Gypsy Moon

Chapter Fifty-two: Aiden

. . . . . . (late October)

We found an excellent nightclub and we set Bryce loose on the dance floor. The manager fawned over Sinah's little rounded belly and sat us in the VIP section so Sinah wouldn't get bumped. I didn't fail to note that we were also very visible to the rest of the patrons and grinned. Bryce was bringing a crowd of drooling admirers.

Dei was astonished to learn Mir's heat overpowered his aura. He decided to follow me, and the enthusiasm he was greeted with from the pack delighted him. Sinah finally got to meet him, and he happily agreed to join us for Operation: Get Bryce Laid. He was currently on the dance floor shamelessly enjoying the attentions of a pair of human girls. Lilian and Kyle were also on the dance floor, but only had eyes for each other.

Gyam was attracting his own crowd, he was leaning sulkily against the balcony rail, his legs stretched out and his unruly curls falling in his face slightly. His whole body was screaming 'bad boy', and he was gaining fangirls faster than he knew what to do with them.

I winked at Sinah and leaned on the rail next to him, giving the current woman pawing at him a panty-wetting smile.

"Hey, babe, would you tell the manager to bring another bottle of champagne to my table while I borrow my brother?" She hurried away and Gyam snorted.

"That one was older than Kyle." I laughed.

"That's not old, just creepy, since you're sixteen." He frowned at me.

"Is this normal, or just Bryce?" I grinned at him.

"A little of both." I lowered my voice until only he could hear me. "Part of this is the normal werewolf gene, but Bryce is making it superpowered." He shook his head.

"Cats are f*****g weird."

"Tell me about it." We laughed for a moment before his face returned to its previous frown. "What's wrong?"

"I offered to, you know, help Bryce out." His cheeks tinted slightly. "He refused me; said he didn't want to use me like that."

"I agree with Bryce." I put my arm around his shoulder. "I sincerely thank you for even offering, but you don't need to do that." He shook his head.

"It's not like it would have been my first time," he muttered angrily, and I squeezed him close to my side.

"Bryce would rather suffer than take advantage of you, even if you gave him that option." I glanced over the dance floor until I spotted Bryce. "Besides, he's unlikely to not find a partner tonight, this is how he and I handled a few of Mir's heats before, more or less." He looked at me curiously and I laughed self-consciously. Sinah grinned up at us.

"That's right! Gyam hasn't ever heard Bryce tell the story!" She giggled helplessly and I smiled.

"I used to be an exotic dancer, before I found Sinah. Bryce was my dance partner, that's how we met. I left to search for my mate, and he happened to work for the troupe I joined." Gyam blinked at me slowly.

"You left to search for your mate, by becoming a male entertainer?" He began to laugh. "That's-" He dissolved into hysterical giggling, tears streaking down his face. I grinned wryly. I'm sure that was not the backstory he expected from his Alpha. I decided to push him over the limit.

"You think it's silly now, how do you think I'm going to explain to my kids that the reason I'm rich is because I have mad skills on a pole?" Sinah spat out her drink in surprise and the three of us laughed until our sides hurt. Kyle and Lilian slid into their seats near us and Sinah explained our mirth.

"No, we're rich because you were born with a silver spoon up your ass, and your parents refuse to stop footing our bills." Lilian grinned. "The craziest thing is that we should have planned for this, but this is his first heat since we became a pack. During his last heat, we hadn't met yet." Gyam blinked.

"What?"

"That's right, we met on my birthday, but that was only four months ago." Sinah nodded and looked down at her stomach and legs. "I was in a wheelchair, for three years, living with Lilian in town because I had lost my wolf and she was my only human friend." Lilian giggled.

"Hey, I had to pretend that I didn't know the truth about you, and I was dating my boss at work." Kyle laughed and kissed her.

"I was running a diner, and trying to get into the hot waitress's pants." She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. Gyam was quiet and I tilted my head at him.

/:Penny for your thoughts?:/ He blinked and looked at the floor.

/:I didn't exist four months ago.:/ He shook his head slightly before I could respond. /:I don't hear much from Michael, I'm just Gyam. No one notices because of my branded eye. Michael actually has light blue eyes.:/ It was my turn to blink in surprise. I had forgotten his human eye color as well, since he had spent so long as a wolf, I had gotten used to the midnight blue of his wolf's good eye.

/:Wait...:/ A grin crossed my face as something occurred to me. /:So when you offered Bryce-:/ His cheeks tinted slightly again.

/:We only saw our mate once. She must have been older than us, must have shown an interest in Michael after her wolf woke.:/ He glared at nothing in particular. /:Sir starved her to make sure she couldn't fight back. The day I woke, Sir...:/ He shook his head and sighed.

