Beck

Panic.

Fear has stricken me in a way it's difficult to explain, honestly.

Suddenly, I'm reduced back to the boy who was a disappointment to his father.

Who was never enough. Enough of a man, a successor, a werewolf... take your pick. There's plenty to choose from.

Jude is holding my hand as we all stood there in the living room of the Atwood residence while my parents were standing by the front door, waiting to be invited to enter. Alpha Geoffrey was too shocked to act at first, but after a nudge from his mate he finally asked my parents to come inside the prestigious address.

Quentin was just as shocked by his presence as the rest of us, but more than anything he looked worried for me. And it showed on his face, not that I was paying attention to him. Plus, he was behind me at this particular moment.

My parents entered the house, bowing their heads to the Alpha. First off, my mom introduced her mate to the Atwoods.

"I'm sorry for trespassing on your pack's territory. Normally, I would have gone through the proper channels, but this was a last minute decision. I hope you can forgive me." - Dad told Alpha Geoffrey, who looked uncomfortable but projected strength, as usual.

"If your mate is comfortable with your presence here, then who am I to say otherwise. Welcome to Ruckerford Falls, Chief Becker." - The strong man replied to my father.

Mom rushed to hug me as she saw the clear state of panic I was in. Naturally, Jude took a step back to give her some room. Meanwhile, Alpha Geoffrey introduced his family to mine.

Jude and his mom have already met my mother, but Quentin hasn't.

"It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Becker. Nice to meet you, Chief Becker." - Jude shook my parents' hands with an awkward smile.

"So you boys are my son's twin mates." - Dad looked at the brothers up and down, examining the now blushing boys. I gulped awkwardly.

"Yes, I am. I hope I can be up to your standard as far as what you expected in regards to your son's mate." - Jude spoke, looking my father directly in the eyes.

"I hoped my son would get mated to a nice girl from my tribe, but I don't get to do the pairing." - Dad jabbed, looking at me reprehensibly.

"Thank Goddess." - I muttered under my breath, extremely uncomfortable. Dad glared at me.

"I'm sorry for springing all this on you, Beck. I received a call informing me your father was ill, so I had to return back to the reservation. Once I got there and he had some time to recuperate, he expressed his wishes to see you again so I suggested he accompany me to dinner here." - Mom told me, feeling bad for the situation.

She then turned to my dad by her side.

"But if he doesn't behave himself, I'm gonna personally escort him out of the town." - She stated, staring at her mate menacingly.

"I'm sorry for bringing an extra guest to your house, Luna. I hope it's not a bother." - Mom told her with humble eyes.

"Of course not, the more the merrier. I always cook too much food anyway, I'm glad there's more people to eat it." - She said with a disarming smile.

Dad kept staring at my mates with a disapproving frown before he finally came closer to me.

"I heard you finally shifted for the first time, son. I always knew you had it in you." - He smiled at me with a rare expression of approval.

"I'm glad to finally be worthy enough to be your son." - I snapped at him, snarkily.

"You were always worthy to be our son, Beck! Whether you could shift or not." - Mom interjected, incisively.

"I'm glad to see you made a full recovery, Chief Becker. I was troubled to hear about your illness." - Luna said, grabbing his attention with her sweet southern charm. She can de-escalate any volatile situation.

"Thank you, Luna. I took my mate's departure really hard, but my wolf took it even harder. You know we're nothing without our wolf spirits." - Dad spoke, glancing over at mom as he said that.

Mom tapped her hand on his shoulders, contently. Though I still have emotional scars from my father's actions, as a mated man, I can never judge her for going after him. Especially after Quentin's health scare. And we're not even marked.

"Can I interest you in some appetizer, Chief Becker? Mrs. Becker?" - Luna offered, kindly.

"Call me Talla. I won't say no to a glass of wine, if you have any." - She smiled at my mom, who she instantly motioned to accompany her to the kitchen.

"I'll have a beer, please." - Dad spoke up. Alpha Geoffrey invited my father to sit on the couch for a moment while he waited for the beer. We all sat with them, as uncomfortable as possible considering the situation.

