33. Maia
33
MAIA
“ M iss Blake, Mr Wolfe, please take a seat,” the receptionist, Alexa, says after she signs us in on the system.
Today is the morning of the solicitor’s appointment, and I have been a nervous wreck. My anxiety has been simmering away, building steadily over the last couple of days.
My stomach is in knots, and I feel like I’m going to throw up. It’s not a nice feeling. Not in the slightest.
Alex has a hold of Phoebe’s car seat, our daughter asleep inside of it, and despite knowing she’s here, safe, with us, it doesn’t feel right .
This is a meeting where we’re going to discuss a strategy so that we can keep her. My daughter. My tiny, eight week old, little girl.
It shouldn’t be a concern that I’d lose her, and yet, it is.
“Thank you, Alexa. My brothers will be up in a few moments. Could you send them our way, please?” Alex says, pressing his palm into the small of my back. The bond lights up, the familiar sparks trying their hardest to soothe me.
It doesn’t work.
Topher’s been doing his best to keep me calm and reassured. Confident, even. He’s been trying to let the bond we have formed soothe me. Even on the drive over, all I could feel is his surety that this is going to go well.
And yet, I’m a mess.
Alexa nods and waves us over to the seating area. There’s two other people here who don’t even spare us a glance as we sit down opposite them.
If they’re anything like me, they’re probably terrified, too.
The guys and I had a pretty quiet and lovely day yesterday. They did their best to keep me busy so that my mind couldn’t wander, and the best part of it all was during Phoebe’s longer nap, where Ben napped in my bed with her in the crib… and Seb kidnapped me for his own bed.
Unlike Ben and Phoebe, I got no sleep, but it was worth it.
Alex and I are in a steady position with stolen kisses and some very sexy promises. I know Ben’s desperate for some alone time with me, though, and I feel the same way. He’s stretched thin at work, so I’m hopeful that tonight may be our night to connect a little.
“Maia Blake,” a familiar voice calls. My legs quiver as I rise back up to greet our solicitor.
Penelope Fawley is one of the partners of the firm, the only woman who is, and she used to be human like me. She’s got a vast knowledge of the wolf and human laws, and genuinely seemed to care about my case when we met.
She’s in her late forties and is a beautiful woman with a set of triplet mates. She’s got no children of her own, but her record shows how fiercely she fights for everyone else’s.
Today, she’s wearing a full suit, the red looking good against her dark skin, and her braids are tied up in a high ponytail. Her full lips are accentuated with the bright red lipstick, and honestly, I’d pay her another fee to wear this in court when she kicks their asses.
She’s fierce.
The electronic doors open once more, and Topher steps in first, with Seb and Ben flanking either side of him. The quadruplets—Alex included, even with being by my side—are a sight to behold.
They seem to have picked up on Penelope’s theme because they look determined.
They all often wear tailored suits that make them look like they’ve just walked out of a magazine, but today, there’s an air of power about them, a very obvious air, as they walk. Eyes are drawn to them, you can’t deny their presence.
My eyes in particular.
Their light brown hair is styled perfectly the same way, and they’ve even got matching silver cufflinks on their grey suits.
They’re hot.
And they’re all mine.
“Just in time,” Alex says, nodding at Topher. My eldest mate returns it, and the six of us follow our solicitor down into a meeting room. Mine and her heels click in sync.
Seb moves to my side, taking my hand in his larger one, rubbing at my skin with his thumb. Alex has Phoebe in one hand, the other resting at my back, as he all but propels me forward.
Ben and Topher take up the rear, and I feel safe.
I just wish my brain would get the memo.
“Now, I’m glad that you called immediately,” Penelope says, closing the door behind us. The meeting room is quite large, which is strange since there’s only us and one of her assistant’s in here.
We’ve met Lily before, although it was brief, and I’m not sure what she does for the company. Whether she’s a lawyer, too, or a paralegal, or just Penelope’s assistant.
She’s around my age, with bright green eyes and gorgeous ginger hair. We’ve got similar ringlets, although she’s a lot paler than I am. There’s beautiful freckles across her face, and she seems pretty quiet .
