“Fine.”
“Amir will see you out,” I said.
They both left, and I sat there, taking some deep breaths. I needed to calm down before I went home.
Without thinking, I got up, went to my car, and drove a bit further down the mountain until I reached my parent’s house. Once my father stepped down from being the alpha, they moved closer to human territory, hoping to live out the rest of their lives in a bit more peace.
My tires crackled on the gravel as I rode down their driveway to their small cabin. A plume of smoke floated up from the chimney, telling me they were home.
Though this was smaller than the house we grew up in, it had many of the same touches. Wind chimes hung on the porch, and the rocks pressed with mine and each of my siblings' paw prints from the first time we shifted littered the garden.
I knocked on the door, and it opened quickly. My mother stood there, her gray hair tucked back into a bun and her apron covered in flour.
“This is a nice surprise. How are you?”
“I’m alright. Just wanted to visit.”
She looked behind me. “Where are the boys?”
It was funny she still called them boys. “They’re at home. Is Dad around?”
"He should be out back, chopping some more wood. It’s getting chillier every night.”
“Thanks.” I gave her a hug and a kiss on the side of her head before heading out back.
My old man was there, swinging an axe against a log. His hair was mostly gray, his back permanently bent. It was a good look into my future, and thinking about the happiness he and my mom shared even now made me happy.
“Hey, son,” he called when he saw me. “I didn’t know you were stopping by.”
“I didn’t either,” I told him.
He stepped away from the axe and wiped his brow with his towel. “You need something.”
He didn’t say it as a question. He always knew. I let out a deep sigh. “When you met Mom, did you ever feel…out of control? Like your wolf didn’t want to be contained?”
He laughed. “Almost every day for a year.”
My eyes widened. My father was one of the most put-together men I’d ever met, and I couldn’t imagine him losing control like that.
“Really?”
“Of course. It’s only natural to feel overprotective of your mate. And when you’re juggling that knowing everything happening within the pack, it can make you jumpy.”
I nodded. “How did you make it stop?”
“It just takes time to re-regulate. What’s going on?”
I told him everything: the app, finding Harper and Aria, what happened at the clinic and the house, how I lost control, aboutthe Mislulu pack. He listened intently, his face never changing expression.
When I was done he said, “I suggest you deal with Mislulu quickly. They took a turn for the worse a long time ago and shouldn’t be trusted. Other than that, it seems you’re in a world of trouble. You have three mates, one with a child already. And a human, no less. You’re gonna need much more willpower than I ever had.”
Thatwas his grand advice? It wasn’t very helpful, but at least I didn’t feel so alone in the situation anymore.
“Three matesand a baby?” I heard someone screech from the back door. I turned to see my mother stomping my way.
She reached up and grabbed me by my ear. “You have another mate and a child?” she repeated.
“Ow!” I squealed. Even though I was a grown alpha, she managed to grab my ear perfectly to inflict maximum pain. “Stop!”
