The Quiet Giant's Mate Chapter 21 - Ivan

While Regina set up the Facetime on my laptop, I checked my files, looking for the envelope Alexander had brought me that day three years ago. I finally found it and tucked it into my pocket when Regina waved me over.

“Now that I have everyone together, I have an announcement. Last night at the ball I found my mate. So, I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of our family.” Regina smiled and stepped slightly to the side to allow me to sit in the office chair.

I took a deep breath as I slid into the office chair and came into view of the camera. Isadora smiled at me, while Damon, Zoe, and Alexander had the same expression. That expression said ‘what the fuck’ loud and clear. Her Mama may have welcomed me to their family, but the looks of the others weren’t very welcoming.

“You’re serious?” Damon questioned.

Regina rolled her eyes and sat on my lap to be in view. Damon and Alexander didn’t look thrilled that she was now in my lap. 

“Of course, I’m serious, papa. See…” Regina smiled as she tugged at the collar of her sweater dress to show her mark. “We completed our bond last night.”

Damon and Alexander both looked pale. Isadora smiled and softly laughed. And then there was Zoe. Zoe’s reaction was… strange. She backed away enough from her camera so her full torso was in view, and she started to applaud. Yes, I said APPLAUD.

“I have never been prouder of you, baby sis! You climbed the unclimbable,” Zoe whistled before taking her seat.

“You are going to need to tell me EVERYTHING. I need details because this trip has been a letdown so far.” Zoe lamented.

“I am not going to tell you anything, Zoe.” Regina laughed and shook her head. 

‘Thank you. I do not want anyone discussing our sex life.’ I sighed through our link, grateful she wouldn’t gossip with her sister. 

“Fine, have it your way. But if or when I find my mate, I will only share the details with Katrina and André.” Zoe snorted with a smile.

“Papa? Alexander? How are you two holding up?” Regina switched her attention to her male relatives.

“Papa?” She pouted as she focused on Damon’s face.

“I… I have no issues with you finding your mate. Or that it’s Ivan. It is not my place to question the Goddess. I just…” He frowned.

“Your father feels he is missing important milestones by being away,” Isadora explained. 

I don’t know how far away they are, but that shows how strong their bond is that she can feel what he feels and express it for him.

“You aren’t missing that much, papa. It’s not like you being here would have affected the outcome. You’re doing your job as Beta of Incubi, serving Zio Alec. That’s important too. And you won’t be gone that much longer, right? Only another eight months of this traveling and you’ll be back home with us.” she assured him.

“That’s a long time to be away. To be away from the pack, you, and worse of all, your Mama.” Damon sighed. 

“I miss you too, my love. But it won’t be forever, and we can survive it.” Isadora blew a kiss to him.

I was starting to feel uncomfortable. Their interactions reminded me of my parents, which felt like a gut punch because we were here telling her family about us. Meanwhile, the only family I had to tell was my sister, who knew at the ball, and my niece. I can’t share this news and happiness with my parents.

And I know they’d have been thrilled for me. Mama would have adored Regina. It made me nostalgic for my parents and a life I’d never have again. As if knowing what I’m feeling, what am I saying? Of course, Regina knows what I’m feeling. Regina held my hand to comfort me. 

“Your love can survive another eight months, papa. And when you’ve returned, Ivan will be an Incubi member and learn the ropes from Mama about his future role.” Regina smiled.

“Grazie, uccellino. That makes me feel a little better.” Damon sighed. “Though about Ivan coming to Incubi. Where do you plan to live?”

“You are welcome to stay in the villa with us. Regina’s bedroom is on the other side of the house from ours, so you’d have privacy to have sex.” Isadora offered.

“Mama…” Regina sighed, turning pink. “Beyond not wanting you to hear us having sex, we can’t live with you.”

“And why not?” Isadora questioned.

“Neither mine nor Alexander’s old bedrooms are big enough to fit Ivan’s bed.” Regina gave a perfectly logical answer.

“How big of a bed does he have?” Zoe chimed in.

“It’s three meters by three meters,” I answered.

“Fuck that’s a big bed!” Zoe exclaimed.

“Ivan is nearly two and a half meters tall. So, he requires a large bed to sleep properly.” Regina shrugged.

“Then where are you going to live? You can’t commute from his place in Madonie to Incubi as the Beta of Incubi.” Alexander questioned. 

“I was getting to that.” Regina rolled her eyes. “Papa, we’d like your permission to move into the Petridis villa in Zarón. It’s been sitting empty for thirty years, and I know the master bedroom will be ample size to fit Ivan’s bed and still have room to move around.”

Damon looked pensive for a moment before nodding. “That makes the most sense. I do hate to see it vacant. Your Mama has the keys and can give them to you. It’s been cleaned regularly, so it’s in good repair.”

“Thank you, Papa!” Regina beamed.

“Thank you, sir.” I nodded. 

Sure, I’m mated to his youngest child, the only one remaining in Incubi, so giving her the Petridis villa would seem like a no-brainer. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t show appreciation for his giving us the house. I appreciate that he’s willing to let us, or rather me, live in his ancestral home. 

“Now then, with that part settled. I have one final piece of business with Alexander.” Regina turned her attention to her brother.

Of the four faces on the monitor, Alexander looked in rough shape. I’d have expected Damon to look maybe rough, having been away from his mate, but Alexander won first place for looking like he hadn’t slept well in days. Alexander sighed heavily and rugged his hand over his face.

“I already know what you want to say, Regina.” He sighed.

“Well, the rest of us don’t. What happened?” Zoe questioned. 

“Our brother, albeit unintentionally, delayed me meeting Ivan by letting him think he’s been under house arrest all this time,” Regina explained.

“What? How?” Zoe furrowed her brow. “Hey, dumbass, how does one unintentionally let a person believe they are still under confinement?”

