by Nora Phoenix
He put another pan on the stove to boil water, then took out the sour cream for the mashed potatoes as well as the bacon bits he’d made before. A little fresh chives, a splash of milk, and of course salt and pepper, and they’d be all set. He’d put some grated cheddar on the table as well, in case someone liked their mashed potatoes loaded.
He wanted to make a good impression on Lidon’s uncle and aunt, the first family members they were officially introducing themselves to as a foursome. Jawon and Lidon’s cousins knew, of course, but they’d agreed not to say anything yet. It was one more example of Lidon’s alpha powers because he’d easily convinced them to keep that news to themselves.
Palani’s brothers were aware but hadn’t come down the ranch yet, and he’d only told his parents the day before when he’d visited them after they’d returned from their cruise. They’d been shocked at the news and asked for a little time to get used to it before meeting his men. It was the best reaction they could've expected from Palani’s parents.
He himself hadn’t been able to tell Tiva, who hadn’t contacted him since the wedding. Vieno suspected his parents had found out she'd been the one to warn him. He worried about her, but there was little he could do. Thank fuck his parents had never been physically abusive. He’d have to find out when her wedding was. Maybe Palani could sneak in and make sure she was okay. For now, he’d focus on welcoming Lidon’s uncle and aunt in the best way possible.
He was grateful that Grayson and Lucan had offered to stay in their rooms, to not make things even more complicated. It was hard to explain their presence without explaining all kinds of things about the gene and Excellon and whatnot. Vieno’s head had whirled when Palani had detailed what had been going on and what had necessitated the security for all of them.
Grayson and Lucan were no bother at all. On the contrary. After being alone during the days for years, Vieno discovered he liked having people around. Grayson usually worked during the mornings. He was an early riser, as Vieno often heard his keyboard clack when he got up to make breakfast for his men. But after lunch, the man was done, he’d explained to Vieno. The rest of the day he would do research, read, hang out with Vieno and Lucan, and help out outside as well.
Lucan struggled, Vieno had noticed. No wonder. He’d held a full-time job till recently, and now he’d been confined to staying on the ranch with little to do. He’d tried to help Vieno with household stuff, but he lacked the aptitude. Finally, Grayson had taken pity on him and had given him a long list of stuff to do for him, like creating a character bible for his novels, doing specific research, and more. It seemed to keep his son busy for now, but Vieno wondered how long it would last.
And jeez, Grayson’s casual revelation of Lidon’s alpha powers had been a shock. Lidon himself had had no idea of his abilities, he’d confessed to them afterward, when they were in bed. It had stunned him as much as everyone else to see them bow for him. Only Grayson had known, and it made Vieno wonder. What else did that alpha know? He excelled at keeping his mouth shut, considering he made money telling stories. Lidon had asked a dozen questions, but Grayson had told him it wasn’t time yet. Whatever that meant.
“Everything under control here?” Palani checked in.
Vieno nodded. “I think so. Did you set the table?”
“Yes, baby. Like you asked me to an hour ago.”
Vieno looked sheepish. “Sorry, I’m nervous. I wanna make sure it’s perfect...”
Palani hugged him from behind, nuzzling his neck. “You could burn the potatoes and serve dry meat, and they’d still love you,” he whispered. “No one could not love you, baby.”
Vieno smiled and leaned back in his embrace for a few seconds. “Thank you.”
When the bell rang minutes later, he pushed down his nerves. He had this, dammit. All the food was prepared, ready to be finished and served in a few minutes. He took off his apron, smoothed his hair.
“You look gorgeous,” Enar said, laying his hand on Vieno’s shoulder.
“You’re so sweet.” Vieno sighed, and he couldn’t resist leaning into the man’s strong body for a little. He turned his head and rose to his toes to kiss him and was rewarded with a sweet, soft kiss that made his belly flutter.
“What the hell?” a deep male voice sounded, and Vieno jumped away. Lidon’s uncle, Leland, was smaller than him, but the resemblance was unmistakable. Vieno cringed a little under his stern look. Oh fuck, he’d messed up right out of the gate. Now what?
