Book 1: Chapter 65

We pulled up to a house at around seven in the evening. Everyone piled out and I narrowed my eyes. The house seemed familiar but I couldn’t quite place it. Nate also seemed to have the same face as I did while Aelia, Noah, and Finn grabbed their gear. The door opened and a woman stepped onto the porch. My mouth fell open.

“Aunt…Aunt Maggie?” Nate stammered next to me.

She laughed. “Of course. Who else would it be? The Boogie Man? Come inside. Dinner is ready.”

“Oh thank Goddess. Maggie, these people are trying to starve me.” Finn walked up and kissed her on the cheek.

Noah grumbled. “Yeah, until he eats his way through the entire gingerbread house and the witch.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Maggie, you look radiant as ever.”

Aelia came up the stairs next but I saw there was more of a serious limp in her walk. Maggie reached out and hugged her.

“I’m so glad you could make it out again, Aelia. Thank you for bringing these two too. I owe you.”

She shook her head. “I owe you, you know that. After all these years.” Aelia kissed her cheek. “Need to make sure Finn doesn’t eat the kitchen sink. ‘Cause he might.”

Maggie laughed and she raised an eyebrow at us. “You two just gonna stand there and gawk all night?”

I took a breath and grabbed my duffle off the floor. Walking up the steps, I leaned down and kissed her cheek. “It’s good to see you, Maggie.”

“I’m not happy with either of you. Aelia has valid excuses for staying away but at least she makes it three times a year. You boys have no excuses.”

Running my hands through my hair, I inhaled sharply. “Being Alpha isn’t an excuse?”

She clicked her tongue. “No, it’s not. Get that Alpha ass inside so I can talk to my only nephew.”

I smiled and nodded, looking back at Nate who still hadn’t moved. Turning, I headed into the house. It looked nearly the same as I remembered it when I was little kid. My eyes took in the room and then Finn whining as Aelia slapped his hand multiple times to not eat the food on the table. Placing my bags with theirs, I headed over to the table.

“Maggie with Nate?” Aelia asked and I nodded.

“How long have you been seeing Maggie?”

Aelia smirked. “Since I was eighteen. Just before I met these assholes.”

“Hey! I’m not an asshole!” Finn genuinely started to tear up and Noah rolled his eyes.

She leaned over and rubbed his leg. “I know sweetheart. You’re just an overly emotional pregnant wolf and that’s okay too.”

Finn sniffled and nodded. He reached out for a piece of bread but Aelia slapped his hand again.

“An overly emotional pregnant wolf that still doesn’t get to touch the food before Maggie comes in and sits down. Chill, Finn.”

“But I’m hungry. I want food. The baby wants food.”

Noah chuckled. “When we are done with this weekend we can just roll him out.”

I chuckled along with him and took the chair next to Aelia. “I mean, be careful. You keep saying your feeding your baby but your baby isn’t taking on the weight, you are.”

Both Noah and Aelia snickered but Finn looked at me, horrified. “You’re kidding, right?”

I raised an eyebrow, grabbing my napkin and put it in my lap. “Why would I be kidding? Your baby measures the same amount and when they are born they are only born anywhere between ten to fifteen pounds. Everything else you gain is just you. Not to mention that your pup isn’t even that large right now.”

Aelia burst out laughing whereas Noah was wiping the tears from his eyes. I tried to keep a serious face as I looked at them.

“What? It’s not like it isn’t true. That’s just how it is.”

This made Aelia slap the table, leaning over and clutching her stomach. Noah was taking gulps of air. I dared to look at Finn who looked ashen. Maggie came in, followed by Nate who looked ten times better. He smiled at me and I nodded to him.

“What the hell is going on here?” Maggie asked, seeing the various emotions going on.

Nate took the seat next to Finn and Maggie sat down at the head of the table.

“Apparently, Finn didn’t know how pregnancy works.”

Aelia snorted and covered her mouth. Nate chuckled and but gave me a confused look.

“What the hell are you talking about? Finn, whatever they are saying, don’t worry about it.”

“I…but…” Finn was struggling to compute and I couldn’t stop the grin on my face.

“Oh no…here is comes.” Noah gasped out.

Finn looked at Maggie with tearful eyes. “I got on the scale the day. I…I’ve gained seventy-five pounds in four weeks.”

Both Noah and Aelia were biting their lips. Apparently, neither of them had broached the subject with Finn. Nate caught on and was breathing through his nose as to not laugh. Maggie at first looked shocked but quickly replaced the look with a smile. It was too late though. Finn caught her look.

“Maggie, is my baby not…”

“Finn, you baby isn’t seventy-five pounds right now. At most, they might be three pounds.” I added nonchalantly. Maggie shot me a look but I shrugged.

Finn didn’t even look at me. “Is that…is that true?”

Taking a breath, Maggie got up and grabbed two more bottles of wine. I snorted and covered my mouth. She poured herself a glass and took a sip.

“Yes, my dear, Silas is right. You’re little pup is probably only 3 pounds right now.”

