The Mating System: A Paranormal Shifter Romance

by Angela Foxxe

  “How do we convince them?” Noemi asked, looking the female up and down. “We would be willing to do anything for them,” she assured.

  Even from far away, Alexa could see the smile that spread across the stranger’s features. Behind them came the sloshing of wet fur. If it weren’t for how relaxed everyone seemed to be, Tracy would have launched once more into action. Rather, she sat down next to Noemi, and allowed herself to be examined by the blonde she-wolf, not knowing that she was completely blind.

  “Come with me,” the she-wolf ordered, and turned into the brush.

  Tracy was the first to follow. After her, Noemi. Finally came Antony and Alexa, holding each other’s hands as tightly as they could, as though afraid that if they let go, they would lose each other forever.

  “Why didn’t you tell me that you have pups on the way?” Antony asked, looking Alexa up and down.

  “I tried to tell you, but you didn’t believe me,” she replied with a little smile. “A beautiful sky means that it is going to be a beautiful day,” she mused.

  “What does that mean?” Antony asked, furrowing his eyebrows at Alexa.

  Alexa simply shook her head and walked on, the sight of Noemi, Tracy, and the stranger in front of her giving power to her sore feet.

  Epilogue

  Alexa woke up and immediately knew that something was wrong. There was a warm presence to her side, huge and hulking and encompassing her entire body. She knew that the body was Antony, and that wasn’t what was wrong. Antony behind her, keeping her body close, would never be wrong. What was wrong was the lack of bodies around her, more specifically, the lack of four tiny bodies that should have been curled up next to her for the next few hours. At least until sunrise they should have been sound asleep, waiting for the birds to wake them up and let them know that it was time for them to play and train the day away.

  “Antony, get up!” Alexa hissed, jumping awake immediately. Her entire being was in panic mode as she pawed around the dark cave that had been given to her and Antony to raise their pups. Perhaps they had moved away from her in their sleep, but they were nowhere within her arm’s reach. She stood up and stepped outside of the cave, poking her head into the very first signs of light in the day.

  “Alexa?” Antony groaned. He was on his side, but rolled onto his back once Alexa had left him. He scratched at his lightly haired chest, finding it hard to stir himself into wakefulness. He hadn’t quite realized the imminent danger of four, three-year-old pups wandering away and possibly getting themselves into an incredible amount of danger. “Come back to sleep,” he urged, closing his eyes once more. He was more tired than usual, having been out the day before hunting and running after a gigantic pack of elk that were migrating through the pack territory.

  “They’re gone!” Alexa snapped, her worry turning her into a more aggressive wolf by the second. The beast inside of her was cringing and scraping at the walls to try and get out, desperately wanting to hunt down her pups and bring them back to safety. Alexa tried to quell the beast as much as she could; there was no use in panicking more than she already was panicking. It wouldn’t aid the situation, and would leave Antony more confused than informed. “The pups are gone, Antony,” she repeated, looking back at her mate. “I don’t know where they are or where they could have gone so suddenly.”

  That brought Antony to life, and he jumped into complete alertness within a moment. He was at Alexa’s side, one hand on her shoulder as they both scented the air. It was heavy with spring dew beginning to form on the grass and leaves of the trees, and could easily mask over the scent of a few pups. Alexa had never felt her heart beating faster in her life. She wanted nothing more than to alert the entire pack, but that wouldn’t help, either. They were her pups, and her responsibility.

  “I let them wander away,” she groaned, clawing her fingers down her face in dismay. She left light red marks, but no blood welled to the surface in the wake of her motions. Finally giving in, Alexa allowed her wolf to take over. She shifted into a wolf as quickly as she could, the beast shaking out each leg to bring the muscles into working fashion and get her blood pumping. There was no way that they could have gone far, and that was all that she could tell herself to reassure her wandering mind, buzzing like a hive full of very angry, very vicious bees.

  “They can’t have gone far,” Antony said, even though his mate had already shifted. He did the same, standing next to her for a moment, their shoulders pressed firmly together. Their noses were far more sensitive now that they were in their wolf forms, and they stood smelling the air, trying to find the scent of pups behind the scent of dew and spring flowers and the other wolves that had passed by throughout the night. After a few moments, Antony flicked his tail and jerked his head towards the south. That was where their scent was the strongest. No doubt that was where they had gone.

  Antony took off in a run, and Alexa was quick to follow. She ran so fast that occasionally she lost her balance, her long limbs flying out from underneath her body. Antony was always there to help push her back into correct order, lining her legs and arms up under her body once more until she was running at the same incredible speed as before. They kicked up dirt with their hind feet as they ran, off towards their destination. As they ran, the scent of their pups grew stronger and stronger.

  Mostly Alexa was grateful that Antony had chosen the right path. She would have gone to the north and lost them for good. Luckily, her mate was an incredibly skilled and an incredibly invaluable hunting alpha to the pack that they had joined nearly four years ago. He knew exactly how to track anything down, be it a herd of elk or his pups that had up and wandered away before the end of the night. It bothered him that they had gotten the courage to stir themselves before dawn. Normally they wouldn’t have dreamed of leaving the den until their mother was with them.

