The truck stopped, and I jolted awake. Wiping my mouth, I looked around. "Are we there?"

Saigon nodded. "Yep." He pointed to the house. "Want to go in?"

Clearing my throat, I took a big breath. "I'm ready to get this over with if that's what you're asking."

Shaking his head, he turned off the vehicle and climbed out. I did the same and stared at the front door. "Let's get the bag."

"I'll bring them in later." Saigon looped his arm around my shoulders and waved at the window. "They already know we're here."

My chest tightened as I saw movement inside. The front door opened, and the short woman I had seen around the cave plenty of times hurried down the steps.

"They're here. They're here." Karen waved her hands in the air. "Oh my goodness, my baby boy has finally come to visit me." She hugged Saigon. "You do realize I'm getting old. You shouldn't make me wait so long between visits."

Saigon chuckled. "Will Christmas make up for it?"

"Hmm... how long is it?"

"I believe around four weeks."

"Perfect." She patted his cheek before turning to me. "Is this him?" She smiled

"Grandma, this is Archer."

"Oh, my heavens." She hugged me around the stomach.

I slightly panicked, not knowing what to do. This wasn't something I was used to experiencing.

"You're that cute brown werewolf Saigon played with growing up. I've enjoyed watching you grow up over the years. Look at you now." She motioned to me. "You're turned into a man. Come closer, sweetheart." She pulled my head down to her level. "You've always been covered in fur when I saw you around the cave. You are so handsome. I do love my subs, but these chocolate brown eyes are the sweetest thing. You were a darling pup. I was telling Quint all about it. I have a few pictures of you with Saigon. You're a dominant, right?" She led me towards the house with her arm around my waist.

I nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Call me Karen or grandma." She gave me a squeeze. "I'm so happy you're here. I've been waiting all day. I'm so relieved Saigon went for a dominant. I worry and worry about Aden and Raven enough. Saigon is a bit spacey, at times, so it's good to know you can take care of yourself."

"I'm not spacey," Saigon muttered.

I sucked in my lips to keep from smiling.

"How's living with him?" She ushered me into the house. "He's a bit of a walking disaster."

Nodding, I laughed softly. "Yeah, he's terrible at cleaning up after himself.

Shutting the door, Saigon scoffed. "Why the sudden switch from defending me to picking on me?" he asked his grandma.

"You have more responsibilities now. You're not a child anymore." She lifted her finger.

Folding my arms, I nodded along with her. I kind of liked this woman.

"I've survived by myself at college before Archer."

Karen threw her hands in the air. "And what a mess I'd have to come and clean up. I'm sorry, sweetheart, but you're a little hopeless. You've seen all of my notes, right?"

I grinned. "Yeah, I'm in charge of the laundry for a reason."

"Thank god. That is a relief." She looped her arms with me and looked me in the eyes. "I think you're just the man my Saigon needs."

A rather taller human with black hair speckled with gray emerged from the living room. "You must be Archer. I'm sure you already know who I am, but I'm Saigon's grandpa, Quint."

"Hi." I fidgeted with my hands. "Thanks for having me."

He chuckled. "You don't know my wife yet." He patted his arm. "Coming to these events is a requirement." He wandered into the kitchen.

Swallowing hard, I was herded to the adjacent room as well. The alpha and Storm were standing by the island while Raven and Jagger were seated at the table. They were all staring at me. I didn't know what I was supposed to say. It was awkward enough that I had put them all through hell with the Willow situations, and now, I had moved on to Saigon.

"How was the trip?" said a voice behind me.

Saigon hugged his dad. "Long."

Aden smiled at me. "How was it for you?"

"Um... fine. I slept through most of it."

"I do, too," he laughed as he joined the others.

Titus followed as well and I felt like I was being put on the spot. It was like they were waiting for some proclamation about our relationship.

Saigon put his arm around my shoulders. "So, how is everyone?" He sniffed the air. "Mmm... that smells like grandma's cooking."

"I made lasagna. It should be done." Karen went to get it out of the oven.

Saigon led me to the table and sat me down in the chair by the wall. Raven gave me a cheerful smile. I didn't know if I could do this. Sitting around chatting with the alpha and beta family was too weird for me.

"Deep breaths," said Siagon in my ear as he massaged my shoulders. "They're not going to attack."

I relaxed a little as they started to talk about what was going on in the pack. It was the normal topics of hunting and WIR being a pain to work with. Quint didn't seem to like it when anything bad was said about WIR. I made a note of that. I wanted Saigon's family to like me. I hurt him so bad all those years ago that it made me nervous that they weren't being honest with how they felt about me.

"So let's hear it," said Darius.

It startled me. Panic was welling up in my chest. What did I do wrong?

He eyed his nephew. "You better have been behaving yourself. Peter and Rupert will be here tomorrow. If you've done anything, Rupert will let you have it."

Saigon scoffed. "I have self-control. Since the majority of people in this room are dominants, I don't understand why I have to keep saying that."

"My grandbaby is very considerate," stated Karen while grating cheese.

"Thank you," replied Saigon, glaring at his uncle. "I think we're doing good."

I nodded. "It's been good. I'm... I'm getting used to it."

Aden started moving food over to the table. "How's living around humans? Peter was a little worried about it."

My mouth fell open. "I'm not scared of humans. He has this weird idea that I am, but I'm not."

Darius nearly started laughing as Storm gave him a reprimanding look. Everyone seemed amused by my statement. With a sigh, I sunk down in my seat.

"My parents have been talking to you guys, right?"

The alpha shrugged. "I knew it all already."

Storm smacked his arm. "Be nice."

Titus nodded. "Rupert and Peter have been a little nervous about you being gone. Peter calls Aden all the time, but I've been getting plenty of calls myself from Rupert, which is something new." He grinned at me. It reminded me a lot of Saigon when he did the same.

"We're not that bad." Karen placed a large salad on the table. "I can put an alpha in his place, but I tended to leave the lower ranks alone." She winked at me.

I smiled slightly. "Crowds make me nervous. I'm getting better. It's just different."

"Well, let's eat before it gets cold." She handed her son a knife. "Cut this one up and I'll get the other pan."

A line formed as everyone shuffled by Aden to be dished a piece. I remained seated as they filled their plates with bread and other side dishes.

"Do you want me to get you some?" asked Saigon.

I shook my head. "I'm not hungry." The stress was making me feel nauseous.

Aden placed a piece in front of me. "If you don't want to listen to my mom talk about how you're too skinny and could fly away at any moment, I'd eat a little bit. It might help your stomach calm down. We can be a bit overwhelming."

"Thanks."

Saigon filled a plate of his own and came to sit beside me. I didn't touch mine until he returned. He started to dig in while I pushed mine around the plate. Cutting off a piece, I took a bite. It was good. I had one more and my stomach started to growl.

"Oh, Archer, don't be shy." Karen hurried over. "I've been around werewolves for years. You need to eat more than that or the wind will blow you over the neighbor's fence." She dished me another piece and moved the bread plate closer. "Eat up, but"—she lifted a finger—"save a bit of room for dessert. I made Saigon's favorite."

Darius and Titus groaned.

"Is there a non-chocolate version?" asked Darius.

"Well, of course," said Karen. "We have such picky-eaters in this house."

I smiled to myself and took a couple slices of bread. This wasn't so bad. And if dessert was as good as dinner, I was kind of excited for it.