I walked into the house still feeling confused. Our house was not huge by any means, but it was relatively large since we were a family of five, technically six, but John had already moved in with Abby. They lived in a small blue house around the corner.
When walking in you were greeting with a beautiful open floor plan. Dark hardwood floors covered the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Grey paint and canvas pictures of landscapes around the world covered the walls. Plush white couches, chairs, and wooden tables that matched the flooring were scattered around the floor.
I made my way into the kitchen Mom was dancing in circles alternating between pots and pans. Her voice filled the house along with the smells of dinner. She had her black hair tied into a high ponytail that swished along with her sundress as she danced.
I twisted the knob on the radio turning down the music and she yelped in surprise. Her hand shot to her chest like she was grabbing her heart. The liquids in the pot rose out still bubbling in the air ready to attack the would-be intruder. When she saw it was me, she laughed and waver her hands down letting the sauces return to their pots to continue their warm bath.
"Mom? You and dad are mates, right?" Her eyes widened and she laughed even harder. Her hand moved from her chest to her stomach as she doubled over in laughter. "I don't understand what's so funny about my question."
After a minute she stood up and wiped the tears off her face from laughter. "Of course, we are mates. You know as well as I do that a shifter can't have children until they find their mate. How do you think we got you? We just went down to the local adoption center and asked for a kid who kept randomly setting tulips on fire with their hands? Where is all this coming from?"
"The other pack started school today. There was a boy who stopped us. Said we were a pack full of mate stealers. I needed to talk to my dad about his mate."
"Jack! Get down here!" Footsteps came running down the stairs. Dad had no shirt on and old work jeans. His hair was dripping wet from what I was assuming was a mid-day shower. Mom stepped closer to me. Her eyes were dark and terrified. I had never seen her look like this before. I could not catch my breath and my pulse quickened. Air whipped against the door trying to make its way in. "What was his name Lily? Who is he?"
"Who are you talking about?" Dad wrapped his arm around Mom's waist and pulled her slightly back, so she was not in my face anymore.
"I don't know Mom. He knew we could bend though. The whole pack knows somehow. What's going on?"
Dad stepped forward speaking next. His voice was calm but had an edge. "He has to be the former alphas son."
Her breath caught in her throat. "No. No. There is no way. He is dead. He did not have a mate. We would have known." Dad's hand slowly moved up and down Mom is back until her breathing evened.
"What the he- "Mom's eyes cut at me hard stopping my sentence off mid-word. "heck...heck is going on?"
"Trinity why don't you finish dinner and don't worry about a thing. Lily let us go into the living room and talk." We both nodded and Mom turned around to stir the pots of liquids before they boiled over.
We made our way into the living room and both sat on the comfy white couch. Dad flipped on the television and turned the volume up so our words could not be heard from the kitchen. I grabbed the large fluffy pillow and wrapped my arms around it for comfort. The fur tickled my nose, but I just held it tighter to my chest.
"Okay. What's going on?"
"When we were about your age there was a teacher at our school who discovered your mother had powers to control the elements around her. He wanted to control it and have her be his Luna, but your mother and myself were mated. She refused of course and it became a war.
There is no way this boy is his son. He would have to be closer to our age than yours unless he was raised to believe the man was his father. It just all doesn't make sense."
"How do you know he's not talking about something else? Maybe they thought I was someone else. It could all just be a big coincidence."
Dad shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "No. My father was alpha at the time. When we ran out the pack after war they were without an alpha and an heir. Most of their pack went rouge. A new alpha stepped up and recently requested to move back to their home. We were assured that there would be no trouble, and if there was any trouble his pack would join ours and he would be forced to be a rouge. We signed a treaty before they moved."
"So, we need to talk to the alpha?"
"Not yet. We do not know for sure who they are, and it is all hearsay. We have to wait."
I nodded and Dad got up to return to the kitchen and help finish dinner."
I climbed up the stairs sliding my phone out of my back pocket. I clicked the last conversation on my phone and typed a quick message to Harmony.
I need to know more about the Alpha's son.