  It took them a while before they caught up with the pups, the small wolves having settled down on the bank of a river that was south of their den. Alexa had chosen their den for that reason specifically. A river meant a good source of water at all times, and perfect views of the sunrise and sunset. Also, hunting for fish in the river was a great way for her to bond with her pups after a long day of being apart from them. They especially loved when she could catch a huge fish for all of them to share.

  The four pups sat on the bank of the river in order of their birth times. Each was a few minutes apart, although to Alexa at the time it had seemed like absolute hours. Her labor had been painful and intense, but her friends had been there for her through the gruesome hours of the morning and into the next night. The youngest was to the left, and the oldest was to the right. It was a habit they had formed without even realizing, none of them really knowing for sure who was older than the other.

  Sandra, the youngest, with fiery red hair inherited from Alexa’s mother, was to the left. She was leaning against her brother, James, who had Antony’s looks. From the tip of his hair to his toes, he was exactly like his father. Alexa had no doubts that he would grow into a strong and capable alpha hunter one day. Arin was the next, tall and proud and sporting his mother’s features. The oldest of the four, Candice, was also the strangest. Her hair was a shade of pure snow white that Alexa had never seen, and she had one of Antony’s eyes, and one of her eyes. On the side with Alexa’s eye, a gentle blue, the same ear was deaf. The other with Antony’s eye was perfectly fine.

  The pups seemed oblivious to the approach of their parents, and it made Alexa glad that they had gotten to the helpless creatures before some other predator had gotten to them. She wouldn’t have known what to do with herself if they had been killed due to their unassuming, relaxed natures. She was glad for how laidback they were, but it was also a danger for such young wolves to be so carefree.

  Alexa sat behind Candice and Arin, and Antony sat behind James and Sandra. The four pups, even then, didn’t turn to look at their mother and father. They were content enough with the crisp spring water lapping at their toes, staring up at th
e sky. The last few stars of the night were still visible, and the moon hung strong and proud; a full moon, which had sparked much characteristic howling from the pups. Candice was the best at it, her melody one that could pierce even the strongest of wolves. James had much to learn from his brother and sisters, his own howl still weak and high pitched.

  “What did you think you were all doing?” Alexa asked, trying to be condoning in her tone. The only problem was that she couldn’t pull it off. There was no way that she could be angry at them, not when she was so happy that they were alive. “You could have been hurt by something,” she continued.

  “We weren’t hurt,” Candice said. She tilted her head as she spoke, turning her good ear towards her parents. Luckily, she was on the right side to be able to hear everyone speaking. “We were careful.”

  “You’re pups,” Antony replied, trying to be more scolding than his mate. “If a bear or an eagle had come after you, it would have gone horribly for all four of you,” he said. “Do you know how huge a bear is?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at the pups before him.

  “We don’t, but we’re okay,” Arin said. He leaned back, using Alexa’s knee as a rest to be able to prop up his back. He was staring up at the sky as well, and that’s when Alexa realized that all of them were staring up at the sky.

  “Did you come out here to see the sunrise?” Alexa asked, finally putting all of the pieces together. It should have been so obvious to her that was all her pups ever wanted out of their days. The sunrise and the sunset, there with each other to watch it all happen.

  James nodded, reaching out to take Sandra’s hand. They were the closest two of the four, best of friends through thick and thin. Even when they fought, it wasn’t for long or about anything incredibly serious.

  “Why didn’t you wake me?” Alexa asked, looking over the four pups. “I would have taken you out here.”

  The beginning of the sun was starting to peek over the horizon, giving the sky the first tinges of purple and pink. As the sun rose, the colors tinted into oranges and reds, and eventually to yellow. The family of six fell into an easy silence, watching as the sun rose high above their bodies to light the way through the day. Once the sun had completely risen over the horizon, the four pups stood, without even needing to look at each other the movement was in complete unison.

  “A beautiful sky means that it is going to be a beautiful day,” Alexa mused, standing up after her pups. Antony stood up as well, stretching his arms over his head.

  “Did you make that up, Mom?” Sandra asked.

  “No, my mother told me that when I was very young,” Alexa replied.

  “Can we hear about your mother?” James asked, looking up at Alexa as the six of them headed back towards their den.

  Alexa smiled at the question. Once, she might have reacted badly to that question. Now that she had had four years to think it all over, she didn’t hate her mother for what she had done.

  “It’s a long story, are you sure you’ll be able to pay attention?” she asked.

  “Of course we can,” Arin replied.

  THE END

  Message From The Author:

  Hiii

  If you want to check out my other releases including those from my popular “Shifters Surrogates” series then just check out my Amazon page here!

  I hope you enjoyed my book. If you did I would really love if you could give me a rating on the store! :)

  YES, I WILL RATE YOU ANGELA!

  Angela x

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