Bloodbound [Alpha-series (II)]

Chapter 25

“Wroooooong!”, my brothers Theo and Stuart happily chanted, throwing their arms in the air like little children and then filling their shot glasses with a dumb grin on their faces and downing them.

“Wroooooong!”, Veronica, my two-year-old niece, giggled as she imitated them by lifting her tiny arms over her head.

“Little traitor!”, Henry half-heartedly growled and tickled the toddler that was sitting on his lap, causing her to giggle even louder.

It was a surreal scene: My siblings, their mates and children, Henry, Badu and I gathered around my parent’s living room table, engaged in a card game called Contract Whist. The object was to take exactly the number of tricks one bid before each round. My stupid brothers thought it a funny idea to drink a shot whenever my “fortune teller mate” got his prediction wrong, which, to their utter delight, happened as frequently as to everyone else. Everyone was laughing, drinking and genuinely having a good time – even grim Badu cracked a small smile here and there. My nieces and nephews loved their two new vampire uncles, so each of them was surrounded by a flock of children. Not in my wildest dreams could I have made up a situation like this. Yet, despite the surrealness of it all, nothing had felt so right in a long time.

My mother put a hand on my shoulder and touched her head to mine.

“It’s good to have you back.”

I leaned into her warm embrace, knowing words would fail me at this moment. Three more years had passed since Gemma’s promise to invite us. The pack had gone through a lot during that time, and I understood Caleb didn’t want visitors while his people were dealing with these tremendous changes, while everything was still fragile and uncertain. So, I waited.

Gemma had sent me regular updates and eventually managed to convince my family to do so as well, but nothing could compare to actually being with them, hugging them, finally seeing them face to face after seven long years.

“I am afraid your mate will leave a trail of broken hearts when you return home”, she chuckled, looking at Henry who not only had little Veronica on is lap, but was also flanked by three more children and one of my nieces leisurely hugged him from behind.

I took her hand in mine, feeling the sad undertone in her voice.

“We’ll be back for Beltane, and in the summer, you and Dad will visit us in England”, I reminded her. “After all, we have a lot of catching up to do.”

Her lips curved, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“We do”, she agreed. “Your father and I, we are both so incredibly sorry for …”

My mother couldn’t bring herself to finish.

“I know”, was my soft reply.

Telling her all was forgiven would be an obvious lie. Their Alpha might have ordered them to keep their distance from their daughter, but knowing Caleb, had my parents desperately pleaded with him, he would have caved in in the end. Troubled by their guilty conscience and afraid of what might have happened to me, they had decided on cutting me completely out of their lives instead. Some things … Some things simply were beyond forgiveness. That didn’t change the fact that I still loved my family, however, I always would.

“Wroooooong!”, Theo and Stuart cheerfully thundered once more and went for another round of shots.

I shook my head in disbelief.

“They will be totally wasted tomorrow. Maybe we should stop them …”

Margaret, my sister-in-law, shrugged.