Marcus and Natalie stood staring at the crimson eyed man, now standing in front of them. Arya hugged them both, but they never took their eyes off the male visitor.
"Marcus, Natalie, I want you to meet someone. He's Rodriguez, my brother and your cousin," Arya introduced them, and for a brief moment, both of them looked at Arya in surprise.
"What?"
"Wait, isn't he the one you called the Alpha of rogues?"
"He's your brother?"
The questions came rushing in. They were both surprised, and even more was their mother.
"Rodney? Oh God, you've grown so big! Anna and Mark would be so proud of you!" She came forward. "Hi, I'm Kimberly, your aunt."
"Hi. Rodriguez," he said, shaking her hand.
"Please sit. And don't mind their questions." She gave a warning look at her children, which made them quite down a bit.
They all sat, and Pete offered to bring juice.
"Bobo, how are you?"
"I'm great. How are you?"
"We're all fine." Kimberly turned to Rodriguez, "I want to thank you for coming here. I know how hard it must be for you, but still you came."
"Thanks for inviting me, Mrs Hunter.... - " "Oh, please call me Kim. Or aunt. Whichever you prefer."
Pete returned back with three glasses of juice.
"So, Rodney, why don't you tell us a little about yourself," Pete said, sitting down beside his wife.
"Well, as far as I've known, I was born after my mother died. Hence, I became a rogue. I was born in wolf form and somehow stumbled unto Moonstone pack, where grandpa Michael took me in and taught me everything. I only became human when I was around ten. Before he died, he gave the pack to me, and the rest is history," Rodriguez told them, and Kimberly was sobbing so hard she had to use Pete's handkerchief as well as her tissues.
"No wonder we couldn't find you! We were looking for a human baby while all this while, you were in wolf form!" Pete said after a long silence.
"Wait, you guys knew about him?" Marcus asked.
"Yes and no. Yes, we did suspect that my sister had given birth due to the shock of the accident, but after we searched for five years, we assumed he didn't make it," Kimberly said, looking at them.
"But Arya, how'd you figure out that you were related?" Natalie asked.
"I have to share something else. My great-grandmother was a witch. After Alfa removed Bella from me, he somehow unlocked the witch part, and she went to his pack." Arya gestured at Rodriguez and continued, "I found a book that belonged to Elora, my grandmother, and a letter. It was written in that letter that it was always my destiny to find him, and through my powers, he would remain stronger than ever."
"How old are you, man?" Marcus asked Rodriguez.
"Eighteen."
"What? Eighteen? So we're practically twins! I'm also eighteen. By the way, I'm Marcus, but you can call me Mar."
"Nice to meet you, Mar. You can call me Rodney."
Both boys smiled and shook hands, and Marcus went on to ask about werewolves and how he was able to manage a whole pack.
For the first time since coming, Arya saw Rodriguez laugh and relax. He was asking questions about their school and future work and answered his brothers' questions.
Then she noticed that Natalie was silent. Arya looked at her and saw that she was staring straight at her. Arya remembered how she had wanted to speak with her back at the Moonsglow pack but couldn't.
"Nats? Are you okay?" Arya asked, and the conversations died down as everyone looked at her.
"Arya, I wanted to apologize for everything that happened back there," she began, and Arya understood where she was talking about. "It's all my fault. I should have asked you what you meant and not jumped to conclusions!" Tears ran down her face, and she sobbed uncontrollably.
"Hey," Arya said, moving closer to her. She held her hands and continued, "It's not your fault, Nats. Anyone in your position would have done that. If anyone's to blame, it's Alfa. He's the one who jumped to conclusions without finding out the truth. He's the reason I lost Bella. I don't even blame Valac. He did what he thought was right. I've never had any grudge against you or Valac."
Both sisters hugged each other, and both cried.
Arya knew that Natalie was upset about everything that went down in Moonsglow pack that day, but she never imagined that her baby sister would still be carrying so much guilt within her for so long.
"Ar, can I ask you something?" Natalie asked.
"Anything!"
"If I called Valac and asked him to give you Bella back, wou- " "Natalie! Don't even think that. Yes, I miss her. She was my wolf. But I love this life even better. If I had wanted Bella back, I'd have told you to do that myself. Besides, I would have never found my brother if it weren't for everything that happened. I promise you, the day I would want Bella back, I'd come looking for you myself," Arya said, cutting her sentence.
Why in the world would she think that? Arya didn't understand, but she was glad that Natalie had asked her before deciding to do anything herself.
"Sis, I think all this crying is making me go hungry!" Marcus commented. "Can we at least eat something first before more crying comes. Besides, we have to get to know Rodney; not you all crying."
"Marcus! Could you be a little sensitive?" Kimberly asked, a little annoyed.
"Actually, mom, I'm also hungry," Natalie said. "Because of him, I couldn't even have breakfast," she said, pointing at Marcus.
"Then it's done. Lunch first, then talking," Pete said, getting up. "Uumm, honey, I'll need your help," he said, looking at his wife.
"All you children get to the table. Rodney, if you need anything, please ask," Kimberly said, and Rodriguez nodded.
At the table, they all sat, and the food went around. Kimberly noticed Rodriguez looking around at the table as if searching for something.
"Rodney, do you want something else?" She asked.
"Um, yes... um... "
"He wants pickles," Arya said, knowing that he was hesitant in saying it out loud.
"Pickles? You know, son, your father, Mark loved pickles. The first time we visited him, I saw him eating pickles like normal food," Pete said, laughing.
"Anna would actually tell him to stop, but he would just say, what, I love pickles," Kimberly added, pushing a jar of pickles towards him. "It's a good thing I bought these, and you can take it home. No one eats it here."
"Thank you so much," Rodriguez said, opening it and taking put some.
They ate their lunch while telling stories and laughing.
All of a sudden, Rodriguez whole body tensed. He gripped the fork so tight half of it went flying towards Arya, who easily dodged it.
"Rodriguez, what is it?" Arya asked, surprised and disappointed at the same time.
"They're here! I can smell them!" He replied, just as someone knocked on the front door.