The alpha's house is intimidating.
It's like standing in front of a giant beast ready to devour you and you can't do anything to stop it. And that is probably a very accurate description considering what's waiting for us on the inside.
'I'm scared, mom.' I say, swallowing.
I'm not ashamed of how I rely on my mother so much. She is a fantastic person and it is not a weakness to admit to fear in my eyes anyway.
'Don't worry. I am too.' That makes me laugh a bit. She is just as petrified as I am, but she is standing up straight, exuding an unmistakable aura of dominance, even on the alpha's land.
We walk up the steps together and are immediately being ushered in by what I assume is another pack wolf. The boy leads us to a room and gestures towards double doors before vanishing.
I briefly look at mom. This is it.
She nods and when she does, I push the door open without knocking first. They would have know that we were there anyway.
The room we enter isn't necessarily big, but the space is very well used. It is also very obviously the alpha's office.
There's a large round table taking up one half of the room, which four people are already sitting at.
Two I know, it's my mate and this Raphael guy, right next to each other. Instinctively I want to jump at him again, daring him to get any closer to my mate, but I know better than to do that, especially with my mother here. She would try to protect me, even against an angry alpha wolf.
The other two people on the table I don't know, but considering the situation, it's quite obviously the alpha couple.
I feel mom's hand nudging me and I gingerly take a step closer to the table. The alpha gestures me to sit and I do, right next to his wife. Mom ends up sitting next to Raphael.
The alpha clears his throat before the situation can get any more awkward and I silently thank him for it. As much as I really do not want to have this conversation, I even less want it to be awkwardly silent. That would just put me on edge and that is currently not such a good idea.
'My name is Timothy Nye. This is my wife Amber and my daughter Sheila.' he introduces his family. He then gestures to Raphael before continuing.
'This is Raphael. He has been orphaned as a young child and grew up in our family. He is my son.' The statement alone speaks books. The guy is not just a mate of the alpha's daughter, but also considered his son as well. That just makes me want to be here even less. I feel like an outsider when I clearly shouldn't.
'As I understand it-'
'I am Christa Brigham and this is my son Donovan.' mom interrupts him. I look at her eyes wide, but only for the fraction of a second, before my eyes move to the alpha, gauging the threat. My mother isn't the only one that would protect this family if need be.
But he has a satisfied smile on his face, which confuses me. His wife doesn't necessarily seem to agree though.
I frown and look back at mom, who still exudes that unbelievable confidence, even though she's gripping my hand below the table painfully.
'What I was trying to say,' Timothy continues still with a smile on his face, 'is that from what I hear, my daughter here has managed to get two mates instead of one.'
Immediately, the tension on the table rises. Timothy hasn't changed a bit, still smiling with seemingly no worries, but the rest of us are obviously on edge.
'Has anyone any ideas as to what could have happened? Frankly, I don't.' It's rare for an alpha to admit to not knowing or being able to do things. This one has already earned my respect for that alone, but at the moment, that is far from important.
I'm holding eye contact with Raphael, out of no other reason than to keep an eye on what he's doing and he probably thinks the same.
'Calm it, boys. We're not starting anything here.' I can see Raphael visibly relaxing at Timothy's words, which automatically makes me relax as well. If the threat doesn't seem threatening, then I don't need to be. It's quite a surprise though, to see Raphael give in to the alpha so easily. I had him pecked as a rebellious and stubborn blockhead.
'I have a proposal.' The alpha's mate suddenly speaks up. All heads turn to her.
She doesn't say anything at first, only stares at the table in silence. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and she rigidly sits in her chair as well. It's very obvious how uncomfortable she feels.
'Sheila should be with Raphael. She's already chosen him anyway. This boy is a newcomer, we don't even know if we can trust him. For Sheila's safety and the pack safety, I say we exile them. It's not like they can't just move somewhere else.'
The room is silent.
Everyone just stares at the woman that basically told us to disappear forever. When I finally halfway get my bearings together, I take a quick look around the room to judge reactions. My mate looks guilty and doesn't even look at her mother. I'm guessing she was expecting this.
