ABOVE: rori, dex, ash and their mates!! (yes 3 of those actors are from teen wolf but can you blame me o m g)
"We're home!"
As soon as I hear the door open I jump on to my feet and rush to the front door. If my parents didn't arrive any sooner I think I might have killed Landon sooner or later.
I shoot straight down the hallway until I see their faces. I charge at them arms wide open.
Mum and Dad are wrapped in each others arms, wearing vibrant coloured clothes. My mother ditches the comfort of her husband and embraces me tightly instead.
"Rori, baby!" She grabs my head and kisses it a thousand times, smothering me with affection. "I missed you so much! What happened to your nose?"
She begins examining my nose as if it's an ancient artifact. I cover it quickly, trying to avoid attention.
"I'll get to that later." I tell her and she nods, mum gets it.
"Come here, Darling." Dad holds his big arms out wide and I leave my mother for a hug from my dad. I can hear the thumping of Landon and Dexter's feet down the hallway, and then the outbursts they make when they see everyone. "I hope you at least tried to not kill your brothers?" Dad asks.
"It was so hard, Dad." I laugh letting go of his hug to pull in my baby brother Ash.
"Did you miss me, Squirt?" I ask him ruffling up his dark hair. I sure missed him, he's the only brother I can be around for a long period of time without hating.
"So much." Asher squeezes my body and lifts me off the ground for a few seconds. I cringe as I realize my fourteen year old brother is already taller and stronger than me.
"Did you three all cooperate?" Dad inquires once the hugs and kisses are over.
Landon, Dexter and I just all look at each other.
We had a rogue attack, I found my mate, Landon tried to beat up my mate, Dexter came out as gay and we all seem to be alive and well.
"I guess." All three of us say at the same time, shrugging.
"So how have you all been?" My parents ask me as we all begin moving into the lounge.
I take a seat on the couch and spread my legs out. Dexter takes a seat on my legs so I kick him playfully until he gets off.
"Yeah, uh, I've been good." I answer.
"Yeah, me too." Dexter nods his blond head and I see Landon looking between us both, evily.
"Don't you both have something to tell them?" Landon pushes.
I hated the way they looked at me. Like they're expecting good news, when it isn't. What if they didn't accept a rogue as my mate? It was one thing for Landon to not like it, but with the support of our parents.... the thought scared me.
I stare at Dexter with wide eyes, we're both in a pickle. I didn't want them to fret about my mate as much as he didn't want them to fret about his.
"Tell us what?" Dad asks smiling. If dad didn't like Ares I wouldn't know what to do?
I'm still silent, and so is Dexter. We're in this together.
"They both found their mates!" Landon blurts out, throwing us under the bus. He smiles as my parents look extremely happy for Dexter and me.
Landon is such a suck up?
"Wow! Who?" Dad smiles widely, more excited than my mother. It'll be because Dad is a werewolf and my mother is not. He'll understand what it's like to find the one. My mother although, was one of the twelve Drea's. Human lunas who are granted a supernatural gift. Hers is future telling.
"His name is Leroy Lopez." Dexter swallows.
I was happy that he went first so I could see how they would react to mine.
"That's amazing, sweetie!" My mother leans over and kisses him on the head, ruffling up his blond hair.
"You don't care that I'm gay?" He asks frightfully, it must be the worst feeling when your parents don't accept your sexual orientation.
"Why should we? We love you, darling. Unconditionally."
It was moving to hear my parents say that, and it was even more moving to see that Dexter appreciated it. Dex started smiling like I've never seen him smile before and gave my dad a big hug. They'll love me unconditionally too, right?
"What about you, Miss Aurora?" Mum raises an eyebrow with her lips pursed.
"His name is Ares Marshall."
My parents both look at each other with a look that they seem to be communicating with. Is there an inside joke I'm missing out on? Why are they looking at each other strangely?
"A rogue." Landon throws in there. Did he want them to hate me?
"Half." I clear up. "Half rogue."
"Still the enemy." Landon mutters under his breath, my confidence begins to sink.
I'm so scared that they won't approve of him. Ares means everything to me.
"We already knew who you're mate was." My mother chirps gracefully, and my jaw drops.
"You what?"
How could they already know who my mate is? And why didn't the tell me earlier? It takes years to find your mate, and for me it took sixteen years. I was never fixated on the idea of needing a mate. I never waited around for him to appear. But I always knew I had one. Why didn't they tell me?
"When you were first born, Elenour came over. She asked me for a favour, and that was to look into the future of her grandson, Ares."