"I trust you two had a nice trip." - Alpha started off in a polite tone.

"We did and again, I'm sorry to barge in your house like this. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to see my son again." - Dad replied, glancing over at me. Both my mates were sat by each of my sides, but Jude was holding my hand the entire time.

Dad stared at us holding hands for a minute before he told me:

"I heard you were discovered as his mate after you had completed the bond?" - He raised a suspicious eyebrow at me. As if any person alive could ever make this up... *eye roll*

"Yes, father. We couldn't have known I was his mate before, but it all happened very fast. We didn't even have time to do the acceptance speech before he marked me." - I told him, very uncomfortable at the memory. Not to say I'm ashamed of it in any way.

Dad got wide-eyed at this revelation and stared at Jude for a second, who blushed under his piercing gaze.

"It's not a problem. You two can do the acceptance speech after he ascends as Alpha." - He spoke, causing Quentin to gasp. Not that this is news to him.

Alpha Geoffrey looked uncomfortable upon hearing my father's words, but he couldn't dispute him. Not really. The women came into the living room with fresh beverages for everyone. We thanked them for it.

"There's a long time until the ascension ceremony. A lot can change until then." - Luna interjected with her gentle nurturing way, caring for her son.

"Yes, it can." - Mom agreed with her as they took their seats on the couch next to their respective mates.

"Sure. But isn't he the one who punched our son in the middle of the classroom and kicked him while he was down?" - Dad spoke and we all gasped in shock at his bluntness.

"Viho!" - Mom reprimanded her mate, shocked by him speaking this out loud in front of the Atwoods.

"My son deeply regrets his actions. This doesn't represent who he is as a person anymore." - Luna came to her son's defense, who looked legitimately mortified right now.

"I'm sure it doesn't, Luna." - Mom tried to defuse the awkward tension in the air.

"You probably got lucky. The son I raised is a warrior." - Dad told Quentin, almost boastful.

"I know, sir. I still remember the time where he used my own weight to throw me to a wall. No one has ever done that to me before. I'm part of the wrestling team and learn combat training with my father's head enforcer." - Quentin replied, deeply embarrassed before my parents.

"It was a defensive move." - I rolled my eyes at my second mate, also embarrassed before his parents.

"We're getting sidetracked here. It doesn't matter what already happened. They are mates now, for better or worse." - Mom interjected, sipping her wine in discomfort.

"Yeah, but why did he have to get two mates? No one in our tribe has ever had two. At least, not at the same time." - Dad wondered, gazing upon me with a peculiar stare.

"The tribe never had someone like ME before! But nobody knows why. We will never know. Trust me, it wasn't my choice. I was perfectly content with being just Jude's mate." - I argued in a fierce tone. Quentin sunk in embarrassment and awkwardness, so much that I felt him.

The awkwardness filled the room until my first mate inquired about our tribe and other questions that my father was proud to respond to. It was a nice deflection.

My parents answered Jude's questions about our pack and how I was like growing up.

Then Luna announced it was time for dinner, by then we had forgotten about the awkward topics. Mostly.

The food was delicious as expected. Per the occasion, the Alpha and Luna asked my parents if they had any thanksgiving traditions they'd like to honor. They were very welcoming to my parents, despite the last minute surprise guest.

There really was too much food, as Luna had pointed out earlier. We stuffed ourselves with turkey, mashed potatoes, salad and dessert. Then returned to the living room to rest for a while. My father took the time to finally apologize for the things he put me through.

In his words, he never meant to make me feel like I wasn't enough or unworthy of being his son. Though he steer clear of the gay subject, it felt nice to hear it. Though I'm sure my mom had a hand in it.

"How long are you planning on staying with us, Chief Becker?" - Jude asked him in a respectful tone.

"Just the holiday weekend. I have to return to my pack soon." - He replied, feeling sad about it.

"I'm sure once Beck goes to college your mate can return home, if she so desires." - Jude said, glancing at my mom with a polite smile.

"You're attending college? I thought you had to be Luna of this pack..." - He questioned me, looking confused.

