Fighting for her Mate

3

Caleb looked up, a questioning expression on his face. “Who else would do your family harm?”

“First of all,” Jake started, “the pack from Las Vegas. We haven’t heard a thing from them, but that won’t last. There’s got to be some retribution for killing their alpha, even though he did attack my mate.” Jake’s lips lifted in a slow grin. “I’m not saying Nic killing him wasn’t bad, but damn, for her to take out an Alpha after being just turned…let’s just say I’m proud of my mate, big time.”

Nate chuckled and picked up his own beer. “Don’t forget about the Central pack. We took down Lewis Cane and his men when Karla’s sister was working with them.”

Aric nodded, a serious frown taking over his face. “That’s also the pack with the white wolves who attacked Jordan at the ceremony site. But that’s been months ago. They wouldn’t wait this long if they had issues. They knew Lewis was guilty. Still, we need to be sure.”

Tristan looked at Nate. “Speaking of Karla, how are my grandbabies doing?”

Nate’s face lit up. “Ah, Dad. They’re a handful. But they’re so adorable.”

“How’s Madison doing now?”

Nate laughed. “She can now out-cry her brothers in loudness. I think they’re competing to see who can be the squeakiest wheel. If Matthew and Michael are smart, they’ll learn quickly to let their sister win. Females are atrocious when they feel slighted by a man for anything.”

“If they’re like their aunt, then definitely.” Caleb gave another sigh. The room quieted again.

Aric looked around at everybody.

“So, Dad. Any reason you gathered us here before dinner? I’m starting to get hungry and our mates are at your house waiting for us.”

Their dad let out a big sigh and the boys tensed.

Aric was the first to show his concern. “What’s wrong, Dad? You’re freaking me out.”

Tristan waved a hand and motioned for him to sit. “Yeah, all right. I didn’t want to talk about this around the mates because they may get…argumentative.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Mason said with a grin. Caleb had never seen him this happy until Emma finally mated with him and they became a team. “Emma doesn’t have a disagreeable bone in her.”

Caleb snorted. Man, he really needed to figure his s**t out already. He wanted to have his own home with Ellie. His own family and pups. “Tried talking to your sister lately?”

“Okay, you’ve made my point.” Tristan ran a hand through his hair. He picked up a beer, drank it in two gulps and slammed the bottle down. Everyone quieted at that moment. “There comes a time in every man’s life—”

“Whoa, Dad,” Aric lifted his hands and sat back in his chair. “This isn’t the birds and the bees talk again, is it?”

“Yeah,” Jake agreed with a smirk. “You’re a little too late for Nate.”

Nate threw a wadded up napkin at his brother. “I know where babies come from. I saw the stork land at the hospital with our three.”

“Would you all please be quiet and let me talk?” Tristan winced at his unintentional harshness. Caleb watched Tristan. He’d never seemed so stressed to bring up any topic. A round of sorry, Dad mumbled around the table. “As I was saying, there comes a time in every man’s life when he has to leave home and make his own way.” The boys froze, wide eyes on all. He had their attention.

“Especially when all of you are strong alphas in your own right. Each of you are highly capable of having your own pack, if you want to.” Caleb watched as the sons squirmed in their chairs, uncomfortable with the subject at hand.

Tristan continued. “Now that all of you are mated, it is time to think about your futures. You probably won’t believe this, but soon your alpha side will start to dominate your actions, in part wanting to drive away other alphas in the pack. You lead or let yourself be led, and none of you will let anyone lead you.”

“No way, Dad.” Aric sat forward, putting his elbows on the table. Caleb remembered him doing the same thing when they were little kids and Tristan had serious conversations with them. “I’d never make my brothers leave the family.”

His dad sighed again. His shoulders slumped and he appeared unhappy with the words he had to say but committed to saying them anyway. “That’s how it works, Aric. Whether you want to see it or not. How do you think I became alpha for our pack?”

“Wait a minute,” Mason said with a horrified look on his face. “What do you mean?”

Tristan cleared his throat and pushed the empty beer bottle forward. “Our pack was originally your mother’s. Her family started it. Have you ever wondered why most of your mother’s family is here and mine isn’t?”

The boys looked at each other, each shocked as s**t. Tristan groaned and shook his head. “This is going as well as I hoped.”

Aric sat straight as if he’d come up with a good argument. “But, Dad. The pack’s name is Wolfe, which is our last name. If it was Mom’s, wouldn’t it be her maiden name?”

Tristan nodded, his features still somber. “Normally that is true, if a son of the existing alpha takes over. In your mother’s case, her older brother was killed in a car accident.”

“I remember Mom telling me the story when I was young and asked about his picture. She said he was driving too fast and his car rolled down into a ravine and exploded. He had his mate with him and neither lived,” Aric said.

Caleb stiffened, jerking in his chair. A shot of pure agony coursed through him. All eyes turned to him. “That’s basically how my father died. But Mom and he had already split, so he was by himself. It was really late and he was coming back from a meeting. We thought he probably fell asleep and missed the curve, going over the edge. The car ended up at the bottom of hill, exploding.”

Jake put a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry, man. Never knew that.”