35. Maia
35
MAIA
“ O h, my god, Cade, hi,” I say, grinning at the trio of men. I’m very, very surprised that he’s here, and wave, since I have no idea which is which between the three of them.
Cade is a man I know—well, a man I’ve known for a little while—and whilst I’m guessing he’s the one at the front in the suit, I’m not too sure with the full trio here. It’s been a good few years since I’ve seen him, but he practically looks the same.
Two of the men give the one in a suit a weird look as he beams at me in return, and it’s pretty clear. That one’s Cade.
He strides over to me, coming to a stop behind the armchair that Ben was sitting on a few moments ago and rests against it. “Maia. How are you doing? Wait—” He looks around the room at each of my mates and gasps. “Fucking hell, what a coincidence.”
His voice is the exact same baritone, the Northern accent strong, but his words are polished. He’s uptight… until he’s not.
“You two know each other?” Iris is not impressed, and she rises from the sofa, glowering at her mate as if he’s done something wrong by being on friendly terms with me.
I don’t think that she’s jealous. In fact, I’m horrified to think she could be. Cade’s nearly ten years older than I am, and I knew him a lot during my teenage years.
“You know I’ve been involved with the Howling Hope foundation for years now,” Cade says, and Iris nods, not happy at all. She taps her left boot against the floor, the clicking sound making me cringe. “Maia’s mum was the founder of it, and Maia and I have run into each other a few times over the years at events and even in the offices.”
“I see.” Iris purses her lips, crossing her arms in front of her chest. It’s very obvious that she does not see.
“Let’s chat outside so that we’re not being rude to your brothers,” Cade says, narrowing his eyes at his mate. He gives my men a nod and pats my shoulder as he passes. “We’ll catch up soon, Maia, but it’s very nice to see you again.”
I smile as he and Iris head out towards the garden, but I’m not too sure what’s going on with them.
“Iris is in trouble,” Ben says, elongating the syllables with a smirk on his face. He rolls Phoebe’s ball, and she scampers after it as Alex shuts the door.
Aaron—or Brad—kicks Ben as they sit down behind him on the sofa. “Don’t be a dick to your sister.”
“Don’t swear in front of my child,” Alex replies, and the man laughs.
I look between the two triplets, unable to spot anything different between them except their clothing. “Sorry, I’m going to be rude, but there’s going to be a lot of identical people here soon, and I have no idea which of you is which.”
“Sorry, love,” the one standing says with a laugh. “I’m Brad, and that’s Aaron over there. It’s very nice to meet you.”
I smile. Red shirt is Brad, and the one in the full tracksuit is Aaron.
“They’re not used to having to introduce themselves,” Ben says, smirking at me. “You’ve just humbled their egos, darling.”
“Can’t deny it,” Brad says with a laugh.
“How do you know Cade?” Topher asks, raising an eyebrow at me. There’s genuine curiosity pulsating in my chest and a little bit of annoyance.
I’m still not the best at figuring out his feelings, but I don’t think that he’s mad at me here. I think those feelings are directed at Iris.
“We ran into each other a few times, like he said,” I say with a shrug, smiling at him.
Ben laughs. “And here we thought you’d prefer the professional football players.” He looks up at Aaron and smirks. “Seems you’re not the shit, yet again.”
“Language,” Alex says, glaring at Ben.
“Don’t worry, our nephews will be here in a few, and they’ll love us,” Brad says, waggling his brows at Ben. “Why would they care about you, when I get them?—”
Phoebe howls loudly, and both men jump, their eyes raking around the room to find her. I dart up from the sofa to see her scratching at the floor. I don’t understand why.
“Her ball is stuck,” Alex says softly. He bends down to grab it for her, and I nod slowly.
My heart is pounding, but she seems happy enough as she gets her ball back. She chases after it, her little tail wagging. I slowly sit back down, hoping my body will calm.
“I didn’t realise she was here,” Aaron mutters, shaking his head. “She’s fucking tiny.”
“Language,” Topher says, this time.
I laugh. “Give over, you swear plenty.”
He smirks at me, genuine amusement pouring from him. It lightens my anxiety, having him feel so good. “I’m her dad. I’m allowed to swear. Her uncles are meant to be the good ones .”
Ben rolls his eyes. “And what am I?”
