By the time we had gotten home, it was late afternoon, the sun sending rays of warmth onto my nude back. I had been completely exhausted, and considering how awkward my morning wake up had been, I had no problem in completely collapsing in my bed, falling asleep the moment that my head hit the pillow.
When I woke up, Orion was still vacant from the room, the curtains opened up to reveal the still pitch black sky. In my haziness, I could hear footsteps and something hitting the wall, along with constant shushing. I groaned, why couldn't he just be quiet. It took not a moment for me to fall back asleep.
The second time I woke up, it was much more reasonable, a clear blue sky and the gentle sun peeking over and sending streams of light over the floor. I pulled myself up, running a hand over my eyes before begrudgingly getting out of bed and towards the door. As I stepped out, I could hear Orion's voice, accompanied with the the sound of sizzling pans and a boiling kettle.
I paused in my tracks, Orion never cooked, well, he had tried of course. But as I lifted my nose up into the air, I was overcome with the desire to just eat. Not one thing Orion had cooked was even close to edible, either still runny and raw or completely toast.
I hurried up, practically running down the stairs in excitement, the tips of my fingers tingling.
"Orion," I called out, "Is someone in the kitchen?"
I turned around the corner, focusing in on the scene in front of me before standing back, my hand covering my mouth in shock.
My parents.
My father was standing at the stove, while my mother sat at the bench top next to Orion.
My mother let out a squeal, jumping up and running over to me, wrapping her arms around my frame and lifting me off the ground ever so slightly. She stepped back and grabbed my face, holding me in her hands.
"My darling Althea, look at you!" She said happily, pinching me slightly, "So happy!" She turned slightly and whispered, "And what a boy you have too! So charming and polite, I can forgive him for not meeting us earlier!"
She stepped back and took over my fathers place, letting him come forward and sweep me into a hug of his own. "Your mothers right you know, though I would prefer to have been asked for permission before you all went forward with the ceremonies and such. But no matter,"
I giggled, letting go as my father pulled away to bring out four mugs from the cupboard as the kettle quietened. Orion, who was still sitting, send me a grin. I walked around and placed myself behind me, pressing my lips to his cheek before whispering in his ear,
"Thank you for this,"
He ran a finger over my cheekbone with a grin and a gaze of love, "Anything for you."
I squeezed just a little tighter before letting go, joining in with my parents behind the counter, helping them prepare breakfast. It felt so natural, the three of us working around each other as we prepared. My father pouring the drinks, my mother flipping the eggs and bacon with me buttering and toasting the buns while also mixing up a sauce.
Orion stayed seated in his chair, making idle chatter as he watched us. Every time he offered to help, I assured him that we were fine. With the three of us working together, we were finished cooking within half an hour, letting Orion make up the table.
We sat down, letting the coffee pass my lips.
"So, we'll be having a full family dinner tonight, but how you guys want to spend the rest of the day is up too you." Orion informed, digging in to the breakfast burger on his plate.
I nodded, "Maybe I'll give you guys a tour, show off the best Vindex has to offer."
My mother placed her hand on mine, "Whatever you want to do, as long as we're spending time together, we don't care."
"Orion, do you know what the plans are for dinner?" My father asked.
He thought for a moment, "I believe my mothers cooking, maybe some help from my younger sister."
"Aloïse and I would be happy to help should it be needed," He offered, "Only if you need it though,"
"I can check," Orion offered, "But I highly doubt it. Your guests, and I know my mother, she really wants to make an impression, and in her mind, that means doing all the work and not having you lift a finger."
"Of course we understand that," My mother said, "Though do make sure to extend our offer."
Orion nodded, giving a kind smile before diving back into his food. Eventually, how time moved on and Orion had left to do official discussions and updates with the others and his parents. I, however, decided to take my parents around the pack, showing off the gorgeous forest edges and extensive training areas. Like me, my parents weren't huge on training and exercise, but were completely mesmerised by the sheer size of it all.
"You know Althea, your mate is better than I could have ever dreamed for you." My mother said, "You work so well together. I was so worried you know, Alpha's always look so pretty from the outside, yet when the doors are closed... suddenly they aren't so nice anymore. I can tell with that man, you will never once have a problem."
I knew what she was saying, especially after my encounter with Alpha Graves.
My father nodded, "And he'll be liked by the family back home, I'm sure. He's the type of guy that will start learning the language just because you said that not everyone knows English. And he's kind, making that extra step to bring us here, not for any reason other than he thought you would like it."
My face softened, feeling my heart warm.
Orion was exactly like that, and I knew for a fact that I didn't deserve him. I wasn't one for major shows of affection, contrasting heavily with Orion. Sometimes, I wondered just how we managed to be thrown together.
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To no one's surprise, Gloria had refused any help for dinner, insisting on doing the whole thing by herself. Orion and I had arrived at his parents house with my parents, being welcomed into the house by Florence. I spared a glance at my mother, who had always loved pups, as she held back a squeal. Florence, her ever social self, grabbed onto my parents hand and pulled them out of the hallway and into the rest of the house, starting to talk immediately , babbling on about something that I could barely hear.
