October 11th

As we approached the door, Leo slipped his hand into mine. I tried to retract away but he only squeezed painfully tight and pulled me closer to him.

"Behave," he hissed, a second or so later the large door opened and the warm glow of lights fell onto us.

We were faced with a woman, not particularly old but not young either with a friendly expression and floral apron.

She radiated warm and good energy and as she looked from Leo to me, she began frantically brushing the flour off her apron.

"Leo! Some warning would have been nice!" she exclaimed now tidying the wisps of hair that escaped her bun, "It's not every day I meet my eldest son's mate."

She then turned to me, "You must be Ella."

I smiled nervously before she pulled me into a tight embrace, "It's so lovely to meet you."

Her eyes were soft and gentle eyes. Her skin a subtle olive colour and her smile genuine and beaming.

"I'm Leonardo's mother," she said before a steely man came from within the house and joined her at the door.

"And this is Antonio, Leonardo's father," She said.

Leo was a striking image of his father. The same incredibly tall height, well-built physique, tanned skin, distinctive, sharp eyes and honey brown thick hair. Even his presence brought the same sense of intimidation and power as Leo's.

"Hello, Ella," Antonio greeted holding his hand out to me, I shook it and felt his firm grip.

"Nice to meet you both," I said politely.

"I have to go and sort out some rogue problems and I need to leave Ella with you," Leo said.

"Oh, are you sure you can't stay, Sweetie?" Rosa replied sounding a little disheartened. "We haven't seen you much in weeks."

"I've been busy Mom," he said, "But when I've sorted out this...inconvenience, I'll come back and we can have a coffee."

Rosa nodded, "Okay, okay," she said, "Go. Do your job or...whatever it is."

Leo then kissed the top of my head before leaving.

I watched him leave before looking back up at Antonio and Rosa.

Antonio eyed me. He didn't bear the same friendliness as his mate and stood, his feet shoulder-width apart and his arms folded.

I smiled awkwardly before Rosa ushered me inside, past Antonio and into the hallway.

"Welcome to Stella," she said, "How do you like it so far?"

"It's a beautiful pack..." I said with a nod.

There was a pause of silence.

"But...?" Antonio asked.

"Nothing," I said quickly, "It's nice."

Antonio's eyes were still on me as Rosa glanced at him.

"Antonio, would you please make some tea?" She asked noticing the tension, "Ella, come through."

She placed her hand on my back and guided me through into the kitchen.

At the table sat three teenagers, eagerly staring at me with pens in their hands and school work sprawled all over the table.

"Don't worry they don't bite," Rosa said with a wink. "This is Lia, Lisa, Bella and Lenny," she said pointing to the two girls and the boy, "Leo's youngest three siblings."

They all waved. His three sisters were all incredibly pretty with delicate little noses and perfectly rounded cheeks. Their hair was golden blonde and their eyelashes thick and black. The brother, who seemed about fifteen, looked similar but with a wider set jaw and thicker eyebrows. He was still young and boyish but I could tell he was going to grow up and take after his father, just like his older brother had.

"Buongiorno," Bella said in a soft quiet tone.

"Who's scent is that?" a voice said from behind us.

I turned to the doorway to see a boy, a few years older than me stood eating an apple.

His eyes landed straight on me and he said, "Oh. Yours I guess."

"Mateo," Rosa scolded, "That is no way to greet your brother's mate."

"Oh yeh, I heard Leo had found some unlucky soul and dragged her home," he said before taking a bite of his apple, "You poor thing."

Antonio turned around from making the tea and shot him a glare.

"Have some respect," he ordered.

"For my brother?" Mateo scoffed.

"Your brother is Alpha," Antonio grumbled.

"Urgh..." somebody groaned as another set of footsteps came down the hall, "Must we argue? She's been here two minutes and you're already making a bad impression."

The owner of the voice, an older looking girl, drew up from the hallway behind Mateo and rested her hand on his shoulder as she looked at me.copy right hot novel pub