Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
“Are you really worried that she’s going down the wrong path?” I asked her.
Gabriela looked thoughtful as she polished off her plate of cake. She wiped her lips with a napkin. “To be honest, I’m no longer sure what I think.”
There was something she wasn’t telling me. I could see it in her eyes. Before I could dig in deeper, though she said, “You should talk to her. Nobody is ever done a favor by being kept in the dark about how their part feels. You’re concerned. You need to tell her that, or else you’re going to keep letting it fester, and it will come out in ways you don’t want it to.”
“I’m afraid to put this on her,” I said. “She’s honestly going through so much, Gabriela. The last thing she needs is one of her mates piling on another bunch of s hit.”
and no.
“Be gentle. Be careful. I’m sure she’s as confused and worried as you are about all of this…” Gabriela swirled her fingers around in the air. “Stuff. The emotions. The revelations. Yes, she has a lot going on, you don’t want to burden her. But she’s your mate and your Luna. She deserves your honesty.”
Just then, I got a nudge through the mind link from Xander.
“Hey, di ckweed. Have you heard from Zane?”
I snorted laughter, which made Gabriela give me a curious stare. “It’s your other son. The less handsome. and charming one.
He’s asking me if I’ve heard from Zane.”
To Xander, I thought, “I haven’t, as scheese. Have you?”
“No. Where are you?”
I sent him an image of the dining hall. Also an image of my middle finger, since….well, he was my brother. And I was still a little annoyed with him.
“I’m on my way. Don’t go anywhere.”
“He says he’s coming here,” I said to Gabriela.
She laughed. “This should be interesting. I certainly hope I don’t have to put the two of you in the naughty.
corner.”
Her gaze went behind me, and I twisted in my chair to see Xander stalking through the room toward us.
With a gruff nod at me, he bent to kiss his mother on the cheek. He kicked the leg of my chair.
“Let me sit there,” he said.
“F uck you,” I replied evenly.
Gabriela let out a heavy sigh. “Boys.”
With a grumble, Xander slid into the chair next to mine. It put his back at an angle to the room, and I bit back a grin at his disgruntled expression. He had the same idea as I did, about being able to survey the room.
“Don’t worry, bro. I’ll make sure to warn you if someone sneaks up behind you,” I promised.
“Boys!” Gabriela snapped, sounding really irritated this time.
“Sorry.” To Xander, I said in a lower voice, “Sorry.”
“For this?” He sent me an image of both his middle fingers.
“You know what for,” I said aloud so Gabriela could hear me. I gave her a significant look that she returned.
Xander frowned. “What’s up with you two?”
“I was craving some dessert so I came to get a piece of cake. I happened to see Mason sitting here.
were chatting. That’s all.”
I was impressed at how easily Gabriela could keep her expression straight when I was pretty y sure she wanted to laugh. I wasn’t as good about it. Xander saw my mouth working, and he scowled.
That’s when both of us got the mind link from Zane, Lanie–
The hallways outside the school bustled with people picking up their little ones. I kept my head down, not really wanting to talk to anyone. I didn’t want to have to force a smile or explain why I looked like I’d been crying.
The moment I saw my three precious little ones, my heart instantly lifted. No matter what else might be going on in my life, their sweet faces always made me smile. Becoming a mommy was hard work, but I was never going to regret the choices that had given me these children.
I shouldn’t have been surprised that Alaina and Isaac were both bigger than when I’d dropped them.off this morning. The doubling all wolf pups went through was never completely predictable, and because they were twins, even less so. They’d started off smaller than Stella when she was born, and of course she’d grown. faster because of being a Celestial. Now, though, both twins were an inch or so taller than their sister.
“Mama, look what I made!” Alaina ran to me waving a paper colored all over with pictures of rainbows, suns, and moons.
“Very nice,” I said admiringly. For a second I had a pang of melancholy that I had no fridge of my own to hang this picture on. I’d just have to save it carefully for when we were able to get back home.
If we ever could.
Stella had followed the twins a few steps behind and now gave me a curious look. “Mother, are you sad about something?”
She sounded as sophisticated as a teenager. I bent to stroke her hair and kiss her forehead.
“No, my love. I’m fine. Oh, hey, there.” I let out a laugh as Isaac muscled his way into our embrace. “What have you got for me?”
“I made a picture, too,” he said, holding it up. His was of dragons breathing fire.
I admired it, too, then folded both pictures and tucked them into the pocket of my jeans. I looked at Stella.
“Didn’t you draw any pictures today?”
She shook her head. “No. Miss Janice said I should be in reading group, so I didn’t get to color today.”
“She did?” II I looked for Miss Janice, a tall Fae woman with silver curls framing her face. She waved at me. “You three stay here. I’m going to talk to Miss Janice for a second.”
When I asked her if what Stella had said was true, Miss Janice nodded.
“Oh, yes. Stella was so interested in learning to read that we put her in the group with some of the older children. She was already sounding out words and insisted that she be allowed to focus on that. It seemed silly to keep her with the children who aren’t quite as advanced.”
That wasn’t how Stella had put it. She’d made it sound more like she’d been put in the group, not that she’d relayed the information.
“We so enjoy all three of your children, Lanie, if I might say so.” Miss Janice beamed. “What a wonderful addition to our school.
Alaina and Isaac are so friendly and well-behaved.”
For a moment, her smile faltered as she looked beyond me. I turned to see what she was looking at but saw only the groups of children being released to their parents. My three were busy giggling with a small boy with dark hair whose name I didn’t know.
Stella raised her hand to wave at me when I caught her eye.
Miss Janice cleared her throat. “And Stella…well, her name means star, and I suppose that’s just what she is. A bright and shining star, yes?”
There was no better way to make a mother happy than to hear praise about her children. The teacher’s words made me smile and chased away some of my sadness from the fight between my mates.
“We certainly think so,” I said to the teacher.
Miss Janice nodded. “If you’ll excuse me…?”
“Of course.” With a small frown, I watched her bustle away. Something in her tone had seemed a little off, but then I saw her smiling and greeting another parent there for pickup and told myself that Miss Janice was just busy.
I gathered my three. “C’mon, you rascals. It’s time to go home.”
“You mean back to our quarters,” Stella said as I took her and Alaina by the hand, with Isaac holding his twin’s.
I looked down at my daughter. “Yes. Home.”
“It’s not home. Not really.” Stella said this cheerfully and matter-of-factly. “Alaina and Isaac don’t remember our other house like I do. So they don’t care.”
“Do you care?” I asked her, pausing in the hallway outside the school.
Stella shook her head. “Not really, Mother. But I know that you do. Hey, Allie, let’s run!”
Before I could stop them, both took off and made it around the corner with Isaac close behind. By the time I got there, ready to tell them to slow down…
All three pups were gone.
Zane–
I didn’t really want to see my Alphas, but I couldn’t let this argument fester between us. They might have both been d icks to me, but I was still their Beta. Unless I was willing to give that up-and I wasn’t-i t was up to me to get them back together and on good terms…even if I was still more than a little bit pis sed off at them.
That was why I had them meet me on the training field.
If we couldn’t work out our differences with a few hours of punching, running, kicking and jumping, we had bigger problems than some d umba ss argument. I didn’t want to think about what would happen then. I paced the training ground as I waited, centering my Beta energy so it would be ready for them when they got there.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?