Isabella’s P.O.V.The moment I reached the pack borders my eyes landed on a familiar person standing by the edge of the woods; Blake was leaning against a tree typing on his phone. The way he was smiling while looking at his phone, I could guess the person on the other side. That smile was that one, which can be brought only by a mate’s words, I had my fair share of those myself; all thanks to Mason.
As soon as I stopped my car, his eyes snapped up to me from his phone’s screen and a genuine smile rose on his face as he started walking towards me. I shut the engine off and turned to move out of the car, that's when I heard him say, “You don’t have to get down here Bella.”
His words grabbed my attention and I turned back towards the passenger seat to see him all settled in it with a smug smile which was directed at the astonishment that was dancing in my eyes due to his quick steps. I chuckled at his cheeky smile and turned the engine back on, waiting for him to guide me towards it.
When did he get in?
Ignoring my thoughts, I made my way to the pack house which wasn’t that far away, all I had to do was drive straight ahead and then turn left; the clearing in the woods lead us straight to the pack house. Mason’s pack design wasn’t like us, the Pack house stood alone in all it’s glory and the remaining village or pack was at a good distance from there. The houses could be seen from the pack house, which were all located at the front of it. I still couldn’t see the training fields or hospital anywhere near it, which did not settle good with me.
I mean, I was here to see the victim and if the hospital isn’t here, why would he make me waste my time by driving all the way here and then drive again to the hospital. His pack was the largest of us all, so isn’t he supposed to have his own hospital here as well. His pack was huge, this can be analyzed from the amount of houses and buildings you could see at the distance, the start of the village could be seen but the part where it ended wasn’t visible and it wasn’t some dull hidden village. It was like an urban jungle in between the woods, a school could be seen from where I was settled, and the village had the mild sound of its hustle and bustle in it. I could hear the sounds of kids playing and some people talking; I realize that I like it here just as much as my own pack, until I hear a pained muffled growl which brings me back from my La La Land to reality, reminding me why I was here in the first place.
Blake cleared his throat, which got my eyes on him and I realized that he had his eyes somewhere else; that being my steering wheel, he was staring at my hand as my knuckles turned white from the tight grip on the wheel. I quickly loosened the grip as I turned the car off and moved out, just as Blake followed me to do the same. Once we were out, he gestured me towards the main door of the pack house, or should I say the pack mansion.
This place was huge.
I composed myself from the after shock of looking at the beautiful mansion in front of my eyes as I followed Blake to it. As soon as we reached the porch, the door opened up to an ecstatic looking woman who was in her 40’s. I smiled at her, thinking that was the right thing to do; to which she pulled me inside and engulfed me in a warm hug. The hug was so peaceful and warm that I didn’t need anyone else to introduce her to me, I knew in that exact moment that she must be a mother; and I knew whose exactly, she is Mason’s mother. I wrapped my arms around her and heard her sigh which was indeed followed by a chuckle from someone standing behind her. She loosened her grip and moved aside to look at the person, it was a man around the same age as her, he looked just like my mate or maybe you could say that my dear mate looked like him; this man has to be his dad and my thoughts were confirmed when I heard her mumble, “Oh shut up James. Leave us alone.”
She then turns to me, grabbing my hand as she directs me towards the couch; she settles us in there and says, “Finally I get to see you. I’m Emma; Mason’s Mom; I hope you remember.” I smile at her introduction as I say, “Yeah I do, I guessed it” she looks confused at my words, so I continue, “From the warmth of your hug. Only a mother’s hug can be as warm as yours. So, I guessed that you must be his mom.”
Her smile is blinding as she wraps me up again in her arms and stays like that for a minute or so, until Mr. King speaks again, “You’re choking her honey.” She moves away hastily and when she sees that I’m fine, she turns towards him throwing a nasty stare his way, which has me gulping down as well. Mr. King looks scared for a minute but soon covers it up with a cough as he moves his attention to me, extending his hand for me to shake as he introduces himself, “Hello sweetie. I’m James, Mason’s father” then he nods his head in Emma’s direction and continue, “and her husband.”
