76. Pretty pregnant situation.
Balthazar stood in the middle of their bedroom, his eyes following Mary. She was packing her suitcases, and he had no say in this. The frown on his face deepened when Mary dropped the last few things in her bag.
"This should be all," Mary whispered under her breath.
"Do you have to go? Are you willing to leave me here, doing only God knows what? Love, I don't trust myself, and you shouldn't also," Balthazar whined. Mary had ordered him to shut up a couple of times. He would stay quiet for a bit and then start fake sobbing again.
"Yes, I do. Balthazar, my friend is in need, she stood next to us when we needed her. It's time for us to return the favor. Do I have to repeat that Eros already permitted me to leave the territory? He might be just an Alpha now, but in my heart, he is our King. I follow my heart and my King." Mary rolled her eyes at Balthazar's over the top reaction.
"Don't act like you don’t know that you are my heart," she added.
"Oh, I know it. I just wanted to hear you repeat it," Lord grinned.
"I swear to the Moon Goddess, you're acting like a child. Now, please grab those bags, the car is here." Mary pointed at the enormous suitcases, giggling at the Lord's sour expression.
She always made him lift the heavy objects. When they were young, Balthazar enjoyed moments like that. Closer to old age, the Lord wasn't as excited about lifting heavy stuff anymore.
"Jesus, woman- do you have a fucking brick wall packed in these? How much stuff do you need for this trip? Weren't you assuring me that you wouldn’t be away for longer than two weeks? I'll die if you will stay there for longer. I need my Mary!"
Mary's side bumped her mate and broke out in a fit of laughter. She would gladly give her mate an award for being the worst drama queen. She watched Balthazar as he carried all of her bags to the car- even her handbag. He did complain about feeling like her personal slave at times. But the man would come back from the dead to take anything out of her hands. He thought that if she had a mate, she wouldn't need to carry anything bigger than a feather.
"Promise that you will call me as soon as you get there. Promise that you will remind Michelle how much I need you. And most importantly- promise that you will stay safe at all costs. I have no idea what I would do if I didn’t have you. There's a lot of 'I's, but you must understand that there is no me without you. Please be safe, my love." Balthazar cupped her cheeks, leaning in and bringing their foreheads together to maintain intense eye contact.
Mary nodded and leaned closer to her mate, kissing Balthazar for the last time until she returned in two weeks. Their kiss wasn't one of passion- it was one only two people, madly in love, would share.
"I must go, please get some rest. I will call you tomorrow morning. Please look after Eros, he is our priority. Many people will go after him soon. It might be for the best that Eve is out of the pack. We will look for her, but if the girl is pregnant- she's safer out there for now, the target is off her back," Mary smiled at the Lord who was simply nodding his head. They parted ways, and Balthazar kept standing in front of the cabin, watching the car disappear from his view. Only then did he go back into the building.
"Jonathan, please look up this address, that's the place we're going to." Mary leaned closer to the driver and handed him a piece of paper. She had told everyone that she would go to a pack about fifty miles away, yet their journey wasn't that far.
"Yes, ma'am," the driver replied sharply, typing the address in his car's navigation system.
"Turn the music off for a bit; I have to make a call," Mary was known for being strict around pack members. The woman was extremely kind, yet since she tended to ask a lot from herself- she did the same with others. She expected nothing less than excellence.
"Hello? Yes, it's Mary, the Lord's mate. We spoke earlier. Mhm, is our agreement still valid? Oh, no, we would cross the territory, and that should be it. At worst, we might stop at a gas station. Yes, thank you." The call was short and sharp, but the woman smiled, knowing that her plan was going smoothly.
"Use the shortcut though cats’ territory, I've arranged that they will let us cross their land," Mary warned her driver, getting nothing but a tensing of his hands on the wheel as an answer.
For the whole car ride, Mary kept re-reading the email she had received from Michelle. Her friend had managed to get herself into trouble, but Mary couldn't understand how.
My dearest friend Mary,
I've missed you greatly, but unfortunately, I am not sending this digital letter to remind you about my existence.
We haven't seen each other since you met that naughty Lord of yours. I couldn't help it, Balthazar knows how much I enjoy teasing him. Hi Balthazar, how are you?
Fate sure has its way for all of us, and today is the day I have to ask for your help. I have a pretty pregnant situation with a woman I know. She is not around, I visit her time by time, but that is not a question of importance. So here I am, writing this on a typing machine from Hell, begging for your help.
I'll attach the address and phone number.
Please give me a call as soon as you get this.
-Love, Michelle.
How do I turn off this damned device?
Mary giggled again; she laughed at her friend's special relationship with any kind of technology. For a moment, Mary hoped that this pregnant woman could be Eve, but she destroyed her own hope- everyone in that pack would know her identity and give her to the King. The possibility of Michelle knowing where the Queen was would be almost non-existent, close to zero.