“Zoe, there is no need for name-calling.” Isadora scolded. “Though I’d like to know what happened.”

I sighed and moved Regina enough to reach into my pocket. She arched her eyebrow with a little smile that quickly faded when she realized I wasn’t being frisky. I would not do that, at least not during Facetime with her family. Instead, I pulled out the envelope from my pocket.

“Three years ago, Alexander brought me this,” I said, holding the envelope and showing the Madonie seal I’d obviously broken to open it.

“He told Ivan he was free but did it with his stupid smile that left Ivan thinking he was being fucked with.” Regina huffed.

“It’s my smile.” Alexander rolled his eyes. 

“Not my fault he thought my smile was because I was fucking with him. And I wasn’t messing with him. That envelope is the one André gave me.” Alexander pointed at the envelope.

“No.” I shook my head, took the paper out of the envelope, and turned it so everyone could see the blank page.

“The fuck?!” Alexander exclaimed. 

“That’s what I want to know. How could the envelope you gave Ivan have a blank paper when Darren and André could email him a digital copy of the decree with their signatures and dated from three years ago?” Regina asked.

“I… I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” Alexander looked pissed as another display window got added to Facetime.

A moment later, Darren’s face appeared on the screen, and he looked confused as to why he was on a Beta family conference call. That is till he saw me and the envelope.

“Okay, this is about that.” Darren nodded in understanding.

“Yeah. What the hell? Did you guys give me a blank paper? Because I didn’t open that envelope. I set it in my office and went to talk to Amelia so she would know what was going on. It was still in the same spot on my desk when I returned fifteen minutes later.” Alexander questioned.

“Of course, we didn’t give you a blank paper, dumbass.” Darren rolled his eyes. “Give me a second. I’ll pull up the security feed from your office.”

“Wait, you have a camera in my office?” Alexander questioned.

“There are cameras almost everywhere in the packhouse. The only places that don’t have cameras are the bedrooms and bathrooms. Don’t worry. No one is watching old clips of your amateur porn.” Darren shook his head. 

“Gross.” Zoe and Regina wrinkled their noses in unison.

“All the security footage goes directly to a mainframe. Only the cameras at entrances are monitored by security for safety. Trust me, I made sure of that,” Darren explained.

“That’s because he doesn’t want people watching his and André’s homemade porn.” Zoe snickered.

Darren shook his head, ignoring Zoe. We waited quietly for my Aleph to finish whatever he was doing, and then he shouted. “That fucking bitch!”

“What happened?” Regina questioned.

“Alexander, look at the video I emailed you,” Darren instructed.

Alexander looked murderous as he watched whatever was on the footage. “That cunt!” he growled and slammed his hand on the desk.

His computer shook and sat at an angle, so he must have broken the desk when he hit it.  Now I’m curious who did what to get this reaction from him.

“Alexander Damon Petridis, I don’t care that we are a few thousand miles apart. I won’t stand for that kind of language.” Isadora scolded.

“Who did it?” I asked.

“Lia Borgnino,” Darren growled.

“The cunt!” Alexander snarled as he walked away, and just off-screen, I saw him punch a wall.

“Oh, well, now I’ll excuse the language.” Isadora nodded, taking back her words from a moment ago.

It appears this whole family hates Lia given the look of murder in everyone’s eyes. Not that I blame them. What Lia did to Alexander was unforgivable. I saw it from a hundred meters away, but I also knew the kind of bitch she was. And it was too late when I could say something to Alexander. 

“While I know we all hate that female, can someone explain why she’d have done this? It was three years ago. She didn’t get into my brother’s bed till months later. And why would she care about Ivan?” Zoe questioned. 

“Because of what he told me when it was too late,” Alexander answered, gesturing at me as he sat back down.

“I’m still lost. What did you tell him, Ivan?” Zoe questioned.

“I asked if he enjoyed getting Gastone’s and many males of the pack’s extra sloppy seconds,” I answered.

“Wait, she went through all that so you wouldn’t have time to tell Alexander she used to fuck Gastone and ruin her plans to get in good with him?” Zoe raised an eyebrow.

“She was Gastone’s mate,” I stated.

“WAIT… what?” Zoe blinked. “But she wasn’t marked, and if she was, shouldn’t she have died when Darren killed the dickbag? Or is she like a cockroach?”

“They didn’t mark due to the war. She was a liability.” I shrugged. 

“Wow.” Zoe blinked.

“She knew Ivan could blow up her chances with Alexander and set up to ensure he wouldn’t be able to walk around freely. Doing it the way she did, Ivan wouldn’t trust Alexander and less willing to warn her of the type of person she is.” Darren sighed as he connected all the dots.

“See, Damon. You and Alec should have let me stone her and smash her to tiny dust particles.” Isadora scoffed.

“It wouldn’t have changed what happened.” Damon sighed. 

“No, but I’d feel better. She messed with two of my babies now. One directly and the other directly by messing with her mate. I want her head.” Isadora huffed.

“Beta Isadora, please control your temper.” Darren sighed. 

“André and I will discuss this and punish her accordingly. You can trust your nephew to be creative in his punishment.” Darren assured. 

“Now I’m off to discuss this with him. Goodbye, Petridis family and Ivan.” He nodded before leaving the chat. 

“Congrats again, Regina and Ivan. We’ll have a big party to celebrate when we are all home. For now… I’m going to Alexander’s room to check on him.” Zoe smiled as she left the chat.

Alexander had already left the chat without a goodbye, or his computer was broken and dropped him from the call. 

“I’m going to check on my son. Welcome to the family, Ivan.” Damon nodded as he signed off.

“I’ll see you two when you get to Incubi.” Isadora was the last to drop off the call leaving us with mixed feelings.