Chapter 8 Meet The Family

• ALPHA VAN'S POV
• (Flashback)
• Her grey curls and elegant presence clouded my mind, and everyone in the clearing seemed to have faded away, leaving just the two of us. My eyes stared dreamily at her.
• I was drawn to her. I longed for her in a way that was new to me, a way that made everything else irrelevant.
• My hands swiftly came out of my trouser’s pocket and nervously adjusted my tie, trying to compose myself and make me look presentable.
• “Mate, that's our mate, Van. That's our mate. We don't look further no more, here she is.” Curtis bubbled over with excitement, “After a hard long searches, we finally found mate.
• “Easy there, Curtis. Easy,” I hissed at my wolf, urging him to keep calm.
• She was not just a chosen mate, but a fated mate. She was ordained for me by the moon goddess, and I knew it the minute I set my eyes upon her. Her scent lingered like a ghost in my mind.
• She walked up to me, and her piercing blue eyes casted its gaze into mine like a gentle caress. I felt an undeniable connection between us, and I knew she felt it too from the lovely smile she wore on her lips.
• I didn't return her smile and it faded when I looked away.
• “I, Alpha Van Killian of Woodwick, reject Reina Grayson of the Moonlight pack as my mate.”
• Right after I uttered those words, I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces with a sting so strong that I couldn't conceal it with a straight face.
• **********************************************
• Eighteen years later, and still, that night remained fresh in my mind like it happened yesterday. Haunting me like a plague. I turn and weep in my sleep, waking up to an empty bed. A life without my fated mate.
• I heard she was wolf-less, but wolf or no wolf, I wanted her like the stars want the moon; but my words betrayed my heart's desire. I rejected my fated mate against my will.
• Earlier that night, I had met someone while smoking a cigarette in the woods. I don't remember who that was.
• They said something, and ever since then, my mind has been foggy. I have had bad dreams, and I hear voices. The voices lurk in my mind and stab me to the heart like an enemy, whispering,
• “Fate, I must hate. Broken is my state. With haste, a sister I must waste, and the other I must taste.”
• “Alpha Van, what are you doing here?” Narah said, drawing me back to the present. Her cheeks were flushed with redness and her eyes sparkled in the beam of sunlight that penetrated through the window.
• Her wet dark hair flowed from her head, some strands clinging gracefully on her gorgeous face. Droplets of water graciously rolled down her beautiful body. And then, I noticed her hands flying, and fastening the towel on her chest.
• “I'm here to call you downstairs for dinner. The family wants to meet you,” I ordered.
• She furrowed her brows.
• “You couldn't have sent Cindy or someone else to call me, you had to come yourself?” she inquired with a raised tone.
• I smirked and walked closer to her, she took a few steps back. “My house, my rules. I can go anywhere I want. I do what I want. If I decide to come fetch you myself, I'd do just that, and you should consider yourself lucky.”
• Narah's gaze met mine, and I perceived a defiant wolf in her aura. My expression changed when a surge of emotions struck me like lightning, causing the back of my head to throb. Curtis gave in, submitting to this unknown woman. I drew back as quickly as I could.
• “Mate?” Curtis whispered, “Is this mate? She reminds us, but what is that other thing I senses?”
• I shook my head, trying to ease the pain. I was unsure why Narah reminded Curtis and me of Reina, my dead fated mate. I had felt this exact feeling the night I saw Reina; this feeling of longing, and I hadn't felt this way with anyone else since then, not even with Gina.
• Narah's eyes flashed with care as she said, “Alpha Van, are you OK?”
• “Be downstairs for dinner,” I said firmly, but before I could dash out of her room, her voice stopped me in my tracks.
• “Alpha Van?” She paused. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
• I had my back facing her, because I didn't want to meet her eyes. I nodded curtly and walked out of her room.
• “Hmmm. Hospitality? Yeah right!” Scoffed Curtis.
• I slammed the door shut, trying to quiet him, but he kept blabbering on and on about Narah and what we had just felt.
• “You can't deny the connection,Van,” he said.
• “There's something else, that's why Gina asked her to come here.”
• “Yeah, as a F**king maid,” Curtis growled.
• “Whatever she's here for, I don't care,” I sneered, descending the bifurcated stairway.
• I raised my head up and saw Gina at the other stairway, smiling from ear to ear. Her curvy, model-like body was framed in a vibrant stylish pink mini gown with puffy sleeves, and her dark hair was packed in a high ponytail, with silver earrings dangling down her earlobes.
• Gina was a sight to behold, a sight for sore eyes. But yet, I couldn't love her. Curtis hated her the most, and as he was about to curse at her, the voices in my head began to whisper softly, but strongly.
• “Fate, I must hate. Broken is my state. With haste, a sister I must waste, and the other I must taste.”
• Immediately, my frown turned into a broad smile. Like a puppet, I walked up to Gina, opened my arms, and she slipped hers into mine.
• “Hello, my love,” she smiled.
• “Hey, Gina,” I replied, blinking multiple times as I realised that the voices in my head had stopped. Gina looked at me and asked,
• “Are you alright?”
• I faked a smile and nodded.
• “Let's go downstairs. Everyone is probably waiting for us.”
• Gina agreed, and we walked downstairs. The dining room was already filled. I was happy and shocked to see my younger brother Liam, whom I hadn't seen in over two years due to his studying abroad.
• He arrived in Vaelothor the previous day without informing me. He said it was a surprise, and Gina knew about it. He came with his girlfriend, Sharon. The elders, Beta Solomon and Henry, were seated at the table.
• My sister, Kacy, who's a gamma and the chief guard and lead hunter, was present. Also present at the table was our cousin, Hanadin, whom Gina hated because he's an omega, who was in charge of taking care of the pups.
• She rolled her eyes when he greeted her. I only smiled and urged him not to bother. Lastly, my trusted friend James sat by my left-hand side. He was a strong pack warrior.
• “Who else is supposed to be here?” I asked, pointing at the two empty chairs at the extreme end of the dinning table. A deafening silence swept the four corners of the room.
• Gina grasped my hand tightly and looked at the chairs.
• “Sweetheart, my— my—mo– mother,” she stammered, “My mother is coming.”
• My eyes turned dark, and I clenched my fist. She knew how much I despised her mother, but yet, the woman kept invading our lives, cursing me with her evil presence. Before I could say a word, the devil sashayed in, flooding the room in her pitch darkness.
• Her malicious voice echoed, “Hello, Son-in-law.”