His Mate's Sister

Chapter 17-New Years Eve

We've been in L.A for a week now, Amber was finally able to locate her grandmother through the library computer. Unfortunately her grandmother died 6 months ago, we are now in the office of her grandma's lawyer trying ton get what was left to her. "Let me start by saying how sorry I am at the passing of your grandmother, she was an amazing woman, so kind and generous" Mr. Reed said.  Mr. Albert Reed, one of L.A's finest family attorneys, he is 6'1 with brown hair and blue eyes and sun-kissed skin. He's sitting at his dark oak desk wearing a black business suit with a navy blue tie.

"Thank you Mr. Reed" Amber said in response. "I wish I could have been there with her at the end" she started tearing up.

"She spoke of you often" Mr. Reed said. "She always regretted letting your mother take you away after your father died" he told her, he opened a folder on his desk and flipped through some papers. "She left quite a bit to various charities" he told her looking at the papers. "The rest was left to you" he looked at her.

"What exactly was left to her?" I asked him. He pulled out an orange envelope and opened it dumping the contents onto his desk.

"She left you her house" he said holding a set of keys, "her antique shop, her car and $500 thousand dollars" he explained. Amber was shocked, I could tell she wasn't expecting all that. I took her hand and squeezed it letting her know I was there if she needed me. "I'll get the paperwork together for you to sign and if you would like I could help you with all the other legal stuff that needs to get done so you can legally obtain the house and shop" he said getting up from his seat. He walked out of the office leaving Amber and myself alone.

"What do you want to do?' I asked her.

"I want to stay here" she looked at me with sad eyes, "I can bind my powers which will make me mortal" she explained. "If you want to leave I'll understand" she turned away from me, I took a hold of her hand and squeezed it.

"As much as I want to go back and claim my mate I know it's too dangerous" I told her, "plus you need me more" I said which caused her to smile a little.

"Okay" Mr. Reed said walking back into the office, "let's get these papers signed and then I'll take you to the house" he said sitting back down in his chair. Amber read through the papers then signed them, Mr. Reed left to make copies for her. When he came back he handed her a folder with her copies in it then walked us to his car to drive us to the house.

"Here we are" Mr. Reed said as we pulled into the driveway of an old Victorian two story house. The house a beautiful baby blue color with a wrap around porch which I can only guess wraps all around the outside of the house. The driveway went all the way to the backyard where a two car garage stood at the very back, all the windows had white wooden shutters and there were bushes along the front of the porch by the stairs. There was also a nice long walkway that led from the porch steps to the sidewalk, it reminded me of my great grandparent's house back home. "Shall we?" he gestured towards the house as Amber and I stood there in awe.

We follow Mr. Reed up the steps of the porch, he fetched the keys out of his pocket and opened the front door. We stepped into the house and there was dust everywhere, all the furniture were covered with white sheets. There is a set of stairs on the west wall of the foyer that that leads to the second floor, the hallway next to the stairs leads all the way to the back of the house where the kitchen and back porch are. The living room was to the right of the foyer and the sitting room and dinning room were to the left of the foyer. The walls were all a beige color with a brown border, the floors were all hardwood ( no carpets). I looked over at Amber, tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"I can't believe she's gone" she whimpered, I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and squeezed.

"She's still here in this house and in your heart" I told her, she looked up at me and nodded.

"I'll get the transfer papers worked up and I'll let you know when they're ready" he said handing her the keys.

"Thank you" she said walking Mr. Reed out. "Where should we start?' she turned around and walked to me.

"Why don't we go upstairs and each pick a bedroom and clean it so we have someplace to sleep" I suggested. "Then we can work on the rest of the house" I said.

"Okay, but we need cleaning supplies" she told me.

"Okay, lets go get some then" I said then led her out of the house.

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Emily's P.O.V

Lori and Amy dragged me to Maggie's dress shop to get new dresses for the New Years ball tonight, I tried resisting cause I didn't plan on going but they wouldn't listen to me. All I wanted to do tonight was sit at home and watch the ball drop in Times Square on the t.v, I'm the least sociable person in this town. If I can avoid parties and gatherings I do. "Guys I'm not going so why am I being forced to try on dresses?" I complain as Amy hands me another dress over the dressing room door.

"Because you are going whether you like it or not" I heard Lori through the wall.

