His Fateful Choice

Betty

Morning came sooner than I would have liked. The chirping of birds and the light passing through the leaky roof suggested that today would be a beautiful day. At least something positive.

I checked my phone and found a text from Bill wishing me good luck. The almost empty battery symbol reminded me that I had to go to the city as soon as possible and charge my phone somewhere.

When I finally got out of my sleeping bag, I decided to sacrifice my comfort and go wash myselft in the stream. Hey, even though I'm going to live like Tarzan for a while, it doesn't mean I also have to smell like him.

This noble thought left me as soon as I dipped my feet into the water. I don't know why I expected the forest stream not to be completely freezing. On the other hand, at least I didn't waste time rolling in the water, which would certainly happen if its temperature were at least a little bearable.

I quickly dried myself and got dressed, and in my mind for once regretted that I could not turn into a large furry walking radiator.

It was a little after nine o'clock when I set off for the city, which in my memory was about half an hour's walk away. This meant I would arrive just for breakfast.

It was a really beautiful day and under normal circumstances I would enjoy the beauty of the surrounding forest. Today, however, I focused only on passing through the shadows and always being protected on at least two sides by a thicket. Although this side of our territory is very dense and uninhabited and patrols are kept on the outside of the border, one never knows when an enthusiastic mushroom picker or a family with children will decide to go on a trip.

I arrived on the outskirts of the city in less than twenty minutes. Wow, I was fast! I realized with pleasure.

My hungry stomach carried me straight to the nearest bakery. Thanks to my sensitive nose, I knew the way immediately.

A soft ringing of the bell above the door announced my entrance, and the waitress, who could be about fifty, smiled kindly at me.

"Good morning, dear, how can I help you?" she welcomed me warmly. Cute.

"Good morning to you too, I'd like to have something good for breakfast and this looks like the right place." I greeted with a smile.

"Without everything, we have sweets here in that display case and some sandwiches in that one." The baker pointed in front of her.

"Um, everything looks great. I'd like a croissant and a cappuccino, please. "

"Coming up. You can sit down darlin’.”

And as she said, so I did. I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and look around. I was in a small old-fashioned cafe not far from the main square, where there were currently a dozen stalls of farmers offering their products. The sun and blue sky only added to this picturesque view.

I noticed that in the far part of the square there were many people decorating the surrounding houses and columns with flowers and ribbons. Hm, it looked like some sort of celebration.

As if on cue, the waitress, whose name tag told me her name was Betty, appeared at my table.

"Here you go, honey." She placed a plate with croissant and a cup of coffee in front of me. Couldn't Betty adopt me? I couldn't even remember the last time my own mother behaved like this.

“Thank you, Betty.“ I said.

"You're welcome."

"May I ask, do I see there's a party coming up?"

Betty first answered my question with a strange look. Then, as if something had occurred to her, her gaze softened and she replied, "Oh, you're probably not local here, are you? I should have known since you smelled like no one here. Visiting?”

“Uh-hm” I just said. I didn’t want to lie to the first person prom this pack who was nice to me in ages.

"You see, in six weeks, the appointment ceremony of our new Alpha will take place, and on that occasion, we will be visited by a delegation from the royal pack. Some members of the royal family are also said to be arriving.”

"Aren't those preparations a little premature?" I couldn't help to ask. Those live flowers on those garlands won't last a month.

"Oh no, they are supposed to come next week. Our future Alpha asked the royal army for joint training and they accepted. It’s quite the thing here. Training with them is a great honour and will certainly bring prestige to our pack. Our warriors are among the elite, but they still cannot match the warriors trained to protect the kingdom. It is said that they won a number of battles without a single bloodshed, because their enemies rather surrendered. " Betty said with a pious reverence in her voice.

“Oh, I didn’t know that.” Except I did. At least the part about their legendary reputation. That intrigued me. Everyone knew the legends of the royal army. They were not just elite fighters. It is said that their units were like machines fighting without a single hesitation. Wherever they came, an order was settled. Not that their work is needed often. Although it was perhaps their reputation that caused everyone to think twice before entering a conflict with the kingdom or a pack under its protection.

