His Mate's Sister

Chapter 8-Thanksgiving

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP "Ugh" I throw my blanket over my head, BEEP BEEP BEEP the alarm blares next to my bed. I take the blanket off my head and turn over grabbing my phone and shutting off the alarm, I out my phone back on the side table. I sit up in bed and stretch my arms over my head, I throw the blanket off me and get out of bed. I head into my bathroom and shower, I head into my closet after my shower and get dressed. Once I'm dressed and ready I grab my phone and head downstairs to the kitchen, I step into the kitchen and made my way to the coffee machine. I press the start button on the coffee machine then grab some coffee mugs out of the cabinet, I open the frig and grab some eggs, bacon, milk and mozzarella cheese. I throw the bacon in a pan to cook then I start braking eggs into a mixing bowl and start whisking them together, I put the bowl aside and start chopping up the mozzarella. I took the turkey out of the frig and set it in the sink.

"Good morning" Lori said entering the kitchen. 

"Morning" I replied as I poured the eggs into a skillet, "coffee will be done shortly" I told her as I flipped the bacon.

"Okay" she said as she preheated the oven then went to the sink and started rinsing the turkey, I took the bacon from the pan onto a piece of paper towel then put more into the pan. I toasted some English muffins and continued scrambling the eggs, Lori took the roasting pan out of the corner cabinet nand set the turkey in it. She went about seasoning it while I finished making breakfast.

"Mmm, something smells good" my dad said walking into the kitchen with my mom.

"Need help?" my mom asked, mom comes from a traditional Italian family. She's 5'3 with beautifully tanned skin, she has short wavy brown hair and ocean blue eyes. Everybody says she and I could be twins, Lori and Amy look like my aunt Stacy she was my dad's sister. My aunt Stacy was an angelic looking woman standing at 5'5 with glowing lightly tanned skin, long auburn hair and heavenly greens eyes. My dad on the other hand stands at 6' and is muscularly built for a man his age, he has dark auburn hair with naturally tanned skin and green eyes.

"No" I told her, "you guys just sit down we've got this"' I said. I poured them some coffee then went about putting the food in serving dishes, I took the food to the table and Lori put the turkey in the oven and set the timer.

"How's the restaurant?" my dad asks me as I sit down at the table.

"It's good" I told him then took a sip of my coffee.

"How about you Lori?" he asks her then takes a sip of his coffee.

"It's doing good, Emily's a big help with the books" she said placing the coffee pot on the table and taking a seat.

"Good" he says then he turned his attention to the doorway. "Hey sweetheart" we all look towards the door, "Did you sleep well?" he asks.

"Um yeah" Amy says as she makes her way to the table, she took a seat between my mom and Lori.

"How are you feeling?" I ask her.

"Okay, I guess" she replied then poured coffee into the mug in front of her. We said a prayer before eating, mom and Lori cleaned up after breakfast. My dad relaxed in the living room watching the Thanksgiving day parade on the t.v, Amy helped me peel potatoes and put them on to boil. Once the potatoes were on the stove we got to work on the green beans. 

"I'm happy you're home" I told her, "I've really missed you" I smiled at her.

"I've missed you too" she smiled at me snapping a bean then tossing it in the bowl.

"I was doing some research and if you want you can finish schooling online" I told her snapping and tossing beans.

"I don't know" she said nervously.

"It's just a thought" I told her, "I don't want to push you into anything you're not ready for" I touched her hand.

"Okay" she said, we finished the green beans and I mixed them into a casserole dish and covered it then put it in the frig. My mom and Lori got to work making pie dough for the pies, Amy decided to go lay back down for a while. I peeled and chopped the sweet potatoes, I mixed them with brown sugar and melted butter then poured them into a casserole dish. Once all the side dishes were prepared and set in the frig I went to my room to clean up.

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I arrived home just as the sun began to rise, I stepped out of the woods behind the house wearing just a pair of shorts. I spent most of the night tracking down the owners of the scents that were at the scene of Amy's attack, I was able to track all but one scent. That one scent vanished just outside the territory, I was so frustrated I wanted to punch something or someone. "Let's go" Fred came out of the woods after me.

"Where?" I hissed unintentionally.

"To the gym" he said walking to the house, "you need to work out your frustration" I followed him. We walked to the east side of the house to a set of doors that lead down below the house. We entered the doors and walked down a long set of stairs, at the end of the stairs is another set of doors. We walk through the doors and enter the gym, there's a boxing ring in the middle of the room and weight lifting equipment spread across the rest of the giant room. "Alright" Fred claps and rubs his hands together, "boxing or punching bag?" he looks at me.

