4. Alexander
4
ALEXANDER
“ M ate.” My wolf’s desperate plea echoes relentlessly inside my head from the moment we enter our childhood home.
Max’s plea is hard to ignore, when I can feel her presence calling me.
I can smell her, the human my wolf calls his own, and it’s the most delicious scent I have ever had the pleasure of coming across.
Fizzy orange and vanilla sugar.
Her scent is alluring and enthralling, the perfect blend of sugar and spice.
I could drown in this scent, and I’d die with a smile on my face.
I’m desperate to lay my eyes on her, to see her for who she is. I can smell our— her— pup, and the itch is already clawing at me to go to her, to take her, to scent her.
“Mate inside. Baby inside. Mate inside. ” Max’s urgency in his voice matches my own desires, but where my wolf is driven by emotion, I’ve got to consider all of the possibilities.
I have no choice but to ignore him—to ignore what my soul craves. We’ve got a mate and a child that needs protecting, and we can’t just race into them. Not until we understand the full scope of what we’re dealing with.
Ben was just going on about how beautiful she is and how the baby is so small. Seb didn’t even bother to reply to mine or Topher’s attempts to communicate. Which left my mum and dad to fill us in, and they didn’t convey the best of news.
Topher’s eyes are flickering between the hazel we all feature and the bright gold of his wolf, and I can feel his own desperation to go and see our mate. His wolf, Orion, is going to feel the urges so much more than Max and I do, due to his status as the eldest.
But, like me, he composes his features into the perfect calm mask as we suppress our instincts and do our best to deny our mate.
We’ve got to hide our true desires from everyone else, for her safety. I can only trust my brothers—no other wolf. My brothers and I share a bond that no other sibling group has—the true strength of our bonds lie in the secrets we share, the blood on our hands that we don’t reveal.
I know that no matter how much I want to be in there with her, our mate is with our brothers, and she will be safe from everyone—even my parents. They’ll defend her and our pup until their last breath.
So, Topher and I need to do our part.
The two of us bypass the opening to the living room, ignoring the alluring scent of my human mate, no matter how hard my wolf cries when we turn from her. Now is not the time to see our mate.
I ignore Ben when he snaps at us for making too much noise, and go through to the kitchen where my mum and dad are sitting, drinking a cup of tea each. They’ve likely been theorising with each other, making plans that my brothers and I are unlikely to be clued in on, but both of them give Topher and I assessing looks as we enter the room.
My mum is the first to rise, the pink dress she’s wearing is ageing her a good decade or two, and I hold in my annoyance when she plasters that fake, big smile on her face.
She might love Topher and dote on the rest of us, but she’s a viper underneath her pretty outer layer.
“Topher, Alex,” my mum greets. Her hazel eyes are filled to the brim with curiosity, and it rubs me the wrong way. “I take it you heard from your brothers about your potential mate?”
“How true is it?” my dad asks with a raised eyebrow. There’s a sneer on his face, as if Maia isn’t good enough for him.
Fucking fool that he is. Maia is everything, and I’ve not even laid eyes on her yet.
“Go to mate. We need mate. Love mate. Touch mate. Mate!” Max is back to pleading and begging with me to get to see Maia, but I can’t give in. Not yet.
“We need to be smart, Max, we need to play this properly to ensure Maia’s safety.”
“Not too sure. I’ll need to see her first to make sure. Her scent is pretty diluted,” I say, and Topher echoes my uncertainty. I’m surprised by that. Topher’s the first born and should feel the pull of the bond far more intensely than Ben, Seb and I will. My wolf is going crazy with his need, so Orion will be even worse.
“She’s a strange one,” my dad says, and I have to bite back my growl. I’m not sure if he’s trying to test me, or Topher, or if he’s just being his usual blunt self.
“Kill him. Rip his throat out. Let him die for disrespecting our mate.”
