Chapter 7 Family

• Alayah’s p.o.v.
• The moment his arms wrapped around me Topaz started purring in my head, she liked being close to Nero and as I sat in my office a few hours later I had to remind her of the fact that he is our Stepbrother. I nearly lost my shit when she told me she felt a connection to Nero and I have made sure I kept some distance to him during the weekend, but it was difficult during our family dinner. Grandma had insisted that Nero came as well, after all he is family she mentioned.
• I know from Grandma’s lessons that a connection is difficult to fight, especially if both Wolves or Lycans feel the connection and I am hoping this is just one sided. I hope Topaz will no longer feel it when Nero returns Wednesday, I want to be able to build a relationship with my Stepbrothers and I am not sure how Mom and Xavier will react if a Mate-bond between me and Nero would form.
• The furniture for my office finally arrived early this morning and it will take me a few hours to get everything in place, I chose for light colors on the walls and floor. My desk is a ebony color with a four drawer chest on the right side and one under the left side of my corner desk, it gives me lots of space to place the files I need to work on. Behind my desk there is a bookshelf dividing my office in to two sections and creating a separated sitting area.
• Against the back wall I have a screen mounted on the wall to show presentations of Pack finances, I decided to go with armchairs throughout the sitting area and a coffee table in the middle. I also got a few side tables to place in between the armchairs and each armchair has a charging station on the side, I can’t wait to see the finished results. By the time Crystal links me for lunch I am finished with the sitting area and I just put up the bookshelf, I will finish the rest after lunch.
• I hope I will have everything set up by dinner time, the one good thing from this day is that I haven’t been thinking about Nero and I hope I can keep him from my mind. During lunch Marc tells me that Nero asked to bring his Brothers with him, they wanted to meet me and see where Nero was going to live. Crystal tells us that they all look alike, each of them having the same blond hair their Father has and their Mother’s ice blue eyes.
• “It is that I know but otherwise I would say they are quadruplets, most outside our Pack that meet them jump to that conclusion and it is hilarious to see their faces when they find out there is an age difference of two years between each of them.” Crystal says and Anton asks her how she can keep them apart, “I can’t, it’s that I knew Nero was coming or I wouldn’t have been able to tell you who he was. I hope Marc is able to tell them apart, after all they are all Gammas.” She says teasingly.
• I am placing books into the bookshelf on the side of the sitting area while I am mind-linking Grandma, “Crystal said she couldn’t keep them apart, than how am I supposed to tell the difference between my Brothers?” I ask Grandma and she tells me that only their Mate or Mates and their parents are able to tell them apart. “Why did you say their Mate or Mates? They aren’t a quadruplet.” I ask Grandma and she tells me that if they are that much alike there is a huge change that they will share a Mate.
• Okay, now I am definitely screwed. If Topaz already feels a connection to Nero and there is a huge change of them sharing a Mate, will that mean Topaz will feel the connection to all of them. “Make sure you bring those boys over, I want to meet all my Grandsons.” Grandma says and I know she already considers them as her Grandsons, another reason for me to stay as far away from Nero as I can.
• I am not sure what history tells us about Stepsiblings and a Mate-bond, but I am going to shield myself from heartbreak. I was hurt by my Mother in the past and I don’t want to find out how she will react to a Mate-bond between me and Nero or with all four of them. Grandma will take my side I have no doubt about that, but I don’t want to be responsible for another break between Mother and Daughter.
• Mom calls me just before dinner and I take a seat in the chair behind my desk to talk to her, “Nero will be there Wednesday morning, he can help you set up your office.” Mom says and I tell her not to worry, that everything is already in place. I describe to her what my office looks like and she tells me to send her pictures when I am finished decorating. “I will, Mom. Talk to you soon.” I say before I break the connection.
• I am glad I don’t need Nero’s help to set up my office and I hope I will have enough work to do to keep my interaction with him to a minimum, Topaz doesn’t bug me with his image until I am in bed. She understands why I want to keep my distance, but she also wants to have her Mate by her side and if it wasn’t Nero I wouldn’t be this reluctant.
• After dinner I spend a few more hours in my office, scanning in a few more files and looking around to see about decorations for my office. I order a few small table lamps for the side tables and decorative cushions for the armchairs and a few other items to place around my office. It is close to midnight when I turn in for the night and in my dream I get confronted with Nero’s ice blue eyes.
• Nero’s p.o.v.
• I watch Alayah in my rearview mirror until I can no longer see her and Miku retreats to the back of my head to sulk, he doesn’t like that we had to leave her behind. I am glad Dad agreed with me it would be best if I stayed with Marc, I need to form a bond with Marc and Anton as their Pack’s Gamma and it will give me the chance to figure out if the connection between me and Alaynah is real. If it is real and it turns into a Mate-bond, what will I do then?
• Miku tells me that if the connection turns into a Mate-bond he won’t give her up, no matter what anyone says. He even goes as far as saying he will chose his Mate over his family and I know that Wolves and Lycans throughout history have made that decision more than once, in most cases a Mate will outrank a family member. Unless that family member is a Pup, than they will always chose the Pup.
