Blood Legacy Chapter 131: 129. Christmas special pt.1

His hand fluidly moved as he stirred the mixing whisk into the bubbling pot, careful not to let the flour cook too fast and create any lumps. The cream gradually thickened and he added the spices, focused on the task at hand when that twinkling laughter reached him, making him raise his gaze from the pot.

He watched as Carina and Andrea entered the kitchen with two mugs of steaming hot mulled wine in their hands, their cheeks already rosy with maybe a little too much merriment.

"Perfect," he suddenly heard his brother murmur in his ear as he leaned over his shoulder to peer into the pot.

He didn't bother to retort and simply rolled his eyes with annoyance, feigning vexation at his brother's rather bossy and controlling antics.

"Oh my god, this image right here is way fucking hotter than it should be," he heard Andrea sassily comment and his gaze snapped to the girls again, not at all surprised to notice the way she was shamelessly checking them both out. Both him and Darius as they worked their asses off to prepare the Christmas dinner for so many people at once. Themselves, the girls, David and Jess, their warriors -also known as the wolfy girls as Carina liked to call them- and Christian with that human girl called Kayla.

He lightly shook his head, letting out a small chuckle.

"The evening's still young, girls. There's no need to rush it. At least slow down until we open up the presents,"

They both giggled and further walked into the kitchen, apparently set on wreaking havoc into their flawlessly working space. Andrea proceeded to get her fingers into every single bowl and plate whenever Darius wasn't paying attention whilst Carina hopped up and set her cute little ass on the island, so carelessly creating a disturbance in his neatly arranged ustensils and bowls, spices and whatnot.

"Watcha' doin' there?" A pleased little smile graced her lips, her mug close to her mouth as she innocently watched him with those big doe eyes of hers.

He offered her a smile of his own, intending to reach out and snatch that mug away from her fingers when his brother suddenly turned around, approaching the stove.

"What he is doing, is obviously not paying enough attention to notice that the sauce is too thick now, goddamnit Nate!" He suddenly found himself getting reprimanded by his brother, his brow raising as he watched Darius swiftly take over that pot previously under his care.

He stuck his tongue out and made a face behind his brother's busy form, earning himself an amused giggle from Carina.

Darius didn't even mind any of them, desperately trying to save that sauce as he added some warm milk and started to whisk again.

He lightly shook his head and took over his brother's previous task, continuing to grate the parmesan cheese in his stead.

"Seriously, how do you even put up with this guy?" He teasingly asked and Carina giggled again, a devilish little glint entering her gaze as she shifted it from him to Darius' unsuspecting and preoccupied form.

"He's really not that great, actually," she casually said, pretending to innocently peer into her mug before taking another sip.

"He snores," she said with a mild shake of her head, pretending not to notice as Darius threw a quick, questioning glance in her direction from where he worked by the stove.

"Oh, and he farts a lot in his sleep," she bit the inside of her cheek, visibly struggling not to laugh and Nathan let out a stifled laugh, failing to contain his amusement as he continued to grate the cheese. Darius turned to throw her a flat and totally unimpressed look before returning to his pot.

"Oh my god, eww, he does?" They all suddenly heard Andrea say from where she stood with a finger coated in chocolate close to her mouth, making them all burst into a fit of laughter.

"What?"

Her sister then hopped off the counter for another refill, totally unaware of the certain look Darius and Nathan quickly exchanged.

"You know what this calls for, right?" Darius suddenly said with a playfully malicious tone. And before she could even realize what was happening, Carina found herself plastered against Darius' front, both her wrists firmly trapped in his hands.

He held her still, arms wide open and the moment she noticed Nathan approaching with that bowl of melted chocolate under his arm she let out a squeal, immediately starting to struggle in Darius' vice grip.

"No! Please! I was just joking, okay? I'm sorry!" She futilely thrashed and begged in Darius' hold, throwing him a pleading look over her shoulder before returning her attention to Nate, noticing that devilish smile on his face.

She let out another squeal, uselessly trying to escape as Nathan's fingers dipped into the sticky substance and then started to paint her face with it.

