It would seem a great deal of people were looking for me. As soon as I come back into the party, we are surrounded. First the men start asking for their dances, then there is a gasp. My brother pushes his way through. Jace pulls me through the group, and in turn I am pulling Mateo. As soon as we are clear of the group Jace turns around and puts his hands up to get the attention of the group.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it would appear that my sister has found her mate. If you will allow us a few minutes to confer, I am sure you will have proper introductions.” I am sure there are quite a few people who don’t know who Mateo is. He doesn’t really go to social engagements. So there wouldn’t be a ton of people who would recognize him on sight.
Jace pulls us both to the side. “I want an explanation and I want it now. As I recall you were the one that found my sister. If you are her mate then shouldn’t you have known the morning we left?”
Mateo looks away a little. Not because he is ashamed, but because he doesn’t want any more awkward conversations. “I did know.”
I look at Jace. “It was my idea to keep it a secret. I didn’t know what I was going to do yet. I needed time to think.”
Jace looks confused. “Why? He found you. Why would you be so in doubt?”
This time I look away. “I lied, Jace. He isn’t the one who found me.”
Jace doesn’t even take a second to think. He punches Mateo right in the face. “You son of a bitch. You are the one who took my sister. I fucking knew it.” Now everyone is looking.
I push him back and run to Mateo. Holding him back as well from punching back. That won’t be good for anyone. “Stop it Jace.”
Jace growls. “Me, he kidnapped you. He doesn’t deserve to be your mate.” He comes charging again.
Daddy comes out of nowhere and holds Jace back. “Son, stop it. It’s Lila’s choice. Trust me I want to do the same thing. Your mom had a point though. We don’t choose mates. The goddess does. She picked Lila to be with Mateo. Lila and Mateo have accepted that. We have to respect the goddess and your sister.”
“He took Lila. She doesn’t know what she is thinking. It’s Stockholm syndrome. She doesn’t want to be with him.” Jace screams at daddy.
I have had enough. “Jace, knock it off. This is my choice. Mateo didn’t make me mark him. It was my choice. Mateo is my mate. He never forced me to do anything. Yes, he took me to his house. But I wasn’t forced to do anything with him. I wasn’t forced to mark him.”
He points at Mateo. “This is Mateo Perez we’re talking about. The death dealing Alpha.” There is a collective gasp. I was right, they didn’t know who he was. “You can’t possibly want to be mated to him.”
I push Jace with the points of my fingers. “What the hell do you know? Have you ever talked to him? Have you ever said one word to him? All of you, did any of you ever talk to him?” I sweep my gaze around the room. If they are all going to stare then I will talk to them all. “Mateo isn’t like his father. All of you assumed he was. That was why he took me. In the last three years since he took over his pack not one of you talked to him. Not one of you invited him to anything. He was only invited tonight because he brought me back. If not then he wouldn’t be here. How was he supposed to find his mate? And by the way so all of you know. He did kill someone. His father, the real death dealer.”
I go back to Mateo and pull him into my arms. “This is my mate. If you have a problem then you all can leave.”
My mom starts to protest. “Lila, please.”
“No mom. If they don’t respect me and my mate then they don’t belong at my party. Unless it’s your party, then I will just leave.” I stand my ground with my mom. I have never done this before in my life. I am scared shitless.
My mom nods. “Of course it is your party. Let’s all calm down. Take Mateo outside and we will all discuss this in private.” Then she addresses the room. “As you can see my daughter has her mate. Mateo Perez. If any of you wish to leave, then please do so in a peaceful manner. We will be back in a short time.”
My mom leads the way outside. All of us are following. Derrick and Casey joined us as well. My other brothers were too scared to get involved. As soon as we are outside my dad talks. “I don’t like it.”
I sigh, “Dad, you aren’t really one to talk.”
He looks hurt. “Little bug. Really?”
“Dad, I am not going to pretend that you didn’t hurt mom the way that you did. I love you, but you have no right to judge another person’s actions.” I don’t let go of Mateo’s hand. I want him to know that I am on his side.
Daddy starts next. “I don’t really care about what they say about him. He did kidnap you. That alone is something he should answer for.”
I sigh again. “You can’t judge either daddy. What did you do to mom before you were mated? I am sure you attacked her pack.”
Mom shrugged. “She does have a point. At one point you black mailed me into kissing you.” Daddy blushes. He didn’t want me to know that. “I think we may have judged without knowing the facts. Lila is right, we weren’t going to invite him solely based on what we heard. He had to find a way. You all know how important a mate is. What if you weren’t given a chance to find yours?” Finally they are starting to see things my way.
Jace folds his arms over his chest. “He still could have made a separate introduction.”
I shake my head. “Would it have ended differently? Actually I know it would have. Because I would have listened to all of you. I would have rejected him based on what people say about him. I would love to think that I wouldn’t have, but I have heard the things that people say. They are not flattering. Mateo showed me the kind of person that he really is. I am glad of it. I am happy with my mate.”
