Chapter 144 - Star - Farewell To New Friends
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Star
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The last few days had been very busy and very hectic, but it had also been very fruitful. I would be forever grateful to have been visited by the Alpha King and Luna Queen. They were not just visitors that had come to see us, they had become our friends.
Now, as it turned out, our friends and visitors were leaving tonight. They needed to get back home before Reece missed out on any more important meetings. They apparently had a private plane ready so they wouldn\'t need to worry about schedules and all the interfering passengers. That must be something, to have a private plane to take you anywhere you would want to go. Hell, I had never been on a plane before. I hadn\'t even seen one in person before.
We were preparing a farewell and thank you party for everyone. It was the least that we could do. They had done so much for us. Though, I know that I was going to miss them when they were gone. Maybe we would go and see them in Colorado some day. That would be pretty interesting in my opinion. I could see where it was that my parents met and maybe get to know the people who knew my mother. There might even be some people there that could tell me something really important.
I was with Ella and Chay in the kitchen cooking. We had strictly forbidden Trinity, Juniper, Acacia, and the others from helping us. This was a special meal we were making for them, they definitely couldn\'t help to make their own banquet dinner.
I had gotten much better at cooking since that date with Artem but I was still nervous when I did too much. That is why I was glad that I had help. Chay was not the greatest at cooking but she knew more than me. Ella was a whiz at all things to do in the kitchen. Not to mention we had the chef that Artem hired with us as well. He was very used to cooking for a lot of people and was being quite patient with us all.
It took a lot longer than it probably should have but we finally managed it all. After the food was ready we went in search of everyone else. We found a few of them with Artem and Reece. Trinity, Juniper, and her small entourage of guards and attendants had been in the library with all of the kids. Once they had all finished what they were doing and cleaned up they rushed to the large dining room that we used for almost every meal.
The dining room had been decorated with balloons and banners that said \'THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOU HELP\'. The triplets were the ones who made the banner and decorated the room for us. Not to mention that they brought along a really big, beautiful, and delicious cake. Now we were going to be able to have a proper send off for all of our new friends.
Earlier we had made a vast variety of food. There was fried chicken with potatoes and gravy but there was also pasta with red sauce. We had made small cuts of grilled steak that we could top with onions, mushrooms, or shrimp, not to mention we had also made delicious homemade pizzas. We made a little bit of what everyone liked.
There had been so much food that I had thought we would never be able to eat it all, but as we all started to fill our plates time and time again it slowly disappeared. That was good. I\'m glad people liked the food that I had helped to make.
I saw Kent talking with Nico and Uncle Griffin. I think that Kent was still very worried about his brother and just wanted to make sure that he was going fine now that he was awake. Kent had always seemed so stoic when I talked to him. Now I could see how much love and happiness he had buried deep inside of him.
All of the children, the original group and the new ones we had taken in recently, were running around and playing. I saw that Flint and Julian, the oldest among them, were acting like caring older brothers as they tried to wrangle the horde of boys. Still, I couldn\'t stop smiling when I saw the children and how happy and healthy they had become. I couldn\'t wait to see who they would become as they got older and grew up.
I noticed that Doc and Leelin were talking in a corner. I know that Doc was beyond happy to have finally met his mate. He and Leelin had spent a lot of time together over the last few days. They had a lot to discuss because apparently Leelin, a witch, had an adopted daughter, Hannah. Hannah was a mermaid.
Juniper and Chay had also been talking for a while. They seemed to have bonded over being the best friend of their pack Luna. It was kind of funny how easily they got along in such a short amount of time. It was nice though. I thought it would be a good idea to have these strong bonds linking us to the royal pack.
Artem was spending a lot of time talking to Reece. He had been getting lessons on how to be a proper Alpha. He had been learning how to manage meetings, organize ranks, delegate roles. It was all going to help us continue rebuilding our pack from the ground up. It was going to take us a long time and we knew that, but it was something that we were all willing to dedicate ourselves to. I know that I personally wanted to see our pack,our people, flourish.
It was a wonderful party. I was having a good time talking and spending time with everyone. I truly wanted to be happy and celebrate with the people who had given us so much help, but the problem was that I had been feeling sick. I had actually felt sick pretty much all day. I think it was just from using my magic for the first time yesterday.
I was still nibbling at my first plate of food and it was still mostly full. Trinity must have noticed that I was looking a little off so came to talk to me.
"Are you feeling alright Star?" She sounded worried. Her tone seemed to grab the attention of Artem and Reece who had been standing right next to us.
"I\'m sure it\'s nothing. I\'m probably just a little tired." I grinned and tried to make it sound like it was just nothing.
"What\'s the matter? What\'s going on Star?" Artem sounded nervous and worried when he heard us.
"I\'ve just felt off today, that\'s all. I think it was because I used so much of my magic for the first time last night." I had told them all about the magic that I used during the meeting while we were all walking slowly home from the clearing. They had all found it very fascinating, especially Acacia. She was now even more eager to have me go and meet the Fae Queen now.
"Off how?" Trinity asked me with a raised eyebrow.
"Just a little sick. Like I said, I am probably just really tired out from using magic, it was the first time and I didn\'t really know what I was doing. It took a lot out of me at the time too."
"Uh huh." Reece was grinning at me. "I\'m not so sure about that."
"What? Do you think she\'s really sick? Is something wrong with her?" Artem was still very concerned.
"I don\'t think she\'s sick at all. I think all of this has a more logical answer than that." Reece was still being cryptic. "Artem, does Star smell any different to you?"
"Huh? I don\'t know what you\'re talking about. She just smells like flowers, the same as always." Artem didn\'t seem to understand what they were saying either.
"Anything different at all. An added flower or a stronger scent?" I don\'t know what Reece was trying to get at? Why would I smell different?
Artem was looking at both Trinity and Reece with confusion then he would look at me with equal confusion. I watched as he took a deep breath, something that was sure to pull my scent to him.
"Hmm, there\'s the same lavender as usual. It smells like it\'s in the wind at midnight. That\'s all the same." He took another breath and his eyes opened wide. "Wait, there is more. I smell roses. You don\'t usually smell like roses." Artem was grinning and so were the other two.
"What\'s going on?" I asked them as I looked at their eager and excited faces.
"Congratulations." Trinity and Reece said together.
"For what?" I could hear the panic filling my voice. I couldn\'t help it. All of this was just a little too much for me to handle right now.