“Did you bring the documents you were served with for me?” Penelope asks, drawing my attention away from Lily.
I nod, and with shaky hands, I try to grab the bag from the floor. I fumble and drop it on my foot, tears stinging at my eyes as the panic truly sets in.
There’s no escaping it now.
Not until Penelope reassures me everything is going to be okay.
“I’ve got it,” Topher soothes, lifting the bag up and pulling the envelope out, as he sends a wave of love through our bond. He hands it over to Penelope before placing his arm around the back of my chair.
Seb’s standing near the doorway, with a good view of the room, whereas the rest of us are sitting down in the chairs surrounding the long table.
Phoebe’s on top of the table, still asleep, with Alex on the end. I’m next, with Topher, and then Ben, who is closest to Lily.
“Thank you, Christopher.” Penelope’s tone is cool and professional, and I’m worried that she seems so relaxed about the whole thing.
She turns to Lily and asks her to go make copies of it so that we can keep the original. Lily nods and scurries out of the room, her feet dragging as the heels click on the floor.
“Now, we’ve got two weeks until we’re due in court,” Penelope says, unbuttoning her jacket, before taking a seat at the head of the table.
“That’s right,” Alex replies.
“That gives us a good amount of time to prepare our defence.” She smooths out the wrinkles in her shirt and looks at me. “The first question that I have for you is: are you willing to enter into negotiations for shared custody with the family?”
“No.” My tone is hard, and I don’t waver in my eye contact.
“I know we discussed that in our first meeting, but it’s always smart to go back over now that it’s more real and double check,” Penelope says with a firm nod. “Mediation? Offerings of any visitation?”
“No.” It’s Alex who answers this time, and he places the palm of his hand on my knee. “We’re not negotiating, we’re not offering up any visitation. Phoebe is ours—Maia’s and ours. She’s the current heir to our pack, and?—”
“She’s not,” Penelope says, cutting him off. “You four are the heirs to the pack. Not Phoebe.”
“Does that affect things?” Topher asks, exchanging a look with Alex that I can’t decipher.
Penelope’s face stays in that same professional mask. “It’s no different than you were when I took the case. Phoebe, while in the line of succession, isn’t the direct heir to the Wolfe pack. That role falls to her future mates . It’s a crucial distinction for our case.”
My blood runs cold, and I let out a huff at the patriarchy. My daughter is not a male, so she can’t be alpha.
Are they seriously telling me I might lose my child because she’s the rare thing they’ve been needing all this time? That her worth has now all of a sudden decreased because she’s a girl?
I clench my fists and ignore the soft squeeze of my thigh from Alex. The audacity of this system… I can’t understand it.
I don’t think I ever will.
“It’s not that she’s a woman,” Topher says, smiling at me. His eyes are lit up in amusement, despite his worry I can feel hammering in my chest. “Phoebe is just not an alpha wolf.”
“We’re alpha’s,” Ben says, gesturing between him and his brothers, and I nod. “But not all wolves are. Phoebe was born to an alpha and has a very strong wolf, even for her age… she’s just not an alpha herself.”
“I see.” I purse my lips, not impressed. Fair enough, it’s not the patriarchy’s fault. That doesn’t make it any better.
“We’re in the position where a few things could strengthen Phoebe’s tie to your pack and ultimately help the case itself.”
“What?” Seb demands, his word a growl .
Penelope doesn’t even flinch. “The first thing would be if Maia cemented a mate bond with at least one of you. It would tie Phoebe to you properly and would give you a stronger connection to her.”
I blush, dropping my head, as panic fills me. A couple nights ago, I told Topher I wasn’t ready for that step, and then bonded him myself. I need more time before letting him claim me, since it comes with so many strings attached.
Having the full connection with him would be amazing, if this lite version is so… powerful. I can feel the longing at deepening our connection, but I hope that Topher doesn’t feel that from me.
It’s not a bad idea, outside of the fact that it would turn me into a werewolf. I’m not ready. I don’t ever think that I’ll be ready for that.
But if it would save my daughter…
“What else?” Alex asks.
The door opens, and Lily comes back in. She hands the envelope to Topher and gives a set of papers to Penelope before sitting back down.
