Chapter Four
1108 Words
“Come on. We have some catching up to do.” She throws her arm over my shoulder and leads me to the door, but not before turning to Seth and glaring. “I’ll be back to finish our discussion.” I’m a little in awe of my sister sometimes. Only a hand full of people would dare speak to the Alpha that way, and she’s just lucky to be one of them. She leads me out to the pack house, and we walk along the grounds surrounding it, arms linked, as we talk. She doesn’t tell me everything. Just minor details of her curse. And when I ask her how it was broken, she’s hesitant. She stops us at a big tree along the edge of the clearing and sits on the grass, hugging her knees to her chest. I follow suite and we sit in silence for a little while before Mia sighs.
“What I’m about to tell you doesn’t get back to Luca. I’m not ready to tell him yet and he hasn’t figured it out. So I’m going to hold off as long as I can. Deal?” She sticks her hand out between us, her face dead serious. I nod and shake her hand in agreement and sit there in shock as she explains the dream, how her mate flew in to her hospital room and kissed her. And bam. She was awake. Now he’s acting like a d**k and saying he doesn’t want her as his mate. If I didn’t think my sister could fight her own battles, I’d be messing up his pretty mug in an instant. I out of everyone understands not wanting to be with someone just because of the mating pull, but any guy would be lucky to have my sister as their mate.
We sit for a few hours and talk before a mind link breaks through our peace and I cringe.
MJ Zachariah Stone! How dare you not come say hello to your mother?! Mia chuckles as we stand and dust ourselves off before heading in the direction of my parents’ house. My mother stands in the doorway, hands on her hips and her expression angry, but it doesn’t last long as she holds her arms out wide for me to hug her. I’m at least a head taller than my mum now, so she rests her head on my chest as she squeezes me right, her scent instantly calming me. There’s just something about my mum and her energy that will always make me feel at peace, no matter any other stresses in my life. Breaking the hug, I headed into the house where the large swarm of people that make up my family have gathered. Hugs and kisses are given and questions about school thrown around. I, issue the usual lies and a few new ones and by the time everyone’s satisfied with my education, we’re sitting down for dinner.
The energy of the room warms me as we dig into dinner. Plates clank, glasses clink and laughter fills the room. I missed my family more than I can say. Although I’m surrounded by people at the guild, there’s nothing like coming home to your pack. Wolves are not solitary creatures and shifters are much the same. Being surrounded by people, however, is different from being enveloped in a bond stronger than just blood. My pack is my home and I love them more than I can say.
Conversation suddenly halts as Mia’s knife clanks to her plate. I’m pulled out of my reverie and glance up in time to see her pushing her chair back and striding from the house. Luca’s eyes follow her, and I stand as mum smacks him over the back of the head.
She was halfway to the pack house when I finally caught up with her. I don’t talk, just walk beside her as she sniffles and swipes her tears away. We walk slowly beside each other, and just as we’re about to reach the pack house, I grab Mia’s hand and stop her, pulling her into a hug. She breaks down, tears streaming down her face and soaking my shirt, but still I don’t speak. When she’s cried out, she pulls back and smiles up at me.
“Thank you, MJ. You always know just what I need.” I shrug with a small smile and hug her tight again.
“Did you want to talk about it? I was kind of off in my own little world. I didn’t hear what happened.” She shook her head as she wiped her cheeks and breathed a deep sigh.
“No. It’s alright. I probably overreacted anyway.” She turned to me with a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m going to head to bed. Love you little brother.” With one last hug she took off towards the pack house. I watched her go until she was safely within the house before turning back around.
Back at my parents’ house, dinner was just wrapping up and the energy had shifted. They all turned to me as I entered, their eyes holding the same question.
“She’s fine. She’s gone to bed.” I took a seat next to Luca and raised an eyebrow in question. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.
“I don’t know what I said that upset her. I was just talking about how, now that her deadbeat mate is gone, she can focus on herself and gamma duties. It was meant as a joke. She’s never been this sensitive before.” Amelia shakes her head and stands from the table, causing my brothers' features to contort in a mix of pain and confusion. She storms off into the kitchen without a word and Luca groans in frustration. He stood from his chair and slapped my back.
“I’m going to go put what I did wrong right. We’ll set a time to catch up properly soon.” With a nod he was off. I mentally sent him luck. Mia was always an even-headed person, but I had a feeling things had shifted in her over the years, and it would be much harder to earn her forgiveness.
I helped my mum clear the table and spent the rest of the night catching up with my family. And as I laid down in bed to go to sleep in my childhood room, the familiar scents of home swirling around me, I took a moment to think about all I was grateful for as I drifted to sleep.
- Writer
