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Lavana simply waved with a smile while still holding Beatrix's hand.

"That couldn't be Lavana, right?"

"Dad, of course, that's her. Who else does Beatrix listen to easily?"

"My gosh! I can't just believe it. I knew she was pretty before but I never knew that she was this..."

"Hello, grandpa Robert." Lavana greeted as she and her little sis headed their way.

"Lavana... is..."

"It's me indeed, grandpa. How do I look?"

"You are amazing." a female pack member answered.

"Thank you." Lavana laughed and then spent some minutes chatting with them before walking away with Beatrix.

They headed back to their room and both had a better look at the things Carmelia bought for them.

"Big sis, if you wear this, my brother's gonna wanna marry you instantly."

"We both have such intentions but until we fulfil our goals. Then we'll have a grand marriage."

"I'm looking forward to it. I can't imagine how you'll look in a wedding dress. Hehe, I'll be the little bride and maybe, Pedro can be the ring bearer."

"Eish! Don't get ahead of yourself. When things are settled you can even imagine how many nephews and nieces you'll get from us." Lavana chuckled.

*****

Reaching home, Carmelia saw her husband wasn't at home and decided to do some chores in the house. Pedro wasn’t home either. Probably with his dad or the pack’s children. Before Beatrix came, he liked to seclude himself. But now he can somewhat open up and manage with them even with Beatrix not around.

Not long after, the door opened and her husband came in.

“Welcome honey.” She greeted him with a kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you, Mimi.” He reciprocated the kiss on her cheek too.

“How was your trip with the girls?”

“It was good. And if you were to see Lavana now, you wouldn’t believe it’s her.”

“I heard some sagas about it just now. I even saw the picture on someone’s screen. Yeah, she looks really different but still familiar.”

“Indeed. If her old and new versions stood before someone, he might not believe they are the same individual.”

“Yup,” Rolandro nodded with a smile.

“There’s something I also detected.”

“Er… what did you notice?”

“She… She has a tattoo on her back. The pink tattoo of a wolf.”

“She has a tattoo before?”

“No, she doesn’t. The tattoo even reaches the back of her neck. She herself acknowledged that she didn’t have it even before we left for the trip.”

“Really? That’s bizarre. If it’s frankly what you’re saying that means the tattoo appeared on her back.”

Carmelia nodded. “Indeed! And she is even confused as to how it happened. What does it mean?”

“I’ll have to ask Grandpa Robert. If he doesn’t know, then that means we’ll have to do research.”

“How much time is there to do so? You guys are leaving tomorrow, remember?”

“I haven’t forgotten that. Well, it hasn’t caused her any problems yet. Let’s leave it for now. If it appeared it could mean the moon goddess has blessed her.”

“Blessed who?” the door suddenly opened and Mel came in.

“We’re both talking about Lavana. Carmelia says there’s a tattoo at her back up to her neck. A wolf tattoo.”

“Really?” Mel’s eyes widened in surprise.

Both nodded.

“What expression was the wolf making.”

“You mean the wolf tattoo?” Rolandro asked and his friend nodded.

“I think it had no expression but the eyes… were that of calm or indifference with a little threat in them.”

“Should we ask her about it?” Mel asked.

“No. She doesn’t know how it appeared on her back. My husband and I just concluded that maybe it’s the moon goddess blessing.”

“Apart from that, there’s another reason why one would have such a tattoo.”

“Why?” Carmelia asked.

“A descendant of an Alpha. But not all carry it. Only the chosen heir does. Lavana is an Omega but her strength establishes that her late father must have been an Alpha.” Mel elucidated.

Carmelia gasped. “So that means…”

“If everything goes well, she should be our Alpha; she carries an Alpha’s blood,” Mel finalised.

“Alright. When we embark on the journey, we’ll find a way to teach her more. But we shouldn’t put pressure on her. She just has a Beta’s strength. An Alpha wolf is still many times wiser and stronger than her.” Rolandro reminded and the others agreed.

…

Meanwhile, Lavana and Beatrix were practising a few moves in their room when they heard a knock on the window.

Beatrix opened it and they saw Peter. Beatrix quickly ran back to Lavana who put her arms around her.

“ You… why are you here again?” Lavana asked.

“I have a name. I’m Peter Atlantes,” he stated.

“I know that alright! I’m asking what are you here for?” Lavana snapped.

“Erm…” Peter scaled the window and walked over to Lavana. But he kept some distance between them and then suddenly dropped to his knees.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Lavana asked in bafflement.

