CHAPTER 205: WINTERFELL OR EMBERMANE?

The following days passed by peacefully. Aside from Lorelei summoning Felix to ask about his opinion on the party preparations, and Kade coming to bother Felix every morning and evening under the pretext of wanting to spend time with his ’daughter’, Felix was left alone to do whatever he felt like. No Omegas approached him, not even Lyla. The few times they had crossed paths, the young woman had pretended not to see him and gone on her way, regardless of whether she was with her little group or not.

She didn’t seem hurt in any way, though. Not even scared. Just... wary. Observing Felix to see what would happen next. Would he retaliate, or would things carry on as normal?

Of course, this peace was only temporary, Felix had no doubt about it. Regardless of what he would or wouldn’t do, the Omegas were going to cause trouble for him, one way or another. Unless perhaps he accepted Kade and became his mate... Once the bond was sealed, it would be too late to do anything, so they would have no choice but to give up. Although even then it wouldn’t necessarily be safe... People could do crazy things out of desperation.

Even risk their lives to get their ’obstacle’ out of their way.

Felix didn’t want to worry in advance, though, especially not about a scenario that wasn’t going to happen. He just enjoyed his moment of peace, while at the same time, trying to observe the relationships between the Omegas, especially those in the main mansion, to figure out how to navigate them.

Just like that, time had passed, and it was already the day of Vivi’s seventh-month birthday, and their welcoming party, where Vivi’s fake identity would be officially announced to the pack. From early morning, everyone was busy. Those who were responsible for decorations or food were finishing up their tasks, guards were scanning the woods to make sure that there was no one lurking around, while many young pack members of high status... were simply getting ready. Especially the Omegas and the female Betas. It wasn’t every day that a party was hosted, after all, so they were all excited, regardless of the reason behind it!

Felix and Vivi... were also busy. Under the direction of Lorelei’s personal assistant, they were all being prepared, so that they would look the most presentable. From having his hair trimmed and styled, to the final fitting of a tailored suit...

A tailored suit that Felix didn’t even know was being made. There seemed to be some fitting done back when he had gone shopping with Lorelei, but that day had been so hectic that it didn’t fully register in his brain. It wasn’t a fully custom-made suit, of course, since there wasn’t enough time for that... But it was still the fanciest thing he had ever worn.

Despite several people busying around Felix and Vivi (or perhaps precisely because of it?), getting ready for the party took a long time, much longer than Felix had thought it could ever take. The sky outside was already turning dark when the assistant finally went to knock on the inner door leading to Kade’s room.

"Young Master, you can come in down."

The door almost instantly swung open, as if the person on the other side had been waiting impatiently for this moment, and Kade walked in.

He looked... incredibly handsome, Felix had to give him that. Dressed in a fancy, custom-made suit, even more luxurious than the suits that Kade had used to wear in Silverfall (which already were very fancy, as far as Felix could tell), which perfectly highlighted his toned, muscular frame, with cuff links adorned with dark purple gemstones which matched the purple hue of his eyes, and with his black hair styled back to showcase his exquisite facial features. He exuded an air of elegance, but there was still something wild to him, a beastly wolf aura that made him look both regal and dangerous...

It was a sight to behold, that’s for sure. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was the heir to the Bloodmoon Pack and getting entangled with him (anymore than he already had) would have serious consequences (such as being stuck in the gilded cage of the pack house and forced to deal with annoying pack politics every day), Felix just might have been charmed.

However, since he was well aware that it wasn’t something he could afford, once he caught himself staring, Felix cleared his throat, and asked, "When is the party starting?"

Kade flashed him a wide smile. Although he had noticed Felix’s stare on him - how could he not, when he himself had been looking at the Omega from the moment he had entered the room? - he didn’t point that out. Instead, he just said, "You look beautiful. Absolutely stunning."

Felix’s cheeks flushed lightly, but he wouldn’t swoon so easily, and quickly covered up his bashfulness by putting on a stern expression. "Thank you, but I asked you a question."

"Hmm. You’re not going to return the compliment?" Kade teased, but once he received a sharp glare from the Omega, he let it go. As much as he liked to tease Felix, it was an important evening for both of them, so it was necessary to approach it seriously. He just sighed, pouting slightly, as if he was hurt by Felix refusing to praise his looks, and said, "Ah, the party had already started around half an hour ago."

