Chapter Sixteen
“Uncle Graham!” they all shouted as they used Graham as a jungle gym.
Graham’s mother laughed and stroked Catherine’s arms as they waited for the chaos to subside. “It happens every time,” she chuckled. Catherine’s heart warmed at the sight of her mate playing and tickling his nieces and nephews. A large grin graced his face as they squealed and asked him hundreds of questions at a time. After a few minutes, the matriarch of the family stepped forward. “Alright now, you all leave your uncle alone or none of you are getting a slice of the chocolate cake your new aunt made you.”
At that all the kids stopped and their heads whipped up in the direction of Catherine and their grandmother. “Cake?!” “New Aunt?!” they all yelled together.
“Guys, this is my mate, Catherine. Your new aunt. Catherine, this is Joshua, Louise, Tristan, Geoffrey Jr., Vincent, and Jenny.”
Catherine hid her mouth behind her hand as she laughed. “Hello Joshua, Louise, Tristan, Geoffrey Jr. Vincent and Jenny. It’s so nice to meet you!”
The children all jumped up and rushed her. For a moment she worried they’d tackle her too until one growl from their uncle made them hesitate.
“Careful you little demons. No rough housing with your new aunt,” Graham warned in a deep voice they clearly weren’t used to hearing.
Graham’s mother laughed. “One hug each and then outside with you!” she hollered.
They all squealed and lined up to give her a hug. She found her face hurting from all the smiling she was doing as they sheepishly hugged her before sprinting out the door. After they were gone she took a deep breath. “Phew, that was… a lot,” she said honestly.
Graham stepped in front of her and kissed her cheek. “Out of the frying pan,” he started before turning her around to face the door. “… and into the frier.”
Her eyes widened at the people filling out the doorway of the kitchen: his siblings and their mates. She gulped. She knew all the women were his sisters and the men their mates. Of the three of them she saw two shared their mother’s hair while the last had the same dark features as Graham and Natalie. While the red heads displayed soft, excited smiles, the one with brunette hair seemed to scowl while her mate rubbed her shoulders as if to relax them. Theo waved enthusiastically from the back of the crowd before shoving them all aside to join his mate in the kitchen.
“Everyone, meet Catherine, my mate,” Graham said behind her. She cocked her head. Did he sound nervous?
“Hello, everyone, it’s nice to meet you,” Catherine said.
The smallest redhead stepped forward first. Her eyes lit up and glossed over with unshed tears. Catherine noticed her protruding belly and wondered if she was emotional because of a pregnancy. “Hello Catherine, it’s so nice to meet you. My name is Heather and this is Geoffrey. You met a few of our kids: Geoffrey Jr., Vincent, Louise and this,” she said, placing a hand on her bump, “will be Marie.”
Catherine took her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you. Your kids are wonderful.”
Geoffrey scoffed over her shoulder. “I know we just met but you don’t have to be so nice.”
Heather smacked her husband’s shoulder. “Who’s being nice. They are wonderful.” Heather winked and stepped aside.
The taller redhead stepped forward too. While Heather’s eyes were emerald like her mother, this redhead had dark eyes like her other siblings. “I’m Annabelle and this is Leo,” she said gesturing behind her to a man staring down at his phone. “Leo!”
He jerked his head up and nodded. He held his phone up for Catherine to see. “Georgia’s playing, sorry.”
Annabelle rolled her eyes. Catherine smirked. “They’re playing Tech right? Is Smart keeping Beck in line?”
Silence filled the kitchen around them. Leo’s face turned from stunned to proud. He looked at Graham and smiled. “I like her.”
At last everyone turned to the brunette. Her mate tried to urge her forward but her eyes narrowed. Her mate cleared his throat. “I’m Benji, and this is
Leonora.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Catherine said with a smile that she hoped would sway Graham’s cold sister.
Instead Leonora scoffed. “Is there whiskey in the cabinet, Mom, or did Theo drink it all last time?”
1/3
Chapter Sixteen
Theo gasped “I would never!”
Natalie laughed. “You would.”
“I did,” Theo whispered as Leonora stomped out of the room.
Benji scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Jenny, Joshua and Tristan are ours. Let me know if they give you any problems. They’re triplets so they tend to think like a pack. You’ll never see their shenanigans coming,” Benji said with a smile causing everyone to laugh. He retreated from the room, no doubt to search for his mate.
“Did I say something wrong?” Catherine whispered, looking at Graham for reassurance. He pursed his lips and shrugged.
“Don’t mind her,” Natalie said as she fed Theo a spoonful of potatoes. “She’s got some baggage.”
“Yeah and a bitch as a best friend,” Annabelle said, taking a beer from the fridge.