"Alpha Atwood is very young, there's no rush for him to retire. I plan on going to college with my mate if we get accepted into the same university." - I told him, looking at Jude with a pleased smile.

"How progressive." - Dad mumbled, glancing at Alpha Geoffrey.

"It's a great idea. You should all go to college, improve yourselves. Kuckunniwi is right. There's no rush for my son to take my place." - Alpha agreed, cheerfully.

Quentin gulped at the remark while his dad looked at his brother when he said that.

"I hope all three of you go to college. I'm sure Beck will get accepted into a good one, just like my sons." - Mrs. Atwood spoke, looking at us with pride.

"I'm all for college education. Goddess knows where I'd be if I hadn't fought my mate to go to college when I was your age." - Mom chimed in, giving dad a knowing glance.

There was an awkward vibe between them for a minute.

"Are you staying over here tonight, son?" - Mom asked me after some time.

"I will, mom. I hope that's alright." - I replied, humbly.

"Of course it is. By the way, how are you doing, Quentin? I heard about your appendicitis." - Mom turned to him, who took a minute to tell her he was recuperating well.

We shared niceties for a moment before my parents left the house, thanking the Atwoods for the meal and the invitation. The Alpha couple was all smiles and asked them to come back at any time.

Soon enough, I'm brushing my teeth inside the upstairs bathroom when Quentin stopped by the door.

"What a day, huh?" - He said, awkwardly looking at me.

"Yeah, indeed. I did not expect my father to appear today." - I spoke before I rinsed my mouth of toothpaste.

"I hope you know how deeply sorry I am for yesterday. I was not thinking clearly and I never meant to make you feel inadequate or like I was trying to force you into something you did not consent to." - He spoke, remorsefully.

Quentin was referencing when he tried to Alpha command me when I was only trying to keep him from scratching his surgery stitches. I meant only to help him.

"Relax, mate. No one is accusing you of messing with consent. I understand you were itchy, but there are other venues to go by. I was only trying to keep you from opening the wound." - I argued. I'm not mad at him anymore nor do I want him to feel bad about it. It was a silly thing.

"I know and I wanted to say thank you. These past few days with you have been great, honestly. I loved spending time with you." - He smiled at me and I melted, genuinely.

There's a particular way his lips convert to give away a smirk or a devious grin that I find so charming on him. He has an irresistible smile. An evil smirk that you can't help but fall for the bad boy.

"I'd kiss you right now, but I would only have to brush my teeth again." - I snickered. Jude doesn't like when I approach him with his brother's scent, for obvious reasons.

Quentin got wide-eyed at my remark, then laughed.

"It would be worth it." - He smirked with a devious grin [I was just talking about].

I walked out of the bathroom, brushing past him teasingly, blowing him a kiss. Jude stood in the middle of the corridor waiting for me and glaring at his brother. We then entered his bedroom.

My father's presence wouldn't leave my mind all through the night and in the morning, I asked Jude to take me back to the pack house. I wanted to see my mom again. Both my parents were in her bedroom - as we all know, it's not against pack house policy to have a guest in your room if the person is your mate.

While Jude waited for me in the living room, I checked in with my mom to see how she's doing. My dad took the chance we were alone to hug me and ask how I was really doing.

My dad... hugging me?

Did someone brainwash him or something?

The three of us spoke for a while inside my mom's room. It was a nice change of pace to air out our grievances. Though I have a lot of scars, at least we're talking about it.

This isn't going to change how I feel about my father, but it's a start. Even with all his judgment, he was able to be happy for me to have found a mate. It's not what he wished for me, but that's life.

It's what I wanted for me, that's what is important.

Thank you for making me strong, father. I wish you the best, but this is my life now.

And I'm not turning back. For anyone.

https://youtu.be/2JQy0Ti4JrA

A|N: It's funny. No matter how many books I write, I can't escape the daddy issues.

It is what it is, I guess. My father has long passed but there is enough to write a book about it, not that I ever will.

Next is "You Found Me".

PS.: I danced around some song choices for this chapter, but this song spoke to me more than the others who had a positive outlook on the father-son relationship.

Love,

Léo.