Page 2 of The Alpha and His Childhood Sweetheart

Eric kissed me then pulled back, “I will never let something like that happen to our pups. EJ will make his own choices. If he wants to be around their pup, he will be. I’d imagine he will as he already gravitates towards Chelsea. You are likely right. If any part of EJ knows, then his wolf will know. There would be no keeping a wolf from their mate. I don’t even want to speculate on a Hackura being kept from their mate. I doubt boarded up windows would help with that. I do not plan to try to hurt any of our pups in anyway. Let alone keeping them away from their mate.” I nodded.

At least he wasn’t going to listen to Cassandra. Aiden popped in smiling. He asked me, “What are we talking about?” I smiled answering, “EJ may have found his mate. He didn’t want to leave Chelsea Hanes’s arms and she’s pregnant.” Aiden sighed, “It was too much to hope he’d have a Fairy as a mate.” I laughed, while Eric growled.

Eric admitted, “I have a meeting to get to that I’d prefer if Marcus and Bjourn joined me for.” I smiled and hugged my brothers, then kissed Eric’s cheek. I said, “Have a good meeting.” They all left together with a little hesitancy in their steps.

Aiden tilted his head, “Why do you feel sorrow, little sister? It calls to me, but I can’t imagine you are sad about EJ and this unborn mate of his. No, that’s it. Hmmm, what has your wolf’s mother done now?” I answered, “She doesn’t believe me and said we shouldn’t tell EJ my suspicions.”

Aiden laughed, “She is foolish. You are right, and EJ will know that. You couldn't keep them apart even if you tried. Besides, that would be cruel and you are not capable of that. That is not the reason for your sorrow though.”

I confessed, “I worry that Cassandra will discount my children’s Fairy side. I’m more worried that she will make them feel bad about it. I won’t be able to hold my temper if she does that.” Aiden frowned, “I think you should tell your wolf how you feel. I’m surprised your other brothers deal with how she speaks to you, given how their race feels about disrespect.”

I explained, “They do it for me because I want peace here in this house.” Aiden snorted, “But you do not have peace in this house. Everyone else has an illusion of peace, with slight tension. Whereas you suffer for it in silence. If Arion were here, that would not be the case.”

I felt pain thinking of my other brother. I pointed out, “I told you how I felt.” Aiden nodded, “You did. I have half a mind to tell them all myself, but you trusted me and I cannot betray that.” He could but I knew he wouldn’t, which meant a lot to me.

He rubbed his temples, “Goddess, I miss our brother.” I did too. I rubbed my temples, “Cassandra is Eric’s mom and she ran this pack at one point. They don’t see her actions for what they are. Those that do think giving in is the easier path. In their defense, they are right. I just don’t care anymore.” Aiden said,“As someone who knows what that is like to have a mother you do not see it’s better to know.” I frowned.

I looked at EJ and acknowledged, “I fear a day is coming where I’ll kick her ass. If she hurts my children I cannot and will not stand for it. I know she loves them, I really do. She makes sure she has Grandma Cassandra days with them all. That’s what makes it so hard. I can’t deny my kids something I desperately wanted that she gives them. Grandparents who love and spend time with them.”

Aiden nodded, “You are too pure for this world sister. Everyone else’s peace is not more important than yours. She should be proud of you. I know am.” My heart warmed. There was a time I’d never thought I’d hear him say those words to me.

I groaned, “She’s a walking contradiction. They all just want me to do something I cannot. She could’ve cost me people that mean the world to me. If it had just been me she got iron shot at, that would be one thing. I was pregnant though, and she decided I should be unaware of a threat against my children. She almost got my mate…” I trailed off thinking what could’ve happened to Eric in Claudia’s hands.

I sighed, “Then there’s my brothers and my in laws. I truly care for them. I don’t know how to get over all the chaos she created and she’s not even sorry about. She lied to me about not having secrets. I bared mine for them. It was my secret shame and I let them see it. Hell, not just them. I let the allies and my Hackura family see too. Then she kept a secret that she MADE everyone else keep too. She’s not even kind of sorry. She still thinks she was right because she cannot perceive how she could be wrong even when I explain it to her.”

Aiden looked away, “I do not believe you can get over it. You are not designed to, and it’s not as the ‘what if’ game isn’t played. I know people told you not to play it, but the Ribbon you are in is a literal ‘what if’ game.” I snorted, “Great. If you don’t think I canget over it then I can’t. The Ribbon point is a valid one. I’m using that the next time this comes up.”

