CHAPTER 5: SURPRISE!
2687 Words
GIADA
Lucius meets me at the front of the Packhouse and graciously takes the bag of groceries from my hands. I’m surprising Jacqueline with dinner tonight. He’s busy with pack business so she thinks she’s alone with all three kids for the first time since the twins were born.
My body is still reeling from the rollercoaster of emotions from yesterday but my mind is considerably clear. For that, I’m grateful. I even had coffee with Valentina this morning. She doesn’t seem mad as much as she seems hurt, which is understandable. I asked her to join us since she’s close with Jacqueline as well, but she has plans.
“So where are you off to all dressed up?” He looks dashing in a black dress shirt, grey blazer and matching dress pants.
“Business meeting at a restaurant nearby with a neighboring pack.”
“I thought that would be something taken care of in the office here?” I ask curiously.
Pack dynamics fascinate me. Valentina used to tease that I was a werewolf in a past life. I don’t know why, but I love learning about their traditions and way of life more than any other shifter community.
“We have a lot of dinners now that deal solely with contracts and money transactions. Sebastian’s been smart forming alliances and expanding our territory. He’s learning from working at Lykos Corp and applying similar legal strategies to pack business,” Lucius states.
“Sebastian’s working at his dad’s company now and he’s the Alpha?”
“Yeah, he’s the Vice President. His dad stepped down as alpha but still wanted to work and that suited Sebastian just fine. When he retires, he will most likely take over as CEO.”
I’m impressed but not surprised Sebastian has a knack for leadership. But being the VP of a successful advertising company and alpha of a huge pack has got to be stressful.
“Is that Mr. Milan hiding behind his daddy?” I catch a glimpse of a tiny hand and some curly hair peeking out from behind Lucius’ leg. He pops his head out and giggles.
“Come here and say hi to Auntie Gia properly, son,” Lucius pushes him forward a bit.
“Oh Luke! I know I’ve said this before, but he’s your twin!
Milan waves shyly. He has the same tight black curls, albeit longer, and the same shade of brown eyes as his dad. Their noses are practically identical as well! The only difference is their complexion. Lucius’ is a darker and deeper brown.
“Wait till you see the girls in person. The pictures don’t do them justice. They look exactly like me too. Same eyes, nose, chin...everything! They’re just lighter skinned like Milan. And it pisses Jacquie right off,” he chuckles looking undeniably pleased with himself.
I throw some pancetta I chopped up in a pan, then look back at him.
“Hopefully the girls have your personality too. One of Jacquie is already more than enough,” I say jokingly.
Lucius’ laugh comes out as a bark.
Scoping Milan in my arms, I place him on the island and give his little hands a squeeze. “I wonder what the girls’ hair will look like.”
“Me too. It’s a bit early to tell because they have so little of it on their head, but my mom will definitely help out with that.”
“Your mom used to do you and your sister’s hair, right?”
“You remember that, eh? She loved doing it for us, never wanted anyone else to touch it.” He gives me a small, wistful smile.
“How is your mom doing? I hope I get to see your family at some point while I’m here.” I tickle Milan’s belly. He’s so well-behaved. He’s listening to us talking, not interrupting at all.
“She’s good. My parents are always travelling now that they’re retired from the pack life, and Lysandra met her mate a few months back. She’s the Luna of a pack in Phoenix now.”
“Luna? That’s amazing! Is that why you named one baby Phoenix?”
“Mhmm,” he pauses and I can tell he’s getting a mindlink.
“It’s showtime! Jacquie’s on her way down with the twins.” He claps his hands together and I put Milan down.
Jacqueline quickly rounds the corner seconds later. She freezes when she sees me. One hand covers her mouth and she lets out a small scream, startling the baby in her arms.
“Oh my Goddess!” She’s crying already but hasn’t moved from where she is.
Lucius quickly grabs the baby to soothe her, while Jacqueline rushes over to me and pulls me into a tight hug.
“What are you doing here? I thought you said you weren’t coming?”