"I'm not boxing you" I told him.

"Look you need to get the anger out and boxing is the best way to do that" he told me.

"I'll end up hurting you" I glared at him.

"Ha ha ha, you can try" he laughed, we climbed into the ring with gloves on and started sparing. We were at it for over an hour, we both did some damage but nothing serious. When we finally had enough we made our way upstairs to the main house.

"Oh my gosh" I heard my mom gasp. "What happened?" she squealed as we entered the kitchen.

"We were getting some frustration out in the boxing ring" Fred told her.

"Didn't you use gloves?" she said worried.

"Yes, but I guess the punches were to hard" I sheepishly said.

"It's okay mom, look they're already starting to heal" he told her pointing to my face.

"You two are impossible" she shook her head at us, "go get some rest, I'll let you know when dinner is ready" she shooed us away. We both went upstairs to our rooms, I entered my room and went straight to my bathroom. I turned on the shower and waited for it to heat up, I took off my shorts and stepped into the shower letting the hot water to run of my body. I stood under the water for a few minutes then went about washing the disappointment of last night away, after my shower I threw on a pair of boxers and climbed into bed and let myself relax and fall asleep.

I'm not sure how long I slept but I was awoken by the most amazing smell in the world. "I know that smell" I said to myself, it was an intoxicating mixture of lavender and chocolate. "Emily" I shot up in bed, she's in the house. I hop out of bed and run to my closet grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, I quickly threw them on and quietly left my room. I slowly made my way down the stairs making sure she doesn't see me, I hear her in the kitchen talking to my mom.

"You didn't have to make us a pie" I heard my mom tell her.

"I didn't want you guys to think I forgot about you since Franks not here" she told my mom.

"You're so sweet and caring" my mom told her, "I can't understand why Frank insists on staying at school during the holidays when he could be here courting you" my mom sighed and I know Emily is blushing.

"Frank and I are just friends" Emily said, "I don't think he sees us as anything more than that" she insists.

"Oh sweetheart" my mom begins and I know she's shaking her head with a smile on her face, "If you only knew" I heard them walking out of the kitchen towards the foyer. I snuck back up the stairs so they wouldn't see me, "thank you for coming over" my mom opened the door for Emily.

"Happy Thanksgiving" Emily said giving my mom a hug then walking out the door, my mom closed the door after she left.

"You can come down now Francis" she said looking up the stairs, I made my way down the stairs and met my mom's disappointed glare.

"Did I hear something about a pie?' I smiled at her.

"You better clear things up with her before someone else grabs her" she said walking away from me.

"It's not that easy" I said following her into the kitchen.

"What's not that easy?" she scolded me. "She's your mate right" she glared at me with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Yeah, but......" she interrupted me before I could finish.

"But nothing": she hissed at me, "she's your mate and if you don't claim her you will lose her" she scolded me.

"I'll tell her everything, I promise, I just need to find that s.o.b first I owe her that much" I told her. She sat down at the kitchen table and sighed.

She pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers "What if you never find him?" she looked over at me. I sigh and run my fingers through my hair, I pull out the chair across from her and sit down.

"I promise if we don't get him by Christmas I'll tell her everything" I promised her.

"Alright" she nodded, "you have until Christmas, but if you don't tell her then I will" she glared at me. I threw my hands up in surrender.

"Okay" I got up from the table and went back to my room, I walked into my room and closed the door. I plopped down on my bed and rubbed my hands over my face, I don't want to put this on Emily she deserves better than me. The moment I realized she was my mate I tried to make myself worthy of her, but after what happened to Amy I decided that maybe she would be better off without me. I can't even find the bastard the defiled her sister, how am I supposed to protect her if I claim her. If I could just find him and bring him before my father I will have proven myself worthy to be with Emily, then I know I can protect her and her family.

Not sure when I fell asleep but when I awoke the sun was setting, I got up from my bed and went to brush my teeth. I made my way downstairs to join everyone at dinner, I walked into the dinning room and to my surprise it was empty. "Where is everyone?" I thought to myself, I went into the kitchen and still no one was there. I checked the living room and still no one, "What the f**k? Where is everybody?". I sniff the air but I can't smell anything, not even the turkey, I hear a small whimper coming from the backyard. I slowly make my way to the backdoor then slowly turn the knob, I carefully push the door open and step out into the backyard....................................................

