25. Maia
25
MAIA
“ A re you okay?” Ben asks, kicking my leg to get my attention. I wince, since he managed to kick my shin bone right in the middle, and it’s stinging. He flinches, genuine upset filling his features. “I am extremely sorry, darling. I meant to nudge you, not kick.”
“It’s fine,” I say, waving off his concerns.
Seb told his brothers about me seeing “Ryan” at some point last night once I was asleep, so I woke up to a huge ambush from Topher. He not only spent the night preparing his argument, but he seemed to come up with every counterargument I may have and argued that side of things before I could. He was pleasantly surprised when I apologised and eagerly accepted it.
Ben, on the other hand, wasn't just upset with me. He was sad I didn’t trust him and worried for me. I’ve tried to spend more time with him this afternoon whilst he worked, just to give him some company, so if he did want to talk, he could.
He has. A lot.
“Are you sure?” He crouches down to look at my shin and grimaces despite the fact that there’s not even a red mark. “Let me kiss it better, for you. ”
I cover the shin with my hand and laugh, waving him off again. “You don’t need to. Get up, it’s fine. I’m fine.”
We’re in the living room and sharing the large sofa together. Clearly, I wasn’t giving Ben the right amount of attention because he felt the need to resort to such drastic measures to get my attention.
The dirty look Ben levels me with has stunned me for a moment, thinking I’m here with Topher instead.
“No. I hurt you, darling, so I will make it better.” He gently takes my hand in his and presses a soft kiss to the palm of it before pressing another kiss to my shin. “I’m sorry.”
“Forgiven.”
“You could’ve got so much more out of me from down here than a little kiss for your shin,” Ben says, wiggling his brows at me. I groan, and he rises from the floor, pulling me with him. He steps closer to me, wrapping his arm around my waist. I press my hands against his chest, rubbing against the softness of his shirt, loving the business look on him. “I would’ve done so, so much down there with my mouth.”
“I’m sure that you could have,” I say, smirking at him.
“Topher might have first claim on your cunt, baby girl, but the rest of you is up for grabs.” I freeze, and he groans. “I think I messed up.”
“Oh?” I can’t help that my tone is frosty, not when he’s talking about my body parts and assigning them to his brothers as if I don’t even get a say on what he can do.
Sure, Topher and I have made leaps and strides in our relationship compared to the first few days, but that doesn’t mean the man has first claim to my vagina.
I am the only one who gets to decide what happens to my body and when.
“Um.” Ben looks up at me, biting his lip in an adorable way that doesn’t change my annoyance.
“How can you be this clueless?” I sigh, laying my head back onto the cushions, as a flash of hurt fills his face. “You’re not being sweet or sexy by talking that way. My body is mine, and if I want to have sex with you, or Alex, or Seb first, then I will. Topher does not get to claim first use of my body, no matter what you lot seem to think.”
Ben sighs, and he seems frustrated with me as if I’m the one who is out of line here. “It’s the way of the harem, darling. Topher must claim you first or our bond will not be able to form as a group. It must be done in order or the claim will be invalid and may not be accepted for each of us.”
“Claim me or have sex with me?” I ask, reaching up to rub at my neck.
“They usually happen at the same time.” Ben’s eyes widen, and he grins up at me, his hazel eyes so bright as if I’ve genuinely fixed all the problems in his world. “But you might’ve found a loophole.”
“Oh, wow, a loophole to provide me with body autonomy,” I drawl. He smirks and drops a kiss to my thigh.
I gulp, and he rises up on his knees, somehow now head to head with me, and he closes in, my breath unsteady, but instead of kissing me, he tucks my hair behind my ears, sending a shiver wracking through me.
“ O h, what have we got here?” one of the men says, coming into the room. I don’t look away from Ben, whose nostrils flare, and annoyance flashes in his eyes before he plasters a smile on his face.
“Nothing,” Ben says with a sigh. He presses a gentle kiss to my forehead before grabbing the notebook from the table that he wanted to begin with. “But I’m glad you’re back, Toph. Where the fuck is Ryan’s diary? I meant to ask last night, but we got a little”—he glances at me, before looking back up at Topher—“distracted.”
It doesn’t take a genius to work out what he got distracted with .
