Chapter 163: The Ultimatum

Adam's POV

WHOA! This is their HOUSE?! I haven't been to my brother's apartment, but he linked saying that it's bigger and more comfortable than our tiny house in Shining Moon Lane between the Pack House and Lamont Village back at Blood Moon. Aaron said the boys love that they each have their own bedroom with a clear view of The Caribbean since instead of a tiny window, it's a whole wall! I was TOTALLY on board with coming here after London... I saw with my own eyes what badasses they are and I wanted in! What can I say? I'm a sucker for spy movies! And these wolves LIVED that life! I can just imagine growing up here and having the choice to live such a fun life! And I think on my nephews... They WILL have that opportunity!

Just being mated to Loiza made Kayden a better Alpha! I saw that video where she challenged her own father and brother for the right to go out. At Blood Moon, that combat would have made her be considered a prodigy and would have garnished her a LIFETIME of glory and EVERY unmated male at her feet! And to top it all off, she's a High Priestess of Avalon!

They train these little girls to essentially be mirrors of the Goddess and her power! When she arrived in Virginia and we found out that our Alpha would be mated to a Priestess and from the stories we were hearing that she was very powerful, we were very excited to have a Luna like that to stand by Kayden. Little did we know how powerful she truly was! There were many moments in Blood Moon where people were afraid of her, especially after what happened with Logan. In our pack and many packs around the world, rejecting a mate is not unusual! HERE it's EXTREMELY Taboo to the point that I still feel Umbros's terror through the Bond of having been potentially BANISHED for just hesitating on Marking me.

When Jason moved here he explained how different they lived and how they didn't worry about their borders, they have the tech to warn for danger, the volcano was something else entirely. He wasn't allowed to send pictures of everything, just selfies of HIS life, I was pissed that Kayden didn't send ME! And now that I'm here I definitely understand WHY The Osupa protect this place and are not willing to have it taken from them. I can't wait to explore more of it!

Kayden puts his arm over my shoulder... It looks like Umbros wasn't the only one who was worried about nothing. I hope it goes well with Aaron...

"Well Adam, since you're mated to one of them, are you understanding the Bond?" I JUST Marked him!

"Dude, I'm still trying to understand The Fort! And that house! And that other one! And those buildings in the distance! We are a long way from Lamont Village man!" He looks thoughtful and looks at Marcus.

"Dude wait till you see INSIDE! This house is insane, they really don't play with their architecture, have you been inside The Fort all these past few days?" Marcus asks and Umbros chimes in.

"Yup, and that's my fault, I was a dick and---" It's not ALL his fault, after he told me his own distress so that I could really think about it, I realized that I was fearful, too.

"Yeah his dick is fantastic! C'mon baby, give me a tour of this place!" He treated me with love and gave me a chance to really think it through. I will always appreciate that, besides holding the urge to Mark ourselves I have never felt so comfortable with another partner ever!

"SERIOUSLY?! I'M EATING HERE! It's not like I want to hear about my cousin's THANG! Umbros, congrats on finally Marking your mate! Did you have trouble finding his NECK asshole?!" Nasser goes to her and wraps his arms around her giving her a passionate kiss.

"I missed you." And he looks at Umbros shaking his head and hands her a little box. "Here beautiful, from Fatima and Roxy. New recipe! I'll just go ahead and leave you to keep enjoying thrashing him, you said there were alcapurrias?" AlcaWHAT?!

"Yeah they're in the oven, go and have some baby!" The pitch of her voice changed COMPLETELY to a soft and sweet tone. He kissed her forehead and went in.

"C'mon new cousin let's get some grub, Nina was so happy about making peace with Bayo that she cooked his favorite! Churrasco with chimichurri and arañitas! Hope your hungry! There's boat loads of food!" And the girl pulled me deeper inside the house... there's a freaking GARDEN INSIDE! The sun is soon to set and it gives it a bit of an enchanted forest vibe! It has what looks like a wide bridge above it.

"Nía, his name is Adam! Where the fuck are your manners?! And your also going to keep giving me shit?!" I vaguely remember her from Blood Moon, she's the Alpha's sister and here I am making dick jokes!

"Fuck you Umbros! Your the one in deep shit here! I didn't even FLINCH at Marking MY sweet Nasser ASAP! Adam I'm sorry for my cousin's stupidity, you see, he's very unskilled at many things, I'm sure that one of his accidents must have damaged his brain! I sure hope the next one will cut off his tongue! It will save our ears from listening to so much bullshit!" YOOOO! I guess I don't have to worry about dick jokes then. DAMN! That was BRUTAL! I look at Kayden who looks like his holding a laugh, and follows the others to greet everyone inside. Nobody seemed to bat an eye at that burn! "Don't even think about getting me into THIS battle Adam, they're veteran Warriors! I'm still new at their clap back war dude, for now I'm only getting involved if Izz is involved. Have fun! Nía, little sister I hope you go easy on him."

"No can do Kayden big bro, I can't make that promise." She says with a straight face while taking a bite off a crunchy yellow pattie? It smells like it has a lot of garlic, making me salivate!

"Fair enough! Carry on!" He answers while nodding, and he's OUT! SERIOUSLY?!

