So Lucas and Lila have both met their mates. Finally. It took them 20+ years hahaha. Enjoy this new chapter.
This chapter is reallllll long. Sorry about that. I guess it makes up for the shortness of the last chapter.
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I sat with Liam around the table, huddled close to him as I looked at his cards. He had a great poker face and I was amused watching him play. He was a skilled player and he knew exactly what he was doing.
Since Lila and her new mate had taken over the entire cabin with their sex and hormones, Liam didn't want to go anywhere near it. Neither did Leon and Cass.
Lucas had been with his new mate, who's name I discovered was Brianna, all afternoon. After reuniting with Bodie and then being introduced to Gwendoline, Ezra caved in and invited everyone over for dinner.
It was Bodie's idea to start gambling. The boys had all grinned like children and then immediately agreed to play. I wasn't a gambler and I had nothing to give away, so I decided not to play.
"I'm all in," Kade said, shoving a heap of cash into the middle of the table. The boys started to show their cards, and Liam smirked when it came to him.
He showed the table his cards and then took all the winnings from the middle. I grinned as I squeezed his leg. He put his arm around my shoulders and leant back in his chair as everyone else at the table groaned and cursed.
"I thought you were supposed to be really good," I said to Ezra. He scowled at me and rolled his eyes. I smirked and Jenny chuckled a little from behind him. She reached over the top of him and placed a cup of coffee in front of him.
Jenny kissed Ezra's cheek and he thanked her for the drink as the game restarted.
"I'd kill for some time alone with you right now," Liam mumbled out as he kissed the top of my head, sighing softly into my hair. I couldn't help but smile at his words. I badly wanted time alone with him too.
But everyone would know what we were up to if him and I disappeared. Ezra and Jenny had already tried to give me the talk. I narrowly avoided it before they could get into it.
"Quo, you're not dealing the cards. You cheat!" Leon hissed out as he snatched the deck of cards from Quo's hands. Quo grunted and crossed his arms.
"Maybe later, when everyone is asleep," I told Liam. He squeezed my shoulders, a way of telling me that he was up for it. I smirked a little more and rested my head on his shoulder.
I heard a knock at the front door, and I jumped up immediately to get to it. I prayed that it was Lila. I had to question her all about her new mate and who he was. She hadn't met him earlier in the day when I'd first seen her, so she must've met him when the transfers arrived. Maybe even earlier.
I buzzed with excitement as I raced to the door. I unlocked it and then tore it open. Surely enough, I saw Lila, a male standing behind her.
She breathed out in relief and relaxed. "Its you, good. I thought it would be Liam. I was ready to have my ass beaten."
I giggled at her and leant against the door frame. I looked behind Lila to her mate, studying him. He was a strong Alpha, I could feel him humming with energy.
He was tall, taller than both Lila and I. He was dark hair, green eyed. He had chiseled features, and I declared that he was quite an attractive male. Lila had scored well.
"This is Charlie. He's a new instructor, and I was supposed to be training with him this morning, but..." Lila explained to me. She trailed off and Charlie chuckled from behind her.
"Nice to meet you, Alison. I've heard so many good things about you already," Charlie told me. He came forwards, extending his hand to me. I smiled at him and took his hand, shaking it firmly.
I liked this male already. He had guts to make a good introduction, and he seemed like he had a good sense of humour. I knew everyone else would like him.
"Liam isn't happy that you two took over the cabin, by the way. We had plans too, you know," I said with a wink. I saw the redness appear on Charlie's cheeks as Lila laughed at me.
"I bet. Brayleigh told me everything that you told her about you and Liam keeping it busy up north," Lila told me with small giggles. I reach out and punched her shoulder.
"Come inside. The guys are playing poker. I'll go tell them you're here, and to be nice. Sound good?" I stepped aside and let Lila and Charlie into the house. Charlie shut the door behind him and I studied him a little closer.
If he was an instructor, he had to be a strong wolf. I already wanted to spar with him. I felt like getting some real competition for once.
"I saved you both left overs, as well. Figured you'd both be hungry," I said before I return back to the dining room. I walked in and everyone turned their heads to me.
"Lila is here with Charlie. You all better be nice. I like him," I said as I went and stood by Liam. He rumbled as I stood behind him. I took his hand and intertwined our fingers.
