Chapter 31: Nicollas accepts Sophie.

(POV: Lina)

"Lina!" Sophie calls, approaching and giving me a tight hug. I return the embrace.

"You crazy girl, do you know how much Nicollas and I searched for you in the castle? And you've been here all this time?" I say, feigning indignation. Deep down, I am very happy that my friend is safe and sound.

"I'm sorry. I left the castle with my sister, and so many things happened that if it weren't for Albert, neither my sister nor I would be here anymore," Sophie says, breaking the hug.

"What happened? Are you hurt?" I ask, touching her face and inspecting her. Fortunately, I don't find a single scratch.

"Now I'm perfectly fine!" Sophie says, smiling.

"Thank you, Albert, for saving my friend," I turn towards the supreme's beta and express my sincere gratitude.

Who would have thought, one of the most arrogant guys I know, saved a human. The world does turn around, indeed.

"You're welcome, Luna. I would do anything for my mate," Albert says, looking at Sophie. Wait... what? I sense my mouth form an "O."

"Sophie?" I turn back to my friend. "He's your mate? How is that possible?"

As if in a flash, I inhale the air and only now pay attention, Sophie no longer smells like a human... she has the scent of a...

"Lina, now I'm a wolf too," Sophie says with her head down.

"What happened?" I ask, concerned and curious.

As Sophie recounts how badly she was beaten, I sense anger growing inside me. She and I trained together, but because she's human, her strength was always less than mine. However, with training, she could kill wolves. Still, being attacked by so many at once and having to worry about her sister... Argh!

"Which pack was it?" Nicollas asks, irritated.

"The Moon Nova pack, Supreme," Albert replies.

"This won't go unpunished. Who do they think they are?" I say indignantly. I never cared about what they did to me, but if they touch what's important to me, things get ugly!

"Calm down, Lina. They probably thought I was still part of Deniel's army. Did you forget I also went to war? I was a declared enemy," Sophie says, bringing reason to the situation.

"I had forgotten about that," I slap my hand to my forehead.

"No! During the war, I saved her from one of the wolves belonging to that pack. They knew she was my mate, and still, they attacked her," Albert disagrees with Sophie.

Wow, now everything makes sense. The world doesn't only turn; it flips, that's for sure. The mighty Albert was mated to a human, and I know very well how he despises that race. Well, not in the literal sense of wanting to harm them, but because they are weaker. I'm sure it must have been a tremendous shock.

"You found out I was your mate when I was still human?" Sophie asks Albert.

"Yes, that's why I left."

"And you looked at me that way," she says, looking coldly at Albert.

Albert lowers his head, ashamed, and a huge tension fills the room. I hear a growl coming from someone's stomach, and I quickly pay attention to Sophie's sister.

"Hello, Ana! I'm Lina, your sister's friend," I extend my hand, and she shakes it.

"I know, Sophie talked about you all the time," she says, smiling, so sweet and cute! I love it!

"I hope only good things," I say, smiling.

"The best, I've never heard my sister talk about someone so much," she says, looking admiringly at her sister.

"Must we eat?" I ask, already heading to the kitchen.

"Let's!" they all say together.

"Albert?" Nicollas calls, interrupting him from gazing at Sophie.

"Yes, Supreme?" he replies, looking at Nicollas.

"Are you going to tell me why you came here or are you just going to eat?"

"Nicollas!" I reprimand him, how rude.

"What? They come into our house without permission. They wear our clothes, eat, and I can't even know why they're here?"

"You..."

"It's okay, Luna, it was really rude to come in here without being invited and go through both of our things. Earlier, Sophie was attacked, and luckily, I arrived before they killed her. Because she survived the attack, she transformed into a wolf, and since she was bitten by an alpha, she's now part of the blue-blooded wolves. My house is too far away, so I decided to come here to ask for help, but when I arrived, no one was here. I know I was bold, but still, I entered and searched for clothes for both of us," Albert explains.