• Dad and Mara have already turned in for the night when I get home, but my Brothers are waiting for me. I asked them to wait up for me, that I needed to talk to them and that it couldn’t wait until morning. We agreed to meet in my own office to make sure no one can hear what I have to tell them and Nathan had already guessed it had something to do with my Mate, but I didn’t tell him whether he was right or wrong and each of my Brothers have been asking me to answer Nathan’s question.
• “Okay, Nero. What the fuck is going on?” Nathan asks and I tell him I might have found my Mate, resulting in him sticking out his tongue towards Noah. Nikolay asks me what the problem is and for a moment I don’t know how to answer his question, “Just tell him, there is no reason to beat around the bush.” Miku says and I decide to follow his lead, “Miku told me he felt a connection and normally I would have jumped right in, but not in this case.” I say as I lean my head back.
• “Miku felt the connection with Alayah.” I say as I keep my eyes on the ceiling, I am afraid of what I will see when I look at my Brothers and I just wait until one of them responds. “You mean Alayah as in Alayah our Stepsister?” Nathan asks and I confirm that he is right. “Mara told us she has a degree in Psychology, but I doubt she knows everything about her Daughter. Alayah accepted the position as Crystal’s Beta, even though she has the right to take away Anton’s position and she is going to take care of the finances for the Pack.” I say, still looking at the ceiling.
• “She is smart, funny and kind, but she isn’t afraid to talk back either and she doesn’t care about someone’s rank either when she does. The only one she respects enough to be a bit more considerate with is Grandma and I am warning each of you, don’t try to call her something other than Grandma. She will rip you a second asshole if you do and I will enjoy watching that.” I say as I finally look at my Brothers.
• “Hold on, back up a little. Miku felt a connection with Alayah.” Nikolay says. “Miku and I didn’t know who she was when he felt the connection and after she introduced herself I kept asking Miku if he was sure. He has been sulking in the back of my mind ever since we left Crimson Moon Pack, I want to get back in my car and drive back there right now.” I confess as I accept the tumbler from Noah, I need something strong right now.
• “We should find out if the connection is just with you or that there is a connection with all of us.” Noah says, the first words out if his mouth since I walked in and he is already way ahead of me. “If there is a connection we will figure out what to do after that, it might have been Miku recognizing her as Mara’s Daughter. Let’s get all the facts before we try to figure out what to do, I am trying to say it might be less complicated than you think right now.”
• I ask him how he plans on finding out if there is a connection between the five of us and if it has to do with Mara or not. “If there is a connection between all of us there is a way to find out if it is a Mate-bond or not, if Alayah can tell us apart it is a Mate-bond and if she can’t tell us apart it most likely has to do with Mara being her Mother.” Noah explains and Nikolay says he wishes her luck with telling the four of us apart.
• Dad and Grandpa are the only ones that can tell us apart and if we share a Mate she will be able to tell us apart as well, how that actually works I don’t know. We decide to talk to Dad in the morning, we will tell him that Noah, Nathan and Nikolay want to meet their baby Sister after hearing about her from me and I know he will gladly cover for them for a few days. I ask Noah if he knows what a Delta is and he explains that a Delta has more responsibilities than a Head Warrior, similar to what he and Nathan do for Autumn Pack.
• “I don’t believe there are Packs left that have Deltas, in most Packs those extra responsibilities were divided between the Gamma and Head Warrior. In large Packs it might be good to have a Delta or two, it will lighten the workload of a Gamma and Deltas can take over quite a few responsibilities from a Gamma. Why do you ask?” Noah says.
• “Marc will have a Delta, his name is Erick and he will take over from his Father. Their other Delta has no Mate and no Pups, so I will have to see if Erick and I can take care of all the responsibilities after the merge. Maybe I should ask Marc if anyone in his Pack can take over from Delta Chris, it would mean a lighter workload for me.” I say and Nikolay points out I already have a lighter workload with Alayah taking care of the paperwork.
• In the morning we talk to Dad and Mara about the four of us going to Crimson Moon Pack and Mara smiles when she hears Noah say that they want to meet Alayah, “I don’t think it is fair that Nero gets the change to turn her against us and he will do just that if he gets to spend to much time with her.” Noah says teasingly and Mara tells him that Alayah won’t fall for that, that Alayah will always make up her own mind.
• As we pack up my belongings we make a plan to see if Alayah can tell us apart and it will immediately tell us if there is a connection between all five of us. We put everything in my car and Noah’s SUV before we turn in for the night and like every other night since meeting her I dream of her emerald, green eyes. Dad and Mara see us off in the morning and the closer we get to Crimson Moon Pack the more at ease Miku becomes.
• Even Nikolay can tell that I am starting to feel better and he asks me to tell me a little bit more about Alayah and her family. The rest of the trip I talk about Alayah, Grandma and Uncle Rex, Mara’s family in Crimson Moon Pack.