Chapter Twelve

Author's POV

Ashley kept sleeping like a baby till she heard the tiny shout of a child.

"Wake up!!!" Francine kept shouting as she hit Ashley on the thigh.

Squinting her eyes to make sure she isn't dreaming, Ashley held Francine at arm's length before opening her eyes wide.

"Who are you?" She asked Francine 

"Who am I?" Francine said in disbelief, "I should be asking you who you are and what are you doing here?" 

Ashley scoffed as she looked at the pretty child who stood in front of her, "hey child, I am Ashley and this is my room"

"This is my favorite room,how can you say it's yours?" Francine complained while wearing a frown

"Just who are you?" Ashley said defeatedly and just then voices could be heard outside,they were all calling for Francine.

"I am Francine" the pretty child said to Ashley with a smile. 

"Francine?" Ashley kept thinking, and was wondering why the name rang a bell till reality suddenly hit her. This was the Francine they were all expecting

"Goddess" Ashley exclaim and was about jumping out of bed to attend to the little child when Bianca, Leon, Andrea and Zolan came into her room with another pretty woman. She and Andrea looked alike so it was safe to assume she was the Aunt Alice everyone was expecting.

"Francine" Bianca called out sweetly as the child ran into her arms. "What's the problem?"

"Nothing much but I want to know who this pretty lady sleeping in my room is?" Francine said as she looked at Leon

"She's your favourite uncle's wife, Francine" Zolan answered

"Really? But I thought you were going to marry Aunt Bianca?" She said looking sad as Ashley rose from the bed speechless

"But regardless, because you are my favorite uncle's wife that means you are now my favorite Aunt" Francine said smiling before running to give Ashley a warm hug which surprised everyone.

"What? Francine! You are hugging Ashley?" Andrea complained at the sight.

"Step away from her Francine,she hasn't even taken her bathe yet" Bianca noted but Francine wouldn't let go off Ashley, even when she was trying to take her hands away.

"She hasn't taken her bathe, yet she smells so nice" Francine said, raising her head to look at Ashley's face

"Seems like Francine and Ashley would get along just fine" Zolan added

"I know right and this is strange. Francine doesn't warm up to anyone. You are one lucky person to be loved by Francine" the other lady with them said as she moved closer to Ashley. 

"Hi, I am Luna Alice Stone Creek, Leon and Andrea's Aunty and Francine's mother" she said, stretching out her hands with a warm smile

"Hi, I'm Ashley Cambrian" Ashley said smiling back nervously

"Are you the famous wife of Alpha Leon Stone?" She said jokingly while Ashley stuttered to reply. Though she was Leon's wife but she didn't know if she even had the right to that title.

"She is Leon's wife, Aunt Alice" Zolan finally said and Leon shot him a killer look but he didn't bother.

"Ohh, really" Alice replied laughing happily. "Okay, okay, I see you are just waking up, I should give you time to freshen up" 

"Yes, thank you ma'am" Ashley said

"It's Aunt Alice" Francine shouted. "Everyone calls her Aunt" 

They all laughed at Francine's joke and they left her room.

"Don't be late Aunt Ashley" Francine shouted behind the closed door as Ashley fell to her bed in defeat.

"Damn it! How could I forget it was today?" She kept hitting her forehead as she whined on the bed before she jumped up and ran into the bathroom.

Strangely she didn't have any maid to attend to her today and she was so confused on what to wear. She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Leon's relative and then the door just opened.

"Why are you still here, Luna?" Martha asked as she walked in. "Everyone is about to eat breakfast and you haven't dressed up yet"

"Martha, please help me out. I don't know what to wear" Ashley said panicking

"Don't worry wear this" Martha brought out a mini floral yellow gown. "This would look perfect on you"

"Wouldn't it make me look small?"

"No, it will make you look pretty. Now let's get you dressed quickly"

Ashley smiled at her new look in the mirror, Martha styled her hair so nicely in a half path form and the little make-up she wore complimented her skin. 

"Thanks to the beauty prep she got last night, your swollen eyelid had disappeared" Martha noted as Ashley smiled.

"Now, go and take your sit Luna" she added as she lightly pushed Ashley's back out of the room.

The whole family seemed to be enjoying themselves as the laughter from the dinning area was loud cheerful but everyone became quiet when Francine announced Ashley's arrival.

"Look, Aunt Ashley is finally here" Francine joyfully announced as everyone turned their heads to Ashley.

She looked at their faces that wore different expressions, she could read all their facial expressions except from Leon's. He always wore an indifferent look,not disappointed, not impressed look.

"Come and sit" Alice invited her over while Ashley went to the end of the table sitting close to Zolan

"Why are you going to the end of the table?" Alice complained. "Your seat is here. Stand up for her, Francine" Alice asked her daughter to create space

"It's fine, Aunt Alice. Francine should enjoy her space close to Leon" Ashley quickly said as she walked back to Zolan's seat.

"It's funny that we had to wait for you to doll yourself up, Ashley" Andrea first spatted in anger.

"Andrea!!" Luna Becca cautioned 

"She's finally here now we can eat" Bianca said with a smile as they all dug in.

"You look nice, Ashley" Zolan said silently to Ashley as she smiled at him sheepishly.

"Thank you, Zolan"

"You're welcome" he replied before passing the vegetable plate to her so she could eat some

"Thank you" she said again as he smiled 

Leon stopped eating as he noticed Ashley and Zolan's little interaction.

"Seems like you're enjoying Zolan's company alot, Ashley?" Leon finally said while Ashley choked on her food as everyone looked at her

"Aren't you being too nice to Ashley, Zolan?" He asked again

"I'm just being myself, passing her the vegetable plate shouldn't be an issue" Zolan said in his defense

"Wait! Don't tell me you are jealous, Leon?" Alice asked, smiling at Leon's grumpy face

"He's not. Why would he even be?" Bianca chipped in

"Why shouldn't he be? After all Ashley is his mate" Alice said

"She was his mate but no longer" Andrea added

"What do you mean by that?" Alice asked looking at all of their face

"She's no longer his mate because Leon already rejected her" Bianca loudly said so everyone around could hear

"What? Is that true, Leon?"

"Yes, I rejected Ashley" he said, giving her Ashley a mean look