Chapter 7
Farren
The gathering place is in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of houses for the alphas and their families. The single packmates will stay in tents surrounding the houses.
One by one, people come out of their houses, staring. There are rumors that we are vicious and evil and the guys are pure cavemen with absolutely no morals. I can see the fear on some of the women’s faces—it was probably put there by the alphas so they will stay away from us.
I want my pack filled with kids, happiness, and family.
Damon looks at me, and I take his hand. “Let’s do this.” He smiles and tilts his head to the side.
My mate.
He walks around and opens my door. I step out and stand behind him and, one by one, all of the SUV doors open.
Everyone is just staring at us. I can see why we would be intimidating: all men except for one woman and a baby.
Damon’s eyes are golden as he stares at every single person who is staring him down, Some alphas lower their heads.
I smile and press my hand to Damon’s back. A few women are standing on a porch a couple of houses away. I nod at them and they return the gesture.
“Moon, let’s get our things in the house,” Damon tells me, and he walks to the back of the SUV and grabs our bags.
“I will grab the baby’s bag, Brantley,” I say. He thanks me, carrying the baby in one arm. Quite a few people are staring at Brantley. I guess they are curious as to why he has a baby.
I lick my parched lips; the eyes on us have me on edge. Not that I expected a warm welcome, but half the guys from other packs are completely hostile with arms folded across their chests.
The bears are on the other side of the property. We do mix during dinner and certain activities, but most of the time we will be with the wolves.
I make sure to stay with Brantley. I am afraid to leave him alone, honestly. I am not sure how people will react to him. Which is why he will be in the house with us; plus he has a baby, so he can’t very well sleep in a tent.
Maverick will also be in the house with us, as he is the beta to the pack. A few of our guards are also going to be sleeping inside, for added protection.
“We need to hurry and get dressed for the dinner,” Damon informs all of us.
I set the baby bags in Brantley’s room. I place my and Damon’s bag on the bed, and I grab a pair of jeans and a nice shirt for each of us.
This isn’t really formal, but we can’t wear sweats.
My stomach is in knots. I close my eyes, trying to relax and let my wolf take away some of my anxiety.
Damon’s arms wrap around my middle, and his lips touch my temple. “Relax, my Moon, I will not be leaving your side.” I nod and turn around in his arms, resting my head on his chest, letting him comfort me.
I can feel Brantley is ten times as nervous as I am. If I were in his shoes, I would be too. Introducing something new to the world of people stuck in the old days is not fun.
I hurry and get ready. We were late getting here, but we do not need to be late to dinner.
I grab a couple of knives, stashing them in my pants legs and the back of my waistband.
Damon takes my hairbrush off the bed and brushes my long locks.
I close my eyes and relax, just enjoying being cared for.
“Ready to do this?” I ask him. This is a huge moment for him too. This is the first time everyone is actually seeing him, rather than just hearing the rumors.
“Ready as I fucking can be.” He laughs, perfectly calm. He is too badass for his own good. I stand up on my tiptoes, kissing him. “Let’s do this shit.”
I turn my back to him, strutting out of the room. “Sexy as sin,” he grumbles and I hide my laughter.
Brantley opens his door; he is carrying Aiden and a baby bag. “Ready?” I ask. I am concerned for him; he looks really pale.
“As I can be.”
I nod and press my hand against his arm, pushing happiness and calm into him as much as I can.
His eyes drift closed as the power rushes over him. “Thank you, Farren. I needed that.”
“You will sit by me at dinner,” I say. There is no way I would let him sit elsewhere.
“Thank you.”
“Maybe you should be my second-in-command,” I say jokily. He laughs and we walk down the stairs together.
Damon is already down there talking with Maverick. I hope my brother finds his mate this year. “Ready?” Damon asks. I nod, and he takes my hand and opens the door. Outside the house, our packmates are waiting for us. “Come on, guys.” Damon tells them.
We walk past them; then they follow us to the center of the property, where everyone gets together for dinners and other activities.
I was here last year, but that was a totally different experience.
I was alone, I didn’t have a mate, and I sure wasn’t pregnant.
It’s crazy how much can change in a short amount of time.
We reach the entrance of the building, and we can’t help but notice there is not a soul standing outside.
