by ZL Morris
All the joy drops from Rosalina’s face, and she stares seriously at me. It’s no longer my mate’s mum in front of me. It’s the pack’s Luna, and she means business. Her voice, although gentle, commands my attention. “No, Tallulah. They have not allowed anyone to go to that particular waterfall. There’s another one available for pack use, but the boys have never allowed anyone else to use this one.”
Eyes narrowing, she continues, “To answer your unspoken question, they’ve never taken girls there. It’s your place, just for the four of you. Aside from the pups going with you today, only the boys, myself, and their fathers have swum there over the years.
“They are your boys, sweetie.” She places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze in reassurance. “They never once forgot they are yours, and you are theirs.”
“Thank you,” I whisper hoarsely. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t doubt them.”
“There’s no need to be sorry, honey. It’s a new thing for all of you, and I know it’s going to be hard for all four of you to settle into a routine. The trust will be more difficult for you because of the boy’s decision to protect you by keeping you in the dark. It caused hurt for all of you, but you more so. They only ever had your safety in mind. As they got older, they wanted to tell you, but their dads decided you’d be in even more danger and forbade them. Now, you’re practically an adult, they couldn’t hold back from you any longer.”
Confused, the guys didn’t tell me about their dads’ command. “The boys said they made the decision, they didn’t mention their fathers.”
Rosalina wraps an arm around me in comfort and leads me to the bed. “When they were little, they did make the first decision. As they got older they started to resent their choice of not having you in their lives. They wanted to tell you. Hell, we all wanted to tell you, but Henrique had to act as their Alpha and not as their father.”
She plonks herself down on the bed, and she gently pulls me to sit next to her. “We received a lot of threats to your safety. It was clear Blood Moon were on the hunt for our new Luna, and you’d be harmed once found. So, Henrique told the boys that, until the threats calmed down or stopped, they must carry on with their charade. I’m so sorry, honey. If we honestly knew how badly it affected you, we’d never have continued to do it.”
My tongue feels unbearably thick in my mouth, and my eyes fill with tears. Even though I refuse to allow them to fall, a few slip free before I can compose myself. I’ve never been a cry baby, but the last couple of days have turned me into a snot-bag. I take a few deep breaths, grateful Rosalina lets me do it and doesn’t make a fuss.
Calmer, I straighten my shoulders and lift my head to Rosalina for a new direction.
Rosalina smiles sadly at me and gently wipes my face free of tears. She stands and shakes out her limbs, finding her cheer again. “Right, come on, and put this on.” A little strained laugh escapes her. “They’ve bought you matching flip-flops. There’s no way they inherited their taste in fashion from either of their fathers who are both useless when it comes to clothes. They must’ve gained it from me.”
A knock comes from the door, and it pushes open before I’m able to follow her instruction. I hold the cover up against my body to hide my half nakedness. I’m not sure how I feel about someone other than the guys and Rosalina seeing me, which is stupid. If I were a shifter, there would be no problem with my nakedness in front of everyone.
I relax slightly when I see Doctor Andro, but immediately tense up at his words. “I’ve been meaning to catch up with you, Tallulah, to take another look at that leg of yours. Theo said you were going to the waterfall, and I want to make sure it’s healed enough for you to swim.” He crosses over to where I sit and places his doctor bag on the floor and crouches while simultaneously taking his glasses off the top of his head and placing them on his face.
Without warning, his hot hands wrap around my calf and he lifts my leg up to inspect it at a better angle. The move almost topples me over, and I’m forced to let go of the cover-up so I don’t flop backwards onto the mattress.
He pays no mind to me practically naked on the bed, his eyes firmly fixed on my leg while he prods at the reddish-pink bite marks. They still appear a little angry, but nowhere near as unpleasant as they did before.
One of his hands releases my leg to rummage through his bag. It seems like a few minutes pass, along with a few choice words, before he finally pulls out a notepad with a pen attached. Unease stirs when he places the pad slightly behind him, so I can’t see what is already written on it or what he’s about to add.
