CHAPTER 231: STORM BREWING

Jared kept his word. The very next day, Felix’s ’missing’ status had been withdrawn. He must have taken care of it as soon as he returned to the Moonhill Pack, even though he must have been tired after the long drive, and from the torment he had suffered from the curse.

Not that Felix felt any sympathy for him or anything, not at all. He was simply glad that the Alpha at least finally understood his place in relation to the Bloodmoon Pack. As for how it would work out long term, Felix didn’t know... But he didn’t want to think about it, at least not for now. He had been stressing over his situation and the future for so long that it was taking a toll on him, and he was mentally exhausted. It’s not like overthinking everything could help him prepare anyway, so he just focused on his day-to-day life and Vivi.

Aside from a short notice informing Einar that Felix’s status issue had been settled, though, there were no other reports from Jared. No information about Felix’s father, whether he had been notified of the situation or what he was planning to do. Well, that was to be expected - Felix had been ’missing’ for so long, and yet, Wilder hadn’t gotten involved yet. He probably wasn’t keeping in touch with the Moonhill Pack regularly. Perhaps Jared didn’t even have a reliable way of contacting him.

It was what it was. Felix wasn’t particularly concerned. Although he wanted some answer from that father of his, it wasn’t anything he urgently needed. If he ended up never finding out, then that would be fine as well - he felt absolutely no need to understand Wilder’s motives. And no matter what excuses the Alpha had for what he had done to his mother, or for the arrangements he had made for Felix to become Jared’s mate, he had no intention of forgiving him, nor did he want to patch up their relationship.

Jared’s visit had changed something, though. That is, the way that the Bloodmoon Pack members were looking at him. While Jared had stayed in the guest house for the whole duration of his stay (for obvious reasons), the news that the leader of the Moonhill Pack visited and attended a meeting with the leader and the Luna had spread. Then, a few days later, people noticed that Felix’s ’missing’ report had disappeared from all the werewolf notice boards online. Of course, the pack members were not stupid - most of them understood that Felix’s past was still fishy...

But now, Felix had a legitimate identity. Perhaps not the most glorious one, but as the only child of a former leader of a medium-sized pack, who had managed to gain some renown in his leader days, he could be considered to have origins respectable enough to be worthy of becoming Kade’s mate. Barely, but still. It wouldn’t bring any shame on the Bloodmoon Pack if he did end up with their heir.

That was what everyone understood. However, while the general consensus was that Felix was ’somewhat worthy’ of the position of Kade’s future Luna and mate... The reactions to it still varied. The pack members who had no interest in pursuing the position for themselves or their relatives, or were too low-ranking within the pack to have a genuine chance to succeed, started treating Felix with a bit more respect. Now that his origins had been legitimized, the chances of him becoming Luna increased, so they didn’t want to risk getting on his bad side, even if they weren’t quite ready to support him just yet. The pack members who were eyeing the position of the Luna, on the other hand...

Well, it went without saying that their dislike for Felix only intensified.

Of course, things didn’t blow out immediately. Rather, it was just a slow shift. The unease among some of the pack members, especially the young, eligible Omegas, was growing day by day... And Felix could sense it, in their glances, in their whispers, in the way they carried themselves, even in their scent... Even if nothing had happened just yet, there was a storm brewing.

Which is why, when Lyla suddenly approached him in the dining room during lunch, he was instantly alert.

"Hi, do you mind if we join you?" she asked, smiling at him sweetly.

Naturally, Felix DID mind. It was lunchtime, so as usual, he was eating alone, with only Vivi next to him. It would be one thing if he were with Kade or Cael, or even Fen, when the other men could take the Omegas’ attention away from him, or keep them under control, but when he was alone, he would have to handle the situation on his own.

Still, he returned the smile. "Of course not," he lied smoothly. "Please, sit down."

It was bothersome, and he didn’t like it, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t handle it. And he would much rather know what those Omegas were up to, rather than just dismiss them coldly.

Even if he knew that whatever they wanted from him, it couldn’t possibly be anything good.

Lyla nodded at the rest of her group, and they all came flocking with their trays, taking seats at the reserved table, and surrounding Felix from all sides. Lyla herself took a seat right opposite him, from where she could meet his eyes.

"How are you finding our pack house so far?" she asked, starting the conversation.

It seemed like a normal, polite question. It hadn’t been that long since Felix had moved in, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for her, the Bloodmoon Pack member with a relatively high status, to be curious how he was settling in. If it came from someone else, like Cael or Fen, it would have been a considerate question...

But with Lyla, it could be a trick question. So, Felix answered strategically, "I like it very much, thanks for asking."

"Oh, do you?" Lyla put on a look of surprise on her face, bringing her hand to her mouth. "You don’t need to lie to me. We’re in the same pack now. If you don’t like something, you can be honest about it!"

As expected, she was fishing for Felix to make some wrong remarks.