"You can't just leave Frank to fend for himself at this thing, you're his girlfriend" Amy said through the door.

"I don't like going to these things and he knows that, he'll understand" I tell them in defense.

"So you don't feel guilty that you plan on leaving him alone to kiss no one at midnight?" Amy hissed.

"Maybe he'll find a single girl there to kiss at midnight" Lori teased.

"Not funny guys" I pouted crossing my arms across my chest and leaded against the wall. "Fine I'll go but I won't like it" I gave in.

After trying on a dozen dresses each we made our final choices, Lori went with a navy blue ankle length dress with a slit down the side that starts at mid thigh, it was semi-sleeveless and it had a split sleeve on the one side that went from the shoulder all the way to the wrist while the other side was sleeveless. Amy picked a green emerald mid-calf length dress, the sleeves were long and puffy and it had a v-shaped neckline. The waistline hugged her growing baby bump perfectly, the skirt was a little flowy and wavy. It suited her perfectly and she knew it, she couldn't help but twirl around in it in front of the dressing room mirror. I went for a purple ankle length dress with spaghetti straps and a semi-v-neck neckline, it came with a semi-see-through shawl. We got shoes to match our dresses from Lana's shoe depot just down the street from the dress shop, Lori got navy blue heels. Amy went with a pair of black flats while I went with a pair of purple wedges.

Once we got home Amy decided to take a nap before we had to get ready for the party, Lori and I spent the afternoon making appetizers for the ball. We made fried stuffed mushrooms, parmesan zucchini bites, various jalapeno poppers, various mini egg rolls and bruschetta with mozzerella and tomatoes. At about 4:30 pm my manager Tony showed up with Chef James to pick up the appetizers, the cooking staff was already at the hall cooking away in the kitchen. Lori and I helped load the food in the back of the catering truck then went back into the house to get ready for the ball.

Frank said he would be here a 5:45 to pick us up so I had a quick shower, I dried my hair as best as I could with a towel then put curlers in. I out on a strapless bra and a pair of black seamless panties, I sat down at my vanity and put on as little make-up as possible. Once I was done with my make-up I put on my dress and my shoes, I looked at myself in the mirror real quick then went back to my vanity to deal with my hair. I took the curlers out then used a little bit of hairspray to keep the curls from uncurling, I walked over to my mirror and did a quick once over to make sure I looked okay. I went to my jewelry box and put on a pair of studs and my grandmother's gold locket.

Knock Knock "Frank's here, are you ready" Lori said from my door.

"I'll be down in a minute" I told her, I grabbed my shawl from my bed then put my phone in my small handbag and left my room.

We arrived to the hall in a stretch limo, the guys wanted to make it special for us. We pulled up to the hall and a valet opened the door to let us out, you could hear the music coming from the ballroom before you even enter the building. Frank takes a hold of my hand and gives it a small squeeze then he leads me into the hall, the 5 of us enter the ballroom together and as soon as we enter Frank's mom comes up to us hugging each one of us.

"I'm so glad you decided to come Emily" she smiles at me, "I know these things make you nervous" she holds my hand in hers.

"Well..........I guess this is something I have to get used to" I shrugged my shoulders and sighed.

"Don't worry sweetheart it'll get easier I promise" she squeezed my hand. "Why don't you guys go grab your seats and I'll have Jacob bring you drinks" she said then walked to the bar.

Frank, Amy and I are sitting at the main table with his family, Lori and Johnny are sitting 2 tables from us. When we got to the table Fred, Sheila, Steven and Stephanie were already there. Frank pulled out a chair for me to sit while Fred got up to do the same for Amy, Frank took a seat between me and Fred. Amy was seated between me and Steven, Sheila was next to Fred, Stephanie was next to Sheila. There were 2 empty seats between Stephanie and Steven which are for Mr. and Mrs. Marcello.

"I'm glad you decided to come Emily" Fred said to me.

"Like I told your mom, this is something I'm going to have to get used to doing" I told him.

"It'll get easier the more events you attend" Sheila told me and I smile at her.

