The evening was just a nice way to unwind. Never knew I needed to hear Beth’s gossip about her job until today. It was a welcome distraction as we all ate dinner; spending some quality time together as we listened to Beth lay out her complaints about the day. The woman was always subtle in her ways of dissing her coworkers, as expected from a proper southern belle.

“Can you believe Regina had the audacity to tell the client he can’t have slate walls because they're tacky?” she gasped. “Bless her pretty little heart, such an interesting woman. She has the nerve to say those things, but has a white fridge in her own house by her own volition.” She took another slow sip of Barefoot Peach Moscato.

“Not the white refrigerator,” James chimed in. Kash held in a laugh, but his cheeks puffed out. This triggered me to laugh too, but I did everything in my power to hold it in, knowing my mom wouldn’t get the meme.

“Right, exactly my point,” Beth continued. “Don’t even get me started on Calvin. Even though he’s our top client, he is still such a douchebag. He thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow,” she huffed before pouring more wine, finishing the bottle with ease.

“Maybe you should slow down, hun,” Tina cautioned her. But even I knew ‌it was too late for that. After this glass, drunk Beth would be out in no time.

“I’m fine really, the boys don’t mind if I get…lit, is that how y’all use it? I’m getting lit.” Beth waved her half-filled glass, spilling a bit of the rosy-colored drink on her clothes. We could no longer hold it in, bursting into laughter, all to Tina’s dismay. Beth grabbed her Aspen Quiet Blue serviette napkin, clumsily trying to soak her spilled mess.

“Oh, Elizabeth, what am I going to do with you?” Tina sighed before she got up. The shuffling of her house shoes carried down the hall towards the storage area. My guess was she was probably hiding the rest of the alcohol in the house before my mom went for seconds.

Beth continued to make more cringy outdated jokes, trying to appeal to us youth and embarrass me all at the same time. Dinner came to an end, our bellies full. It was soon time to wrangle the wine monster in—it was still a weekday and Beth had work tomorrow. In a joint effort with Tina, we first hid her wine glass before we carted the intoxicated woman upstairs.

“Hey, it's happy hour. I need to get my drink on.” She was already tipsy and slurring her words. Tina sighed as I laughed at her silly antics. Beth instantly fell asleep once she was tucked into their birch-wood queen bed, her frizzled, wavy blonde hair a mess, her cheeks red as she snored loudly. Tina took a picture for blackmail. I was tempted too but restrained myself.

“Thanks for the help, bud. I’m glad you’re home.” Tina gave me a warm hug before she retired for the night, too. I returned downstairs, finding my friends had already started to clean up without me. Kash was putting away the food, still eating bite-fulls out of the broccoli casserole while James had gathered the plates off the table.

“So, what made you guys come over?” I was curious ‌why they weren’t at the pack house earlier. Practically everyone in town made their way over there after the alert.

“We heard the announcement and wanted to make sure your moms were safe,” Kash answered, placing the last few tupperware items inside the stainless steel fridge. “There were already a few enforcers posted outside, but we wanted to stay close in case anything happens.”

Oh shit!

They were right. I had completely forgotten about my parents. Too caught up in my own problems to realize I didn’t even think once about them during the chaos. Guilt-ridden, I couldn’t help but be disappointed in myself.

I was a bad son. Who forgets about their own parents?

‘Remy, it’s not your fault, it was hella crazy today. Seriously, stop thinking so negatively of yourself. You didn’t do anything wrong, for God’s sake,’ River reminded me. Maybe he thought it wasn’t that big of a deal but it still didn’t stop the guilt trip for me. I already had a one-way ticket to depressionville. First stop, sad boy hours.

I subconsciously began to wash the dishes, personally deciding to be the one to do it to atone for my sins. James had gravitated to my side, helping to dry the wet dishes I handed to him. It wasn't hard for me to fall into my thoughts, going over every little thing I did wrong today.

‘It doesn’t matter. I should have thought of them first,’ I said to my wolf. Self-deprecation was a specialty of mine, and everything was starting to weigh on me. Today could have been a serious problem if my parents fell into the wrong hands. How could I have forgotten about them? River only sighed. He was in no mood to fight my draining thoughts.

“What’s wrong, Remy?” James' soft voice brought me out of my head.

“Sorry, I just… I guess I’m upset at myself for not thinking about my moms,” I confessed. They meant too much to me, and it hurt to even think something bad could’ve happened to them without me knowing. Another thought crossed my mind. Or rather, it was more so River’s thoughts suddenly revealed to me…

‘… I can't believe she’s still alive and I left her there…by herself.’ My wolf sat down, his spirit low as he huddled into a protective ball. My mind hadn’t even begun to wrap around the idea I had my real mom to think about as well.

I wonder what happened to her?

“Don’t worry about it, man. That’s why we’re here, Remy! We love your moms, and I would never let anything happen to them.” Kash nudged his shoulder into mine.