“Enar Magnusson, what the hell do you think you’re doing, kissing your best friend’s mate?” Lidon’s aunt, Sophie, was petite, but her fierce blue eyes were blazing as she all but stormed at Enar, who raised his hands.
“Aunt Sophie,” he said, and Vieno realized he must've met them plenty of times, having grown up with Lidon. “I can explain.”
Then Palani stepped into the kitchen, and Lidon took position right next to them, his long arms around them as he said calmly, “No, that’s my job, and since we’re all here, let me introduce you. Uncle Leland and Aunt Sophie, these are my mates Vieno, Palani, and you’ve met Enar, of course.”
The kitchen grew quiet, the bubbling of the boiling water for the beans the only sound audible.
“You have three mates?” Aunt Sophie said, her voice rising high.
“Yes,” Lidon said. “I’ve alpha mated and married Vieno, but Palani and Enar are my mates as well.”
Vieno held his breath, his hand clutching Enar’s so tightly the man would end up with bruises for sure. Lidon’s uncle and aunt would explode, he was certain of it. There was no way they would approve of this, no matter how much Lidon assured him they’d be accepting. No one in his right mind would accept his nephew being in a foursome, right?
Then Lidon’s uncle stepped forward, extending his hand to Enar. “Welcome to the family, alpha.”
Vieno’s breath left his lungs with a swoosh. Lidon had been right. How the fuck was this even possible?
Lidon’s uncle shook Enar’s hand, following protocol by going by status. They’d have more explaining to do at some point, but since Enar had never come right out and said anything himself, this seemed fine for now.
“Thank you, Uncle Leland,” Enar said.
Palani was next. “I recognize your name and face, son. That’s some mighty fine reporting you’re doing. Welcome to the family.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“That’s Uncle Leland, son. You’re family now.”
The man’s face showed nothing but kindness as he gave Vieno a nod, keeping with protocol and not touching a mated omega. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you, Vieno.”
“Thank you, Uncle Leland,” Vieno said, earning a broad smile from the man.
Aunt Sophie enveloped Enar in a tight hug. “I couldn’t be happier with you,” she said, emotions thick in her voice. “I’ve always liked you, you know that.”
Enar smiled, a carefree smile that showed Vieno how much he loved this woman.
“He was such a sweet kid, even as a young boy. Always finding wounded animals here on the ranch and nursing them back to health,” she told Vieno and Palani. “He was a healer, even then.”
Vieno looked at Enar, trying to picture him as a little boy. To his surprise, it wasn’t hard at all, and his heart warmed. Like him and Palani, Lidon and Enar had such a history together, so many memories. They’d have to share them sometime.
Meanwhile, Aunt Sophie hugged Palani, who seemed amused by her affection. She patted his cheek in a gesture that was so maternal it made Vieno tear up. God, how he wished for a mother like that. He tried to wipe the wetness away before she would see it, but he wasn’t fast enough.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” she asked, and that familiar word from her lips sent even more tears to his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just…” God, how did he explain this without looking like a total loser? Could he be any more awkward and emotional? Talk about making a horrible first impression.
Palani came to his rescue, as Vieno could’ve known he would. “He’s a little overwhelmed with how sweet and welcoming you are,” he said. “Vieno’s parents are not very supportive, and I think seeing you made him feel that.”
Aunt Sophie’s eyes welled up, and then she opened her arms and pulled Vieno close. “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry, but it’s their loss. You are beautiful and sweet, and you take such good care of your men, now don’t you? I saw it walking in, how perfect the house looked and how clean it smelled. And that roast in the oven smells delicious. And don’t you worry about a thing, sweetheart. You’ll do just fine, you hear me? And if you ever need anything, I’m here to help.”
Vieno laughed at her wonderful barrage of words, smiling through his tears as he hugged her back. “Thank you, Aunt Sophie. I already love you.”
“Me too, sweet boy. Me too.” She let go of him, wiping his eyes with a gesture that made him fall in love with her on the spot, then dabbed her own. “Now, let’s eat, and you must tell me everything.”
