Chapter 143

I had hardly gotten any sleep before my mother walked in at 5 a.m., determined to talk me out of going to the East. I even took a shower and started packing, and two hours later she was still in my room, still trying.

"Are you nervous?" Lucy asked, sitting at the edge of my bed, looking extremely worried. "It's okay to be nervous, Astrid—especially considering your father won't be around. You don't have to do this." She sighed softly. She had been against this whole thing from the start. "And it's your little brother's first birthday."

I did feel bad about missing little Belemy's first birthday, but I did not feel bad about doing this. My mother had encouraged me to step up not so long ago, and now that I was actually doing the stepping up, she was acting like I was about to walk straight into hell.

"Mother, I will be fine. I am not eighteen anymore, and besides, it's not like I'm going there all by myself. I'm going with the best warriors in the pack, and I can take care of myself—you know that."

She sighed again. "I just don't feel right about this, my child."

"I know, Mother. But trust me, I will be fine. I might even be back in time for my little brother's birthday if all goes well," I said, folding my last T-shirt and placing it into my bag.

My mother stood up and pulled me into a tight hug. "Say goodbye to your father before you leave. He might act like this doesn't bother him, but it really does," she said before heading out.

Ayla walked in moments later. "Well, I guess your mother's mission to convince you to stay didn't work so well."

I smiled, shaking my head. "She worries too much."

"Are you ready? The cars are waiting," she said, watching me as I lifted my large bag.

I nodded as we walked out. My father was waiting by one of the black SUVs, dressed in all black—the Alpha Alexander in all his glory. I smiled at him before giving him a big hug. We rarely did all that mushy stuff, but this felt like one of those moments.

"Goodbye, Father."

He rubbed my back softly. "Be safe, my little princess," he said quietly, so quietly I almost didn't hear him.

I smiled. Despite everything, I was still his little princess, and it melted my heart. I got into the vehicle and sat next to Ayla. I looked out the window, watching as the large mansion—some called it a castle—faded into the distance.

Snow began to fall again, and I realized how much I was going to miss it. I had fallen in love with my home—the North, the cold, the beautiful skies, my father's dark halls, and the library that felt like a cave. Somehow, all of it brought me warmth because it was home.

When I was younger, I called it a prison and daydreamed about the day my mate would come and whisk me away. I shook my head and scoffed internally. Boy, was I wrong. The world wasn't like the fairy tales I used to read. The real world was dark.

"You good?" Ayla nudged me. Her emerald-green eyes watched me closely, her jet-black bob peeking out from under the beanie she was wearing.

I nodded. "Yeah. I was just thinking about how much I'm going to miss my room."

She smirked. "You and me both. They're going to make us share rooms as usual—or worse, we'll be sleeping in tents."

Zalem, who was driving, smiled as he glanced at us through the rearview mirror. "Just leave it to Ayla to think of the worst possible scenarios."

"I'm just saying, this is the East we're talking about. Haven't you heard the stories from people who've been there before?" she replied matter-of-factly.

Sam, sitting in the passenger seat, raised an eyebrow at his brother. "I mean, she's not wrong. They say they don't welcome outsiders into their living spaces. Their culture is very different from most."

I frowned. Staying in a tent would be a first for me, but it wasn't really a big deal.

When we got to the airport, my father's jet was already waiting. I remembered the stories he used to tell me when I was little—about how, back in the day before he met my mother, nothing used to fly except birds because of the wars between humankind and our kind. He said the world was so dark it was hunt or be hunted. Nothing moved in the streets. Humans hid while the beasts—as they called us—roamed nearby.

The flight took about nine hours. When we arrived, it was already dark, and six men were waiting for us on the runway. I looked around as we stepped off the jet. No snow—just a pitch-black night sky. I could already feel myself overheating in my large woolen hoodie and jacket, so I immediately took them off.

Ayla sighed with a big smile on her face. "Would you look at that... no snow. And you can actually see the sky."

I smiled at her. It really wasn't the worst feeling not having white snow around. "Yeah, it's kind of cool."

"Kind of?" she said in disbelief. "Girl, we only ever see this back home like—never."

"Never is an exaggeration," I said with a smile, watching Asher, Chase, and his second-in-command discussing something with the six men dressed in red—some kind of military uniform, I guessed.

Ayla scowled at me. "Stop being negative," she said as she followed the men who had started moving. Asher had signaled for us to follow.

"I said it was cool!" I called out, shaking my head with a laugh.

She turned her head while still walking ahead of me. "YOU SAID KINDA!"

I laughed, and Chase scoffed. "Dramatic much?" he called out to her.

I smiled. That's Ayla for you.

We got into the vehicles waiting for us—white omnibuses. As I settled into my seat, I couldn't shake the disturbing feeling in the pit of my stomach, like something was waiting for me ahead. Something that didn't feel good at all.

I took a deep breath and told myself to relax.

It was just nerves.