Chapter 35

• MATTHAN
• I hated suits. I loved me a shirt but covering it with a literal heat generator didn't do it for me. The Aster wolves however had a reputation for being preppy. I had to look the part. It still came as a shock to me that Eloise was doing this after all that talk about wanting nothing to do with fellow werewolves. I guess most of what she said when she accidentally used the blood rune to visit me was true and that was precisely why I was crashing the Aster's debutante. Eloise would be among other younglings, saying the oath and binding herself to a pack for all eternity. I felt the need to snap her out of it. She was only doing this because I had taken away her choice. She was stubborn. I knew it. The only plausible reason for why she was choosing to align with a werewolf faction would be because she saw no way out. While I had nothing much to offer her, I could take back my words. That would mean something. Give her some sort of freedom.
• "You are losing it." My wolf told me and it wasn't wrong. Looking into the mirror, I could see what it meant. I looked unkempt. My hair, although clean, was unruly and my ends were falling into a slight beard. Anyone who knew me was well aware that I liked my face clean-shaven or at least presentable. Since I was running out of time, there was no time for a makeover. I threw on the suit I borrowed from Declan and my shoes and rushed for the blood rune. Luckily, I had etched the transportation rune somewhere not too far from where the Aster packhouse stood. I could still make it. Without much ado, I pictured the location and cut into my hand. Blood seeped out quickly and the doorknob grew warm against my touch. When the slight vibrations that emitted strongly from the door halted, I opened it and walked into it, successfully stepping out of an abandoned warehouse deep in the woods. I was close to Aster territory. I could smell others in the wind. The Aster pack was located deep in the woods of a town called Wentworth. It was close to Ashlake. Unlike most packs that chose to integrate into human society, presenting as churches, high society gatherings, and clubs, Aster chose to stand out. An act that was still very much hated by a majority of the elders. An active mansion in the middle of nowhere would attract people. Sooner or later, many believed questions would be asked and the werewolf society, in general, would be put in jeopardy but despite the aggravating complaints, not a lot of action had been taken against the Aster pack as complaints never came. Those who wandered too far to their enclaves became forever lost and cold because the Asters were not werewolves that played nice. Doing this... Wandering uninvited to another territory was dangerous even for a Beta of my caliber but it was a risk I was willing to take for Eloise. Plus, I had a plan. I wasn't brash like Declan.