Chapter 141

Carol’s POV

“Surprise!!”

My mouth fell open.

“Mom? Dad?” I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands. I couldn’t believe they were standing at the doorway of Aiden’s penthouse. They were inside wolf territory. Excitement at seeing my family again and fear for them coursed through me at the same exact time.

My father was carrying a ton of suitcases.

“What are you guys doing here?” I was still in shock over the fact that they were here.

“Can we not visit our daughter?” My mother asked, her eyes watery. “Especially when she’s about to be officially mated in a couple of days?”

“A nice lady, Madison, called us and invited us to the ceremony. Said we were welcome to come and spend a few days with our daughter and that it was Alpha-approved.”

Alpha approved?

That meant Aiden had known about this and approved of my parents being here considering he was the active Alpha.

“Are you going to let us in, Kiddo?” My father asked. “These suitcases are heavy. Your mother packed the entire house.”

I smiled at my father and stepped aside for him. My mother followed him, rolling her eyes.

“I did not pack the entire house. I only packed what we needed,” my mother retorted.

I smiled at their bickering and was about to shut the door when a foot stopped me. I froze and turned towards the door nearly screaming when I saw yet another familiar face.

“Surprise, Bitch!”

“Fiona!?” I gasped as I lunged at her. I couldn’t help myself; my shock wore off and now I was just excited that my best friend was standing in front of me. I hadn’t seen her in what felt like months. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into a hug. Her suitcases were piled nicely behind her on the ground.

She hugged me back tightly, both of us with tears in our eyes.

“I’ve been so worried about you,” she breathed. “I’m so happy you are okay. And getting married! I’m your maid of honor, right? I might forgive you for not asking me if we can get drunk as fuck tonight and you introduced me to some hot werewolf boys.”

I laughed as I released her.

“It’s a mating ceremony, Fi. There is no maid of honors,” I told her.

“Well, that’s no fun. Let’s change the rules. It’s your ceremony after all. You are the Luna now,” she told me teasingly. She glanced over her shoulder at her bags and frowned. “So, Miss Luna. Do you have people who can take care of this… orrrrrr.”

I chuckled at my friend and shook my head.

“No, Fi. You are on your own with those,” I told her, nudging her shoulder.

She groaned, but it was in good nature. God, I’ve missed her so much. Chuckling, I helped her with her suitcases and brought them into the penthouse. My parents were already examining literally everything.

“This place is huge,” my mother said in awe. “I can’t believe we are in an apartment right now.”

“Check out the view, Hun,” my father said, staring out the big open window. The penthouse had a gorgeous view of the city; I loved sitting on the balcony and people-watching from up above.

“I’ll show you guys to your rooms. We have a few guest rooms you can choose from,” I told them, motioning for them to follow me.

We walked down a long hallway and I pointed to a couple of doors.

“You can stay in any of them,” I told them.

My father and mother went into one room while Fiona went into another.

“These are beautiful,” my mother breathed as she checked out some of the other rooms. Once they found the rooms they wanted to stay in, I helped them bring their bags into them so they could unpack and feel more comfortable.

“I can’t believe you guys are actually here,” I said with a smile. “We’ll have to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate. I’ll call Aiden. He’s working now, but I’m sure he can leave early.”

“Don’t make any fuss over us, dear. We know how busy Aiden is. He’s an Alpha now. We can make do,” my mother told me sweetly as she wrapped me in a hug.

I smiled as tears pricked my eyes.

“I want to spend as much time with you guys as possible,” I whispered to her, hugging her back. I loved my parents so much and I had so much to tell them.

After a few minutes, I went into Fiona’s room to see how she was settling in.

“We are going out tonight, right? I’m dying to see the city. You know I’ve never been,” she said as she rummaged through the mound of clothes on her bed.

I raised my eyes; Fiona had total city-girl vibes. I’ve known her for most of my life and she’d go on vacations occasionally, but her family was never made of money despite how Fiona appears. She liked to wear nice clothes, but there were always Clarence buys and cheap stores that made really nice-looking items. I had no idea she’d never been to the city. Fiona lived in a broken household until she moved out. Her mother and father split before she was even born, and her mother liked to sleep around since then. She always made Fiona feel less than she was and unimportant.

