The Royal Wolff

Chapter 5: Leaving On A Jet Plane

“Ugghhh, I am never going to drink that much in my entire life again.” I groaned onto my pillow while I felt an aching pain in my head.

Last night was a blur, but it was so sharp at the same time. The second Mathieu and I stepped into the middle of the forest with lights all over and a bonfire in the middle, it felt like magic.

The music was perfect, a mix of mine and Mathieu’s playlist, the food was beyond delicious, everything I dream of eating in my sleep, but my friends and family were the best part. We partied the night away and by the wee hours of the morning, who knows exactly what time - I managed, or more like my friends did, to drag me back to my Little Love House.

The last thing I remember was slumping on bed and snoring until my head started pounding and my bladder started screaming that we needed to get my ass up and pee.

“Okay, okayyy, I’m going.” I grumbled to myself, or more like to my bladder, as I struggled to get out of the comfortable all pink sheets.

I let out a deep exhale after getting up off the bed and turned around as a smile formed on my lips. I couldn’t help but admire my new bedroom that was just too cute for words. Darn. How cruel is it that I was only able to sleep on it one time?

“Just one year. One year, Anita, and you’re back home.” I muttered to myself and exhaled before off to the bathroom I go.

About forty five minutes in the shower and another fifteen minutes pretty much contemplating why I drank so much alcohol the night before, I was finally finished and picking my last outfit in the Grove.

“Shall it be casual or do I want to be extra?” I asked myself while scanning the closet that was filled with amazing clothes by my very own talented friend.

“Extra. Always extra.” I giggled to myself before taking the clothes I decided on.

It was a white pink corset type of top with a pink string in the middle and white ripped jeans that had pink pockets sewn to it. To top it all off, an adorable beaded pink and white pearls necklace.

“Perfect. Barbie has left the chat.” I chuckled to myself as I felt content with my outfit while looking in front of the mirror.

Everyone in my family said that I’ve always had a knack for clothes or just dressing myself up in general. You know when you’re a little girl and your mom pretty much dresses you up? I was never like that. My mom realized that I was better off picking my own clothes even at such a young age and they somewhat noticed that it was what made me happy so they let it be.

My phone on the bedside table started buzzing and saw that it was my dad on the caller ID. I hurriedly ran to it. He rarely called so if he was calling, it must be something important.

“Papá? Che si dice (what’s going on)?” I asked and I could hear a faint sound of nature around him in the background. They say I got my uncle’s ability to hear better, while Mathieu got our dad’s ability to smell even the faintest scent.

“Are you up? Feeling better?” He asked almost instantly as if he knew exactly that I woke up with a slight headache.

I wonder how many hangovers he once nursed back in the day to know that.

“I’m better after my shower. Grazie, papá.” I told him thanks for his concern, but I was still slightly surprised he called to ask that since it was usually mom’s job.

“Well, I called because I just finished rounds around the border and I’m near your place. Do you want to walk with me back home for brunch before we leave?”

“Brunch.” I couldn’t help but giggle at the way he said it so casually.

“What’s so funny?” He asked and I could hear his confusion on the other side.

“Nothing, nothing. Sorry, sure. I can go down now. See you, papá.” I replied before hanging up.

I couldn’t help but slightly chuckle again and smile at the thought of this big shot in the business world saying ‘brunch’ with his daughter. That’s also because I know how many people truly fear him when it comes to dealing with serious matters. Not all of them know that he used to hold mine and Mathieu’s poop a lot back then.

I grabbed a long but thin white coat hanging in the closet before opening the door and turned around to look at it and take in everything for one last time.

I’ll be back here in no time and then I can lavish in all its beauty.

With that in mind, I hurriedly went down and walked out as I looked around and waited for my dad to arrive. I wasn’t sure if he would be in wolf form or human seeing as he was doing his rounds.

A small breeze passed by and I caught a scent of freshly baked bread. I knew instantly that it was from the bakery just a few houses away from here and I remembered Mathieu and I going there every weekend because their croissant was our favorite.

There were a lot of things I was going to miss here and I hope it won’t change that fast while we’re away.

Suddenly, I hear sounds of leaves rustling and heavy steps nearing me. It’s definitely him and he was in, yup, wolf form.

A huge, unwavering, and especially fear-inducing dark black wolf came out of the trees and if I didn’t know it was my own dad, I would be scared out of my own wits. Although I did so I just threw him a bunch of clothes we have kept safe around the woods for times like these.

He easily caught it and walked to the side where no one could see him. After about a minute, he came out and looked like a CEO off duty in gray sweatpants. I will never get used to seeing him not in a suit and tie.

“Thank you, cucciolotta.” He smiled at me before pulling me in for a side hug.

“Your wolf is really scary, dad.” I told him while we started walking towards the path leading to the castle.

“Good. That’s how we want it to be.” He replied with a soft chuckle.

“Was it always so humongous? You’re bigger than Alpha Marcus, aren’t you?” I asked curiously.

I have only seen them both in wolf form a few times as there was not really any need for it, such as a battle or anything of the like.

