Still Jason Dolley as our new Callum

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Thanks @ForthBeamAddict, for the 'Yorke' name idea 🤜. I gave it a little twist ☺️.

I love, love, love my new look, did I say I love my new look? The beard makes me look more distinguished and grown up. I cannot wait for Esme and the gang to see it. I had to really work on Rafe to let Jeffery continue my driving lessons on our way to Esme's. He's still royally pissed at Jeffery. He'll get over it. It's been more than a week and I don't remember anything. All I know is that I'm now rocking a damn fine beard and I'm keeping it.

What's on my mind now is Katie Johnson's request to speak with Esme and me about something important. I wonder what?

But first, I'm registering for college. Raven recommends her college. She loves the classes offered and instructor availability, her words not mine. Personally, I like the pace and accessibility of online college. With this one, I just need to attend the lab classes in person. With my power of herb manipulation, I want to learn more about pharmaceutical drug breakdown so I can help my community. It is true we have more healing capabilities than mere humans, but we still need drugs to counteract poisons and drugs designed to bring us down or at the very least immunize us against them. Once I sign up and start college, I will train to be a Pharmaceutical Scientist.

"Hi, Cal? Like the beard."

"Hello Julian, how have you been?" I look up, smile and notice a young lady beside him.

"Doing well. This is my friend Sierra Jones."

"Hello, I'm Cal Yorke, nice to meet you."

A witch, I can tell. I nod to her and till I know her better, I am not shaking a witch's hand. Esme taught me that lesson when I was five. Witches are the best trickster around in addition to their magic.

"Hello, nice to meet you, too," she nods holding onto Julian.

Sierra Jones looks about eighteen with an air of superiority that borders on arrogance. About my height on three-inch stilettos. She has long vibrant curly brown hair. Her blues eyes are piercing and calculating. Her mouth has a fake pouty look. She flips her hair constantly and I pray she is not flicking dandruff all over this place. And her dress is skimpy at best.

"I dropped in to say hi to Uncle Nikolas and Aunt Nessa and see Rafe. When did you decide to grow the... you know?" He asks, sits down, motioning to his face. Sierra sits beside him, looking around the room.

"Beard? Oh, it was forced on us actually."

"Us?"

"Darric and I. A present from our trip with Jeffery."

"Ah! The 'cleansing'. How was it?"

"I don't remember."

"Of course. One thing I won't have to worry about."

"Why? You're a High Lord, maybe because you haven't met your mate?" I don't get mate vibe from Julian towards Sierra, feels more like 'friends with benefits' kind of relationship.

"Not that, I'm not a clan leader."

"Hi Julian," Rafe walks in with Darric. He hugs Julian. And walks over to me.

"Julian." Darric greets lukewarmly and walks over too, half sits on the table.

They both look pointedly at Sierra Jones, who sits up hurriedly. I can smell her apprehension at their entrance. Too much-combined power for this witch.

"Rafe, Darric," Julian replies. "This is my friend Sierra Jones."

"Hello, Sierra, which coven do you belong to?" Trust Rafe not to beat around the bush.

"Aurora Coven, High Lord Rafe."

"In my neck of the woods."

"Yes sir, Alpha Darric."

"Now that we are all acquainted, where are the folks? I'll like to introduce them to my girl."

"In their suite, Jeffery will bring them to the den."

"Okay I'll call you later Rafe, I have some updates for you." He gets up, hugs Rafe and guides his friend out the door.

"That is one witch I will never turn my back on," Darric says breaking the silence.

"I get this weird vibe from her," I agree. "I hope Julian will be okay."

"He's a big boy, he'll be okay. I trust he knows what he is doing. And she's from Esme's old coven." Rafe injects.

"Say what you want about Esme, with her it's her mischief, pranks, name calling but underneath it all, she's a good person who cares. But with this Sierra person, I get the total opposite. And if you tell Esme I said that about her, Cal, I will smack your round ass a ripe strawberry," Darric smiles and kisses me.

"I wouldn't dare," I wink at him.

"Are you ready?"

"Just sent my admission information and the first class starts soon. I'm so excited."

"Proud of you. I'm thinking of taking some business classes myself. I want to grow the Pack holdings for future generations."

"Go for it. Never too late. And thank you, guys. I have the most supportive mates."

"Okay let's go."

"I'll miss you two and let me know what you think of the layout at our home. We still haven't decided on a name."

"I think Klyne-Grey manor sounds good."

"Grey-Klyne sounds better."

"Before we get into the usual argument, I have the perfect name."

"What?"

