Chapter 3

Pierce's POV

I need a cup of coffee. Five hours of training is not bad, but today it felt more challenging than normal.

I still felt in disbelief at having met my mate. I was beyond happy, of course, but the surprise and disbelief was equally there. Second chance mates are rare, so having one is a blessing. A blessing I will not take for granted.

I can still remember how my heart broke at the sadness and worry in her eyes. I wanted to take them away, which is one of the reasons I approached her. I was a bit surprised that she has a daughter but that wouldn't change my feelings for her, in fact I'll love her daughter as if she were my own. That's just how it works for us wolves. We don't mind taking in our mate's children at all.

The familiar sweet scent of strawberries and a fresh, rainy morning filled my nose and made my wolf purr. It was her.

"Hey!" Called the familiar voice of my mate, making me stop and turn to her direction with a smile.

The second she stopped in front of me, I felt complete and at piece. Her breathes were a bit laboured showing that my sweet mate lacked exercise. We will most certainly work on that, I need my mate to be as healthy as possible. I didn't want her getting ill.

"Do you have a minute to spare?" She asked as her cute daughter hid behind her legs.

"Sure," I smiled, even as a huge part of me just wanted to pull her into a kiss that would leave her knees buckling. Instead, I did what the father wolf inside me wanted to do, talk to his pup." Hi, Pumpkin." I softly greeted the little girl hiding behind my mate.

"Hello." She shyly waved as she moved forward.

"What's your name? I'm Pierce." I introduced as I tickled her sides, making her giggle before smiling at me.

"I'm Serenity, but Mommy calls me Ren." She enthusiastically smiled.

"Serenity," I said, testing the name," Mommy definitely chose the perfect name for such a beautiful little girl, but I'll call you, Pumpkin." I said, making her giggle.

I stood up, to find my mate looking at me with disbelief and surprise. Her expression filled me with a sense of curiousity.

"What?" I curiously asked, tilting my head to the side.

"Serenity is normally a very picky person. You and your son are the first people who have made her feel so comfortable so fast. She's normally very reserved and shy." She explained, looking at Serenity with a loving gaze.

~She's our pup, so it was to be expected~  My wolf commented through our shared link with pride lacing his words.

'True.' I internally answered him, equally as prideful.

"Well we're honoured," I said as I smiled at Serenity, making her shyly hide behind her mother once more. "So, you wanted to talk right?" I asked her.

"Yes, can we sit at the park?" She asked.

"Sure." I answered to the benches.

~As if no is even an answer~ Smirked my wolf.

Internally rolling my eyes, I blocked our mind link and followed our mate, who's name I know but have not heard from her own lips.

We sat down at the same spot as yesterday, seeing as it offered the right amount of shade. The afternoon sun was just too blazing hot.

"Ren, Honey can you please go play for a sec? Mommy will call you when she's done." My sweet mate calmly asked her daughter. 

"Okay Mommy," She grinned before turning to me with a smile, "Bye Mr Pierce." And with that she took off towards the slides.

"Okay, what did you want to talk about?" I asked as I relaxed into the bench.

"I'm just gonna be blunt, okay? Like ripping a band-aid off," She sternly said, making me a bit nervous, "Did you or did you not pay for our motel yesterday?" She asked.

Relief immediately flooded my body, before a feeling of nervousness nagged my mind. I found myself fidgeting in my spot  as I answered, "Yes, I did."

"Why?" She simply asked, "I mean, I appreciate it and all. Its a nice sentiment but you don't know me." 

I sighed before saying, "Darling, it's hard to explain," I sighed as I sat up straight, "The truth is I don't want to lie to you, but at the same time you won't believe me even if I tell you the truth. Secondly, you wouldn't have taken my offer if I had asked you to come live with me, correct?" I knowingly asked.

"Of course I wouldn't. I don't know you. What if you just want to kidnap my daughter and I and sell us on the black market." She said, raising an eyebrow. A growl threatened to leave my throat at the mere thought of losing them. It would never happen as long as I lived.

"I would never." I sternly answered. 

She sighed and said, "I know. Please just tell me the truth?" She asked.

"I doubt you'll believe me, so I can't." I shrugged as I sat back.