Catherine raised an eyebrow at Graham and he sighed. “Arabella.”
“Ah, makes sense,” Catherine said.
At least it wasn’t her. She would hate any girl who showed up on Graham’s arm. Then again, she was his mate. What did she expect? Graham to ditch his fated mate in favor of some girl he’d screwed a few times? Even she wasn’t that naive.
“Well, let’s not dwell on it. Dinner is ready. Boys, get the table set up outside. Girls, help me with the dishes,” Graham’s mother said, clapping her hands together.
“Will you be okay?” Graham asked, beside her ear while squeezing her waist.
Catherine stood up on her toes, trailed her fingers up his arm and under the sleeve of his shirt before she kissed him lightly. His body stiffened. “I’ll survive somehow.”
He leaned forward, close against her ear so no one would hear. “Last warning.”
Graham stepped away to join the men outside to set up the large table. A few minutes later the gang of girls carried out dishes with a roasted turkey, a root vegetable medley, roasted potatoes and salad. The boys had cleaned off the table and were pouring drinks. Catherine saw her mate though, standing behind. a chair, holding it out for her while talking to Theo. She set the vegetable medley down and allowed him to tuck her under the table with a little kiss on the top of her head.
The dinner passed by quickly. The dishes were emptied. The chatter never stopped. They were at a long table on the back porch. The kids sat on the steps leading down to the backyard. Graham had sat them on the side against the house, allowing them breathtaking views of the mountains in the distance. While his family talked over each other, he stayed quiet. His right hand gripped her thigh the entire meal which was how she learned he was left handed. After he finished his food, he held his glass of wine in his left hand while looking at the mountains.
Catherine took the time to watch him up close. While the family bickered and the mates corrected their children, Graham stared outward. She knew he was listening though because as she studied his face she would notice a slight pull of his lips, the pinching of his eyes when one of his sisters got particularly shrill, the downturn of mouth when a political topic was broached or how his hand would squeeze her thigh gently whenever someone mentioned a couple, love or something beautiful.
Unable to help herself she placed her hand over his and squeezed. He glanced down at her with a soft smile. He quirked his eyebrow up in question.
Catherine leaned up to whisper in his ear, “I was just thinking it makes sense why you don’t talk much. I doubt you were able to get a word in edgewise growing up.”
Before Graham could respond his sister Heather chimed in. “Yeah, these three never shut up!”
“You’re one to talk, bitch,” Natalie chirped.
“Natalie, language,” Graham’s mother cut in.
As the bickering continued, Graham still couldn’t respond to his mate. Instead he pulled her palm up to his lips and placed a kiss there and winked.
Chapter Sixteen
“Alright, ladies. I think it’s gentlemen’s scotch time,” Theo announced, standing and stretching.
“Fine, shoo, we have important matters to discuss anyway,” Annabelle said with a flick of her wrist and a shove to Leo’s back.
Graham sat still, sipping his wine until Leo turned to face him. “That means you too now, Kid,” Leo teased.
“Kid?” Catherine said, nearly spitting up her wine. She gave a poignant glance down her mate’s body. He sent her a crooked smile.
“He’s the last one to get a mate,” Geoffrey argued.
“And he’s practically an infant,” Theo said.
“I’m the same age as you, Dick,” Graham said, throwing a loose nut at him and hitting him square in the forehead.
“Graham! I swear, Catherine, I did not raise them to speak in such a way,” Graham’s mother said, shaking her head in disapproval as she carried an armful of dishes into the house.
“Go ahead,” Catherine urged him as he continued to hang back. She stood up for emphasis and started gathering plates. “I’ll help clean up. You go be a Lycan Man in full.”
He chuckled and kissed her cheek before sauntering after his brothers-in-law. Geoffrey passed around several tumblers of scotch and held out a pack of cigarettes. The sisters at the table started gossiping about pack members, the names of which she’d never heard. Instead of staring in to space or pretending to know what they were talking about, Catherine followed Graham’s mother into the kitchen. His mother smiled as she filled the sink with water. Catherine set the dishes down next to her.
“Do you mind some help?” Catherine asked.
His mother got a wistful smile on her face. “I would love some, thank you. You wash, I’ll dry and put up since you don’t know where anything goes,” she agreed.
Catherine started to work and the two sat in silence for a few minutes.
“Are you enjoying being part of a pack again, Dear?” his mother asked.
“I haven’t really been around the pack enough to know yet, ma’am. But I am enjoying being around a large family,” Catherine told her.
“Call me, Mary,” his mother offered to which Catherine nodded. “It’ll get easier. Especially after you give your oath to Jensen. I know how rough it is to be a dirty rogue.”
Surrendering to Destiny