“No. Marcus’ was bigger before, but when my wolf came back during the battle when you and Mathieu were little kids, I knew instantly it became stronger.” He explained and I nodded slowly.

“So… does that mean the Moon Goddess made you stronger to protect the Royal Family?” I turned to him and saw as the sun shone right beside us.

It somehow illuminated my dad and it made him look like this otherworldly presence and I felt even more at peace with him. There were no words to describe really what it was like to have a dad like Maximo Wolff. He went above and beyond for everyone, but most especially for his family.

“Everyone. To protect everyone, la mia bambina (my baby).”

-

“I’m so full but I want to keep eating! Qualcuno mi aiuti (someone help me)!” Mathieu shouted out in desperation at the dining table and everyone started laughing.

“If you keep at it, you’ll become one haircut away from your future sumo wrestling career.” One of his friends joked and he gave them a death stare.

He was right, though. Not my brother’s friend, but the amount of delicious food in front of us. It’s like the pack wanted to make us so fat so we wouldn’t be able to move to get to our flight later tonight.

“Now, now, don’t fill yourself up too much, Mathieu, or you’ll feel bad on the plane.” Our mom said and he nodded with a pout.

Mathieu slowly let go of the fork he was using to eat his probably tenth slice of cake and his friends gave him a pat on the back.

“Should we wrap things up here? We need to pass by the house first before the airport and we don’t want to get caught in weekend traffic.” Our mom looked at Mathieu and I and for a few seconds, there was a moment of silence while we contemplated her question, but in the end we both knew what we needed to do.

“Okay.” We said at the same time before nodding.

Leaving sucks. Saying goodbyes suck. Why was this even a thing? I wish we didn’t have to leave. Right now I was actually somewhat preferring going back to Wood Crest and see Nathan’s stupid face and do that darned play all over again if it meant not having to leave.

But I know deep down, whatever it was, we had no more choice but to follow this new path. I just had to trust my dad and everyone that they knew what was best for us.

“Man, I’m going to miss everyone.” Mathieu said as we stood next to each other, standing right outside the entrance just staring and taking everything in for one last time.

“Tell me about it. I already can’t wait for the holidays. Do you think we can go back home to visit?” I turned to Mathieu and his eyes lit up with an idea.

The two of us smiled giddily at each other.

“Di cosa siete così storditi (what are you two giddy about)?” We turned around and our mom was looking at us curiously with a raised brow.

“It’s a twin secret.” We both said at the same time again and chuckled right after.

For some reason, we have these moments where we just literally think of the same thing and say it together. It’s true what they say, twins do have a special connection.

“Hmph, fine.” Our mom replied defeated. “We should get going, though. Your father is driving.” She motioned for us to get inside.

“Shotgun!” Mathieu shouted out before slightly shoving me to the side so he could get a headstart to the car.

“Hey! No fair!” I told him annoyed before sprinting to get to him.

We had a special connection, and an even more special level of annoyance with each other.

-

“Mom, Anita won’t stop kicking the back of my seat!” Mathieu said annoyed and I let out an evil chuckle.

After beating me in the first round of shotgun on the way back home, he also threw me off guard before leaving the house so he was once again in the front seat on the way to the airport.

“Anita, stop bothering your brother.” My mom said nonchalantly as she went through some papers in the car.

“Never. It’s his punishment.” I laughed again and put my hands up the way villains do.

“Punishment? Why should I be punished for your lack of cardio which made you run slower than me?” Mathieu turned around to give me an obvious mocking look.

“Shut up! I do cardio!” I shouted out in defense and kicked his seat harder, making him tumble at the front.

“Oi!” Mathieu shouted angrily as he turned around from his seat and was about to attack when our dad suddenly shouted.

“Fermare (stop)! Tranquillo (quiet)!”

The two of us were taken aback by the angry tone and we immediately froze on our seats. I noticed that even mom was surprised by the sudden outburst. I think Mathieu and I have gone a little overboard and truly pissed him off.

“Che c’è (what is wrong), Maximo?” Our mom asked as she placed her hand on our dad’s shoulder.

I saw him suddenly get tense while still focusing on the road. It looked like he was on a mind-link with someone.

He exhaled deeply as his grip on the steering wheel tightened. Without turning around to us, he spoke up in a deep and serious tone that made me feel a type of fear I haven’t felt in a long time.

“We need to be careful.”

“Careful? We are careful. Did something happen?” My mom continued to ask and frankly, it was a good thing because she was reading mine and Mathieu’s mind as we were curious about the same thing.

Out of nowhere, our father suddenly took a sharp left turn making us slightly imbalanced in the car and I hurriedly held on to the handle by the top of the door. I have never seen him so… agitated.

“Where are we going? This isn’t the way to the JFK airport…” Mathieu exclaimed in confusion.

“Another way. There is a ruckus in the airport. Some of our men just told me. We’re not sure if it’s connected to us, but to be safe. I am not risking it.” He finally explained and although we understood some of it, it wasn’t necessarily a peace of mind we got.

What ruckus? Why was it totally out of nowhere and on the day we were going there? Could have this been premeditated? How would they even have known we were going to leave today? So many questions, but no way to find answers. I just hope we can get out of this soon.