Elenour is a family friend, and like my mother, one of the twelve Drea's. My head started screwing in nuts and bolts trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Ares' grandmother. She must've come to my mother, after the terrible crime of his conception.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask them, as my brothers stare at us.
"You find your mate when you need them most, Aurora." Dad speaks wisely, he was right.
If I didn't find Ares that night, things would be a lot different. He needed me. I needed to stop what he was doing with the rogues then and there, before it esculated any further.
"Why don't you three invite your mates over for dinner? I'm sure you're dying to see Angel, Ash. And I want to meet this Leroy and Ares!" My mother stands up, looking more than excited.
I knew there was no way I could pull Ares out of this one, and I just have to hope that this dinner will be nicer than the one I had with his family.
I call him, closing the door in my room for some privacy.
"Dinner?"
"Parents want to meet you. They're nothing like Landon, so don't worry." I laugh, but get no laugh back. Not even a chuckle.
"Uh, okay." He pauses, and I raise my eyebrow. "I'm a little busy, but I'll be there is soon as I can."
"Oh, what are you doing?"
"Doesn't matter. I'll be there in five."
Ares hangs up quickly I lock my phone and shove it into my back pocket. He sounded nervous.
With mum in the kitchen, Dad sitting on the couch watching TV with Ash, Angel, Dexter and Leroy, I feel a little sympathy go towards my mateless older brother. Landon wasn't around, probably hiding out in his room. I guess it would suck being the eldest of four, and being the only one without a mate.
"Hey, Angel!" I greet her warmly, giving her a hug as soon as I see her. Her strawberry blond hair is tucked into a side fishtail braid and she's wearing eyeliner to enhance her brown eyes.
"Hey, Rora." She squeezes me.
Angel and I are close. She's like a sister to me. My Aunt Claire is my mother's best friend, and Angel's mother. We've been brought up together, shared baths, had play dates and spent time together since day one. Axel, the beta of the pack, is her twin brother.
"Leroy, welcome to the family." I give Dexter's mate a gentle but tight hug, just like I did for Angel because I want him to feel as welcomed as possible. Even if that means hugging a vampire.
Leroy has light brown skin and dark hair. His jawline is a little uneven but his smile is to die for.
"Thanks, means a lot." He tells me as I pull away from our embrace.
I already like him.
"So where's Mr Ares?" Dad asks, stretching and sniffing the air. I can smell that Mum's spaghetti and meatballs are almost done. Coincidentally, Ares' favourite.
"He'll be here any---"
Knock Knock.
"That'll be him." I chirp. Ares only lives ten minutes away, so it probably didn't take him long to hop into a car and drive.
Dad almost gets up to answer the door but I make sure he stays sitting. I don't want Ares feeling intimidated. I walk over and that fresh ocean smell hits me like a wave. When I open the door my heart skips a beat like usual to see my chocolate curly haired mate.
"Hello, baby girl." He plants a small kiss on my lips and I smile.
"What's up, Hot Shots?" I break the kiss and let him in. I close the door behind him, staring at his butt through his black jeans. I swear I stare at his butt more than he stares at mine sometimes.
"Just having dinner with my girl." He takes his scarf off and hangs it on the coat stand. It's almost winter, and Ares has brought the cold Autumn air into the house.
"Well come on in." I take his hand and pull him into the living room. He follows me and I know that tonight will run smoothly, the only person he could have a problem is Landon. But because Landon's a suck up, he wouldn't dare push Ares' buttons while Dad's around.
"Everyone, this is Ares." I introduce him as we enter the living room. Everyone's attention is drawn from the TV to Ares and Dad gets up.
I held back a laugh as I noticed that Ares was much taller than my father. But I like that about my mate, he's a friendly giant.
"Welcome to the family." Dad gives Ares one of those awkward father-daughter's boyfriend hand shake. Ares accepted and shook his hand back.
"Nice to meet you...?" Ares begins, not knowing what to refer to him as.
"You can call me Max."
Ares and Dad start a friendly conversation of how both their days have been, until my mother finally calls that it's dinner time. I watch as
Dexter and Ash get up like it's the last dinner time they'll ever have, completely ditching Angel and Leroy for the spaghetti and meatballs that awaits them. I watch Angel roll her puppy dog brown eyes at Ash, this is probably something she is far to used to.
I take Ares by the hand and follow behind Angel and Leroy who make their way into the kitchen. The smell of meatballs hits me instantly and I am overwhelmed with a growling stomach. I take a seat between Angel and Ares and have to prevent myself from stuffing my face while we have guests around the table.