His attention returns to my leg, and he turns it in different angles to get a better look at the bite. He murmurs under his breath, too quiet for me to catch, and tuts a couple of times. He places my leg gently back on the ground before he picks up his notepad and scribbles a few lines before he stashes it away.
“The bites look much better. Although the skin around it isn’t healing as swiftly as it normally does, I think it’s safe to assume that’s due to your human side and the Wolfsbane. It’ll take another week or so for the full effects of the Wolfsbane to wear off. In the meantime, I have some medication for you to take.”
I stifle a groan at the thought of taking meds. With my luck, it’ll be one I have to take for six months to stop the Wolfsbane from eating me from the inside out. My mind stops abruptly when a foil packet crinkles. Doctor Andro holds some weird foil thing and shakes it at me. Reluctant, I hold out my hand, palm up, and accept whatever the packet contains.
A monstrous pill drops into my hand. Hell! That’s a big fuckin’ pill. How the hell will I swallow that damn thing? Oh, god, please don’t tell me I need to take them regularly.
Desperately, I seek out Rosalina. She joins me on the bed, tucking a motherly arm around my waist. “The doctor was saying this tablet should be enough to stop the Wolfsbane from doing any damage.”
Doctor Andro continues once Rosalina stops. “It’s a tablet form of the IV medication you were given while in the hospital, so we know you don’t have a negative reaction to it. And because you had the first dose already, you won’t need any more medication after one.”
Wondering if the size of the pill is because I’m half human, I ask, “Did Theo have to swallow one, too?”
Doctor Andro grins mercilessly. “He had to take one, too. His shifter ability helps to flush the Wolfsbane out, but not as quick as we’d like so he got a pill to speed the process up. His dose may be smaller, but it is the same size. And I have to say, he gave me a lot more grief than you are.”
Rosalina snickers and briefly leaves my side to retrieve a glass of water. I stare down at the pill in my hand and try to swallow past the lump forming in my throat. How am I going to take this? I clutch the glass Rosalina hands me, close my eyes, and quickly put the pill in my mouth, followed by a gulp of water. It sticks to my tongue, so I throw my head back and forth like an idiot to knock the pill to the back of my throat. Finally, after a second sip of water, I work up the courage to swallow the pill. It takes me three further gulps though to get the pill down my throat. Oh, god, that was nasty!
My voice croaks, and I clear it to get my words out. “Remind me next time not to get bitten by some Wolfsbane riddled mutt. That was gross!”
“Let’s hope you don’t, Tallulah. I’m not sure how many of those you can take before your body becomes immune.” He meets my eyes to make sure I understand before he goes on. “Now, swimming should be fine, but you can’t do any of the stuff you do on that obstacle course of yours and absolutely no fights.”
I nod in agreement to his rules, happy I can still go swimming. I wait until he packs his bag up and he leaves before I throw on the cover up and place my feet into the flip-flops. Finally ready, I want to get back to the boys and start today’s adventures.
Rosalina leads the way back down the hall. As we get closer to the kitchen, voices and loud laughter come from the other side of the closed door. Nervously, I rub at my nose then drop my hand t
wisting my fingers together. Awkward in my bikini, I never know how to hold my arms. Ideally, I’d like to wrap them around my middle and silently pray the material of the bikini has somehow decided to magically grow larger, to cover more of me up, but I know it hasn’t. It’s impossible.
Rosalina doesn’t stop and ploughs through the door like a woman on a mission. Before the door swings back at me, she grips it and holds it open. Silently, I shuffle in while I continue to stare at the black and grey slate floor, worried what the guys’ reaction might be.
A choking noise causes me to peek up, locking eyes with Quimby. He gulps loudly, and his eyes bug comically out of his head.
Across from him, Kenji stands at the table while he pours a glass of juice. Unfortunately, he took his eyes off the juice when I entered, but didn’t stop pouring. The glass, past full, steadily overflows onto the table. Quickly, I step forward, grab Kenji’s wrist, and pry the carton from his hand.
