1. Paul #2
Once, I would have insisted the driver call me by my full name, as having five Mr. VanMarches in a single family was quite confusing, but I’d long since gotten over it.
Besides, my name was a bit of a joke. Paul VanMarche the Third?
As far as I knew, there hadn’t been any Pauls before me.
But when I had the nerve to be born as the third son on the third day of the third month right at three thirty-three p.m., my father had decided he had no other choice but to include that in my name.
He always claimed it was auspicious, but honestly, I was pretty sure he just found it funny.
While our alpha was on the emotionally crisp side, he did have a weird sense of humor.
“Enough dawdling.” I glanced at my watch. “Still far too much to do.”
Then again, when didn’t I have too much to do?
Being the third son of the most prestigious wolf pack in our area was a strange position to be in.
I would never inherit leadership of our increasingly small pack—both Luther and Chris were ahead of me—but there were enough support and administrative tasks I was skilled at that I couldn’t just chase my own dream like Penelope had or become a hedonistic party boy like Jack.
And speaking of Penelope, it was almost like she’d sensed me thinking about her, because the moment I got into my car, my phone lit up with her name.
My sister rarely ever called, being so busy with her own life, so I answered quickly.
“Hello?” I said, bracing myself for awful news. Instead, I heard my sister’s calm, soothing voice on the other end, though it held a hint of wry amusement.
“So, how many times did you have to kick our little brother’s rear to get him in gear?”
I heaved a sigh of relief. This was one of the rare social calls my sister graced me with once in a blue moon.
It wasn’t that she avoided us, it was just that she was so busy.
And, if I was completely honest about the situation, a lot of the emotional upkeep of the family had been placed on her shoulders growing up.
It probably had something to do with being the only girl.
“How did you know I was doing that? Besides, it was more of a loving shove.”
“It’s a Monday, isn’t it? And I’ve had his charity kick-off on my calendar for about two months to make sure I wouldn’t forget to video call in, even with the time difference.”
“Ah.” Yes, my sister was definitely very familiar with the challenges of taking care of our youngest brother.
Honestly, even though I missed her quite terribly—my workload had definitely increased since she left—I was happy that she was doing well for herself.
“How are things where you are? Is it going to mess up your sleep schedule to attend this event digitally? You don’t have to. ”
Was it important? Yes. But I wasn’t attending it either.
I had a meeting with Luther and Father to discuss possible mating contracts for my eldest brother.
Our patriarch was beginning to entertain the notion of stepping down, and an alpha of our pack couldn’t be left without heirs, which my brother didn’t have since he had no mate to speak of.
“What sleep schedule?”
“That bad, huh?
“Most of the time I manage to eke out a few hours, but the firm is chasing a crazy case against this son of a super prominent bear alpha, and it’s such an uphill battle to get anything to stick.
Between things happening to our aides during discovery and witnesses suddenly disappearing or clamming up, we’ve got a full situation on our hands. ”
“That’s my sister, all right. Always doing good for all the people around you.”
I could practically hear Penelope blush through the line.
“I try my best. But really, this work is fulfilling. And I think that’s really important.
I know Dad, Chris, and Luther are still frustrated with my decision, but sometimes it’s important to follow our own path rather than just doing what our family wants, you know ? ”
That last part seemed awfully pointed, but I chose not to mention it. If there was one thing I have learned in my thirty-three years on this earth, it was that there was a time to say things, and a time to keep your mouth shut.
“I understand what you mean. And I am happy for you. I am.”
“Thanks, Paulie, that means a lot.”
I smiled at the childhood nickname. Penelope was the only one who used it anymore, and honestly, it only sounded right coming from her.
“I miss you, you know,” I said, my gaze flicking to the phone for just a second while I drove, as if she could see me and the expression on my face.
“I know, and I miss you too. But I’m doing good here, and I’m going to keep doing good here.”
“I know you are. And I’m proud of you.”
A moment of silence followed. Of all my siblings, I was closest to her, but we didn’t often have heartfelt conversations. No, that wasn’t really the VanMarche way.