"It's alright, Albert, you don't need to explain everything...," I start to say, but Nicollas interrupts me. If looks could kill, he'd be dead now.

"Yes, he does, Lina. I know Sophie is your friend, but I don't know her, and Albert does owe me an explanation for invading my house. Don't forget our position in the hierarchy."

"Alright," Albert speaks in front of me, "I also came for another reason, Supreme."

"And what would that reason be, Albert?" Nicollas asks.

"I would like you to give permission for Sophie to join your pack."

"Of course, you will, right, Nicollas?" I ask, gripping his knee tightly.

"Of course! Welcome to the family, Sophie," he says, wincing in pain.

"You can move in here and build a house, so we won't be far from each other," I suggest, and Nicollas gives me the same look I gave him before. He doesn't like that idea.

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea, Lina. We don't want to cause any problems," Albert notices that Nicollas doesn't approve.

"I don't see any problem, and you, Nicollas, do you see any?" I ask, slipping my hand inside his shorts and digging my nails into his thigh.

"No! I don't see any problem at all," he gives me the answer I want to hear, and I remove my hand from his shorts.

"We'll help! Tomorrow, we'll start building," I say, smiling like a fool at Sophie.

"Thank you so much, Lina, you're always so kind to me," Sophie smiles back.

"Sophie, do you know what happened to the children from the castle?" I ask, just now remembering them.

"Before Deniel left, he removed the substance he had used to keep them as they were. They returned to being normal humans, and he returned them to their true parents."

"Wow! I didn't expect that from Deniel," I say, making a face.

"Me neither!"

"And you, Ana, why are you so quiet?" I ask, looking at Ana, who is very quiet in her chair.

"I just don't have anything to say!" I don't know why, but I'm not convinced by her answer. Better let it go.

"Alright, how about we watch some TV?"

"Let's go!" they all say, and we all get up from the table and head to the living room.

We put on the movie "Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part One." Nicollas and I settle into one of the sofas, Sophie and Albert sit on the other, and Ana sits on the floor. Once we're all comfortable, I start the movie.

We spend the whole afternoon watching movies, stopping the marathon when Albert speaks up.

"I think it's time for us to go," Albert says, standing up.

"Stay here!" I request. "Tomorrow, we'll start building your house."

"We don't have any clothes here, Luna," Albert says.

"As far as I know, your house doesn't have any clothes for Ana and Sophie either!" I retort.

"We'll buy some on the way."

"Nicollas! Say something!" I ask.

"Do you want to borrow my car?" he questions.

I look incredulously at Nicollas; he didn't just say what he said. Oh, I want to throw him to the ground and smash his head against it until there's a hole.

"Yes, please, Supreme, thank you!" Albert responds.

"Alright!" he stands up, "I'll get the keys, I'll be right back."

"Don't be like this, Lina, we'll see each other again tomorrow," Sophie hugs me.

I give up and let out a long sigh.

"Alright, then," I try to smile.

"Here, Albert!" Nicollas returns to the living room and tosses the car keys to Albert, who catches them in the air.

"Goodbye, Supreme, goodbye, Luna," Albert says at the door.

I get up and hug Ana, then give Sophie a tight hug. Nicollas bids farewell to everyone with just a handshake. Leaning against the doorframe, I watch them disappear from my field of vision.

"Finally alone," Nicollas declares, kissing my neck.

"Yes! Now let's visit Milly and Lukky."

"We can do that tomorrow, Lina," Nicollas nibbles on my earlobe.

"No!" it's hard to resist, but I manage. "Tomorrow, we'll take care of everything we need for our friends' house construction."

"Your friends, you mean," he says, rolling his eyes.

"Our friends! What's mine is ours, and what's yours is mine!"

"Fine! Let's go before I change my mind," he says, heading to the garage, and I follow him.

We get into the car and head to the house where Milly and Lukky live. Ah! I've missed my friends and siblings so much. After a few minutes, Nicollas parks the car in front of the academy where Lukky also resides. We get out of the car, and I knock three times on the gate.