The alpha only sighs and shakes his head, probably for the same reason. What really shocks me is the disbelieving look on Raphael's face. I would have expected him to be happy about getting rid of me. Then again, maybe his pride doesn't let him take the cowardly way out.
I don't care either way. I'm relieved.
It's a good thing that apparently no one really agrees with what this Amber woman has to say. It at least gives us a chance.
'This is my son we are talking about.' mom suddenly says.
Her tone is very calm and I know immediately that she is serious. She took this to heart when she shouldn't have. Because in reality, all Amber is doing is protecting her pup the best way she knows how.
'You know very well what it does to a wolf to not have their mate close by.'
'He won't die.' Amber answered.
The rattle of the chair falling over when mom stands up all of a sudden sounds thunderous in the silence of the room.
'It'll be worse than dying!' Her voice is venomous now, her eyes blazing. This is not the right conversation to have with her. Amber took the wrong turn in this discussion.
'Mom.' I try to calm her down, but she doesn't even hear me.
'He will suffer every second of every day! And just so you know, just because your daughter has another mate, does not mean she won't be feeling it too. They will suffer, both of them. And I won't let any child suffer if I can prevent it!' She is seething now, but I manage to make her sit down and put an arm around there shoulders, lightly massaging her neck with my thumb.
'I'm alright. Mom, I'm alright.' I whisper to her. I know everyone can hear me anyway, but that isn't the point. I can feel her slowly calming down with her eyes closed and everybody else silent. They know when to leave a wolf alone, especially when it comes to their pups.
'Amber, that was uncalled for.' Timothy finally says. It's not harsh, but it's a warning.
'Raph?' a timid voice suddenly calls from where the door is.
I immediately turn around, only to come face to face with a little boy, probably not much older than five. I don't have time to contemplate much more though, because not even a second after the little boy called him, Raphael is flying out of his seat and hugging the boy to his chest, shielding him from our eyes.
'What are you doing here, Sam?' He whispers, much like I did with mom.
'I heard screaming and came to protect you.' The little boy called Sam says in a small voice. I don't believe he could protect anything if he tried, but it's heart warming nonetheless.
From looking at Raphael's back, I can tell how much tighter he's hugging Sam now.
'I'm fine, don't you worry.' Raphael reassures the boy, before looking at him an arm's length away, 'How about you go back to your room and I'll come by as soon as I'm finished here and we can play yeah?'
He sounds so different when talking to Sam. And I don't mean that he's changing his voice, it's just the raw feelings that are so obvious from just looking at, let alone listening to him.
Once the boy leaves the room, Raphael returns to his seat and apologises to Timothy.
'Don't worry about it Raphael.' the alpha says decidedly. The little boy is probably another part of their overly wide family.
'Let's get back on topic then. I take it that no one has any idea what is happening or what we can do about it?' he continues, having completely shut his mate down.
When no one says anything, he speaks again.
'This is my proposition: We will do our best to figure out what is happening and what can be done, should there be something wrong. But because, as Christa has rightly pointed out, we cannot risk our children's safety during this time, the three of you will remain in constant contact to make sure all of you are in the best possible condition. Are we agreed?'
Silence is over the room again.
No one really knows what to say to that, me included. Of course I don't want to share my mate, but then neither does Raphael and that's the problem. I think all three of us were hoping for an easy solution today, but we didn't get that. Instead, we are now stuck together.
'Nonsense! How will this work?! Are you suggesting they walk around together all day?' Amber is speaking up again, clearly the least happy about the alpha's idea.
Surprisingly, it's Sheila who interrupts her.
'Mom, I don't want to rush this. I feel for both of them and I don't want to hurt either. Please understand.' Her eyes are pleading and I can tell that Amber has a hard time sticking to her resolve until finally, she gives up with a defeated sigh.
I cautiously look at my mate, but she is paying no attention to either me or Raphael. She just leaves the room after excusing herself to her father.
Then I look at Raphael, he's looking at me too. And for the first time we share eye contact that isn't infused with negative energy. He seems curious and, in all honestly, so am I.