Rosalina chortles and grabs a wad of kitchen towels to mop up the mess. Once the mess has been cleaned up, I finally spot Theo leaning with a thigh against the table. His eyes are wide, and he sports pink tinge on his cheeks. Without a conscious thought, my eyes sweep over his body and realise at some point he must have gotten changed. A quick inspection of Kenji, bent over the table and slurping from his overfilled glass, and Quimby, standing next to his father, shows all three are now clad in worn t-shirts and swim shorts.
Alpha Henrique and Leverette are both in stitches, leant up against the sink. They gaze lovingly at Rosalina and then their boys before their attention turns to me.
Sporting matching grins, Leverette adds, “You look beautiful. These three bozos are very lucky.”
After the boys get over their shock of me dressed in so little, I notice the appreciative gazes they give me. There’s nothing worse than being appreciated by the boys you have a crush on in front of their parents. I attempt to control the blush rising by allowing my eyes to roam over them. My hormones wish they didn’t have the shirts on, and I remind myself I will be able to openly ogle them as much as I want after we get to the falls.
Excited giggles sound a few seconds before the kitchen door swings open to reveal Mylo and Nash playfully tugging each other. Mylo manages to slip free of Nash, but not without losing his balance. His little hands splay out to save himself and stop from faceplanting, but knocks the table with his leg, causing Kenji’s glass to spill.
Not missing a beat, Nash dives on top of Mylo and repeatedly pokes him in the face.
Leverette lets loose a deafening whistle to grab the boys’ attention. They both immediately stop what they’re doing, help each other to stand, and face the room with sheepish expressions on their faces.
Leverette keeps his voice firm. “Not in the house, please. Leave that for the outside only, otherwise things will get broken.”
Both pups nod and offer a quiet, “Sorry.”
“Right, time to go. I’ll send a couple of security with you. I know you can handle yourselves, boys, but you’ll have Tallulah and the pups with you. So, I want no arguments. Any sign of trouble and you let security handle it. Your priority is not to fight, but to deliver Tallulah and the pups safely back here,” Henrique commands, his thick arms crossed against his huge chest.
The guys’ postures all straighten up as their father—their Alpha—fires off instructions. I’m a little surprised when none of them argue or put up more resistance to the fact we’ll have babysitters shadowing us.
All three of them answer together, “Yes, sir.”
They used to do it when we were younger to get a rise out of me because I whined about how weird is was that they were so in sync. Being an only child, I was always slightly jealous I didn’t have a sibling bond.
Was it only them, part of their werewolf freaky shit or could human siblings do it, too?
I read somewhere that human twins and triplets have a sixth sense about each other. They also copy each other and have their own baby language, which outsiders couldn’t ever begin to understand.
I feel a nudge in my side and turn my head towards Rosalina, but I can’t take my eyes off Theo, Kenji, and Quimby. All three stand firm in front of their Alpha. The thin material of their shirts defines their muscles, capturing my attention. As Kenji shifts his weight, his back muscles ripple with tension, and my nipples instantly harden at the sight.
Desire flushes through my body, and five sets of eyes turn to me. Nostrils flare, taking in the scent of my need. My men’s eyes sharpen with hunger, their bodies angle towards me. Kenji takes a step to close the distance between us.
A sharp bark breaks the tension of our want. Grateful for the reprieve, I stare at my flip-flop covered feet and will my heart to slow. Damn werewolf senses.
I slowly manage to get my heartrate back to normal and my breathing to even out. Thank god, the pups will be with us. At least with them there, it might stop me from doing something rash that would leave me humiliated.
Rosalina’s stare glints with ice and demands attention as she addresses her sons. “I want you boys to be the gentlemen we brought you up to be. You will take care of Tallulah and the pups. Any funny business, and I’ll personally kick your asses.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they answer in unison.
My exaggerated groan gets me three cheeky grins and a wink from Quimby. They are fully aware it bugs me.
