Twenty: Family Reunion
Ava
The celebration went down without a hitch and I found myself talking to almost every pack member. By the time the party was over it was late, and most of the pack members had gone home. Adrian and I started cleaning with the rest of the remaining pack members when I felt their presence behind me. I turned to find my Alpha Mates standing there, a sleepiness in their eyes.
"Love, let the pack clean up, it's late and the celebration was for you guys." Emilio said.
"Are you sure?" I asked, feeling a little tired myself. They held out their hands and I took both in each hand.
"Yes Sweetheart," Elijah replied gently, "Let's get some rest." He said as we began walking to the pack house. I figured now would be good a time as any.
"So, um, I was wondering..." I trailed off, it was a lot to ask, considering the years of previous animosity between both packs.
"Yes, Love?" Emilio prodded.
"Well, it'll be good for our packs, but um, you see my mom wants to meet you guys properly, and I was hoping that since we aren't doing anything tomorrow we could maybe, go to my old pack and see them?" I asked, worried they would grumpily say no.
"It would be good to reconcile, after all, the only reason we ever attacked was due to false stories and wrongful anger." Elijah said.
"That is true, however we don't have a Beta, so who would be in charge?" Emilio asked. I smiled as an idea came to me.
"What if we put Peter in charge? He's one of my top candidate choices for a Beta, it would be a good test for him." I said cheerily. Elijah nodded.
"That could work." Emilio said.
"Great then we'll get up early tomorrow and make our way over to the Lupis Pack lands." I said as we made our way to our bedroom and settled in for the night.
The next morning Elijah had pulled Peter aside to break down to him exactly what was expected in his absences and that he wanted full reports of training and pack border activity. Peter seemed overly excited with the opportunity, but I could see the nervousness on his face. I gave him a thumb's up as I started to get into the back seat of the truck, only to be yanked back by my hips. I squealed as I turned to find Emilio standing there.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"I-I was getting into the truck." I mumbled.
"You never have to seat behind us, there is plenty of space in the front."
"O-Okay." I said as I climbed into the front middle seat. Elijah hopped into the driver's side, Emilio to my right, and then we headed out. On the way there I could feel their nervous energy.
"Are you guys okay?" I asked, my hands on their legs, gently rubbing.
"Just um, never had people want to meet us before." Elijah said as he slowed to take a turn.
"Yeah so we are in uncharted territory." Emilio agreed as his leg bounced.
"You'll do just fine. Just think about it this way, it's a bunch of me's." I said as I laughed. They frowned.
"That doesn't make me feel any better." Emilio said. I fake gasped and pinched his leg.
"Ouch!" He cried out.
"You saying you don't like how I am?" I asked as I poked out my lip in a fake pout. Emilio's eyes widened.
"N-no I wasn't saying that at all Love, I didn't mean it. I swear!" he said as he fumbled to try to make me feel better.
"What he meant to say was that it takes two of us to handle just you, and we are about to meet a bunch of you's...it's scary." Elijah said. I laughed as we pulled into the driveway that lead to the Lupis Pack.
"The big bad, scary Alphas, scared of my family. How cute." I said as we came to the makeshift parking lot they made for the pack member's vehicles. Elijah parked in an empty spot and before we could get out three guards surrounded the vehicle. I saw Gray and waved. His eyes widened. I quickly crawled over Emilio and out the door.
"Gray!" I said as he hugged me.
"Miss Ava, I had no idea you were going to be coming, I'm so glad to see you. How have you be-" but a growl cut him off. I turned to find Emilio glaring Gray down. Gray bowed his head and quickly stepped away from me.
"My apologies Alphas." He said showing his respect for my Mates even though they weren't his Alphas. I smacked Emilio's arm as Elijah came around the truck, the other two guards waving at me.
"Hi, Miss Ava." They said.
"Hi Brandon, Darrel." I said as they patted my Mates down for weapons.
"Can we go see my parents?" I asked. They nodded quickly and Gray lead us to the Alpha house.
We had just stepped through the door when the wind was knocked out of me and if it weren't for my Mates' fast reflexes I would have hit the ground hard. Both Emilio and Elijah had reached out and held me up as Janice hugged me tightly.
"Ava! I missed you so much! I saw you from the window, you look so happy, that makes me happy you kno-"
"Ava!!!!!" Janice was ripped away from me as my brother stood there, his Mate tucked behind him as he narrowed his eyes at mine.
"Oh, Chrissy calm down, they came here with no qualms, actually they wanted to reconcile with you guys." I said as I nudged my nervous Mates forward.
Emilio held out his hand and Elijah followed suit. Christian hesitantly took it and shook both of their hands. I heard thundering footsteps coming down the stairs then.
"That better be my daughter!" Dad turned the corner with Mom hot on his heels.
"Dad!" I smiled as I took off in his direction. He smiled brightly as he opened his arms. I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"How is my Sweet Pea?" he asked, using my childhood nickname.
"I'm good Dad, honest. Please, go meet my Mates! They have something to say to you." I said as I pushed him towards Emilio and Elijah. I turned to my mom who smiled.
"Hi Momma." I said as we hugged. She squeezed me tightly.
"Your father and brother were ready to kill them that day. Now look at them." She said. I turned and felt the smile on my face. My father laughed heartily at something Elijah said, Christian and Emilio speaking off to the side. Janice came up beside us.
"Look at that, an apology was all that was needed." She said.
"Yup, also, Janice where are my nephews?"
"Oh they ar-"
"Aunty Ava!!!" I heard before I felt a hard slam in my back and fell to the floor.
Elijah
I was shocked to see how forgiving the Alpha and his son were. Ava had been right, all they wanted was an apology. Currently her father and I were having a conversation about his stubborn daughter when I heard a loud scream.
"Aunty Ava!!!" we turned to find two young boys, the future Luna's children plow into Ava's back.
"Ack!" she cried as she fell forward. She caught herself just before her face hit the tile floor and the two young children ran around her.
"Stop." Ava's voice sounded tight, almost frightening as the two boys froze where they stood, and Ava stood straight again. She brought her hands to her hips.
"Did you forget your manners?" she scolded them, and they looked down.
"No Aunty Ava," the older boy said as he scuffed his shoe.
"Sawwy." The little one said.
Ava looked at them for a moment before kneeling.
"You're forgiven, now come hug your Aunty properly." She said, and they brightened up immediately, tackling her in a hug. Watching them now made me wonder what it would be like to have our own kids.
It'll be a good skill to teach our boys. For our future. Her soft words resounded in my mind as I watched her interaction with the pups, playing with them happily and in that moment, I knew. It had nothing to do with the Mate Bond. Or our animal's need or desires to reproduce and find our other half. No, this was a purely human feeling that had crept on me before I could even realize it.
I looked over to Emilio and our eyes connected. I could see the same emotion in his eyes, and he didn't look scared, or worried. He looked, for once, perfectly content, happy even as we both realized what had happened to us.
We had already fallen in love with her.
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Okay so I'm pretty sure my roommate got me sick and I'm sitting at work right now about to die but I had to update.
I wanted to take a second to thank you guys for every vote, every comment, and positive vibes on this book. You guys are so sweet and make it so much better for me to be a writer.
Also I'd like all of us to thank @PromiseRose3 because without her support and approval this book would not have happened. Thanks Love!
Anyways, what did you think of this chapter? Next chapter I'm thinking we find out what her job is in the nitty gritty details.
Aaannd GO!
J. Vas