“His diary?” I hear an incredulous note in Topher’s voice and whirl around to see the eldest Wolfe brother.
He’s surprisingly not wearing a suit today, which is very rare. He’s wearing a pair of light grey shorts that hang just above his knees. They’re baggy, not clinging to him like his usual preferred ones. He’s got a black T-shirt on with large wet spots under his armpits.
His hair is dishevelled and a little damp at the front.
And despite knowing he’s been exercising and probably smells disgusting... the sight of him looking so wrecked has my own dampness occurring.
“I thought you had it,” Topher says with a frown. “I brought it up to Alex last night once you were asleep because we couldn’t find it, either.”
I look at Ben, who is frowning even deeper than Topher now. “No. On Phoebe’s birthday?—”
“She didn’t have a birthday yet,” I mutter, and two sets of eyes snap over to me. One pair of hazel with gold flecks and a deep intensity that has me clenching my thighs together. The others are bright blue, and he licks his lips, giving me an amused look.
Two identical but very different men, who inspire the very same reactions in me.
I have no idea where the arousal is coming from, but it’s been simmering and burning away all day long.
I can’t take it.
Not only am I not cleared to put anything inside my vagina, never mind very... large... things, this is also not the time. There are much more important things going on than me getting... well, the orgasms I so desperately want.
“Someone seems needy,” Fluffy murmurs, his words deeper and more primal as his eyes rake up and down my body. It’s like his very gaze burns, igniting a fire in me that I’ve not felt in so long.
Last night’s talk has really brought us closer, and I feel like a huge weight is now off my chest. There’s no more secrets, no more lies.
Everything that comes, we’ll face together.
And, hopefully, everyone comes, too .
“Not the time for this,” Topher snaps, giving me an apologetic look. “What happened on Phoebe’s birthday, Ben?”
“It wasn’t with the rest of his things,” Ben says, the sudden switch from him and Fluffy surprising me. “I came down at one-ish, maybe?” He looks over to me, and I shrug. It was about then, sure. “To get the cake I made, and I cleared up all his shit so that Maia didn’t need to see it. The journal wasn’t there then.”
“Which birthday?” Topher demands, an edge of urgency creeping into his tone. I step closer to him, his panic causing me to worry, but there’s no comfort being offered by the worried alpha werewolf right now.
“Her one week ,” Ben says. Unlike Topher, there’s a dejected look on his face. “We’ve not noticed it missing for three fucking weeks ?”
But Ben’s anger is nothing compared to Topher's. I can feel it seeping out of him, the air practically rippling with the pure frustration pouring off of him. There’s an uncomfortable pressure on my chest, my body not yet sure how to handle it.
I know, logically, that he won’t hurt me, but my brain doesn’t. We see a predator, we feel a predator, and our instinct is to run, to hide, to keep us safe.
The coil seems to be tightening and tightening in my alpha mate, and I’m nervous about what will happen when it unleashes.
“What is it?” I choke out, the words sounding quiet and full of my nerves. My hands are trembling, the pressure intensifying.
“They’ve found a way into the fucking house,” Topher roars, kicking out at the coffee table. I flinch and dart back towards the wall as anger radiates from him, and the table shatters. Ben jumps to his feet, letting out a large growl, his eyes bright blue.
My heart is thudding, my head pounding. The wall isn’t doing a good enough job of holding me up, of keeping me calm.
Someone came into our home and stole Ryan’s diary.
I think I’m going to be sick.
“There better be a very fucking good explanation for this,” Alex roars, his voice even louder than the breakdown that’s going on in front of me. He steps to my side, cuddling me into his chest, providing me the support that the wall didn’t.
His wolf lets out soft grumbles, the vibrations aiming to soothe me just as much as the pleasurable sparks do. I don’t think it’s working.
Tears are soaking into his jumper, and I’m grasping onto him as tight as I can as heaving breaths leave me.
“They” broke into our home. They took what wasn’t theirs. They have been inside the house.
Was it Ethan? Did he... was it...
I gag and burrow my head into Alex even further, needing him— needing them— to fix this one for me. I can’t do it. I really can’t.
This one, this goes beyond me.
My daughter...
