Chapter 28

A/N: I had so much trouble posting this chapter! I've been trying since yesterday, but wattpad saved my chapter as a draft instead of posting it. And I kept getting an error message about being unable to save the changes...

But it's here now! Enjoy ^_^

*****

"We are here."

My mate turned to me. He sucked in a breath so deep it seemed as if he wished to devour all the air that was in the vehicle.

"It's going to be fine, Riley," I reassured him as gently as I could, stroking the soft skin of his cheek. "You are going to be fine."

His face relaxed and the tension left his rigid stance. He even managed to grace me with a small smile before he unbuckled his seatbelt. He was out of the car - wine bottle in hand - before I had the chance to run to him and open his door. He strode towards my parents' porch, determined, with me by his side. His resolve waned once we reached the front door.

"Should we ring the bell, or knock, or..."

I chuckled.

"You know I live in this house, right, Riley? We'll just walk in," I told him and this time he allowed me to open the door for him.

"Walk in," he muttered, taking in another deep breath, his right hand gripping the wine bottle tightly.

"Riley." The fingers of my left hand wrapped around his wrist. "You look amazing and they'll love you." I leaned down to kiss his soft lips; lips that curled into a smile when they made contact with mine.

"Are you ready?" I murmured, barely breaking the contact that sent tingles through my body.

He nodded and I straightened up, leading him inside the home I'd grown up in.

"We're here," I announced when we stepped into the hallway. I then turned to my mate. With a 'Give me that,' I took the wine from him and put it on a corner table, before helping him to slip out of his jacket.

"In the kitchen," mom shouted in reply. The wine was back in Riley's grip before I could even blink. The determination had also returned along with the worried, rigid stance. I led the way again and watched his mouth morph into a circle once he stepped in the room. Mugs of all shapes and sizes, round dishes with different, but mostly flowery patterns and gracefully curved pots peeked from behind the glass doors of masterfully crafted wooden cabinets.

Then his eyes landed on the woman who had proudly collected the delicate china over the years.

"There you two are," she greeted, smiling at us while she mashed potatoes in a large bowl.

"Hey, mom." I walked to her and kissed her on the cheek before tucking a renegade strand behind her ear. The rest of her hair sat perfectly tidy in a bun.

"Riley," I moved to the side so they could get a better view of each other, "this is my mom, Jacquetta Flemings."

"Hello, Mrs. Flemings."

Mom placed the bowl on the counter and they shook hands. I could tell by the way she looked at him that she would rather they had hugged, but she understood that was too soon for him.

"Jackie. No need for formalities," she told him. "Is that for me?"

"Oh... Yes." He handed her the bottle. "Rhys said you like it."

Her body still facing Riley, she twisted her head to me with a smirk.

"So you told Riley what I like, but you didn't think to ask him what he wanted for dinner?" She half-reprimanded, half-teased before turning back to my mate. "He did say you share a taste for tart cherry juice, so we stocked on that."

"Overstocked, you mean." Kennedy - no longer sweaty or in muddy clothes - walked into the room. "She made me buy four bottles. Four." He reached for the ham again, but our mom lightly slapped him on the arm.

"Wash your hands first, young man."

"It's not like you actually carried the bottles." My dad was standing in the doorway. "We brought them with the car."

"I still had to carry all four of them into the house," Kennedy pointed out, after washing his hands.

"You wouldn't have had to if you made two rounds," dad noted as he moved into the room and ruffled my brother's hair before turning his bright gaze to my mate. "Hello, Riley. It's good to meet you, son."

Riley snapped his gaze from my father's eyes - the same vivid blue shade as Kennedy's - and down to my parent's outstretched hand.

"It's good to meet you, sir," he said, shaking it.

"Tom will do." My father smiled at him.

"Carter, get down here and help me set the table!" Mom shouted towards the door.

"I can help you with that," Riley offered.

"That's sweet, but there's no need, Riley. You, Rhys and Tom go to the dining room; Carter and Kennedy will help me serve... If the latter doesn't eat everything on his way there," she added, narrowing her eyes at my youngest sibling.

"I'm a growing boy. I need sustenance." Kennedy insisted, his voice muffled by the ham in his mouth.

With a shake of her head, mom pointed to the tray with ham and a basket with breadsticks.

"Just take that to the dining room, smarty pants. Carter!" She raised her voice again and I heard him stomp down the stairs.

"I'm coming!" He shouted in reply and met Riley, dad and I as we were about to get out of the kitchen. I frowned when I saw him completely absorbed by his phone, his face titled down so all you could see was a forehead and his brown hair.

"Let go of that thing and say hi to Riley." Mom commanded before I could reprimand him for not even acknowledging my mate.

"Hi, Riley," he greeted, his eyes still on the glowing screen. I felt like grabbing the device and slamming the darn thing in the wall. It would've been an impulsive decision though so I ruled against it, set on berating my brother later for making such a bad first impression to my mate.

Apparently mom was less patient then me.

"Carter Flemings."

Two words in a stern tone commanded my brother's attention. He hesitated, but pocketed his mobile.

"Now greet Riley properly," mom's tone remained the same.

"Hello, Riley."

"Hi," my mate replied, definitely not charmed by Carter's less than enthusiastic greeting.

"Come on." I entwined my fingers with Riley's and led us out of the kitchen with dad tailing behind us.

