Chapter 18

ALEXIS

The next morning, Hudson woke us up at three again and made us set out to what I had thought was my pack.

Apparently, we were taking a detour to the Riveter Pack so Hudson could check on his pack members and borders.

"So what's your pack like?" I asked Boston as he stared at a map seriously.

My favorite thing about Boston was that he took his job as a Gamma very seriously. One of the pack warriors told me that there were two sides to him and that if he ever showed his dark side he could beat the shit out of the strongest warrior they have other than Matthew and Hudson.

"First of all, it's huge. We have about five hundred people in our pack, from refugees to transfers. The pack is divided into five sections and each section has a Delta to watch over them, so if there are any issues then they won't have to run to Hudson every single time. Hudson only interferes if the problem becomes too big or if the Delta asks him to do so."

"So does Hudson issue out punishments often?"

"Hudson doesn't issue out the punishments, Matthew does. it's one of his duties as Beta. But our pack members are pretty good, they don't like trouble and they definitely don't like getting into trouble."

"That's good."

I was going to ask him more questions when Hudson stopped walking in front of us. I nearly slammed into him, but I managed to stop right in front of his back. He turned around and glared at Boston, "You're supposed to be looking at the fucking map and making sure we're going the right way."

Boston blinked and raised an eyebrow amusedly, "Gee twinkle toes, what's got your panties twist?"

Hudson narrowed his eyes darkly at him and grabbed my hand, tugging me forward. His gaze turned to me, and his eyes softened, "If you have questions about my pack, ask me."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Okay?"

Suddenly, he sped up and dragged us ahead of the group so we were visible but out of earshot. It was like he wanted us to have privacy.

"Do you have any more questions? Or do you want to continue our game from last night?"

I paused. He actually acknowledged last night, which surprised me since he got up like nothing happened.

"Sure, we can continue our game," I said, fidgeting with my backpack strap.

The corners of his mouth twitched a little before he asked me, "How did you find out you could heal?"

"When I was five, I was training with Sasha and accidentally slashed her arm with my claw. My hand already had a cut on it so when I touched her arm to check on her slash, my blood started glowing and her cut healed. We freaked out so much before we ran to my dad and told him what had happened."

He chuckled, "I can't imagine your dad's reaction. His little girl in pigtails suddenly has one of the greatest gifts someone could ever wish for."

My eyes bore into the side of his head, studying the stubble on his face, "How did you know I used to wear pigtails?"

"Your mom really likes putting pictures up on the wall."

I mentally face-palmed. Of course, my mom had several pictures of me and Neville scattered across the walls.

"There's no reason to feel embarrassed. My mom won't pass up the opportunity to show you my baby pictures and tell you about every stupid thing I've done as a kid."

I smiled, "Were you a troublemaker?"

"Yep."

I couldn't imagine this brooding guy beside me being a mischevious little kid. He must have had one hell of a transformation.

"Just out of curiosity," he started, catching my attention once again, "how many guys have you kissed?"

"One, why do you ask?"

"No reason, next question."

I decided to let him be and thought about a new question to ask him, "Do you have any siblings?"

"I do. I've got a younger brother and sister."

"Really? How old are they?"

"23 and 21."

I smiled at the warmth in his voice, "Are you guys close?"

"Very."

***

A few hours later, we were getting closer to Hudson's pack. I could start to see houses and a beautiful lake as we got closer.

"What do you think?" Hudson asked quietly.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, taking in every detail of the pack as we got closer.

Soon enough, I was able to see warriors training vigorously on the side and several houses in small clusters, almost like neighborhoods. We reached the pathway that led into the little neighborhoods, and several people stared at us as we walked by.

I smiled kindly at a few that gaped at me and walked a little closer to Hudson when a few of the older adults stared at me with an eyebrow raised, almost as if they wanted to challenge me or something.

There were a few shocked whispers that made me a little uncomfortable, but I kept my head high and continued walking with Hudson, who squeezed my hand comfortingly.

"Is that Alpha Hudson's mate? She's so pretty."

"Isn't she the Burlington Pack Alpha's daughter? I heard she was a bitch."

"Maybe she isn't so bad. I mean, Alpha Hudson seems to like her and he's one of the toughest people to impress."

"I could break her like a twig."

"They look so cute together! I have a new ship."

We walked through two sectors before we slowed down in the third one that seemed to be busiest of them all. It seemed to be the area that connected all the sectors.

"This is my parent's place. I live closer to the pack house where my office is," he muttered as we approached a pretty medium-sized house. Suddenly, the front door opened and a tall woman ran out of the house excitedly.

"Oh my goodness! You're here!"

I let go of his hand so he could hug the woman, who I assumed was his mother, but instead of hugging Hudson she ran up to me and wrapped me into a tight hug. I winced as her grip tightened but hugged her back anyway.

"Mom, relax. You're going to freak her out."

She pulled back and cupped my face with her hands, "Oh my goodness, you're so beautiful. You must have so many me–"

"Mom." Hudson chided, giving me an apologetic look and pulling her hands off my face. She chuckled and gave him a quick hug, before turning to me again, "Sorry dear, I'm just so excited to meet you. It's about time Hudson found his mate."

I smiled warmly, "It's nice to meet you, Luna."

"You can call me Dorothy, dear," she said, giving me a wide grin.

Hudson didn't really look like his mom in many ways, but there was no doubting that he had his mom's smile. His mom had a heart-shaped face with curly light brown hair and hazel eyes that twinkled mischievously.

"Honey, have you scared the girl off already? I wanted to meet her," a male voice called from inside the house. A few seconds later, a man stepped out of the house with a small smile on his face.

I blinked in surprise. If this was what Hudson looked like twenty years from now, then I was blessed. His dad was very fit and good-looking for his age, and you could definitely see the resemblance between him and Hudson.

"Hello, Alexis. I'm Lewis, Hudson's father," he said, shaking my hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

Before he could say another word, a young woman stepped out of the house holding a man's arm. She grinned broadly when she saw me and helped the man down the stairs carefully.

I noticed he had a white cane in his hand and realized that he was blind.

When the two of them stood in front of us, the girl hugged me and gave me a kind smile, "Hello! I'm Lucy, Hudson's sister. If you want any information to blackmail him with, I'm the gal you should come to."

I chuckled, "Nice to meet you, Lucy and I'll keep that in mind."

I turned to the man, "Hello, you must be Hudson's brother. I'm Alexis."

His head turned to the direction of my voice, and he stepped forward slowly. His hand reached forward to feel my face and he felt the contours of my face, before smiling, "She feels nice. Maybe I should lick–"

"Okay," Hudson said loudly, pulling his brother's hand off fo my face, "No need, Bradley."

Bradley laughed and stepped back, "I'm Bradley, the cooler sibling. If you need any tips on pranks to play on Hudson, then I'm your guy."

"Once again, no need. Alexis is very innocent," Hudson muttered, giving his brother and sister quick hugs.

"I am?" I asked curiously.

"Boston told me about what happened that morning. So yes, you are very innocent," Hudson said, giving me a pointed look. I blushed when I realized that he was talking about the meat incident.

"Okay, now come along, we have so much to talk about. You two can have your cute little moments later," Dorothy said cheerfully, tugging me towards the house.

I looked back at Hudson and he waved amusedly, mouthing 'have fun.'

Oh Moon Goddess.