24

When they were done eating to their hearts' content, Magnolia footed the pill and even tipped the waiter who thanked her gratefully.
Now that they were outside the restaurant building, Lavana found that the little one was rather latched to Magnolia.

"Who's her big sister? Maggie or me?" she thought.

"2nd big sis, where are we going next." Beatrix swayed Magnolia's hand from side to side.

"So you still put me in your eyes, Beatrix." Lavana couldn't help but speak.

"Big sis..." Beatrix ran over to her and hugged her leg.

"What now? You already have a new big sis."

"Come on, big sis. Don't be like this. Can we visit her place?" she said.

"Eh? What did you say?" Lavana looked at Magnolia who simply smiled 'innocently'.

"Maggie, what did you bribe her with?"

"Er... Does a super-duper plushie of her choice, a visit to the amusement park and delicious food like the one we just consumed.... do all these things count as a... bribe?" Magnolia asked, while adjusting her glasses.

"Seriously? You sold yourself to her over those things?"

"Big sis, do you know what an amusement pack is, you know how beautiful plushies are? Well, even you can't resist delicious food. A thief shouting 'thief!'."

"You..."

"Lava, look, you're just visiting my place for a while until you two figure things out. It's actually a win-win situation for you guys. Come on."

"I'll be allowed to leave whenever I want with my little sis, without any barriers." Lavana stated her condition.

"Yes, Lavana. And I guarantee, you'll like my family." Magnolia said with a big smile.

"I agree to check out your place. If it's safe, then we'll stay. But we'll do the chores as a thank you. Don't like freeloading." Lavana compromised.

Yeah, she did promise to get Beatrix back home in one piece but she couldn't even take care of her while they hadn't found her home. Here, a she-wolf wants to take them in. In this life, one has to bite the bullet sometimes.
However, if Magnolia turns out to be an evil person, freezing or burning her to death would be justified and she'd escape with the little one.

Magnolia smiled at Lavana's acceptance but she saw that Lavana's eyes were giving warning signs. Seems her guard against her was still high. It was normal for a lonely Omega like her not to simply trust anyone. Maybe she was even on the run and then was scared that she Magnolia might be a spy sent by her enemy or something.
But she knew herself. She was no spy. 
Just a normal she-wolf looking out for a stray wolf and her little sis.


Maybe after she sees her small family, maybe she'll drop her guard a little. When she went to foot the bill earlier, she asked Beatrix to go with her. In the short time they spent in private, she was able to convince the little girl that she wasn't a bad lady. At least, they should come to try and see for themselves.

At the mention of the beautiful things a little girl like her would love, she already gave in. Now at least the big sister has agreed to follow them, at least on the outside. They left the restaurant and headed to the parking lot.
Some few minutes later, they were all in the car and Magnolia drove out of the premises.
*
*
*


3 hours later, they drove into the woods along a man-made neat path.
"Miss Maggie, your home is in the woods?" Beatrix couldn't help but ask.

"Yup. We are werewolves. I don't think the humans would feel safe knowing there are some gigantic wolves in a particular house. The forest is good for hiding our secrets and also a good place to stretch our legs. The air here is top quality and the chances of a human finding out our truth is 0.1%. Basically, all shifter races feel at home in the forest but it depends on them, though."

"Oh." Beatrix stopped asking.

Magnolia thought about why Beatrix was so ignorant. Though she was little and there was about a decade left before she shifted, at least she should know the fact that werewolves have to be in the forest.

Now that she thought about it, these two didn't look alike in any way. Probably they escaped together from the old pack and swore to be sisters forever.
Finally, after another 10 minutes of driving, they saw a very huge clearing along with some nice houses separated from each other at a considerable gap.

There were 4 muscled men (one of who had curly, pale green hair)standing guard at the entrance of the gate. The fence was not too high and this was why Lavana and Beatrix were able to see the houses. These four tan-skinned men were holding either spears or swords, every ready in case of a sudden attack, which was unlikely to happen each day. Their upper body was nude and their solid packs and firm muscles were there for one to see.

Their job was to guard the pack. They shifted every 5 hours to allow a set to either rest or train their prowess further.

Magnolia got out of the car and a little boy ran out of a house excitedly.

"Aunt Maggie. Aunt Maggie!" he squealed.

"Son!" a lady came out of the house together with 4 adults- two males and females.

"Aunt Maggie, you're back. I missed you." the boy said as he hugged her thigh, refusing to let go.

The adults walked over to Magnolia and just smiled.

"You finally remember that we are alive, eh?" one of the ladies said.

"Er... It's not my fault. I had some fun, more than the day I planned on going away for."

At this moment, Beatrix got down from the car and closed the door, attracting the attention of the others.

"Oh my. Such a pretty girl." the boy with red hair and green eyes exclaimed. His eyes were sparkling. A beautiful playmate has being delivered right next to his door. How could he not jubiliate?
He ran to her and introduced himself.
"Hello, I'm pedro. Nice to meet you. Do you want to be my playmate? I promise, I'm a fun person."
he took her hand and swayed it from side to side.

