Page 126 of The Alpha and His Childhood Sweetheart

That was a gut punch to all of us. I didn’t need a bond, nor did I need to look around, to see the guilt my mother’s words brought. I even felt bad, and I hadn’t said anything. Mom made a blanket statement, “You all owe Angela and Klaus an apology.” Brutus huffed.

Farrin smirked, “What about me? I think I deserve an apology too.” My mom whirled, “Are you fucking serious,Farrin?! What do you want from me? I already complimented you. What else could you possibly want? What my husband said was accurate.”

She pointed, “You used the excuse of being unable to control yourself like every other fucking supernatural group used to. You didn’t try to stop yourself and you did try to take me from our wedding. I don’t recall you EVER apologizing for that, come to think of it.” Farrin winced when Trixie smacked him on the arm.

My mom continued, “Fairies are JUST as responsible for controlling themselves as wolves are when a female enters their heat or concupiscence. You have grown from the man I grew up with and I fucking acknowledged that. Trixie brought out the best in you. No one in this damn room owes YOU an apology. They owe it to my baby and your son. YOU, not so much.” She addressed the room, “Everyone stays in this office until you remember my rule in this territory.” Which one?

She answered sending her annoyance that we all wondered which rule it was. She threw out, “It’s obviously the rule about people who ACT like assholes, get treated like assholes.” She popped out in a huff.

Wesley sighed, “She just sucker punches you with her speeches.” Max laughed, “I have never heard her yell at dad like that in front of anyone.” My Uncle Aiden chuckled, “She only yelled at him so he wouldn’t blurt out Farrin tried to have sex with your mother in front of Angela.” My dad flushed.

Aunt Torvi laughed, “I do suppose that’s not information Angela needs about her mate’s dad today.” Elise snorted, “Or ever. I’m sure guys wanted my mom before my dad met her. I’m not interested in hearing about any of them. Ever. Because ew. I’m leaving. God, EJ, erase my memory so I can stop thinking about such things.” I laughed and kissed her, “Let’s go.”

I snapped my dad, uncles, and grandpa whiskey. Grammy Veronica laughed, “Where's my whiskey, young man?” I smirked, “You don’t need to take the edge of grammy, they do. Or they will never make it back out to the party.”

I linked my siblings, “Watch Angela closely. Klaus gets to earn our approval. We can get that while being happy for Angela.” They all brightened and nodded. My dad raised an eyebrow as we left the room. Uncle Aiden was skipping.

I snorted, “Can you tone it down?” My Uncle Aiden laughed, “No, I cannot. I have been WAITING for one of the Conners brood to be mated to a Fairy. There are twenty of you. It’s ONLY fair to have one of you in my realm permanently. I am very excited that this means I will see more of you all in Faerie.”

He lowered his voice, “It also means your mother will have different memories there. I’ve been building new ones for years. She will always have echoes, but finally the happy moments might be stronger than the noise of the atrocities that occurred in our home.”

“Klaus will not harm Angela. He does not even know of that cruel tradition I did away with. Cassie is right though, he’s a mischievous little man. I wish you all luck with that. Those two together, yeesh. We are not prepared.” He popped away.

The party had gotten back to its regular flow. Elise ducked out to go see Angela as soon as we got back. When she came back inside, she linked me, “Go see your sister. She’s worried you’re mad.” I sighed, “Alright but she can feel I am not in the bond.” She chided, “Gee, it’s almost like meeting your mate and your family being dicks is emotionally frazzling. Go. See. Her.” I chuckled, “Of course, babe.”

Brutus purred, “She’s so hot.” Yet again, I agreed. I popped to Angela and Klaus. He held out his hand, “Alpha Duke Conners, I don’t honestly know which one you are yet, and do not want to offend you guessing. I believe you are EJ though.”

Angela laughed, “It is EJ. You’ll learn to recognize him. You don’t need to use his title either.” Klaus smiled at her, “I’ll call him Alpha until he agrees to otherwise.” Dammit. This kid was going to make me like him. Angela shot me her big puppy dog eyes that I was incapable of saying no to.

