Rescuing His Captive Mate: Saving The Future Luna

Chapter 187 - Artem - Family Finally Arrives

~~

Artem

~~

I had been through a lot in the course of the last six months. I had taken over the main role in my father's company. I had become the Alpha of this pack, forcibly but still. I had found a mate. I had found and rescued several children, all of whom I was going to adopt. And I had done it all without my family's help.

OK, OK, Chay was here with me, but she was younger and not at all experienced in these things either. My point was that I had done it all without my parents' help. This was all me, my friends, and those that I counted as capable allies.

I may have gotten help from the Luna Queen and Alpha King, but that didn't hinder me at all. I learned a lot from them and would now be an even better Alpha for it. I think that I would actually make my father proud when he sees me, which was going to be the first thing tomorrow morning. 

I hadn't actually seen my father since I took over the pack. He told me then that he was not going to bail me out. That if this was what I wanted to do, then I would need to learn to stand on my own two feet.

He didn't do it to be mean; he did it to make me stronger. He knew that I wouldn't be a good Alpha if my father was there helping me at every turn. Since I had stepped in to run the company, unofficially until the trial period was over, and I took control of the pack, I have been flying solo. And I was proud to say that I hadn't failed at either of my tasks.

I had kept the company moving up and had even increased our profits. I had rescued the children, freed the minds of the pack, and rid them of the evil that was here. And I even found my mate. My father had never expected that, so when I told him to come home for a wedding, he was shocked. Apparently, neither Chay nor I had told our parents about us finding mates. Oops.

I admit though, I was a little nervous. My dad could be a hard man to please at times. Mom was fine; she was just always trying to help people, feed them, or give them a hug. She was the sweetest person I knew, until recently. There were some contenders for that niceness crown of hers.

I knew that they were both going to love Star, and Bailey since they were meeting Chay's mate too. I wasn't worried about that at all. I was more worried that they would be upset with me, and Chay, for not contacting them about anything, ever. Was it OK to still be afraid of your father when you were almost twenty-four? 

I mean, my dad is a strong man, much like me, and he could probably hurt me pretty bad if he really wanted to. I wasn't going to give him that chance, obviously, but still, just knowing he could didn't make things easier on me.

I was nervous the entire night and into the morning. I barely ate my breakfast because I was so nervous. All I could think about was 'mom is going to be so mad at me for not telling her about Star sooner'. I also had nightmares last night about my Aunt Criztie. She was flying up with our parents for the wedding, and she was known to be vicious from time to time. She had actually earned quite the reputation for herself as a warrior when she was younger.

Now though, all my Aunt Criztie does is send out doom books so my sister could beat me with them, that and read books or watch anime. She had mellowed out, or so they said. I think all that reading and anime binging was to get more ideas because she grew bored with old methods.

Dammit, I was scared of them all right now. Sometimes I wish I never called them to come up here from Mexico, they didn't need to meet my mate, and they didn't need to know about my baby.

When I heard the doors to their car close out front, I knew it was all too late. My time had run out. It was time for me to face the music.

I walked to my doom, I mean the door, as I heard them approach. Star was waiting by my side, smiling happily and eagerly awaiting the introductions. She had loved finally seeing her family so much that she was excited about meeting mine too. I hoped she wasn't disappointed.

As soon as the door opened, my Aunt Criztie was there glaring at me.

"Artemis Archer Cooper, why the hell have you been hiding things from me?!" Aunt Criztie's voice echoed into the house, and she yelled at me. I flinched for a second, I was afraid she had brought dictionaries, and she and Chay were going to hit me.

"I am sorry, Tia Criztie." I hung my head in shame and blushed. "I didn't mean to hide anything. I was just really busy."

"Too busy to tell us you found a mate almost five months ago? That's just plain stupid. You need to be wiser than this boy. That is why I sent you so many books as a child, I needed you to be smarter than the other boys."

"You should listen to your aunt." Dad laughed as he walked past me. It sounded good natured, but it was hard to tell. "She's been telling me how right she is for months. It must be true, so you should just listen to her." He smirked at me. Clearly he was enjoying watching me be on her receiving end right now.

"Oh, leave my boy alone." Mom came in and spoke in her sweet voice. "He has had a lot on his plate lately." Mom hugged me and kissed my cheek as per her usual welcome. But the kiss turned into a sharp pain when she grabbed my left ear and pulled it hard. "But I don't care how busy you were, you should have called me to tell me that you were mated! A mother needs to know these things, Artemis. How stupid can you be?"

"I'm sorry, Mama. I'm sorry." I was bent over, crouching forward as she pulled my head lower and lower. "Please let go Mama, please."

"I'm sorry, Artem, what did you say?" Mom laughed at me. "I didn't hear you from all the way down there."

"I said that Chay was mated too." I needed to get them off of me. I needed to find a way to survive this encounter. I'm sorry Chay."

"Ceysa Altalune Cooper, why am I just now hearing that you have a mate?!" Mom yelled at her and let go of my head.

"Simple, Mama, I never told you. I thought it best to share this kind of news in person." She sounded so confident, I couldn't wait for them to lay into her.

"That is wise, dear. Mates are important things. You need to introduce them properly." Aunt Criztie smiled at her.

"Oh, come on! You just scolded me for not telling you, but you praise her. What gives?"

"Unlike you, Artem, she had a valid reason for why she didn't tell us. All you did was act ashamed and apologize." Mom's look was cold as ice; I think I felt frostbite starting to set in.

"You mean her excuse was better." I grumbled under my breath.

"Just drop it, boy. You know they're next to impossible to argue with. Just accept it." Dad's advice was spoken kindly, but I felt like he was telling me to just take my beating and shut up. That wasn't very nice.

"So, where is my future daughter in law? Which one is she?" Mom was looking at the three new women in the room: Star, Vivian, and Ella. They were her only choices for who to pick from. "Ahh, I bet it's you." She pointed right at Star and smiled.

"How did you know?" My mate smiled back and stepped forward.

"A mother knows, sweetheart, a mother knows. Plus, his scent was the strongest right in the middle, so it was easy to tell." She giggled at her future daughter in law when she told her the truth of how she knew.

"Clever."

"Mom, Dad, Aunt Criztie, I would like to introduce you all to my mate." I held my hand out to her, and she walked to my side immediately. "This is Astraia Westbrook, but she goes by the nickname Star."

"Ooh, I knew it." Mom clapped her hands together. "When I heard the name, I knew the meaning of it. So my son and his mate, the moon and stars. That is so fantastic. I can't believe how great you two are together. Star, you are gorgeous!"

"So beautiful." Aunt Criztie approved as well. Thank god this was starting off good so far.