by Susi Hawke
“I don't want to talk about Seth. Let's focus on you, for now. We'll deal with my shit another day.”
“Okay,” I sighed. “But a good friend would have let me change the subject, when I tried to just there.”
“And a good friend wouldn't change the subject from one alpha-hole to a bigger alpha-hole.”
“Touche,” I giggled. “Should we go back soon?”
“Yeah, Brianne's gotta be up from her nap now, and we both know that you aren't going to build a relationship with your own little ones by sitting here with me.”
I threw a handful of grass at him, and shifted back to my wolf form. Sy shifted back too, and after we both took a refreshing drink of water from the creek, we ran back to the lodge. It was time to man up, deal with my mate, and get to my kids.
When we got back, the pack was just sitting down to dinner. A kids area had been set up in the corner, across from our big dining table. My pups were sitting there on the benches of an adorable little picnic style table. Brianne, Erin, and the Alpha's twins, Jules and Jenna, were all lined up behind them in a row of high chairs.
It was the cutest shit that I'd ever seen in my life. Also, it totally made me realize how overrun our pack was with pups now! Six little ones, and four of them were under a year old? Damn. If we weren't careful, the pups were going to outnumber the adults pretty soon.
“Aren't they just the cutest?” Kai greeted us as we came in the door.
“Wow, I was just thinking that we better watch out or the pups will soon outnumber the adults around here!”
“Funny, that's exactly what I said when I came in,” Micah said quietly from a seat at the back of the table.
I nodded at him politely, but didn't respond. I was willing to try and fix things with him eventually, but first I wanted to focus on my pups. They needed to come first right now.
“Okay, everyone sit. The pups are handled, and if they need anything, Ryan and Luke have agreed to help out with them. I want all the adults to relax tonight. We need it, some of us more than others,” Alpha said as he pointedly looked from me to Micah. I nodded my agreement, and took a seat next to Sy.
We both kept our heads down and ate our meal, as the conversation flowed around us. Kai was gushing about Erin to anyone who would listen. I smiled, thinking about how different that pups life would be now, as the niece and now daughter of the Alpha-pair. Her mom, Jenny, would've been so happy to know that the little one was finally here with her family.
Thinking of my own pups, I looked up at Micah, only to see him watching me. Biting my lip to avoid saying anything snarky, I asked him about Dylan instead.
“So, um, Micah. I noticed that Dylan didn't talk before. Is he just shy?”
My heart melted at the way his eyes lit up at the mention of my son. Truly he couldn't be all bad, if he loved my pups this much, right?
“Good question, Aries. I wish I knew. I haven't heard a word from him since I found him. I don't know if he can talk or if Sara just does all the talking for him, and he can't get a word in, you know?”
Grinning at the thought of my stubborn daughter, I said: “We should maybe look into that then. Although, he is just two, so that could be a factor? I don't know.”
“If I may intrude,” Doctor Ollie, our pack doctor and resident bear, cut in. “I have seen things like this before. I would like to examine him before you worry about any other problems. There are many physical issues that can cause a child to be non-verbal.”
“Shouldn't he be talking by now though, Doc? Do I need to worry?” I asked him hesitantly. “Maybe he's just a late bloomer?”
“That could be,” Doc replied, “but like I said, a physical examination is your first step. I would also like to examine the girl. She has speech problems that may also have an underlying physical cause.”
Micah bristled at that, before I even had a chance to get upset. He leaned toward Doc Ollie and said in a low snarl: “Are you trying to say that there's something wrong with that little angel? Because that pup is perfect, and I won't let anyone talk shit about her!”
Everyone at the table went silent, watching the exchange. Doc Ollie just took a sip of his soup before he calmly responded.
“I didn't mean to upset you, young man. I was merely suggesting to the pup's parent that she may have a physical reason for her unintelligible speech patterns.”
“Unintelligible? What the actual fuck? Are you saying my girl is stupid?”
