Hey everyone, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

As strange as it sounded, Klaus felt a sense of familiarity when he walked into the Forrester's family farm. He saw the sign welcoming them: Kreiss Farm.

"Kreiss?"

"It's my mother's maiden name," Raelyn pointed out. "My mom and my aunt used to manage this farm together. My aunt moved out when she married, and after Rex and Nate were old enough to take over most of the hard labor my aunt decided to retire. My dad also helps out outside store hours, too."

"Ah, I see…"

The rest of the Forrester family noticed their presence and stopped whatever they were doing.

"Lynn!" a woman called excitedly as she made her way from the grazing field. She was the first to arrive, hugging Raelyn tightly.

Afterwards, her attention fell onto Klaus and, likewise, Klaus observed her. She has the same pink-colored hair, put into a neat bun on top of her head. She put a towel around her neck, and wore a simple gardening attire. She has a pair of clear green eyes just like her twins', but none of her children that he had met so far gave him the same feeling she induced in him so effortlessly—one that prompted him to slightly bow his head in reverence after meeting her eyes.

In his whole life, there was only one other person who induced a similar reaction in him: the Queen. In fact, the intimidatingly commanding quality of the Queen's gaze was well-known across the gangs in the region, further establishing her nickname as the Queen—together with a small crown tattoo at the back of her neck. Nah, she cannot be her. The Queen was a redhead, Klaus told himself almost immediately.

She extended her hand and smiled. "You must be Klaus."

Klaus took her hand and shook it firmly. "Pleased to be your acquaintance, Mrs. Forrester."

"Shush, Reine is fine!" she told him.

By that time, the rest of the family were already there—all males. All of them sported messy, golden hair—now Klaus knew how Raelyn had gotten her unruly, but also adorable, messy pink locks.

"I heard you've met Rex, this is my eldest and his twin, Nate, and this is my husband, Neil."

Klaus held his breath when he met Neil's gaze. He has a pair of sharp, magenta eyes; now he figured that Raelyn had her father's eye color, but her mother's eye shape. Similar to his wife, Neil's intimidating gaze was no joke—however, if Reine's was one that commanded respect and obedience, Neil's was the kind that sent chills down his spine together with goosebumps. It kind of reminded him of Raelyn's furious glare not too long ago, but Neil's definitely had more intimidation than Raelyn's—maybe because Klaus didn't know him well as for now.

Klaus shook hands with Raelyn's father and eldest brother—who was basically the younger version of the father in terms of both appearance and demeanor.

"Come on in and have some tea," Reine said, gesturing towards the house.

They all settled down around the dining table. Raelyn and her mother went to the kitchen as Rex leaned forward and asked: "So, how's your work? I heard Spring is a busy season for a perfumer."

Klaus, thankful for Rex's assistance, replied directly to the question. However, no matter how hard they tried to maintain a conversation, the other two men seemed to prefer to be in silence and observe their surrounding—or him, probably. At times, he stole glances towards the kitchen, wondering why it took so long for the two women to brew some tea. It was then he saw Reine taking off the towel around her neck, allowing him to see what lied beneath it: the unmistakable tattoo he thought he'd never see in this life again:

"Queen…?"

That one word led to the sound of shattering glass, and Neil forcefully jerked Klaus' collar, roaring: "Who the hell are you?!"

When Raelyn ran out from the house, Klaus' first instinct was to chase after her. However, Raelyn's eldest brother held him back. "Stay. You don't know the way, do you?"

Klaus tried to struggle, but a voice stopped him cold on his track. "Sit down," the Queen commanded coldly.

She emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hand with a towel, with her eyes staring straight into him. "So… Klaus, isn't it? That's your real name?"

He nodded.

Reine bent down and took a closer look at his face. "Rather young to be active during my time… you started early?"

"You saved me," Klaus blurted out. "I was beaten up in your territory, you saved me and trained me."

Reine narrowed her eyes, then she held her breath in surprise. "You're that boy!" she exclaimed. "What a small world!"

"So you really met Klaus before, Mom?" Rex asked.

"He was still a brat, then—but he wasn't part of the gang. I'll go tell your father."

"He's not wrong."

Reine frowned. "What do you mean? I trained you how to stay alive on that street, doesn't mean you're just like me."

Klaus shook his head. "After your sudden disappearance, everything turned into chaos. People ruined what you tried to protect—crimes everywhere, other gangs tearing apart your territories and harassing people within your border… before I knew it, I already snatched back your throne. I didn't believe the rumors that you're dead. I waited for you to come back… but you never did."

"So… you're the Alpha?"

"You knew?"

Reine nodded. "Some… old friends paid me a visit and told me that there's a new guy called the Alpha seizing my throne. You've made a name for yourself, kozo."

"Not something that I'm proud of."

The pinkette nodded understandingly before turning to her sons. "Why don't you two be sweethearts and finish up in the farm?"

Nate and Rex nodded and promptly left. Reine took a seat across Klaus, her eyes now looked much gentler than before. "You've grown so much…" she mused. "You know I didn't train you to fight so that you can follow me, right?"

"I know, but I felt I had to do it. I lost my family because of a break-in, you kept that place safe… I wanted it to stay that way."

"But now that you're here… you left too, right?"

He nodded. "One too many deaths."

"And somehow, you found my daughter…"

"I didn't know she's your daughter. She does remind me of you at times, though."

"Because of her hair?"

"No. It's the things she said, and the thing she does… you were a redhead, not a pinkette."

"Ah, I forgot about that part. I used to dye my hair red because it looked fiercer… and also to protect my identity."

"Is that why you left? Someone figured out your identity?"

"Partly."

"And the other reason is…"

"You'll know later," she assured him.

Suddenly, the door to the farmhouse swung open. Reine and Klaus turned and found Neil with Raelyn. Neil pointed at Klaus. "You," he called. "Let's fight."

Klaus stood up and held his breath—was Neil being serious?

"I have to know whether you're strong enough to protect my daughter."

"This would be interesting to watch, if you weren't so old already, Neil," Reine remarked savagely. Neil glared at Reine, but the elder pinkette simply shrugged. "I'm just stating the truth. I know this guy, trained him myself way back in those days."

"He's not from your rival gang?"

"Nowhere near that."

Neil turned his attention to Klaus again. "You stay for Ana's wedding?"

"Yes."

"Good, you'll be working here until then. If you're as good as Reine says, farm work should be easy enough."

Klaus sighed inwardly. On one hand, he was grateful that he didn't have to fight Neil, but on the other hand, what did this family have with using him as an additional farm hand? First Raelyn, now Neil…

Well, he didn't really have a choice, did he?

Not that he would mind, though…

"What a small world!"

Klaus seems to find an acceptance within the Forrester clan... yes?

What would happen next?

Stay tuned to find out!

Thanks for reading! Please rate and review!

A/N: Initially I wanted to write a fight scene between Neil and Klaus (I can totally imagine Neil challenging Raelyn's boyfriend to a fight, especially if the boyfriend is an ex-gangster), but realistically, Neil has definitely aged... and Reine, of course, reminds him of that fact bluntly.

Actually, at some point, I was thinking of writing a prequel to this story, about Reine's start in Echo Town after she ditched her gangster life... and so on, and so forth... but I guess I don't have as much time as I'd like to properly write it. Maybe someday... what do you guys think?