Absolutely mental, the lot of you.” “Of course, Benny, of course. So, uh, do you want to use your old guest cabin, or would the guest room you were just in suffice?”