“Excuse me,” I butted in, “but she is my girl, and Doc said no such thing! He simple meant that nobody can understand her.”
“I understand her just fine. Maybe everyone else needs to clean the wax out of their ears, or else just not talk to her if they have a problem. There's nothing wrong with my angel.”
Glaring at him, I said through clenched teeth: “You mean, my girl, and my angel. She is nothing to you, and if she needs medical help, I will get it for my pup. You need to step off and remember that I am her parent.”
Doc Ollie was blushing furiously as he said: “Please, please. I did not mean to offend, I was simply suggesting-
“It's okay, Doc,” I interrupted him with an apologetic smile. “I am her parent, and I understand your concern. I will bring her by tomorrow if you have time. If there's an issue, we need to know now while she's still young enough to fix it, right?”
Micah banged the flat of his hand down on the table, the noise startling in the quiet room. “Damn it, Aries! Can you wait until you've known the kid at least five minutes before you start trying to fix imaginary problems? And don't fucking tell me who is or isn't my angel. I love that girl and she loves me, so you're just gonna have to deal with that shit, because it ain't changing.”
I stood, pushing my chair back, and leaned over the table with both hands resting on it's surface, as I snarled across at Micah: “You will not tell me how to parent, Mister I've-known-the-pup-for-a-week-and-think-I-know-best!”
Micah stood, mirroring my position as he growled right back at me: “And you won't tell me how I feel either, Mister I've-been-a-dad-for-five-minutes-and-suddenly-I'm-a-fucking-expert!”
“Enough!” Alpha spoke firmly, his power swirling in the air. “You two take it outside or table it for now. The pack is trying to enjoy a meal, not deal with your beef. Now either sit down and eat, or go fight somewhere else. This ends now.”
“Sorry, Alpha.” I muttered. “I'm not hungry anyway now. I'm going to go see if everything is set up in the pup's room for the night. Excuse me, everyone.”
I walked out of the room, and ran upstairs to the pups new room that was right next door to my own on the second floor. The connecting rooms had been given to me when we found out about my pups. Until today, I had lived in the dormitory on the third floor with the other unmated members of the pack.
The second floor was where the family rooms were, along with the rooms for weaker or younger members of the pack. Aunt Cat, the young omega teens Luke and Ryan, and of course, Sy and Brianne all lived up here.
The Alpha family also had their suite of rooms of here too. Doc Ollie stayed here in a room on this floor as well, when he wasn't staying in his own cabin at the end of the row of cabins that in a long row next to the large lodge.
Aunt Cat's writing office, and a large playroom/nursery/daycare set-up where the pups were kept during the day, while their parents were busy working around the lodge were also on this floor. The omega members of the pack worked in teams to man the nursery, with the occasional help from alphas who were good with kids.
I smoothed a hand over the already perfectly spread bed that Sara would have now, before walking over to check on Dylan's. Both twin sized beds were pushed up against the wall on opposite sides of the room, with toddler bed rails in place on the side that was open to the room.
I didn't really know if they were necessary, but it made me feel safer to know that my pups wouldn't fall out of bed during the night. I was leaned over plumping Dylan's pillow, when I smelled Micah's delicious
scent and felt his eyes burning into my ass.
I stood up and spun around, to find him leaning against the frame of the open door in a deceptively casual stance. His hands were tucked into his pants pockets, and he had a sheepish smile on his face.
“Sorry again, Aries. I guess I'm not that good at keeping the peace when it comes to you, am I?”
“It's just, whatever.” I waved a hand as if to shoo him away, “I'm fine. We should just avoid each other or something, that will probably work for the best.”
“Either that, or we could pretend we're fucking adults and just actually fix our shit? I mean, it is an option, right? Or, are you not up to adulting right now?”
I bit into my bottom lip and prayed to Fenris for patience. “Just because I don't want to talk to you, doesn't mean that I'm not a fucking adult, Micah.”
