Fighting for her Mate

11

Desperate to change the topic, Ellie asked if any plans had been made concerning Caleb’s uncle. With the serious issue, the room quieted.

Her mother added her bit. “I think that discussion can wait until after dinner. I think the boys would be more interested in knowing their little sister is now a married woman.” Ellie didn’t think the room could’ve been quieter. The proverbial pin drop had nothing on this.

Aric c****d his head and looked at their mother. “Our little sister, here?”

Their mother settled her eyes on him. “No, your little sister who lives with the neighbors.”

Jake gasped. “We have another sister?” Nicole tagged his arm.

“No, i***t. She’s being facetious.”

He looked around at the staring faces. “I knew that. I was trying to be funny.”

Nate snorted. “I agree with your mate. Idiot.”

“Hey,” Jake puffed up his chest, “my mate is always right, but I’m not an idiot.”

Mason coughed up a sliced carrot. “Dude, you can’t have it both ways.”

“I disagree,” his mother added with authority. “He got it right. And you boys would do good to learn what he just got away with.” She grinned at the faces her sons made. “Interesting that your mates didn’t tell you anything about it.”

Every man turned to look at his mate, but the women continued eating as if nothing had happened. The smiles the women shared with Ellie told her they were more than happy to deal with the questions that would come their way.

An hour later, Ellie and the other women put away the last of the dishes from dinner. Karla, Jordan, and Emma each held a bottle for one of the triplets in their arms.

Ellie looked toward the doorway, then to Karla feeding one of her babies. “Karla, may I ask a personal question that’s plagued me forever?”

Karla made a fish face at the baby. “Sure.”

“I thought you were on the pill before you got pregnant.”

“I was. Have been since graduating.” She bent down and kissed the baby’s forehead.

Ellie frowned. “Doesn’t that make you wonder how you got pregnant? And on top of that, you had three.”

Karla snorted. “Yeah, I wondered about that starting the day Jordan and I did the double dip.”

Ellie glanced at Jordan. “You what? Went for ice cream?”

Jordan laughed. “No, silly. After thinking about the symptoms she’d been going through, I thought she could be pregnant. Heck, I knew she’d freak if I told her to take a test. So I said I’d do it, too. She came to the house with about ten different tests.”

Everyone at the table laughed.

Karla scoffed. “It’s not like I’d done it before. I didn’t know which one worked the best. The boxes all said they were the number one choice. Besides, I was wound up tighter than a rubber band at the time.”

“Ha! I knew you would be.” She grinned. “I’d do a happy dance if I didn’t have the little one here. Woohoo.” Jordan bounced in her seat, making her arm load giggle.

“That tells me,” Barbara started, “my grandchildren were destined to be born and they thought now was a great time to do it. They’ll make great alphas, if the packs survive.”

Ellie jerked her head sideways to stare at her mother. “Mom, what do you mean by that? You sound as if the end of the world is coming.”

Her mom’s features appeared strained. “Of course not. But with all the corruption and killing for power and money, I’m not sure how much longer the hierarchy tradition will remain as one alpha to one pack. Who knows? Fifty years from now, all could be united under one leader.”

Ellie shook her head and dismissed that idea. “I doubt that, Mom. But I do see a pack that keeps up with the times to finally let a female be the main alpha and not the husband.”

Nicole snorted. “That’ll be the day. Men are so arrogant; they’ll never give up their ‘right’ to lead to a female. I’d like to see that.”

Michael’s bottle bounced on the floor. “Hey, little baby man.” Karla looked down at the baby’s innocent eyes staring back with a toothless smile thrown in for fun. “Guess you’re done, then.”

Ellie picked up the breast milk container that had rolled against a counter. She handed it back to Karla after washing the n****e. “Did you lose your grip on the bottle?”

Karla propped Michael over her shoulder and patted against his back. “I’m not sure. His little arms started flailing and I guess he got his hands on the plastic and flung it away. I’ve never seen that before.”

Barbara joined the ladies at the table. “Looks like he’s going to be a strong alpha already.” A loud burp came from the infant.

“That’s a good boy.” Two other burps soon followed.

Ellie stood at the table. “Are you guys ready to meet with the men to talk about what we’re going to do?”

Karla set the bottle on the table. “Go ahead and gather the men. We’ll put the babies down, Matthew’s already asleep. Then we’ll join you all.”

Ellie glanced around the living room as each couple took a chair. These people were her family. She would die trying to protect them. She wondered at the thought that her best friends, those she met at different places at different times in her life, ended up being her brothers’ mates. Like her mom said about the babies, this was destined.

Caleb wrapped his arms around her and she leaned against his chest, she on his lap. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, fine. I was just thinking about the past and how things turned out for us.” He frowned and turned her around to face him.

“Ellie, I know we haven’t fully mated, and we agreed on that reason, but you’re my life. Don’t forget that in the crazy mess going on.” The fear for her was real in his eyes and she hated it was there to begin with. “I would walk away from the Rahound pack and become a Wolfe if I didn’t know the atrocities my uncle is submitting the pack to. You know I can’t let them suffer.”

She didn’t expect him to and that’s what bothered her most. She didn’t want him to fight this alone, not when he had her to lean on.