Lidon couldn’t explain how he’d known his uncle and aunt would be okay with his men, but they’d reacted much like he’d expected. Aunt Sophie was such a sweetheart, though tough as nails, and she’d be a great mother figure for Vieno, Lidon realized. The food was perfect, though he hadn’t expected anything else, and conversation flowed easily.
“That was delicious,” he told Vieno as the omega got up to clear the plates. “Thank you for cooking, sweetheart.”
Vieno beamed with pride, and it made Lidon’s belly go weak. “Come sit with me for a spell,” he said, pulling Vieno onto his lap.
“I need to…” Vieno protested, but Lidon held him close.
“We’ll do it,” Palani said and got up to clear the plates, Enar following suit.
His uncle’s eyebrows raised at the highly unlikely gesture from an alpha, but Aunt Sophie didn’t even appear surprised. It wouldn’t surprise Lidon if she’d seen something different in Enar for a long time. She’d known him since his childhood, what with Enar spending so much time on the ranch. Hell, he’d barely gone home during the summer breaks, since he loved it too much at the ranch. They’d spent whole days playing outside, riding horses, fishing in the pond, running with the dogs, building tree houses, helping with chores.
“I’d love to see what you’re planning with the renovation,” Uncle Leland said. “Jawon said you had big plans, but refused to go into details.”
It warmed Lidon he had his cousin’s loyalty. “We do. It was Vieno’s initiative,” he said, nuzzling his mate’s soft neck, smiling when Vieno let out a little giggle. He was so wonderfully responsive, his body tuned in to Lidon’s.
“I wanted to restart the vegetable garden,” Vieno said. “I’ve always wanted one, but I never had the opportunity. We’re also rebuilding the barn, but bigger, so it has room for big equipment and machinery. And my chickens are arriving tomorrow, and I’m super excited about that.”
The enthusiasm in his voice rolled through Lidon like a caress. Vieno was helping the ranch become a true home again, and it was something wonderful.
“Can you give us a tour?” Aunt Sophie asked. “I would love to see it.”
“I’d love to,” Vieno said, sliding off Lidon’s lap.
Minutes later, they stepped outside where the sun was still setting, throwing a warm glow over the land. Vieno showed them everything, and they rewarded him with lovely reactions that he deserved every bit of.
“This place is magical,” Uncle Leland said, taking up position next to Lidon as Vieno and Aunt Sophie examined the vegetable plot.
Before, Lidon would have categorized a remark like that as a creative expression, but now he wondered. “I’m sorry I let the ranch go so badly,” he said.
His uncle’s hand clamped down on his shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said, his voice warm. “It hurt, but I understood. You were dealt a rough hand, losing your parents so young and so unexpectedly.”
“Uncle Leland, I’ve realized that there was a lot my father never had the opportunity to tell me. Things that are important, maybe even crucial to who I am, to who we are.”
“I doubted if you were ready to hear them, if you even wanted to learn about them. You seemed to have closed yourself off from your past,” Uncle Leland said carefully.
Lidon sighed. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Palani and Enar walking up, and knowing that his men were near settled his heart. “I think I had. It all hurt, you know? Everything reminded me of Dad and Daddy, of what I lost.”
The hand on his shoulder squeezed. “I understand. But it seems you found your way back. Your blood has shown up, Lidon. You can’t deny who you are.”
Lidon frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Your foursome… You’re the alpha of our family, Lidon. You’re upholding a long and rich family tradition, one that continued unbroken for centuries…until your father.”
Lidon turned around to face him. “Uncle Leland, what are you talking about?”
His uncle’s eyes widened. “You didn’t know. He never told you that either.”
“Told me what?”
“Lidon, the alpha heirs in our family have always been in poly relationships. Always. Three, four, even five men, sharing one omega…and always a male one. Grandpa, my father, was the alpha, but he mated a beta and an omega, my other two dads.”
