The Alpha Trio’s Human Mate

Chapter Seven

"This is a weird question...but can werewolves scent humans the way you do each other? Jackson never mentioned anything, but..." I trailed off, looking at Sira with discomfort.

"If you're asking whether my cousin can smell when you're hot and bothered for him," she made a gagging noise, and I blushed.

"The answer is maybe? Female wolves give off phermones when they're aroused. Human females don't usually, but then again, whatever is going on with the four of you isn't normal."

"You can say that again," I muttered, raising my eyebrows, and returning to my task. I pushed the needle through the felt fabric one more time, and tied off the thread.

"How's this look?" I held up the pathetic excuse for a Santa hat.

"I don't know. Werewolves have never observed such traditions. Only the other humans will judge you," Sira smiled at me. I pulled the hat down over my head, and looked at it in the mirror. It was crooked, and my stitching was uneven, but I didn't care. Christmas was one of the memories I had with my parents, and my dad used to wear a Santa hat. The holiday was a big deal for humans back before the collapse, and I still tried to observe some of the nonsensical traditions just to feel close to my parents again.

"Your escorts await you," Sira said, bored, when a knock sounded on my door. I shook my head.

"I'll see you at the service, unless you want to come with us wherever we're going?" I asked hopefully.

"No way, sister. I can smell how those male wolves feel about you, and it makes me want to vomit. That's all you," Sira chuckled to herself, flipping the page in her book. I opened the door, holding my breath and plastering on a smile.

"I don't know what's on your head, but I like it," Zeph said, reaching out and tweaking the white ball on the tip of my hat. I swatted his hand away, and looked up at the three men before me--all dressed in collared shirts and slacks.

My eye twitched a bit, and my gaze dropped to their muscled chests, flexing against the stiff fabric. Kai wore a tie that matched his eyes, but Zeph and Lynx left the top button undone on their shirts, showing a bit of chest hair. I slammed the door shut behind me, and gulped. I forced myself to meet their eyes, which might have been worse than staring at their chests. I couldn't think when they stared at me like that.

"It's a Santa hat. It's part of Christmas traditions that I used to do with my human parents."

"What other kind of traditions do you have?" Lynx smirked at me, and whatever mischevious look was on each of their faces, I wanted both nothing, and everything, to do with it.

"Nothing that would interest you." I ran my tongue over my teeth nervously. "Now, what did you want to show me? Why are we leaving so early before the ceremony?"

"Do you have a coat?" Zeph said, and I noticed that they each were carrying a coat folded over their arms. What were they up to? I peered at them, but I ran back into my room and snatched a coat, tugging it on over my red sweater.

"Okay, now what?" I asked. Zeph held his hand out to me, and I paused for far too long, thinking it over. Whatever. It's just hand-holding, I convinced myself. I grabbed his outstretched hand, and the smile that graced his face made me blush. Kai took my other hand, and they led me to wherever we were going. I felt like a child holding their parents' hands, and I tried to ignore the looks that were directed our way as we walked through the dorm building. Just little old me, and three huge Alphas.

...

"Ice-skating?" I looked down in disbelief as Lynx laced up a pair of skates around my ankles, just a bit too tight. They had taken me to a frozen pond in the center of the campus. It was quiet, snow was falling, and only one street lamp lit up the area. If I were by myself, it would have felt eerie, but with them, I'd never felt safer.

"Where did you find skates? And sharpen them?" I asked Lynx as he pulled me to my feet, and guided me toward the edge of the pond, where Kai and Zeph were already skating.

"The university used to have a hockey team. There's an ice rink. We don't keep it frozen, of course, as we can't spare the electricity, but all the equipment is still there." He smiled at me, letting go of my hands.

"Aren't you going to skate?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm a bad swimmer," he said nervously, and his lips curved into a smile. "Even though the water's frozen, I can't do it," he shook his head. I looked at him with curiosity--the big, bad Alpha, afraid of getting wet? Maybe, just maybe, I'd ask him more about that later. None of these men had shown me that they were bad, and I was sure that they each had their own set of fears, insecurities, and histories, just like everyone else. I just wasn't sure if I cared to get to know them that well. It was easier to ignore them, pretend that their feelings were simply a mistake, and that they would go away eventually if I didn't let myself get attached. If I didn't let myself be invested in getting to know them.

But they were making that hard. Kai skated to the edge of the pond, holding out his hand to me and guiding me onto the ice.

"Do you know how to skate?" He smirked at me in amusement, glancing at my wobbling knees, and feeling me grip his hands as if he were a support rail.

"In theory," I gave him a dirty look. "We didn't exactly have skates back in Ironpelt territory. Or time to skate. We were always working."

"Hey! We did work at Everridge, too. We just knew how to work hard and play hard," Kai winked at me, and my cheeks flushed in response. "Now bend your knees, and push forward and slightly out to the side. Yeah, just like that."

"That's not too bad. You're a natural," Zeph skated up to me, coming to a scraping stop and dusting me with ice shavings.

"Yeah, I'll be doing figure eights in no time," I joked.

"Perhaps not, but you do have to get good enough that you can play hockey with us," Zeph grinned, his hazel eyes lighting up in the dim glow of the streetlamp.

"Hockey?" I raised a brow at him and let go of Kai's hand, wobbling, but keeping up with them as we skated the perimeter.

"Like Kai said. Work hard, play hard. It's important to still have fun, even in the world we live in. That's why we've got this whole week of Solstice celebration. That's why we have the ceremony tonight." I scoffed, shaking my head. The tip of my nose was cold, and I wiped away the snot running down my face with the sleeve of my coat.

"That is not why we have the ceremony tonight, and you know it," I eyed him. "There's little point in me going, anyway. It's not like we're participating." I gave both of them the dirtiest look I could muster, and threw one to Lynx across the pond too, just for good measure.

"I really think you should reconsider. It could be very fun," Kai leaned in close to my ear beside me on my other side, and his warm breath tickled my frozen earlobe.

"It's a fertility ritual. This body?" I gestured to myself. "Fertile or not, is not growing anything inside it, any time soon. Besides. Commander Jacobs said no mating when I'm a human. And the jury's still out on if I'll want to once I'm not human anymore." I shook my head, cheeks flushed from both the cold, and the mental images of me mating with all three of these men.

"She said we can't mark you. She didn't say anything else about the rest of it," Zeph leaned in on my other side, and his voice in my other ear sent a chill through my body.

"I'm cold. We should be going anyways," I grumbled. "It's starting soon." I skated away on wobbly knees, and tried to ignore the heated looks that were cutting through the chilled air, and the sudden warmth within me in response.