It Was Always You (book 2)

1

AlphaSantiago's p.o.v

Life has been great. Nicky and I have 4 wonderful kids. Gunner, is now 21. When he turned 18, we sat down and talked to him about his dad. He didn't remember much about what happened when he was a kid. He was so young. Anyways, he decided that I am his dad. He also went to Alpha Academy at 18 and was a beast. He graduated at the top of his class. He found out that Amy was his mate. They have 2 little ones. Alex is their son and Rosario is their daughter. Yes, I am a grandfather now. Time just flies by. I am crushing it at being a grandad. He hasn't taken over the pack just yet, because Amy got sick after their daughter was born. We couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. We think someone was poisoning her. She is much better now. But Gunner says they aren't ready just yet, so for now he just helps me with everything. I am teaching him all I know. He doesn't realize it. But I already let him do most things and he is amazing at it all. He will be a great Alpha.

The twins, goddess my twins. Viviana aka Vivi, or my shadow as I call her. This girl is such a daddy's girl. She trains with me and her brothers. She comes to me for everything. She is my little best friend. She is so smart. She is 17 now, on her way to graduating early. She applied to college early. My baby girl has her standards set high and I am sure she will accomplish everything she sets her mind to. She is a quick learner. Her mother taught her to do makeup at a young age and she started making money from it. That girl is a hustler. She bought herself her own car. She never asks her mother or I for anything. I must say she also helps her slacker brother with everything. I love my son Jesse. But Vivi just does it all for him. She will never leave him behind. They are currently both graduating early. They attend human high-school and Jesse is on the football team and Vivi is on the cheerleading squad. She is also in the French club, the Spanish club, a baking club, a spelling team and who knows what else? She helps her mother with the publishing company. It always did good throughout the years. Vivi is my wild child. She does not sit around and expect things to get handed to her. She makes videos on her social media platform and somehow got Jesse in on it to help him keep money in his pocket. She truly looks out for him, but she always tells us she has to because they are 1 person split in 2 bodies. Sounds creepy to me, but if you are in a room with them, you will see that it is true. It's weird, but amazing at the same time.

Now for Ruebella. She hates it when we use her whole name. She prefers Rue. That girl is something else. She is 21 now. She never liked school or working. She loves shopping and spending money though. She is totally different than Vivi. Rue just gets everything handed to her. She doesn't like training either. She says she will marry an Alpha or Beta or Gamma and just be taken care of and her mate will protect her. I personally think she is wrong and should not have this mind set, but her and Nicky just brush me off when I try to voice my opinions. Nicky has never wanted to make Rue feel like she is less or not our daughter, so she has always gone with whatever Rue does or says, even if it is wrong. She agrees with everything no matter who she hurts. I always have in my mind what Lenny told me years ago. I have seen some things kind of off, like Rue playing her mother and saying that she is being treated differently, when she in fact is not. If anything, Nicky gives into Rue before our other children. I do not know if Nicky realizes this or not. The other kids never say anything about it, but Rue and Vivi have clashed a couple of times. One time Rue was upset, saying that Vivi is always the center of attention and I only give Vivi attention, but in reality I do not know what to talk to Rue about. With Vivi the conversation always flows and she always wants my opinion on everything. It is just different and I have not found a way to get close to Rue just yet.

Our family is so big now. We have teenagers running around all the time. Eating us out of all of our food. Recently, the twins have been going to the castle a lot more than they normally do. Nicky says they are just filming. Every night, I sit and watch their videos. Sometimes it's the twins doing crazy things or going on crazy adventures. Other times it is Vivi alone either baking or doing her makeup. I used to watch these videos with my mate, but lately Rue has been having a hard time with I do not know what. They won't tell me, but Nicky has been busy with that. The pack has been thriving. A couple of years ago, I had to leave the pack for 2 weeks to help my friend, the Lycan king. His kingdom got attacked and they tried to murder his mate. He got his mate and son to safety. They came here and we went and fought, but at the moment the kingdom got taken over. We later found out it wasn't rogues like we thought, it was his cousin. He has been staying here and we have been planning to take his castle back. The kingdom needs the rightful heir. His son is very ambitious and he graduated high-school early. At 17 he was on his way to a Lycan Academy. A special school that trains Lycan wolves. They are stronger and need more training and guidance with their beasts. Usually, training for that takes longer. He will be done soon though and return home. My dearest friend is hoping to be ready to attack once his son returns and get the castle back and Evan can take over as the Lycan King. I will be sad to watch them go. Evan is like my 5th child. He grew up with my kids. Although he mostly keeps in touch with Gunner now whenever he can. He used to always try to protect Vivi. He is like 4 years older than her and he always tried to solve her problems. She would look at him like he hung the moon and stars. I fu*king hated it. She would always go to him before anyone else. I remember how sad she was when he left. She cried, but I had to tell her that she was too young for feelings that he was like her brother that is why she was sad. Eventually she got over it. I can't wait until he finishes Lycan Academy. His father told us he hasn't found his mate out there, but he has been looking. A mate truly completes you, so I can only hope for him to find what he is missing. I hope all of our kids do.

I am currently working with Gunner and Everett on how we will attack. We got notice of some weaknesses and we will be using those to our full advantage."Daddy, Daddy" Vivi yells running into my office holding a piece of paper in her hands with a huge smile on her face. She is here early. She wasn't supposed to be home until tomorrow morning. "Vivi is that what I think it is?" Gunner asks her, getting up from his seat. "Yes" she squeals. "I got in" she yells almost making us go deaf. My pup is going to college. I am so proud of her. "Congratulations Vivi, Evan is going to be so happy when I tell him. He is always asking about you." Everett tells her and she blushes. "Thank you" she says. I glare at him. He knows they are practically siblings in my eyes. He actually hates it when I say that.

My princess is too smart to just stick around here and do nothing. She can go out and learn about the world and explore more than what she does now. "I actually got accepted to more than 1, but I got accepted to the one just out of town, so I can stay here." She beams. When she told us she was going to graduate and apply to colleges I begged her to apply to colleges closer to home so she can stay here. I don't think I would be okay with my baby girl living away from home. This is why I pray to the moon goddess that her mate is from my pack. She is currently dating one of my warrior's son. I hate him. He is a cocky a*shole. He thinks dating the Alpha's daughter gets him special privileges. So different from his father who works hard. I can't stand that kid. At least they aren't true mates. He already turned 18, so we have that going for us. "I am going to go show Jesse and then Liam" she says and runs out. "I hate her boyfriend. She doesn't even like him. She ignores him when they are together in the same room." Gunner tells us. I actually pray to the moon goddess to show my daughter that he isn't worth her time. We dive back into work until we hear yelling coming from upstairs and Gunner gets a text from Jesse saying S.O.S which is their code in the sibling group chat to stop what you are doing and go to the others. Now what, I think to myself.