Pluto

Chapter 2 • California Dreaming

9 hours later.
 
9:00 PM, California State.

   The Wildfire Pack House, five acres of land in the Holmby Hills, LA.

  It was a very large, private estate.  Hades was...impressed. 

There were big large black fer forge gates at the end of the driveway, that led to the most lavish entrance.

A black marble wolf statue stood tall in the middle of a small roundabout that was about 6 meters away from black marble stairs that led to large chestnut-brown wooden double doors with black fer forge stainless steel handles. 
 
Hades felt like he was standing on the grounds of an Earth version of the underworld. It seemed so familiar yet still...different somehow.
 
As he approached the expensive chestnut wood door, he clutched the black stainless-steel handle in hand and knocked trying to be courteous, instead of just appearing in their dining room.
 
He heard a squeal, followed by hurried footsteps from the other side.
 
Internally smiling, he plastered his brooding face while he tapped an impatient foot on the ground.
 
The door snapped open while two much smaller figures greeted him, followed by his nephew, Aries.
 
Adrien had latched himself on the king of the dead's inner thigh.

Adrien grew a couple of inches; Hades noticed, a notion of happiness seeping through his dead heart.

Hades was a giant compared to Adrien, himself being 6 ft 2 in/188cm, while Adrien was still just somewhere between 115cm-120cm/ 3.5-3.9ft.
 
The other "small" figure was Ariel, who greeted him with a brief hug and sweet smile. Brief as it was filled with emotion, he knew because she squeezed him a bit too hard, but still a soft touch to it.
 
Aries smiled at him patted his shoulder and invited him in, while he held a small bundle over his shoulder.
 
Hades smiled this time, physically, his heart slightly pounding in acknowledgement, as Ariel grinned at him knowingly, her eyes sparkling with love and joy.
 
She turned to her mate, reached up to carry the little bundle of joy gently cradling it, before turning back to Hades and showing him her face.
 
It was a baby girl.
 
"Her name is Eve..." She said softly, her voice just above a whisper, as she looked down at her baby lovingly. Glancing back up at Hades' face with a smile, "Surprise." She said sweetly before handing her to him.
 
Hades panicked.
 
He didn't know what to do with it.
 
Ariel handed her to him so quickly he didn't have time to protest.
 
Fear mixed with joy ran through his veins, along with some adrenaline. He felt perplexed.
 
Holding a large amount of blanket and little amount of baby, he reluctantly smiled at the joyous mother while stiffly cradling the newborn.
 
  "Hades, son of Cronus, meet...your goddaughter." Aries boomed proudly.
 
"M-My what?"
 
"He means if you would have her..." Ariel intervened thoughtfully, "it would make us so happy, we would be honoured, and well-"
 
"Who would be better to teach her about life and take care of her in death, than my sourpuss uncle, the ruler of life and death himself?" Aries beamed.
 
The excitement in their eyes was too much to bear. He didn't know what to say or how to let them down easy...
 
He didn't see himself taking care of another being other than his own self. It's how it been ever since his entire existence.
 
With an immense amount of regret, he forced a small smile, his eyes void of any genuine emotion, "Sure. What's the worst that could happen?" He found himself saying.
 
He meant to say, no way in the seven hells would he want to be a godfather.
 
But it was as if, for the first time in his life, he had no control over his mouth.
 
He cleared his throat and handed Ariel her baby. "Are we going to stand outside all day? I'm tired and would like to rest."
 
Aries gestured for him to enter, so Hades took a couple of steps into the wolves' den, while Ariel just frowned, cradling her beloved cub protectively as she followed them inside.
 
Hades didn't want to disappoint her. Ariel was dear to him. She held a particularly special place in his heart, a place he didn't know what to categorize.
 
Ariel was somewhere between, what he would feel towards a lover and a sister. A weird combination, she was what he wanted in a lover...but not exactly, and how protective he felt about a sister, but he didn't see her as his sister because she was too attractive to him to be a sister. Meaning if she wasn't already mated to Aries, he would've thought of claiming her.
 
He was perplexed. So, three years ago, he befriended Ariel and demanded a mate, to put himself out of his misery and confusion, instead of stealing the girl and enduring the same endless torture of having someone hate you while you demand to be loved for centuries as he did with Persephone.
 
Shaking his head slightly to pull himself out of his thoughts, he stopped in the middle of the reception and looked back at Aries raising a hand to gesture him to show the way.
 
Succumbing back to his thoughts as he drowned in them not bothering to look around or at where they were going, he accidentally bumped shoulders with Aries.
 
Aries looked at him questioningly, while Hades dismissed him completely. Aries had come to a stop at arched double sliding doors, that lead to a banquet hall. This estate was much larger than Aries' and much more lavish.
 
It appeared that Ariel was right, the previous Alpha that had been overthrown was a billionaire sadistic ass buffoon, that ran the pack more like a business.
 
The new Alpha took over everything and started using the money to build the children their own werewolf schools.
 
Normally, werewolves have their own community, but Bishop's rule was intermixed with the humans dangerously to gain more financial rule, and the kids even had to go to school with them.
 
Going through their shifting periods, struggling to keep themselves hidden. It was difficult for teenage wolves to control themselves and not risk exposure.

Also, the Reds weren't given an education, they weren't allowed to attend schools, not even home schools. He was a true psychopath that tortured the pack for years.
 
The new Alpha was supposedly changing everything, working in all different directions at once.
 
Aries pulled apart the double doors and pushed them open, to reveal a brightly lit grand room.
 
A huge mahogany table took quite a bit of the vast space. It was bare from any cloth, perfectly varnished and shiny with a couple of crystal vases and three golden candelabras each one holding three perfect wax candles that have never been lit.
 
The room was French-designed, romantic, dark, and lavish. The walls and ceiling off-white embellished with plain white gypsum carving and wall panels with small and detailed floral patterns on the edges.
 
There were four window panels at the back of the room that reached the ceiling but were split in the middle so only the lower parts were movable/openable. The drapery looked heavy, made of the most expensive fabric the world could offer. French, also, off-white with little golden floral patterns that could barely be seen from afar, you could mistake it for a glimmer. The curtains were also Victorian French white lace.
 
Hades took a step into the room, and all eyes were on him. He could feel a certain pair of green eyes burn into his soul.
 
He dragged his gaze to the eyes that yearned for his attention, and his heart started beating.

He had to be dreaming...