"Not you. You are helping Kennedy and me with serving the dinner." I heard mom say from behind us, followed by Carter's dramatic, irritated sigh.

We stepped into the dining room and I pulled a chair for Riley before taking the one to his left. Everett and Lisa joined us just a couple of minutes later and small talk commenced as mom, Kennedy and Carter served. I watched, pleased, as my mate relaxed when dad questioned him about his coffee art - when and how he got started, what he liked to draw... It all went well until my parent brought up the fact that I always sent a picture of the beverage Riley made me as soon as I'd snapped it. I couldn't decide who was blushing more furiously - Riley or I.

Thankfully, mom and my two younger siblings joined us and dad changed the subject.

"Now, that we are here, let's..." He paused, narrow eyes aimed at Carter and his fingers tapping over the screen. "Carter, put the phone away; you'll text with Mel later."

Carter pushed a few more buttons before pocketing his phone with a frown, positioning his hands awkwardly on the table as if he didn't know what to do with the limbs now that he wasn't typing.

"Now that we are all here," dad repeated, "let's dig in."

For the next few minutes, the talk was mostly limited to 'Would you pass me', followed by the desired dish or beverage.

"Carter does that all the time." Kennedy spoke from Riley's other side. "It starts in... Are you done with the potatoes, Riley?"

My mate nodded, handing him the bowl and I smiled when he added some peas to what was already in his plate. It looked like he would feed well tonight.

"It starts in the morning; his alarm is a recording of Melanie's lover prattle," my youngest brother went on. "He then texts her; if she replies, he knows she's awake so he calls her. When they hand up, he texts her. After that, he takes a shower, after which he texts her; then he eats while texting her; then they go to school and in the brief moments they are separated, they text each other. Then they come here or at Mel's place and when one of them goes home, they text. They also text during dinner, before calling each other in the evening, after calling each other in the evening and..." He paused while adding a large steak to the enormous pile of food on his plate.

"Rhys?" I let my dad distract me from the tedious narration of Carter's daily routine and turned to my parent.

"Keri and Olivia stopped by while you were out. Keri want you to call her later."

"Is there a problem with our funds?" I asked as Keri's aunt Olivia was an accountant and the pack's treasurer.

"I don't think so; neither of them seemed worried."

I nodded once again and opened my mouth to tell him that they probably wanted to speak to me because we were looking for ways to collect money to expand the gym, when the raised voice of my mate made me look to my right.

"They are getting married?"

"Who is?" I asked.

"Carter and Melisa, next year," Kennedy filled me in through another mouthful of ham.

"Oh." I turned back to dad, but kept an ear to my mate's conversation with my favorite sibling.

"We need more equipment in the gym," I told my parent. "However, we don't want to raise the community tax so we've been looking for a way to divert money towards..."

"They'd both be eighteen," Kennedy was explaining as I spoke. "And they'd been together since they were sixteen and recognized each other as..."

"... Boyfriend and girlfriend." I hurriedly quit my conversation with my father to butt into Kennedy's before he'd had the chance to use the m word in front of my mate. "More sticks?"

In my haste to change the topic I almost assaulted Riley's face with the bread basket, bringing it to only a couple of inches in front of his eyes.

"No, thank you," he muttered, pulling back.

"Do you like the food?" Mom mercifully intervened, distracting him from my odd behavior.

"Oh, yes, it's really good and your plates are beautiful," he replied with genuine admiration of the daffodil-patterned china.

"Thank you, Riley." Mom sliced a piece of her steak. "They are my favorite."

The hand that held Riley's knife froze and his eyes rounded as he looked in horror at the plate before him. I sighed and turned to my mom:

"Mom, would you please reassure Riley that you won't banish him forever from your house or inflict any corporal punishment on him if he happens to break anything of yours tonight?"

Finding the situation amusing, she snorted.

"Riley, I wouldn't do that even if you push over the largest china cabinet and shatter everything in it." Riley relaxed and I smirked, thinking he'd probably feel honored if he knew exactly how much mom's words meant. Aside from spending time with her close ones and working, she had two joys in life: her garden and collecting china.

"You are cleaning that mess up though," she added, taking a sip of the wine Riley had brought.

No longer terrified, but still a bit afraid, Riley operated with the knife and fork gently, doing his best not to scratch his plate. I shook my head and placed a kiss on his cheek. He blushed, his eyes going over each of family members as if expecting them to comment or even reprimand us. When that didn't happen, he seemed to calm down... Until he began cutting the meet again.

He was still cautious, so cautious in fact, that Kennedy teased him with an offer to cut his steak for him. Embarrassment taking a hold of him, my mate finally got a firm grip on the utensils.

Dinner went on in light conversations as my family got to know my mate better. They asked him about what kind of music he listened to, which were his favorite books and movies and somehow Kennedy managed to hijack the conversation and lead us into talk about his beloved soccer. Riley admitted not knowing much about the sport, but seemed completely engulfed in my siblings enthusiasm as Kennedy narrated his adventures on the field.

That was when it happened.

I felt the gaze on my skin and my flesh covered in goose bumps. I watched Alec with wide eyes as he walked into the room.

*****

A/N: It's Alec time! Did you miss him?

Oh, and did you enjoy dinner?

What do you think about Jackie's hobby?

What are yours? Are you a collector? Do you read? Or maybe draw?

Please support this chapter with a VOTE if you enjoyed it and have a great time wattpadding!