“Sorry for interrupting,” she says softly.
As far as I’m aware, Lily has no wolf, but she’s definitely part of the pack.
“No interruption,” Penelope says. “The best thing, of course, would be to bond with all four of your mates and let yourself shift into a wolf. You’d be accepted immediately, and their claim would be denied.”
“How long does the shifting process take?” Ben asks, looking at me before turning to Penelope. “I’m positive it took a few weeks with Iris and Talia.”
“It did,” Alex says. “And we do not have that time. The hearing is in two weeks.”
“The shift does not need to be complete,” Lily says gently. “But the speed of the shift is dependent on the strength of the person being claimed. It should not take Maia weeks to shift. ”
“The stronger the wolf claiming her, the more power she is likely to have when that happens, too,” Topher adds.
Seb makes a noise and I turn over to see him, but Kane’s the one in control. He grins at me, a cheeky one. “And trust me when I say, we are very powerful, little love.”
I hide my amusement. “I’m sure you are.”
Penelope clears her throat, giving Lily a hesitant look. I frown, noticing the exchange, but Lily nods, and Penelope turns back to us. “Now, the third thing that would strengthen things is making your tie to Phoebe official.”
I frown, as do my mates. But their frown is of annoyance, unlike mine, which is of confusion. “What do you mean by that? I thought they had claimed her, through the scent thing.”
My men share nervous expressions, and my heart cracks at seeing it. There’s another secret they’re keeping from me. Another big thing that could have helped us.
Will there ever be trust?
I feel Topher’s upset. His disappointment. Even his anger.
The bond that exists is now something tangible . It’s not just a something any more. And yet, whilst I’ve given them everything… given Topher everything…
I sniffle, reaching up to wipe the tear away.
“It’s more than that.” Lily’s soft voice is shaky, her eyes not meeting mine, despite her looking my way. “They can claim her wolf as theirs on a more… biological level as well.”
Topher sighs, turning to me in his chair. “We never brought this up because it’s not an option we’re ever going to consider. It wasn’t to keep it from you maliciously. It’s just never, ever been something we would consider.”
“Even knowing the bastard,” Ben mutters.
I frown, feeling Topher’s nerves. I know he’ll have felt my… whatever I felt. But his feelings only make my nerves worse , not better. “I’m not sure I’m following.”
He gives me a very tense smile. “This is often only used when a wolf pup loses both of its parents. There’s a type of adoption you can do to bond the pup to its new family. It’s something that isn’t often done, but it involves biting the pup and securing the ties to the new family.”
I shriek, shaking my head. “She’s a baby . You’re not biting her.”
“It wouldn’t hurt,” Alex reassures me. “It’s a spiritual connection.”
I sneer at him. How the fuck does a bite not hurt? I ignore the flash of hurt that crosses his face.
Seb strides across the room and shoves Topher’s chair out of the way without a care in the world. He crouches down in front of me, and I can see by the bright green eyes that Kane is in charge.
“There’s a reason we never once brought this up, despite our hatred towards Ryan, and it has nothing to do with the bite at all. By bonding Phoebe to us, she’d lose the scent of Ryan, of her birth dad.” I gasp, and I hate that more tears begin to fall at the realisation. He wipes the one that drips down my cheek. “It was never an option to us to do this. Phoebe deserves to have that connection to him, even with us in her life.”
I wipe my tears away, warmth filling me once more at the sincerity in his words.
They never intended to do this. To take him away—even despite their hatred towards him.
It’s not an option for us.
“How do you bite her without it hurting?” I ask quietly, once my pain fades away to more manageable levels.
“We won’t,” Alex says firmly. “We won’t take that from her. Not when there are other options to keep her safe.”
Seb lets out a low growl, kisses my temple, then storms back over to his spot by the door.
“The final option is one you’ll probably like even less,” Penelope says, sitting back in her seat. If I didn’t know better, I’d assume she was amused.
“What is it?” Ben asks .
“You get Maia pregnant with your baby.”
I gasp, covering my mouth in horror, as I stare her down. Pregnancy… bringing in new life… is not a tactic or a game.
