Page 17

Chapter Seventeen

Xochil

O nce we left US Airspace and our phones no longer got service, Aline became a bundle of nerves. I thought the overthinking was really messing with her, but I didn’t know how to help her.

Unfortunately for me, Mom did, and I spent the first half of the flight groaning as she and Dad took turns recounting every embarrassing thing I’d ever done in my life.

While Aline’s laughter lit up my soul, and it was a relief to see her relaxing, I couldn’t help but wish we were making fun of someone else instead of me. It was a long flight, so I ended up getting a bit more sleep after story time ended. I was exhausted, since I hadn’t been getting a lot of sleep. The most continuous sleep I’d gotten was this morning’s nap. But knowing that my mate was safe around my family, I was finally able to relax enough to go into a deep sleep.

“Wake up, sleepy,” a sweet voice whispered in my ear. “We have to put our seatbelts on so we can land.”

Consciousness returned slowly, and when I opened my eyes, the beautiful brown eyes of my mate were hovering above me. Instinctively, I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and pulled her down the remaining few inches, kissing her perfect lips. The clearing of a throat stopped me from deepening the kiss, and when Aline pulled back, I saw the stewardess standing beside me.

“We need everyone to put their seats back into the upright position, their bags under the seat, and the seatbelt sign is on, please,” she told me with a little bit of attitude, before she moved away.

“Someone’s a little jealous,” Aline whispered from the side, making me laugh.

“She is not,” I countered.

“She is! She’s been watching you sleep for hours. Almost jumping from her seat any time you stirred in case you needed something.”

I shook my head and chuckled as I straightened my seat, put everything away and buckled up. When I was done, Aline took my hand and entwined our fingers, and I felt warmth bursting from my chest. Then, I smirked when I saw her stink-eyeing the stewardess as she passed by to make sure everything was put away.

I was an alpha, so jealousy was pretty much a given part of my personality when it came to my mate, but I was tickled that Aline was showing such possessiveness, too.

We landed less than half an hour later and, when we deplaned, there were SUVs waiting for us. I climbed into the one with Dad, but this time, Miguel went with one of the other SUVs since Mom could mind-link from longer distances when she was close to the person. Chris was driving the third vehicle, and one of our best warriors was driving the last one.

I felt bad that I was taking Chris from Violet and their small pup. Violet had issues with anxiety, and being near Chris helped it significantly, but both she and Chris guaranteed me that she would be okay, and they wanted to make sure my mate was protected, which I appreciated from the bottom of my heart.

“Where are we going?” I asked Dad.

“We’re going to pick up Aline’s grandmother and then, figure out what we’re doing at the Airbnb I rented.”

“You rented an Airbnb, Dad?” I asked, impressed, and then chuckled when he blushed.

“Lalo booked it and sent me the address,” he admitted, and that made more sense.

Dad wasn’t too bad with technology, but he hated filling out paperwork. I wasn’t even sure he knew our address, and we’d been living there for almost thirty years.

We drove to a run-down motel, and I frowned. We should have sent her grandmother some money to be somewhere more comfortable. My mate’s grandmother deserved better. I could see the frown on Mom and Dad’s faces, too, but neither said anything when Aline unbuckled and started opening the door.

“What room number is she in?” she asked.

“Why don’t you let us go get her? Just in case,” Dad suggested.

“I don’t think she’ll come with you. We don’t trust very easily,” Aline answered.

“You trusted us,” Mom pointed out, making Aline blush.

“You can come with us. Just stay behind Xochil,” Dad answered, exiting the car and opening the door for Mom.

I exited the car and held out my hand to my mate. She shimmied over to my side, took it, and we followed Mom and Dad over to one of the motel rooms. When Dad knocked, we could hear someone shuffling around inside before the door opened. I thought I was short, but the woman who opened the door was short-short. Not even five feet, she had to take a step back so she could look up at Dad’s face. To everyone’s surprise, she smiled mischievously at him.

“I knew I’d see you again in my lifetime,” she told him, surprising the fuck out of all of us.

“I beg your pardon?” Dad asked.

“Never mind that now. Te vai cair a ficha mais tarde (It will sink in later). Where is my neta (granddaughter)?” she said, and Mom was kind enough to translate the Portuguese to English through the mind-link.

“Avó? I’m here,” Aline called out, pushing forward through the gap Mom and Dad made for her.

Aline bent to hug her grandmother, whispering to each other in Portuguese before they pulled apart, and we quickly introduced each other. I grabbed the bag on the bed and put it in the back of the SUV, while Aline helped her grandmother into the vehicle. I jumped in after them and ended up face-to-face with the old woman, who was smiling widely at me.