"He's nice, Liam. He'll take care of her," I told him. I knew he was cautious. I assumed that Lucas and Leon would be also. But I already knew and trusted Charlie enough that I could assure he was going to take care of Lila.
He had to.
Lila and Charlie walked into the room, holding hands. Lila looked beyond nervous, whilst Charlie was smiling confidently. Leon stood to introduce himself. The males shook hands, and Liam grunted.
His chest vibrated and I squeezed his hand.
"That's Ezra and Jenny over there. They're the vampires of the pack. Jenny's cooking will blow you away, and Ezra... he's cool I guess," Leon began introducing people. He joked with Ezra and made the vampire laugh and roll his eyes.
"Over there is Brayleigh and Kade. If you didn't know already, Kade is Alfie's son. So you'll probably see him around the sparring rings a lot," Leon said, pointing to Kade and Brayleigh who sat at the head of the table, around the corner from Liam and I.
"And then, you've already met Ali, and there is our kitten loving, gentle and kind eldest brother, Liam," Leon said, smiling at Liam just to work him up. Charlie smiled hopefully at the two of us. I smiled back, and Liam huffed.
"Smile," I muttered as I kicked the chair. Liam grunted and didn't smile. I rolled my eyes.
I headed into the kitchen. We'd had pasta for dinner, and I figured that Lila would eventually come around to introduce her mate to everyone. I saved two bowls of pasta for them both.
I took them off the counter and placed them in the microwave. The guys got back to playing their card game again, whilst Lila and Charlie came into the kitchen.
"What's wrong with Mr Grumpy Pants over there?" Lila whispered to me, looking to Liam. He had a stone cold expression set on his face. He wasn't happy that his little sister was growing up.
"I think he just doesn't like the fact that you're growing up, you know? Don't worry about it. I'm sure I can change his mind," I said with a smile. Lila nodded at me and I watched as Charlie leant against the counter and ran a hand through his hair.
"Alright. Where's Lucas?" Lila changed the topic quickly. I laughed out and rolled my eyes.
"He mate his mate too. One of the transfers. She's staying in Donny's cabin, so he's been over there since this afternoon. I'm going to assume he's having the time of his life over there," I replied. Lila giggled and then looked to Charlie.
"Lucas is the annoying one. But he might not be so annoying now that he has a mate. What do you think, Ali?" Lila told Charlie and then looked back to me. I shrugged at her.
"I feel like he won't annoy her, and annoy us more," I said. Lila laughed at this and the microwave beeped. I opened the door and took the bowls out. I gave Lila and Charlie forks and then lead them back to the table where I pulled up two chairs next to me.
"I can't believe that they marked each other already," Liam grumbled to me. I glanced up at him, his expression stone cold as he stared at his cards.
"Lila has been waiting for whole life for this moment. I don't blame her. Be happy for your sister. She's happy for us," I told him. Liam chewed on his bottom lip. He was deep in thought, angry and confused.
He felt like he was missing out on his sister growing up. She'd become such an adult since I first met her. She had to grow up. She'd be left behind if she didn't.
"I am happy for her. I just can't help but feel like I've missed out on her growing into an adult," Liam sighed out. I looked up at him again, studying the look in his eyes. He didn't look angry anymore, kind of sad actually.
His beast whined. I sighed and shook my head as I leant against his shoulder.
"You haven't missed anything. She's a woman. You can't change that," I said. Liam wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and I noticed his hand squeeze Lila's shoulder. I looked to her as she looked up at Liam and smiled.
She looked down to me and smiled also. "Thank you."
I smiled back at her as I returned my attention to the game in front of me. Just as things settled again, Charlie got invited into the game and as the new game started, there was a knock at the front door.
I hoped it was Lucas.
I got up and went to the door. I sniffed the air, the scent of sex and hormones not wafting around my nose. I figured it wasn't Lucas then.
I opened the door, and almost gasped in shock at who I saw.
Anthony and Veronica.
What the hell were Anthony and Veronica doing at my doorstep? Did they have the wrong house? Were they looking for Liam? Were they looking for me?
Oh no, what if they were going to gang up on me and try and kick my ass. They wouldn't win, but I'd definitely get in trouble. Shit!
"Well... hey," I said, not sure on how to greet them. Anthony looked me up and down, his eyes gazing where I didn't want them too. Veronica looked disgusted by my presence.