/:Well, you found us later that night. Michael says he's happy being the secondary consciousness, so I've been in control since we met our brothers.:/ He grinned down at Bryce, who was making out with a very large gentleman in a shadowy corner. /:I like the Tia girl, she smells nice, the way you and Sinah smell.:/ He blushed furiously suddenly, and I was touched. He'd just accidentally admitted that the scent I shared with my mate was his calming scent. I chuckled softly.

/:No wonder you are so protective of Sinah. She smells the way your mate will when she's pregnant.:/ His blush faded suddenly as all the blood in him rushed elsewhere abruptly and I laughed silently. His blush returned with a vengeance, and I tousled his hair.

/:We assumed you would appreciate an actual separate room eventually, that's why the alpha wing has five bedrooms.:/ His frown made me chuckle. /:You don't have to move out of our room until you want to, but the girl might like the privacy.:/ His blush was blazing, and I saw Sinah turn to look at us curiously. I shook my head slightly and gave her the most innocent face I could. She raised an eyebrow at me skeptically but rolled her eyes and turned back to her conversation with Lilian and Kyle.

Gyam glared at me, his cheeks still dark. I just chuckled and looked over the dance floor and grinned.

/:I'm sorry I embarrassed you. I know what it's like to be your age.:/ I smiled wryly at him. /:Different backgrounds, same hormones.:/ His glare shifted to a deadpan.

/:I will throw you off this balcony if you try to give me some skewed version of 'the talk', I swear to the Goddess.:/ I grinned slyly and leaned toward him.

/:Actually I was going to suggest you find a cute human and get a room with her.:/ He choked and tried to cover it with a cough. Sinah returned her suspicious gaze to me, and I gave her an angelic smile. She leveled a look at me like she was waiting for my pants to catch fire. Gyam punched me in the shoulder, and I laughed. Sinah narrowed her eyes at us.

/:Dumbass.:/

/:I'm serious. You're sixteen, go be a teenager. I can guarantee I won't be more than a foot from Sinah all night. Bryce's heat is driving me crazy, and I'm a fully marked and mated adult. You gotta be going nuts.:/ His cheeks darkened again as he caught a girl on the floor staring at him.

/:I'm not going to f**k some random human.:/ I nodded.

/:Then for the love of the Goddess, will you please go down there and at least dance with those girls before they get the torches and pitchforks?:/ He snorted and shook his head, but he did turn towards the stairs. I watched as he found the girl and asked her to teach him to dance, to her clear pleasure. I slid into my seat next to Sinah and kissed her along the length of her shoulder, making her moan softly.

"You are a bad influence, Alpha." I grinned, my lips pressed against her mark.

"I choose to see this as him trusting me for your safety. That makes me a good influence." She giggled and stood up so she could sit in my lap instead.

"Of course, you would see it that way." I smiled and rubbed my hands over her belly.

"Eh, the kid needs to have some fun. If I have to exploit his teenage hormones and Bryce's heat to get him to go enjoy himself, so be it." I focused on the heartbeat of my cub, trying to feel it move within my mate. "Shouldn't I be able to feel him move around by now?" Sinah giggled and moved my hand slightly.

"She's bigger than you think now, her feet are over here." The softest thump moved under my hand, and I grinned like a fool. Lilian laughed at me and squeezed Kyle's hand.

"I thought we agreed on no gender pronouns until Tuesday, when we go to the sonogram."

"Yeah, but he started it." Kyle chuckled. Dei walked up and flopped bonelessly into a chair.

"I'm so tired. How am I so tired? I walk to Vermont regularly." He panted and Kyle handed him a glass of champagne that he tossed back like it was water. Lilian giggled.

"Yes, but that redhead you just escaped from looked like she might have been a bit more energetic than a cross-country hike." He grinned at her shamelessly.

"My mother would be furious." He refilled his glass and sipped it more slowly. "I should feel guilty, but I don't. My aura pisses me off sometimes. I know it serves its purpose, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a total cockblock." He finished his drink and set the glass down. "I had a great time, thank you. I'm going to take off, I can't see Bryce anywhere, and I want to get out of the club before his pheromones dissipate and people start noticing my aura." He smiled and waved as he left.

I quietly watched over the dance floor as Sinah, Kyle, and Lilian went back to chatting. Gyam was in the middle of the dance floor, bouncing along to the music with half a dozen kids pretty close to his age. He caught me watching him and flipped me off while laughing. He came back to us after another half hour or so and sat next to us, smiling impishly.

"Happy? I had 'fun'." I laughed at his sarcastic air quotes and waved the manager over.

"Actually yes. I think we've succeeded in Operation: Get Bryce Laid. What do you say we get the hell out of this place and go home where it's quiet?"

. . . . . .