40
Tino's POV
When Koa told me that his parent's house was bigger than his I didn't believe him. But now that I am here, and I'm walking through it. He was right.
It was now around one in the afternoon and most of Tino's family was here for the cookout. It was bustling, so many Lycans filled the house and the outside of it.
Koa told me that we didn't have to dress up super nice. So I wore jeans and a long sleeve T-shirt. Many of Koa's uncles were outside standing around the grill already, with various meats already cooking.
I had expected there to be a bunch of kids running around, but there were only a few. Koa had explained that most of his cousins were in their teens and around his age. Which added to the fear of having to talk to so many people. And also remembering their names. Fuck. I have to remember like thirty people's names.
Koa led me through the house, my hand in his and a huge smile on his face. We made it to the kitchen and his mom and her sisters and Koa's sisters were all in there. And I assume some of his cousins too. Vincent and Kona appeared from behind us, and I didn't even know they were there.
"You're here!" Cynthia yelled as she walked towards us quickly. She pulled us into a big hug but trying not to touch us with her apron. And then went to Vin and Kona. "Come. Tino and Vincent. Let me introduce you to your family."
My heart warmed at the sentiment. My family.
There were three women she introduced as her sisters. Crystal was the oldest. Christina was the middle, and Charlotte was the youngest.
Crystal had one daughter named Adrian and a son named Aiden. Both were twins, and they were 17. And Crystal was mated to Derek.
Christina had three kids. Jay who was two, Justice who was three, and Jamie who was five. Her mate was Alexander.
Charlotte had two kids, Michaela who was 16, and Mason who is 18. She was mated to Justin.
Then I met the uncles, some of them were the Aunt's mate. But three were not. They were Cynthia's brothers.
Chris was mated to Raymond just like Koa told me. They had three kids, Gregory who was 22, Georgia 24, and Grant 19. All mated.
Charles was mated to Francessca and had one kid, Frankie and he was eight.
Cal was mated to Henrietta and they currently had no kids. Thank fuck.
Vin and I then met Koa's grandparents, but we were told just to call them Papa and nana. So I have no clue what their names are.
After that, I spoke with Channing and he introduced me to his sister April, and his parents who were told to call them Grandma and grandpa.
Now Tino and I were sitting in the backyard at one of the tables trying to get our heads to stop hurting from meeting do so many people.
"Dude, thank fuck that's over." Vincent groaned laying his head on his arms. "I've never met so many people in my life."
"Are you sure we met everyone? I feel like we haven't." I looked around the backyard to see if we missed any of the faces.
"If we did, we can meet them the next time we come back." Vincent chuckled and he sat back up, leaning in his chair. He squinted his eyes at me and sighed. "Alright, what's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"You have a look on your face. I've seen that look. You're hiding something." I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I wasn't planning on telling him this now. I wanted to wait until we got back but I guess there is no better time than the present.
"I'm giving up my alpha title and I'm going to move here with Koa." Vincent stared deep into my eyes as he processed what I was saying. But it held no emotion of surprise or confusion, which confused me.
"Is that it?"
"What do you mean is that it? Yeah, that's it."
"Oh thank fuck. I thought you were telling me something important like you were pregnant already." Well...that could also be a possibility but wait what?
"This is important."
"Well yes, it is. And I know Dad is going to freak out. But Tino, I had a feeling this is what would happen. I could sense that you hated being Alpha, and as the oldest twin, it was thrust upon you. But I could see you didn't enjoy it. But I'm happy you're finding what that is. And if it's being the Luna for a bunch of Lycans then so be it. Plus if I was with someone who had a house like Koa, I would do the same damn thing."
I hadn't realized how much I needed Vin's approval until now. I let out a deep, shaky breath and I leaned in the chair. Knowing that he was okay with this was going to make it a whole lot easier to move now.
"Wait! Does this mean I'm going to be the Alpha?" He questioned, his eyes wide in realization.
"If you want." I shrugged, not wanting to push the title onto him. I wanted him to pick it because he wanted to. Not because he felt like he had to.
"Damn...okay. Fuck. I was not expecting this today." At first, I was worried, but Vincent's face held a faint smile.
"Mind if we join?" I turned to see who it was and it was Tay and Kendall.
"Of course, have a seat." I motioned and they sat, Tay, sitting on Kendall's lap.
"How was it? Meeting everyone?" Tay asked, a soft smile on her face. She truly was a beautiful girl.
"Overhwelming as hell." Vincent sighed.
"I felt the same way when I first met everyone," Tay said smiling at us.
This was the first time I had heard her talk ever. Kendall and Tay seemed to always be in their world, so it was surprising that they had joined us. But I didn't mind. I had been wanting to get to know Koa's other sisters more anyways. This seemed like the perfect time.
From the corner of my eye, I see Khelani and Cristoff walking toward us. A few moments later they were joining us at the table. I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes in annoyance.
"I didn't realize how many people are in this damn family, until now," Khelani said, more towards her sister.
"How long did it take before you remembered everyone's name?" I asked Tay, leaning back in the lawn chair. Continuing our conversation. Hoping I could forget that Cristoff was near me.
"I'm going, to be honest, I still don't remember." She let out a soft chuckle and I joined in.
"Don't worry, as long as you and Koa come and visit regularly you should learn them just fine." Kendall chimed in.
My eyes flickered to Vincent and he just motioned for me to tell them. I let out a sigh and squeezed the chair.
"I'm sure when I move here, it'll help too," I said it as casually as I could but all of their eyes turned to me. Wide in shock.