I smirk, but quickly smooth it out when Topher gives me a dirty look. Instead, I try to reason with my reckless wolf. “We’re not killing our father, Max. Not only would it devastate mother and the twins, but I don’t think our new mate would be impressed.”
Max snarls, but doesn’t comment, instead huffing in our mind as he waits for his turn to meet our mate. He doesn’t favour our fathers very much. Max is of the opinion that our fathers are weak, and that they should hand the pack over to us so that we can handle our rivalry with our enemy pack.
Out with the old… and out with the even older.
“She’s strange in what way?” Topher asks, keeping a much tighter control over himself and Orion. His voice doesn’t even waver. I guarantee my elder brother’s wolf is not making it easy on him. Max seems to find that as funny as I do.
“She’s a mother, with no real life on paper that we’ve found. She doesn’t seem to work, and never has as far as we can find, yet her car is almost brand new, and both her and her daughter are wearing very good clothing,” my mum says, and I hold back the growl.
How dare she nitpick my mate this way? So what if she has nice clothes and no job? I’ll take her no matter what her life is like. I can financially provide, I have a home, I can give her whatever she wants or needs.
Both she and the pup will be taken care of.
“She’s moved around a lot, has no family ties, and so far hasn’t said more than two words about Phoebe’s dad,” she continues, checking off on her fingers as if she’s making a checklist.
“Phoebe is the baby?” Topher asks, and both my parents nod. Why the fuck didn’t Ben tell us the baby’s name? Asshole. “I see. Age?”
“Five days old,” my dad replies. “But if we can’t get a claim on her and Maia?—”
“Any claims to be made, are ours , and only if the shoe fits,” Topher says, injecting a deep growl into his words as he gives my father a stern look. “Mate or not, we do not talk about women as if they are cattle. Not in this pack.”
A silent standoff occurs between the two alphas, and their wolves are both putting them all behind it. Unsurprisingly, my dad is the one who looks away first—it’s been happening more and more often as of late.
George is the strongest of my three dads, and as such, he’s the one always butting heads with Topher. It’s becoming more and more apparent why.
Me and the rest of our quad are ready to take over the pack, but the old men won’t loosen the reins.
“What’s she like personality wise?” I ask, and Max perks up as he listens attentively.
“She’s polite,” my mum says, after thinking about it for a moment.
“I love a good mate who can beg so prettily and politely,” Max purrs appreciatively.
“But she’s also strong-willed with a sharp tongue,” she continues.
“Oh, a mate who can fight back and protect our pups,” Max says. “I love her already.”
“Pup, singular,” I point out, although my dick starts to get hard at the thought of her being round with more pups. I’ve not even laid eyes on the woman, and yet I can’t wait to fuck a baby into her. “We shouldn’t assume she wants more.”
“We will not settle for just one,” he says, boldly. “I’ll claim her as my own, and then fuck her ? —”
“Enough,” I say, cutting him off. From the moment we went through puberty together, my wolf’s primary goal has been to find our mate so he can mate her, and then fuck a pup, or seven, into her. Topher has cautioned my dad that women aren’t cattle, and yet my wolf has the strongest urge to breed I’ve ever known. “She might not even be ours.”
“You would doubt me?” I can feel his hurt through our bond, the depth to it surprising me. I immediately shake my head, soothing my inner wolf.
I don’t doubt him—I doubt myself. A mate with a daughter? I’d never be so lucky.
“Of course not, but… she’s human, Max.”
“And you can smell her—both of them. Doesn’t the pup feel like yours? Ours?” Max is insistent .
“Well…” I trail off, not bothering to argue with him since it’ll only encourage him.
Of course I can feel the pup—we bonded from the moment I entered the house. The child of my mate is my child, too, and the pup will know it as she develops properly.
Phoebe is a strong she-wolf, the spirit inside her strengthening quickly despite her young age.
“She’s pretty,” my mum adds.
“Beautiful,” Max says, with delight. “Our pretty polite mate better be ready for us. We’re going to love her, and pet her, and spoil her and our littlest pup. We’ll make her so happy she’ll give us more babies, and shower us in her love for all of eternity.”