“I wanted to surprise you!”
“You knew about this, Lucius?” she pouts.
“Yup,” he smiles, unaffected.
She looks at him and then back at me and continues to cry. Seeing her in person after all this time makes me feel a bit giddy despite the fact that she’s emotional.
“No more tears, okay?” I say to her as she hugs me again.
“I can’t help it, Gia. All I do is cry now. I look at the girls, I cry. I look at Milan being the best big brother ever, I cry. Looking at Lucius right now holding our baby also makes me want to cry,” she laughs at the absurdity of it all.
Lucius puts his girl down in a baby seat and walks over to Jacqueline.
“It’s the hormones, Ma. It’s only been two weeks. You know this.”
I can’t help but secretly gush over how he wipes her tears away.
Just then, a tiny woman walks in holding a baby which looks like the other twin. Dressed plainly in leggings and a baggy t-shirt, she is what I would consider next level gorgeous.
“Is everything okay?” she asks, staring at the two of them.
“All good. I have to go now. Your brother is probably wondering where I’m at,” Lucius says to Jacqueline. “Gia, now that you’re here, maybe you can help me keep her ass in line.”
“My ass is always in line, thank you very much!” She crosses her arms and steps away from him.
“That thing?” He says huskily, pointing to her butt and closing the distance. “Never!” He smacks it and then grabs it roughly with both hands.
I walk away slightly embarrassed but not before I see Jacqueline attack his face with a kiss.
“Hi. I’m Shada.” The woman who walked in holds out her hand and laughs at whatever is going on behind me.
“Giada,” I shake her hand.
“Our names rhyme, I like it,” she smiles.
She’s radiating nothing but warmth and positivity and I can tell we’re going to get along. Up close, she’s even more gorgeous with her jet-black hair and nearly black doe-eyes. Her olive skin is flawless and looks so dewy. I’m envious.
“I’ve never heard your name before,” I tell her honestly, hoping I don’t come across rude.
“It’s an Arabic name. My family is originally from Iraq.”
“That’s cool. Do you speak any Arabic?”
This is what I love about Toronto. Humans refer to it as a multicultural city and even the supernatural communities agree. We have families who’ve come here from all over the world and call it home. As much as I love Capri, it’s nothing like this.
“Yeah, it’s all my parents speak at home,” she says.
“She’s Christian’s mate,” Jacqueline adds, walking over to us.
This makes perfect sense. I knew Christian in high school. He was the typical bad boy who had a reputation for being a player. He also had a type and Shada is definitely it.
“I can totally see you two together. I bet he has some serious fun with you.” I laugh.
She couldn’t be more than 5’0 and I would be willing to bet he loves tossing her around. Shada laughs and Jacqueline slaps my arm playfully.
“Oh c’mon! You were just sucking face in front of us and she didn’t seem bothered by it at all. She can’t possibly be scandalized by much if she’s mated to Christian.”
“Very true,” Shada admits smiling.
“Now introduce me to these babies,” I demand.
Jacqueline points to the one in Shada’s arms. “This is London.” She points to the one Lucius put down, “And that is Phoenix.”
“They are precious, Jacquie,” I smile. “So you’ve got a city theme going on with their names, I see. Luke was saying his sister is a Luna now in Phoenix. So what about London? Is that because of your trip there?”
“You know it!” she says beaming.
Lucius took Jacqueline to London shortly after she turned eighteen to celebrate her birthday. When she came back she was wearing low-cut shirts for weeks, purposely showing off her mark.
“I love it when names have special meanings, but Luke is right. All your pups do look like him.”
“Not you too! The girls have some of me. I can see it. The shape of their eyebrows and their little mouths...all mine,” she states proudly.
“Mhmm.”
“Seriously?” She grabs London and brings her over to me. “You don’t see it?”
“Nope” I look at the baby, then look up at her and shrug.
“Whatever, I see it. Plus, their faces will change. I refuse to give him all the credit, when I did all the work.” She pauses and finally notices what I’m doing.