I groaned, “Please call me EJ, Klaus.” He nodded. I hugged Angela, “Congratulations on meeting your mate. Should you two ever want to talk about how hard it is to be apart and not be together twenty-four seven now that you’ve met, Elise and I know a thing or two about that.”

I ruffled my sister’s hair, “Angela, you know I’ll always spare time for you. Klaus, the same goes for you. You will have to earn my respect because I won’t just hand it to you. I have no problem starting that open door policy with you.”

Klaus puffed up, “I will earn the respect of all of you. Goddess Azoney has paired me with Angela and I will be a good mate. For now, it is friendship that I know one day will bloom. I have always been intrigued by her name. The stories I have heard about her have always made me curious. I was most excited when the invitation to her birthday party arrived. Mysteriously, the other event we were talking about going to got cancelled.” Angela smiled.

I laughed, “Little one, what did you do?” Angela winked, “I told Uncle Aiden the event was on mine and TJ’s birthday and some of our guests wouldn’t be able to attend. So, he fixed it.” I laughed, “You are diabolical.” She shrugged, “I knew Uncle Aiden wouldn’t mind even if meeting Klaus wasn’t why I wanted that event cancelled.”

I snorted, “Uncle Aiden is on cloud nine.” Angela frowned, “But daddy is upset.” I explained, “Dad is grappling with his little girl having a mate and mom’s past. It’s not about you.” Angela smiled and squeezed Klaus’ hand.

She told him, “Don’t worry Klaus, my dad comes around.” Klaus smiled brightly at her, “Well, who could worry if you tell them not to Ang?” She blushed. Ok, that settled it. I couldn’t be here anymore. I kissed her cheek and said, “Come back to your party when you are ready.” She nodded. Brutus said, “Snow is very happy.”

Well, I felt like I’d aged three years when I walked inside. Alexander now had a glass of whiskey himself. It wasn’t a bad idea so I grabbed one too. Angela and Klaus didn’t separate until the last possible moment.

Mom and Trixie had already arranged when they would see each other next. My mom had gotten Angela a phone to talk to Klaus on. It was for Klaus and emergencies. She already had all the important numbers in the phone.

My dad had come around before the end of the night. Mostly for Angela, but he was still pouting because she’d found her mate so early. He’d gotten a break with Cassie since she’d been older. I took Elise up to bed once everyone left and promptly passed out.

The next day we were all being lazy in the family room together when Lexi Daniels blew into the room. She spotted my mom, “You will NEVER believe what just happened to me.” My mom waited several moments but she didn’t continue.

Mom asked, “Did you want me to guess?” Aunt Lexi nodded. Mom guessed, “A green unicorn was conjured into your territory? I would never guess that.” Aunt Lexi laughed, “Thank you, Haley. I needed a laugh. I would’ve LOVED if that had been what happened. No, that’s not it.”

Mom was about to guess again but Aunt Lexi continued. “Ted and I were in a meeting with a new client. They asked if we could get them The Rebels for a party. Does ANYONE in this damn room know whoThe Rebelsare?!” I shook my head with most everyone.

Aunt Lexi threw her hands up, “Ted and I were flabbergasted and confused. Nothing came up on my google search. They don’t even have an Instagram. No Twitter, and don’t any of you kids say ‘it’s X’ it’s forever Twitter to me. Anyway they also don’t have TikTok, Facebook, or Instagram. They have NOTHING. No social media platform WHATSOEVER!” I asked, “Who are they then?”

Aunt Lexi flopped down onto a chair admitting, “I don’t know.” Micah answered, “It’s a band. A VERY popular all supernatural band.” Aunt Lexi bolted up, “YOU KNOW THEM?!” Micah gaped at her, “Yes, because everyone knows them.” My mom said, “I’ve never heard of them.”

I echoed her sentiments, “Me either.” All my siblings agreed. Elise and Buttercup spoke up at the same time, “Not a clue.” Aunt Lexi clapped her hands, “THANK YOU!” She turned on Micah, “So you are the only one who knows. I am THE party planner in this area. How could you not tell me about this band? What do you know? When did they become the supernatural it band? Is this a other realms have this band thing they don’t advertise in the human realm? Is that why there is no social media?!”

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