Chapter 24 Eiden
Eiden's POV
Sitting at the playground was fun. Watching the kids play and laugh, no arguments were turning them into enemies.
It almost pulled me back to my own childhood, when life was calm and quiet. Those were good days.
'Alpha, Alpha Jackson is showing signs of challenging you to a duel. He's already fought two of his enemies,' said Beta Serena through mind link.
I told you I don't have days off. Wherever I am, Beta Serena or someone else can tell me about the pack or the warriors. I don't have time to daydream for long.
'Okay, I'll face him. I've never been afraid of him,' I said confidently. Yeah, I've known Alpha Jackson since I was little. He's that annoying.
My gaze wandered to Celeste. She was talking with her friend. I didn’t mind her ignoring me; I knew she didn’t want her friend to guess who I really was.
If Celeste and I ever had the chance to talk alone for a long time, I'd ask her to tell me about when she gave birth to Liam, but I hesitated, as that might make her even more upset with me for rejecting her.
“I want a drink.” Levi approached Celeste. He was surprised to see me.
When Levi opened his mouth to speak to me, Celeste grabbed his wrist. Levi blinked and then looked back at me with a wide grin.
I smiled and nodded at Levi. He was funny and smart. He understood Celeste reminding him before he called my name in public.
Levi was already running around again. He only paused to drink. I was both impressed and confused. When I was his age, I never had that much energy.
I glanced toward the playground exit. Liam's kindergarten was quite far away, but the bell could be heard all the way here.
"Mom." Levi ran over to Celeste. "Liam's home from school."
"You miss Liam so much, huh?" Celeste laughed and kissed him on the cheek.
Then they held hands, and Celeste made eye contact with me. I nodded and walked behind them.
I wore a mask, a hat, and a hood. The only thing I couldn't hide was my eye color. Well, at least the perfume I bought from the rogue did a good job of masking my scent.
I stood behind Celeste and Levi. Several parents were picking up their children, while others were letting the school bus take them home.
Liam walked out of school with his friends. I smiled at the sight of him. It seemed no one minded that he was a werewolf.
"See you tomorrow." Liam waved goodbye to his friends as they got on the school bus or were picked up by their parents or drivers.
"Mom, Levi." Liam approached us with a big smile and hugged Levi tightly. They had missed each other.
He had totally forgotten about our lunch plan. He covered his mouth, remembering he couldn’t call me by name here. Then he bowed his head at me.
We walked to the restaurant we'd been to several times. It wasn't far from Liam's kindergarten.
No one was on the road. Even cars rarely passed between the two forests. The road was still dirt, untouched by asphalt, or maybe they really meant to keep it that way.
“I want to play in that lake again.” Levi pointed to the lake we passed. I had sat there with Celeste, talking about Liam when he was a baby, and I looked at his photos. Meanwhile, Levi plays with a forest ranger.
“I’ve never been to that lake.” Liam stared at it curiously.
“We'll find time to sit there.” Celeste made a promise with her two sons.
I glanced at Celeste out of the corner of my eye. She always smiled whenever her eyes fell on her children. She was the mother every child would want.
'You know, Eiden,' my wolf said. 'A woman who genuinely cares for her children is rare, and you walked away from her before you even knew her.'
My wolf was absolutely right. Because I never thought I would be a father, I never looked for a woman who liked children.
We arrived at the restaurant fifteen minutes later, and the waiter led us to a private room. Celeste had made the reservation since I couldn’t disclose my identity.
Liam and Levi ordered their favourite dishes and also tried some other options. Celeste and I couldn't help but smile.
"You have to finish your food. Don't waste food," Celeste warned her two sons with a stern face.
"Yes, Mom." Liam and Levi nodded and answered in unison. Why do they look like twins? If you look closely, their faces are pretty similar.
The table was packed with food. Liam and Levi polished off everything on their plates. They needed a lot of energy to play.
"I'm full." Levi rubbed his belly.
"Me too." Liam nodded.
I was still stunned as they wiped the table clean. Celeste and Benedict had done a great job raising them.
“So, how’s school, Liam?” I asked. He was sitting across from me.
Liam was nervous and uncomfortable looking at me. It was okay; we had only known each other for a month.
“I memorized the numbers from one to a hundred,” Liam said. “Mrs Paul made a game today, counting from one to fifty. A lot of my friends didn’t know it, so she asked the kids who did to help them.”
“Was it fun?” Levi asked enthusiastically.
“Yeah, it was really fun,” Liam said with a wide grin, thinking about all the funny moments from the counting game.
“You’re so clever, you’ve memorized the numbers from one to one hundred.” I complimented Liam. I don't even remember when I memorized numbers.
“Liam secretly loves studying,” Celeste said. Liam blushed even more.
Liam told us about the friend sitting across from him, who kept yawning and nearly face-planted on the table because he was too sleepy to keep himself up.
His friend had stayed up late watching a movie with his older sister. Celeste advised Liam not to do the same if he didn't want to fall asleep at school.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" I raised an eyebrow, seeing Liam hesitantly looking at me.
"Uhm, that, uhm." Liam opened and closed his mouth. When his gaze met Celeste's, he found the courage to look at me and speak.
“Aren’t you busy? I thought you were away from your pack for too long.” Liam averted his eyes nervously.
His question took me aback. Did I look like someone who didn’t have a job? He was probably wondering why I wasn't like most Alphas, who were nearly impossible to meet.
“Beta Serena helps me. She tells me important things through the mind link, and I check my phone every half hour," I said, glancing at my phone on the table, which I had ignored since we sat down here.
“Why didn’t you attack the rogues?”
I pulled my head back and looked at Celeste, only to find she couldn’t believe Liam was asking that either.
“I’m just following my predecessor Alphas, who were never interested in attacking rogues or lycans, and even then, we only had two enemies. I don’t want to add more.” I shrugged.
Most Alphas follow whatever their predecessors did. If the ones before them loved war, then they’d end up obsessed with having blood on their wolf claws as well.
“Oh, Moon Goddess, Levi and I forgot the lamb sandwiches from Alpha Eiden.” Celeste panicked when she looked to her right and found two tote bags next to Liam's school backpack.
“I’ll eat it now. My stomach still has space.” Levi grabbed the tote bag and took out the sandwich, which was twice the size of his hand.
Meanwhile, Celeste shared the sandwich with Liam. They enjoyed it, ignoring their already full stomachs.
'Alpha, I just wanted to remind you that you’ve been outside the pack for over four hours,' Beta Serena said through a mind link. ‘Come back soon before Alpha Jackson becomes even more suspicious of you.’
'Okay. Thanks for reminding me, Beta Serena,' I replied.
My time with them was over. I couldn’t waste any time.
I made sure they got into their car before I faced the interrogation at Rogue Clan's border office.