Finn slid his chair out and raced up the stairs. One of the door slammed shut and I wheezed through my nose. Aelia and Noah both were downright giggling as they both had tears in their eyes.

“You two are terrible! Why didn’t you tell him? Or work on a healthy diet with him?”

Aelia took a deep breath. “You think we didn’t try? I tried to focus on the healthy. All the food groups. Noah and I would wake up at 3 a.m. and his ass was eating an entire tub of icing out of the fridge!”

“Then we removed all the junk food out of the house. Sol even pre-made healthy snacks for easy grab and go if he wanted a midnight snack.”

“And?”

“We thought it was working for a week.” Aelia looked at Noah who started laughing again. “Until we checked the bank. He had been going out a 4 a.m. and charging his card. Over two hundred dollars worth of food in one night, Maggie! At a burger joint, Indian restaurant and a pizza parlor. Eight pizzas! Eight!” Aelia threw up her hands.

Noah shook his head. “We gave up. We rather he just eat a home with things we knew that were at least not eight pizzas. Finn got on the scale the other day and he was so proud of himself.”

Aelia snorted. “He was like ‘I’m going to make sure this baby is the healthiest and strongest’. When he told us he gained fifty pounds I was actually worried for a moment but Shep said that it was okay. Finn was pretty lean to begin with, so filling out in all the places he normally didn’t have weight was fine. Just to keep an eye on it and if he was getting past the hundred and fifty pushing two hundred that we would need to start taking action.”

“But…how far does he still have in the pregnancy.”

“Twelve weeks.”

Maggie cursed. “You two. You didn’t explain to him that that wasn’t the baby?”

Aelia threw up her hands. “I didn’t think I needed to! I didn’t realize that’s what he thought until Sil said something!”

“Goddess above.” Maggie took another sip of her wine. “Well, let’s eat. I’ll make him a plate so he can eat later.”

Noah hiccuped and it made all of us laugh, even Maggie. We ate dinner and chatted about random stuff. Maggie was interested in how the pack was doing and what we had been doing. I noticed though that she never broached the subject of mates with Nate or me. It made me wonder if Aelia spoke to her about whatever was going on.

Noah and Maggie headed up to try and coax Finn to have dinner while Nate, Aelia and I washed and put away the dishes of the night. Nate handed her a plate but it slipped out of her hand and crashed to the floor. She winced and balled up her hand.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” I rubbed her arm before I bent down and grabbed the pieces of the plate. Throwing them in the trash, Maggie came down.

She looked at all three of us. “Everything okay?”

“It’s my fault. I’m sorry. I broke a plate. I...”

“Aelia, my dear, don’t worry about it. A plate is replaceable. You’re not hurt?”

Nate and I heard the chuckle but I don’t think Maggie caught it. “No, I’m fine. Sil cleaned it up.”

She smiled and took Aelia’s hand, turning it over. Maggie rubbed her hand vigorously until her hand started to twitch. She moved her fingers and smiled.

“Thanks.”

“Of course, dear. Now, we done with those dishes yet? I have a little plate of cookies and we can all sit down to chat.”

Nate and I turned back to the sink but Aelia didn’t. “Is Noah going to stay with Finn?”

She nodded. “The poor dear cried a river. We couldn’t coax him to eat dinner but Noah is staying with him. I can’t believe you two. Honestly.”

Aelia chuckled as Maggie chastised her. Turning back, she helped us finish the rest of the dishes. As we walked back over to the table, I watched as her leg gave out and I grabbed her waist. I stopped her from falling into the side of the kitchen island. My hand rode up her shirt and I looked at her back. The blood drained from my face.

“Aelia, what the fuck is this?”

“Sorry, my leg gave out. Thanks for…”

I shook my head. “Not that. This!”

Lifting her shirt, her entire back was blotched purple and black, the black tattoos not able to hide the discoloration. It looked like someone pummeled her in the back but worse. My jaw fell and I looked at Nate who stumbled back, slamming into the wall. He nearly knocked a painting off the wall but his eyes didn’t leave her back. Maggie came around and she put her hand up to her mouth. Slowing, she rubbed Aelia’s back.

“Does it hurt?” Maggie asked in a whisper.

“What you’re seeing doesn’t hurt. Everything else does. It’s a struggle to sit up in bed anymore.” Her voice was small and I saw Maggie choke on a sob but she took a breath.

Maggie took my hand away and Aelia’s shirt fell back down. “Well, if you need to go lay down, just tell us, okay? If it ends up being too much.”

“Thanks.”

I didn’t realize I had been shaking until I tried to take a step. Weakness crept into my legs as they shook but I still walked to the table and sat down across from Aelia. Her face was sad, eye cast down. Nate wasn’t doing a very good job of pulling himself together but he sat down next to her. As he put his hands on the table, I watched her place her hand on his. He visibly relaxed and I felt a pang of jealousy.

Maggie still sat at the head but she moved the plate of cookies closer to us. “So, now that all you three have reunited, what happens next?”