Origins Unknown

Being Intimate with Her Mates pt.1

POV – Donatello

‘She’s asleep. I’m going to lay her down.’ I linked my brothers and cousin Sophia, who was filled with worry for our mate – her friend. The weight of her in my arms felt right, like she belonged there, but I knew we had to take this slowly. Her steady breathing and peaceful expression tugged at something deep within me, making my wolf restless with the need to protect.

‘Are you calling our mate fat?’ Kyro asked being the smartass he can be sometimes. I could feel his jealousy through our link, sharp and bitter like winter wind.

‘Never. Dear brother. But I think it’s more appropriate for her to wake up in her own bed. Not in our arms. She needs to feel that we aren’t going to harm her. That we deeply and truly care for her without expectations.’ He just looked at me, jealous that I’d held her at all. While they hadn’t even gotten a hug. Which I knew was the problem. The tension between us was palpable, our wolves pushing against each other’s dominance, but we all knew this wasn’t about us – it was about her feeling safe.

‘We are sleeping here tonight.’ Theo stated as if that wasn’t already known. His voice carried that alpha tone that brooked no argument, though none of us would have dreamed of leaving anyway, nor did actually have an effect on either of us.

‘Without a doubt.’ we all said in unison. As I laid her down, Sophia sat next to her until we were ready to lay down. Thankfully being our mate’s roommate, she knew everything that needed to be postponed for our mate until she was ready. The way Sophia hovered spoke volumes about what our mate had been through, and my heart ached knowing she’d needed such protection even before meeting us.

The room felt charged with our collective anxiety and protectiveness as we organized the evening. After we got some of the kitchen omegas and warriors here, we ate and then laid down. The food was barely registered, our minds too preoccupied with thoughts of her, with plans and worries about how to help her heal. We didn’t bother change into or out of anything after hearing about what had happened to her, which angered our wolves as they were chomping at the bit to get at the assholes who did that. That harmed our mate.

The rage building inside me was matched by my brothers’ – I could feel it through our bond, the way their wolves paced and snarled, demanding retribution. And to know that she was scared. We hated to know that she didn’t want to know us because of what happened. That she was not connected to her wolf until a little over twenty hours ago. The thought of her being cut off from such an essential part of herself made my chest tight with grief.

We wanted to know what happened; we wanted to know everything. Each detail felt crucial, like pieces of a puzzle we needed to solve to help her heal. We want to know everything, we want to make her the happiest, most loved beautiful woman alive. The depth of our commitment to her well-being surprised even me – we’d only just met her, yet already she occupied every corner of our thoughts, every plan for the future.

We talked about things we could do together to get her to loosen up with us. Renzo suggested simple activities – walks in the territory, shared meals where she could set the pace of conversation. Kyro, despite his earlier sass, proposed we each share something personal with her each day; to show her we trust her as much as we were asking her to trust us. Theo, ever practical, wanted to ensure she had space to retreat when needed, while still knowing we were there for her; like a room just for her when she needed for whatever she needed.

It wasn’t going to be easy, and we were going to need to put in some work. Hours passed as we planned, our voices low in the darkness, until exhaustion finally claimed us. We eventually fell asleep, our bodies arranged protectively around her without crowding her space, each of us attuned to her smallest movement even in sleep.

The night passed peacefully, our first night with our mate, even if she wasn’t ready to acknowledge that yet. When we woke up she was just lying there looking back and forth between us it was adorable. The morning light caught in her hair, making it glow like honey, and the way she studied us made my wolf preen despite my attempts to stay still and let her explore at her own pace. She was smiling as she looked down at each of our tattoos, her eyes tracing the lines with obvious curiosity. We are identical Quadruplets, however in this one aspect we chose to be completely different. The tattoos were our way of asserting our individuality when nature had made us carbon copies of each other. I have a full Moon with an owl and a wolf inside it, representing my tendency to be the night watchman of our group, always alert, always protecting. Renzo has a crescent Moon with a wolf perched on its bottom tip, elegant and mysterious like his personality. Kyro went simple doing just a crescent Moon, though the minimalist design suited his straightforward nature. And lastly Theo has the three main phases of the Moon on his left just above his n****e, fitting for the one who always sees the bigger picture, the full cycle of things.

“You like what you see little mate?” The words slipped out before I could stop them, gentle and teasing, but I immediately worried it might be too forward. Yet seeing her there, comfortable enough to study us, to smile at our differences – it gave me hope. Hope that maybe, with time and patience, she would come to see us as her safe harbor rather than a threat. Hope that the scars of her past could heal under the light of our love, just as the moon above guided lost wolves home.