All of us stayed quiet in the car. A silence that I have never before experienced because we would often be talking to one another on the way somewhere, but right now there was too much anxiety of not knowing what was going on to talk.

I looked outside the window and watched as the last bit of sun slowly went down and the horizon turned pastels of tangerine and indigo. In a few seconds, it disappears and all that is left is the dark shade of blue and the half moon brightening the side of the sky. It was nighttime.

Suddenly, a plane passed above us, the sound loud as it was still near the land and I knew we were nearing the airport. This time, there were no cars and people that were hurriedly falling in line to get inside. There was only tall grass, metal gates, and the planes lined up by the runway. Were we at the back of the airport?

The car stopped abruptly and the second the locks of the door opened, dad was already outside and mom stepped out with him.

There is an eerie silence in the car before Mathieu turns around to face me. “It’s going to be fine.” He said with his reassuring tone and smile and placed his hand on my knee.

Half an hour ago we were annoying each other to no end and now he was back to being my caring brother. I wish I could have the annoying one right now, though.

My door opened and our mom looked at us in a not-so-reassuring manner. “Hurry up, kids. We will bring you to the plane from here.”

Things were happening so fast, I didn’t entirely know how to process it, but there was no time to dilly dally. I followed her out of the car and our dad handed our luggages. Luckily, we both only had a small hand carry one as all of our other things were going to be shipped directly to our place in Spain.

“H-how are we getting to the plane? Don’t we have to pass by and give our tickets?” I managed to speak up and ask.

“No, it’s okay, sweetie. Your dad made some arrangements. Let’s just follow him, alright? Take my hand.” She gave me a smile that was meant to calm me down, but the way she tightly held onto my hand said otherwise.

Something was going on and they weren’t telling us the whole thing. Or rather, they didn’t know it either.

I swallowed nervously as I felt my throat drying up from nervousness. It wasn’t entirely cold, but I was feeling shivers all over my body, the hairs on my arms were up from nervousness. I tightly held onto my mom’s hand, probably the last time I will be able to for some time. They weren’t even going to fly with us as they needed to take care of business.

“Come, come.” Our mother glanced at us as we followed our father to the metal gate, stepping on tall grass and me internally hoping there were no snakes here or anything.

“Who are those people?” I suddenly felt afraid when I saw the silhouette of two men walking towards us and I tugged on my mother’s hand, telling her that we shouldn’t move forward.

“No, it’s alright, honey. Your father knows them.” She said and I felt slightly relieved.

When we got closer, I realized she was right. It was Uncle Marco, a family friend we have known since we were babies. We would often see him when we traveled as he was a captain and a stockholder of many different airlines thanks to our dad.

“Thank you for doing this on such short notice. I owe you, Marco.” Our father gave a quick hand shake.

“Nonsense! You know it’s always my pleasure. It’s an honor to do something for the Wolff family.” He replied in an upbeat tone.

He turned to where we were standing and began walking towards us. “Look at you two. You just don’t stop growing, don’t you?”

“Mathieu? You are almost the same height as me!” He commented before pulling him in for one of those bro hugs.

“Ah, your luggages.” He took mine and Mathieu’s then passed it to the man next to him.

“I would love to have a longer catch up, but it seems you two are in a hurry so we should get on the plane.” He told us and we both nodded before continuing our walk.

We entered the gate and until now, I still felt uneasy. Sneaking at the back of the airport was not the way I planned to spend my last few minutes in New York.

Mom’s grip on my hand tightened the closer we got to the plane and I turned to her, a small smile on her face but it was in her eyes that I could see the slight hesitancy and sadness in them.

I gave her a nod and a smile back to give her a bit of reassurance. At least hoping that it worked.

“Alright, we’ll be taking your luggages already. Just come inside when everything is set. Just keep in mind there’s about ten minutes left until we finish boarding.” Marco told us before saying a quick goodbye.

“Take care of yourself, Max.” He told our father before walking away with the man holding our luggages.

“I’m sorry we had to go through this route and that we don’t have much time now.” Our father suddenly spoke up in a guilty tone but Mathieu was quick to stop him from feeling such.

“Don’t say that, dad. It’s not your fault. You made a good call to keep us all safe.” He reassured him and I stepped in.

“He’s right! We’ll see each other again soon. Grazie mamma e papà. Please, please, take care.” I started to feel teary-eyed, but tried my hardest to push it back in as I didn’t want to worry them.

We all came closer and hugged each other and out of all seventeen years with my family, this has been the most heartbreaking hug I have ever had with them.

Nonetheless, I needed to tough it out.

Mathieu and I waved goodbye while we walked up to the plane and the entire time we were walking to our designated seat, I kept repeating to myself that everything was going to be alright and we were going to see each other again.

But the second Mathieu stood up to go to the restroom, a tear instantly fell down my cheek as I watched from the window the aerial view of the city getting further and further away. The once bright lights began to fade away until all I could see were just clouds.

Suddenly, there was a tug at my heart and I no longer felt as reassured as I did earlier.

Were things really going to be alright?