7

ANNABELLE.

The car comes to a halt, and we bid our adieus to Antonio since he has some work in the city and I already planned on giving him the day off. We get out of the car, my hand on Bradley's elbow holding onto him.

My best friend and I walk into the busy coffee shop. The delicious smell of pastries and freshly made coffee greets us. Fuck, the mere addictive smell wafting the air, is absolutely heavenly.

'human I swear you have an unhealthy coffee addiction' Ania laughs heartily.

I know, Wolfie, I know. I sigh.

"Bitch you better not be linking your wolf when I'm wasting my breath on telling you about-" I cut Brad off, "About how crazy it is to be a gay dad to two teenagers and a little girl and leading one the biggest packs in the world," I look at him trying not to laugh, at the rather surprised look on his face.

"How the hell do you do that?" He laughs shocked by my ability in linking and listening to him at the same time.

It wasn't that hard.

That's what she said.

"It's called multitasking, dipshit," I flick his forehead playfully. He grunts and glares at me with displeasure, but his expression changes, to a full-blown grin when he notices someone over my head and waves them over.

Oh-no.

"Annabelle fucking Devirolli, you little rascal where the hell have been this long?!" I hear the very familiar yet very angry voice of one of my ten favorite people in the whole world that I successfully neglected. Crap. I gulp in worrisome.

Mariah.

I turn my guilty gaze towards her warm brown eyes, giving me a serene and motherly sense, a reprimanding look following. Her frail and small frame, strolls over to us, an apron around her waist, her brown locks with grey streaks in a neat bun, hands on her hips as she glares at us....At me.

I stand up meet her halfway and surprise her by giving her a warm hug and a peck on the cheek. I can say that I wasn't the most affectionate people. Despite, my love language was physical touch. I felt icky when someone touched me without my permission.

I pull from the hug just to be pulled again and for Mariah to pat my back and squeeze me one last time. I meet her gaze noticing how soft her eyes are. Showing the kindness and love the sweet woman has for me.

"Sit down, we have a lot to talk about, let me get your orders in first, but that doesn't mean you're off the hook young lady, alright?" She suggests and scolds and I nod.

Goddess, I was in deep shit. Sheepishly looking at her, I open my mouth to let a bunch of apologies out but Brad decides to open his dumb face and whine standing up from his seat, his arms stretching outwards.

"Hey! I saw you first, am I not visible? And how come Anna gets a warm welcome but not me?" He stomps his foot making us laugh at his antics. Gosh. His five year-old daughter was maturer than him, I swear.

He's an idiot but I love him anyways.

"Come here, you silly boy," Mar warps him in a hug, patting his head, as he bends at the knees to meet her small frame.

I make myself comfortable sitting down Brad follows suit and Mariah turns to us to take our orders.

"A cinnamon bun and an Americano please?" I request sweetly batting my eyelashes coyly as she casts me another hard look.

"Can I get a vanilla milkshake, please and thank you Mar," Brad smiles at her.

"I'll be right back." She gives us- me one last stern look and strolls to the barista to get our orders in.

I look around seeing the humans and supernaturals all fraternizing and familiar with each other, and the sight brings a small smile to my face. I liked it. The tranquility and diversity brought a sense of happiness to me.

A few hundreds of years back, humans were scared shitless of shifters but after the gods and goddesses gave the supernatural beings mates, they overcame that fear, when they realized that we didn't want to cause them or their world any harm.

At least most of them have accepted us.

Some not so much.

I mean they kind of had to since some humans were and are mated to some supernaturals.

"So, mind telling me why I haven't heard from you for two and a half solid damn years?" Mar's stern voice brings me back from my thoughts.

Brad gasps dramatically "Oooh, you screwed up big time-" he mutters but shuts his mouth and checks his phone when a call comes through, "I'm going to take this outside." He adds getting up.

Mar and I nod dismissing him and I face her apologetically, "I'm so sorry Mar, I've been busy with all the responsibilities that came with being an alpha and rebuilding what Alesso fucked up," I sneer thinking about my father.

Mariah is a hybrid more specifically part wolf and witch, she was a part of one of the biggest witch covens in the US and a part of Brad's pack. She is one of the six people that know about how much of a piece of shit Alesso Ezio Devirolli is.

My father.

Her eyes soften for a fraction of a second but harden again. "That isn't enough of an excuse, you could've called. Hell! you could've or texted to let me know how you were doing I was so worried-" she suddenly stops when the barista calls for her and she excuses herself.

I turn towards where Bradley is talking on the phone outside, a prominent blush on his face and him struggling to hide the hard on he has telling me exactly who he's talking to.

Nathan.

The horny bastards. I laugh at his expense averting my eyes away.

'at least one of your friends is getting some' Ania grumbles sneering at me, displeasure clear in her tone.

Hey! don't go all wolfing on me, it's not my fault, that I don't want to jump every being I see, and hasn't it been a few days since we had Zyneth in our bed. I sigh tiredly, reminding her.

'Exact-freaking-ly a few days ago, our heat is coming soon and we better find our mate-' she tries to convince me.

I cut her off immediately as my anger skyrockets. Ania, you better not talk about having a mate anymore. We fucking talked about this....I'll find someone to satisfy us until our heat is over.

'hell no! I want my mate-' I cut off our link, stopping her growls of frustration and anger towards my unchanging opinion. Seeing as I always had trouble convincing my wolf that we didn't need anyone.

And we were doing well on our own and we didn't need no man or woman to mess our plans up. I hated having to say it to her every time knowing how much of a huge hopeless romantic she was.

Caring meant pain. Loving meant pain and I've had my fair share of suffering. I didn't need anymore.

Suddenly the bell rings, and my eyes snap towards the person that just entered. My breath shudders involuntary as I eye the stranger with keen interest finding him more and more enticing as the seconds I spend admiring his features pass.