"Yorke Manor. It has such a regal English feel to it. If our family name is going to omit my last name, at the very least the manor should have my name, don't you think so?" I face the both of them, arms akimbo daring them to argue my point.

"Sounds good," drawls Darric.

"Yorke Manor it is," Rafe jumps in with a fake laugh.

"Good, come on Darric. Rafe, I'll see you in a few days." I kiss him and lead the way to the car. Jeffery is already by the car waiting with the driver's door opened.

"Lord Callum, Alpha Lord," Jeffery bows, and I slide into the driver's seat. He motions for Darric to sit in the back, while he sits beside me. I wave to Rafe and turn my attention to Jeffrey and his lessons on all the gadgets in the car.

"Buckle up, my Lord."

"Of course, sorry."

"Goddess, we need your protection," Darric whispers, putting his hands together in prayer.

I heard him and glance in the rear-view mirror. He's trying to add another seat belt to the one he already has on. Wimp!

I turn on the car and pull out of the driveway. My driving is slow, and Jeffery is talking me through it. Darric is tapping incessantly on the armrest. And it's aggravating.

"Stop that, it's distracting, Darric."

"Sorry, just hoping we'll get to the land by end of the week."

"Very funny." True other cars are speeding past me, but I am not going any faster till I get the hang of this.

"You need to turn on your hazard light if you're going to drive below the speed limit, a warning to the other drivers, my Lord."

My driving gets better, and I drive faster, even Darric falls asleep. I'm not a bad driver after all, unh!

We arrive at our land and looks like Rafe has been very busy. There are work people all over.

"Darric we're here."

I see stakes all over the land. I tried to picture the layout based on the prints Rafe showed us but it's hard to envision the house in this state. In addition to the house, we are also building a medical triage building. As paranormal, we need to have access to care designed just for us. Darric joins us and we walk over to the nearest werecat. I stand corrected, he smells like a mixture of cats, what type? No idea. And I'm not going to ask.

"Hello, I'm Cal, this is Darric. And you are?"

"Good afternoon, Lord Callum, Alpha Darric. I'm Luka Smith."

"Hello, Luka. Looks like Rafe has been busy. Please, will you show us around and give us an update?"

"Of course, my Lord. If you'll follow me. Right now, we are staking, clearing, grading and excavating the lot."

"Wow! When Alpha Salim takes a job, he doesn't mess around, does he? And please call me Cal."

"No, he doesn't. I believe he plans to have the house and roads completed in six months and the surrounding buildings in a year. This process will be done in a week or two then we move on to completing the foundation and utilities."

"It is shaping up nicely, and the road is usable. Do you guys need anything? A place to stay. Anything?"

"Thank you, Cal. Alpha Salim has taken care of our accommodation. We are staying in Bryn Mawr because we are also working on expanding some witch's house in the area. I forget her name, an unusual name too."

"Esme Wood?" Darric asks.

"That's it. Esme Wood."

"Good luck."

"Good luck?" Luka asks perplexed.

"Ignore Darric. Will you take us on the tour now?"

The house is really shaping up nicely. We have a lot of land to build on as we wish, 1000 acres with the opportunity to buy more as needed. I can visualize how the main house is going to look. Start with three levels and the master occupies the second level. We plan to have our children on the third level. And the first will be den, kitchen, Jeffery's quarters, etc. An additional two-level building guest house will join this one via a fifty feet hallway. Other buildings will sprout up as needed. I am so excited. Our own home!

"I can't wait Darric," I hug him.

"Thank you, Luka. Take care, see you soon."

We head out and my driving is now smoother and faster and Darric has only one seatbelt now. Parking is what I need to practice. We arrive at Esme's and it takes me several minutes to parallel park. I slam the door exiting the car.

"Relax. You'll get better with practice, Cal."

"I know, but it's frustrating. Ten minutes to park?"

"It was fourteen minutes, four minutes better than your last try, my Lord."

"Not helping Jeffery, come on Esme's waiting. You want to show off your beard remember?" Darric consoles me.

We walk into Esme's and she looks up from her counter. She looks back and forth at Darric and I. Her face is blank she walks around the counter up to us, I have no idea what she's thinking. And suddenly she starts to dance, shaking her butt, waving her hands, circling us, singing in a very loud voice:

"Who let the mutts out? Who, who, who, who, who?

Who let the mutts out? Who, who, who, who, who?

Who let the mutts out? Who, who, who, who, who?

Who let the mutts out?"

"Are you done?" narrowing my eyes, arms folded.

She sings another round of the song, dancing and laughing.