“Are you cooking?”
“I thought I’d make some penne alla vodka. You seemed to like it when you came to visit last.”
“Yes! I loved it! I’m so happy I don’t have to cook!” Jacqueline squeals.
“Where are the omegas that usually cook?”
“They have Friday night and Saturday off,” Shada answers.
“Did Bash start that?”
“Bash?” Shada arches an eyebrow. “I haven’t heard anyone call Alpha Sebastian that.”
“She’s the only one,” Jacqueline smirks. “And, yeah. It was his idea to give them a bit of time off on the weekend. He’s been trying out new things. Testing different ideas around productivity.”
“Do you call him Alpha all the time, Shada?” I ask.
“Yeah, most of the time,” she bites her lip.
“Does he tell you to?”
“No! He’s actually asked me not to when we’re alone or with the other ranked wolves, but I can’t help it. My old pack was really strict with those kinds of things. Anyway, I’m going to head back upstairs. It was really nice meeting you, hopefully we can hang out again,” she starts to leave.
“Wait! We’ve got more than enough pasta here if you want to join us,” I say. Jacqueline smiles.
“Sweet! That would be awesome,” Shada sits back down in the stool.
“It’s going to take a while, though. I want the sauce just right. Maybe an hour and a half?”
“That’s fine,” Shada shrugs and I smile.
“Let’s open the bottle of wine I brought while this is cooking.”
“Ugh! I can’t drink, I’m breastfeeding.” Jacqueline whines.
“More for us,” Shada says merrily.
“I knew I was going to like you!”
Shada is explaining residency and her passion for obstetrics, when the energy in the kitchen shifts drastically. I go to grab a cloth for Jacquie to wipe London’s mouth, when I notice the bitchiest she-wolf I’ve ever met, staring at us. Milan even seems to notice the change in energy because he runs over to his mom and clings to her side.
Michelle dated Sebastian in high school but I’m not really sure what she’s been up to since. Jealousy is oozing out of her and I put my shield up because I don’t want her ruining my night with her shitty attitude. And if she’s anything like she was years ago, her attitude still stinks. She smugly walks over and grabs the wine bottle.
“Mind if I have some?” She grabs a glass without waiting for a response.
“Sure, help yourself,” I say sarcastically.
Her head snaps around. “I’m sorry, who are you?” she sneers.
“Giada went to school with us,” Jacqueline says, clearly annoyed.
I’m 100% sure Michelle knows who I am. She was nasty to me in school. It looks like not much has changed.
“Don’t really remember. Sorry,” Michelle says flipping her bleach blonde hair dramatically.
“Regardless, that’s my wine,” I say unbothered.
She freezes for a few seconds, then audaciously pours the wine in her glass. Shada gasps.
“You don’t mind sharing with the beta’s daughter, do you?” she takes a sip and leans back on the counter amusement dancing in her pale blue eyes.
Big mistake.
“The beta’s daughter? The only daughters of the beta in this pack are mine! And they’re too young to drink wine, you dumb slut.” She walks up to Michelle, grabs the wine glass out of her hand and pours the contents in the sink.
“Get out of here, and stop living in the past, Michelle. It’s sad,” Jacqueline snickers.
She doesn’t say anything. She simply walks quickly out of the room, seemingly embarrassed.
“What’s her deal?” I ask.
“Like I said, she’s living in the past. She was always a total b***h but she was the beta’s daughter so most respected her. Now she’s a nobody, trying to relive her glory days when she was relevant and dating my brother. It’s pathetic.” The disgust in Jacqueline’s voice is unmistakable.
“Does she have a mate?”
“Her mate died in the same rogue attack that put our Luna in a coma,” Shada explains.
Losing your mate must be painful, but she was unnecessarily snarky. I’m curious to hear about the Luna though. Jacqueline hasn’t spoken much about her. I walk back to the stove to stir the sauce, hoping they explain a bit more about what happened to her.
- Writer