I’d never, ever want to bring my new child into this world knowing that their creation was forced .
“What?” Alex’s voice is gruff, and Ben bursts out laughing. Topher’s disgust burns in my chest just as strongly as my own.
“This is the one that is easiest for them to counter if any of the parts are not set up,” Penelope warns. “But the court would never separate siblings. Especially not if the pups were potentially her alpha brothers.”
Penelope leans in close, lacing her fingers together. “It’s a strategy, though less ideal, involving pregnancy. It’s a complicated route, but the court wouldn’t separate siblings, especially in a pack as strong as yours. We’d play the Grey’s history against themselves, too.”
“But that depends on us being the leaders of the pack and impregnating our human mate,” Topher says. “None of these options are viable. We want to keep Phoebe, but we’d lose her if her mother died .”
Seb snarls.
Penelope shrugs. “A pregnancy would, at the very least, put the custody on hold until the baby—or babies—were born.”
“Can I…” I trail off, not sure how to ask my question.
“Can you what?” Alex asks gently.
“Not that I want to be pregnant, but can I be turned into a wolf whilst pregnant?”
“No.” Everyone says this at once, and I nod slowly.
“A human carrying a wolf is extremely risky, and we thank Artemis every single day that both you and Phoebe survived and had no complications. We would never do that again,” Alex says, reaching up to brush my hair off my neck.
It tickles, and I shiver, causing him to smile for a brief moment, before he sighs.
“But trying to turn you into a wolf during a pregnancy would be a death sentence for the babe,” Topher says. “You may survive, but the baby would not.”
“And we won’t risk that outcome, either,” Alex says firmly.
I nod slowly. “So, our best option is the first one, then, yes?”
“I can smell the bond between the two of you”—Penelope gestures to Topher and I—“is different to the bond between the rest of you. It’s not completed, but it’s there .”
“That’s none of your business.” Topher doesn’t even look at her as he snaps these words. His tone with me is far more gentle. “We’ll discuss it, but we’re not going to push you past your comfort levels.”
“How confident are you in winning without us doing any of those steps?” I ask, not breaking eye contact with Topher.
She shrugs. “No case is ever not winnable.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“And it’s a guarantee I can’t and won’t make,” Penelope says softly. “I’ll fight my hardest, no matter what, but I’d be a terrible lawyer if I didn’t give you the advice I had.”
“Can we have a few moments?” Topher asks, and she nods as both she and Lily clear the room. Seb locks the door behind them and comes to sit down at the table with me.
“We need to bond. At least on my side.” I look at each man, and I know deep in my soul that this is the right answer.
Ben reaches for my hand, his arm in front of Topher, and I clasp it. “Are you sure?”
I smile at him, hoping Topher doesn’t feel my hesitance. “You once told me that you’ve been waiting your entire life for me. You told me you were sick of it being a someday and wanted it to be today. Well, this is me listening and feeling the same way.
“Why risk losing my daughter and fracturing our bonds with my grief for the inevitable? I’m confident in my decision—and my decision is the four of you.”
Ben wipes a tear from his eye and beams at me .
“We’ll ask her if it’s enough,” Alex says, but he squeezes my thigh. “But I still want it—even if it’s not.”
“Our parents are back in a few days,” Topher says, looking at Alex. “That’s another step we’re going to be accomplishing.”
“What is?” I ask.
“Taking the pack over,” Ben says. “And we should probably ask them about Ryan’s death and all.”
I let go of his hand, giving him a dirty look. “Yeah. Probably. ”
“The other options aren’t feasible,” Topher says, scooting his chair back when Ben tries to reach for me. “Not for where we are right now.”
“What if we lose her?” I whisper, my eyes filling with tears as I look at the way my tiny human sleeps. Her soft breaths and adorable little face scrunches.
I can’t bear to lose her.
It would break me.
“We won’t,” Seb promises. His eyes are hazel, the green bright enough that I can see it from here. He’s determined. Angry. “You won’t.”
“Our bond being formed will be an amazing help,” Topher says softly. “But she took on our case knowing where we stand. Penelope has faith she’s going to win this.”
