Chapter 23: Tea and cookies

Alice’s Point of view


"I'm leaving. See you tonight!" Says my mother while kissing my father.
"See you tonight my love."
"Have fun mom!"
Once she's gone, I get up and tell my dad I'm going for a run. Once outside, I take cover as quickly as possible to undress and change into my wolf, not forgetting to mask my scent. I don't want her to know that I'm following her.
I run behind her car, making sure to stay at a safe distance. When I get close to the city, I pass her and change back into my human form to follow her on foot. 
I manage to follow her for a few minutes but I am no match for the speed of her car. Her engine becomes more and more distant and soon she joins denser traffic and I lose her. 
I try to go towards the pool but I realize quite quickly that she did not take this direction. 
I stop to send a message to Elliot but I realize that he has beaten me to it.
HANSOME_4: My mother stopped at a small cafe. I send you the address.
I don't waste any time and head towards them at full speed. 
Arrived in the right place, I try to find Elliot but he also had to mask his scent. I find the coffee shop and approach discreetly. I see my mother and Luna Lily drinking tea and eating cookies at a small round table at the back of the empty room.
I walk away and look for the hiding place with the best view and head there. Not surprisingly, Elliot is waiting for me there.
"How long have they been here?"
He ignores my question and breathes hard and deep, looking annoyed.
"What's wrong?" I ask without understanding.
"You masked your scent."
I blink. "Yes. So did you."
"I don't like that."
I chuckle. "Yet we've been around each other for a while with our scents masked. You should be used to it by now."
"Yes, but now I don't like not being able to smell your delicious scent."
Our eyes meet and his shine with desire. He raises his gaze to my lips and breathes faster. It reminds me all too well of yesterday's kiss and I feel Cassie stir. I want to do it again too.
I close my eyes to chase these thoughts away. We have a mission to accomplish and we must not lose focus. When I open them, Elliot's face is a few inches away from mine. I don't have time to react that he leans in and places a light kiss that makes the sparks explode. 
I stop breathing, move back a few inches and put my forehead against his. He breathes fast and it doesn't help me at all.
Focus damn it!!!
"Elliot ..."
Shit. I thought my voice was stable but it sounded more like a whine than anything else.
He opens his eyes wide, surprised, then a big smile blooms on his face, and Goddess what a smile! He had never smiled like that and he looks better than ever. 
"What?" I croak.
"That's the first time you say my name." He whispers. I think for a moment and realize he's right. "Come on. It's time to go see our mothers I think." 
I nod and follow him into the cafe. I must say that they chose very well. It is rather close to the swimming pool but in the limit of the city, so it's not very frequented.
We enter but they do not react, too much plunged in their conversation. They seemed happy and relaxed until we sit down at their table. 
They stop talking immediately and my mother looks at me with a panicked look. "Alice it's not what you think, I can explain everything. Please don't be mad." She says in a pleading tone.
I've never seen her like this, terrified. I see that Luna Lily is talking as quickly to Elliot, just as stressed. 
To cut it short, I take out the picture and put it on the table. They immediately stop talking and lean over it.
"We're just trying to understand." I say gently.
"You've known each other for a long time, right?" Elliot asks. They look at each other before nodding. "Why didn't you say anything?"
They huff. "We couldn't. We're not supposed to see each other." Says Luna Lily. 
I look at Elliot, curiosity shining in his eyes.
"How about you tell us everything from the beginning?" I ask.
A few seconds pass before my mom starts talking. "We lived in the Silver pack and grew up together. Our dads were best friends and so were our moms." She smiles tenderly.
"We spent all our time at each other's houses, like sisters." Says Luna Lily as she looked at my mother with affection. "We were twelve when our parents died." Her eyes fill with tears and my mother reaches out to place her hand over hers.
"We don't know what happened. We were at my house, our parents were out for a walk and Alpha Vincent and Luna Sophie, Jack's parents, arrived." They begin to cry softly. "They told us that the pack had been attacked by rogues and that our parents were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Luna Lily sniffles. "We couldn't even bury them. There was nothing left." She says in a small voice.
My throat goes dry with this story. They seemed happy and then it all fell apart.
Elliot clears his throat. "Who took care of you then?"
They smile and his mother answers him. "Alpha Vincent and Luna Sophie took care of us. We wanted to stay together so they gave us two adjoining rooms in the packhouse and took care of us like if we were their daughters."
"They were great and Jack made us feel very welcome too. We were afraid he would be jealous or not want us." Says my mom.
"You mean Alpha Jack? Derek's dad?" I ask.
She nods. "He's been like a big brother to us."
They look at each other and smile widely.
"Why didn't you ever say so? Why don't you see each other anymore?" Elliot asks.
They look at each other, sad. "We're not allowed to." His mother replies.
"We met your fathers at the King's cattle, during the annual meeting of the Alphas. Alpha Vincent and Luna Sophie proposed to us to accompany them and as we were 17 years old, we thought that it was maybe the occasion to find our mate. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that they were the future Alphas of the neighboring packs." Says my mom.
"We were so happy and so were they. But when your grandfathers realized that we were like sisters, they were afraid that we would manipulate your fathers and push them to make peace."
"They were afraid you would soften them up." I understand. 
Luna Lily nods and continues. "Your fathers gave us an ultimatum: if we didn't want them to reject us, we had to swear not to talk to each other and not to call Jack, Alpha Vincent, and Luna Sophie ever again."
Elliot and I look at each other, shocked. "But that's a despicable thing to do! Threatening to reject you?" Says Elliot angrily.
"I can't believe you agreed to that. They were bluffing for sure!" I add angrily.
They shake their heads and I can't help but be amused by their same reaction. They're acting like true sisters.
"I assure you they didn't. When we said no, they started to reject us and in a panic, we interrupted them and agreed not to talk to each other." Explains my mother.
"I can't believe you gave in. I didn't think dad would do that." I say, shaking my head in disgust. 
My mom puts her hand on my shoulder. "Don't be mad at him. He grew up hating Reds and his father pushed him to do this. Same thing with your dad, Elliot."
He huffs. "That's not a reason. I would never let dad make me reject my mate even if she is a Blue." He says as he looks at me discretely.  
Our eyes don't let go and my stomach seems to be dancing the samba in my belly while Cassie is drooling. Suddenly, our mothers gasp.
"I can't believe it!"
"You're mates?!"
We flinch and try to deny it. "Not at all."
"Not in a million years! "
"No need to lie. It's so obvious!" Exclaims Luna Lily.
They start to harass us with questions and we have no other choice than to explain everything to them.