I was all Fiona had for most of her life. We became friends early on in childhood and we stuck together ever since.

“Really?” I asked her, surprised by this. I sat down on her bed and watched as she rummaged through all of her clothes.

She nodded.

“We could never afford it,” she told me, shrugging. “But things are different now. My best friend is living in the city, and I plan to be here all the time if you’ll let me.”

I smiled at her; I knew I was moving away like I had hurt her. For a long time, I was all she had, and I hated that I was pretty much abandoning her. I wanted her here with me for as long as I could have her. I grabbed hold of her arm and made her look at me; she busied her hands when she was uncomfortable, and I knew that’s what she was doing. She wanted to be upset with me for leaving her, but at the same time, I knew she was happy to be seeing me again after all this time. Phone calls just weren’t enough, and I knew that.

“I’m sorry, Fiona,” I told her genuinely. “Moving away like that wasn’t cool. But you know I had to do what I had to do. I love him.”

Tears welled up in her eyes and she sighed, sitting down next to me.

“I know,” she said, leaning her head on my shoulder. “I just miss you. It’s not the same without you.”

I so badly wanted her to move here, but I also knew it wasn’t possible. Just then, my phone rang. I smiled when I saw Aiden’s name flash across the screen and Fiona chuckled.

“You light up like the moon whenever he calls. You always have,” she teased, nudging my shoulder. “Go answer his call. Let me unpack.”

I nodded and gave her one last hug before I left her room. I swiped the green talk button and pressed the phone to my cheek.

“Hey,” I said, unable to keep the smile off my face.

“Hey, babe. Did you get your surprise?” He asked, a tenderness in his tone.

“You mean my parents and best friend?” I asked him. “How long have you known they were coming here?”

“Madison requested it a couple of days ago and I approved it immediately. I sent them the private plane and got them here as soon as I could,” Aiden admitted. “I figured you could use a few days with your family before our ceremony.”

“I love you,” I told him softly.

“I love you more,” he replied. “I was thinking of dinner in the city tonight. I’ll leave the packhouse around 5. I was thinking Oliver could come too. I think he needs to get out for a couple of hours. He’s been miserable since everything went down, and I feel bad. He pretty much lost his whole family in one day.”

“That would be a great idea,” I agreed. “I can’t wait to see you.”

“Me too, Babe. I have a meeting, but I’ll see you tonight,” he said. “Love you.”

‘Love you too,” I said and then hung up the phone.

I smiled widely.

Throughout the day, I helped my parents and Fiona unpack and settle in. Later in the afternoon, we had tea and sat around the fireplace so I could tell them about my time in the pack and how I was still adjusting to things. I told them that I felt like an outsider, but things were slowly coming together. They listened and gave me their feedback as they always did.

Then around 5:30, the front door opened, and Aiden walked in. I jumped up from the couch and ran to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing his handsome face. He smiled as our lips touched and he pulled me closer to him.

“Get a room,” Oliver muttered as he walked in behind him.

I chuckled but I didn’t stop kissing my mate.

“Honestly, Carol,” my mother said from the couch, but there was laughter in her voice.

“Yeah, Kiddo. Your father doesn’t want to see any of that,” my father added, also laughing.

I pulled away from Aiden and beamed up at him.

“I made a reservation for the skylight restaurant. It’s gorgeous and there’s a nice view of the city,” Aiden told them. “The food is incredible as well.”

“Sounds great,” my mother said excitedly. “I’ll go get ready.”

“I’ll come with you,” my father said.

I looked at Fiona, expecting her to be running to put on her nicest outfit, but she stood frozen, her eyes large and locked on something besides Aiden.

I followed her gaze and saw Oliver with his eyes on Fiona and they were yellow as his wolf fought to take control. My mouth hung open as I stared between my best friend and Beta.

What on earth was going on?