“Fuck, princess,” Topher gasps, and I don’t know what happens in the scene behind me, but Alex growls once, and the tension in the room starts to calm down. The anger is slowly fading away, but I don’t know what it’s being replaced with. “I’m—fuck. Baby, please?—”
“Maia, darling, we never?—”
“Calm the fuck down, because your wolves are only making this harder for her, and then tell me what’s happened,” Alex demands, keeping a tight hold on me. One arm is wrapped around me, supporting me, despite the weak knees, and the other is rubbing the back of my head. Max is close to the surface, the growls that are much deeper and more comforting.
“The night we brought Ryan’s shi—stuff over here,” Topher says, “Ben cleared it away once we were asleep. The journal? We thought he had it all this time.”
“But he doesn’t.” Alex has gone still, his hand just holding my head in place as I silently sob into his chest. The pressure in my chest has eased but not properly. They’re tense again, and the weight is even firmer now that Alex has joined in.
Three wolves furious at the breach of our home. Three alphas who are aware they’ve not protected their sanctuary.
What if... what if they did more than take Ryan’s journal? They could’ve... they could’ve taken her from me.
“No,” Ben says as calmly as he can. “I thought you had it.”
“Well, fuck,” Alex hisses. He growls low, and I can hear the anger in his tone. I let go and try to back away, but his bright silver eyes dart down to mine. “Mate will be safe.”
“I didn’t realise that I wasn’t,” I whisper, hiccuping out another sob. “They could’ve... Phoebe?—”
“Ethan clearly found a way into our house without us knowing,” Topher says angrily. He crosses his arms in front of his chest, and I try to calm myself down.
“It’s impossible,” Alex says, shaking his head. “There’s no way he could’ve got past us all. Not on a night we were all home.”
“The napkin.” Ben’s words are confusing, but he sounds so surprised.
“What fucking napkin?” Alex asks, and I flinch. He lets go of me but gently leads me over to the armchair, supporting me. He grabs a blanket from the back of the sofa that smells like the four of them and places it over my lap. “Breathe, little butterfly. We are going to figure things out, but we need you to be calm, first.”
I nod, trying to quell the shakes and the tremors. A plan will help. A plan will make it all better .
“Usually, it’s me who gets those stupid reminders,” Ben says, smirking at me. I roll my eyes, but I can’t joke the way he is.
My chest is burning, and whilst breathing is instinctual, it’s hard right now.
“Seb has Phoebe, and she is safe,” Topher says, crouching down in front of me. He takes my hand in his, the sparks flying between us. Alex sits on the arm of the chair and takes my other hand, and I close my eyes and let the comfort they’re offering through the barely formed bond wash over me.
They’re saying that Ethan broke in.
That he stole something of Ryan’s.
His diary.
“Do you... do you really think he came into the house?” I whisper.
“ Our house,” Topher says, squeezing my hand. “But I think it’s a likely probability.”
“I don’t understand how he knew...” I trail off, looking between them. “Or how you missed it.”
“Don’t worry, darling, you don’t need to dig that knife in,” Ben mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. “That falls to me.”
“To us ,” Topher says, turning to look over at Ben. “It shouldn’t be possible.”
“But it has been before,” Ben says, turning to Alex. “At the doctor’s office, there was a napkin with no werewolf scent attached to it.”
Alex’s grip on my hand tightens ever so slightly. “Impossible.”
“You guys are throwing that word around a lot,” I say slowly. “But couldn’t we easily hide a scent? Like with perfume or?—”
“You’re wearing some kind of honey body spray thing,” Topher says, and I nod. “And yet, I can still smell you . I know what you had for dinner last night?—”
“Because you were there,” I say .
He rolls his eyes. “No, Maia, not because I was there. I can smell it.”
I narrow my eyes, but it’s Ben who now speaks. He grins at me from the other side of the splintered coffee table. There’s a glint of something in his eyes, a wry smile on his face. “I know that you made yourself cum this morning.”
I gasp, my face going bright red, as I cringe into the arm of the chair.
Ben’s answering smirk annoys me.
It’s not like he’s wrong, but it is mortifying that they know.
