BOOK 1, Chapter 3

❝ Family is everything ❞

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By the time Alejandra Wilde had come home from work, her children had already finished their homework and were watching cartoons in the living room. She smiled at the fond scene before her eyes and greeted her children. Then she made her way to the kitchen to get started on dinner.

She had just gotten the ingredients out when the doorbell rang. She sighed and went to answer the door, wiping her hands on a rag. She opened the door with a tired smile only to come face to face with a man she wasn't ready to face yet.

"Billy," she breathed out. She closed the door behind her and hugged her arms around herself. "What are you doing here?"

Billy Black sat in his wheelchair with a spine so rigid it looked capable of snapping at any given moment. His eyes were pained as he regarded his sister-in-law with hurt and anger.

"I gave you enough time to come to me and when it became apparent that you weren't going to, I came to you." His tone was even, voice deep.

Alejandra stiffened. "I didn't realize you knew where I lived."

Billy deadpanned at the boldfaced statement. "It's a small town. Everyone knows everything about everyone. Or have you forgotten already?"

Alejandra glared at the man. She bended over, grabbed the sides of his wheelchair, and met his stare with an even gaze. She wasn't afraid of him. "Don't act like you know me William," she murmured in a low voice. "I'm a completely different person now and I don't need you to judge my decisions for me. I did what I had to do."

"You abandoned your family!" Billy exploded as she backed away. "Right when we needed you most! You abandoned us!"

"How dare--"

"Ma?"

The adults turned to see Carmen at the door with Jesus and Lola approaching behind her.

"What's going on?" Jesus carefully asked. His eyes were narrowed at Billy.

Lola and Carmen however, were staring at their mother with knowing looks. They knew who the man in the wheelchair was and his importance to the family. They stayed quiet as Jesus tried to control his anger and Alejandra tried to manage the situation.

"Nothing," Alejandra brushed off with a smile. "Billy was just leaving. Weren't you Billy?"

Billy glared at the woman before him before giving a reluctant nod. "Enjoy your evening kids."

The Wilde family watched the man wheel away from them, all with different emotions on their face. Alejandra watched a man from her past with pained eyes as she struggled not to break down then and there. Lola watched Jacob's father, her uncle, wheel away and could almost feel her mother's pain. Jesus watched the man with cautious eyes, scared of how easily he got riled up at the whole situation. Carmen was curious. She wanted to know about the bad blood between the man she recognized as her uncle from countless of times of snooping, and her mother.

Lola noticed Alejandra had begun to tremble and decided to take over. "Ma, why don't you go and sit. Jesus will get you a drink and Carmen and I will get started on dinner. Alright?"

Alejandra smiled gratefully at her eldest child and they all went back inside, putting the encounter at the back of their minds.

•••••••

"So how was school? Make any friends?"

The Wilde family were sitting in the dining room, piling food onto their plates after Jesus was done saying grace. They had moved on from the earlier scene and were enjoying the chicken enchiladas Lola and Carmen had made.

"One." Carmen had started off since she was the youngest. "Brady Fuller. He was nice enough to blow off his friends and hang out with me when I told him I wasn't really the socializing type. Definitely a keeper."

Alejandra, Jesus, and Lola all shared a look before busting out laughing at Carmen.

"Honey," her mother started. "You can't keep that poor boy all to yourself."

Carmen sighed as she bit into the chicken. "I know," she responded with a full mouth. "It was nice while it lasted though."

Jesus threw his head back in a laugh. "Nena," he said once he managed to calm down, "you don't have to stop being his friend because he's social and you're not."

Carmen shrugged and nodded in agreement. Just as they were about to continue though, the doorbell rang.

"I got it," Lola said. She got up and went to answer the door. She came face to face with a woman who, despite half her face being marred, was very beautiful and a huge, bulky man behind her, almost as if they were glued together. "Hello. Can I help you?"

The woman smiled and raised her hands slightly, showing that she had a plate full of muffins. "Hi! I'm Emily and this is my fiancé, Sam. We heard that you just moved and wanted to welcome you, so I baked muffins."

Lola opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by her mother.

"Hija, what's taking you so lo— oh." Alejandra cut herself off upon catching sight of the marred woman and the oddly familiar male behind her. She stiffened upon seeing him and the bad memories his similarities to a certain person from her past, brought. So she plastered on a fake smile and came to stand next to her daughter. "Hello," she said. "I'm Alejandra, feel free to call me Alex though. I know what a handful my name can be to non-spanish speakers," she laughed.

"I'm Emily and this is my fiancé, Sam," the woman introduced.

"Sam Uley," Alejandra nodded, taking them by surprise. She smiled in amusement. "I've heard quite a bit about you."

"Holy shit!" Jesus's voice sounded from behind the women. "You're the 'cult leader,'" he said, putting bunny ears on cult leader.

Lola and Alejandra smacked the boy hard. He yelped and rubbed at his arms where there would no doubt be red marks. Lola grabbed him by the ear and pulled him away hissing things in Spanish into said ear.