“Great idea,” I say, only half sarcastically.
“Go through, introduce yourselves, and verify this claim,” my dad says, and both Topher and I nod. As we pause in the hallway, Topher shakes his head, trying to get Orion under control.
He doesn’t want to scare our mate.
Admirable, if a little wasted. Topher’s sharp tongue will no doubt scare her more than the wolf inside will.
“Are you okay, brother?” I ask across our sibling bond. This is one only us four quads can access, instead of the pack bond or family bond that are open for wider communication. It means nobody can infiltrate it, and overhear something they shouldn’t.
“I’m trying,” he says. “But you know how it is.”
I do know, and I give him a reassuring look.
“Let’s go, boys,” my mum says, coming out of the kitchen and walking by us to try and take command of the situation. “You’ve made her wait for long enough.”
My eyes flash silver as I pass the mirror in the hallway, but I push Max back and refuse to let him take over again.
“But human, please, I need to see our mate!”
“We’re going to see our mate,” I promise him. “You just need to behave, so that we don’t scare her. ”
“Scare mate?”
“She’s human, Max. She doesn’t know anything about our world and her daughter shifted, bringing it to her attention. She’ll be terrified and overwhelmed, and her hormones are likely all over the place,” I say, patiently, and my wolf truly does listen. “We need to be the good ones, okay? We need to be supportive and strong, offering her the comfort the others probably won’t. You know what the others are like. Topher’s a hotheaded prick ? —”
“Ben and Fluffy are mentally confused,” Max says, and I snort.
“Which leaves Seb who probably won’t say a word to her,” I add, and Max shares his agreement across our bond.
“We’re the good mates. The best. We’ll love her the hardest, protect her the most, and fill her with our second ? —”
He cuts off the moment we enter the room and my mate comes into view. I think my heart has stopped beating, my brain frozen, as I literally stop breathing.
She’s fucking beautiful. Stunning. Gorgeous.
My mum described her as pretty, but that word was not powerful enough—no word ever will be. It’s the same way a colour-blind person would describe the sky as blue, on an early morning day where the sun is just rising against the symphony of colours.
My mate is the sun, the sky, the moon, the stars… she’s everything. Her mere presence pulls me into her orbit, and I just know that I’ll do anything for her.
Her black hair is long and curly, the ringlets framing her face beautifully to show off that gorgeous face of hers. She’s got tanned skin, despite it being the end of winter, and her cheeks are a rosy red. Her nose is tiny and small, her lashes long as her baby blue eyes blink.
Her lips are so bright and full, and I’m desperate to sink my teeth into them, to taste her. I don’t know what would be brighter—the colour of her blood or them.
She’s got a perfect fucking figure, only accentuated by the tight-fitting outfit she’s wearing. She’s slim, with curves in all the right places, and Artemis, I can not wait to put my hands on her.
Her hips are wide, her breasts so fucking full, and I can only imagine how perky her ass is.
She’s perfection, and I’m a mere mortal who doesn’t even deserve to look at the beauty she is.
“This is her,” I say, scrunching my face up as Max screams in my mind. He’s far too loud, but I can’t deny him his celebration. “She’s definitely ours.”
Mine. Mine. Mine.
She’s mine.
“Ours,” Max protests, and I nod, giving him that. She’s ours. Mine and Max’s. Mine and the rest of my quad.
All of ours.
Ours to love.
Ours to protect.
Ours to care for.
“Hm,” Topher says, and whilst his overall demeanour looks unbothered, I can feel the restraint he’s barely holding onto. He’s controlling his wolf, stopping Orion likely from charging over there and marking her here and now.
I respect that.
Even if I wish that I was the first-born so that privilege would come to me first.
The tiny baby in her arms draws my attention as she lets out a tiny whine, and I watch as my mate effortlessly adjusts Phoebe to get her more settled in her arms. Maia gently rubs across Phoebe’s face, soothing our tiny princess, and my wolf howls loudly in my mind.