"Try me." She challenged, sitting up with a firm expression. She looked too cute and gorgeous at the same time. I was one lucky man.

"Okay, my son and I are werewolves." I plainly answered.

She blinked her eyes at me before saying, "Are you kidding me? I meant the actual truth. Preferably something that can be proven." She said.

"Fine, come to my house with me, then?" I sat up. "I promise I won't hurt you. I just want to show you that I'm being honest." I asked, hoping that she'll say yes. 

She nervously bit her lip as a look of conflict marred her soft features. The hesitation was as clear as day and as much as it hurt, I was glad she was hesitant in accepting my offer. It showed that she was a cautious woman and I loved that. But soon enough, with the help of the mate bond, I'm sure, she sighed, "Because I feel like I can trust you- which is crazy, yes, I'll come with you." She responded.

"Great, my car is right at the park's parking lot so we can use it." I said as I got up, and offered her my hand.

"A gentleman?" She smiled at me as she took my offered hand. The familiar sensation of sparks had my wolf internally howling and my body humming in pleasure and peace. I was a bit disappointed to find that she looked unaffected, but then again, she's human so the process is a bit slower.

"I try." I smiled s I helped her up.

The sound of little feet padding against the ground towards us has us facing Serenity as she stopped next to her mom with a grin.

"Mommy, where are you going?" She asked, curiousity dancing her chocolate brown eyes.

"Umm, Mr..." She paused, looking at me expectantly, reminding me that I had not introduced myself to her properly so she could have forgotten or she probably did not hear me when I introduced myself to Serenity earlier or she simply did not catch my name.

"Pierce, sorry about that." I nervously chuckled.

"It's okay, I'm Mackenzie by the way." She smiled.

"Hmm, both mother and daughter have lovely names. I'm jealous." I winked, making her blush.

"Mommy? What about Mr. Pierce?" She asked in anticipation.

"Mr. Pierce invited us to his house." She answered the little one.

"Mommy!" She exclaimed, "Stranger danger." She reprimanded her mother, making me cough to hide the laugh that wanted to break out at the cuteness.

"Yes. But Mr. Pierce is not a stranger to Mommy, right, Mr. Pierce?" She asked me with a pleading look that practically begged me to play along.

"Yeah, I'm not." I lied through my teeth.

"Oh, okay then." She shrugged, instantly believing our little lie. Kids.

"Okay, let's go to my car, shall we?" I asked them.

"Mommy! Coodies!" Exclaimed Serenity, reminding me of our hands that were still interlinked.

"Oh yeah. Thanks, Baby, I almost forgot." MacKenzie said, slowly letting go of my hand. A huge part of me wanted to tighten my hold, but I knew that for the time being, I had to let go so I did.

A feeling of coldness instantly filled me as our hands separated but I tried to ignore it as we walked to my white Audi Q7 and jumped in. My mate in the front, next to me and Serenity in the back. They both buckled their seat belts before I pulled out of the parking long.

During the short ride, I couldn't help but to check out the ladies' outfits and their similarities. Both of them had caramel coloured African skin and both of them had braided their hair in brown hairpieces. They had both braided it in singles, making them look alike even more, especially with those chocolate brown eyes and high cheek bones with long eyelashes and slightly bushy eyebrows. 

They both had semi-full lips, and button noses. Serenity wore a Jean dress and black and white sneakers with silver studs on each ear.

MacKenzie however wore a navy blue, off the shoulder sundress with white sneakers adorning her feet. She had on diamond studs on each ear and had her hair was tied in a bun at the top of her head, whereas Serenity's was left untied. They were practically twins.

I will admit that MacKenzie's outfit definitely accentuated her curvaceous body, even though my lovely mate was much shorter than me. She was probably at 5'2 while I'm stood at a towering 6'2. My family will be different if my mate decides to accept me as her mate and of course accepts Milan. I know Milan already likes her and likes Serenity as his sister, so that wouldn't be a problem. We literally don't care that our family will be different skin wise. That's what will make us unique. Our interracial family. 

I really hope she accepts us.

~Me too. I can't imagine a life without her already.~  My wolf whined.

'Nor can I, Buddy. Nor can I.' I agreed with him.