“Never meant to imply that you're not an adult,” he said, as his eyes roamed my body wantonly. “You're definitely all man, from what I can see. I'm just saying that maybe you don't feel like acting like one when it comes to me.”
I stalked over and got right up in his space, until we were nearly chest to chest. Although, given his foot or so of height advantage, it was more accurately my face to his chest. His finely chiseled muscular chest...
Glaring up into his amused face, I said: “Just because I think you're an asshat doesn't mean that I'm not acting like an adult. It means that I can spot an alpha-douche when I see one.”
“Alpha-douche, huh? Classy, babe.” He said with a smirk.
“Don't call me fucking babe.” I growled.
“Babe.”
“Douche”
Before another word was spoken, the fucker leaned down and kissed me! He lips pressed firmly against mine, and when I gasped in shocked arousal, he slipped his tongue right through the opening my lips made.
Before I knew what was happening, I was spun around and pressed up against the wall under his larger body, while he kissed me. The world ceased to exist in that moment, all I knew was the feel of his tongue wrestling with mine.
He had one hand wrapped around the back of my neck, holding me in place, while his other hand snaked out to hold my hand that wasn't resting on his chest. How my hand got onto his firm chest, I couldn't tell you.
I only became aware of all this, as well as the hard erection that was now pushing against my gut where his hips were pushed up against me, when I felt something cold and metallic encircle my wrist and heard the snick of a locking mechanism snap into place.
“What the fuck?” Micah pulled his lips away from our kiss looked down at our joined hands that were now handcuffed together.
I peeked my head around his large arm, to see Aunt Cat and Kai standing there behind him. Aunt Cat had a knowing smirk on her aged face, while my poor friend just looked ashamed and afraid.
“Watch your language, young man. You may be big, but I can still take a whip to young alpha ass like yours if need be. Although, it would be a shame to mark up something that fine.” Aunt Cat glanced at me and added, “unless you're into that sort of thing?”
My eyes widened, as my jaw dropped open.
“Good.” She nodded and said: “You two looked like you were finally going to do something about fixing the problems between you, and I think that it will help you, if neither of you can run off.”
“Give me the key, Aunt Cat. I need to get my pups bathed and put to bed, I can't be handcuffed to an alpha while I'm doing that.”
Micah seemed incapable of speech at this point, his head just whipped back and forth between me and Aunt Cat as we talked.
“No, you don't. All you need to do tonight is get things fixed with your alpha here. And don't try to lie to me, even a beta like me can smell the pheromones sparking off you two. It would be sweet if you weren't both so damned stubborn!”
“Aunt Cat, I appreciate your concern, but my pups-”
“Will be just fine,” she finished for me. “I've talked to young Zane, and he will see them to bed tonight. I know it hurts, boy, but those pups are familiar with him right now anyway. You need to stick with your plan and let the relationship happen naturally. They've had a long day, and their daddy needs to deal with his own shit anyway.”
“Aunt Cat, unlock these men,” Alpha said as he walked into the room and saw what was going on. He reached out to take the key from her, but she stepped away and shook her head.
“No, and nobody else is getting the key to separate them either! Like I said, they need to fix their shit. The only way that's ever going to happen is if somebody pushes the issue, and that's what I'm doing.” With that, she took the key in her hand and stuffed it down into her bra, where none of us would ever dream of reaching. Ugh, even the thought was both embarrassing and gross.
Micah grinned suddenly, chuckling in amusement at Aunt Cat. “You know what? You're right. And, you said the pups will be taken care of?”
“I give my word,” Aunt Cat declared imperiously.
“Okay, then if there's somewhere a bit more private we can go, I think that my mate and I have some unsettled business that needs to be discussed.”
“Your what?” Kai gasped out, as the Alpha smirked and reached into his pocket for a key ring.
Taking a single key off, he handed it to Micah saying: “Good for you, man. Congratulations to you both. Second cabin, to the left of the lodge, I'm sure you saw them earlier. We'll all watch over the pups, you guys take as long as you need. I don't want to see or hear from either of you until you've either claimed or killed each other, okay?”
