Charlie's POV
A/N: Sorry if this confuses you guys too much. It's hard when there is a translator in the middle of everything. I hope I'm doing well by it. Anything Mateo and Charlie say together in italics is said in Italian; anything in normal font is English. K love y'all.
Presley didn't even knock on the front door to his parent's house before entering. Instead, he pulled me into the house, navigating his way around to the kitchen. A short omega stood at the stove, stirring dinner, swaying his hips back and forth, humming a tune, completely unaware that we had entered the room.
Presley let go of my hand and walked around the island, poking the omega's shoulder. It was clear that it was Luna August when he turned his head. "Hey, mom," Presley smiled. August sat the ladle on the spoon rest and hastily moved to hug his son.
"Pea!" He kissed his son's cheek, a bright smile lighting on his face. "We missed you, baby-" He looked over to me. His smile turned into a tight-lipped smile, almost fake. "Charlie," August let go of Presley, reaching out his hand to me. Tentatively, I walked over to the two of them and grabbed his hand.
His hand was warm, feeling inviting and calming. It reminded me of my mom while she was the luna of the pack. I returned his smile and bowed my head to him.
"He's stunning Presley." August glanced back to my mate. "It's nice to meet you." I nodded my head, not clear on what he said. I glanced to Presley with questioning eyes.
"Has Mateo showed up yet?" Presley asked.
"He's with your dad in the dining room with the rest of the family. Do you mind if I have a moment with your mate Pea?"
"You'll need Mateo to translate. That's why he's here."
"Send him in here then, try to prepare your dad for your mate. He's still a little bitter for whatever reason." August shrugged his shoulders. "I want to get to know my son's mate." He looked back at me. I looked back and forth between Presley and his mom, still not knowing what they were saying to one another.
"I'll send Mateo in. Go easy on him?" Presley grabbed onto his mom's shoulder, looking him in the eyes.
"The person who you should be telling that to is your father. He's the one who has been saying stupid shit; he's been sleeping on the couch for the past week because he can't accept the fact that your mate is Charlie. Though I honestly think that he'll sing a different tune when he meets him again." He looked over at me. "It's kinda hard to be mad at him. He's just so adorable. I kinda wanna pinch his cheeks." August giggled.
"Thank you, mom," Presley kissed August's cheek.
Before he departed from the kitchen, Presley came to me, kissing my forehead, then my lips. After that, August and I sat in a comfortable silence for a couple of moments before Mateo entered the room.
"Good to see you again, Luna." Mateo's lips turned up into a smirk.
"Mateo." I nodded.
"You need me to translate for you, Luna August?" Mateo questioned the omega, who had gone back to stirring dinner.
"Yeah, I wanted to get to know him a little bit before Alexandre ruins dinner." August pursed his lips, rolling his eyes.
"Understood." Mateo nodded. "He didn't seem pleased that Charlie was going to be here."
August scoffed, "He's being a dumbass, an annoying dumbass."
"Understood." Mateo chuckled, leaning up against the island.
"Ask him how their travels were?" August looked back.
"Luna August wants to know how traveling here went."
"I mean, things went alright, I guess. I'm just very sleepy." I rubbed my eyes, still sleepy from my nap.
Mateo let out a few strings of English back to Presley's mom.
"He says he can only imagine, and you traveled so far from home. He asks how Presley has been treating you, and he says to be honest because he wants to make sure his son is treating his mate right." Mateo replied with August's request.
I smiled, tucking my head to my chest, letting a blush cover my cheeks. "He has been very caring and attentive to me. He respects my boundaries and understands that I need time for certain things. The only issue I have as of right now is there's a stench of others in his- our living quarters."
"Like what?" Mateo asked instead of translating to August.
"What do you mean 'Like what?'" I asked.
"The stench?" He raised a brow.
"Well," I tucked my head, fiddling my fingers. "It's not like it's a secret that there were others before me."
"What a shame, a beauty like you deserves only the best," Mateo smirked. "We'll get to learn a little bit more about each other tomorrow during our first lesson."
I furrowed my brows and nodded.
"What did he say?" August questioned the dominant wolf.
"He was just telling me that Presley has been good to him and that he respects the unspoken boundaries that Charlie has. However, he did mention something about the stench of others in their home." Mateo responded in English for me.
"No, don't listen to your mom about all the dumb shit you're choosing to do. 'I haven't found my mate in blah blah blah, years.'" August said in a mocking tone. "'How else am I supposed to ride out my rut?' Like he doesn't have two hands the goddess gave him."
Mateo's face turned red, and he burst out laughing. When he was calmed down, he translated to me. I began to chuckle as well, "Honestly, I'm not hurt by it. I'm sure if my papa wasn't so strict with me, I'm sure I wouldn't have minded indulging during my heats." Mateo translated for me, and I continued. "My papa was really strict on the mating laws in my pack and even stricter with me. My brother kind of relaxed them a little after his wife passed."
"Sorry to hear," Mateo gave me a soft smile before translating what I said to August.
"Oh goddess, I'm sorry to hear about that. Losing a member of the pack is always hard. I'm glad you're so accepting about Presley too." He gave me a gentle smile, Mateo translating as he spoke. "I was worried it would cause a big issue between him and his mate. I had slept with Alexandre technically the day before we officially were mated. Presley's uncle Malikai was so against it because he was pregnant with Persephone at the time." August absent-mindedly stirred the dinner, recounting his old memories.