She continued to squirm and squeal as they both laughed, mercilessly tormenting her.

"Holy shit, dude. Now that's a sandwich I would totally love to get into," they suddenly heard Andrea shamelessly comment yet again from her corner as she continued to steal small pieces of food and taste various dips and sauces, both boys turning to give her flat and deprecating looks whilst for some reason, her sister's cheeks coloured with a deep shade of red.

It wasn't because of the wine though.

But thank God for all that chocolate that was currently covering most of her face.

**

Thanks to the girls' very "helpful" intervention they finished cooking much later than intended, their small pack of hungry wolves going on the brink of starvation before dinner was finally served.

They were all now seated around the large dining table, savoring the food and drinks and casually chatting about like one big family.

It warmed Nathan's heart. It made him secretly feel so happy as he paused, taking a moment to look around him.

The girls laughed at another stupidly funny thing Andrea said, all three of them huddled around her as they gave her their undivided attention, closely listening in to anything she had to say.

But as if sensing his stare on her, Estefany's gaze discreetly shifted to meet it for a moment, with her eyes conveying once again all those things she'd earlier said to him.

*"I'm happy, Nathan. And I'm happy that you're back..."*

He smiled and she smiled back, a silent form of communication between them before she averted her attention back to her mate and his gaze shifted, fleetingly passing over Christian and his little human pet. They had yet to find out what he'd planned to do with her, since she still had absolutely no clue about their world, let alone wear a mating mark on her neck. It was pretty obvious that she wasn't his destined soulmate. But if he were to be honest, it didn't even matter really. Their kind kinda had trouble in that area anyway. Hell, even his own parents had actually married because of their status and for the simple fact that they liked each other, not because of the existence of some special bond between them. Only David's parents had had the luck and honour of happening to be from the same pack and being paired by the Goddess herself at the same time. The rest of their royal family were simply strategical matchings.

Hence the wonder and awe the very moment they all found out that not only their future king had found his destined one, but his first in command too.

*And now they're so happy, despite their completely different statuses and upbringing.* He mused as he casually watched the little runt snuggle herself in his Beta's arms, her dark blue eyes widening a little as she listened to some totally inappropriate remarks that Kayla girl kept spewing about himself, Darius and Carina actually.

"I really wouldn't mind being in her shoes right now. I mean both hot Natey and his older version trailing after her tail like that? I wouldn't mind that, I wouldn't mind it at all,"

"Ooh I would looove myself a little threeway like that,"

"Oh, I still haven't found out how is he actually still alive but damn, the man is fine," the human whispered and took a sip from her glass of wine, totally unaware of the fact that almost every single person sitting at the same table had heard everything she just said. But they simply chose to ignore her.

*Humans...* He sighed and shook his head, his gaze however trailing to the only other couple present at the table.

His own brother and Carina.

He noticed that she was still sitting in her chair and he was standing right behind her now, his fingers gently tracing through her long and silky brown locks as he carefully gathered her hair and set it up into a ponytail. His hand then went under her chin and he tilted her head back, planting a sweet kiss on her forehead, making her giggle with delight.

"Aw, that was so fucking cute! I think I'm actually gonna cry now," he almost rolled his eyes with annoyance at the sound of that human's dumb gushing voice, his lips though spreading into a tiny smile.

It didn't bother him that much now. The sight of his former mate with his own brother. Her first destined mate. It did hurt at first. He'd felt that hint of jealousy, that overwhelming possessiveness heating up his Alpha blood. Even though he was already aware that he'd lost her. That he had absolutely no chance at ever mending what he himself had knowingly broken. Her trust.

She was Darius'. She'd always been his, from the very beginning. She was born to be his. It was painfully obvious now. He could see it in their eyes. Feel it in that bond that was only continuing to grow stronger between them.

He watched her gaze trail to him as the people around them blurred into a sea of unintelligible chatter, her lips spreading to form a joyful and content smile.

He smiled back, the sight of her like that ever so enchanting. He loved her. He still loved her, now even more than ever.

She was his light, his beacon in the darkness. The hand that held onto his through that darkness.

"Come on, dance with me, Nate,"