Aiden looked back at me smiling, “I say you can’t because you are twice light bound to your wolf. Anyone harming him is a transgression your light will never forgive. Especially when one is not even repentant or willing to apologize. It wasn’t just him in danger either. It was your children. Along with your Hackura family, the family who protected you.” Pain flooded me.

I grabbed Aiden’s hand, “You do that too. We are different now, Aiden. You have protected me a lot lately.” Aiden looked at me, “I will always regret your childhood. I buried myself in my own grief and traveled. I unintentionally abandoned you and left you to be hurt in ways I could not have imagined. I am so sorry.”

I shrugged, “You didn’t know, and it’s not like all our memories are bad. We had good times despite how things were when you traveled. I have many fond memories with you and Arion. Something that seems hard for people to grasp and it’s frustrating. Besides, we have a different relationship now and that’s what counts. I mean, I’ve confided in you about my feelings more than anyone else lately.” It was true. Somehow Aiden had become my confidant and sounding board because he didn’t react or judge. He just listened because Fairies had to share their sorrow.

Aiden snorted and kissed my cheek, “I love you, little sister.” I smiled, “I love you too.” He stayed and we talked for a little while. When he popped away, I started to get the triplets ready for their nap. I looked at all three of them.

I promised, “I will always be on your side, in your corner, and your advocate. I will make sure you know if you’ve done something wrong, but I will always listen to your side of things. I will not tell you who to love or when to love them. If you find your mate, I will believe you when you tell me. Not because you can’t lie, but because I know you.”

I nuzzled their noses, “You three are so special. No one has ever seen anything like you. You’ll always have me and your dad, but you’ll also have each other. Nothing can break the bond you all share. EJ, if I’m right about Chelsea’s baby then you will have a sweet love story.” He cooed at me.

I swore, “No one will keep you two apart. I will make sure of it. Not even your grandma Cassandra if she tries.” I kissed all their foreheads as I put them into their cribs. I turned off the light knowing my children’s happiness was what mattered, and I would protect that.

My Girl

EJ is Eight Years Old

EJ Conners sat at his kitchen table. When I sighed two of my siblings, Cassie and Alexander, shot me a look. They knew what I wanted to be doing instead of sitting here. I wanted to go see Elise Kyle, my mate. She made everything inside me feel complete. My wolf, Brutus, was annoyed. He desperately wanted to see Elise again and mom said I could today. She got both of us phones so we could talk and Facetime with each other.

Yet here we were waiting all because Grandma Cassandra’s heat had ended. She wanted us all to be here to tell her if she was going to have another pup. Which was ridiculous considering all the faces and comments she made about our Fairy side. She was certainly quick to use it to her advantage if it suited her, but she’d never admit that. Plus, her motivations told me she was never unhappy when we said she wasn’t pregnant.

She and Grandpa Nathan had been trying to get pregnant for a while now. I linked Alexander, “This is a waste of time, and we all know it. She won’t let you or mom heal her so she’s not pregnant.” Alexander shrugged, but I knew it bothered him, which pissed me off. I didn’t like that she hurt my brother's feelings every time she refused to let him help her. She was at least nice to him when she turned him down. She was outright rude when my mom offered to heal her.

Grandma Cassandra was a hard one for me. On the one hand, actually there was no one hand. I didn’t like her. She was rude to my mother and stomped on my brother’s feelings. GrandmaCassandra thought no one was around when she made snide little comments to my mother, but she was wrong. She seemed to be forgetting a lot lately that me and my siblings had better hearing than even she did.

Not to mention that we practice fading into the background. Mom always tries to tell her, but she doesn’t really listen. The things she said hurt my mom’s feelings. She was always hurting my mom's feelings. I studied my siblings knowing the truth was Grandma Cassandra hurt all of us. We hid that from our mom, but I was beginning to think that was a mistake.

We’d made promises when we naïve young pups about keeping things secret. Grandma Cassandra days were absolutely awful and we got out of them as quickly as we could. She’d always go off with our full blood wolf cousins and leave us alone. When our younger siblings came along, we watched them ourselves. All because of a promise to keep Grandma Cassandra days secret. She manipulated us and we didn’t know better.

Cassie seemed especially upset by something that had happened recently. My other cousins weren’t waiting around today, except for Daisy. That wasn’t out of the ordinary because she typically stuck with us. Me and my siblings were here because out of all the cousins we who could see a pregnancy glow.

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