"...What?" Felix’s eyes widened, and he looked over at Lorelei’s assistant, who was still in the room, in terror. Was he really late to his own party? Or, well, to Vivi’s party, but since he was the mother, and Vivi was just seven months old and was with him, their tardiness would be entirely on him. Even if it wasn’t his fault, it would still reflect badly on him...

Seeing his startled reaction, the assistant explained, "Please don’t worry, Young Master Felix. What Young Master Kade meant was that most of the pack members are already at the venue. Your introduction and the official beginning of the party are scheduled to happen in fifteen minutes."

’Young Master Felix’. Although he had been called that by the assistant and all of the other Omegas and Betas who were helping him get ready the whole day, Felix was still not used to this. And he didn’t know if he ever would be.

Still, hearing her say this, he was able to exhale with relief. Fifteen minutes was cutting it a bit short, but it’s not like they had to travel far. They just needed to go down the stairs, out of the main mansion, and down the path leading to the reception hall, it wouldn’t take long. Well, he should have expected that - it was Lorelei’s personal assistant who was taking care of him, of course she wouldn’t commit such a blunder as to delay his arrival.

Either way...

"Let’s go, then," he said to Kade. They might not have needed the whole fifteen minutes to get to the venue, but the earlier they got there, the better. Out of habit, he wanted to reach into the crib to pick Vivi up...

But she was already taken by the assistant. In order to make sure that their outfits wouldn’t get wrinkled or anything before they even arrived, Vivi was going to be carried by her. Only when they were about to enter the banquet hall, would the pup be handed over to him and Kade.

It was a bit odd, but it wasn’t so bad, all things considered. It’s not like Vivi was separated from him, he was still within Felix’s sight, carried by Lorelei’s trusted person... So Felix went along with it, even if he was a bit uncomfortable.

"Ah, just one more thing," Kade asked, lowering his voice, as they walked down the hallway. The mansion was empty, as everyone was at the reception hall, save for the guards who had to watch over the pack house’s walls, so there was no one to overhear it, but because the topic was somewhat sensitive, Kade lowered his voice to a whisper almost subconsciously. "How would you like to be introduced? Felix Embermane or Felix Winterfell?"

Felix’s steps involuntarily faltered. That’s right, they had never discussed that... When he had introduced himself before, he only used his first name. But now that it was an official announcement, not giving his surname would be odd... Even a rogue would usually have one, if not a real one inherited from their parents, then at least a random one they chose for themselves...

It went without saying which surname Felix would prefer. Still, he asked, "Which one do you think would be better?"

Kade glanced at him, taking a moment before responding. "We’re willing to go along with whichever you prefer... However, I have discussed it with my father, and we’ve reached the conclusion that introducing you as ’Felix Embermane’ would be the best... As long as it’s alright with you."

"...And why is that?" Felix asked. While he wasn’t bent on opposing it, he wanted to know the reason.

"’Embermane’ is your official surname, right? The one you have in the documents. Your identity is bound to get exposed sooner or later anyway, so it would be less troublesome to go with your real name from the start. This way, we would have less to explain later..."

Felix didn’t say anything for a while. Kade... had a point. There were already a lot of suspicious things about his and Kade’s meeting, as well as about Vivi’s parentage and birth, there was no need to add more. And going by a fake surname - even if it was his mother’s name - would be another suspicious point. ’Was Kade aware of Felix’s true identity from the start?’ ’Why isn’t Felix using his father’s surname?’ ’Does this have anything to with Felix’s missing status?’ Undoubtedly, everyone would have plenty of questions like that...

"Alright," Felix eventually said with a sigh. "Let’s with Embermane, then."

It was just a surname, after all. He had been using it for most of his life, keeping it wouldn’t make much of a difference. It’s not like abandoning it would make him any less related to Wilder Embermane...

"Great," Kade smiled, a hint of relief flashing through his face. It seems that although he had given Felix a choice, he had been hoping for such an answer... Perhaps he and his father had already had a plan in place, as to how to deal with Felix’s identity and the Moonhill Pack. Or at least had discussed it in detail.

Discussed Felix’s issue without Felix’s participation or knowledge. It felt a bit iffy...

Then again, he shouldn’t be surprised. That’s how packs operated. The Blackstones must have been so used to deciding other wolves’ fate that it hadn’t even crossed their minds that Felix should be included.

Felix let out a quiet sigh, but didn’t say anything. It’s not like he wasn’t aware what he was getting into when he had decided to come here...