“Peter seeks your forgiveness for he has erred seriously against you. I take back all the nasty words that I said.” Peter then kowtowed.

Lavana sighed and told him to rise but he didn’t budge.

“Peter seeks your forgiveness.”

“It’s okay. I forgive you. Is that okay?”

“Mete out your punishment and this one will believe.”

“Must I punish you to show I’ve forgiven you?” Lavana looked at Beatrix and asked: “Is that your tradition?”

The little one vigorously shook her head. Lavana then looked at Peter again and sighed.

“I forgive you and no, I don’t want to penalise you.”

“Sister-in-law, you have to punish me the way you see appropriate or he’ll not let me off,” Peter said desperately.

“Oh,” Lavana nodded in realisation with a smile. “Phoenix wants me to punish you? He’s so sweet. Alright, I’ll do as he says. Your eyes are so eager just like a puppy. How about this? I punish you to bark cutely like a puppy.”

“That…” Peter showed reticence.

“If you don’t like it, you can let me borrow your staff for 3 months.”

“Eh?” his eyes widened in shock. What was she saying? Take away his beloved staff for 3 months? Can he even do a day without it? No, that’s not an option!

“That… That… is there no third option?” he asked with a quivering voice.

“Of course there is. You’re my brother-in-law so there’ll be a third option for you.” Lavana smiled wickedly. “Care to know?”

“I… Yes!”

“Good. Your third option…” Lavana turned to Beatrix. “I’ll let her decide.” she then sat on the bed.

“Eh? You let me decide?”Beatrix asked in surprise and her big sis nodded with a smile.

“Ok!” the little one rubbed her palms. “You feel the other 2 options are not good for you so you can’t go back to them. You can only accept this third option.”

Peter nodded while praying his sister would be kind to him as he was her kin.

“Go ahead,” he said with a small voice.

“You should meow like a cat seeking attention.”

“Eh?” Peter couldn’t believe his eyes. Did Beatrix just say that?”

“Ahem…” Lavana cleared her throat.

“My little sis…”

“She’s still my sister.”

“Beatrix, do you know him?”

“I only know Phoenix.” Beatrix sat on the bed and hugged Lavana’s tummy.

“See? She already decided what you should do. Better do it. You have 2 minutes to prepare though.”

“This… This..” Peter was still hesitant. How could he do that?

Suddenly, Phoenix appeared dressed in his wizard robes.

“Hey, mate.” Lavana waved.

Phoenix walked to the bed and sat beside her. “Girl, you look so beautiful,” he telepathed. Then he planted a kiss on her cheek.

“Kiss me back,” he said with a smile, pointing at his cheek.

“Er…” Lavana was at a loss for words.

“Hello, I’m still here. Eldest brother, you came over but didn’t give me a kiss.”

“Jealousy isn’t good,” Phoenix replied.

“Hmph!” Beatrix folded her arms.

“Alright, let me compromise.” Phoenix rose and walked to his little sister. Then he bent over and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“That’s better.” Beatrix finally smiled and unfolded her arms.

Phoenix straightened his body and suddenly carried Lavana unawares.

“Hey!”

“Why are you scared? I just want to sit.” he asked ‘innocently’.

“But…But there’s enough space on the bed!”

“I want both of us to sit together.”

“We can sit on the bed,'“ Lavana said with a red face.

“Okay.”

Instead of putting her down as she’d expected, he sat on the bed and placed her on his lap.

“This…” Lavana’s face reddened even more.

“What happened, why is your face red?” he asked.

“You’re a bully.” she covered her face.

Phoenix looked at Beatrix and his brother. “How am I a bully? I placed her somewhere more comfortable than the bed.”

His siblings rolled their eyes.

‘What an excuse!’ they thought.

“Lavie honey, I’m not a bully. I’d never bully you. I’m doing this for your own good.” he said with all seriousness.

“My own good my foot!” Lavana complained after putting down her hands. She tried to get off to no avail.

“Mate, don’t be in such a hurry to get back to the dangerous thing. I’m sitting in danger and protecting you.”

“What kind of excuse is this, Phoenix? Look, little Beatrix is also seated on the dangerous thing. Why don’t you save her too?” Lavana complained.
”It’s not dangerous for kids or anyone else at the moment. But for you, it is. Besides…” he leaned closer to her ears. “I wanna feel your butt too. The bed shouldn’t be the only one. I have the exclusive right.”