Maia was born to be a mother—born to be my mate.
“She’s our pup,” Max says, gleeful. “Do you see her? Do you feel her? She’s so strong. We have a female pup. A female, Alexander! Do you know how privileged we are?”
“A tiny little princess to protect,” I whisper, already enchanted by the little beauty before us .
She’s got her mother’s black, curly hair, and she seems so dainty and delicate. Tiny little arms, with even smaller fingers. She’s wearing a pretty pink outfit that hides her little toes, but I know they’ll be just as perfect as she is. I’ve never seen a baby as sweet as she is.
“She’s everything,” I whisper to Max, the profound sense of purpose already filling my heart.
Earlier today, I had nothing more than my revenge plot to keep me going.
But now? I have a mate, a pup, and the beginning of my very bright and fulfilling future.
“How dare you—” my mate spits, the anger in her voice startling me. She’s in a fury, and it’s a fucking vision.
Her baby blue eyes are wide, her lips quirked in a snarl, and she’s glaring at Topher as if he’s the devil himself.
“Our mate is not impressed with Christopher,” Max says, having been paying attention where I was not. “Orion is angry with Christopher, too. Our brother hurt our mate, Alex.”
“Then our brother will pay the price,” I silently promise.
Nothing comes above my mate—not even my brother.
She’s strong, and beautiful, and I’m already in love with her.
We just need to convince her to stick around and let us prove that we can be what she needs.
“I think before we discuss anything for the future, we need to discuss the past,” my mum says gently, and she emits her luna energy to try and soothe my mate. It doesn’t seem to work too much, though, because although Maia calms, she eyes my mum with distrust.
“She should not be soothing our mate,” I snarl, and Max laughs.
“You’re the one needing to calm down now, human,” Max says. He’s not wrong, even if it pisses me off.
But Maia is mine, and it’s my job to soothe her upset, and calm her fears .
My mother is stealing that job from me and doing a terrible job at it.
I am the protector of our family.
Not Topher, not Seb, and not Ben. Me . That’s my job as the second. If anything ever happened, Topher has the pack, and my priority is to protect our mate and children.
“Your daughter is a rogue wolf, Maia,” my mum continues, and I have to hold in my growls.
“My daughter is not a fucking rogue,” Max snarls, and I look away from the group as I try to get him under control. “She’s a babe—my babe.”
“I know, Max, I know. She’ll never be targeted or treated as such.”
“She is a born female wolf,” he roars, and I take a few deep breaths, trying to rein the shift in. He’s so angry and so close to taking over. “She deserves to be protected and treated like a princess.”
“I know,” I agree, gently. “We’ll give her everything she could ever want in life and make sure she knows how to protect herself. We won’t ever leave her to struggle, Max.”
“Her biological father may have died, but we’re alive and she’s ours ,” he hisses along the bond.
“And so, we need to start identifying Phoebe’s lineage and fast, in case her rightful birth pack comes knocking,” my mum finishes.
My nails shift into claws, and I draw blood from my hands. The wolves in the room notice—and probably my father, too—but nobody says anything because Maia doesn’t notice.
Thank Artemis for that small blessing.
“And her birth pack is the one Ryan belonged to?” Maia asks, and when she’s not angry, her voice is as smooth as butter. It’s sweet and lovely. Her voice is my new favourite melody. “Then tell me what you need to know because that’s never happening. ”
“Everything,” my mum says softly. “We need to know everything about Ryan.”
Maia nods, and there’s a brief flash of uncertainty across her face. I inch forward, wanting to soothe that pain away, but I can’t.
“I met Ryan in my first year of university?—”
“What is your degree in?” Ben asks eagerly, cutting her off.
“Business,” she says a little curtly. My brother doesn’t seem to care, but both Topher and I notice the uncomfortable air she has with our youngest brother. What on Earth has Ben done to upset her?
