Page 80 of A Female Alpha for the Lycan Prince

My mom slaps her hand against her chest. “There’s more?”

Annie raises her hand and points out two fingers.

Mom looks sincerely surprised—which is surprising in and of itself since her connection with the spirit world usually gives her a heads up, meaning most of the time, she knows all kinds of things before anyone else, including the person involved. Seeing the honest look of surprise on her face makes it even more hilarious—even my father chuckles.

“Twins,” Mom whispers before raising her arms and doing a silly victory dance. “Double grandma to be!” she twirls around to eye Finn and me. “Finn, Marius, you’re next! I want to have more grandchildren ASAP!”

“And how exactly do you think I will accomplish that?” Finn grins. “It’s not like I can just pop them out.”

“Not my problem,” she pouts. “Get moving you two, and find your mates!”

Her last words make me flinch slightly, and I notice how Annie and Liam look at each other. It feels like there is an air of awkwardness lingering around us for a moment. I’m not sure if Mom caught on, but Dad sure noticed. He looks at Liam questioningly. To my surprise though, Liam doesn’t say anything.

“What’s for dinner, Aunt Flora?” Eric booms, breaking the silence with a beaming smile. It looks a bit forced, though. “It smells heavenly.”

“Oh, my dear,” she smiles brightly. “I’ve had all your favorites prepared.”

Eric grins and offers his arm, which she takes with a giggle. Dad doesn’t even bat an eye at them, and I’m not even surprised anymore. Apparently, Eric gets a free pass to touch everyone’s mate.

“He’s always had an uncanny ability to diffuse any tension without effort,” Emilien mutters towards me as if he could read my thoughts.

I nod, dumbfounded. It never struck me that this might be Eric’s way of dealing with tense situations. Thankfully, everyone is heading inside, happily chatting about the fabulous dinner my mother has just announced. I notice Finn looking over at me for a moment. He doesn’t say anything, but he shakes his head disappointedly.

Oh shit, I forgot… Celine is his friend. I wonder if it was Dave or Jun who told him about her being my mate?

Aryanna and I are the last to follow. “Moon Goddess, help me,” I mutter.

“I don’t think the Moon Goddess can help you,” she points out in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Well, thank you for the pep talk.”

“I don’t feel like giving you a pep talk. I’m just being realistic,” she sighs. “At this point, you can only help yourself. Don’t you see that?”

“See what?”

“Everyone was ready and willing to help you all this time. But they couldn’t because you wouldn’t let them in. You weren’t ready to accept help.” She tilts her head. “So, ask yourself, are you ready to accept help now? And think about what kind of help you truly want. No one is going to offer to help you anymore. You need to be the one to reach out this time.”

I look at her, completely dumbfounded. The wheels in my head are turning excruciatingly slowly at the moment. Aryanna doesn’t give me any time to consider what she’s just said. She just links our arms and leads me into the pack house.

For a second, I tense, a feeling of dread settling in me. It’s almost like a cold hand grasps my heart, taking my breath away.

Aryanna notices my discomfort and lets go instantly, eyeing me with worry. “Is everything alright? Marius?”

“It’s nothing,” I breathe out.

A shudder runs over my spine. Goddess, how I hate this place. I love my family, I might not show it, but I do. This place, however… I want to leave and never return to it again.

I swallow thickly, my eyes roaming the area but there is no one watching us, and once inside, I can only see my family, much to my relief.

Aurelia greets Liam and me with a warm hug before turning her attention to Eric. They exchange hellos and joke around together like they are best friends. I’m sincerely shocked at how much she’s grown since I last saw her. So have the twins, for that matter. Felix is almost my height and build. I could easily imagine him running across the sand with a surfboard under his arm… like some dude out of a freaking commercial. Dario doesn’t look as big as Felix, and he’s still got that quietness about him. I don’t think he’s actively avoiding people like I do; it’s just his thing.

It seems like I’ve missed so much of their lives while I’ve been stuck wallowing in my own misery. Especially when I see Liam interacting with them so easily, inquiring about their lives, asking Felix about his last date, and how Dario is doing in the baseball team in school. He knows a lot about them and what they’ve been up to, and he even seems to know all about Aurelia’s training schedule.

I’ve been so preoccupied with my own shit, I completely forgot to even talk to my siblings.

Never in my life have I been happier to be around other people than I am right now. Eric and Annie diffuse most of the awkward tension. “How did you know I was pregnant, Flora?” Annie asks after a while.

Mom smiles. “You mean aside from the obvious reasons, like you feeling sick a lot?”