Chapter 5

The Invitation

"Rogues?" I muttered to myself and leaned my back on the bed, staring at the ceiling in utter silence.

Dad died because of the rogues. Does this mean Joshua was also a wolf? How did he know about rogues? And where is his place exactly?

A few unanswered questions have been running through my mind at that time. Instead of mourning my dad's death, I focused my attention on Jushua's letters.

And the thought not only filled my empty brain but made me feel curious about him as well. If he was a wolf like me, for me, there will be a huge possibility that I can mate him, if given the chance.

So, I grabbed a piece of paper from my wooden drawer and began jotting down my response to his letter dated June 1, 2020. The letter has been two years behind already.

However, I still wanted to respond to his letter. Right after replying to his letter, I went out of the room to ask our manservant for a piece of an empty bottle.

After putting the letter inside the bottle, I went back to the room. The time was already past midnight. Yet, there I am, making myself occupied with a few thoughts after being emptied a few hours earlier.

In the morning, I woke up earlier to send the bottle to the ocean. I have the bottle in my hands as I marched to the parking lot. Partly excited, partly worn out.

But then I just realized I was no longer at the beach anymore. And the distance between the mansion and the nearest ocean was miles away.

Aside from that, I have no idea about which part of the sea current I should send the bottle to. So, I took a few seconds to picture out an imaginary map in my brain, comparing it to the beach in Chicago where we have our beach party.

"Bullshit, Nathalie." Could not help but grit my teeth in disbelief as I wasted almost two hours of my time last night composing the letter. Did not even have a good night's sleep last night because of giving the best answer to his outdated letter.

"There you are, Nathalie. I knocked on your room a few times but no one answered. When I checked out on you using my wolf's senses, they led me here." My uncle Robin, dad's older brother appeared in front of the car I was in.

Compared to my dad, Uncle Robin was unfortunate that my grandparents did not choose him to be the next alpha of the pack. Instead, they appointed dad over him even if he was the oldest amongst the three siblings.

But dad never forget to mention to me and mum about not to trust Uncle Robin even if he was closely related by blood. Dad once mentioned before he died that his instinct told him Uncle Robin would somehow take his place one day.

Even if Uncle Robin and I were not that close, I somehow knew about what kind of a wolf he is. He is ruthless, manipulative, heartless, and selfish.

Considering what happened to dad, his instinct might be right. So, I said, "what's up, uncle?" then I secretly dropped the bottle beside me in the driver's seat of the car.

I don't want my uncle to know that I was bringing into the world this kind of conversation with Joshua, especially when he and I are not in a good relationship. I'm afraid he is going to use it against me, telling our packs that their next alpha has just gone crazy.

Dad taught me how to be smart, especially in times like this. "Nothing... I'm just checking up on you, honey. How have you been since your dad's passing?" he smiled shortly. But I know it's fake.

His eyes were pacing back and forth. Only guilty people do that when talking to someone. He was staving off upon getting eye-to-eye contact with me.

"Anyway, we'll discuss with the packs later on about the resolution of who would be the next alpha. And I need you to vote for me instead of your mum or anyone else. Could you do that for me?" he added.

There you are. Uncle's real color behind his mask always prevails. Once a hypocrite, always a hypocrite. You could no longer change the fact. But I could not blame him for that. Uncle has been dreaming to become the alpha of the pack.

But dad already entrusted me with his alpha badge. All I have to do is to embrace it and prove to the pack I deserve to be the next alpha.

"Okay," I said back right after hopping out of the car. Don't want to argue anymore to extend our conversation for a few minutes either. It's just a waste of time for me.

Right after Uncle Robin disappeared from his spot, I went back to my room a bit disappointed. I got awfully disappointed with the fact that I wrote a useless letter but I did not show it to him.

And I'm not used to keeping my feelings beneath me. It'll make me explode. How I wish Jasper was around since he was the only living proof that I could share everything with.

{Jushua's POV}

"Another day of being happy, huh?" Mama said in the middle of our breakfast. "Care to share about it, son?"

I don't know how Mama comes up with the idea. Or perhaps she noticed my endless smiling since last night after reading Nathalie's letter.

"Nah. Our little son seems to be in love by Nathalie's second letter already." Papa teasingly said back. Justine and Mama could not help but smile as well.

"No. I'm not. Stop this nonsense, Paps. I just can't believe she would reply to my letters. That's it." I set the spoon and fork back on the plate and curved the tip of my brows as I dragged my eyes to Papa. "How did you know the letters were from Nathalie? Do you know her?"

Papa suddenly cleared out his throat as if he was guilty of a crime we aren't aware of. "Umm...," then he coughed shortly, "it's just... I got the chance to read the two letters on top of your closet in the middle of your sleep. I'm so sorry, son. Will not do it again. I promise."

I don't know if I should get mad at Papa for meddling in my personal business but from the way he stuttered and felt uncomfortable, I find it kinda cute.

"But... She seems nice. What's your plan about it then?" he added in a serious tone.

In the second letter, Nathalie invited me to her eighteenth birthday. Imagine, she invited me to the most important day of her life as a wolf. Never could I ever imagine the person whom I'm having a letter conversation with was a wolf like me.

She even attached a photo of her inside the bottle. That's one of the reasons I could barely let go of my smile since last night. But none of my family was aware of the photo. I kept it in a safe place in my room. And I wanted to keep it that way.

"Can I?" I asked dad, letting him read what was running through my mind since he already read the second letter.