Joshua frowned, obviously not understanding, until it must've suddenly clicked for him just like it did for me.

I shook my head. "I can't leave. I have my cafe, my family, my house. What am I supposed to do?"

"Wren, I can't leave my pack. I'm going to be the beta in a few months. They're counting on me."

Alpha Kristen seemed to disappear quickly once she understood what was going on. Joshua sighed, pulling us over to a more private area. "Wren, I can't live without you," he said.

"I know, and I don't want you to live without me," I started. "I don't want to live without my mate either, but I have a life, a life that I don't know if I'm ready to uproot just yet."

He ran a hand through his hair. "I understand."

We fell silent after that. What was I going to do? Leave my cafe, my pack, and come live here? It wasn't like Whitewater was bad, but I have everything back home. What about the cafe? I worked my butt off to build it from the ground up and I was finally happy. It'd always been my dream to open one up and I finally had it. Now, was I supposed to start over in a new pack? Or was I expected to do something else? What did being a beta's mate even entail?

We'd been so busy with the fact that we could be together that we didn't even stop to think about what being together actually meant. I knew Joshua couldn't move to my pack; that wouldn't be fair to him or his pack. But, it didn't mean that I was any less unhappy over the fact that I'd have to leave everything I worked so hard for behind. It didn't feel fair. But I would have to if I wanted to be happy with my mate, and I did.

"Joshua, I can't leave my pack yet. I need more time," I finally said.

He nodded slowly. "I think we can do that. Maybe they'll let me stay while you settle anything," he agreed. "But how long? I don't want to overstay my welcome, but I also don't want to rush you."

"Give me a month," I suggested.

Joshua mulled over the idea for a moment before nodding again. "A month... it's a lot, but if it means you'll be ready to move here with me, then I'm okay with it."

He then smiled and squeezed the hand he'd been holding that entire time. "I can't wait."

An idea suddenly came to mind. "You know, maybe we should practice."

"Practice?" He echoed, his brow furrowing.

"Yeah, practice living together. Stay at my place. You don't have to stay in the packhouse anymore since I already know."

I never thought I'd be this bold. Erin had offered that I move in with him in the past, but I always declined for one reason or another. But with Joshua, I was offering for him to live in my home already. I mean, we'd have to live together at some point anyway, so why not start now? It could be fun.

His smile from before widened. "Yeah, I like that idea."

His grin was enough to make me smile as well. "This is still so weird," I admitted.

I'd have to say goodbye to all of my friends, to my family, to my employees. I'd have to figure out what to do with the cafe, pack up my stuff back home, sell the house. There was so much to do in so little time. But knowing that it was all so I could be with my mate was enough to make it worth it. I could do this.

"But, it's weird in a good way, right?" Joshua asked cautiously.

I couldn't help but compare the desperate look on his face to that of a puppy's. He looked so uncertain. How cute. Another bout of courage seized me as I leaned up to peck his cheek. Said cheeks went red as soon as I pulled away. "Yes, of course, it's in a good way," I answered with a small roll of my eyes.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two love birds, but Joshua," Mark's voice cut through our little bubble, gaining both of our attention.

Mark cast his eyes over to where the living room portion of the common room was, where three newcomers stood. Once I took a good look at them, I had to quickly glance back over at Joshua.

"Are those-"

I didn't have to finish before Joshua was already nodding. "Yeah. I guess it's about time you met my family," he said with a small laugh.

Great goddess, I don't think I can do this.

Joshua squeezed my hand again, reaching out with his other hand to tenderly brush back my hair, ever-conscious of my wound. "It'll be okay. They're really nice," he said encouragingly.

I nodded slowly, trying to calm my breathing. It wasn't that big of a deal right? I was just meeting my future in-laws a day after finding my mate. No big deal at all.

Joshua led us back to the rest of the group and I realized Mark had disappeared again too. Like mother, like son, I guess; they seemed to have a habit of vanishing quite often. Once we stood in front of Joshua's family, I couldn't help but feel my nerves spike again.

The man - presumably Joshua's father - was quite tall and intimidating, but I figured he would be since he was a beta. His dirty blonde hair was swept back from his forehead, styled but not immaculate. He had piercing gray eyes that I couldn't look at for too long without feeling self-conscious.

His mother was quite beautiful with long brown hair delicately braided and swept over her shoulder. She had kind brown eyes that reminded me of Joshua's. I could tell he got a lot of his looks from her.

And as I looked down, I noticed Joshua's younger sibling. She looked to be about thirteen or so, with a mop of short blonde hair that brushed her chin and wide brown eyes. She looked so much like Joshua it was kind of scary, aside from the hue of her hair. If it had been just a few shades darker, she could've easily passed as a younger, female version of my mate.

"Mom, Dad, it's so good to see you guys again," Joshua breathed, a large smile on his face.

He let go of my hand - and I'm not afraid to admit that it felt really cold without his hand - to hug them both. They hugged him back, and his mom squeezed him before he could pull back. "We heard what happened from Kristen. I can't believe my poor baby went through rejection!"

I looked down at my feet, suddenly feeling very awkward. I guess it was easy to forget that I'd caused Joshua so much pain by accident. We both messed up... a lot. I looked back up slowly to watch what was going on, only to find Joshua's father already staring at me. "Is this your mate, Joshua?"

Joshua broke away from his mom who also looked at me carefully. She frowned, obviously not happy. Thankfully, Joshua moved back to take my hand, a proud look on his face. "Yes, he is. This is Wren."

"Hi," I awkwardly greeted.

Joshua's mother looked me up and down, and I realized her kind eyes had turned cold. "So you're the one that hurt my baby?"

"Mom, no, it was more complicated than that," Joshua explained, but her glare cut him off.