"We're not merging packs?" Kendall asked, sounding very excited at the idea.
"Nope. I am giving up the alpha title. It's better this way. I want to be a Luna and I want to be here. I love it here." They didn't need to know all the details just that me and Koa are staying. And the more I say it, the more excited I get.
"We haven't told our parents yet, and I haven't told my sister. Who will probably freak the fuck out? So just try to stay quiet about it?" I looked at them with pleading eyes, even Cristoff and they all nodded and gave a smile.
I turned my head to look for Koa, who was talking to some of his cousins. He had a giant smile on his face, and his hair was pulled back to show off his sculpted face. His face was bright, and he looked so relaxed. I loved seeing him like this. So in his element. So comfortable.
"Have you told him yet?" Tay's voice pulled me from my thoughts and I looked at her in confusion. "That you love him. Have you told him?"
"I don't know what you mean." I felt my cheeks heat up, and I heard everyone laughing at my response.
"You're looking at my brother and your pupils are hearts." Khelani chimed in and I rolled my eyes.
"No, I have not told him yet," I admitted.
"Well, you should. I know for a fact that he feels the same way." Before I could respond, peaches and sea salt filled my nose and I turned to see both Koa and Kona walking toward us. There were no seats left but that didn't matter. Kona went and sat on Vincent's lap and I stood and had Koa take a chair and I sat on his. Not caring that it might look weird. I was in my man's arms. That's all that mattered.
"Why are you all hiding in the corner?" Kona asked as Vincent wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Obviously not well enough if you found us." Khelani teased with a smile on her face.
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Whatever."
"Did you see that Uncle Raymond got a tattoo?" Kendall asked.
I leaned into Koa's chest as far as I could go. Letting our now combined scent flood my nostrils. His arm wrapped around my torso and held me close to him.
"Yeah, I did. Nigga got a fucking mermaid." Khelani laughed.
"He had to! Uncle Chris bet him. You know how he gets. Plus they were both drunk as hell." Kona added.
"He got it on his ASS!!" Khelani was leaning over her chair clutching her stomach from laughing so hard. "Wait, fuck. Should I go smack it?" That got a collective what from all of us. "It's fresh, he just got it like yesterday. It has to still hurt."
"You wouldn't dare," Tay said turning to look at her.
"Oh? Watch me." Khelani stood up so quickly and started walking to the grill area with haste and determination.
"Here we go," Koa said lowly and sighed. But he had a smile on his face, he was enjoying this time together.
All of our eyes were on Khelani as she swung her hand back and smacked Raymond's butt so hard that everyone could hear it.
"MOTHERFUCKER!" Raymond screamed out and turned around to see Khelani standing. She was too busy laughing to notice he is looking at her. Chris and the rest of the uncles were all laughing too.
"I'm about to fuck you up," Raymond said but Khelani was already running back towards us. He started running after her but she immediately jumped into Cristoff's lap as protection. His face had a giant smile as he watched.
Raymond made it to the table and looked over us, but he had a smile on his face as well.
"Stop telling people about my ass tattoo." He said, crossing his arms and looking at his nieces.
"You shouldn't have gotten one." Kendall teased.
"First off, Chris loves mermaids. And he loves my ass." Raymond said, which caused my cheeks to heat up and get a collective groan from everyone.
"Oh, that's fucking gross." Khelani groaned out looking at him.
"You know what else is gross? Hitting your uncle's ass." Raymond had hazel eyes that contrasted his dark skin, and he was bald.
"Can you tell that they are each other's favorites?" Koa whispered in my ear and it sent a shiver down my spine. I chuckled lightly at the comment.
"Anyways, food is almost done. Then it's time for 'madness'." Raymond's face held a crazy smile as he mentioned the infamous drinking game.
"We play before eating?" Vincent asked, which caused them to laugh at him.
"Yeah, it's better to drink on an empty stomach than a full one. And then eating food drunk makes it taste so much better." Raymond explained and I couldn't disagree.
Then all of a sudden a bell began to ring and we all turned our heads to see Cynthia and Channing on the porch.
"TIME FOR MADNESS!"
"Famous fucking last words," Raymond said with a smirk on his face.
"Gather around everyone!"
And so we did. We gathered around and we all went quiet as the rules were finally spoken.
"The rules are simple. Everyone gets a card from this deck and everyone must have a drink. Whoever has the King is the leader and everyone else has to line up in front of the King and present their card to him. The King can call up whoever he thinks has the red Joker. If you do have the red Joker that means you have 'madness'. If the King catches you the game is over. You want to make the king think it is anyone BUT you."
"If the King calls you, and you don't have madness he drinks two, you drink one. If the King doesn't call the red joker then after four people, then whoever has the card can walk around and touch people and whisper madness in their ear. The person touched has to wait five seconds, drink and then scream. Then they 'die.' The goal is to kill everyone until only the King is left."
This shit makes no fucking sense.
"Koa that makes no sense," I whispered to him.
"You'll get it. I promise." He squeezed my hand as they began to pass out the red solo cups, already pouring brown liquor into them.
Channing gave me a cup with the alcohol and I gave a soft smile. I looked over to Koa with hesitancy wondering whether or not I should drink this.
"What should I do?" I asked him quietly.
"Just pour it onto the ground. Once everyone is drunk enough they won't even notice." Koa rubbed my back and started talking to his cousin.
Koa was right, once they were drunk didn't notice. And being the only sober wolf around a bunch of Lycans is a sight to be seen. Not only did I keep winning...repeatedly but I was the only one who was able to keep all their food down.
I loved this family.












