Alia giggled softly. “She thinks Aaron would like it better if she has bigger curls.”
“Janna, Aaron likes your hair, whatever condition it is in. Trust me.” I walked up to her, my hands resting on her shoulders.
“I know. But sometimes I think pregnancy made me ugly. Especially after Austin came out.”
“Says who?” I asked her, a teasing smile on my lips. “You should hear how Aaron brags about you and how pretty and sexy you are. It is cringy already!”
“Now you two, get up now. We should go down. It’s not appropriate to make an Alpha and his Luna wait. And it’s not nice for the Luna to be late too.” Alia pulled Janna and me out of the room as we giggled our way down the stairs to the entrance of the packhouse.
With these two females around me, sometimes I felt like we were just friends hanging out and not running a pack. So having Alia snap senses at us every now and then was always a big help.
I had prepared myself for meeting Nadia, but I didn’t expect to feel the way I did when I finally saw her. There was a bond between us, something I couldn’t deny.
And as much as I wanted the conversation to go further, especially with my brother, Aaron, feeling the same connection, I wanted to wait until my father met Nadia before I jumped to conclusions.
“Veronica?” My father’s voice ruled over everyone else’s, and all heads turned in his direction. He was near the place where Nadia was sitting. His eyes were fixated on her. His face looked shocked before his lips slowly tugged into a smile.
“I’m sorry. I thought, for a second, I saw an old friend. My apologies for the rude entrance.” His gaze shifted to my Alpha as he tilted his head in submission to him.
Jake nodded his head before Nadia stood up from her chair and extended a hand to my father.
“Veronica is my mother. My name is Nadia. Do you… happen to… know her?” She stammered at the last part, and I could see the excitement in her eyes.
“Nice to meet you, Nadia.” My father shook her hand but didn’t let her go. Instead, he pulled her gently for a hug. “Now I know why you felt familiar, like I knew you. How’s Veronica?”
My heart clenched at the soft way my father mentioned her mother’s name.
“She’s dead,” Nadia told him as they continued to hug each other.
“Dead? I’m sorry to hear that, sweetheart.”
No. Something was off. If Dad and Veronica had something before, wouldn’t he be more affected by her death?
“I never met her.” Nadia pulled away from him before she continued. “You said she was a friend. Do you know if she had a boyfriend before she met her fated…”
Nadia’s question hung in the air because her attention was already drawn to someone behind Dad.
NADIA.
My heart jumped out of my chest when I saw the man who called my mother’s name. He felt familiar and warm, and I was a hundred percent sure he knew my mother. Maybe he had an idea of who my mother had a relationship with before she met her fated mate.
“You said she was a friend. Do you know if she had a boyfriend before she met her fated…?” I was not able to finish my question because my attention was drawn to the female who entered the dining hall.
“Laura?” I looked at David and smiled at him before I moved to meet Laura. “What are you doing here?”
“You knew each other?” It was Luna Clair who asked. I looked back at her and saw that she stood up and hugged David.
“Yes! I met Nadia in Atlanta. And Nadia, Clair, is the niece that I was telling you about.”
“Oh, small world! I have no idea!” I giggled. “So, is David your mate?” My forehead creased in confusion because I remembered her telling me her mate’s name was Theodore.
“No! No! David is Theodore’s brother. My mate is just parking the car, and you can meet him soon. And this man must be Alpha Riley?” Riley was already standing beside me.
He smiled at Laura, and they shook hands. “Nice to finally meet you, Laura. Nadia has told me things about you.”
“And you are as handsome as Nadia and Zahra told me. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation as another man walked up inside the dining hall, and this time, my world stopped.
