Not My Alpha (Completed)

Chapter Fifty-Four - Your Family

Song: Sleepstar - I Was Wrong

***

My jaw gaped. "Your family."

Samuel grimaced, then tried to hide it with a smirk. "That's what I said."

I dropped my gaze back to the picture in my hand. "But, you always told me that-" I trailed off, uncertain of my words.

"That the pack was my family," Samuel finished. I nodded, and he continued, staring at the picture with me. "It's true. The pack is my family."

"But this," I pointed to the woman. "This has to be your mother. And these girls," I trailed off again, my finger lingering on their faces.

"My younger sisters. Twins, if you couldn't tell."

I let out a breathy laugh. "Twins." I stared at the two girls in the photo, mesmerized. They both wore their hair in pig-tails. One of them was missing both of her front teeth, while the other was sticking her tongue at the camera.

Samuel smiled. "Ava and Belle."

"They look just like your mother." My thumb ran along her features. She had dark hair that was cut short just above her cheeks. Her chin was pointed, her nose small, but her eyes were wide. She had wrinkles lining her features, but they did nothing but add beauty to her age-stricken face.

"They took her name, too. Or at least, part of it. Bella."

I looked up to see Samuel gazing down at the picture, lost in thought. "Belle would always argue that she was the favorite because she had more of Mom's name," he laughed. "But Mom would tell Ava that there was a 'V' in Bella. You just couldn't tell because it was silent."

I watched Samuel from the side of my eye. He was still staring at the picture, a far-off look escaping his eyes. Though a smile was plastered on his cheeks, there was another expression threatening to take over.

Samuel abruptly laughed and looked at me. "Those girls would argue about anything."

A smile cracked my features, and for a moment, Samuel and I were lost in the two girls. Then, his face fell back to the frame, and I was reminded that we were only looking at a picture. Before I could ask any questions, Samuel was shaking his head and reaching into the box, again. 

"I look more like my Dad," he told me.

Another picture was placed on my lap. This one had Samuel a little older, though he was still just a boy. He was standing under the shoulder of another man. Samuel nearly reached his height, and the two almost looked as if they could be brothers. The older man had a thick beard lining his wide-set jaw and black hair that was slicked back. His eyes were sunken in, and as far as I could tell, their color was the only difference between the two. Where Samuel's eyes matched his Mother, his Father had bright, green ones.

I glanced up to see another glint in Samuel's eyes. This time, a liquid was pooling at the edges. Just as I was about to reach out to him, he turned back to the box. He dug around for a moment, and by the time he was facing me again, all liquid was gone from his eyes. Another picture was placed in my lap, on top of the previous two.

This photograph held the entire family. They were sitting around a dinner table, mouths hanging open with laughter. The twins were still in high chairs, but Samuel sat on his Father's lap. The family was staring at their Mother, Bella. Her mouth was open and her eyes were wide. A pile of food was sliding down her face and onto her neck. Samuel's father, the clear culprit, had his head thrown back in laughter. Samuel was staring at him in awe.

A wide smile filled my face. "You all look so happy."

I didn't have to look up to know that Samuel, for a moment, held the same expression. "We were."