“A dickhead,” Brad, Aaron, and Topher say at once.
I reach down and pat Ben’s head. “I think you’re lovely.”
“Oh, Maia,” Brad groans, his green eyes lit up in amusement. His face is clean-shaven, but he’s got dimples when he grins. “I thought we could be friends. ”
“Her first red flag was liking Cade,” Aaron stage-whispers before laughing once more. It’s eerie that his laugh sends me back to the past, to when Cade would laugh like that.
The similarities between these carbon copy werewolves is freaky.
Phoebe charges over to Aaron and barks at him from the floor. He leans down, offering his hand out, and she nudges his hand with her head before tugging at his tracksuit pants.
“Can I lift her up?” Aaron asks, looking at me for permission.
I look at Topher, who laughs and nods. Aaron lifts her into his arms and strokes her head softly as she buries her face into his chest, letting out another small howl.
“She must like the way you smell,” Ben says, turning around on the floor to glare at Aaron. “What food you got hidden? She’s not allowed to eat yet.”
Aaron’s face lights up in amusement. “None. Clearly, she just likes me.”
He doesn’t even flinch as Phoebe shifts in his arms, he simply adjusts his hold. “Oh, she’s beautiful, Maia. Congratulations.”
I grin, a feeling of warmth filling me. “Thank you.”
“Who does she like the best?” Aaron asks, smirking over at Topher. “I bet it’s not you.”
“Maia,” my three men say as one.
“It’s not very fair when she’s the one with the boobs,” Ben mutters, and we all chuckle. Phoebe’s eyes are drifting closed as Aaron holds her against his chest.
“Can’t blame me for mother nature,” I tease.
He rolls his eyes and looks up at Aaron. “When are you lot thinking about kids?”
“None of our business, Ben,” I counter, and I’m the one to kick him this time. Brad gives me an appreciative nod, and whilst I have no idea why, I don’t ask.
It’s nobody’s business on whether a family is going to be grown other than the people who are making and growing the baby.
“It was just a question,” he mutters, leaning his head back onto my knees.
“She looks so much like you,” Aaron says, smiling down at Phoebe. “She’s gorgeous, Maia. You must be so proud.”
“I am.” I smile over at them, my heart feeling so warm at seeing Phoebe get a good and warm reception from her family members.
The door bangs open, and I turn to smile at Seb, but he doesn’t look at me as he pushes it shut behind him. Instead, he charges over to where Aaron is holding Phoebe, and Aaron looks up at him with a smirk.
“Mine.” Seb’s one word growl sends tingles through my body, goosebumps appearing on my skin.
He leans in and takes Phoebe from Aaron, lifting her up to his face. My heart literally melts when he rubs his nose against hers and lets out a soft purr. She smiles, and he lifts her to his chest, her head resting on his shoulder, as he glowers at Aaron.
“Move.”
Aaron laughs. “Find somewhere else to sit, bro, I’m pretty cosy here next to your beaut?—”
His words are cut off when Seb growls low, and most of the men start to laugh. Aaron does get up, moving to the empty armchair, and Seb comes to sit by me, beckoning me into his side.
“Dramatic much?” I tease, pressing a soft kiss to Seb’s jaw. I’d say he needs a shave, but that never works with the four of them.
I wonder if they did it all at the same time if it would take.
“Missed you.” I let out an audible aw and press another kiss to his skin, letting the sparks soothe him.
I rest my head on his shoulder, and he kisses the top of it before glaring at his brother’s-in-law .
I don’t know why his possessive nature is so… enticing, but I truly do love it.
“Talia’s here,” Ben calls just as the door sounds. Seb adjusts Phoebe so that he can cuddle with me without handing her over to me as Alex gets up once more to let the next group of people in.
The house gets full very quickly, and it’s not just Iris’s two mates who are disheartened that the twin boys aren’t here—mine are, too.
The men all start to chat, their boisterous energy changing the atmosphere, and not in a good way for me. Talia takes off her long coat and comes over to sit with Ben, Seb, and I.
Her long blonde hair is braided, and she’s wearing a very pretty pink dress that separates her looks from Iris. She’s so elegant as she sits and crosses her legs, and her smile is warm, but also a little tense.
“Where are my nephews?” Ben demands.