"Landon! Dinner!" My mother yells out, as we all wait for him to take a seat.
I hear a groan in response, and soon his slumped body plants itself in the seat in front of me. He eyeballs me, obviously not wanting to be here.
I wait for Dad to thank the Moon Goddess for our food and then I attack my plate with a fork.
"It's really nice of you to come, you three." Mum waves her fork at Angel, Leroy and Ares.
"That's no problem, Sia. It was really nice of you to invite me." Leroy blushes, twisting his utensils in spaghetti. Leroy looks like the kind of guy that people dream of taking home. Smooth, kind and a gentleman.
"Anytime." Ares chirps and gives me a silly smile. I like the way he fits in.
"Well I'm here most of the time anyway." Angel laughs, and it's true. It's not strange to see Angel walking around like she lives here, it's not even strange to see her stay the night. I'm not sure why my parents are so okay with letting their fourteen year old son have his mate stay the night in the same bed as him. But it's probably because Ash is innocent and Angel is too trustworthy.
"So what have you been up to today, Leroy?" Dad asks from across the table. I watch as Leroy swallows his food while Dad awaits a response.
God, I hate small talk.
"Well after school I had to help my father chop down wood for the winter." He says and we all nod.
"And you Ares?" Dad asks again as Ares stares blankly at the table.
"Yeah, Ares, you said you were busy with something?"
"Uh, after school I just had to, uh, do some homework." I looked at Ares suspiciously as he rubbed his sweaty hands together, I know that boy is lying by the sound of his fast beating heart. I raise an eyebrow when he doesn't look, trying to come to conclusions of what he's hiding. But I know the best way of getting to know, is just asking. I'll save him the embarrassment and ask him when it's just us.
Everybody around the table discusses what they did today, including myself, until we all finish our dinner. My brothers and I all go for seconds, but our mates are a little too shy to jump on the bandwagon. After everyone is finished eating, my parents insist that they'll clean up so that we can say goodbye to our mates nicely.
Whatever gets me out of doing the dishes is fine by me.
Ash starts walking Angel to her house down the road, as she's from our pack and lives on our street. Dexter and Leroy go their own way for privacy, which I can respect. I walk Ares to his car and decide it's a good time to ask him, what he's actually been up to today.
"That wasn't so bad," Ares admits, his hands in his pockets, walking causally down the driveway. "I mean, that was a way better family dinner than the one you had with mine."
"That's your sister's fault, not your family's fault." I pull him by his shirt and he wraps his arms around my waist. He pecks me on the lips multiple times before I ask the question:
"What were you actually doing today?"
"What do you mean? I was doing my homework---" He tries to cover up but I give him the I'm-on-to-you look.
"Why are you lying?"
He stares at me expressionless, and I don't even hear his heart change in beat. Something is really off about him, and I can't quite put my finger on it.
"You're not....you weren't... with the rogues, were you?" I inquire, just making sure that he isn't going down that road again. I would hate to see him do that to himself, and me. It would be like turning to the dark side.
"Of course not, baby girl." He furrows his eyebrows, offended that I would even consider that. I feel bad for thinking that. Just because he was with them once, doesn't mean that he'll be with them again.
"Sorry---" I try and tell him, but he cuts me off before I can finish my apology.
"Don't say sorry, baby. It's okay to think that, but I'm not with them. I wouldn't do that to you, I know how much you're trying to help me. It would be like breaking your trust, it would ruin everything. Truth is, I was actually sorting a Christmas present for you."
I smiled at the thought of Ares planning a month before Christmas, what present he's getting for me. But it also made me feel bad, because I'm the type of person who buys presents on Christmas Eve.
"That's sweet, Ares." I kiss him on the cheek, because sometimes a kiss on the cheek is more affectionate than on the lips. "But, just promise that you're not with the rogues anymore? You know how much I care about that."
"I promise, baby girl. You're the only one I'll ever be with."
With those words, I decide to put all my trust into my mate.
Regardless of the fact that he is half rogue, I know now that he wouldn't ever lie to me.
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THANKS FOR READING
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This chapter is a bit longer than the others wow wee
Also, ya'll like the new cover? Took me like half an hour.
shout out to my new fav fan insomiacwerewolf
ALSO: for those of you that haven't read my first book 'Completely Typical!' you might be lost on what a 'Drea' is. A Drea is a human mate to an Alpha that has been given a gift from the moon goddess to prove that not all human are defenseless in a werewolf world.
@oh_cool