"Okay, I'm all done. You really are now my favorite fur coat. Oh my god, what the hell happened to you two?"

"Jeffery took us for 'cleansing', and we came back with the beards. I love mine."

"Hello, Jeffery."

"Good afternoon, High Priestess."

"Cleansing? What the heck is that?"

"Some vampire ritual."

"Vamps and their rituals. Too many, too secretive and too damn boring. And I thought we witches had a lot of rituals, vampires run a very close second if you ask me. But you look good."

"What about mine?" Darric asks.

"You look human," she smirks.

"Nicest thing you've ever said to me Esme," Darric says with a fake smile.

"So, Katie wants to talk to us?" I interrupt to stop their oncoming fight.

"Come on, she's waiting in the den. Make yourself comfortable, Darric. Try not to shed on my furniture."

"I wouldn't dream of it. If I lay down on your furniture, I might bite some crazy invisible ancestor of yours."

"Nice one, so the mutt can bite."

I pull Esme along before this disintegrates into another 'digfest' between the two.

"Have any idea what she wants to talk about?"

"No, but I think it's good news, at least for her."

"How do you know?"

"I get a sense of peace from her. Her brother though is frazzled but I guess that's how every married-man-to-be feels?

"I wouldn't know."

"Unh, unh!"

"What?"

"Nothing, here we are."

"Hi Katie, how are you?"

"Hello Cal, I'm fine thank you."

"Sit, sit. What's up?"

Taking a deep breath, she rattles off her news. "You both know that I am in my final semester in college. You also know that Alpha Daric has been reaching out to formerly banished or shunned members. I told him that my degree is in education so he asked if I would consider helping with the pack school. I love his plan to have the school run up to middle school. And I want to be a part of this new pack. So, I will resign from Wood Inc. in about five months. I'm sorry."

"No need for apologies. I am very excited for you. I'm happy for you but why up to only middle school?"

"Alpha believes that the pups will have a handle on their abilities by the time they are old enough to enter high school. And going to the local high school will teach them how to interact with humans."

"Sounds reasonable to me," Esme jumps in.

"But I will like to work here part-time when school is out, if I may?"

"No problem, I don't ever turn away great employees."

"That's it? I thought it was something big like you met your mate and he or she refuses to let you work and you got into a big fight and..."

"Not everyone lives in soap opera world like you Cal."

"Anyway, I better get back to work."

"Sure, I'll walk to the office with you. I want to see the soon-to-be-married couple. And pick up my groomsmen suit. I can't believe Ed asked me to be a groomsman. So excited. And your father is the best man? That is so touching. They must be very close," I say wishing I had that type of closeness with Beta Yorke.

"They've always been close, and my brother is an introvert. And after the pack fiasco, he withdrew more into himself. My dad was practically his only friend. But now things are changing for the better, he and I cannot thank you both enough for all you did for us."

"I didn't do anything, really."

"Yes, you did. Esme found us and you took a chance on three people who were on their last leg and gave us hope. Thank you. I'll see you at the wedding. Bye."

Esme and I continue to the office and I am always amazed at the change in Ed. His face has a calmness to it now. His brows are relaxed and his mouth tilts at the edge all the time as if he's smiling.

"Mr. Johnson, one groomsman here for his suit." I joke.

"Cal! Hi. I have it here, ready for you. And thanks for being one of my groomsmen."

"No thank you, it's an honor, really." I grab the garment bag, unzip it, check to make sure everything is in it. My first and probably only chance at being a groomsman and I am not going to blow it.

"Good everything is in there. We'll see you at the wedding in a few days. I still can't believe you two won't have a bachelor or bachelorettes party."

"I want to spend the night before we make it legal with my one true love, reminiscing about where we've been, are now, and hope to be in the future. I just want to hold her all night long."

"And where's the bride to be?"

"In the bathroom throwing up."

"Is she okay?" I ask worriedly.

"She's fine, just pregnant."

"Congratulations!" Esme screams.

"Shish!!! She doesn't think I know and wants to surprise me."

"Doesn't she know that 'weres' can hear the heartbeat of their babies as soon as they're conceived?" I ask.

"She doesn't and I don't want to ruin her surprise."

"Okay, mum's the word. I'll see you at the wedding. Come on Esme."

"By the way Esme, I met a member of your old coven this morning, a Sierra Jones, know her?" I tell her as we walk down the hallway.

Esme pushes me against the wall, "did you let her touch you?"

"What the hell, Esme?" I push her away from me. She has the 'fighting' look around her that she gets when she's going head to head with an enemy.

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