"Listen here you little shit, if you haven't noticed I've had a bad day! I'm trying to fix it okay?! Can you get off my ass?! Please forgive my little cousin Love, she has a serious chemical imbalance that makes her EXTRA ANNOYING, unfortunately there's no cure!" Oooooh I see! So this is THAT type of family! No wonder he feels so dejected, looking through his mind Suania is the YOUNGEST! Yeesh! That also explains Freya and Morgana's attitude... this is STANDARD for them, they're already used to it.

"Whatever! I rather be annoying than to be a jerk like you!" And she swirls her mid back chestnut curls and goes to the back where some family members seem to be.

"Wow, tough crowd huh?" He leans in hugging me and scents his Mark to calm down.

"You have no idea. C'mon let's face the music." He sounds defeated... My poor mate! I hug him tight kissing his temple.

We go directly to the Alpha.

Except for that first day in Blood Moon were she looked like she had walked through Hades, she's always looked regal, even when she was suited up in London! And then to see her in the throne room! None of us had seen anything like that in our world! The Council chapter in D.C. seems so BLAND compared to this. Here, she's in boot cut jeans torn a little at the bottom to widen it giving it a BoHo style look, simple black t-shirt and flip flops with her hair braided. I see why Umbros and everyone else was pretty casual, this is their home and safe place.

"Welcome to our family Adam! I am SO SORRY for how this exceptional TWAT welcomed you." She says calmly holding a glass of wine. I look at him, I really don't like him being picked on... And then I remember Logan and keep quiet! It took his family a while to dig out what was left of his pulverized remains!

I look at Kayden trying to find help, but he just has his arms around her shoulders, his head resting on one and the fucker is smirking at me!

K: 'Adam DON'T meddle! I already told you man, they have their way of doing things and WE have to adapt! The matter at hand has nothing to do with you... they ARE angry at him for hidding you. But it goes way deeper than that.'

A: 'Gee thanks!'

K: 'Seriously Adam, stay chill! He has avoided banishment from the pack, they're still deciding what to be done with regards to his place in the FAMILY. For them it's EQUALLY important. As the pack is the heart that pumps energy into them, the family is the blood that pumps through that heart! Just as rejecting a mate is like spitting on the Goddess's face making it a High Crime because they're rejecting the Blessing given by her, weakening their pack, which is why the punishment is banishment... They're basically telling the Goddess that they're getting rid of someone who disrespected her, keeping her loyalty... At the same time, when someone creates a rift in the family, with the potential consequence of ending that family, they decide to strip you of the name your helping destroy. These laws are SACRED dude, if they didn't follow them they wouldn't be as powerful as they are. Breaking those laws would have the consequence of making them just like any other weak ass pack instead of extraordinary. Do you understand?'

A: 'Sigh... Will he be kicked out?'

K: 'That depends on his determination to succeed. He NEEDS you Adam... You have that quality in strides! I guess that's why Selene mated both of you. He has many talents, however he has the potential to be more. You have the drive and determination he lacks, with you two as mates you BOTH should be able to reach your maximum potential!'

"Umbros, where's Lola? I swear cousin, you have until midnight! I don't care if you have to fucking GROVEL at her feet, look deep inside that Truth Seer brain of yours and find the words she wants to hear or I'LL make YOU hear words you DON'T want to hear! Entendido pendejo?" Ah! I know what that word means now! She has her hand over Kayden's, their fingers intertwined at her shoulder. She's trying to stay calm. I know they're angry but from my conversation with her I have a feeling that Lola will forgive him... I hope!

"Hey Adam!" Natalia comes over and takes my hand ignoring Umbros completely.

"Lola and Ishaan are almost here Izzy, c'mon Adam, I'm going to give you the bullshit excuse of needing you elsewhere while Izzy and Maco make sure that this idiot fixes up his mess!"

She pulls me to a huge room and I started to drool! Not even the Pack House had such a bitchin game room like this! Urayoán and Bayoán were by the checkered LED wall, one sitting on a gaming chair while Urayoán was reclining on a comfy looking couch, playing a video game... Antoine and Freya started playing pool, Nasser was at one of the pinball machines with a plate of weird looking brown patties in a little plate by him.

I REALLY hope Umbros fixes his mess with Lola, I can't wait to bring Benjamin and Jeremy here! They'll flip when they see THIS!

"Yo Adam, we're really sorry for Umbros's behavior, idiot knows better than that! Here man I SUCK at this game!" Bayoán hands me the controller and Urayoán waved at me still reclining calmly with a huge smile.

"I'm glad you recognize it brother! Good thing too! We wouldn't want that precious Beta brain of yours to go haywire after constantly loosing over and over!" I do a double take when I see Urayoán, damn he looks similar to Umbros except for their hair, that's totally different. Not as almost identical like Lola and the Alpha, but still very alike. And ok, so the smack applies even when they're NOT angry at each other? I take the controller and sit... at Urayoán's smile I smile back... This game is MY JAM!

"Ura I'm really glad that you found SOMETHING that you can best me at! Goddess knows how moody you can get whatever I beat you at something. I don't know how useful a video game will help save your neck in real life but either way kudos baby brother!" I guess Kayden is right, this is normal for them and they've been doing it forever.

"Bayo if that helps you sleep at night, who am I to destroy your slumber? We do need you well rested Beta! Anyway, so Adam... Are you ready for your first humiliation as a member of this family?" He's silently chuckling. What a cocky bastard! Ha! I'm to beat him to a pulp! I still may not be able to do it in real life yet, but THIS? Yeah, I'm going to wipe that grin right off!

"Game on!"