Chapter 201: Back again at the Oaks

Erick took a deep breath and asked with a serious look on his face, "Sir, may I bring Amber and Remi over to the Cairin Oaks for a visit?"  

At first, Eren just crossed his arms, scowling as he looked at Erick from across the table, leaning back against his seat. 

He then exhaled a long breath. "What is this?" he complained goodnaturedly. "I thought it was something serious. Why does it sound like you're asking for my daughter's hand in marriage?"

Erick immediately choked in his words. He did not expect those kinds of words to come out of Eren's mouth. He looked at the man in front of him, wide-eyed shocked.

Ignoring the look on the young man's face, Eren placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward. "So what's going on in Cairin Oaks?" he asked.

"There's a festival there that I'd like to bring Amber and Remi to. Makena, the Alpha's granddaughter, has invited us as this will be her first time attending it."

'First time?' Eren thought to himself. Numerous questions popped into his mind as he felt something was a bit strange.

Seeing the confused look on Eren's face, Erick quickly briefed him on some details of what had happened to Makena but not the whole story. After he was done narrating, there was a sad look on the former's face, as if he had never expected that such a thing had happened to a very young girl. It was such a relief that she doesn't have any traumatic side-effects after that horrifying experience.

He then continued to ask more about the festival and what it was about.

Unfortunately, Erick doesn't know much about the festival as it would be his first time attending it as well. He further explained about how the Cairin pack used to be closed from the outside world. So this would be like the first time they had opened their doors to the outside. Meaning, the other shifters.

Eren then started to shoot questions at Erick, asking how many people would be joining them, whether there is a chaperone joining them, how long will the festival be and so forth.

Erick answered each of Eren's questions calmly.

Soon after, Erick finally got the green light from Eren and then he went home.

The next day.

It was a calm Sunday evening as the sun was about to set, blanketing the earth with soft orange glow.

A huge van of nine seater could be seen driving its way from Burkendall town, heading outside the town. Inside the van, there were several young shifters with a couple of young men. One of the men, who had a beauty mole underneath one of his eyes was driving the vehicle with a serious look on his face, concentrating on the road.

Beside him was another young man, with his arms behind his head as he lounged against his seat. He let out a sigh. "Why oh why did the Alpha send me to babysit a bunch of kids?" he mumbled. "If this is his way of telling me to relax, he got it all wrong."

Hamish, who was sitting behind him, kicked the seat in front of him. 

Surprised by the kick, Fergus jumped and whirled around in his seat. "Who's the brat that kicked my seat?" he barked.

Other than Hamish, there were Erick, Jeayan, Amber, Remi and Dex at the back seats. The five of them immediately pointed at Hamish, who looked out of the window, as if he hadn't just done the deed.

Before Fergus could scold his son, Roel, who was driving at that time, straight away scolded Hamish for being rude and disrespectful towards their Beta. Hamish felt contrite and immediately apologized to his father.

Fergus shot the kids a smug look before turning back around.

Roel sighed inwardly. Sometimes he felt that his Beta can be quite childish, if he was to be impudent. There were times he felt that both Hamish and his father had a switch in their personality where Hamish was more mature. Well, at some points.

After that little 'incident', the atmosphere inside the vehicle was quiet, other than the smooth sounds of the drive. 

At the very back seats, Remi was dozing off, next to Amber, who was listening to her music player. And next to Amber was Erick, who was holding onto her hand while looking out the window. 

Hamish was on the middle right side of the vehicle while Dex was on the middle left side with Jeayan sandwiched between them. 

Each of these young shifters were in their own thoughts as they headed their way to the Cairin Oaks. They passed by familiar areas and soon after, they reached another familiar area where they needed to park the vehicle before entering the forest. 

Though, the Cairin packs have assured them that the forest was now safe but one can never be too careful as Roel gave a small talk to both Amber and Remi since they were the only humans in their group. Even if Remi had gone to the Oaks before, he was still a young boy that needed to be cautioned every few times. 

They were standing outside the forest where both Jeayan and Erick helped the siblings to prepare to get inside.

Despite the fact that it would be much faster for them to shift into their wolf counterparts to get to the Oaks but because Amber and Remi were there, it wasn't convenient. Also, it might be tedious to change out and into their clothes. 

At first, Fergus told Roel to carry Amber behind his back because among them all, he was probably the strongest in their human forms. But then, he got silenced by the glares of both Erick and Jeayan. The young female shifter even hissed at Fergus for even suggesting that. 

Just as they stepped into the forest, Erick suddenly felt ringing in his ears. Lights started to flash in front of his eyes. 

Amber, who was on his back, noticed his abnormality and asked what was wrong. 

To her and everyone's shock, Erick suddenly fell down on his knees, bringing Amber with him. It was fortunate that she wasn't hurt, other than a little bump on her chin. She jumped off his back and walked around in front of Erick. 

Her eyes widened when she saw what was happening to Erick.