“Yeah, they gotta get through us first!” James shook his fist, trying his best to look menacing, narrowing his brows as he let out a deep growl. It had the opposite effect. It made him look adorable, in my opinion.

“Seriously Remy, you can’t put everything on yourself. That’s why you have us. Stop making life so complicated.” Kash gave a silly grin.

“I guess you're right.” I smiled. Not like they were the first choice for bodyguards, but it made me happy to know Beth and Tina had someone else looking out for them. My hands started getting pruney as I washed the last bit of silverware with the blue sponge. The grooves of my fingertips felt weird, but I was just about done.

We all marched upstairs, careful not to be so loud as we navigated to my room. James wanted to make a pillow fort so we needed to gather some extra items for the living room downstairs.

“This is gonna be so awesome,” the boy chatted a million miles per hour while he held onto my giant body pillow. I tried my best not to let him distract me, searching in the closet for another comforter.

“By the way, what was the whole emergency situation about?” Kash asked. “Derrick still hasn’t gotten back to me yet.” I handed him a plush blanket.

“Not gonna lie, he never does this. I don’t know why he’s ignoring me. He’s probably mad I wouldn’t go training with him today. Ugh, who wants to wake up at five a.m. for training?! Training? Do I look like I go to the gym? It was an immediate no for me,” Kash moaned, hugging the blanket closer.

Oh right… that shit.

“Yea. What was everyone doing? I can’t seem to get in touch with my parents either.” James' curiosity added fuel to the burning fire that was about to get out of control.

“Umm, well a lot of unimportant stuff happened.” I was vague with my answer. Honestly, I was surprised James and Kash didn’t know anything. It was reassuring to know no one had opened their big fat mouths yet, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t soon find out. And I for one didn’t want to be the person to ‌explain all the hairy details to them.

“What kind of stuff?” Kash pressed on. He knitted his brow, hazel eyes studying me, watching my every move for my next answer.

“Umm, you know… stuff. Anyways, it was just a false alarm. It turns out your dad came back.” I skirted around the question.

“My dad is back?! What the hell, Remy? That's big news!!” Kash beamed as he smiled from ear to ear.

“Wow, I can’t believe he’s back so soon. Oh man, I can’t wait to tell him about Derrick and I. Bet he’ll be so proud to know his son has a such a strong mate,” he idiotically rambled on, too excited to catch my face. I tried my best to fake a smile, but it wasn’t working. I knew Kash was happy about Tyrus’s return, but I wasn't. The man was evil, a monster lying in wait to sink his teeth into me if he ever got the chance. I couldn’t say this to Kash, though. Half of me believed he would think I was lying, and that was enough for me to remain silent for now.

“Shoot, should I call him or mindlink him? Or maybe I should just go see him now?” Kash had decided.  Overjoyed at the possibility of seeing his father again, he sat down on the edge of the bed to put his shoes on.

“What about our sleepover?” I tried to reel him back in, selfishly wanting to keep him here for my own reasons.

“What about it? My dad’s back, Remy! I want to see him,” Kash said, failing to get why I would even stop him in the first place.

“Hey you promised us,” James joined in. “No take-backs. What about our pillow fort? And our super awesome binge marathon?” He pouted, his lips quivering like a tiny puppy begging. This was perfect! All I needed to do was piggyback on James' adorable temper-tantrum.

“Kash, it’s just one night. I’m sure you guys can catch up tomorrow,” I gave my two cents. With the peer pressure turned on, James and I stared silently at Kash, beckoning him to change his mind.

It felt like forever as Kash sighed, mulling over his decision.

Dude, just decide already.

I felt myself getting annoyed, growing impatient at him keeping us waiting. It wasn’t his fault. I was just in a bad mood. The summer heat still found its way inside our house. Our poor old AC unit was powerless against the extreme weather we’ve been having lately. Who knew a mountain town like this got so damn hot? I was getting uncomfortable in my hoodie, my armpits stained with sweat, like everywhere else on my body.

Too distracted by the sudden heat flash, I pulled my hoodie from over my head. My naked torso was exposed as I turned to the closet in search of a t-shirt. I found a breathable cotton graphic tee and I slipped it over my head, pulling my arms one by one through the sleeve holes. An audible gasp made me freeze for a second, the shirt half on as I spun my body around to check what had just happened.

Kash and James were pale as a ghost, like a deer caught in the headlights.

“What?!” My eyes quickly scanned the room for any disturbance. It only took a second for me to realize I was the root cause of their shock. My eyes widened, following theirs as I stared down at my swollen belly.

Shit, shit shit. I’m an idiot. Why the hell did I change here?

Edited by ArcisOne & Patroklos

A/N Happy Friday everyone! Hope you enjoyed this cute chapter. I had too much fun writing this one. Beth is such a fun character to write into and I also wanted to give you guys some cute fluff.😄Also lowkey sad that Kash is excited about his dad. 😞If only he knew...  Part 2 tomorrow because... you know... the word count.  ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

Otaku_rose 🥀