“You…” she pointed at him but he dropped her hand down.

“Hey, a little girl’s here!” Beatrix reminded.

“I know,” Phoenix replied, placing a kiss on Lavana’s cheek.

“Another kiss for my mate.”

“Please, before you play love, can we continue with Peter’s punishment?” Beatrix said with folded arms.

“Oh that. What did you punish him to do?” Phoenix asked his mate but she pointed at the little one.

“Meow like an attention-seeking cat,” Beatrix replied.

“Okay. I see Peter’s shy to do so. You can just go to dad, invite him to a corner and do the act for 3 minutes. Then you can return whenever you’re done. I’m making it easy for you. Are you grateful?” Phoenix asked with a smile that sent chills down Peter’s spine.

“Er… I’m 1000% prepared to do it here. I'm a pro. Conditions mean nothing. Haha,” Peter laughed dryly.

“Then do it now, big brother,” Beatrix said with a mocking face.

Peter sighed and rose.

“Ever seen a cat on two legs? Nah, I’m not talking about circus cats.” Phoenix reminded.

“Hehe, I’ll do it properly.”

“It’s fine, Phoenix. Let him go. I’ve forgiven him. And no, don’t touch him.” Lavana said to her mate.

“I won’t.” he raised his hands in surrender.
Peter quickly thanked Lavana and was about to flee, only for Phoenix to stop him.

“Take Beatrix with you,” he said.

“Eh? Why?”

“Do it!”

“Fine!” Peter carried his little sis. His sceptre appeared in a horizontal position, levitating. He sat on it while placing his sister on his lap.

“Big sis, come back safely.” Beatrix waved.

“I’ll come back safely with the victory.” Lavana waved back with a smile.

Soon, Peter’s sceptre flew the two of them out of the room, through the window.

“So, you must be speculating why I told my brother to take our little sis home?”

“Yeah,” Lavana nodded.

“I kind of heard your conversation with Beatrix before you went out on a trip.”

“You did?”

“Yup. Might as well let him take her away early. As for the training part, I’ll be more glad to teach you simple yet effective and powerful moves.” he said.

“Um… Can you let me get off first?”

“What are you afraid of? You think I’m gonna get aroused and then…”

“Put me down, Phoenix.” her voice had deepened.

“Your voice is so pleasant to listen to,” he let her get off his lap.

She didn’t sit but just stood glaring at him.

“You said you won’t bully me,” she complained.

“Did I bully you? Apart from your red face which I only kissed, what evidence do you have? You can even sit on a tree stump. Why don’t you treat my lap the same way?”

“I…”

“Alright, I was wrong. I won’t do that again.”

“Hmph! If you do that again, I’m gonna…”

“Will you kiss me till I’m out of breath?”

“You..” Lavana seemed frustrated.

Phoenix laughed and rose.

“Let’s go visit them.”

“Visit who?”

“The strongest in this pack. You are already a Blood star, aren’t you?”

“But I haven’t gone through the ceremony yet.”

“If you have the firm intention, then you are. Let’s let them know my existence. They must already know about the existence of the tattoo on your back. You’re my mate so of course, you’ll carry my branding.”

“Branding?”

“Wizards, brand their mate with whatever defines them. I’m also a werewolf, so are you, hence you received the wolf tattoo in the color girls like- pink.”

“Oh! I was baffled too.”

“Come on, time’s not gonna wait for us. Let’s go visit them. Don’t worry, I can turn myself invisible but only you can see me.”

“Okay.” Lavana rose and headed to the door.

“Wait. I can’t see them for the first time looking this way right?”

“You don’t want them to know your sorcerer identity?”

“They don’t know you’re a tribrid. And non-werewolf shifters can’t participate in that competition.”

“You want to partake?” she asked in stupefaction. If he did, of course, their probability of winning would be even higher. But if asked to shift, all would know he’s an Alpha.

“Don’t worry. I’ll not shift all throughout my battles. And when we win, I’ll let you be Alpha.”

“Me?” she pointed at herself in shock.

“Yeah! I want you to be an Alpha wolf too.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“There’s still some time. But let’s go visit those guys first.” Phoenix said after his clothes had changed to black hooded weather, loose green trousers and black flip-flops.

“How do I look?”

“You look amazing.”

“You too, honey.” he blew her a kiss but she didn’t catch it. Instead, she just opened the door and walked out. He chuckled before leaving the room.