Josh must have been thrilled that they had accepted his invitation. The royal troops don't just train with anyone. When they accepted the invitation of my pack, it meant that our pack is considered a high-level fighting force by the standard of the Royal Beta

I was wondering if I would be able to see them during training. If it really was such an experience as they say.

Flashback

“Josh! Where are you? It's almost dark, we should go home. And you know Irene doesn't like darkness!” I whisper-screamed into the darkening forest.

"Boo!" came a voice from behind me, and two strong hands wrapped around my waist, pressing me against a warm chest.

“Josh! Stop trying to scare me!” I exhaled, trying not to reveal that his attempt was successful. His crooked smile told me that he knew.

"Let's stay for a while Emi, I don't want to go home yet." He asked while he nuzzled my hair. "We're leaving for the capital tomorrow, which means we won't see each other for a week."

"Oh, actually. Do you think that you will meet someone from the royal family? Maybe one of the princes?” I asked excitedly

Josh growled softly, obviously not liking my enthusiasm.

"I don't know why I should see them. Plus, as far as I know, they're a lot older than us, so I'm not very interested. " He grunted, emphasizing the word a lot. It seemed cute to me, especially considering that the youngest of the princes was not more than four years older than us.

"But I'm looking forward to the military parade. We might even see an elite team fight according to my father. Mr. Erikson told me about them. They are said to be unstoppable in combat. I plan to learn everything they will do and then one day I will teach it our pack and we will be invincible.” he declared heroically.

Even though I was only eleven, my chest swelled with pride that my best friend was thinking like this. I could see him one day as a great leader who was courageous in the face of danger, but at the same time gentle and caring. Someone like that would definitely be every girl's dream.

Suddenly I realized where my thoughts had strayed, and my face immediately flushed. I hoped Josh never finds out I sometimes think of him like this. He certainly doesn't think of me that way.

His gaze tore me from my contemplation, so I quickly followed up on our conversation. "Well in that case you better pay good attention so you can later teach me everything. And then we can fight each other and see which of us is stronger.” I declared, and as a token of my strength, I raised my hands like a bodybuilder flexing his biceps.

Josh laughed. "Um, we'll never fight each other."

“And why not?" I did not understand.

"Because you are a girl. And I won't fight a girl. Moreover, it is the task of us men to protect our girls.” He said, and after a while, as if something had occurred to him, he looked at the ground. Despite the falling darkness I noticed his cheeks were literally burning.

"But I want to train!" I whined

"You don't need to train; I'll always protect you."

My heart trembled at his words, but I still did not give up. "But Josh, what if I want to protect someone? And what if you're not here to protect me?”

"Don't worry Emi, I'll always be there for you."

End of flashback

Ha, I couldn’t help but sneer at the memory. Always be there my ass. But whatever, it makes no sense to dwell on the past. What matters is what is here and now. And here and now is Betty with the information I need.

“And will everyone be staying at the pack house? Is it known how big the delegation will be? I guess your Alpha has to have a lot of preparation work to do. I'm new here, so I wonder if they need help.”

"Oh, not at all. The Royal Delegation will be housed in a guest house specially built for the occasion. And the military unit that will take part in the joint exercise will have a camp by the lake near the new training ground. Two units of fighters are expected, along with officers, and then, of course, a number of important representatives of the kingdom. And you're right, our future Alpha is quite busy. But thankfully he has his wonderful Luna, who really helps him with the preparations. But I'm sure they still need every helping hand. Alpha even recently issued a decree calling all our members living outside our territory back. So if you offer them your help, they will certainly welcome you. "

Um, that sounds like good news. Just to be clear, I never intended to actually help with anything. I just needed to know how busy they were to notice me wandering around their territory. And although I would be careful with the expectations of a welcome party, the fact that both of them are absolutely busy means that they will probably not have much free time to punish and humiliate me.

With a good mood I therefore thanked Betty, paid for my breakfast and made my way to the town. It's been a while since I've been there.