“Você é muito bonita,” she told me, and I looked at Aline for help, but my mate wouldn’t meet my gaze, finding her shoes the most interesting thing in the world.

‘She said you’re very pretty,’ Mom provided via mind-link, and I found myself blushing and smiling.

“Thank you,” I answered her in English, once again wishing I could understand Portuguese.

Dad began his drive, and we arrived at a secluded house by the beach, big enough to accommodate all of us. We settled into the giant outdoor patio and waited for Dad to speak.

“Damn, so many pretty men. I would have come to Arizona if I’d known I’d be surrounded by all of these hotties,” Aline’s grandmother said, as she looked around at our warriors, before winking at Miguel.

“Avó!” Aline chided her while everyone either blushed, chuckled, or did both.

“What? You may not appreciate a good male specimen, but I do, Aline. I’m just being honest. The genes in these werewolves are insane, child,” she said matter-of-factly, and all of our collective jaws dropped.

“Ho—” Dad started to ask.

“Oh, come now, Huitzilopochtli. I was the one who told you your destiny wasn’t in Brazil.”

Everyone stilled as Dad’s jaw dropped further. When he was finally able to talk, he whispered, “You’re the child prophet.”

“Not a child anymore and never really a prophet, but yes,” she confirmed.

“What’s going on, Avó? I thought his name was Helios.”

“It is, Aline. It is now. But even though he goes by a new name, and it’s been over eighty years since I met him, one never forgets meeting an Aztec God, does she?” she finished with a smirk as she looked at Dad, who finally chuckled with her.

“Nor can I forget everything you told me, though I’ve tried, jovem bruxa (young witch),” Dad teased back.

“The name is Renata, and I’m hardly a young witch now, am I?” she countered.

“Compared to me, you are exceedingly young. Still a child, really,” Dad chuckled.

Was my father fucking flirting with my mate’s grandmother? I looked over at Mom, who looked unperturbed by their interactions, so I dropped it. Who was I to be jealous of an old woman when my mother wasn’t?

“What the hell is going on?” Aline asked, looking over at Mom and Dad, then turning her gaze on me.

“Calm yourself, Aline. There’s so much I never told you for your own good,” her grandmother answered, in a way only a mother trying to calm down a child on the verge of a temper tantrum might.

“Why is he calling you a witch, Avó?”

“Because I am. As are you. As was your mother.”

“Bu—”

“Your powers are bound to your orixa, child. When you release him, you will release your powers.”

“Is that why they want her?” I asked.

“No. They know nothing of her potential. All they knew was that Aline had an orixa attached to her soul, making her better than an eight ball for making business decisions.”

“And why are they after you?” Aline asked.

“Because, while I don’t have a powerful orixa by my side, I am a seer. Have been since I was young.”

“And that’s how you met my dad?” I asked.

“Si. He was looking for some guidance,” she answered vaguely, making Dad chuckle at her words.

“My child knows my past, Renata. You can tell her I was looking for one of my siblings. It’s not like you told me anything, anyway.”

“I gave you the knowledge given to me,” Renata snapped, then smiled. “Besides, I couldn’t very well tell you about your daughter and my granddaughter, could I? Not before you’d seen the truth.”

“So, you knew?” Dad asked.

“Of course, I knew. Why do you think I settled in Arizona?”

“Are you following any of this?” Aline whispered in my ear.

“A little,” I whispered back.

“So, if you saw all of this, did you see how we deal with it?” Dad asked.

“I’m afraid my gift doesn’t work as often or on command anymore. I’m not sure how to find them or what the resolution will be,” she hesitated, and her eyes went to Aline before she looked back at Dad. “I figured if I couldn’t see a resolution, it was because I wasn’t going to be alive to see it. That’s why I thought my role was to take my granddaughter’s place.”

“I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Mom answered. “You and I will be inseparable until this is resolved.”

Renata looked at Mom for a while before she nodded.

“The legendary white wolf. You honor me by offering your gift, but you must promise me that if it comes down to me or my Aline, you will make the right choice. I’ve lived a long and happy life. I’m prepared to meet my maker.”

“You have my promise,” Mom answered, and Aline stood.

“No! She can’t die,” she said, her eyes beginning to water.

“Hush, child. It’s the way of life for humans. I’m almost ninety. My story is at its end. Yours is only beginning.”

“You’re all I have left,” Aline whispered, the first tears leaving her eyes. She sat back down, burrowing into my chest when I offered my arms to her.

“You’ve always had me, Aline. But you have a great destiny waiting for you to seize it. You have a family to build, a war to fight, and a life to live,” she replied, looking at her granddaughter with so much love and pride.

“You’ve seen the war,” Dad asked, sitting up straight.

