Dream doesn't make his way down this time, instead, he chooses to go over to his own Pack, he had already texted his brother that he was coming and to ask for a ride home.
It wasn't like he was broken or terrified of the members of Dale's Pack, he had just had enough of them for a day plus he didn't want to have to wait for a cab either.
And there was Darian, the perfect solution to both but as usual there were consequences.
"What were you doing in Dark Moon Park?" His older brother asks gruffly as soon as they were settled in the car.
Dream takes a deep breath, explaining to Darian would be a bit of a chore, it was why he would have preferred to tell his mom first who would in turn explain it to her first son.
"I um I work there"
Darian whips his head around at this, the car swerving slightly. "You what?" He exclaims. "Why would you work for another Pack?"
Dream frowns. "The Packs more or less work together and I'm not the first person to work for the other Pack." He corrects tightly.
"Sure." Darian agrees reluctantly. "What are you doing then?" He glances briefly at his younger brother, looking at the road just as fast. "Working at their daycare?"
Dream winces at this, knowing that the cat had to be let out of the bag. "No, the Pack's Secretary" He barely gets all his words out before Darian is explosively cursing, hands gripping the steering wheel hard.
"What the fuck Dream?"
Dream just remains quiet. "I'll be fine, Darian."
"Like hell you will." He curses, eyes a blazing silver. "If I get my hands on that Alpha, I'll wring his tiny neck." He growls under his breath, driving faster than usual.
"Does mom know about this?" He asks after an uncomfortable while of tense silence.
Dream looks out the window. "No."
"Good." Darian nods. "I'll make her get you to resign."
Dream just swallows back the retort burning at the back of his throat, it wouldn't help his case if Darian were to find out that he would not only be working there but also have to live there.
He sighs tiredly, leaning back against the car seat, it had been one endless and tiring day.
~
"Rouge has a daughter?" Yanis exclaims in disbelief.
The entirety of the car ride had been Hayden filling him up on the lives of the others, there wasn't much though because just like Yanis, the rest had also gone off to college.
"Adopted daughter, Yani." Hayden corrects.
"Same thing, I can't believe you would leave a child with her."
"Well, her girlfriend Mae is also a part of the family." Hayden shrugs, unable to dispute his friends claims.
"That's good to hear"
Virgil grinds his teeth for the umpteenth time, half wanting to drive his car off the road just to end the torture of a journey.
All throughout the journey it had been Hayden giving the entirety of his attention to Yanis
Or maybe he could swerve the car in a way that just Yanis's part of the car would crash into a tree.
"...Oh yes! You could keep me company at my bookstore" Hayden was saying with stars in his eyes.
Virgil just discreetly rolls his eyes, relieved that the journey was nearing an end.
Yanis sits up when they get to the outskirts of Pine Creek, it had been literal years since he came to Pine Creek, perhaps over a decade and half.
"Pine Creek is almost a little city now." He says as a commentary to Paper District.
"Not really." Hayden shrugs. "It's still as much of a sleepy town as it always was, this is just the part that visitors hang around before they leave." He explains.
"It brings in revenue for the Packs and the bigger and livelier it grows, the more tourist attention it brings"
"You know a lot about this, don't you?" Yanis notes quietly, when they leave Paper District behind and enter into the town proper.
Cute little family size houses lining up a peaceful street, children riding bikes and elderly people sitting on their porches.
Yanis says nothing else, watching them leave the town behind, he was just relieved to be out of the public eye where he could do whatever he wanted without running a risk of the Paparazzi catching a whiff of it.
His trip down to Reef City had been done with utmost care, he had to make multiple false plans to throw them off, he still wondered why he was such a hot topic.
He stayed away from parties and preferred his own company, concentrating on building his family's business empire.
His thoughts dry up however when the two Pack Houses come into view.
"Whoa! How did you manage to hide these two gigantic buildings in a small town like these?"
"That's why they're called Pack Houses." Virgil explains drily, moving to park his car in his designated spot. "You don't know about them unless you're supposed to."
"So that's Dale's right?" He inclines his head at the other one.
"You could say that." Virgil mutters, coming around to open up the door for his mate.
"So where do you stay?" Yanis asks, coming out of the car to look up at the building.
Hayden winces. "The fourth floor, it's reserved for the Alpha and the other Heads of the Pack."
Yanis says nothing at this. "Good thing I packed light, I didn't think my usual wardrobe would blend in here." He says without spite or pride.
"You don't think anyone will recognize me, do you?" Yanis whispers to Hayden at the first chance he gets, the residents of the building were constantly flocking to the both of them.
"They might, keep your glasses on." Hayden whispers back, they were on the second flight of stairs now.
Yanis doubted that, not with how taken they were with their Alpha? And what was that they kept calling Hayden? Luna?