The Transfer
Chapter 37 - The Hastings Family

Nicolas, who I assumed was Liam's uncle, shook Liam's hand and laughed as his mate scolded him and moved past him to get to me. Nicolas began to ask Liam about all of his training, and I lost interest in all the testosterone in the conversation.

The woman came over to me and grinned at me. She came forwards and hugged me, rubbing our cheeks together as she did so. She smelt like sunflowers and daisies. I liked this female already.

"I'm Blu. I'm so happy to finally meet you, Alison. Lila has been giving you five star ratings whenever she speaks of you," Blu told me. I giggled at her as I glanced sideways where Lila was. She was the best sister.

"It's nice to meet you, Blu," I told her with a nod. She grinned at me and glanced sideways at her mate. Nicolas was already organising a time and date for him and Liam to have a go at each other. "Men. I swear to God," Blu shook her head as she grabbed Nicolas’ arm. She tugged him sideways and motioned to me.

"Ah! The girl my boy is apparently obsessed with. It's great to finally meet you, love,” Nicolas greeted me with a grin. He shook my hand and I felt my face heat up as I glanced at Liam.

He rolled his eyes. "You haven't changed a bit, uncle,” Liam said.

Nicolas laughed and shrugged. He seemed like an outgoing guy. I liked him. I liked the family that I had met so far. They were nice.

"Come this way. Let the children be children. I'll introduce you to the family, since they're clearly both busy," Darcy came forwards and pulled me gently in the direction of more family members. I looked back at Liam and watched him smirk

He was such a goofball.

"Everyone here has been dying to meet you since we found out that Liam had met his mate. You seem good for him," Darcy told me with a small smile. I returned the gesture and felt a little less nervous.

They wanted to meet me. I didn't need to be nervous.

"Everyone, this is Alison, the one we've all been waiting for,” Darcy introduced me as we came up to all the adults. They all turned to look at me. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the FindNøvᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

One by one, I met with the uncles and aunts. Each of them were funny and welcoming. Most of them mentioned that they'd heard great stories about how I supposedly kept Liam on the edge of his seat. I didn't think that there were many stories, but Lila must have been telling them things. “Liam, how'd you get one like this? She's smart, and not a total air head like that one other girl," Jasmine said. I turned my head as I watched Liam walk over, and then frowned slightly.

The other girl? Who? My stomach twisted. Was I not the first girl that Liam had brought to meet his family?

"She invited herself on that trip and she wasn't anywhere close to being his girl. Just some potential bond mate with an obsession for my air head brother,” Lucas came out of nowhere and stood next to me before Liam could. I heard a grunt from behind me.

They were talking about Veronica? Seriously? Liam had brought Veronica to meet the family?

I didn't feel all that special anymore, but I pushed the feelings of hurt and confusion to the side. I couldn't let it ruin my day.

"Let's not talk about her. She made my head hurt. So Alison, you came from Terialta, yes?" Hannah, one of Liam's aunties questioned me. I nodded at her.

"Sure did. Born and raised," I replied, trying to sound proud. But there was nothing to be proud of. Terialta was falling apart, and there was something going on there that I wasn't sure about.

The thing Justin said to me before I left still crossed my mind often. I didn't know what he meant and it pissed me off that he couldn't tell me. I had to know, and I wanted to go back to see him so I could ask. But something in my gut told me to stay away from Terialta.

"I have friends there. It's such a lovely place, don't you think? They say that your brothers are due to take over soon?" Hannah grinned at me. I assumed that Lila had already told her a lot about me and my family.

I nodded at her. Everyone's eyes were on me. I felt a little overwhelmed but I pushed back the feelings of discomfort.

"Yeah. Soon. They're really looking forward to it. I can't wait either, personally,” I said with a smile. She nodded at me and I felt an arm wrap around my waist.

"I think it's time I go and introduce her to the cousins,” Liam said to his family. They all nodded in agreement to let me go. Liam pulled me around and lead my towards where his cousins stood. I purposely walked slow.

"You brought Veronica here?" I mumbled to him. I looked up at Liam, and noticed the look of worry on his face. I felt sick and I didn't know why.

"You heard Lucas. She invited herself and I couldn't say no. She's the Alpha's daughter,” Liam said back, keeping his voice low. I stopped, turning to face him. I didn't care if we were with his family.

I had to know about this now. I just wanted to know why in the hell Veronica came to meet his family. How did Liam let it happen if he supposedly was repulsed by her? Had him and her ever done anything together?

Had they kissed before? Done more than that?

"That's not an excuse. You could've said no. She and Henry would have no choice but to respect that. It's your family, not theirs,” I said sternly. I kept my voice low, not wanting anyone to hear our conversation. But it was hard. I noticed Leon and Lila already looking out way. Cass had even turned her head in our direction too.

Liam didn't seem to care. His eyes were fixated on me. He stared intensely and I felt naked under his gaze.

"Henry is the Alpha. He controls everyone. He said she could go. Who am I to object to that?" Liam asked me. He sounded confused, like he didn't know what was wrong.

Did he not know that he was allowed to say no to Henry?

Especially when it came to personal and family matters.

"You're his Beta. Not his slave. You're allowed to say no to him,” I reminded him. I was getting upset and I hated it. I didn't like that we were getting into an argument. We had practically just gotten out of one.

