Invitation

Once he had swallowed the words that had been at the tip of his tongue when Nora had interrupted him, Robin stood up abruptly. He blinked for a moment as if to verify that she was indeed there, before he broke the silence that had descended in the room. 

"Nora!? You are here? How! Did you forget the routes again? Yes, that must be the case, isn't it? Oh no!! But nevermind it now, let me take you back -"

"Robin!"

Nora called out to him, as the panic in his tone regarding Nora having gotten lost in the hostel routes once again was not only visible, but it was clear that it had freaked him out to the level of triggering a panic attack.

But as Nora took his name, he remembered that Nora had left the hostel premises with her dad; then how was it possible that she had lost her way and returned to his room? This implied that clearly, there was something that was not right, and he asked;

"But how could you have lost your destination once again, because this time, you were not alone. Your dad was also there -"

"Yes, he was there with me! And who said I am lost? I am not lost, I have deliberately come here, to invite my friends to my birthday party, which is on the twenty ninth of this month."

Nora interrupted Robin with a shine in her eyes, when she remembered what her father had told her, once they had reached the car.

"Nora! I know, my child, that you have always seen and thought that your dad is a very strict and cruel person who has never had any mercy on you… but it was important. It was important from my side, child, or else you wouldn't have been able to survive in front of your peer Alphas, such as David."

Perhaps, he wasn't as bad of a person as she had grown up imagining him to be… perhaps there had been some good intentions hidden behind his demeanor.

She was lost in her thoughts when she heard Robin's voice, as he spoke after he had returned to his usual self after a trip to the panic town.

"Did you say you are here to invite us for your birthday! I am sorry, I am not following you here - what?"

"Yeah! My dad said that I should invite my friends on my birthday, and this -"

"Nora! How many times do I need to explain this to you? A Beta and an Alpha can't be friends, at least not as far as our territories are concerned!"

Myron interrupted her this time, before Robin could have said anything. But then again, when Nora opened her mouth and was about to speak, Robin took the opportunity instead.

"Okay, so hear me out, clearly and carefully! Nora, I remember that I have said that we are friends; and yes, I am not going to back away from this claim of mine. But I would still suggest you to refrain from mentioning this friendship of ours in front of anyone. Especially so in front of your parents, as the Riverine and Matthews are born enemies. The rivalry has been going on for generations, and there is absolutely no record of at least one friendly gesture in the previous centuries. And not only this, but there is also no record of -"

"Oh God! Robin and Myron! Will you let me get a word out, without cramping me? Now listen before you speak, both of you! I am here, because my dad has told me to invite you two to the party. I think it's because he had noticed the two of you standing by my side, and he also told me that he knows you live in the hostel so there is a chance that you might miss out on the royal invitations being sent out. Hence, he told me to invite you in person."

"He! He, himself, told you to invite me?" 

Robin asked Nora for clarification with fear lingering on his face, sensing the unavoidable occurence of some extremely bad circumstances in their way.

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After David left the corridor in anger without saying anything, Henry also followed him quietly. As he would allow himself to admit, this was the only thing he was completely perfect at - sensing David's anger, and knowing what could calm him down at which point of time. But since the moment Nora had entered their lives, he did not know anything anymore. There had been plenty of times when he had found that David was angry, but he had been unable to figure out the reason. The cause of his best friend's anger had remained unknown to him, and even further, there had been many instances when David should have been angry as hell, when the reason and opportunity that warranted his anger- both were present on the scene. However, all he could see was a faint line of smile which he was fighting to hold back, or at the same time, a faint line of helplessness which was hidden behind his smiling face.

But today! Today, he was completely clueless as to what had been going on since that morning. At first, David had really wanted to hurt Nora, according to his assumptions; but the next moment, he had seen the most caring side of David, which was rarely visible to anyone if they hadn't seen him interact with his family.

Henry was lost in comparing the strange acts David was pulling these days, which were completely in contrast with his deductions based on years of observation. He was pulled into the real world only when he heard David's voice. However, his words being conveyed in a tone full of aggression was not addressed to Henry, but to someone else.

" Ryan! I think you are getting bored due to there being no thrill in your life anymore. Or let's just say that you have acquired some mighty high misconceptions about yourself! Then why shouldn't we clear them out as soon as possible? I am inviting you to the Arena to fight!!"

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