"Hey there, love bug," Anthony cooed. I almost gagged and threw up on him. If he was at my doorstep only to flirt with me, I was definitely going to kill him.
"Is Liam here?" Veronica asked. I raised my eyebrows at her.
"Why do you ask?" I asked her quickly.
I glanced at Anthony, who was still ogling over me like a fool. He made my blood boil. He was disgusting and rude. I felt happy thinking about the time I broke his hand and gave him a blood nose.
I looked back to Veronica and thought about violent things. "I want to see him. Duh. Is he here or not? I know he is here by the way, so you can't lie."
I frowned at her and gripped the door tighter. I was going to punch her in the face. I didn't care what trouble I would get in.
"Give it up. We're here to see Bodie. Is he around?" Anthony rolled his eyes at his sister and then looked back to me. I raised my eyebrows at him as I nodded slowly.
I wasn't sure if Bodie would want to speak to them or not, but I knew that I had to ask anyway. They both knew Bodie was around. I couldn't lie.
"I'll go see if he's in the mood to talk," I said quickly. Anthony nodded at me as I shut the door and turned around to go back to the dining room.
I peeked my head last the wall and heads turned to look at me. I pointed to Bodie and motioned for him to come with me. He nodded, kissing Gwendoline's cheek before getting up from his chair and leaving the room with me.
"Anthony and Veronica are here. They want to see you," I mumbled to him. Bodie stilled immediately. He looked down at me, almost as if to question if I was being serious. I nodded my head at him to reassure him I was in fact being serious.
"I suppose I have to talk to them," Bodie hissed out. I nodded at him as we headed towards the door. I was not leaving Bodie alone with cruel his brother and sister.
We opened the door and I found Anthony and Veronica standing on the grass just off the porch. I walked out with Bodie and shut the door behind me. I leant against one of the support poles for the porch as Bodie headed down to the grass to speak with his siblings.
"You've got nerve, coming back here like this," Veronica said through a bitter breath. I crossed my arms and watched their interaction.
"Well, I got tired of being locked in a dungeon after a few years. Thought I'd come back," Bodie said through clenched teeth. I knew he was getting pissed and I was worried that if Anthony and Veronica weren't careful that they'd push him over the edge.
"You have no idea what you did to Mum and Dad. They've been heartbroken over what you did. Your betrayal almost sent them spiralling," Veronica hissed out again. None of them paid attention to my presence. I was glad. I wanted to hear everything they had to say.
"What I did? I didn't do anything! I found out Dad was being a scheming asshole and I told him I'd tell everyone if he continued with it. He threw his eldest son in a dungeon for several years for no reason," Bodie seethed. He clenched his fists and took deep breaths. He was getting worked up fast.
"He was protecting the pack. He did the right thing. Anyone else would have done it," Anthony retorted. Bodie took a step back.
"No other father would have tossed their son away in a dungeon and told everyone he was dead. No one else would have treated me like he did," Bodie said. Anthony laughed out and rolled his eyes.
"Oh, please! Get over yourself, Bodie. It's not all about you. For once, Dad was putting himself first. He was doing it for him, and for the pack. You got in the way," Anthony hissed out. I chewed anxiously on my lip as I realised I was getting worked up too.
"Dad did the right thing, locking you away. We didn't have any issues after you were gone," Veronica said. Bodie growled out lowly, and I slowly made my way down the steps.
"We don't want you here. You belong in those dungeons. You were a failure of a child. You let down the entire family," Anthony spat out. I got to Bodie and put my hand on his shoulder. He was burning hot.
Bodie growled deeply and when I looked at him, I noticed nothing but rage in his eyes. He was pissed.
"You don't deserve to be here with the rest of us," Anthony said.
The moment he spoke, Bodie roared out. His anger rolled off him in strong waves. The ground he stood on shook. I leaped for Veronica, pushing her out the way as I heard the sound of cracking bones and loud growls.
I felt something slash my back and I winced as my skin sliced open. The blood was warm on my back, and it stung only a little.
I hit the ground with a hard thud. I grunted in pain as looked to Veronica. I pulled her to the side as Anthony took a large step back and shifted into his fur. Veronica screamed as she watched her brother tear into his beast and lunge straight for Bodie.