armelle, river and aiden
a.n happy new years all, four more extra chapters to go! i think y'all can relate to this chapter v well.
happy new years
(triplets are 19 years old, alternate universe)
"Half an hour till midnight," Armelle breathed out as she sat on the training grounds, surrounded by the pack and family members. With her brothers by her side, they huddled over a fire underneath the beautiful moon. The Donovan and Rose family were huddled like penguins all together, reliving the year's memories and laughing at some.
Aiden's mate, Grace was sitting next to him, her right shoulder adorning with his mark as they gave affectionate, playful kisses to one another. Grace was welcomed warmly by the family, which sadly was the only family she knew as her parents had died at a young age and no known relatives. It was, however, Aiden's duty, to find out if her grandparents were still alive and made sure that his efforts were not spared.
It was only a week after they met when Aiden had finally marked her, falling in love with her the moment they met and then full mated by the next full moon when her heat came (with the protection of course). His two older siblings, Armelle and River, had not yet found their destined mate and had fun being single, they were not tied down and didn't have to worry about their other half. But, seeing Aiden and Grace share affections, sometimes made them feel lonely.
Surely, if one triplet found their mate, the other two would follow shortly after, right?
As the minutes ticked by, River suddenly got restless sitting on a log waiting for the time to tick by, he gave a groan of boredom, lifting his head up in the air and closed his eyes, feeling boredom settle within him. His wolf, Kingston, nodded in reply and he politely excused himself from the huddle and went to fetch some more food for his stomach.
His wolf stirred slightly, his feet padding against River's mind as they found the buffet table where seven picnic tables were aligned with various types of foods. From meats to candy, to even fruits, there was an endless amount that River greedily took. He rubbed his hands together and quickly grabbed a plastic plate, inhaling the delicious scent of meat and basil.
Kingston found himself whining about something, sensing something was off, however, to deep into food, River ignored him and piled up meat on his plate, not sparing a glance to the fruits sitting beside them. His stomach growled for food, whilst his wolf was growling for something else. But, too entranced with the vast amount of delights in front of him, continued to pile meat onto meat.
As he finally gathered all the food he could keep on his plate, he began to walk back to his family. His face stuffed with meat and sauce as he disgustingly swallowed one mouthful of food. He grinned in pure happiness as the delicious meat kept him sated for the time being. He sat next to Armelle once more, whose face turned into disgust as she watched her brother devour his plate messily, no manners what-so-ever.
"Yuck River, eat properly," she scolded him, handing him a tissue to wipe off the barbecue sauce that dripped down his chin. He rolled his eyes, snatching the tissue from her hand and cleaned himself up a little bit before devouring his plate once more.
"He got his eating habits from you," Irene pointed out to Archer, eyeing her son with amusement and collided her shoulder with Archer's who shook his head.
"He got it from Jacob babe, not me," he said in his defence, throwing his hands up in his air before pointing to his brother who gave him a pointed look.
"Are you serious right now?" Jacob exclaimed, looking almost offended before Archer gave him a look, their eyes glazing over and communicated through a mind-link before Jacob nodded sulkily.
"Fine, fine," he grumbled under his breath before standing up and disappeared into a crowd of people.
The entire family chuckled in plain amusement, their eyes sparkling with happiness before they returned into their usual conversations. Armelle, who sat between her two brothers, suddenly felt alone and claustrophobic. River was making googly eyes at his food and Aiden was giving his attention to his mate, leaving her in the middle without anyone to talk to.
"I'm going to get some food, wanna come with?" Armelle asked her hungry brother who quickly nodded in reply, a cheeky smile plastering his lips which were covered in sauce and stood up with his sister. They walked together to the buffet table, River, who finally completed his entire plate of food immediately began to fill up his plate again and left Armelle to find food for herself. With a sad shrug, Armelle found herself grabbing a plate and left her brother who to gather his own food whilst she grabbed hers.
River, paying no attention at all, found himself once more picking up different types of meat and adding it to the list of meats he has eaten. This time, instead of just meat, he placed some bread and strawberries to 'up-it-up' a little. Smiling in satisfaction, he inhaled the fresh scent of well-cooked meat and charcoal and left the buffet table, only to find his nose picking up another delicious scent. One that made his knees entirely weak.
Fresh cut grass, coconut and cinnamon buns
He swore his mouth watered and he stopped in his tracks. Kingston was now howling wildly, calling out for the person who owned that scent. He gulped, his hands still holding the plate of food in his hands as his legs began to move on their own. His nostrils flared as he picked up the scent that became stronger and stronger with every step he took. His heart begun to beat wildly in his chest, hammering there that he could feel it touching his skin.
River's thoughts were clouded and his mind went blank, pushing through crowds of people and little children, trying so desperately to find the person who owned the scent. His wolf was wagging his tail wildly, guiding his host into finding the one person in his life that mattered and wasn't related to him. He noticed how the scent took him back to his childhood, the cinnamon buns smelt exactly like how Grandma Lilly made them at the packhouse, coconut reminded him of his sister who found pleasure in face masks that smelt weird and freshly cut grass, like the training grounds of the pack.
He loved it.
Before he even knew it, just metres away from him, was his mate. Her back was turned to him, on her tippy toes as if looking for someone. Her friends were surrounding her, gossiping and whispering to themselves, looking over at the girl who wore a bright yellow jumper and black sweatpants.
From where he stood, he noticed how her brown hair cascaded down her back like waves crashing against the sea, she was short, probably stopping by his jaw and had this bubbly aura surrounding her. He took a deep breath, nervousness tingling in his stomach as he stared at her and like the food he was, stood there, not moving. He looked almost stunned, standing there and looked at her as if she was the most beautiful artwork in the entire world.
He inhaled her scent, and closed his eyes, memorising her scent in his mind as well as the scene in front of him. In that very moment, he knew that he would protect her with all his life and love her until the end of time. Nothing would ever pull them apart unless it was death.
He opened his eyes and almost screamed as the most beautiful person he had ever laid eyes on was standing a few feet in front of him and her eyes alight with happiness. River gulped loudly, her beauty entrancing him in a spell he knew he would never get out of. Her beauty absolutely breathtaking, her skin was slightly tanned, but more on the pale side, cute freckles sprouted across her nose and all he wanted to do was play connect the dots with them. Cherry red lips that were slightly chapped, but ever so kissable that he wanted to kiss them there and then. Bright brown eyes alight with sparks as he looked deep into them. He fell in love in an instant.
"Mate," he whispered out softly at the same time she did as well. His heart swelled up at her soft, melodic voice that rang into his ears like sleigh bells.
'Oh Goddess,' he thought to himself as a bright smile appeared on his face, instantly feeling a hundred times happier.
"Hi, I'm Francine," she said shyly, her cheeks flaming as River's mouth opened slightly upon hearing her name. His smile never wavering as he tested her name on his mouth, loving the feeling of how easy her name slipped from his lips, like honey.
"Oh goddess!" she exclaimed loudly and looked at his feet, River gave a questionable look and followed her eyes. His eyes widened at the sight of his feet, mentally face-palming himself at the mess that he had made. He smiled sheepishly at her amused expression, his face bright red as he looked taken aback and stared at his feet once more.
"Oh shit, my food,"
a.n Francine below