CHAPTER 253: FATHER AND SON REUNION

Just like when Jared had come to visit, Wilder hadn’t been given the address to the pack house, and was picked out from a designated spot some distance away, to be taken to the pack house in a van with the back windows all covered up, so that he wouldn’t be able to see where they were going. After all, while he might have been Felix’s father, he was still an outsider. And Felix and Kade weren’t even mated. For security reasons, they had to uphold the usual procedures.

That’s where the similarities between Jared and Wilder’s arrivals ended, though. As for differences...

First was that Kade had personally gone to pick Wilder up from the designated spot. Even though Felix didn’t recognize Wilder as his father at all, those were just his personal feelings. In the eyes of everyone else, they were still father and son, not to mention, Wilder’s status and reputation were what gave Felix the most legitimacy. And to Kade, he was his future father-in-law (or so he claimed). While he had said that he didn’t care about his approval (since Felix didn’t care either), he was clearly curious at the very least about the Alpha. It was only natural, since as Felix’s father and the former leader of Felix’s former pack, he surely must have influenced the Omega in one way or another, which made him the way he was today.

And for everything both Wilder and the Moonhill Pack had done wrong, they would eventually have to pay. Although Kade hadn’t discussed it with anybody just yet.

The second difference was how Wilder was welcomed. When the van entered through the gate and pulled up in front of the guest house, there were several people waiting to greet him, including Einar and Lorelei. They hadn’t been waiting for long, and only came out when they got a message from the guard that had gone with Kade that they were about to arrive, but still. It was a stark contrast to Jared’s visit, during which no one had been waiting.

Even Felix had joined, standing in front of the building, rather than watching from the rooftop.

And the final major difference was that this time, no one was throwing up black sludge. Or anything really. When the back door of the van opened, Wilder Embermane stepped out perfectly fine, tall and proud.

And his eyes immediately fell on Felix.

...To be honest, Felix didn’t want to be there. To meet Wilder face-to-face so soon. Of course, he had to do it eventually, but perhaps it would have been better if he could have taken a look at the man from a distance first. Just so that he could prepare himself mentally.

And he had been given a choice, to be fair. Before Wilder had arrived, Lorelei had approached him, asking whether he wanted to greet Wilder with them, or would rather reunite with his father later, in a more private environment, but Felix refused.

It was all about putting on a show, after all. If he failed to greet his father right as he arrived without any justifiable reason (such as being bed-bound because of an illness or injuries), unsavory rumors were bound to spread. Onlookers might not have been allowed, but that didn’t mean there were no eyes around. Kade’s parents couldn’t just chase all the pack members who were ’just doing their jobs’ away, as it would appear suspicious.

That’s why Felix decided to face it upfront. And now, he lifted his head, and met Wilder’s eyes.

"Felix!" Wilder spread his arms wide open, and quickly approached his son in a few big strides, soon embracing him in a tight, large bear hug. "It’s been too long!"

He also knew how to put on a show. He had never bothered to do it in the Moonhill Pack, at least not ever since Felix had been old enough to remember - Wilder’s leadership had been long established at that point, after all, and everyone respected him, so what was the point? - but he had always done it when they were around werewolves wrong other packs. That’s a big part why he had been able to spread the Moonhill Pack’s influence so much, because he knew what to say and how to act.

Felix gritted his teeth, and reminding himself that there were surely people unfriendly towards him watching the scene, he suppressed his desire to free himself from his father’s embrace, and returned the hug instead. "It’s good to see you too."

"Ah, let me take a look at you!" Wilder exclaimed, grabbing Felix’s shoulders, and suddenly pushing him away at the arms length, his eyes scanning the Omega up and down. "Good, good. You look well. It seems that the Bloodmoon Pack is taking a good care of you!"

"They do!" Felix forced on a smile, looking up at Wilder’s face.

Which was so unlike his own. If the people around them didn’t know it already, they would have never guessed they were related in any way. Not even as third cousins four times removed, let alone father and son! Even putting aside their height and build, which were bound to be very different, as Felix was an Omega, while Wilder was an Alpha. Felix had soft, golden brown hair, pale skin, beautiful feature, and mesmerizing golden eyes. As for Wilder, his hair was black, thick, and somewhat spiky, with streaks of grey. His eyes were watery green, and his skin was rough and with heavy earthy undertones. And his facial features... Well, let’s just say that he wasn’t the most gifted in terms of his looks, and it didn’t help that his nose had been broken. Still, he had this charm that made him seem almost magnetic.

Kade, who had stepped out from the van right after Wilder, but had yet to be noticed by his future cute little mate (which deeply saddened him), observed them from the side. He had thought it before, throughout the car ride, but now, seeing Wilder and Felix right next to each other, this feeling only further intensified.

Thank Goddess that Felix took after his mother!

And thank Goddess that Vivi also took after her mother!

Just as he thought about it, someone else also seemed to have had the pup on his mind, because Wilder looked around, before asking, "And where is our little Vivi?"

Felix’s smile immediately faltered. He managed to fix it soon after, but his jaw remained clenched tight.

’OUR little Vivi?’

Felix wanted to scream in protest.

But he couldn’t. Because, no matter how he felt about it, what Wilder had said was not wrong. He might have convinced Jared that Vivi wasn’t his pup... But it was FELIX who was Wilder’s biological son, not Jared, even though it would be all too easy to get the wrong idea from how both of them were treated by Wilder ever since they were young, when Wilder had used to pay a lot of attention to the Alpha, personally teaching him, while he had ignored Felix most of the time. Actually, at some point Felix had even suspected that Jared was secretly Wilder’s another illegitimate son... But of course, that couldn’t be the case. Even he wouldn’t be crazy enough to try to arrange for Felix and Jared to become mates if they were half-brothers.

And even if HE were, the Moon Goddess wouldn’t match them up as fated mates.

None of that mattered, though. Because, since Felix was Wilder’s biological son, Vivi was also his biological granddaughter. Felix couldn’t argue with that.

"Is she not here?" Wilder asked again, not getting an answer.

This finally snapped Felix out of his thoughts.

"She’s not," he said, trying to sound calm and happy, as he should when reuniting with his father after so long. "The weather is bad today, so I didn’t want to bring her outside, lest she might get sick."

Indeed, the weather wasn’t the nicest, rather cold and rainy. It wasn’t necessarily THAT bad, but at least it was unpleasant enough for Felix’s argument to make sense.

"Oh..." Something flashed through Wilder’s face. "Is she a sickly pup?"

He sounded as if he asked with concern, as if he was worried about his granddaughter...

But Felix knew better. It wasn’t that he was worried about VIVI. He was simply disappointed that his granddaughter might be weak.

Just as he had been disappointed with Felix when he had been very young.

Felix almost smiled, as an idea suddenly struck him.

"Oh... I wouldn’t necessarily call her sickly... I mean, she’s been doing alright ever since we came to the Bloodmoon Pack..." he answered slowly, with fake hesitation. "But... She didn’t exactly have a good start in life. She was born prematurely... Very much so. Because of that, she has been frequently sick, and weak for her age..."

He let out a sigh, shaking his head.

All while Einar and Lorelei were looking at him with confusion. Vivi had been born prematurely, yes - although not ALL that prematurely - but she was doing perfectly fine. They had their doctors give her extensive checkups, and they had said that she was developing fast, and was quite strong for her age!

So, what Felix was even talking about?