“Should we…” I trail off, biting my lip.
“Should we what, little love?” Kane asks.
“Should we tell them about me seeing Ethan?”
All four men shake their heads, but it’s Alex who answers me. “No. We absolutely cannot share that. We still don’t know how he got onto pack lands, and we do not want to worry anyone.”
I nod slowly. “Okay.”
“Let’s see what else Penelope has to say, then we can go home, okay?” Topher asks, and I nod.
Seb goes to bring her back in, and I listen as Penelope and Lily outline the next steps. They’re going to go over all of the documents that we’ve provided so far and that the Grey’s have filed, looking for any errors, loopholes, or inconsistencies that she can find.
She reassured me that she’s going to craft the briefs using both human and supernatural law, making sure that my status as a human will not be able to be contested again.
Her plan really helps me feel better, and she sounds so confident and sure of the success of it as she speaks. She schedules another meeting two days prior to the court hearing so that we can go over everything properly.
It doesn’t feel like enough time, but everyone else is happy with that timeline.
“But, guys,” Lily says softly as the six of us move to leave. I freeze, turning to face her. “Remember that whilst this is focused on Phoebe, it is going to be hard and taxing for all of you, too.
“You are parents to a newborn, and that’s hard enough. We’re not just preparing for a legal battle—we’re ensuring the well-being of your family. If you need any support or resources, don’t hesitate to ask.”
We nod and leave the office. I’m not sure how confident I feel, but I do think they’ve got it in hand.
“ H ow did that go for you?” Alex asks as we drive away from the law firm. As it was on the way here, it’s just the two of us in the car, with Phoebe in the back.
The other three are in their wolf forms, making sure that there’s no interceptions.
I sigh and curl up on my seat, turning to face him rather than look out the window. It’s been a game I’ve been playing: can I spot the wolves.
“I’m nervous and terrified… and really don’t want to have to see them in court.”
He nods. “I’m sorry, little butterfly.”
“I know you are,” I reply. “I love you.”
His eyes widen, his eyebrows flying up, as his lips part in shock. “You do?”
I giggle. “I do. I love you and Max, and I am so lucky to have you in my life.”
“I love you, too, little butterfly.”
“We both do,” Max growls, pushing forth. He grins at me before turning back to the road. “I love you more than Alex does.”
“I’m sure that you do.”
“He drives worse than me,” Alex huffs, winking at me as he regains control of their shared body. “Seeing them in court will be hard for us all.”
“What about Phoebe?” I whisper, my heart cracking at the idea of causing my darling daughter any pain.
He sighs. “Her wolf… her wolf might recognise them as kin.”
I sit up properly. “ What ?”
Alex looks at me out of the corner of his eyes before turning back to the road properly. “We’ll want to be prepared for that, but it shouldn’t be a big deal. She’ll likely recognise Ethan, but potentially, even Aurora and Henry.”
I sigh, dropping back into my seat. “Well, that makes sense, I suppose.” I rub my temples, trying to ward this headache off.
“Lily seemed a little off, regarding the werewolf adoption,” I mention, moving the subject along. I don’t want to be trapped in my panic and upset any more.
“Lily was adopted by her parents. They raised her after her parents… well, after her parents weren’t able to raise her any longer,” Alex says softly. My brows draw together, but I don’t ask why. It’s not really my business, but I wonder if that’s why she’s working with a family law firm. “They moved away from th eir old pack when she was young. Four or five, I think, and they’ve been here ever since.”
I nod. “She seemed upset about it.”
“It probably brought up bad memories.”
I bring my legs up and look over at him. “I didn’t even realise she was a wolf. I thought she was human.”
He shakes his head. “No, she’s a wolf. She’s not met her mates yet so is still living at home. She’s lovely. Quiet.”
“What does she do at the firm? I wasn’t sure if she was Penelope’s assistant or?—”
“She’s a junior lawyer,” he says, peeking at me. “They did introduce her that way during the first meeting.”
“Ah.”
“She’s your age, I think. Maybe a year younger.”
I shrug. “She’s nice and cares about winning Phoebe’s case. That’s all that matters to me.”