Chapter 8

"That girl... She's been spoiled by her family. I need to have a talk with them," Patrick muttered, growing frustrated with Eira's behavior. Little did he know about the alpha who had showered his daughter with dresses.

"Oh, Dad, don't be so strict with us," she whined, capturing the attention of a particular individual in the room.

"Alright, alright, go freshen up and come back down," Patrick sighed.

She hummed and retreated upstairs. Meanwhile, Patrick approached the unfamiliar person and initiated a conversation. A few minutes later, she returned, dressed in a casual outfit carefully chosen by Isaias.

"Amethysta, meet Laurent... He is our pack leader's son," Patrick introduced his daughter to the pack leader's son.

"Hello, Mr. Striebeck. It's a pleasure to meet you," she greeted politely, her warm smile gracing her lips.

"It's equally nice to meet you, Miss Amethysta. Your father has spoken highly of you, but this is my first time seeing you. As he mentioned, you're quite beautiful," Laurent replied politely, causing Amethysta to chuckle awkwardly.

"You're too kind, Mr. Striebeck," she replied with a smile. Then, she shot a playful glare at her father, who chuckled in response.

"You two can chat. I'll go fetch something to eat," Patrick quickly excused himself from the room.

"Please, have a seat, Miss Amethysta," Laurent offered. She hummed and took a seat.

"Don't pay too much attention to my dad's words, Mr. Laurent. He's always like that," Amethysta said, trying to maintain a polite conversation.

"Why are you calling me 'Mister'? You're hurting my feelings," Laurent exclaimed dramatically, invoking memories of Icarus' similar dramatic antics. Amethysta couldn't help but burst into laughter at the recollection, and Laurent gave her a puzzled look.

"I'm sorry," she said, trying to regain her composure. "I just remembered something funny from this morning."

"At least you're smiling now. When you first came in, you didn't seem to be in a good mood. I'm glad I could make you smile," Laurent remarked, patting his chest with self-satisfaction. "You did a good job, Laurent," he added proudly, which made Amethysta chuckle once more.

Soon, Patrick returned with snacks and juices for them.

"Here you go," he offered.

"Thank you, Uncle," Laurent replied gratefully.

"No need to mention it, boy. Just the two of you dig in," Patrick said, and both Laurent and Amethysta nodded, helping themselves to snacks and juices. Amethysta sipped on her juice when she received a notification on her phone. It was a message from Icarus. Her eyes lit up briefly, but she decided to let it go, still miffed that he had left her during the clothing selection session. She pouted and focused on her juice instead.

"So, how's your dad?" Patrick initiated a conversation with Laurent.

"He's doing well, Uncle. He really wants to meet you, but you know how busy he is. That's why he sent me here," Laurent explained.

"Haha, alright. I'll make sure to visit him someday," Patrick reassured Laurent, but before their conversation could continue, Amethysta's phone rang.

Amethysta glanced at her father and Laurent before her eyes brightened upon seeing the call. She quickly handed her dad the juice glass.

"Can you hold this for me, Dad?" she requested, taking her phone and abruptly moving away from them to answer the call. Her actions were observed by both Patrick and Laurent.

"Aish... This girl... She'll never grow up. How many times do I have to tell her not to do anything while eating? Look at her, she left her juice for me," Patrick complained to Laurent about his daughter's behavior.

"Let her be, Uncle," Laurent advised, smiling but clenching his fist in frustration.

On Amethysta's side, she answered the call and brought it close to her ear without saying a word.

"What are you doing, Angel?" Icarus inquired.

"Why do you care, humph...?" she faked her anger, wanting to convey her annoyance.

"What's wrong with my angel? Why is my angel mad at me?" When he used those endearing words, "my angel," Amethysta felt like she was floating on a cloud. She cleared her throat.

"Don't you know what you did?" she glared at nothing, emphasizing her displeasure about being left alone at the mall after he had bought her so many clothes.

"I'm sorry, Angel. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. Can you enlighten this fool?" Icarus asked. Hearing his words, she couldn't help but giggle, although she quickly resumed her posture.

"You left me all alone in the mall," she pouted, unable to resist acting a bit like a pouty child in front of this relative stranger, whom she had only met three times. But she felt strangely comfortable around him, as if he were an old friend.

"My bad, Angel. I got called into work," Icarus apologized.

"Alright, since it's work-related, I forgive you," she stated proudly. However, her pride didn't last long. A sudden scream echoed in the background, causing her to flinch.

"What... What happened?" Her voice trembled with fear.

"Nothing, Princess. Someone just fell and let out a scream," Isaias reassured her. They swept once again, with Amethysta still feeling uneasy about the unexpected scream.

"Is he hurt?" she inquired with concern.

"No, Princess. He's alright now," Isaias reassured her. She had no idea who she was speaking to, but his words brought her relief.

"How are the dresses, Princess? Did you like them?" Isaias asked.

"No..." she responded without hesitation. Even without seeing his face, it was clear that he frowned, and her words irked him.

"I guess we should change the store. That..." his words were cut off by Amethysta, who suddenly declared, "I love them."

Isaias chuckled, catching on to her playfulness. In the blink of an eye, he entertained the idea of burning down the entire mall.

"You know, I'm actually wearing one of them," Amethysta giggled once more, while Laurent observed their playful conversation.

"Then may I have the pleasure of seeing my princess in the dress I picked for her?" Isaias asked, causing her to blush, her eyelids fluttering with amusement.

"Wait a sec," she replied. Taking a quick selfie while still on the call, she sent it to him, overwhelmed by the emotions she was experiencing.

"You look so exquisite, Princess. I just... Nevermind," he stopped abruptly.

"Come on, finish your sentence," she whined, curious about his hesitation. She heard a chuckle from the other end, an echoing sound that puzzled her as she furrowed her brows.

"You'll feel shy, Princess, if I say that. Don't worry, I'll tell you one day. That day isn't too far away," Isaias reassured her, which only made her pout in playful annoyance.

"Amethysta, are you still on the phone? Come here, girl. Don't get lost in your mobile. If it's Eira, tell her that her uncle needs her best friend for a minute," Patrick called out from a distance, causing her to panic.

"Okay, I'm hanging up. We'll catch up later. I've got some work to do," Amethysta quickly replied to Isaias.

"Take care, Princess," Isaias said before she hummed and ended the call. Nervously, she walked over to her dad.

"Why did you call me, Dad?" she inquired.

"Honey, Laurent is leaving. That's why I asked you to come here," Patrick explained. Amethysta turned to see Laurent, who was already preparing to depart.

"Then I'm off, Uncle. See you later," Laurent bid his farewell.

"Alright, Laurent," Patrick patted Laurent's shoulder in farewell.

"Then I'm leaving, Miss Amethysta," Laurent said, looking at Amethysta.

"I'm sorry for my rudeness earlier, Mr. Laurent. I was a bit overwhelmed when my friend called. I hope you don't mind," she nervously chuckled.

"Nah, no worries. Let's catch up later," Laurent replied before departing.

"What's this behavior, Amethysta? How could you leave in the middle? Is this how I taught you? He's the pack leader's son. You should show him respect," Patrick scolded his daughter for her earlier rudeness.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I got carried away," Amethysta pouted, and Patrick let out a sigh.

"So tell me, who's this so-called friend of yours? It's definitely not Eira. Then who is it?" Patrick inquired.

"I won't tell you," she defiantly stuck out her tongue and dashed off to her room.

"When will she grow up?" Patrick shook his head in disbelief at his daughter's behavior and then made his way to his own room. With no work to attend to at the moment, he had some time to relax.