“They’re at a playdate,” Talia says, smiling at Ben’s pout. “Sorry, baby brother. Next time, they’ll be here, too. They’re desperate to see Phoebe again.”
Ben shrugs. “Just means Phoebe can get all of the attention this time then, I suppose.”
Talia nods, moving over to sit down on the empty sofa. She sniffs and looks around the room. “Where’s Iris?”
“Outside, getting yelled at by Cade,” Ben says with a smirk.
“He’s not yelling at her,” Aaron says with a roll of his eyes. He moves from the group of men and comes to sit down next to Talia.
Phoebe whines, and Seb moans but hands her over to me with a very reluctant offer.
“Sorry,” I say, laughing at my grouchy mate. I unzip the section of my dress that opens to my boob and unsnap my bra, feeding my nipple through the opening.
Phoebe latches immediately, and I look up to see Talia frowning at me as the men have all turned even further away .
I sigh and look down at Phoebe instead. It’s my house— sort of— I shouldn’t feel so uncomfortable. I don’t understand why I do.
Before they came over the first time, Alex told me how they were excited to meet me, and yet, the first time, they were a little hostile. More concerned with each other than me, and that’s fine.
It really was.
But today, it’s been a little more one-on-one, and it’s been rough for me having such hostility from Iris, and then from Talia. Iris’s men have been lovely, but Talia’s haven’t said more than a few words to me.
I hear the backdoor open, and Iris storms through, with Cade hot on her heels. I peek at her from under my eyelashes, and she comes to a sudden stop, anger still simmering in her gaze, before smiling at her sister.
They reunite, hugging and grinning, and the guys all roll their eyes. Seb tugs me in even closer to him as Cade enters the room.
He seems a lot less happy than his mate, but he greets Seb, Lyle, and Kyle before coming to sit near me.
“So, Maia, how the fuck—how the…” He trails off, narrowing his eyes as he tries to think over how to word it without swearing. “How did you find these guys?”
“We found her,” Alex says, winking at me.
“No, we found her,” Ben says, gesturing to Seb and himself. “You fuckers would’ve been oblivious if it wasn’t for me.”
“Oh, yes,” Alex says, snorting. “You could’ve kept her entire existence a secret if it weren’t for Seb being there and ruining it.”
“Exactly.”
I giggle, and Ben rolls his eyes.
“I didn’t even realise you were living up here,” Cade says. His gaze hardens slightly. “I’m truly sorry for your loss, Maia. I wish I was able to see you at the funeral. ”
I give him a tense smile. “It was a busy day. I just appreciate you going.”
“I had great respect for your mum,” he says. “I wish I could have?—”
“Okay,” Talia calls, everyone falling silent. Cade sighs, mouthing “later” at me, again.
“Can everyone come and grab the trays from the car so that I can get dinner served?” She claps her hands, and I watch in amusement as most of the men get up to go grab food.
Seb doesn’t since I’m leaning against him with Phoebe, and Cade doesn’t move, either. Topher holds the door open, but everyone else heads out, chattering and laughing away.
“You three, too,” Talia says, giving the three men a dirty look.
“No.” Seb doesn’t even look up from Phoebe as he replies to his sister. I giggle.
“Don’t encourage him,” Iris snaps. I flinch.
“Iris,” Cade says with a warning in his tone. “We’re not doing this again. You will be polite to your brother’s mate and my friend.”
“Mhm.” She rolls her eyes and storms through to the kitchen, Talia hot on her tails. The guys start coming in with food items, and I keep my head bowed despite three eyes being trained on me.
“What’s going on with my sister?” Topher demands.
Cade sighs. “Nothing you need to concern yourself about. She’s just having a rough time with your mum right now.”
“Mum?” Seb asks, lifting his head up. He’s not the only one who is intrigued.
I can feel Topher’s merging with mine, and the two of us also peer at Cade.
“She’ll tell you if she wants to,” Cade says, shaking his head when Topher tries to press. “You know what it’s like trying to get in between the two of them. Your mum is lovely, to us, but she’s hard on Iris, and it’s not helping that?— ”
He falls silent, shaking his head again. “It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“I see.” Topher purses his lips together, understanding pouring from him. It’s strange because I’m only more confused by Cade’s vague words.