“Nobody can disguise their scent this way,” Topher says, and whilst his tone is patient, I can see that his mind is whirring. His body is tense as he works this out in his mind. “There’s... I have no fucking idea. We need to lock the pack down until my parents are back and start asking the pack to report anyone unusual to us.”
“And that’s it?” I whisper, panic filling me.
We’re just relying on the townspeople telling us that they saw Ethan? How reliable will that be?
“We’ll be running patrols each day,” Alex says, and Topher gives a firm nod. “And we’ll be scent-marking the property. It couldn’t have been Ethan, but... it is missing, and we’re a little on edge.”
I freeze. My blood runs cold. My mouth is drying out. I choke out, “The pie.”
“The what?” Topher and Alex ask together, as Ben perks up.
“You made me some pie?” he asks eagerly. “What type? Apple? Cranberry? Cherry?” He gasps. “Or is it a meat pie? Chicken? Beef?—”
“The pie at my house. The day I... the day Phoebe shifted for the first time, I made a pie,” I whisper, closing my eyes briefly. “I left it out to cool when we went to your parent’s house, but when we got back, there was a piece missing, and it was in the fridge. ”
The three boys tense even further in a way that can’t be good for them or their hearts.
“Seb knew,” I murmur, wanting them to know I didn’t keep this from them maliciously.
“Go get him,” Topher says, looking over to Ben. “Don’t worry our—don’t worry Phoebe.”
“What about my worry?” I mutter a little ridiculously. Ben leaves the room.
“It’s understandable why you’re so frightened,” Topher says gently. “But we’re not going to let anyone hurt you, princess.”
“But you didn’t even know he was here .” I look up at him, tears in my eyes. “He’s been here so many times before. How... how are we meant to stay safe, how are we meant to keep Phoebe where she belongs, if he can just sneak inside and take her .”
He growls and lifts me into his lap from the armchair, dropping down onto the floor so he can hold me properly. His hand gently trails down the side of my face before he grips my chin. When my eyes meet his again, they’re bright gold, and I know Orion is out to play.
My lips quiver, and I let out a hiccupy-sob. “Orion?—”
“My little mate will be safe.” His words are an angry but protective snarl as he doesn’t even blink. He’s so sure of himself, and I hate that I don’t have the same faith. “My pup will be safe with her mother. I will not allow either of you to be harmed. Do you hear me, little mate?”
I nod, but I can’t calm myself down. “I’m scared.”
“The sanctity of your home has been broken, twice now, at a minimum,” Alex murmurs, crouching down next to Topher and me on the floor. “We’re sorry for that. We’re sorry we didn’t realise. We’re so fucking sorry, little butterfly.”
“We’ll keep you away from him—from them,” Orion adds, pressing a soft kiss to my temple. “My mate won’t ever feel violated again.”
Violated? Is that how I feel? I take stock of my concerns, of my worries. It was so easy for him to follow me around. So easy for him to sneak into my house and take my food. To look through my things and make himself at home.
So fucking easy because I’m nothing but a weak little human with no special skills.
But my... the quadruplets... They’re powerful, and strong, and still didn’t notice.
Is this just a game of cat and mouse, where my daughter is the ultimate prey?
“I’m terrified,” I say as Seb and Ben enter the room.
Seb’s carrying Phoebe in his arms, her head pressed against his naked chest, and he doesn’t hesitate in coming to my side. Just like Topher, he drops down onto the floor, with no grace, but he protects Phoebe’s head as he does.
“Here,” he says, offering me the wide-awake infant. I cradle her in my arms as Seb places his hand on my knee. Alex is at my side, his hand on my lower back, and I’m in Topher’s lap. Phoebe reaches out to clutch my finger, and her eyes go from their usual grey to a darling bright version.
Ben takes the final spot next to me, his hand resting at my upper back, just on the shoulder blade, and with all five of them touching me, my heart finally begins to settle. The sparks are overwhelming, but not in a bad way. They’re full of love and support.
They’re a strength. A strength to me, to our relationship... to our future.
“Soon enough, we’ll face him down,” Topher murmurs, and I have no idea if it’s him or Orion speaking. “And when we do, there will be justice, princess. He’ll pay for tormenting you the way he has.”
Something settles in me, and I think I might be okay with that.