02: Hoodie Girl

Irene was sitting in front of the counter at a rundown bar place. The walls of the bar were painted dark red with the heads of several wild beasts hanging on them as prizes.

The bar was almost empty with about five people scattered around the wooden tables and chairs. Irene was the only person sitting on a bar stool.

And she was the only one with tears streaming down her cheeks as she emptied several beer cans.

“You’re scaring my customers away with your ugly crying,” the female bartender, who was boldly bald and rocking a millions tattoos crawling up both arms extending to her neck, said to Irene.

Irene obviously wasn’t the most beautiful girl in the world, but her delicate facial features consisting of a pair of bright green irises, scanty long lashes, straight button nose, and soft pink lips made her at least pleasing to the eyes.

However, when she cried, her eyes would puff up, her nose would turn red, and the size of her lips would nastily increase, granting her the look of an ugly witch from an old fairy tale.

“I-I’m s-sorry, sniff, I won’t c-cry anymore,” Irene wiped her tears away as she spoke. It didn’t stop more tears from being released.

The bartender rolled her eyes and planted another can of beer in front of Irene. As dumb as Irene was, she actually had a good alcohol tolerance, still going strong on her seventh can.

“Crying isn’t going to fix things. By now, he’s already sleeping peacefully in preparation for tomorrow’s ball,” the bartender said, not sounding like she was trying to comfort Irene.

Irene sniffled, tucking a strand of light brown hair behind her left ear.

“I can’t believe he did such a thing to me. We rarely fought, and things were always so peaceful between us,” Irene grabbed the new can of beer and opened it, taking two gulps of the content.

The bartender, who had become a therapist for Irene this past week as Irene frequented the bar every night, had a good idea of the kind of relationship Irene and Desmond had shared.

“Peacefulness doesn’t mean happiness. He might have just been putting up with you because you were easy.”

Irene stared at the bartender with wide eyes after the woman effortlessly delivered cruel words to her without sympathy.

“Men like to be entertained. You think going along with everything he wanted to do made your relationship ‘okay’?” The bartender questioned. “There’s gonna be lots of interesting girls at the mating ball. Can you actually compare yourself with them?”

“No…” Irene didn’t hesitate to speak.

“So what are you here crying and whining about? If you really want him back, you gotta act like it. Be spontaneous. Entertaining. Eye-catching.”

Irene nodded her head, a rush of strength streaming across her veins. She slid down from the bar stool and wiped her reddened cheeks for real, this time.

“You’re right. He said that he was going to find a better mate there. But I’m also better! I can cook! Clean! Read! And I know how to arm wrestle, too! There’s no one better than me out there!” Irene was super-pumped as she exclaimed each word she spoke.

The bartender nodded in agreement to Irene’s self-motivation, trying her best not to break into a fit of laughter at the exciting turn of events.

“I just need to show him. Show him how awesome I can be. Then… Then he’ll realize that I’m his lover and not his daughter!” Irene downed the remaining content of her beer can.

“What…?” The bartender was confused about Irene’s last statement.

“I’m gonna go there. I’m gonna show him. Yes, I am.” Irene was practically talking to herself at this point with a crazy look in her eyes.

The bartender realized that she must have encouraged Irene a little too much and had to stop her before the silly omega did something stupid.

“Hey, hold on a sec. You don’t even have an invitation. How are you going to enter the mating ball and show him that you’re better?”

With those simple words, Irene’s morale deflated in an instant.

“I need an invitation…” Irene said with a heavy sense of realization.

She remembered the invitation card that Desmond had shown off to her. How was she going to get her hands on such a precious thing?

“That’s right. They don’t just let anyone into events like that. Especially rats from our pack.” The bartender added salt to Irene’s wound.

Irene’s eyes began to water once again.

“He’s going to find another mate if I don’t attend that ball. And I’m going to be truly mateless for real.” Tears cascaded down Irene’s eyes as she spoke with a small voice.

