I lovingly caressed my daughter’s cheek and said, “Don’t be sad. I’m sure Daddy will be back in a few days.”
Beryl pursed her lips, her eyes filling with tears. “Daddy didn’t even say goodbye to me.”
“It’s probably only because he was in such a hurry,” I immediately reassured her. “He didn’t have time to say goodbye.”
Beryl lowered her head, looking none the less dejected. “I know that Daddy didn’t do it on purpose. I don’t blame him. I’m sad because I won’t be able to see Daddy for so many days.”
After a moment’s thought, I retrieved a piece of wood the size of my palm and a small carving knife from my purse. Then I started to work.
As expected, Beryl’s attention was drawn to what I was doing.
I had learned a bit of wood carving from Warren, back when he was making the walking stick for Leonard. Later, when I took over the border pack, I would make some carvings with my children in my spare time.
It would take a lot of time to carve out a human figure with fine details, so I settled for a rough outline of Rufus’ face, taking care to make his expression more defined.
“Mommy!” Beryl exclaimed. “Did you carve Daddy’s face?”
“Just a rough version. I’ll make you a better one when I have the time.” I blew the wood chippings from the block and took out a handkerchief to wipe the carving clean. Soon enough, we were staring at Rufus’ wooden likeness.
I couldn’t help but frown, though. It didn’t really resemble Rufus that much. The hairstyle was somewhat the same, but the rest of his features were quite… different.
Even so, my daughter was pleased with it. She held the wood carving in her hands and laughed with joy. “Now, Daddy can be with me all the time!”
As long as she was happy, I was happy as well. I patted Beryl’s head and asked, “Are you still sad?”
She shook her head and gave me a toothy grin. “I’m not sad anymore.”
“Then let’s go home to your Grandma.” I made quick work of packing up my belongings. By the time I was done, my daughter was already waiting for me with her small backpack.
She liked to be carried on the back lately, so I obliged and carried her all the way back to the Laura’s palace.
When we arrived, Laura had already prepared dinner. Beryl tossed her schoolbag on the sofa and rushed into the dining room.
Just then, Laura emerged from a side hall with two exquisite masks in her hands. “You came just in time,” she greeted me. “I’ve asked someone to prepare these gorgeous masks for you. You should stop wearing the weird ones that you have, or Beryl might reject you in the future.”
I thanked her before asking about Rufus’ sudden departure.
When Laura replied, her tone was serious. “There was an attack. No one could explain what happened, exactly, but many werewolves died. Rufus initially sent soldiers to look into it, but they eventually lost contact. That, in itself, was alarming. Then last night, Blair told him that they have caught some spies. Rufus began to suspect that all these things were related to the vampires. He thought it was best that he went there and see the matter for himself.”
“Did he take his men with him?” I asked, a little worried.
“Don’t worry about it. There shouldn’t be any problem. Rufus is powerful, and he will be within the werewolves’ turf. Even if the vampires did have something to do with this, they aren’t stupid enough to act brash in the enemy’s territory.” Laura patted my arm in a gesture of comfort.
I took some relief in her words. She was right-at the moment, no one else could compete with Rufus in terms of strength. I knew he would prevail. Unless, perhaps, if the vampires and the black witches banded together to lay siege on the werewolves.
Crystal’s POV
In the following two days since Rufus had left the imperial palace, nothing significant had happened. As for me, I only needed to go to the kindergarten in the morning. My son and I would then spend the rest of the day in our own palace, or go and pay Laura a visit.
Today, it snowed. Arron and I decided not to go out. Instead, we sat in front of the fireplace and ate roasted sweet potatoes.
“This is yummy. I’m sure Beryl will like it.” Arron blew at his sweet potato.
“Mommy will send some to your sister and grandmother later,” I said as I took a big bite of my own sweet potato, and then put another piece into my son’s plate.
Just then, a knock came at the door.
I put the food down and put on my mask before going to open the door. Flora stood at my doorstep, along with the rest of the bunch. They each held big grocery bags.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, puzzled by their sudden visit.
“The parade is over. We are leaving soon.” Flora put her bags down and took my hands. She rubbed them for a while before pulling me into a tight hug.
“You’re leaving? Why don’t you stay for a few more days?” I didn’t want them to leave this soon. I had yet to spend some quality time with Flora and the others.
“There’re a lot of things back at the pack waiting for us to deal with,” Warren said. “I’m afraid we can’t stay any longer.”
“What about you two? Are you also leaving?” I looked at Joanna and Harry.
Harry nodded with a resigned expression. He leaned against Joanna’s shoulder and said, “Yes. My father ordered me to be home by tomorrow, or he will freeze all my assets.”
“I see. In that case, you should go.”
Harry hadn’t been with his pack in a long time. Martin had a short temper, so he should be running out of patience by now.
“And Joanna is going with you?” I asked again.
Harry became sullen. “No, she’s not coming with me.” With that, he turned away from her and strode inside. He plopped on the sofa in a sulk.
Joanna sighed and shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “I’ll come to you as soon as I finish dealing with the affairs back in my pack.”
“I know,” Harry muttered under his breath. “I’m not mad or anything. I understand that you have your own matters to take care of, and I respect that.”
Joanna and I exchanged a look, and I know that we both found Harry’s little tantrum funny.
“I know, why don’t we hold a farewell party?” I suggested.
Rufus wasn’t around, so no one was going to stop us from doing it.
“Way ahead of you!” Flora chirped. She then produced two bottles of red wine from one of the bags. She flashed me a devilish grin. “We also brought a ton of food. Let’s get hammered tonight!” Harry let out a whoop, and then proceeded to take out some decorations and presents from the other bags. He had even prepared a gift for my daughter even though she wasn’t here. He diligently handed them out one by one.
We spent a short while decorating the living room and filling the table with wine and food.
Outside the window, the snow kept falling. We sat around the fireplace, eating snacks and drinking wine, and reminiscing about funny times in the past. Arron and Lucas stayed, and while they couldn’t understand most of the things the adults talked about, they listened carefully and also giggled along when we laughed.
We drank like we were practically begging for a hangover. Despite this, Flora and the others woke up early the next day and prepare to head out of the imperial capital. Their respective cars were already waiting to chauffeur them away. Harry, Flora, and Warren left together, as their packs were located adjacent to one another. Joanna, on the other hand, left by herself.
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