Golden Time

Justine and I exchanged bothered glances when Mom's loud screaming vibrated our ears again. Then we rushed out of the room when the screaming was followed by a quick and loud thudding sound.

As soon as we spotted the source of the sound, our jaws dropped to the ground when we found Mom holding a frying pan while Christopher was lying on the floor unconscious. His mouth was even filled with a loaf of bread.

"Mom, what are you doing?" I worriedly asked before I slid to check if Christopher was still alive. Luckily, my heightened sense of hearing heard the sound of his soft heartbeats.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one asking you that, huh, Danica? Why did you bring a lone wolf into our house? Are you and Justine out of your minds?" she blurted.

My wolf has been with Christopher for a few days but not even once I considered him a lone wolf because he had a pack waiting for him. Needless to say, our future depends on the lone wolf she battered with a frying pan.

"Aunty Claire, let me explain the situation," Justine replied on my behalf.

"No, I brought him here so I should be the one to explain the situation to Mom," I insisted before Justine could slip even a single word from the truth, especially when he wanted to stay honest as much as possible to my parents.

The second best thing that my heart could not resist about Justine was being too candid. He preferred to tell the truth rather than to comfort me with a lie.

So before he could insist, I lifted Christopher's unconscious body and handed him over to Justine. "Bring him to our safe haven. I'll follow you once Mom and I are done talking. Based on my assumption, he might regain his consciousness within fifty minutes to one hour. Enough for you to reach the place before he wakes up. Can you do that for me?"

Justine seemed to have noticed the level of seriousness in my mood so he did not ask further questions. Instead, he smiled and bent half of his body toward Mom before he evacuated the house.

I trusted my best friend to keep our client reach the place unscratched. So, I focused my undivided attention on gathering the right words to explain the situation to Mom.

After telling Mom half of the truth, I flashed to the cottage with food and drinks in my hands. We have to feed Christopher from time to time so he will not explode. On top of that, I told Mom that I might be busy with Justine these days because our final exams are fast approaching.

Lucky for me, I managed to convince her with those lies. Twenty minutes later, I arrived at the cottage where Justine and Christopher were having their heart-to-heart talk on the same wooden bench we usually sit on to witness the dance of light before evening.

It was supposed to be our spot but we just welcomed another wolf to the team. None of them even noticed my presence as they were both enjoying the beauty of the sunset.

"What do you think about my new nanny?" Christopher asked. I don't know if it was because he was curious about me or if Justine started the conversation.

I mean, Christopher could not start such kind of conversation because of his illness. He preferred to just run around, talk to the trees, or roll over on the ground instead of having a man-to-man exchange.

"You mean Danica?" Justine breathed out my name sweetly. The sweetness of his voice even made me believe that he also likes me too. Even if I already knew someone already won his heart.

"Even her name perfectly fits her boldness and gorgeous face, don't you agree?" Christopher giggled shortly. "Do you think she already had a boyfriend?"

I could not help but gulp in disbelief. Someone with a brain disorder asked such kind of question. Is he fucking kidding me? Does that mean he had his eyes on me?

Him being my boyfriend? I could barely imagine myself kissing him or even holding hands. That's gross. I agreed to be his mate because his parents left me with no other choice. But that's all. Nothing more. Nothing less.

My kind of knight in shining armor was someone, honest, caring, loving, protective, and most of all, someone with the right mind like Justine.

Even if Christopher was a young and good-looking man and would be the future of the pack, I would never fall for his charm. I would never dream of getting acquainted with the alphas.

"Are you guys cursing me behind my back?" I cut off their conversation before Justine could say a word. My instinct already knew what he was about to say.

That I am hideous and someone hard to please. That nobody loves me because I am too picky when it comes to male wolves. On top of that, I lack boyfriend-girlfriend experience in relationships.

It was a bit awkward for me that I disrupted their man-to-man conversation but it was the least I could do. "Mom gave me a pack of bread so we could share this." Then I squeezed off myself in between their seats. "So, what's the plan now?"

Cutting to the chase the moment we started watching the sun was about to get swallowed by darkness was the least I could do. I don't want to be the subject of their conversation either.

Meanwhile, the summer breeze that caressed my exhausted skin began to refresh, allowing me to clear everything that was bothering me recently.

"Can we just play tonight, please?" Christopher proposed. "I wanted to play hide and seek, Danica. We were supposed to play earlier but you and Justine cheated on me. Instead, the two of you were talking about me."

Justine almost stumbled as he quickly moved out of his seat in disbelief. Both of us were taken aback when we could not believe he heard everything Justine and I discussed earlier.

"I don't want to be here either." he continued. "I badly missed my Mom and Dad in the village. They adopted me when I was young. But someone killed them. And even my biological parents won't accept me."

Justine and I stepped back when Christopher moved out of his seat carrying their weirdly profound expression. "I wanted to become the man they wanted me to be, Danica. Once you can help me become the next alpha king, I will grant you one wish. Name it, and I will make it happen."

Undeniably, I felt at ease upon hearing it coming from someone with a brain disorder. One wish. That's all I need for us, omegas to have the freedom we all deserve.

And Christopher undeniably had the will and power to grant us that kind of wish once he became the next alpha king. Even though I could still not trust his way of making such a bold decision, his statement somehow gave me faith and hope.

At least to me. He may have mustered the profound courage and confidence to say those words, but by the end of the night, the chances that he might change his mind were high considering he also has this bipolar disorder.

That's an inevitable fact.

"All right then." Justine eagerly broke the deafening silence of the atmosphere. "If you wanted to become the next alpha king, we better get rest already. Danica and I still have our classes tomorrow."

"Can I join you guys in your class? We are the same so perhaps our professors discussed the same. And I am a genius. I can learn things quickly." Justine and I were startled when Christopher reached out to our hands, "Please? I mean, are you two going to leave me in this place alone? What if someone attacks me again?"

"You were attacked? When? And by who?" Justine furrowed.

Christopher nodded, "I heard from my biological parents they called them rogue wolves. And they killed the couple who adopted me. That's the reason Danica and I are here."

Justine suddenly walked his furious gaze on me. We talked a lot about what happened but I intentionally omitted the part that we are being chased by the rogue wolves because I don't want him to worry about us anymore.

"Actually, it's already late." To make it more convincing, I faked a smile in front of them and dragged them inside the cottage. "We still have our classes tomorrow. And you, Christopher, will be joining our classes tomorrow."

"Really?" he eagerly replied.

"But before we go to school, we'll have our first day of training first. Are you gonna be fine with that?" I asked.

"Training about what exactly?" Justine debated.

"To make sure he will become the next alpha king." I shrugged them both with confidence as we stepped foot into the cottage.

I don't want to waste more of our golden time. So I must do something to make that happen even if the mission was too impossible considering his disorders. But I would rather die trying hard instead of doing nothing.