Palani and Enar came up beside him, steadying him with their presence. “Dad never said a word. I thought it was just Granddad and his omega,” Lidon said, shocked to his core.
“Your father was ashamed of it, I think, since by then, poly relationships had become uncommon. So he only mentioned our biological father and Daddy, but Papa was very much there as well, a beta who stabilized the three of them.”
“That’s why you weren’t shocked by our foursome,” Enar said.
“No, on the contrary, I’m elated. You’re going back to traditions, and I couldn’t be more excited. Lidon, your father was the first in his line to break that tradition when he married only your daddy, and your grandfather, my dad, was not amused. They had a huge fight over it, but in the end, your father went ahead with the marriage.”
Lidon stood, trying to process his uncle's words. “I…this is new to me. Why did my father break the tradition? Was he that in love with my daddy?”
He’d always remembered them as loving and affectionate, but had his memories been tainted? Had something else happened?
“He loved him for sure. I won’t deny that. But he was also stubborn as fuck and refused to take our dad seriously. Dad warned us we were the last of our kind, that we had to stick to our traditions to survive. We were the last shifters. He was the last shifter. All around us, families had lost that ability, but Dad still possessed the ability, though it became harder for him as well. He impressed upon us it was because of the traditions, because of the pack. But your father denied it. When he reached fourteen, the age our father shifted for the first time, and he didn't shift, he blamed it on nature, on evolution. It was bound to happen, he claimed, since no one else could shift anymore.”
“What happened on the day I was born?” Lidon asked, feeling like cold bands had wrapped around his heart.
His uncle’s eyes grew moist, and he seemed to gaze far beyond the present. “When your daddy became pregnant, Dad said it would be an alpha heir. He had no doubt. He wanted to be present at the birth, as had been custom through the ages as well. All living alphas witnessed the birth of the next heir. But your daddy never felt accepted by the family—not entirely without reason—and he didn’t want him there, and your father backed that decision. So Dad waited outside until you were born, and I joined him. I remember feeling something rippling in the air.”
He fought for composure for a second. “My skin stood on end, and I felt lightheaded. He hadn’t shifted in years by then, claiming it had become too hard for him. Rightly so, because we all saw how it drained him to shift back. But then your daddy delivered you, and your first cry sounded…and Dad
growled, like full-out alpha wolf growled. Your dad stepped outside minutes later, holding you to show you to us, and Dad took you. He blessed you with the ancient blessing, kissing you, crying with joy. He said a True Alpha had been born, the one who would protect the pack, and then he gave you to me, and he shifted.”
A look of wonder transformed his face, and even the birds around them hushed as he continued. “This beautiful gray wolf stood before me, and he took my breath away, so majestic and powerful… He roared, an alpha roar unlike I’d ever heard before, and then he howled. And, Lidon, you were minutes old, but you stopped crying in my arms and howled with him, this tiny baby howl that stabbed my heart because I knew… I knew he was saying good-bye.”
He was crying now, tears streaming down his face, Aunt Sophie comforting him while Vieno crawled into Enar’s arms. “I…I bent down, and he licked you with his big tongue, and you smiled… I swear, babies that young can’t smile, but you did. You were connected for a moment, two souls merging, and then he shifted back, and he passed out…and I knew. He transferred his powers to you, Lidon, because your father didn’t want them. That’s why you are so powerful.”
“How…how am I powerful?” Lidon asked, trying to take it all in.
“You’re so much like him, my dad. Looking at you is like looking at him from how I remember him. You have the same voice, the same commanding presence, the same sweetness toward your omega. And the power ripples around you. I feel it every time I enter the gates, every time I see you. You’re special. You’re the True Alpha.”
“The True Alpha?” Palani asked. “What does that mean?”
Uncle Leland smiled through his tears. “Rumors say you have Grayson Whitefield staying here, yes? Ask him about the legend of the True Alpha.”
13
When Palani walked into the kitchen after a long day at the paper, he expected Vieno to be there, preparing whatever meal he had planned for that night. Instead, the kitchen and living room stood empty. Where was everyone?