The common dinner (pt.1.)

We looked at the small wooden box we managed to find under the father's canopy bed. It was pretty old looking but still very beautiful with its handmade carving on all the sides of the box. There was my name carved on the top of the box, which give us a clear understanding for whom the box was made. However, when we opened it, the box was empty inside, and it looked like nothing was ever put there. It disappointed me, but Aiden had another idea. He said that box could be made by my father before his death, and he left it here specifically as a gift to the future me. And taking into consideration the father's foresight gift, Aiden's idea could be true.

"We searched already all the rooms, except your old bedroom. I think we should listen to your father's advice," Aiden finally said, then pointed at the closed door near my father's bedroom at the end of the living room. I grimaced, I was afraid to enter this room, actually, and I don't know why. Maybe, I thought that all the memories will start bombarding my head as soon as I will open the door, and it really scared me. It can be very harmful, but if my father advised to go to that room then it should be something very important inside.

"Let's go," I nodded, then got closer to the room and put a hand on the handle, then pushed the door, and it easily opened, as if my hand was a key.

"So, it wasn't locked," Aiden chuckled, then went inside following me.

The room was not very big regarding the size of the house, but still quite big for one girl. There was a big wooden canopy bed with white linens, a big bookshelf on the right side of the bed, and a desk with a chair on the other side. In front of the bed, near us, was an old doll house, a box with toys, and even some old paintings, pinned to the wall. On the other side of us, near the bookshelf, was a small reading place: a wooden rocking chair, wooden table, and white carpet on the floor.

I looked around the room a few times, seeing a small red-haired girl jumping on the bed, playing with dolls, and sitting with a book in a rocking chair. All those memories weren't bombarding my head as I supposed, they just were slowly appearing while my eyes were moving from one object to another, and disappearing after I focused on something else.

Then, I finally saw a red-haired girl, probably a teen, and two years older than her blond boy with blue and brown eyes, lying on the bed and kissing each other. Their cheeks were red as girls' hair and each time they failed at something, they were laughing.

Aiden's mature voice, which chuckled, brought me back to reality. I turned to him, he tucked a curl behind my ear, then smiled and shrugged.

"Yes, it was our first time…" I noticed a pink blush on his cheeks, so I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek with a smile. He hugged my waist and pressed me to himself, then kissed a fresh mark on my neck, making goosebumps run up and down my skin. I hugged his back and put my head on his shoulder when I noticed a hole in the wall behind the rocking chair. There was something in the wall, and it made me straighten up.

"There's something in the wall," I said to Aiden, so he let me go and turned around. I kneeled down, moved the rocking chair aside, and leaned closer to the hole. It was specifically made cut in the wooden wall and was big enough for my hand, so I burst my hand into it and grabbed a thing that was there. Then, I stood up and put the thing that I grabbed from the hole on the table. It was a piece of old paper, from which someone made a paper airplane and put it in that hole. I unwrapped the airplane and looked at a map of my bedroom. There was the exact map of the bedroom where we were now, with the bed, bookshelf, and all the other things, except a red cross on the floor under the doll house. I frowned. Maybe it was made by my father, and he specifically hid that paper airplane in the wall for me to find something. I turned to Aiden that was still standing in the doorway.

"Can you move the doll house aside?" I asked, and Aiden nodded without even specifying why I need that. He just moved the doll house aside, and we saw a red cross on the ground.

"The same as on the map. There should be something, let's find how to take the floor here out," I said, then hid the map in the pocket of my jeans and looked at Aiden. He took out a penknife off his jeans, kneeled down, and put the knife on the wooden board, then took it out, and another one after that. He took around three or four boards when we saw a big treasure box in there. Aiden easily took it out, then opened it with the same knife.

First what we saw there, was quite a big sum of money, father probably collected and left for me. Also, there was a portrait of a woman with bright long red hair and deep blue eyes. Her facial features were just like mine, just somewhat older. Then, there was a photo album of my parents and some packages. When we opened it, we saw an old but still good-looking wedding dress. The short letter that was inside the package with the dress said that this dress belonged to my mother, and she wanted to give it to me when my wedding will be.

"If you'll renovate it a little, it will be the best wedding dress ever existed," Aiden smiled, then hugged my waist and kissed the top of my head. I smiled at him, then put my head on his shoulder and yawned.

"I suppose this is the last treasure that we should have found here…"

"Indeed," Aiden kissed my head again, then put his head down and looked in my eyes, "Wanna turn back to the Pack? Maybe, we can be on time for the common dinner we share each Thursday."

"Common dinner?" I tilt my head up and looked at Aiden.

"Yeah. That's the dinner where Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Omega have a common meal with their mates and each other. Each Thursday, the dinner is prepared by another couple or a single person. This Thursday was my turn, however, I canceled the dinner as we were away."

"What time is it?" I looked at his left hand, where he had a watch.

"Around noon," Aiden said before I managed to see the time, then took his phone out, and his blue eyes froze at me. I smiled, then nodded and pointed at the treasure box.

"Call and tell them about the meeting, and also ask someone to come here and help us." I closed the treasure box again and while Aiden was calling William to ask him to come here, I went to the bedroom to grab our things and put them back in the backpacks we had with us.

"So, where the common dinner is usually held?" I was working with meat, while Aiden was clearing and preparing the dishes and other utensils we needed for dinner. I asked him to allow me to make dinner on my own to show my culinary abilities, and he agreed as he didn't know them either. Likewise, I haven't told him what I'm doing, but thanks to Moon God, he has everything I required in the fridge and even more.

"In the house of that couple or person who was making the dinner," Aiden said, then put the last dish on the table, "We'll be sitting in the living room. There's enough place for all of us."

"Sure, do you have some tablecloth?" I asked, cutting the tomatoes and paprika.

"Yeah," Aiden said, then grabbed dished and went with them to the living room. I let him do what he usually does for this kind of dinner, while I concentrated on the cooking process to make everything perfect and not to fall with my face into the mud in front of others.

For the dinner, I prepared: pork steaks in a creamy mushroom sauce, glazed salmon in honey and garlic, mini veggie pizzas, zucchini steaks with tomatoes and garlic, classic stuffed peppers, Greek salad, Caesar salad, and lemonade. Aiden was impressed with all the dishes I made and even attempted to try some of them when a knock at the door made us turn around.

The first couple to come to us was the Beta couple, William and Catherine. They brought us a homemade chocolate cake, which we put into the fridge. The second couple brought their homemade wine, they were Chris and Bella, and the third one came was Omega, Matt. I have never seen him before, but the main question I had about him in my head was why he was still single.

However, then I remember that I read in the books that Omegas stay always single. And, Matt really looked like a lonely wolf. He was tall and muscled, with pale, unusual for werewolves skin, and beautiful emerald eyes. He brought me flowers which we put in the center of the table, and a bottle of whiskey for Aiden.

I was excited to start dinner and to listen to what they thought about my food, but suddenly, William stood up and grinned at us.

"Before we start dinner, there's one tradition all of us follow, and now, when you're officially a couple, you should do that as well. Aiden…" William sat down, while I turned at the blond man standing near me. He chuckled, being silent.

"What tradition are you talking about?"