“Excuse me,” I interrupted, “but I don't appreciate this, and I need to see to my pups more than I need a mate right now!”
Kai and Aunt Cat both smiled kindly at me as they shook their heads. But Alpha answered and said gently: “No, Aries. The pups need a parent who is calm and not ready to kill the alpha that they both already love. If you're fated, you won't be at rest until you accept it.”
Aunt Cat walked over to stand next to Alpha and said: “Take this time, young man. Go work on things with your fine young alpha here. I know you want to be with your pups, but right now you need to put Micah first. Once you guys figure things out, maybe you'll be able to actually work together, and the pups will be better for it. Trust an old lady on this one.”
Before I had a chance to argue further, Micah scooped me up with his free arm, and hoisted me over his shoulder and carried me out of the room. Before I could scream bloody murder or kick him with my knee like I planned, I heard Sara's little voice.
“Wot you doin', Nutter Daddy?”
“Hey, angel! I need you to stay with Zane and your brother, and be a good pup for everyone, okay? I have to go somewhere with your daddy right now.”
“Otay. You be back toon?”
“I'll be back as soon as I'm done with your daddy here. We have some grown-up stuff to do, okay? When we get back, we will come and see you the very first thing, that sound alright?”
“Otay, but if da daddy guy don be nice, you 'pank him, otay?
“Okay, angel, I'll spank him if I think he needs it. Watch this,” Micah landed a smack on my ass that made me yelp and I heard Sara giggle. Wriggling on his shoulder, I reached my free hand around to the soft flesh at his waist and gave it a pinch, which only landed me another swat on my ass. Fucking alphas.
Zane muttered something about the pups' bath time and thankfully got them moving again, while Micah called back to them: “Good night, pups. I love you! Remember to be good for Zane!”
“Otay, Nutter Daddy!” I could see Sara's little face now as they walked past us, and she looked up at me with a highly amused grin. Dylan was cuddled up against Zane's shoulder. I rolled my eyes and smiled down at her, hoping that maybe things would work out, and she would accept me someday soon as her father. Her and Dylan both. The fact that she'd referred to me as that daddy guy gave me hope that this was indeed a possibility.
Chapter 8
Micah
I carted my mate's tigh
t little body downstairs, past the knowing smirks of the other alphas and the wide-eyed faces of the pack omegas. We went right out the door, and I easily jogged over to the second cabin.
Once I got the door unlocked, and locked it behind me, I set the key on a little table by the door.
“You hungry?” I grunted, unsure what else to say right now.
“Oh, now you want to talk to me? I didn't know cavemen were capable of speech like us mere mortals.”
“Shut up, Aries. If you weren't so damned pig-headed, we wouldn't be in this mess. Now, it's a simple question. Are. You. Hungry.”
“No. I just want to go to sleep, pretend everything is hunky-dory, and maybe Aunt Cat will unlock us in the morning.”
“Yeah, um, I don't think it's gonna be that easy,” I said as I found the bedroom and carefully deposited him on the bed, while I tried not to pull on the cuff that bound us together. I sat down next to him, ready to deal with his temper that I felt sure was about to erupt. At least now I knew where Sara got her little feisty streak from.
“Why not? I can act like an adult, if you can. As long as we're not fighting, I don't see why Aunt Cat wouldn't unlock this cuff.”
“Because that's not her intention. She wants us to sort out the tension between us. It will be readily obvious if we haven't when we go back there in the morning.”
With a sigh, Aries flopped back and stretched out on the surprisingly firm mattress. “I don't know what you think we're supposed to do to solve things. It's not like we can go back in time and I can suddenly not have tried to take that woman's purse. Honestly? I'd probably still have tried, even if I had known you were there watching. I was that hungry. I hadn't eaten in a couple days, and I was just desperate at that point.”
Laying back beside him, I looked at the white ceiling, as I carefully chose my words. “I'm guessing that Sy told you what he shared with me?”