Mateo pulls his arms around me. “I am happy with mine too. I really am nothing like what they say. Most of what is said is based on my father. The rest is rumors. Sure I am a private person, but I don’t hurt people. The only person that I have ever killed in my life was my father, and let’s face it, he deserved it. Yes I took her. When I saw her in that club, I couldn’t shake her from my mind. She was perfect. Her scent drew me to her. I don’t know if that makes sense or not.”
Daddy stepped forward. “Actually it does. When I saw Jasmine for the first time it was six months before she even saw me for the first time. I spied on her. Attacked her pack and did whatever I could to get her to notice me. To consider me. Hunter did the rest.”
Dad grunts. “Thanks for clearing that up.” He glares at Daddy a little.
“Like it’s a secret Hunter.” Daddy grunts back.
I look at both of them. “See. He didn’t do anything worse than the two of you did. He didn’t hurt me. Sure he made you guys worry. I regret that, but he didn’t want to hurt anybody.”
Mateo looks at them all. “I am sorry that I worried you all as well. That was not my intention. I didn’t think everything through. I am sorry about that.”
Derrick laughs. “So, our new brother is the death dealer Alpha. That is definitely not something I expected.”
Casey laughs too. “I figured Lila would be mated to a nerd.”
Eli, Christian, Zoe and Andrew join us outside. Eli speaks first. “Well, the guests are getting restless. It would seem that they don’t want to leave, but they all want to meet Mateo for themselves.”
Christian puts his arm around my mom. “Did it all get worked out?”
My mom laughs. “It is a work in progress. We all just need to accept Mateo. I think most of us have. Jace?”
He glares at me. “You should have told me little sis.”
Eli glares too. “I am your best friend and you didn’t tell me either.”
“I needed time to think. You two would have just put in your opinions and expected me to follow it. I wanted to know if I myself really wanted Mateo and I do. I wouldn’t have marked him if I didn’t.” I look them both in the eye so that they know I am serious. I want them to accept Mateo. They are important to me, but so is Mateo.
Andrew came and put his arm around Jace. “Come on, bro. Give your sister a break. She deserves to be happy. If this dude does that then let her be. Besides he should know by now that she has eight brothers plus Eli and me. If he screws up, he has an army after him. That’s not counting double daddy duty here.” He points at my dads.
Zoe puts up her arms. “You are all being rather dramatic about all this. So she picked a guy that you don’t like. Get over yourselves. You aren’t the ones that have to live with him. Now, curb the tude and get in there and party down. This is supposed to be a celebration. Not a funeral. Lila has turned eighteen and found her mate. This is great.”
My mom laughs. “She’s right. We are all acting like the end of the world happened. Not the great thing that it is. I am starting to think that we need to stop celebrating eighteen year birthdays, they always turn out badly.”
Dad puts his hand on mom’s arm. “Let’s turn this one around.”
Daddy pulls mom away from dad. “Yes, we will.”
I do my best not to laugh, it really isn’t something to laugh about. But the way they still fight over my mom is ridiculous. I burst out laughing. “You two are giving me love advice. Look at yourselves.”
They look at each other and blush. Ashamed of themselves. I am right and they know it. Mom puts her arms up. “Let’s get back in there before they start picketing. We need to formally introduce the man.” She pulls away from Daddy and puts her arm around Zoe and the both of them lead the way.
Eli comes over and puts his arm around my shoulders. Not an easy feat with Mateo clinging to me. “Don’t keep secrets from me again. I knew you were lying. I just couldn’t figure out for the life of me why.”
Mateo growls a little. I lean my head on his shoulder. “You have nothing to worry about, he is just my best friend. Plus he has his own mate.”
Christian laughs. “Sure we didn’t spend the last eighteen years pushing you two together. Nope.”
Eli cringes. “Not helping matters dad.” Then he turns back to Mateo. “Seriously. We are just friends. Nothing more. Maybe at one point we thought we might be, but that was a long time ago.”
Uncle Jay pops out of nowhere. “I can relate to that. Before I was a vampire, I tried to date Jasmine. But we realized that we were better best friends.” He gives Mateo a smile. Then adds. “By the way, if you hurt this girl, I will drink you dry and not even lose a night of sleep.”
Mateo leans into me. “How old is he anyway?”
“The same age as my mom. When my mom first knew him, he was human. I think he likes being a vampire though.” I chuckle.
He flashes his fangs. “Only when I get to threaten. Not too keen on watching everyone I love get old and die. Plus I don’t get any kids of my own. It’s nice to have you guys though. It’s almost like being a parent. My mate is thinking of doing a doner thing.”
“Thanks Uncle Jay.” I wave him on.
We all arrive at the door to the party. We all gather and then my mom enters to introduce us properly.
She folds her hands in front of herself. “I would like to introduce you to my daughter, Lila Greenfield. Accompanying her is her mate, Mateo Perez, Alpha of the Moonridge pack.” There is a small applause as we enter arm and arm, with Eli dropping back. Callum runs into my arms and hugs both Mateo and I. My little guy. I can see Ash wave at me off to the side. He is beaming.
The rest of the night is spent with countless people coming forward and asking endless questions. I am ready for the night to end already.