"Ahem... don't scare her." Maggie chided.
"No, I'm not." Pedro defended.
"Pedro, I'm Beatrix and I'm glad to meet you. You have nice hair." said Beatrix with a giggle.
"Really! Thank you. Thank you." the little boy replied in excitement.

"See that boy? I told him several times that his hair was good looking and not once did he say thank you."
"Aunt Gina, I told you thank you."
"But you only said it once." Regina said with folded arms.
Pedro sighed.
How could his aunt Gina, a big adult be jealous because he said thank you to a beautiful girl twice?
"Wait, Maggie, who else is in the car. I smell wolf." said Rolandro.
"Uh? Someone else is in the car? Is it another beautiful playmate?" Pedro asked. If that was true, then it's an added bonus.
"Yeah, I do smell a wolf. An Omega to be precise." Mel said. The others felt the same way.
If it was a shifted Omega, then it means she wasn't some little playmate that Pedro was expecting. Nevertheless, they were curious to see her. Why didn't she come out when Beatrix did? Was she shy?

Magnolia walked over to Lavana's side and opened the door.
"Oh, honey. Are you shy? Come on, don't be. I told you we are a family, didn't I? Come, let's go see my family." she said in a soothing voice and Lavana sighed.
"Come on, you'll be fine. See, Beatrix is fine, isn't she?"

At this point, Lavana decided to also come out. Even though she hated being in a pack due to the bad memories but at least this one was small and she kinda had the warm feeling in her heart when she got here.

"Hello everyone." she waved. "I'm called Lavana, Lava for short." she greeted with the smile she could pull up.
Everyone could see how skinny she was compared to Beatrix and they began to think what tragic backstory she had. Although Omegas are a weaker wolf kind, but it doesn't mean that have to be slim say less of being so skinny like this young lady before them.
She made them want to surround her and protect her. Despite her malnourished look, her beauty was still showing. If she is nurtured back to health, damn! How many heads would she turn?
Since she was here, they were going to keep her and pamper her.

Pedro, when he heard uncle Mel mention that the person inside was an Omega, his mind returned to that day when the innocent Omega lady got killed by those damn vampires all in a bid to save him. She was successful in saving him but she got killed and her body was taken away by more than one vampire. He was blaming himself a lot but he recalled that soon, her statue would be made and erected in the pack soon. 
Then he can sit by her side.

He curiously watched the lady alight from the car and walk over from the other side of the car to the spot where everyone could see her and then she greeted.
His eyes widened in shock, then they reddened.
"Miss..." he exclaimed and ran toward her. Reaching her in no time, he hugged her thigh.
"Miss... you are alive. You are alive." he cried.
His reaction stunned everyone.
What was happening?

Lavana was surprised as to why a little boy would hug her thigh and cry.
Thinking back to when she was alone in the forest, the first innocent person she met and saved was a boy. Remembering his hair color, she gasped and squatted to his level.
She could see his face well now.
This was the boy that she saved that day. He made it. Thank heavens!
Her eyes teared up.
"I'm glad you're okay now, Pedro." she said with emotion.
She'd heard his name when he introduced himself excitedly to Beatrix earlier.

"I'm sorry. We couldn't come on time. I swear I really ran fast that night. But I wasn't fast enough, I guess." he sniffed with 
"No, honey, you did your best. You helped a lot by running to safety. Don't I see you here in one piece now? I'm also in one piece too." she said and brought him into a warm hug.

She was right to take a gamble that night. Though it wasn't easy for her but in life, you need to be brave.
This little boy reminded her of her late playmate, Austin Cararner. He would have been as big as her now if he were still alive. If that bastard Alpha Blake didn't come to claim their lives for no just reason. 
 She patted Pedro's back gently.
Seeing this, the two couples had a hunch. This must be the Omega lady who put her life on the line to save their little boy that night in the forest.
Her statue was due to be delivered in two days; to be erected in the pack and now she was here in the flesh! How miraculous. Now their son would no longer be so moody and crying; feeling guilty for causing someone's premature death. She was alive and hugging the boy. Haha, this is great.

They walked to her and all went to their knees.
Then they kowtowed.
"Eh? What are you guys doing?" Magnolia asked in shock at their strange actions.

Did they want to scare this Lavana (who she tried hard to convince and bring here) away? What the heck was going on in their brains? Had they lost it?
"Stop this and stand up," she said to them but they kept kowtowing.
"Thank you for saving, Pedro." Rolandro said after they stopped kowtowing.
Lavana saw he had red hair just like Pedro, so this must be his father. He was a carbon copy of him. The lady next to him must be his wife then and Pedro's mother. The other two should be pack members who are close to the boy.
"Er... please get up. I can't accept your bowing to me." Lavana said, looking flustered.