A waiter came over with our drinks and distributed them around the table, Amy's drinking gingerale while the rest of us are either drinking wine or something stronger. We sit there talking about our New years resolutions and Fred and Sheila's upcoming wedding, Fred mentioned that the wedding wasn't just a wedding but also Fred's ascension ceremony as the pack's new Alpha. I couldn't believe Mr. Marcello was stepping down so soon, he looks too young to retire but Frank said he's been Alpha since he was seventeen when a rogue attack killed his father. Usually the new Alpha took over when he turned 25, Mr. Marcello had to learn on the job thanks to the rogue.

After a while more people started showing up, some even came over to our table to say hi. The DJ started playing more upbeat music and people started dancing, Steven even got up and asked Amy to dance. I sat there at the table with Frank watching Amy have fun, for the first time in months she was smiling and laughing with someone that wasn't my parents or me and Lori.

"She's having fun" Frank whispered in my ear, "I think it's time you have fun too" he whispered then wrapped an arm around my waist. I leaned back against him and smirked.

"What do you have in mind" I whispered back.

"I have a few things in mind but those can wait til later" he whispered into my neck then kissed it. "But right now lets get you on the dance floor" he stood up then took my hands and led me to the dance floor. We danced until the dinner bell rang then we went back to our seats, once everyone was seated the waiters came around with salads and rolls. The appetizers were laid out on the tables so people could sample them easily.

"Emily these mushrooms are delicious" Mrs. Marcello said as she sampled the fried stuffed mushrooms.

"Thank you" I replied as I ate my salad.

"You should of went to culinary school instead of business school" Fred said after eating a mini egg roll. "Your food is to die for" he said popping a jalapeno popper in his mouth.

I couldn't help but smile at their words, I always loved cooking and baking even as a kid. I used to enjoy cooking and baking with my mom and grandma, grandma taught Lori and I to bake. I only went into business so I could help my dad with the books at both the restaurant and the bakery.

"Have you ever thought about going back to school to become a chef?" Stephanie asked me as she ate her salad.

"No" I replied, "I love cooking but I couldn't do it professionally" I told her.

"Why not?" Steven asked me.

"I don't have the patience or passion to run a kitchen the way James does" I told him. "I prefer cooking for friends and family instead of thousands of strangers" I explained.

"I think Emily is exactly where she's supposed to be" Mr. Marcello said then winked at me.

The main dish came out just as everyone was finishing off their salads and appetizers, the waiters took away the salad plates and replaced them with large dinner plates. The main course was filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes, grilled seasoned asparagus with carrots and shallots. After dinner Mrs. Marcello had the DJ start up the music again so people could work off all the food they just ate before diving into all the delectable desserts that were to be brought out later. Of course Frank dragged me back onto the floor, he refused to let me sit and not have fun.

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Lukas' P.O.V

We finished with our rooms then divided up the house, Amber took the dinning room and kitchen and I took the living room and office. The kitchen was pretty big, it took up more than half the back end of the house. Amber decided to start on the dinning room first, I told her I would help with the kitchen when I was finished with my rooms. Once I was done with the living room and office I made my way into the kitchen to help her. By the time we were done with the kitchen it was dark out, I pulled out my prepaid phone we bought this morning and ordered a pizza. While we waited for the pizza Amber went upstairs to shower and change, I washed my hands in the kitchen and set the table. The doorbell rang just as I finished setting the kitchen table, I walked to the door and opened it to find the delivery guy. I payed him then took the pizza into the kitchen, I went to the frig and grabbed a couple waters. 

Amber walked into the kitchen looking better than she has in the past three weeks, I pulled out a chair for her to sit in then took a seat across from her. I put a piece of pizza on a plate and handed it to her, she said thank you as she took it. I place a piece on my plate then we started eating. 

"I'll work on the outside of the house tomorrow" I told her grabbing another slice of pizza.

"sounds good, I'll work on the other rooms upstairs" she said then took a sip of water.

"Do you want to stay up to ring in the New Year tonight?" I asked her.

"I'd rather go to bed early so I can get an early start in  the morning" she replied.

"That sounds like a good plan" I agreed with her.

We finished eating, I put the leftovers in the frig then helped Amber with the dishes. We decided to watch some t.v for a while, we watched a holiday romance movie that was on until Amber started to doze off. I shut off the t.v and helped her upstairs to her room, I tucked her into her bed and went to my room. I took off my pants and climbed into bed in just my t-shirt and boxers, I stayed up reading for a while. At around 2 am I finally had enough and shut off the lights, I got myself comfortable and went to sleep.