"She's right, though," I spoke up, turning to face him. "I did hurt you. Even if it wasn't entirely my fault, I still hurt you, and I'm still so very sorry."

Joshua's face softened and he offered a small smile. "I'm sorry too. And I hope I can prove to you just how sorry I am."

He leaned down a bit, brushing my hair away from my face to kiss my temple. My face heated up when I remembered his parents were still right there. I looked back at them, expecting them to be mad, but I was surprised when I saw Joshua's mother's face look a lot softer.

"Joshua...you're willing to stay together? Even after what happened?" She asked carefully.

Joshua nodded, his face hardening in determination. "Yes. I care about Wren a lot. We might've started off a bit weirdly, but we can make it better." He turned to look at me, a smile now gracing his lips. "I know we can."

His mother sighed. "Well, I suppose I should at least be friendly to your mate then, though I can't say I will be forgiving you very quickly, young man," she said, aiming it at me. "You still hurt my son."

"I know, Ma'am. But I hope you can see that I care about Joshua too," I told her honestly.

It felt nice to admit that. I mean, now that I could put words to my emotions, it was safe to say that I care about Joshua. How could I not? He was always there to offer a kind or encouraging word. And my goddess, he was so handsome. I almost felt like I didn't deserve him, and maybe I didn't. But that didn't matter, because Joshua wanted me, just like I wanted him. He didn't give up on me and it paid off in the end.

"Well, boys, I think it's about time we joined the others to eat dinner, don't you think?" Joshua's father spoke up. "But before that, I think a proper introduction is in order."

"Right," Joshua laughed. "This is my dad, Harris, my mom, Lyla, and my little sister, Ella."

Joshua's parents both offered nice smiles - though they did seem a bit forced - but his sister had a weird look on her face. She didn't look mad, though I wasn't even sure if she held the same weight with my actions as her parents did. Maybe she was able to simply look past it; for that, I was thankful, at least.

"It's nice to meet you all," I greeted, offering a small smile.

"Alright, now that that's over and done with, let's eat," Harris announced.

We all made our way to the dining room and I was slightly shocked by how large it was. I didn't think it'd be this way, but it made sense. Packs liked to eat together sometimes, and I knew that Joshua's pack was slightly smaller than ours. That meant they could easily eat indoors, whereas my pack often did cookouts outside to avoid crowding inside the packhouse.

The ceiling of the dining room was tall and vaulted, with a beautiful chandelier hanging down in the middle of the room. Small lights hung along the length of the ceiling to light up the entire dining table, too. The table itself was gorgeous with smooth, dark wood and tiny carved designs along the circumference of it. The table looked like it went on forever, but I knew it didn't. The room, in general, was breathtaking.

Joshua pulled me along towards the far end of the table away from where we entered, where I saw the rest of our group seated with Alpha Kristen, Mark, and the rest of the pack's officials. Harris and his family took their seats next to Alpha Kristen, who sat at the head of the table. Joshua seated us near my packmates, with him on my right and his sister on my left. Across from me was Aaron, and the rest of the group was spread out around him. I was glad I wasn't across from Erin. I didn't want to face him like that knowing it would be incredibly awkward.

"Hey, you love birds," Aaron called out, a smug smile on his face.

He leaned forward, putting his head in his hand. "I never got to properly congratulate you. Glad to see Joshua finally stepped up and did something."

I looked at Aaron in shock. "Wait, you knew? And you never thought to tell anyone?"

The guy shrugged casually as if it wasn't a big deal. Maybe it wasn't to him, but it was to me. Who else knew but didn't say anything?! "I suspected for a while, but I didn't know until yesterday. Besides, it wasn't my place to say anything. It was Joshua's moment."

Knowing he was right, I dropped it for now. Soon enough, the buzz of conversations turned into a loud pack dinner as food was brought in and placed on the table. As we began to eat, I couldn't help but feel eyes on me. A tug at my shirt brought my attention to my left. Ella looked at me carefully with her big, brown eyes, before saying, "So, you're Josh's mate?"

I nodded my head, offering a gentle smile. "I am."

Ella tilted her head to the side. "You have a weird smell."

Huh?

I choked on a laugh at her comment, and Joshua must've heard it too because his head snapped over to look at his sister in disbelief. "Ella! Be nice!"

Ella scrunched up her nose at her brother's reprimanding. "Can't you smell it too? It's weird!"

"Ella, dear, that's not a nice thing to say to your brother's mate," Lyla suddenly spoke up, having heard what we were talking about by now.

A blush spread across my cheeks out of embarrassment. Never in my entire life had I been told I smelled bad. It was a bit of a shock, especially coming from my mate's little sister. As Joshua's mother started to reprimand Ella, I felt Joshua lean in to whisper, "Hey, for the record, I think you smell really good."

I couldn't help but laugh lightly at that. "I don't know if your opinion counts, Joshua," I whispered back.

Ella suddenly turned back to look at me with a sheepish expression on her face now. "Sorry, Wren. I didn't mean for that to sound so rude," she apologized. "I was just... nevermind. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Ella. I'm not that offended," I told her.

But, I couldn't get her words out of my head for the rest of dinner. What did she mean if it wasn't to be rude? And why did she stop herself from properly explaining herself?

~~~

Okay so first off, I'm reeeeaalllly sorry for being so late with this update! This virus thing has my schedule all out of whack and I'm not using my time wisely lol. I really do apologize, though, and I hope this makes up for it XD

So, we've finally met Joshua's family! And what about Ella? What's with that?

Any theories?

The next update will for sure be up on Wednesday as usual. No need to worry!

Stay tuned for more insanity and please stay healthy and safe!

Thank you so much for reading <3

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