-:Ashton's POV:-

I woke up to a loud throaty laugh.

"Keep it low," someone hissed.

"Are you worried we'll wake him up?" Another voice teased.

A little too late for that.

"Are you kidding me right now?" She questioned. "I told you he came in late."

"And you let him think you were sleeping," he further teased. 

"Technically, I was," she defended.

"Sure, Lia. Whatever you say," he sang patronizingly.

"Get the fuck out of here," she groaned.

"Aww, Lia, are you mad?" Julian chaffed, laughter in his voice.

"Come here and I'll show you," she snapped.

That would be my cue to wake up. I stretched and winced as I felt the toll my back took as a result of sleeping on the couch. Dang, that hurt. 

Their conversation ceased.

"Good morning," Cecelia finally said.

"'Morning," I yawned. I looked at her. She had had a bath in the morning, apparently. Her hair was freshly braided, her clothes changed. She had a drip attached to her arm. I frowned at that.

"To neutralize the wolfbane," she answered my unspoken question with a smile. I nodded and relaxed.

"Good morning, Ashton," Julian smiled, a strange twinkle in his eye.

"Morning, Julian," I smiled. I was surprised it wasn't forced. 

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Cecelia looking between us with narrowed eyes.

"How're you feeling?" I asked her before she could ask us something I didn't want her to know.

"I'm tired of that question," she scowled. "I am fine. I am okay. I am no longer in a state of unconsciousness!"

"Noted," I gulped. That was a total of one-eighty from like two minutes ago. Why did she scare me, even if a little? Oh, that's right, I wanted her to like me and I was constantly afraid of pissing her off and making her hate me even more than she already did. 

Honestly, I envied all those mates who had it easy.

'Ashton? Are you awake yet?' I got a mind link from Noel.

'Yeah,' I replied quickly. 'Just woke up. Why?'

'You might want to come home,' he said.

'Why?' I repeated.

'Umm . . . Alpha is not pleased.'

'Hun?' I got up and picked up the jacket that I'd thrown across the hand rest of the couch. I put it on.

'You didn't come back last night. You missed your patrolling shifts. He is not happy.'

'I have a valid reason!' I exclaimed, lacing up my shoes.

'Reasons he doesn't know about because you didn't tell him. Be home soon and explain.'

'On my way.' I closed the link. When I looked up, both Cecelia and Julian were looking at me.

"Where are you going?" Julian asked.

"I need to go home and explain a few things," I sighed. "I'll be back as soon as I can," I added looking at Cecelia.

"Okay," she nodded. She tried to hide it but she didn't look too happy about it. 

"I'll be back, Ce," I chuckled. "Besides we need to talk." 

She nodded.

"Great," I let out a breath, and feeling a little gutsy, I bent down and kissed her forehead. She gasped slightly but quickly shut her mouth. I smirked internally as I walked out. "Take care," I called over my shoulder.

I got no reply but I was satisfied with the expression I caught on her face.

I chuckled as I started towards the forests between our lands. She was so cute.

I stripped my clothes off when I reached the stream and shifted. I gathered them in my mouth and leaped across the river in one go. I shifted back and got dressed. My house wasn't too far away from the river. I had liked being secluded and being surrounded by nature. When I had been given the choice, I had decided to occupy this property. A big reason as to why I patrolled those borders almost every night.

Mom would usually come by every morning to cook me breakfast. I couldn't cook to save my life. I once burned water.

I smelled my family and my friends before I entered the house. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open. I walked in to see my father and my mother sitting in the living room and Hayden and Noel standing in the open kitchen.

"Hey," I said, removing my jacket and throwing it over the unoccupied couch, and flopping down.

"Hey?" Dad questioned in a calm tone. I knew it was the tempest. I just didn't care.

Oh, I didn't mention? My father and I didn't get along too well.

I shrugged nonchalantly. Not a moment later, I heard Noel facepalm in the kitchen. I blocked all mind links right then, knowing what would be next if I didn't. 

"Ashton, where were you?" Mom asked, placing a calming hand on dad's shoulder. They knew, they could easily smell it on me. They just wanted me to say it and make it real.

No problemo.

"The Crescent Moon territory," I replied casually.

A moment of silence.

"What?!" Dad boomed. Mom sighed, unaffected.

"Calm down, Aiden," she rubbed his shoulder.

"Calm down?" He exclaimed incredulously. "He was in the enemies' pack lands!"

"Alpha Rivers didn't have a problem with it if that's what you're worried about." I butt in.

He seethed at the lack of respect in my tone. Mom shot me a warning look.

"What were you doing there?" He demanded.

The moment of truth. Now or never. 

"Visiting my mate," I said carefully, watching for their reactions. 

I must say, I was not disappointed.

"What?" He stood up, a vein in his forehead popping out. Ooo he was mad. Mom gaped, too shocked to react otherwise. I felt guilty for having kept her in the dark. She would've been happy to know I had found my mate had it been revealed under better circumstances. 

Oh, well.

"I was visiting my mate," I repeated slowly.

"I heard you the first time, you insolent pup!" He snapped. "Who is she?"

Another question he didn't want an answer to.

"Cecelia Rivers," I disclosed. The center table went flying across the room. 

Pin drop silence except for the wood bouncing off the walls, it's splintering, and dad's labored breathing as he tried to reign in his temper.