I grab his hand to shake as I say, “Hello Mr. King. I’m Isabella Rivera, Mason’s mate.” Emma chuckles as Mr. King shakes his head with a small smile as he corrects me, “Call me James sweetie or if you find it hard then you can call me Dad, like Mason does.”
Dad!
My thoughts move back to my Dad as memories cloud my mind, I think my silence bothers them as I feel Emma caress my head in the most soothing way as she says, “He is right, sweetheart. We are Mason’s parents and since you are his mate, we are partially your parents too. You can call us Mom and Dad as well.” She pauses, before continuing hastily, “That is, only if you want too. We don’t mind you calling us Emma and James as well.”
Should I?
They aren’t wrong, they being Mason’s parents makes them mine too; just like my Maternal grandparents were my Dad’s parents and my Fraternal grandparents were my Mom’s parents and not to forget, Mom would have been pissed if I called them with their names, she hated it, that being the reason why she never allowed Rose or Ryan to call her by her name as well. They always had to add the word Aunt or Auntie as a prefix or suffix, whenever they were home.
I’m brought back by someone touching my nose, I look at the tiny human standing in front of me, with the same looks as Emma or should I say Mom; I smile at him as I grab him in my arms and ask, “’And who is this handsome boy?” He giggles at my question as he looks at Emma and tells her, “She thinks I’m handsome Mom.” Emma shakes her head as she nods and questions him with a serious look, “What do say when someone compliments you Noah?”
He turns to look at me as he smiles and says, “Thank You Princess.”
“Princess? Why would you call me that?” I smile at the endearment that he used just like his brother as I ask him with a questioning confused look, he blushes a little and then continues, “Because you look like one.” I can’t help the chuckle that leaves past my lips as I brush my nose with his and ask, “oh really?”
He nods and continues, “and you are pretty too.” I smile at his compliment as I say, “Thank you Noah, you are very handsome as well.” He hides his head in the crook of my neck as he tries to hide his blush, just like his elder brother. I’m caressing my fingers through his hair as he just stays there, when Emma says, “You are good with kids” not to me, its more like to herself but she realizes that she said it out loud when I answer to her statement with, “Yeah. I have three brothers who are two years old and two sisters who are eleven years old. So while taking care of them, I learnt a lot about kids.”
She doesn’t say anything, but Dad does, as he asks, “Taking their care? Where are your parents sweetie?”
“Dead” is all I say and in the exact second I see his face fall as I feel Mom stiffen a bit, I shake my head a little as I continue, “It’s okay Dad, it’s been more than two years since mom died and more than a year since dad did, don’t feel guilty for asking me that question. And it doesn’t bother me that much, since I have my siblings with me.”
Emma instantly wraps her arms around me and Noah, who is wrapped up in my arms as I hear her sniff, my thoughts about her crying are confirmed when she moves away, and I see a tear drop down her face. I grab hold of her hand as I say, “It’s okay Mom, it was a bother till I was an orphan, but now I’ve you guys, so I think life isn’t that cruel anymore.” She smiles and nods as she says, “We are always there for you sweetheart, feel free to talk to us about anything. Never forget that you’ve got another set of parents standing beside you.”
I smile at her statement, it’s silent for a few minutes, the silence it disturbed by the sound of slight snoring, everyone looks alert at that sound, I look down in my lap and see a sleeping Noah, snoring off peacefully, he isn’t that big, maybe six or seven years old, so him sleeping in my lap doesn’t bother me. I hear Dad chuckle, as he moves forward to take a sleeping Noah in his arms as he says, “I’ll put him to bed. You girls enjoy.”
Enjoy! I’m not here to…
“Shit” I say loudly, which grabs Mom’s attention as she asks, “Is everything okay?” I look at her a little guilty for saying it out loud as I inform her, “Yeah, everything’s fine. It’s just that I’m here to see Mason, we had something to deal with. Can you tell me where he is, Please!”
Before she could say anything, another voice interrupts us, by saying “He is right here.” The voice grabs my attention as I turn to look at the person saying that, my beloved mate, I don’t even realize when I move from the seat, speed-walking towards him as I wrap my arms around him, engulfing him in a hug as I mumble, “Mason.”