Damon pushes the door open, and all eyes turn to us.
I push my shoulders back, raise my head, and meet everyone head-on.
I am an alpha’s female, and I will not show any kind of emotions to these people.
We have a table right in the center of everyone.
Damon and I lead the group, and we pass by an alpha who glares at Damon, growling under his breath.
Damon switches sides with me, shielding me from the angry alpha.
He glares down at the alpha, meeting his eyes dead on, and I can feel Damon shaking with anger.
Seconds pass, and the alpha who growled at Damon is sweating and shaking from the strain of holding Damon’s gaze.
Good. His eyes fall and I duck my head to hide my smile.
This is good. People know that Damon is not an easy alpha to fuck around with.
We may be a younger pack, but we are strong and we will not back down from anyone.
Damon sits down at the head of our table, and I sit to his right. Maverick is at his left, and Brantley is on the other side of me. Our guards file in before the rest of the guys.
Little by little, the chatter starts again, but people are still staring. I honestly do not see what has everyone in such a tizzy. I peek over at Damon, and he is staring at me. I smile and reach under the table, grabbing his leg.
Our food arrives, and they set our plates in front of us. We all decided on steak and potatoes.
“How did that male get that baby?” a female behind me whispers.
I roll my eyes. While Brantley is eating his food, Aiden is sitting in his lap, staring at everyone, being so cute. I rub my hand over his hair, smoothing the top, which was barely mussed up. I begin eating my own food.
Just as everyone is finishing their food, Aiden starts crying. Brantley puts down his fork, opens the diaper bag, and takes out a bottle. He puts the formula into the bottle and shakes it. I can hear the talking building back up, but Brantley ignores it and starts feeding his son.
“So, how did a fag get a baby?”
Damon is out of his seat the moment the guy opens his mouth, and anger unlike any I have ever felt hits me like a tidal wave.
I spin and face the man in the seat behind us.
“I would mind your fucking language.” I feel my eyes change, and I let my power out—all of it.
I stare him down, and his face contorts with pain until he slumps over and face plants into his food.
“No one disrespects my packmates,” I growl. Damon takes my hand and we combine our power.
One by one, all the people in the room lower their heads, even the alphas. I am sick to my stomach that someone had the balls to say something like that in front of us.
I look at Brantley, who is clutching the side of the table, and I shake my head in anger. I sit back down beside him. “Don’t even sweat it,” I reassure him.
He picks up Aiden and burps him. Aiden stares at me and I smile. I can’t wait until my baby is here.
Damon hasn’t sat back down yet. He is standing right next to me, daring anyone to try something else. I rub the back of his leg, resting my head against his hip for a second. Maverick is pissed; his body is shaking as he tries to control his wolf, and his eyes are completely golden.
“Everyone done eating?” Damon asks. He wants out of here; I know I do. I want to go to back to the house and get away from all of these people.
“Yes, Alpha,” everyone says in sync. I stand up—Damon’s hand on my back, helping me get up—and I put the diaper bag on Brantley’s shoulder.
We walk past a line of tables and, from the corner of my eye, I see someone’s foot shooting out in front of Brantley.
Brantley trips, barely managing to stop himself from falling with the baby.
He hands Aiden to me, and I hold him tightly to my chest. I have never once seen Brantley mad, but he grabs the guy by the hair and slams his head on the table.
“Mess with me all you fucking want, but put my baby in danger? You’re asking to die,” he snarls.
Oh my god. Good for him!
Damon laughs and I join in. Brantley stood up for himself, and the alpha of the other pack can’t do a thing about it, because his packmate started it.
One by one, the others in our pack join in our laughter.
We are all protective of Brantley; he’s had such a rough go of everything.
Brantley takes the baby from me, kissing the top of his head.
I hear the sound of a chair scooting across the floor, and we all turn to see a huge tattooed guy walking toward us.
I take a deep breath, and I instantly know he is a bear.
Damon moves me further behind him as the man splits the distance between us and, to my utter surprise, he doesn't stop in front of Damon.
He heads straight to Brantley. The guy stares down at Brantley, and they both take a deep breath.
“MATE,” the huge bear says, and Brantley nods.
A man who’d been sitting with the bear speaks up. “You better find a fucking new pack, your kind is not welcome.”