But I wasn't going to let this slide. As much as I wanted to forget it, I couldn't. Veronica was obsessed with Liam, and I didn't like it. I hated the fact that she and Liam were potential bond mates.

I knew that he felt nothing for her, because I was here, and I knew that she still felt the spark. But that wasn't an excuse to mess around with a male who had a mate.

Especially my male.

"It's his daughter. I can't just say no and be a dick about it," Liam shook his head at me. I stared up at him, hurt.

My stomach twisted and the bond pulled painfully. I was hurt, really hurt.

Liam would never say no to Veronica, just because she was the Alpha's daughter and he didn't want to upset him. That's why he let Veronica sit all over him all the time. That's why I constantly had burning sensations on my body.

Because he couldn't say no.

"Betas are supposed to challenge their Alpha, not let their Alpha walk all over them. What kind of Beta are you?" I asked him as I looked him up and down. I turned away and walked over to Lila.

I sucked in a deep breath and plastered a smile on my face as I approached her. She was standing with some of her cousins and I didn't want to talk about my problems.

"He needed to hear that. I know it sucks, but you said the right thing," Lila told me. I smiled at her knowingly as I stood beside her.

"My goodness! Wow! Alison! It's you. I'm finally getting to meet the girl that Lila hasn't shut up about for the past week,” one girl exclaimed. She came forwards and hugged me tightly. I smiled weakly.

"I'm Piper. I'm Blu and Nicolas" kid. I think you met them over there before,” Piper told me. I grinned and nodded at her. I pushed the upset and hurt feelings to the back of my mind and decided to at least try and have a good time.

"I'm Kendall, it's so good to meet you,” Kendall, another girl came forwards and hugged me. She was warm despite the fact that she was wearing thin leggings and a short sleeved shirt.

I smiled at all the girls with a wide grin. I noticed that they were the only girls here, and it made me very aware that there were a large group of guys staring in my direction. Liam, Lucas and Leon were standing with them.

Most had their eyes on me and it made me feel a little uncomfortable. They probably heard the entire conversation that I had just had with Liam and they were probably hating me from afar. "Have fun sharing a room with him now that you've pissed him off, babe," Cass giggled at me. I winced and sighed. I had completely forgotten the fact that I wouldn't be able to ignore him.

I was staying with him for the next week. Ignoring him would be incredibly hard.

"Don’t remind me," I rolled my eyes. Lila and Cass both giggled at me. The two cousins stared curiously.

"What's it like having a mate? Is it amazing as they say?" Kendall questioned. Her eyes darted between Cass and I.

I couldn't help but laugh at her. Cass did too. "It has its good moments, and also bad ones.”

I nodded at Cass in agreement. She was right. Liam and I had shared plenty of good moments together. Like last night when him and I joked around about Lucas packing so many bags over dinner.

We also had our bad times. But they made the good times seem even better.

"I can't wait to meet my mate,” Piper sighed out. Both her and Kendall were younger than me by years. It was obvious that Piper must have been about sixteen or so, and Kendall looked maybe twenty.

"You're fifteen! Wait until you're twenty two and still lonely!” Lila complained. I giggled at her and shook my head.

I didn't mind my life before I met Liam. It wasn't exciting but it wasn't boring either. It was mostly dull and very plain. But I was never bored. I always had something to do.

"Your time will come soon, Lila," I assured her. Cass patted Lila on the shoulder and nodded.

I felt something poking my leg. I looked down, and noticed two little boys standing beside me. They were adorable.

"Gran said we had to come and say hello,” one said as he looked to Piper. She smiled and nodded as she looked back up to me.

"Alison, this is Jason and Wesley. Boys, this is Alison," Piper made introductions. I smiled down at the boys and waved politely. They were adorable.

I wanted to pinch their cheeks badly, but I held myself back.

Wesley stared up at me quizzically. He sniffed the air and frowned. "You smell like Liam. Why?"

I raised my eyebrows at him as the girls behind me burst into giggles. I wanted to scold them all and show them my teeth, but I didn't want to scare the children.

"Uh— well..." I found myself unable to answer Wesley's comforting question. How could I told a child that I was constantly all over him? How old even was this kid?

"Yeah! You aren't even near him. Why do you smell like him?" Jason asked me. I let my mouth hang open as I was speechless. I had no idea what to say. Usually I had an answer to everything.

"That's a story for another time. Run along, it looks like breakfast is ready," Lila said from behind me. The two boys turned around and ran off without a second guess. I looked up and felt like drooling when I set eyes on all the food.

"Come on. I'm starving," Lila said, grabbing my arm. She pulled me forwards and towards the counter where she handed me a plate and began piling food onto her plate as well as mine.

I didn't bother arguing with her. Lila was stubborn and very hard to win an argument against. She knew how to pick a fight. She was too smart for her own good.

After I had enough food on my plate, Lila pulled me towards some chairs where I sat down and rested my plate on my lap. I watched as Trixie trotted over and sat on one of the chairs. She grinned at me, missing a few teeth.

I sighed and smiled at her. I glanced in Liam's direction and noticed him speaking to Leon privately. He looked pissed and somewhat upset. Leon was doing all the talking and Liam just blankly stared off into space.

Damnit.

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