"HOW MANY days do we have to wait, Joaquin?" Penelope pinched Michael's tail before letting the kid go. She grinned upon hearing the children's raucous laugh on the river. "I hate to leave them alone but I have to check on my pack first."

"Have you thought this thoroughly?" Joaquin winced when a splash of water hits his face. "I think I can compromise if this bothers you so much. We can live in your pack."


"No. We'll risk not just your safety but theirs too. We have to live somewhere else with few people who knows you. Once I saw that they are in a good condition, I'll talk to Beatrix and ask for a dismissal."

"Seems like I can't really change your mind, Pen."

She raised a brow and mocked him, "As if you can really live with them. You, an anti-social man."


"Not anti-social. I love children."

'Then, does that mean you won't mind having kids with me?' Penelope closed her mouth and decided to not pursue the matter this early. They had decided to claim their bites later in the evening. Penelope's mind has been running wild since then. She's been trying to distract herself from the inappropriate thoughts but it only leads to another fake scenarios in her mind.


"You think Lance is going to be alright?"

Penelope hugged Joaquin's back. They were both seated at the side of the small river. "I hope nothing will go bad. Why did we send him away again?"

"Getting that assassin's ass right in here is a good idea rather than tiptoeing around the mountain. He's Lance's fated mate. And that cousin of mine is one persistent and egoistic son of an elf. He won't back down 'til the other party bare his neck first. That's the type of person Lance is. And he won't betray me. He took an oath. He'll die even before he can pull the trigger on my head."

"You sound pretty sure."

Joaquin nodded. "I've known him for ten years but sometimes I feel as though I've known him since the time I was born. He has never let me down even if he had that attitude. He never failed. The mating pull affects him but it's weaker than what I had expected. Other than sweating so much and spitting bad words, there's no particular change worth taking a note."

"You're right. Is he an elf?"

Joaquin stretched his legs. His bare upper-body warm and dependable under Penelope's arms. "I'm not sure. Father said he's my Guardian. And those guardians I know were all elves and fairies. He won't tell me what magic shifter Lance is. All he had told me was that Lance is my nanny, and that I shouldn't treat him that good."

"Huh…" Penelope scratched Joaquin's arms lightly. "Your father is something."

"He doesn't care about me." Joaquin sighed. "Maybe he's the reason why Lance survived. Well, you see, for him, taking care of me is a lot tiring than reviving a person."

"I take that you two didn't have a good relationship?" Penelope comforted Joaquin's waist. "It's okay. All parents are like that. They all don't want to stick around—"

"He should. There's only the two of us. Only two blue wolves in this lifetime and all that he knows about it, he doesn't want to pass it down to me." Joaquin smiled wanly. "I'm a big guy now. I don't need him to live. Supporting myself is not a problem. It's just that, I hate it when I see him."

"That's not good. Holding a grudge was never good for all types of wolves, sweetheart."

"I hate it when I still feel like I should make him proud after everything." He squinted. "I wish I could have meet you sooner."

Penelope inhaled deeply. She thought for a second then considered telling Joaquin about her childhood.

"When I was little, my mom used to hate me so much." She started, "You see, not an alpha female and not even a rare omega. I'm the average beta that this world never lacks. Not a limited edition—not something that my mom could be bragging about. Not even my dad's trophy in life. That's why even if I was the eldest, I was the biggest disappointment."

All of the toddlers went out for a run in their rabbit form. Only the one's with Michael's age were left for soaking.

"My parents' relationship became strained because of me. You see, they are not Fate Mated. They married because they have expectations for each other and not with love. And my birth was the biggest strike."

"Pen…" Joaquin shifted. Penelope lost her balance for a moment. And in just a few seconds, she found herself seated on his lap. "Don't move. Keep talking."

"There are kids!"

"Ugh! They are smooching again!" Michael scrunched his nose. "Ew!"

"They love each other. That's what parents do."

"So does that mean they are parents already?"

Joaquin shook Penelope in his arms. "Keep talking."

She rolled her eyes and continues, "When I was three, my sister came. She's a rare omega. The princess of the house. She came at the time that our family took a nosedive down the mud in business. They treated her birth as a new start in life. I was instantly forgotten."

"…well, Nathalie was good in school. She's bright and articulate. But since she's an omega, there were a lot of alpha wolves who wanted to be paired up with her. It was in my highschool years when I found out that my parents set a date for her wedding. Nathalie was so happy, that was I thought. For me, the news was nothing. So I carried on like it's just a normal everyday news."

"It was until I saw Nathalie smoking with some random guys that I knew she's not a princess like my parents likes to delude themselves."

Penelope's teeth rattled in anger. "The next thing I knew, she called off her wedding to that famous businessman to elope with a mob. I don't know when did they started seeing each other but my parents' despair is what shocked me so much."

"Why is that?" Joaquin kissed her forehead.

Penelope's eyes warmed. "They blamed me because I didn't do my duty as an elder sister. They only remembered me when they had no one else to take the blame."