As the Moon Teaches

Family Dinner. Part 1

The rest of Saturday passed slowly for Loren. Gregory had locked himself in his office, with only a few words of encouragement for Loren’s practice to transform. For some reason, this actually bothered Loren, even though he understood the necessity.

Once back to his room, Loren took the time to attempt the transformation a few more times before deciding he needed to rest. He did not realize how worn out he was until he collapsed onto his bed. It was harder on the body to try and transform than Loren had figured it might be.

Curled up on his bed, he pulled a sheet over himself to cover his exposed skin. He was not really cold, but just that it was a habit to pull a sheet over himself. Laying there was comfortable enough that Loren slowly fell asleep for a midday nap.

Loren had no terrible dreams, no fears of restless sleep. He managed to get a very calming and relaxing nap that did not leave him questioning who he really was. A well deserved nap after practicing so hard to transform.

When Loren woke up, almost an hour had gone by. He slowly sat up, which turned into a long, slow stretch. He was surprised by the little nudge of emptiness at waking up alone. Was he getting too used to Gregory occasionally being in his bed?

Getting out of bed, Loren went about getting some loose shorts and a tank top on. Heading to the bathroom, he decided to work on his hair a little. He was sure he was in need of good maintenance.

While standing in the bathroom, using the mirror to guide himself in palm rolling his dreads, Loren listened out for any sound of Gregory downstairs. Loren was absent mindedly working on his hair, his thoughts wandering elsewhere.

Loren tried to think about transforming, but he kept thinking about Gregory and his help. Zeala gave a delighted growl, and Loren noticed tingles travel up his spine. A frown turned down the corners of his lips as he tried to analyze why he felt that way.

Loren shook his head a little, trying to banish the feeling. What did it mean that he felt tingles when Zeala was happy about Gregory? Was he being affected by Zeala more than he was comfortable?

A noise from downstairs caught Loren’s attention. Even though he was not really done with his hair, he still left his bathroom and looked over the banister to see what Gregory was up to. He was surprised to hear Gregory on the phone, and it sounded like he was inviting people over.

Loren decided to find out what was going on, since it was supposed to be his home, too. He went down the stairs and met up with Gregory at the bottom. He stared at the slightly older teen, waiting for an explanation.

“Family dinner.” Was Gregory’s explanation.

“Family? Whose?”

“Both of our families are coming. I think Carleigh will be bringing her mate as well.”

Loren just stared at Gregory, wondering when the young Alpha started making those decisions for the families. Was this practice for running the Darkstone Pack? Loren sighed and gave a small nod.

“Alright, what’s for dinner then?”

“Spaghetti?” Gregory looked a little lost and hopeful.

Loren and Gregory worked seamlessly when it came to making the spaghetti and sauce. Loren focused on browning meat and making the spaghetti sauce, while Gregory boiled the pasta and picked out vegetables to go with dinner. It was an easy silence between them, as if they had made dinner together all the time.

Gregory washed broccoli before setting it up to be steamed. As he moved to place the pot on the stove, he placed his free hand on Loren’s hip just to show he was coming up behind the other teen. Loren barely noticed, he did not even flinch at those fingers on his hip.

While Loren stirred the pasta and kept an eye on the sauce, Gregory went to the fridge to retrieve two bottles of sweet tea. He moved over next to Loren, setting one bottle down and opening the other. Holding out the open bottle of tea to Loren, Gregory gave a small smile.

Loren watched Gregory for a moment before accepting the tea. He returned the small smile before taking a drink. He had not realized how warm it was standing in front of the stove until he had a swallow of the nice cold drink. He was thankful for Gregory’s thoughtfulness about the drink.

Gregory worked on setting the table for eight people, making sure there was plenty of space by adding the leaves to the dining table. Loren turned the stove off to let the food cool enough to eat. This meant that Loren was free to answer the door when the doorbell rang.

He came face to face with a man he had never met before. He assumed this was Gregory Sr. given that he had the same strong jawline and sandy blond hair. A small bit of blush colored his cheeks when Zeala seemed to appreciate what Gregory may look like as he gets older.

“You must be Gregory’s mate, Loren.” The lovely Mrs. Alexandra Wright spoke up, stepping forward.

“Uh… Yes I’m Loren. You must be his parents.” Loren stepped to the side to let them in.

Loren felt uncomfortable when Gregory Sr. just stared at him for a moment before stepping inside. He took a small breath to calm himself, motioning to the shoe rack they had recently purchased. A small smile on his lips, Loren tried to be inviting.

“We prefer no shoes in the house, if you’d be so kind?”

Mrs. Wright had no issue with taking her heels off and placing them in the rack. “Something Gregory must have liked from our house.”

A bit of relief filled Loren when Mr. Wright took his shoes off as well. For some reason, Loren was worried about feeling pushy with Gregory’s parents. It was relieving that they were comfortable with his and Gregory’s house rule of no shoes.

Gregory came out to guide his parents into the dining room and Loren could not help the thankful little smile he gave the young Alpha. He closed the door and tidied the shoes so that there was room for others. He turned to walk into the dining room, hoping he could manage to be calm around Gregory’s family.

Loren managed to have some small talk with Gregory and his parents with little stress. It was a little surprising to Loren how kind Gregory’s father really was, considering Gregory was a pushy and strong willed man himself. That thought caused a slight smile as Loren went to check on the food.

While he was stirring the sauce and checking the broccoli, Loren heard a knock at the door. Before he could turn around, Gregory was already heading to go answer the door, confident it was Loren’s family. By the voices that flooded the house with greetings, Loren was happy to hear his family had arrived.

Bringing the big pot of drained spaghetti over to the dining table, Loren barely managed to set it down safely before Carleigh wrapped him in a hug. Returning her hug for a short moment, Loren closed his eyes. He felt complete with his family near again.

When Loren opened his eyes, he saw Gregory bringing the large pot of spaghetti sauce to the center of the table. Apparently they both believed in self serve at the family dining table. Loren released Carleigh and guided her to sit. He motioned to Ellis to sit next to Carleigh.

As he guided his parents to sit across from Gregory’s parents, Loren noticed Gregory getting the bowl of steamed broccoli. Retrieving the grated parmesan from the fridge, Loren took a long look at the table. It felt right to see everyone around it.

Once everything was settled and people were ready to eat, Loren began serving. He served Gregory, the Alpha, then Mr. and Mrs. Wright, as they were betas. Loren then served his parents before serving Carleigh and her mate. Finally filling his plate, he noticed that Gregory had been watching his every move.

Blinking in surprise, Loren just shrugged and motioned to the food. “Time to eat.”

“Looks great guys.” Carleigh boasted before digging in.

“There’s plenty,” Gregory said as he looked at his parents.

Once Gregory and Loren started eating, everybody started eating as well. At first it was a little slow, but as small talk started, everyone seemed to ease into the family dinner. Loren felt comfort and relief at how well things were going.

Loren had not even realized he was so anxious about the dinner. He had been worried that Gregory’s parents would be uncomfortable with their son’s living situation. He had worried that Carleigh and Gregory would not get along, or that he and Ellis might not be okay with each other. It seemed all his concerns were for nothing.