Page 25 of Claimed By the Alpha Pack

Whimpers catch my attention and I nose the door open the rest of the way. A small pair of golden eyes stare down at me from the edge of the bed. Fuck! We’re out of time. Using my bond with my brothers, I alert them to the fact that Ashina has shifted. Dread fills my gut as I stare at the gray and white pup before me. She tilts her head side to side, watching my every move.

Ashina lifts her head, looking over my head towards the door. Behind me, I sense my brothers are standing there watching her. The level of stress rippling through us is almost oppressive. There’s not much in this world that we fear. Right now, we’re afraid that we may not be enough to keep Ashina and Grace safe. Moving closer to the bed, I grip the pup by the scruff of her neck and set her on the floor near me. On wobbly legs, she stares down at her paws, trying to walk.

Carefully, I move around her, so she figures out how her legs work, watching me walk. Several moments pass and she’s running in short bursts around the room and then stops dead before me and yawns. Laying down slowly, I tilt my head and offer for the pup to lie with me. She bounds over with no hesitation and curls up between my front paws.

Ashina curls up and falls asleep in a matter of moments and my heart feels like it’s doubled in size. “Fatherhood looks good on you, Griff.” Ethan whispers as he crouches down in front of me, looking at Ashina.

My wolf preens under Ethan’s praise, but the human side fears what it means for us. It means opening our hearts and doing something other than having mindless fucks to scratch an itch. It means being with one female for the rest of my un-naturally long life.

She’s our mate … My wolf finally speaks to me after what seems like forever. He stopped talking to me when I invoked the hoe-phase.

What if she rejects us because of Roxy or half the other females in the pack that we fucked? I throw back at my wolf as I watch my brothers leave the room, closing the door behind them.

Then you have a lot of groveling to do. I know I can prove us worthy by hunting. The smug bastard stops talking after that, and what little connection I felt with his presence is gone. If I fuck this up, I fear he won’t let me share his form anymore.

Blankets rustle above me, and I am afraid to move, with the pup sleeping between my front legs. “Ashina?” A raspy, groggy voice comes from behind me. Grace moves around and I whimper, being hit by the pillow to get her attention. The light from the lamp on the side table flicks on. Grace looks over the edge and shrieks at the top of her lungs.

My brothers barge in and start laughing at Grace standing on the mattress. “There’s a wolf on the floor and my baby is missing!” She’s still screaming, pointing at me.

Barrett comes to kneel next to me while Ethan goes to stand next to Grace and tries to coax her off the bed. She bends over and wraps her arms around Ethan’s neck, and he scoops her off the bed. I’m jealous of him holding her, yet I am afraid of getting close to her like that.

He carries her to stand before me, then crouches down. Lifting my head, I expose her baby sleeping in her wolf form. Grace’s bottom lip quivers as she stares at her pup. “Is that?” As she points at her baby, her hand shakes.

“She’s shifted. We are going to up security to keep everyone safe.” Ethan states flatly, with all the authority of an alpha behind it.

Grace’s eyes slide from me to Conrad, then over to Barrett and finally Ethan again. “He can find us now, huh?” Her brows pinch in the middle as her bottom lip quivers.

Ethan nods, and that does Grace in. Fat tears roll down her cheeks like the spring rains. The acrid scent of fear strangles the fresh air in the room to the point Ashina wakes up. Her pup starts to whimper and whine as she gets up and snuggles closer to my wolfs chest. Lowering my head, I use the underside of my muzzle to hold her close.

Grace freezes like a deer in headlights watching Ashina interact with me. Slowly, she drops to her knees, then down onto her forearms. She’s almost in a fully submissive position. All she would have to do is put her ass in the air … Ashina bites my jaw just as the image forms in my mind.

Ashina wiggles free of my forelegs and wobbles over to her mother. They stare at each other for far longer than I’m comfortable with. Barrett comes to kneel next to Grace and her pup looks at him, then her mother. “She’s still your baby, Gracie. Just like us, she has another side of her. She won’t get sick like human children do. She’s more resistant to wounds and breaking bones.” Barrett rests a comforting hand on her lower back.

A soft whine escapes Grace’s lips and my ears perk up. She’s imitating the tone I hit when I tried to get her attention. Ashina responds immediately, moving to her mother and licking her face. Grace reaches out and hugs her daughter to her as she sits up. As Ashina nuzzles her mother’s face, Grace rubs her face all over her daughter’s muzzle. Barrett whispers words of encouragement to Grace when she does something, the pup will know what it means.

Yawning, Grace looks back up at the bed. Barrett and Ethan take the hint and help her to her feet. The minute Grace lays down, Ashina whines and howls. “I don’t know what she wants…” The panic in her voice is real and I look at my brothers before hauling my wolf up onto my bed. “Oh shit! Um, I don’t know who’s bed this is. Are they gonna be angry about the wolf hair on the bed?”

Conrad laughs hysterically as I bare my teeth at him. “Nope, they can’t say shit. It’s for the baby.” It’s times like this I regret being a triplet.

I walk up my mattress and lay down so that my back is facing Grace and the pup. Ashina’s pup lies back to back with me as I face the door. “Why is Griff facing away from me?” Ah, so she finally figured out it was me.

“He’s watching the door. It’s the only way in and out of the room.” Ethan says, then looks at the door again. “We’ll all be shifted tonight and probably every night for a while. Our senses are heightened as wolves. We won’t miss anything that way.” Barrett on cue, steps out into the hallway and within moments returns as his rust-colored wolf.

Grace’s eyes light up, remembering seeing him crawling to her when she had the venison. “Never belly crawl for anyone, Cutie, you’re too good of a man for that.” Grace rests a hand on my ribs and I stop breathing to not frighten her.

Her eyes drop to where her hand is resting, and she laughs a little. “For the big bad wolf, you have some soft fur, Griff.” Her fingers thread through my coat and I feel my wolf’s presence again.

“Darlin, don’t give him a bigger ego than he already has. Being the head Alpha is enough of an ego boost.” Ethan smirks, knowing he just got away with poking fun at me. I want to growl at him, but my wolf warns me against the idea.

“Head Alpha? I thought Griff was the mayor.” Grace sits back, still stroking my fur.

“We say Mayor to the humans. Our rank system is a little different from what they are used to.” Shrugging his shoulders, Conrad leans against the wall, smiling. I honestly feel like I want to bite him.

“So what is he, then?” Grace looks curiously between me and Conrad.

“We…” Ethan motions between himself, Conrad, and me. “Are Alphas, leaders of the pack. Griffin is the firstborn, so he is the head or lead Alpha.”

Grace follows the direction that Ethan points in, then looks back at him at the end of it all. “So what does that make Barrett?” Her eyes flicker back over to a now dressed Barrett that’s leaning in the doorway.

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