“Well, I wanna grab a quick cup of tea before I settle in to support Jackie, so I’ll talk to you later?”
“Absolutely,” I agreed. “Once you’ve cracked this big case of yours, you can finally tell me all about it.”
“I can’t wait! This is going to help a lot of people. We’ll chat again soon.”
“Yes, soon.”
The line clicked off, and I turned my attention fully to the traffic.
I always had a slight lingering melancholy after saying goodbye to my sister.
This time, though, it felt especially strong.
I couldn’t really say why, considering our situation hadn’t really changed since she’d run off to chase her dreams right when she’d gone to college, but it was what it was.
Besides, I didn’t really have time to psychoanalyze myself.
I still had one more sibling to check in on.
Christopher VanMarche had been the last of my siblings to move out of the large estate that had been the home of our family for generations upon generations.
But unlike Penelope, who’d gone halfway across the world to chase her dreams, and Jack, who’d gotten his own penthouse deep in the city to thoroughly enjoy the nightlife, Chris had gotten a sensible brownstone halfway between the city and the countryside.
I’d been mystified by the distance at first, since he was always right up our father’s ass, but I figured it was just his way of having a little more personal freedom considering he’d never be the alpha of our pack. No, that was Luther’s destiny.
Granted, Chris acted as if he could somehow become the eldest out of sheer will or with good behavior, but whatever.
Christopher didn’t always make the most sense, but he had a brilliant head for numbers and business, so he more than proved himself as a perfectly adequate second son with handling the financials.
It never seemed quite enough for him, though.
“Here’s the docket you requested,” I said, walking into his office.
Although I didn’t visit often, I was quite familiar with the small staff he had at his brownstone.
He had a maid who came in every other day; a personal assistant, who I was pretty sure was barricaded in a closet-sized office, answering email after email and deleted scan after scan; and two security guards.
They were a pair of twins from a wolf pack in Russia, and both had wolf forms with pure white coats.
Even after years, I still couldn’t tell them apart in either form.
In my head, they were Ja and Da, and which one was which changed just about every time I saw them.
“Good, you can put it on my desk,” Chris said, not even looking up at me. Which was very Christopher of him. Great with numbers, not the best with social niceties.
“Working on something pressing?” I asked, trying to engage with him. Although my brother could be a bit prickly around the edges, it didn’t mean that I wanted nothing to do with him. Sometimes, he was just better in small doses.
“Yes. Quite pressing.”
“I see. I’ll leave you to it. Is this something for today’s meeting?”
Chris looked up at me for the first time since I entered. His stormy green eyes held little patience. “No. I have a meeting of my own that I’m preparing for.”
“Oh, wh?—”
“Nothing a middle child need concern themselves about. Drive safely.”
The complete disregard piqued my temper, but I reminded myself that Chris was just being Chris, and repeated a calming mantra in my head.
Peace.
Control.
Serenity.
Well, I supposed that was that.
Once, a long time ago, I might have been miffed by the dismissal.
Back then, I had been so desperate to prove myself as a worthwhile son despite being the middle child that it would have crushed me.
I’d swung between being full of teenage rage and angst, wondering why I couldn’t have been born a little earlier.
Thankfully, I’d outgrown that. I knew what I was for my family and what I could do. And if I did ever feel my composure begin to slip, I focused until I was back to being perfectly collected and composed.
So far, it was working for me.
I had needed to use it far more during puberty, which had been one hell of a ride, but still, it was a nice trick to have in my back pocket.
“You have a good day now, Chris.”
“Mmm.”
Right, whatever he was working on had his full attention. Perfectly fine by me.
I saw myself out, making sure to say goodbye to the maid before she closed the door behind me. Then I drove back home. To the VanMarche estate.
I understood why each of my siblings wanted to get away from it—well, except Chris—but our sprawling manor and its quartz was the only home I’d ever known.
Since I often acted as a liaison between our family and all the members of our pack scattered across the East Coast, it was far more convenient for me to stick close to our alpha and alpha-to-be.
Besides, it wasn’t like I had a mate to live with, or ambitions outside of our pack to chase.