With a pat on the shoulder, Rosalina sighs in resigned sympathy and whispers in my ear, “It annoys the shit out of me, too.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
- Tallulah -
We head away from the Alpha’s quarters. The guys lead, and I trail along behind them with the pups on either side of me. The walls are the colour of soft sand and decorated with numerous family and pack photos taken over the years.
As we come to two doors further down, three security guys exit, allow me to pass, and follow closely behind me. When Theo opens the exterior door ahead of us, sunlight floods across the warm wood floors. For the first time, I realise it’s a perfect day for a swim at the waterfalls.
Excitement zips through me; I’ve missed going there more than I first thought. We used to go there all the time when we were little, spending hours goofing around. We’d jump off the rocks that overhang the deeper water to see who could make the biggest splash. I’d always make the smallest. Theo, being the next Alpha in line and having his father’s genes has made his height, mass, and body type different to others who aren’t in line to be a leader. He’ll naturally surpass his pack in weight, stamina, and strength, so his splashes were always the biggest.
We’d always end up drenched after he cannonballed off the edge.
My stomach starts to knot as we walk. They picked out this tiny scrap of a bikini especially for me. They must have had some sort of reasoning when they picked it out. Were they trying to impress me? Or, was I supposed to impress them? Which is stupid.
With the hurt from their protective lies, I shouldn’t feel like I need to impress them, but a part of me wants to. I want them to see me as someone who’s worthy to be their Luna. Abruptly, I shake my head to rid myself of those thoughts.
Mylo and Nash, both dressed in little swim trunks and t-shirts, help take my mind off the depressing thoughts as they run circles around me. Mylo, clad in a bright orange and blue shirt, reaches out to catch Nash, who’s dressed in yellow and blue, narrowly missing his flapping shirt. Both boys screech with excitement.
They remind me of what we used to be like.
Will we ever be carefree and joyous like that again?
The guys have been brilliant to me so far, but it’s only been a day since they declared they are my mates. Will it even last? We’re in what humans would call the honeymoon phase, and it’s likely to wear off. What will happen then? Will I be cast aside?
My knowledge about mates is limited to what my father told me. But he’s proven shifters can go on to live a normal life without a mate. At this rate, I’ll drive myself mad overthinking every aspect
of this. I need to enjoy the day and take it a step at a time.
Today is about my agreement with Rosalina, to give Theo, Kenji, and Quimby a chance. It’s what I need to do for myself, too. If I constantly second guess their motives or how they coped without me, then this mate thing might be doomed.
Watching the muscles in Theo’s legs as he moves over a branch on the trail, I flash back to this morning. Warmth pools at the junction of my thighs, and my limbs throb. What will happen if we become intimate? Will it be one-on-one, or will it happen as a group?
I’ve seen the easy, physical affection between Rosalina, Henrique, and Leverette; their love for each other is clear. But is that what it’s like for all the coupled mates? And how does it work? There’s three of them and only one of me. What happens when they want to cuddle? Do I cuddle all of them, or will one be okay? And kisses, if I kiss one will the others become mad if I don’t kiss them?
Why didn’t I ask Rosalina when we were alone?
The familiar tingles shoot through my body. All three guys stopped slightly ahead of the pups and me. Their eyes trained on me. Three identical smirks on their all-to-knowing faces, with a touch of desire to make me flush with warm pleasure.
Sniggers behind me break me out of the boys’ spell. Instead of ignoring it and being on my way, curiosity wins out. Casually taking in the wide paths and thick forest around me, my gaze briefly locks of the security before it settles on three girls around my age. Each one is barely dressed, their assets on full display in scraps of cloth even smaller than mine, and they have no cover-ups. They don’t pay attention to me or the security. Instead, they’re openly googly eyeing the guys.
My guys.
Instant anger and jealous sweep away the pleasure of the moment. My muscles tighten in preparation to stomp over and rip their hair out. The sensation is so strong it nearly suffocates me. One of the scantily clad girls peels her eyes off my guys and cuts me an evil scowl. If looks could kill, she’d have gutted me alive, but I don’t feel intimidated or terrified by her.