My Atypical Wolf

After the ceremony everyone started to surround the couple with greetings and blessings for their future. Meanwhile, Ashton who was sitting with Connor, Carmen and Ivy as Ashton wasn't sure whom to interact with, and neither were the girls. As for Connor, Ashton was asked by Caleb not to let him out of his sight until he was back, so as soon as Caleb arrived after spotting them, Connor jumped at him, 

"Dad, Can I go and meet the cousins. Ashton won't let me out." Connor shot Ashton a glare, which Ashton accepted without a word.

"Connor, we are about to start eating." Caleb reminded him. 

"I know… but…" Connor begged. Caleb sighed and gazed at his mate before shifting his gaze to the girls. "Okay." he declared. Connon jumbled in glee, until Caleb added. "But on one condition. Take Carmen and Ivy with you and introduce them to the family."

"But-" Connor hesitated.

"It's okay, we don't…" Carmen began. but both of them were shut off by Caleb.

"Don't be silly. Connor…. Carmen and Ivy are family, remember that." Caleb declared sternly before he gestured to the girls to follow Connor. Once they were gone, Ashton got up from the seat. "You wanna go with them?" he turned to Ashton and asked.

"Nope. I have had enough of your family last night. I need a break before I explode." Ashton sighed. "So… how are you?" Ashton asked.

"I am good?" Caleb blurted, unsure of why Ashton was asking him this out of the blue. "What is going on with you?"

"There was an emergency right? I hope it wasn't too much trouble." Ashton reminded him, referring to Caleb's job.

"Oh, that. No, it wasn't for work. I took an official leave, which was hard because I have already taken a ton of unofficial leave. I swear if my father wasn't the mayor I would be kicked out already." Caleb shook his head.

"So what happened"? Ashton was amazed.

"Sebastian called me, said he needed a favor." Caleb raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" Ashton puckered his brows.

"Uh-huh. How else do you think Sebastian got that portrait of himself this quick." Caleb smirked.

"So that's what you were doing." Ashton chuckled. "So that's how you knew."

"Yepp." Caleb chuckled. "That son of a b***h did it. He made a crazy, stupid decision."

"I think the word you are looking for is brave." Ashton clarified. Caleb eyes him playfully before holding onto his hand. Ashton was surprised by the sudden action, to which Caleb simply shrugged.

"Come on, let's utilize my day off to the fullest," and with that Ashton was dragged away by his mate. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Connor, who was annoyed by the presence of the girls behind him, sighed. It was odd enough to see the little one, Ivy in school that now he was forced to spend time with the girls here as well. There was something about these girls that he found annoying. Perhaps it was because they were the daughters of that evil Alpha or maybe because he would also have to share his Dad with them now that they had been adopted.

"Mace!" Connor called out to his second cousin, who was the youngest daughter of Rosette (Mrs Wrisberg's sister). Even though Mace and Caleb were technically cousins. With respect to their age, Mace and Connor were closer. Connor was only three years younger than Mace, and Connor's favorite cousin, despite the rift between Rachel and Rosette.

"Connor! Finally. Where were you? Look what I saved you"? She put her hand out to reveal a giant shrimp on her hand. "It was the largest one!" Mace chuckled. It didn't take Mace long to notice that there were two other girls beside Connor who were simply standing there while looking at each other. From their look, it appeared as if the bigger one was fond of the little one.

Connor was engulfed by the shape of the shrimp until he noticed the curious gaze of Mace, he followed her gaze and discovered that it was the sisters. Connor pouted, but went ahead with the introduction, "This is Ivy, she is in my class." he pointed at Ivy before pointing at Carmen, "And this is Carmen." 

"They are your friends"? Mace asked them.

"No, they live here." Connor blurted. "My Dad adopted them."

"Really? That's awesome"! Mace declared with joy. "You are so lucky your sister is your classmate. My sisters are so older than me that they don't even include me in anything." Now it was Mace who was pouting.

"They are not my sisters." Connor huffed. "Carmen and Ivy are sisters, but they are not my sisters!" Caleb insisted.

"It's true," Carmen shrugged. 

"Connor, that's not how it works." Mace frowned. "You said your Dad adopted them right, then they are your sisters." 

"It was because of the school. It didn't mean anything," Carmen clarified. "We still go by our real surnames. My full name is Carmen Fountain." she prompted.

"See?" Connor added.

Mace looked back and forth between the two of them and sighed. Surnames don't mean much. "I am Mace Lance-Pickett. It's not the surname of either of my parent's last name. They are still my parents."

"What's their last name?" Carmen asked.

"My mom's Lance. My Dad's Pickett." Mace shrugged.

Carmen chuckled at that and spoke, "you got both of your parent's names dummy."

"I am not a dummy." Mace huffed. "You're a dummy. You are family if you are adopted. You are older than me, right? You should know that." She pouted.

"I…" Carmen was speechless, not sure how to win with Mace, so she simply sighed. She turned to look at Connor who was as frustrated as Mace was busy with Carmen and Ivy instead of playing with her, so Carmen simply said, "You are right."

Mace gave a victorious smile before she turned to Connor and said, "finish it fast, I got some other things I want to show you." She smirked. Connor put the entire shrimp in his mouth all at once as Mace turned to the sisters. "You two as well! Come and join me." She invited them. Despite his stuffed mouth, Caleb let out a frown.