"I am so sorry! Jesus has always had a problem with his manners and filtering his mouth. Really Lola too, but she's not as bad and she's getting better at staying quiet. Really I am so sorry! And you guys have been nothing but nice. Oh just watch. When I get done with that boy—"

"Ma'am it's alright," Sam said as he rested a hand on her gesturing hands, effectively cutting her off. "I know my reputation amongst the people in the reservation. We both do."

"Alex," Alejandra corrected ignoring the amount of heat the young man radiated. "Please. I know you broke Leah's heart. But I also know you did the right thing. Living a lie is horrible enough by yourself, but to share it with someone else who doesn't know it's a lie would be a bastardly thing to do. And I know you don't run a cult. Too sudden and too small a town."

Sam smiled a genuine smile at the woman as he and Emily shared a loving glance. They hadn't been so warmly accepted and it was something new to the both of them that Alejandra did so with such understanding and acceptance.

"Would you like to join us for dinner?" the woman offered kindly. "My daughters made enchiladas."

"We would like that," Sam accepted. He saw the hesitance in Emily's posture and made the choice for them. He knew his imprint needed to relax and this seemed like a perfect way to do it.

Alejandra walked them to the kitchen where Lola had already set up two places for them. Lola had taken up the seat next to Carmen leaving her in front of Sam while her brother and Mother sat at the ends, with Jesus next to Carmen and Emily.

"Hope you don't mind," Lola smiled as she put a plate full of food in front of the couple. "I went ahead and served you guys."

"Oh no," Emily shook her head with a small laugh. "It's nice to be served rather than be the one serving for once."

"I have to take this call," Alejandra said as she looked at her ringing cell. She gave her children a stern look as she made her way outside. "Don't embarrass me."

"Never," the three children chorused. They waited until they heard the definitive click of the backdoor closing before pouncing. Jesus and Carmen turned to Sam and Emily so quick, Emily was afraid they got whiplash. Lola meanwhile went ahead and took a sip of her mother's margarita watching her siblings interrogate their guests.

"I hear you deal drugs," Carmen said as she leaned back in her seat. "Does this include weed?"

Sam almost choked on his food at the young girl's question. "What?" he coughed.

"I know you don't run a cult Uley," Jesus confronted. "The math just doesn't add up. So what's the secret? Hm?"

Sam Uley, a bulky man who was almost seven feet, was intimidated by three kids and their blunt questioning. He was surprised that he was feeling intimidated rather than angry. He couldn't believe the questions these kids asked him.

"Don't worry, Samuel, m'boy," Lola said as she took another sip of her mother's margarita. "We don't actually expect you to answer our questions. Yet."

"You guys are weird," Sam said as he took a slow bite of his last enchilada.

"So the professionals say," Jesus dismissed.

"Hasn't changed who we are," Carmen shrugged as she returned to dig into her food.

Lola stayed quiet. She was the only one that realized her mother was taking long on the phone. She usually didn't take that long in a phone call when she was in the middle of something. Especially when she had guests.

Before she could delve further into her suspicions, Alejandra walked back inside, a smile plastered on her face.

She was quick to engage Sam and Emily in conversation, effectively distracting her observant daughter from her lengthy disappearance. The Wilde family found Sam's appetite amusing and endearing. They were surprised at how much he ate, which came as a bigger surprise when he still ate some of the brownies they had and Emily's muffins afterwards.

They had moved to the living room. Alejandra and Emily were talking like there was no tomorrow and Sam was watching Jesus and Lola teach Carmen how to dance.

"What's the song that's playing?" Sam asked, interrupting the conversation between his imprint and Alejandra.

"Oh," Alejandra laughed. "That's cumbia. Jesus loves to dance to it."

"Cumbia?" Emily asked, trying to imitate the woman's accent.

Alejandra laughed some more. "Yes. A type of music genre that's quite popular. Lola just got into it and Carmen doesn't really dance, but she loves to learn new things."

Sam kept looking at the dancing siblings. Lola and Jesus were demonstrating how to properly dance to Carmen who was watching them witch calculating eyes. It was an interesting sight.

Sam took another swig of his beer when he heard it. The unmistakable sound of a wolf's howl. Luckily, only he heard it.

"We better get going," Sam said, a serious edge to his tone. "Thanks for dinner Miss Alex."

Alejandra noticed the edge to his tone and was confused, but managed to plaster a smile still. "Oh it's no problem really. Come by any time."

Emily smiled and hugged the Wilde family goodbye before she and Sam left. The man seemed to be in a hurry.

"Tonight was weird."

The women of the house huffed out a yes. Then, they stared at each other and laughed like there was no tomorrow. They spent the rest of the evening dancing until it was time to go to bed. And Lola swore, she was being watched when she looked out the window and saw a shadow in the forest.

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TRANSLATIONS

Nena  = term of endearment that basically means girly

Hija = daughter

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a/n: it's a bit of a filler chapter, but i wanted to get sam and the family well acquainted because sam's role will be quite significant. next chapter, i'm gonna put some paul&lola action, and embry&lola brotp action.