The door opens, and the men come in and out with trays, the rest of us sitting quiet as they do. I feel a little guilty that Talia did all the cooking when we could have ordered in or even prepared ourselves.
“Hey, what’s with the extra patrols?” Brad asks, dropping down onto the armchair. “Your house is securely marked, and it wasn’t like this the last time I was over.”
“Oh, fuck, I forget how little you guys are actually here,” Lyle—or Kyle—says, coming in from the kitchen. “It’s with all the reports about the rogues, right? They’ll be in their overprotective states with their pup and mate here.”
The twin looks to Topher for confirmation, and whilst Topher doesn’t visibly react, a pang of shock hits me so hard it knocks the breath out of me. He didn’t know.
“The rogues?” Alex asks, taking a seat next to me and Phoebe. He’s tense, despite acting nonchalant.
This is not something my guys knew about.
“There’s been a few reports of it over the last few months,” Lyle—or Kyle—says, tilting his head as he rests against the wall. “I’ve passed a few of them onto your dad myself. There’s been a few sightings of rogue wolves, apparently, but more than that has been the scent of them. Numerous trails appearing out of nowhere, leading nowhere. We’ve been chasing our tails, really, trying to figure it out.”
“The scent of them.” Alex’s words are bland, but if his emotions are playing as much turmoil as Topher’s are, I can imagine how unsettled he is.
“No trail?” Seb demands. He’s angry, and despite his gentle hold on me, I can feel the tension he’s carrying.
“That’s not why you’re running patrols,” Brad says with a frown. “So why are you upping the protection for the pack if you had no idea about this issue?”
“I thought…” Lyle—or Kyle—trails off, coming to sit down as well. He spreads his legs, leaning on his knees.
“We thought wrong, Kyle,” Lyle says, narrowing his eyes. He’s wearing the blue turtleneck, so at least I’ll be able to tell them apart now, too. “What’s going on, Christopher?”
“Nothing to concern yourself with,” Topher says. He can’t muster up enough to actually calm them. The bond is thrumming with his unhappiness, and I get the feeling that this is going to be another nail in the coffin that his parents are creating. “But rest assured, nobody has reported any concerns to us whilst my parents have been away.”
“They wouldn’t,” Kyle says with a guilty frown. “Your dad made me the person for that. Any sightings are to be reported to me, for me to pass onto him whilst he’s away. He wants to keep track of it all, and well…”
Topher snarls so loudly I jump in my seat. Phoebe’s eyes fly open, and she lets out a wail. Seb grabs her from me, pressing her into his chest, and kisses her head as he growls lowly to calm her.
I rush to cover my nipple as the kitchen door flies open and both Talia and Iris are standing there in shock.
“What is going on in here?” Talia demands, looking around at us all. Seb’s managed to calm Phoebe down, but Topher is the complete opposite.
“Our parents are fucking idiots,” Ben says. “How long for dinner?”
The girls exchange a confused look, but Talia tells him they’ll be about fifteen minutes. Ben nods, and they return to the kitchen.
“I want you to tell me everything you know and everything you’ve been keeping from us,” Topher says.
Kyle frowns. “I can’t do that. I’m under an Alpha?— ”
“Then we will break it,” Topher snarls, glaring at his brother-in-law. “We’re the current leaders of this pack?—”
“For a couple more days,” Cade says with a frown. “But when you blow everything apart, are you going to protect them?”
Topher nods. “I promise you now, the pack will be ours before the week is out.”
“That’s treason,” Brad says lightly.
“And highly punishable.”
Topher smirks, and Ben and Alex chuckle. Seb’s the only one of my guys who doesn’t react, since he’s still calming Phoebe down. My eyes flicker between each person, and I don’t know how to react.
“Trust me,” Topher says with a devious smirk. “There’s nothing they can do to me. I will be the alpha of this pack, and I won’t be sitting around letting rogue wolves infiltrate our lands.”
Kyle nods. “Good to know.”
“So, sit down, let us break this command, and you can fill us in on what has been happening in this pack beneath my nose.”
I don’t understand what happened, but the dynamics in the room have changed, and even the atmosphere. It’s super charged now, tingles at the back of my neck as I look into the determined faces of every man in this room.
It’s as if something is going to go down and it feels deeper than just taking the pack from their parents.
The confidence radiating from Topher is immense, though, and I’m content to bask in it.