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK "Frank dinner's ready" I shot up in bed with sweat dripping down my face, "Frank come on" Fred knocks again at my door.

"I'll...I'll be right there" I stutter out, I look around realizing that I'm still in my room. "A dream, it was a f*****g dream" I rub my hands over my face. I take a couple deep breaths and get out of bed, I walk into my bathroom and splash water on my face. I do my business then straighten myself up before heading downstairs.

"Are you okay?" my mom walks over to me as I enter the dinning room, my father and brothers give me a concerned look.

"I'm fine"  I reassure my mother as I take a seat between Fred and our brother Steven. Steven is 16 and a Junior in high school, my parents were blessed with four children. Fred being the oldest and Stephanie being the youngest, Steven and I got stuck in the middle. The 3 of us boys got our looks from our father, tall and muscular with caramel skin, black silky hair and hazel eyes. Stephanie is the spitting image of our mother, petite but not fragile, long wavy raven hair with caramel skin and brownish-green eyes. Stephanie is 14 and a Freshman in high school, both her and Steven are athletic and very active in all things school related.

"You okay?" Steven mind link me.

"I'll tell you guys later" I looked at him and nodded.

"Sarah, will you say grace" my father motioned us to join hands as mom said the prayer.

After dinner us men cleaned up so my mo could relax, she did all the cooking after all. Stephanie put the food away and Steven, Fred and I washed all the dishes, dad went to his office to schedule a search party for tonight.

"So" Steven breaks the silence. "What's up?" he asks me as soon as Stephanie leaves the kitchen.

"I had a really disturbing dream" I tell them handing Fred a dry plate to put away.

"Elaborate" Fred tells me, I tell them my dream detail by detail.

"Dude" Steven shakes his head as he finishes the last dish handing it to me to dry.

"What do you think it means?" I ask while drying the dish.

"You should talk to dad about it, he might be able to translate it" Fred tells me as I hand him the dried dish. "But in my opinion I think it's your subconscious feeding into your fear" he pats me on the shoulder.

I run my hand through my hair then sit at the kitchen table, "What am I supposed to do?" I look at them.

"Talk to dad" they both said in unison. I took a deep breath then got up and made my way upstairs to my dad's office. I stopped in front of his office door but before I would knock the door opens.

"Have a seat" my dad gestures me in then shuts the door, I take a seat in front of his desk as he walks around to sit in the chair behind it. "So" he folds his hands in front of him on top of his desk as he leans forward and stares at me. I take a deep breath then began telling him about the dream I had, he looks at me sympathetically as I finish. He leans back in his chair and rubs his chin, "So you didn't see what was in the backyard?" he questions.

"No sir" I reply.

"Did anything happen after you got back this morning?" he asked me concerned.

"Fred and I boxed and after that we rested" I told him.

"That's it?" he furrowed his brow.

"I kinda woke up when Emily was here" I lowered my head.

"Did she see you?" he asked me.

"No, I made sure of it" I told him, "but mom kinda scolded me for not claiming her yet" I said rubbing the back of my neck.

"That's your problem Frank" he declared, "that's the reason behind your dream. You're afraid that you're not strong enough to protect her" he stated. "You need to accept the fact that this situation with her sister is out of your hands, you are not the only one trying to find this guy" he explained. "Everyone in this pack are working day and night trying to find him" he told me. "The Williams family is as much a part of this pack as anybody else" he declared. "You need to stop acting like this whole thing is only your problem" he tells me.

"I just feel like I failed them cause I wasn't there to protect Amy" I lowered my head into my hands. "How can I protect Emily if I couldn't protect her sister" I told him. My father got up and walked over to me, he placed his hand on my shoulder and knelt down next to me.

"You're not the only one who blames themselves" he told me, "everyone in this pack blames themselves especially myself" he said, I looked at him and for once in my life I saw tears in my dad's eyes. "If you're at fault than so am I, it happened on my land, on my watch" he squeezed my shoulder. "Release the burden, let others bare it, you don't have to have it all on your shoulders alone" I nodded in agreement. My dad got up and returned to his chair, he opened a folder and handed it to me.

"What's this?" I asked taking the folder.

"That's the final blood work and DNA results" she stated, I opened the folder and my eyes widen at what I was reading.

"How many times did they rerun these?" I looked up at my father.

"4 times" he replied.

"Who else has seen these?" I asked staring at the report.

"If you're asking if Fred has seen them then no he has not, not yet" he replied.

"He's not going to like this" I looked up at my father who was now rubbing his face.

"I know" he said putting his hands on the desk.