“You’ll be fine,” the bartender tapped Irene’s shoulder.

Irene had all but given up when a mysterious feminine voice spoke up, saying, “Excuse me? Are you guys talking about the mating ball at Jupiter Pack?”

Irene sniffled as she turned around to see someone around her height, wearing an oversized hoodie and a huge bag pack. The hood covered half of the girl’s face, only revealing her red-painted lips and the tips of her blonde hair.

“Yes…” Irene replied, wiping away the snot that threatened to escape from her nose.

“You want to attend it, right?” The girl asked, inching closer to Irene.

“Yes…” Irene said again.

The bartender watched the exchange between Irene and the hoodie girl with narrowed eyes.

The girl peeled her bag off her shoulders and placed it on the floor. Then she unzipped the side and brought out an envelope that looked exactly like the one Desmond had shown to Irene.

“You can take it,” the girl handed the envelope to Irene.

“Oh, my gosh! Thank you so much! Ahhh! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Irene grabbed the envelope and opened it in a flash, bringing out the card and reading the content.

[Congratulations! You have been invited to partake in the upcoming mating ball at Jupiter Pack as a VIP guest!]

It was really just like the invite card Desmond had, only lacking the words, ‘plus one’. Irene didn’t think too much of it as the excitement of merely having a card overwhelmed her.

“Hey, wait, wait, wait. Where did you get such a priceless card?” The bartender disrupted the joyous air with a suspicious tone directed at the hoodie girl.

“Um… I was invited as one of the maidens, but I’m not interested. I was looking for how to get rid of it without wasting it, so when I heard this girl’s story, I thought it would be best to give it to her.” Hoodie girl explained softly.

The bartender was still skeptical. How convenient was it to suddenly help stupid Irene out with her dilemma?

“What’s the catch?” The bartender asked while Irene sniffed the invitation card, oblivious to the other two people’s interaction.

“No catch,” the hoodie girl promised.

“I can’t believe that I can go to the mating ball now! I’m going to see Desmond!” Irene was lost in her own world, twirling with happiness.

The bartender facepalmed herself.

“I also have a dress for the occasion. Since I’m not going, I might as well give it to you too.” Hoodie girl offered Irene.

Irene stopped twirling.

She and the hoodie girl were the same height. Because of the oversized hoodie the girl was wearing, Irene couldn’t be sure that they would be the same size as well.

“We’re roughly the same size, don’t worry,” the hoodie girl pulled out a dress from her bag and handed it to Irene.

Irene took the dress and held it up to twirl with it. It was a black, fitted, sleeveless gown with a heart-shaped neckline. It had an over-the-knees length, and also an extended back slit.

“It’s so pretty,” Irene stared at the dress awestruck. “You’re giving it to me for free, right?” she added as an afterthought.

Hoodie girl nodded.

“Yay!” Irene jumped with happiness, wrapping her arms around the girl. Irene’s action was so sudden that it caused the girl’s hood to fall down.

Her full face was revealed. The girl had hazel-green eyes and an oval face with a red mole on her right cheek. Irene thought the girl looked familiar, but excitement dulled her already dull enough senses, causing her to dismiss the thought.

The girl covered her face with her hood after Irene released her to focus on the gown again.

“Wow, now you have an invite and a dress. But how are you going to get to Jupiter Pack?” The bartender dropped a pessimistic area of concern.

Pluto Pack was miles away from Jupiter Pack. Not even the strongest alpha would be able to get to Jupiter Pack in time with his wolf form. The mating ball was tomorrow evening.

The bartender glanced at the watch on her wrist. She scoffed as she realized that it was already tomorrow. The time being past one a. m.

“I’ll be fine,” Irene easily dismissed the issue of transportation with her eyes glued to the gown in her arms.

Getting to Jupiter Pack should be easy for me, Irene had an indifferent thought.

Her dead father was going to help her with it.