“An educated woman to teach our pups.” Max is beaming with pride.
“And do you use your degree now?” my mum asks, raising one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows. I give her a dirty look, holding in my anger the best I can. She’s already pointed out that my mate doesn’t work, so what the fuck is she poking at her like this for?
Family is important, Alex.
I fucking hate when my brain mocks me this way.
Yeah, well, we’ve already cut out more than half of it—what’s another few more?
Never stops me from arguing back, though.
“I do,” Maia says primly. My wolf howls in my mind, and I’m just as proud of my mate for standing up to my mum. “But these questions are about Ryan, to protect Phoebe, not me.”
“Yes, you’re right,” my mum says, bristling at Maia’s shut down. “Excuse my interruption, dear.”
Maia nods, but her face clearly says my mum is not forgiven. “Ryan was in my year at university, and we met during freshers week. We moved in together near the end of our first year. As far as I’m aware, we had a normal and human relationship. I had no idea about the supernatural, and no idea about his werewolf side or his pack life.”
The questions continue, ranging from his favourite place to go to what colour eyes he had. Maia was meticulous in answering, and it drives my wolf crazy knowing she knows another man more than she knows us.
That she loves another man more than she loves us.
“Did he ever attend events without you?” my mum asks. “These events would’ve been at least once a month and usually at a large gathering of sorts.”
Every wolf must attend at least one pack event per month as a way of checking in with our leaders. This is one of the most common rules a pack would have because it helps us remain grounded.
We need to be around our kind or our wolves begin to struggle. It’s one of the most common reasons that you get kicked out of a pack and made a rogue—it’s for your protection and that of the pack.
“Not that I know of, but we were our own people. He was allowed a life beyond me,” she replies tersely.
But why would he want one?
Why wouldn’t he want to spend every single moment with her?
“Because he is worthless,” Max says, and I nod in agreement. “He was a terrible man, and not worthy to be her mate or Phoebe’s dad.”
“Phoebe and Maia will never ever worry where our attentions may lie. They’ll wake up each and every day knowing they’ll be treated like the princesses they are,” I vow.
“It’s about time the Wolfe wolves were off the market,” Max says. “I’m excited to finally feel the touch of a woman.”
“You and me both,” I mutter, before cutting our connection off.
“I’ve got a box at home of his belongings that I can go through and see if there’s anything helpful there. When I get home tonight, I’ll get it sorted for you,” Maia says, and my mum thanks her.
Topher and I exchange a look, and we silently agree that we’ll be going through that box before our parents even get a look at it. Information is power, and I refuse to give my parents any more.
“I’ll pack it up for you,” Topher says firmly, and Maia’s dark eyebrows shoot up her forehead. “You will head to our home and get yourself and Phoebe situated. It’s already late, and you both need your sleep.”
“Hang on a second—” she starts, her anger rising once more. It’s a beautiful sight, the way her cheeks redden and she readies herself physically for a fight.
I might love it a little less when I’m the one on her bad side, but I don’t ever intend on that being the case.
“Do not argue with me,” Topher snarls, and our mate is forced under the weight of his dominance. I cringe, knowing this is going to upset our mate, but I also know we can’t stop Topher.
My wolf whines at seeing the choice stripped away from her, even if a small part of us both loves the idea of her and Phoebe coming home with us.
Maia is a human, and they’re weaker than us werewolves. Even without our enhanced strength and extra abilities—our animal magnetism cannot be denied, and she’s forced to succumb to whatever we demand.
It’s something we’d never use in the deplorable way some of our brethren may act but only in the big instances where we need her to follow our command.
I, personally, don’t think this is one of them. But we can get her out of here, and then argue about it until the sun comes up.
Not least of all because none of us can stand up to Topher in front of our mum.
We need to get Maia and Phoebe out of here, explain what we can, and find a way to get the pack from my parents.
Because if we can’t… Phoebe might become an orphan, and we’ll lose her forever.