09: Welcome, Sweetheart

“Huh?” Irene scrunched her face in confusion.

“It’s better you go in another car,” the guard refused to repeat himself and forced Irene into the other car.

Irene opened her mouth to protest when the guard settled into the driver’s seat, but she shut it as two other people got into the car; one on the backseat along with her and another occupying the passenger seat.

Now with three strange guards in one car, exuding powerful auras, Irene couldn’t help but shrink into herself.

‘Why do I have to be the one to get into a car with these guys? What if they toss me out while driving? Look at their faces, they’re like hardened criminals!’ Irene raged internally as she couldn’t whine aloud.

The men didn’t actually look like ‘hardened criminals’, it was just Irene’s perception as they were all tall with broad frames and had serious expressions on their faces.

There was no way Irene could tell that they were uncomfortable riding with her since they didn’t know her identity but had been instructed to watch over her closely.

Irene resolved to pretend that she wasn’t in a car with three strong werewolves to protect her mind from running wild with overthinking. She focused her attention on the outside world through the window the moment the car engine came alive.

They drove out of the parking lot and left the venue for the mating ball. Irene wondered how far their destination was. She remembered Adam telling the guards outside the small room that they were heading to Elder Noel’s place. 

“I wonder who Elder Noel is…” Irene thought.

She only realized that she’d spoken her thoughts out loud when the guard next to her said, “She’s one of the seven elders of Jupiter Pack.”

Irene quickly looked at the guard. Forgetting her initial perception of him and the others, she inquired, “Seven elders…?”

The guard seated on the passenger seat took the mantle of satisfying Irene’s curiosity.

“Along with the alpha, there are seven elders who make up the council that govern Jupiter Pack. Each of them are learned in different fields of study. Elder Noel is best known for her knowledge in all things concerning the union of werewolves.”

“Oh…” Irene said with a hint of enlightenment in her tone.

Jupiter Pack was really put together. Irene’s pack, Pluto Pack, had nothing like elders or a council governing them. The one with the final say was their slimy alpha who actually never gave a say on anything.

Werewolves in Pluto Pack were free to do as they pleased as long as they didn’t make trouble with other packs and kept their bad behaviour within the pack.

Irene suddenly felt jealous of Jupiter Pack and its members. She threw an envious look at the three guards in the car with her.

The guards who had received a stink eye from Irene after providing answers to her questions were at a loss for how to react.

Luckily for them, they reached their destination in a few minutes and were spared from the strange omega.

Irene was the first to alight the vehicle, not waiting for her door to be opened by any of the guards. Her first thought of her current location was that it was very homely.

The car that Adam had rode in was parked in front of them on the road. And before it was a bungalow house with a nicely trimmed lawn. The lights inside the house were lit up, indicating that the residents were still awake.

Irene felt that Elder Noel must be a very good person. At the front door of the house was a plaque saying, ‘Welcome, sweetheart.’

She beamed brightly, believing that she was a sweetheart. Her smile soon faded when she heard the words, “Why are you standing there with a silly smile on your face?”

Irene looked away from the door and shifted her gaze to the source of the question who was standing in front of her. Adam’s expression as he stared at Irene showed that he thought her to be an idiot.

This was enough to wipe the traces of the smile on her face and have her slouch her shoulders before she mumbled sadly, “No reason.”

“You’re smiling for no reason?” Adam questioned.

Her response had gotten Adam to paint her as a complete idiot in his head. Irene wanted to change her words, but Adam sighed and spoke up first.

“Let’s just go in and get this over with,” he said with a resigned tone.

Irene nodded her head, eager to move on from the awkward atmosphere that she had created.

Thereafter, Adam instructed the guards to scout the area and keep watch before he advanced towards the front door. Irene tailed him quietly all throughout.

When they reached the door, Adam didn’t even knock before the door opened. Irene’s lips parted as she discovered that there was actually no one behind the door.

It had magically opened on its own! Whoa!

Adam stepped into the house, seeming unfazed by this unnatural phenomenon. Adam navigated his way around the house like he was more than familiar with it.

The straight hallway after the door led to an open space that could be regarded as the living room. There, on the largest couch in the room sat a gentle-looking woman.

Irene assumed the woman to be in her late 70s or early 80s from the wrinkles on her face. Straight, long, gray hair fell over the woman’s shoulders, and her black eyes carried a hint of knowingness.

There was a trace of a smile on her lips as she stood up and bowed with grace.

“Alpha Adam, it’s a pleasure to have you in my home,” the woman said courteously.

Irene, who had been ignored, raised her brows in disbelief and thought, ‘It’s a pleasure to have a killing machine in your home?’

She almost snorted aloud but held herself back. Though Adam hadn’t killed anyone yet in front of Irene, the fact that he could kill anyone remained in the back of her mind.

“You can have a seat. I mind linked the issue to you before coming so you must have a general idea of what’s going on and have come up with a solution already.” Adam went straight to business.

“This is Irene, the mate I told you about,” Adam introduced Irene, then looked at her and said, “This is Elder Noel.”

Irene stepped forward and put out her hand for a shake, but she was left hanging. Elder Noel only scrutinized her from head to toe, then shifted her gaze to Adam.

“I can’t do anything for you.”