ON HIS WATCH

FAMILY RESPONSIBITY

After helping Aurelia in the bath, Alexzander also helped her to dress. He could tell she was getting a little irritated with him. When he picked her up to carry downstairs instead of letting her walk, she snapped.

"Alright! That's enough, Alexzander! Put me down this instance!" When he hesitated she yelled. 'Now! I can walk, you know. I'm not some helpless invalid. I'm merely pregnant. PUT. ME. DOWN." Alexzander looked into the eyes of his mate and watched them swirl with emotion. As she became angrier, her eyes became a golden color and her fingers elongated and become claws. Her jaw did similar, with her canine extending  and becoming sharper. Realizing what was happening, he set her down quickly.

"Alright love, you're down. I'm sorry. I just don't want anything to happen to you. Calm down, love. Let your beast recede. You don't want your first shift to be in the foyer on the stairs, do you? Come on, I apologize. Take me hand and we'll walk together." He remember reading somewhere that pregnant females were emotionally unstable at times due to the extra hormones in their bodies. 

Entering the conference room where Aleister, Astri, Cassien and Gerald were waiting, they selected their seats and focused on the head of the table where their Alpha sat.

Clearing his throat, Aleister looked at his granddaughter, who looked just like her mother at that age. "Aurelia, this meeting is to help you understand your heritage and your immediate family background. Now, I need to know what you know about your parents."

Aurelia swallowed trying to relieve the sudden dryness in her throat. "Well sir, I really don't know as much as I thought I did."

Astri smiled and replied, "It's alright, child. Tell us what you know, then we can proceed from there."

"I know that mom and dad met when they were in their late teens. He was 19 and mom was 17. He was in college and she was just graduating from high school." Aurelia smiled so sweetly as she remembered her parents and their love for each other. "Mom said the minute she laid eyes on him that she knew he belonged to her. Dad told me pretty much the same thing. It was like they had this weird connection to each other. Which I now know that they did. I know they not only loved each other, but my brother and I as well. "

"Any time I asked mom why we never saw any grandparents, she would get so sad. If dad heard the question, he would get very angry and start mumbling under his breath. Mom would hold dad and he would bury his nose in her neck. I now know he was using her scent to calm himself. But anyway, I remember one time I actually got mom and dad to answer that question. Dad would growl and stick his nose in mom's neck all over again. Mom said that dad's parents said that mom was not good enough for him and that if he married her they would disown him. It appears that they did. Mom tried to fill all of the voids left by dads lack of family. Between the three of us, I think we did a pretty good job. But still, every now and then, I would see dad staring off into the distance and a stray tear would run down his face. Mom would distract him and he would act like nothing was wrong." Aurelia found it hard to talk about her family. Feeling a warm hand cover hers, she looked over at her grandfather, whose eyes were suspiciously watery looking. 

"You mom, our daughter, loved your father very much. When they met, your father's parents didn't think that a daughter of the head of The Order was good enough for his son, his heir. He was supposed to be the next alpha of their pack. But when he met you mother, that changed. Your father's dad had promised him to another powerful pack's female heir. When he didn't fall in line with the pack's plans for him, he was beaten and whipped and then banished. When your brother was born, he tried to get in touch with his dad. He thought that maybe by providing his dad with a replacement  heir that his dad would forgive him." Astri was openly crying now as her mate stopped to comfort her before continuing. "His father laughed at him, and asked him what he thought he wanted with a weak little pup who was just as worthless as his father. That was the last time he tried to contact his pack. After that, they moved and stopped having anything to do with packs, altogether. They still changed, but they said that you kids would have the chance to choose your own path. If you wanted your mate, fine and if you wanted a human that was fine, as well."