One can say that he had anger issues.

"Aiden," my mother regained her senses. "Stop it."

"Did you not hear a word he just said?" He yelled.

"Your son found his mate. Respect it," she told him sharply.

"His mate is a Rivers, Elena," he spat. "How do I respect that?"

She pursed her lips, calming her own temper.

See why I kept it a secret for a week?

"You are going to reject her, got it?" My father pointed a finger at me.

"No," I denied without missing a beat.

"You will do as I say!" He thundered.

"I said no," I said calmly, not raising my voice.

"Asht-" he began again.

"Bless us, Goddess, are you hearing yourself, Aiden?!" Mom interrupted, miffed.

"She's a-"

"A Crescent Moon, that too a Rivers. We know that!" She snapped.

"How are you okay with that?!" He asked, frustrated.

"I can't believe you're even asking that question," she shook her head. "They're mates, Aiden!"

"So?" He asked. 

What a considerate father.

"So?" She screamed indignantly. "So he will not reject her. Especially not on your orders."

"But-"

"Think with a straight head. You are so blinded with rage and a generations-old feud you want to deny your only child the happiness of being with a mate?"

"He can always mate with Brianna," he huffed. Xavier growled. I shushed him. Not the time.

"That will not happen in a million years," I sneered.

"She'll make a great Luna," he said. "She's been training over a year now."

"Last week you said that Cecelia would make a great Luna too, or have you forgotten?" I quirked an eyebrow. "Not to mention, she's been trained all her life, not just a few years."

"Don't-"

"We will continue this conversation later," mom cut in authoritatively, her tone leaving no room for argument. "When all of us have cooled down enough to have it in a civilized manner."

"Right, civilized," I muttered, eyeing the rubble that was left of the table. I now needed to book another one. Dang it. My father huffed, storming out. 

That went well.

"Have you eaten yet?" Mom asked me, not batting an eye in dad's direction.

"No," I sighed.

"Great, I'll fix you some breakfast and meanwhile you can tell me when you found your mate and how you ended up staying a night in her territory."

I smiled at her tiredly.

"Okay," I agreed.

I sat down on the stool at the kitchen island. Noel and Hayden joined me. She started collecting all the ingredients she needed to start.

"So I met her last Monday," I began cautiously. She froze for a fraction of a second before she resumed.

"Go on," she said, concealing her hurt. I rubbed my face with my hand guiltily.

"Umm, we didn't hit it off immediately. In fact, it was a disaster," I confessed. She hummed, signaling she was listening while mixing the batter for pancakes.

"Over the week, we talked and interacted here and there, she met Xavier . . . and a lot happened, actually. I don't know, I just fell for her sometime between then and now without even realizing it. She's amazing."

Her lips twitched up into a smile.

"Young love," she chuckled, cracking. Her eyes crinkled at the corners, indicating her genuine happiness. 

I smiled along with her.

"Have you marked her yet?" She asked. 

I shook my head. "No," I replied.

"Why not?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

"The packs not being on good terms, us hating each other, and your reactions . . . too many things. We still have to sort a lot of things out between us."

"Oh . . . " She trailed off, tasting the batter. With a satisfied nod, she began cooking them on the stove.

"How did the River's take the news of you guys being mates?" She asked.

"Much better than dad, that's for sure," I said bitterly.

"He'll come around, honey," she said reassuringly. "Trust me."

"We'll see," I sighed. 

"How come did you stay the night there?" She asked.

"Cecelia was . . . poisoned," I gritted out.

"What?" She exclaimed.

I let out a breath before explaining everything to her. She listened patiently, reacting at the right moments.

"And that reminds me, I need Andrew's help," I said.

"Why?" She furrowed her brows.

"They want to track the rogues and he's the best tracker we know," I told her. She nodded thoughtfully.

"I'll talk to him and your dad. You should go be with Cecelia right now." 

"Thank you."

She smiled her motherly smile at me.

"Next time, tell me before things get out of hand, Ash." She said. I sighed. She was right.

"Yes, mom," I said as she pushed a plate piled with pancakes and three forks towards us. I'd almost forgotten we had company.

"Dig in, there's more," she said with another smile.

Hayden and Noel high-fived over my head.

"Thank you, Mrs. Summers!" They chorused in glee as they attacked the plate. She chuckled. I dug in with them, making sure to have enough honey with the pancakes. Delicious as always.

The cat was finally out of the bag.

I wondered what was next. 

Oh, that's right. Cecelia and I were in a dire need of a talk. Not to mention more meetings, strategizing, getting dad and the pack to accept Cecelia awaited us. 

All in all, a lot of work.

'But she's worth it,' Xavier said softly and I hummed back in agreement.

I knew that by then. And I also knew I was stupid to think otherwise before. A week. It took me a week to realize her importance, how much she meant to me.

Well, better late than never, right?

*****************************

A/N:-

I know, it is not the best chapter I've ever put out but I'm still recovering. I feel a little off. My head is pounding. I have a test this Sunday again. Lovely, right? Not. Lol.

Anyways, that's all for today.

Comment your thoughts and theories.

QOTD: What's your favorite animal?

Tap that star on your way out!

Until next time, all my love,
xoxo.

{4th June 2021}