I leaned onto Orion's shoulder and let out a breath, grabbing into his hand for some form of support as we walked into the conjoined dining room and kitchen. Orion took a seat down next to his father, who was at the head of the table, before joining him, I went over and gave Gloria a side hug.
"These are my parents, Aloise and Antonio." I introduced.
"Thank you for being so welcoming into your home," My mother said, I could tell she was slightly nervous, though her face certainly didn't show anything. Florence was still holding on tightly to her hand.
Gloria waved her hand, "No problem at all, we're family now of course! I hope you don't mind me saying, you accent is so much thicker than Althea's,"
My father gave a tight-lipped smile, "Aloise and I came over to America at a much older age then our daughter. Unfortunately, the accent is quite something to shake away."
"Of course, Althea is quite good at understanding what we say," My mother laughed, "Should you have any problem picking up, I'm sure she'll be able to tell you."
I bit back a look of confusion. My parents hated it when someone couldn't understand their accent. In fact, they loathed it. Maybe they felt strange, two chefs in the house of an ex-Alpha to be a guest, not to cook them dinner. I tried to analyse them, quickly realising that they were being completely true, not even a hint of malice or sarcasm, nor a tick of annoyance in their jaws.
"Of course, though we'll try our very best." Gloria said kindly, "Please, take a seat, I swear that I'm almost finished. Josie will give me a hand, Josie, come and get the bowls out of the drawer. And Florence, darling would you grab the water out of the fridge?"
The two girls jumped up and wandered behind the counter while I sat my parents down, on the opposite side of the table, my eyes meeting his with ease.
It only took Gloria a few more minutes before large bowls full of steaming food were being placed down onto the table. Conversation had been struck up straight away, both mine and Orion's parents diving into adult conversations. Orion had a few things to say to his sisters, and what felt like the first time in a while, I was able to just be completely quiet.
Strangely, I quite liked it, just being able to focus and dig into some good food. I could feel my fingers shaking, listening into the conversation. I could hear the way that their voices had changed, becoming much more tense. I stopped chewing my food and looked over, my dad had straightened his shoulders as his fork laid idly in his hand. My mother was fiddling with her fingers underneath the table, her expression becoming tight. I listened in,
"I mean, of course, it was slightly upsetting that we weren't able to be here for the mating or the initiation, but we understand why. Of course, needing to get it done and such under a time constraint..."
Daniel took a sip, "It was a real hurry, honestly, there would have been so much family we would have liked to bring in but couldn't because of how quick it all needed to happen. I have some cousins over in the UK that I know would have just loved to come,"
My mother gave him a smile, "Of course, I just wish we could have been given more of a prompt. I'm sure that we could have at least tried to come up for it."
"Well, no matter, I was quite happy in taking over the mother figure in the whole thing. Of course, Althea always has a family with us, we're happy to take anyone's place."
I almost choked on my food. I spared a glance to Orion who seemed to have a similar expression on my face. Florence was happily eating her food, though Josephine suddenly looked very embarrassed.
"Of course, nothing can replace her real family Gloria, I find that trying to replace someone who you can't replace is a waste of time." My mother said, slowing down her words as if talking to a toddler.
Gloria raised her eyebrows, "No, no, I know that but you don't live here, and Althea has said that it really isn't in your agenda. No matter what you may want to admit, she's still a young girl, and someone needs to step up. It might as well be her mother-in-law."
"Perhaps my daughter may need a helping hand, or someone to confide in that could give motherly advice, but she certainly doesn't need someone to replace her mother." She said, almost exasperated.
I could see that Gloria was starting to get agitated, "Althea, please, just tell your mother she's overreacting."
"Overreacting?" My mother shrieked, "You're just being plain rude and honestly, I'm not going to stand for it. Althea, Antonio, nous partons. Je n'ai aucun intérêt à écouter cette femme me faire dérailler."
I opened up the mind link, I'm going, your mother is being disrespectful and has crossed a line.
I agree entirely, You go with your parents, I'll have a talk with her. I'll try and make her see that what she's saying is wrong.
I don't need someone to replace my mother Orion, make that clear. If she doesn't understand it from you, then I'll say it to her myself. I have other priorities right now.
My father was quick to pull out of his chair, quickly followed by my own mimicking action. Gloria almost looked confused as I stood up. I had no idea what was running through her head, nor how she got any of those ideas that she was spewing out at my parents. Once we had left the completely silent kitchen, our bellies still half full and out of view, I connected my arms with my parents as I pushed in between them.
"I don't need anyone to ever replace you guys," I said seriously, "I already have the best parents in the world, better than I ever could have asked for."
My mother leaned her head against mine, slightly overlapping over on my shoulder. "I may like your pretty little mate mon amie, but I certainly don't like his mother."
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Hey everybody, how was the chapter?
So, I think that I'm going to start uploading my stories on inkitt. It won't make any difference to the publishing schedule, I think just to have my stories reaching a little wider. My user is the same as here, @ erynrainestories so if you have an inkitt go drop me a follow.
Anyhoozles, hope everyone is doing good, staying safe. I don't have to much to say this a/n so I'm going to leave it here xx
Remember to vote and comment!
See you in the next chapter,
Eryn