“Some from her perspective on the day she was born. It will be brutal, but you should already know this, Huitzilopochtli, considering who Tezcatlipoca is.”

“You can just call me Helios,” Dad replied.

“I will try, but forgive an old woman set in her ways.”

“Do you know if it will be enough?”

“I do not. I doubt anyone is privileged or gifted enough to see that. Such a fight will not be decided until it happens. I can tell you that the man who hunts my granddaughter holds another one of your siblings, so you need to find her and save her.”

“Which one?”

“She goes by Chipahua. She can erase memories. It’s served him a lot in his long career.”

“This just got more complicated,” Dad sighed.

“That’s what I’ve been saying,” I grumbled.

“Our paths were always meant to cross. It shouldn’t be a surprise that your daughter is mated to my granddaughter.”

“You’re right. I did feel when we met that our paths would cross again. I just never imagined it would be now.”

“Well, I only have a few years left, so if not now, when?” she chuckled, making Aline frown. “Don’t give me that look, Aline. I’m almost ninety.”

“You’re still strong and healthy. You’ve got a lot of years left in you, vó.”

“And hungry. I’m also hungry. Did anyone bring any dinner?” she expertly deflected the argument.

“We came straight to you from the airport. I’ll have someone grab some food. Anything you’re craving?” Dad answered, standing up.

“Bring the ingredients, and I’ll make us moquecas,” Renata stated, standing.

“No. Absolutely not. You’re my guest. I won’t have you lifting a finger. I’ll go pick up some takeout,” Dad insisted, then smiled. “Besides, I’ve already had your food.” At Renata’s confusion, Dad’s smile got wider. “Your granddaughter is an excellent cook.”

“That she is. She owns a restaurant, you know,” she replied proudly.

“I know. It’s getting very popular, and the food is excellent. You should be very proud,” Dad replied.

“Should indeed. It’s all my recipes,” the old lady cackled as Dad chuckled on his way out.

As she calmed down, her eye turned to me, making me squirm and sit up straighter. I felt like one of those teens in movies who invited the female lead to the prom and was getting the third degree from the father who was holding a shotgun.

Except, instead of a standoff parent with a gunshot, I was dealing with an old lady who appeared to know all about werewolves, mates and my father. Yet, even knowing all of that, she still didn’t seem to have a single care for her own safety when handling an alpha wolf, as she began asking me very personal questions. Or maybe it was because she knew my father that she felt so confident when speaking to me.

To make matters worse, two minutes into the inquisition, Mom dragged a mortified Aline back inside with a chuckle, and a “good luck” via mind-link when Renata asked me how many lovers I’d had in my life, and if I was going to be cheating on her granddaughter. Somehow, by the time Mom was gone, all the warriors had disappeared, too, including my traitorous cousin and, now questionable, future beta.

I desperately wished that one of my fucking pack members hadn’t abandoned me. I couldn’t get her to crack a smile. She was drilling me worse than Uncle Danny and Aunt Kassie did during training. And she was giving me no feedback. When I sparred, I was always corrected on my form, and told where I could improve. This woman was giving me nothing. She asked her question, waited, listened to my answer, and then asked another. Not a fucking flinch, smirk, growl, smile or furrowing of the brows to let me know what she thought of my answer.

What was going to happen if she told Aline I wasn’t a suitable mate? It was clear to everyone how much Aline respected and loved her grandmother. If I couldn’t get her to approve of me, how was I going to get my mate to accept me?

By the time Dad walked in an hour later with Chris, loaded with bags of takeout, I was sweating it. For as comfortable and sassy as she was with Dad, I still hadn’t gotten a single chuckle out of her.

“What’s going on?” Dad asked when he noticed my tense posture, and Renata looking so serious. I could see Mom and Aline right behind Chris, and the nerves were rolling off Aline’s face as she took us in.

I was still staring at my mate when I heard words that completely shocked me.

“I was fucking with your daughter. She’s going to be a great mate. I probably asked her the most out-of-line questions, and I didn’t even get a tiny growl from her wolf.”

My mouth gaped open as I slowly turned to look at the woman sitting in front of me.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, come on. Why would a ninety-year-old woman care how many women came before my granddaughter? I’m very acquainted with how a mate bond works. I know there will never be another for you.”

“Then—”

“I’m an old woman, Xochil. I have a right to entertain myself somehow.”

“Avó, that wasn’t nice.”

“Again, Aline. I’m an old woman. I have the right to entertain myself however I see, and I chose to give your mate here a little bit of a sweat. If it makes you feel any better, she’s going to be an amazing mate, sweetie. No one will love you like she does. It is the way of the wolves.”