"We shall arrive at the destination within fifteen minutes, ma'am. What should I do after that? Do I need to stick around, or should I go back to the pack? And is the new location a secret?" the driver suddenly spoke up, startling Mary.
"Of course, it's a damn secret, don't you think that there is a reason why I didn't tell anyone where exactly we are heading? If you can stay silent, you may return tomorrow; I'm sure you miss your family, Jonathan," Mary teased the driver purposely. She knew that the man was honest, but he knew when he should stay silent. Jonathan laughed; his eyes glued on the road. "I guess some things don't change," he muttered.
"And I'm not planning to let that happen. I like me, Balthazar likes me, and even you do." For the rest of the journey they laughed, joked, and talked about things on their minds. When the car stopped in front of a small house, a whole pack was there to greet Mary. Her friend lived in a small, pretty unknown pack- wolves who loved their privacy and would rather keep a low profile. The leader's son was first to greet her, commanding everyone to help Mary with her bags and show the driver his room. The pack had been preparing a feast to honour the Lord's mate.
"Your plan does sound amazing, but before we sit down to eat and drink, I would love to see Michelle. She wasn’t among the people who greeted me when I arrived." Mary felt a little concerned as the soon-to-be leader led her to their packhouse.
"She's out, but she promised to arrive around sunset, right before the welcoming celebration starts. We don't tend to have a lot of guests, so your visit is a pretty big deal for the whole pack." Unlike other young Alphas Mary had met, this boy was very pleasant to talk to. A simple, down to earth young man, a true delight to stick around.
"I see. Well, I should meet your father first anyway, it's been years since I've seen George." The young man didn't hide the surprise he felt as Mary spoke.
"You remember my dad's name?"
"Of course, I do! I remember yours also, Carson. What kind of a person would I be if I forgot names? It was a little difficult to remember yours, that I must admit- the last time I saw you was years ago. If I'm not wrong, you were three months old back then." Mary let her eyes roam around the half-empty streets. George had managed to do a great job around the territory- making the whole set like a town for loners.
"This way, we're almost there," Carson pointed at an old looking building. Each house in this town looked newly built, except for the one they were heading to.
"Your father hasn't changed his ways, I see," Mary whispered in awe.
"The pack comes first; then there's us," Carson shrugged his shoulders. The young man obviously lived by the same beliefs as his father. A bright smile crept on Mary's lips. The main reason why she loved this pack so much was the selfless leaders. They always gave first and rarely took anything, making themselves stand out among other packs and their leaders.
"Thank you for showing me the way here; you're a truly kind young man. I won't hold you back for more, feel free to return to your duties, if you have any." Mary took his hand in hers and squeezed it, showing as much gratitude as she could.
"Yeah, I should get going, promised mom to help her and the Omegas to prepare food for the welcoming feast. It was nice to meet you, Mary, I'll see you around later." Carson hugged her and ran off. No matter how many times Mary came back here, the kind people didn’t stop surprising her. She couldn't enter the packhouse without being checked by the guards. Mary found out that the current leader, George, was very sick, battling serious health issues. The once strong man was bed-bound, nearly paralyzed from the waist down. Guards kept questioning Mary about different things- who she was, the reason for her visit, and even questions about how long she would stay around their leader.
"Quit the show guys, let my friend in!" George sat in a wheelchair, waving his hand to Mary, a bright smile on his face.
"Georgy, I haven't seen you in ages! What happened to you?" Mary ran towards the leader, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Just because I'm the youngest sibling doesn't mean that you still get to treat me as a child, sis. Age- that's what happened, not everyone has a magical formula to live for centuries. Jokes aside, I missed you," George was near to tears when his Luna, Adeline joined the family reunion.
"Mary, dear, I'm so glad you decided to visit us! Look at you, glowing like a ray of sunshine, someone must be in love," Luna teased Mary, joining her mates and his sister's hug.
"I missed you guys. I'm truly sorry for the time I've been absent, but the Kingdom provides me with a lot of work. I live and breathe for it. To your question, Addie- I've been in love for quite some time, and you've met Balthazar already, no need to talk about that again," she giggled, trying to hide the deep blush on her cheeks.
"We know, we would never dare to make you feel bad about providing a safe and peaceful environment for us to live in. Now, tell us, what's the reason behind your visit." George said, the same sparks of excitement danced in his eyes.
"Michelle needs my help. There's quite a lot of things happening back in the Kingdom right now, and I had to get out. It's too much, at this point. Balthazar will let me stay for two weeks, so better get my bedroom ready." As Mary mentioned how long she would stay with the pack, Adenine screamed in joy and bolted upstairs to prepare her sister-in-law's bedroom. Everyone around here truly loved their leader's sister.
"I hope you're alright, though, it would be sad to see how I kill someone if they hurt you." George instantly switched back to his overprotective brother mode, making Mary laugh. The guards stood outside the packhouse to let Mary and George have some privacy. They had been talking for an hour when a breathless woman ran into the packhouse, calling for Mary.