(a/n: FOR FUTURE REFERENCE- Malikai is NOT blood-related to August. Presley just calls him uncle. ALSO, Persephone is not his actual cousin, and they've never seen each other as such. FOR PLOT purposes, I'm mentioning this now before I get a grossed-out mob after me. Kthx)
"Could you please ask him if he needs any help?" I asked, moving toward August. He turned around, nodding to me before letting out a few words.
"Luna August thanked you for the offer. He asked if you would mind helping him finish up the garlic bread. He said he didn't know what you liked, so he made spaghetti and meatballs." I blushed at the thoughtfulness of August.
"Tell him, thank you so much," I grinned.
Both August and I finished up the preparations for dinner, and he called all of his kids down to eat dinner. Mateo helped carry the items to the dining room, and as the younger kids came downstairs, August put them to work by setting up the table for everyone. They all looked at me with curiosity. I just gave them a smile, and August introduced me to them.
August and I were the only two left in the room, gave me a calm smile. He grabbed my hand, leading me to the dining area where everyone was. "Everything will be okay hun, he may have been alpha at one point, but he's not scary. He's just a hurt mutt who doesn't fucking know how to act sometimes." He chuckled. "Ah shit, I forgot you don't know much of what I'm saying. I have to get used to that." August ran his fingers through his hair.
I gave him a reassuring smile, catching a few of the words that he said.
When we entered the dining room, Presley was at one end of the table with his arms crossed and a stoic look on his face, and Alexandre on the other side of the table with the same expression.
August sighed, "I guess this is going to be a quiet dinner...." His voice cracked.
I frowned; Mateo repeated the words back to me in Italian, which made me furrow my brows.
"That would probably be best," Alexandre responded through gritted teeth. "I don't know who your son thinks he is, but talking to me the way he just did, warrants it."
"You're the one who was talking badly about my mate." Presley snapped. "If someone talked about mom the way you just talked about Charlie, they would have no tongue to speak with. Just because you're an Elder old man- does not mean you do not have the same respect for others as you did while you were alpha." He was shaking with anger, much like my papa had before I left.
"You should have given me more time. I'm not used to this yet, and you just came home and shoved it down my throat. What else do you expect?" Alexandre hissed.
"That's really rich coming from you." Presley scoffed. "You were the one who asked me about mating before I left home, then I come back with my goddess-given mate." I approached Presley, placing my hand on his shoulder, and squeezed it. He placed his hand over mine and looked at me, his expression calming. I knew what I was coming into when I came here. Presley had this talk with me and my mama before we left for the states. I knew Alexandre was still hurt from their first pup and the loss of the pup, so I knew his words were coming from hurt and not from malice.
"It'll be okay," I whispered, placing my hand on his cheek.
"Thank you," He took a deep breath.
I broke eye contact with Presley and looked to his father at the other end of the table. I pulled away from Presley and marched to the other side of the table with every bit of courage I could muster at the moment. I met the former alpha's piercing blue eyes and stuck my hand out to him.
"I'm Charlie, your son's mate." I gave him a tight-lipped smile. "It's nice to meet you again after all of these years."
Alexandre stared at my hand for a few moments, with shock riddling his face.
"Okay, Presley, it's official. I think he's perfect for you." August clapped, making Alexandre close his mouth that had been hung open in astonishment. "He's just like your mom."
Alexandre hesitantly grabbed my hand, giving it a firm shake. His hand was much like August's, warm but calloused.
"Likewise," He grumbled, tucking his head down in shame.
"Oh, he really is like mom!" Elijah laughed. "Dad only does that when he's in trouble with mom."
"You're darn right, squirt," Presley grinned at me.
---
After breaking the ice, dinner went nicely, and I learned a little more about their family dynamic. It was different than how it was at home. Presley's siblings seemed to have a little more freedom, and their parents seemed interested in learning about how their day went. I told them a few things about myself as well.
Alexandre didn't talk much during supper. He just ate and observed everyone, only inserting himself every once and a while.
When it was time to go home, everyone walked out of the house and bid us goodbye. Each one of his family members, aside from Hunter and Alexandre, bid me farewell with a hug. Alexandre just nodded to me and dismissed himself back inside of the house.
"He'll come around, hun," August patted my shoulder. "What you did earlier probably made him look at you in a different light. I hope you rest well."
"Thank you." I blushed.
"Always," He pulled me into his embrace again. "I hope to see you before the next full moon, so we can go over preparations together."
"I would love that." My face lit up. I loved preparing full moon ceremonies with my mom when I was little. It was something that made our bond grow so strong. I wished my mom was here to help me through my first ceremony, but I knew that would be okay. I wondered if they did different things during theirs than what we would do in my old pack.
"I love to hear that, now you two take care! And Presley, for the love of goddess, please help that poor boy get the stench of others out of your living space, yeah?"
"Already planned to, mom." Presley simpered guiltily.
"Love you, Pea," He kissed Presley's cheek. Then, he surprised me by kissing my cheek as well. "It was nice meeting you, Charlie."
"It was a pleasure meeting you as well!"
Both Presly and I thanked Mateo for translating for me for the night, and then we departed back to Presley's, well, our home.
---
A/N: ARE WE SURPRISED THAT AUGUST IS AS PRECIOUS AS EVER???
No? Okay. Elijah is precious too. YOU'RE darn tootin' boy that he's like August! In his own way!!! I'm kinda having a writer's high. Let's see if I can get another chapter out within the week. Unless something stumps it...
Did you know I have a mafia story out? I think it's gonna be a good one give it a try? <3 Pls for me.
Also, I've made a tiktok, please follow me, or make crackhead comments, you might just see them on my tiktok. XD Love y'all. https://liinks.co/neonskies95