Returned (ATHENS WOLVES NOVELLA)

4

I kissed her, she tasted so f*****g sweet. I used to sit behind her in class and think about how she would taste. She was a smart ass then and I bet that hasn't changed one bit. Her hands went up my chest and wrapped around my neck. I felt the desk behind her and I lifted her until she was sitting on it and my hands were settled on her ass and hips.

I almost pushed her back and swept everything off the desk, but then I remembered what was happening. Where we were, why I was here, and I pulled back slowly. letting her know that I wasn't pulling away from her, but slowing this down.

I got to pull back fully and I moved my hand up to cup her chin and cheek and I rubbed over her heated skin. "I know you've accepted this. I want this. We both do right?" I asked and she nodded. "But until I know who did this to my baby sister I want us to be careful." I told her and she looked in my eyes and then closed them as if to calm herself down. "I have never wanted to hurt you. You know that Sam. You can be hurt if they know about us."

"Who is after you? Why?" She was freaking out, I could tell, and I just had to keep touching her to keep her calm.

"You know who I am... right?" I had to make sure. "King of the Canadian Rogues... I fought and killed men for this position. Someone is very keen on getting back at me. Someone came after Rene for that. I can't have that happen to you either. Courtney and Rene will be under lockdown and protected by me until those fuckers try again. You... Sam you need to keep a lid on this. I can't protect you if you're not with me at all times."

"Who says I need protection?" She challenged and I just growled low. "Sean... I beat you on the mats for years. You know I am good at protecting myself. I need you. You're all I need, f**k protection and secrets. I am done with putting up walls with you. You're mine, did you hear me? I accept you as my eternal mate. And I will not stand by while someone hurts you by hurting your sisters."

"Sam, you aren't even a target right now. Keeping you as my mate for right now, it can't happen. I can't go out there holding your hand or kissing you goodbye." Her face was heating for the other reason. I took a deep breath, and I prepared myself for something worse than her 9th grade rant when I called her out for having a period stain.

"Am I your mate Sean?" She asked very softly and for a moment I was worried where this was going but I chose to go with all truths.

"You know you are." I whispered back and she smiled, and before I could blink twice it had turned into a smirk. "Sam-"

"I am your mate Sean... and that means I am just as strong as you. I might be a white coat doctor but that doesn't mean I didn't take the same exact training classes as you did growing up. I have a good memory. You can even spar with me if you want. I have a big mat in my garage."

"Used it with other men?" I growled and she smirked and leaned up, giving the corner of my mouth a kiss.

"You'll have to come with me when my shift is over and smell the area yourself. See if any other men have peed on my lawn." She kissed my jaw and then giggled before heading for the door behind me.

"Sam-"

"I have other patients, but I will be by to see Rene when Tino and his mate get here. She's a witch so be nice."

"A witch?" I asked and turned to see her swaying her hips in her heels and legs walking away from me.

I took a deep breath, smelling nothing but her and sterile objects. No men. I looked around, looking for objects that could be gifts and finding none that didn't look like a man's gift, I turned and heard back to my sisters.

Knowing that Sam and I had a future meant that I had a future here, or they had a future to be with me in Canada. I had to figure s**t out... for her sake, my sake, and the rogues sake.

I sat with my sisters and they caught me up on pack gossip. I found out how Tino's mate was a witch, and how there were three sisters altogether that were now living in the area. I found out about the kids of the alpha, the beta, and other kids who were in the area I knew who were already popping kids out with their mates.

"Oh yeah, 6 of your old classmates are either expecting their first, or working on more." Rene said and smiled wide. "I am on three call lists when some of them go into labor."

"Oh are you now? Baby fever already hitting you baby sister?" I asked and cracked my knuckles. "Any boys making you think that will happen soon?"

"Oh chill out." She rolled her eyes before laughing.

"You're too young." I added and she sighed.

"When and if I want kids with some guy it's none of your business. You'll be a very happy uncle, coming over whenever you think is appropriate and holding him or her even when they spit up on you."

"I almost forgot how much babies smell. You had the worst smelling shit... and you.." I pointed at my other sister on the other side of the bed and she was already laughing. "You used to puke on me all the time. If mom set you down beside me and I hugged you, you puked. If mom set you in my lap for a picture... puke... tons of it." Courtney laughed hard and I rolled my eyes. 

"So you don't want babies?"

"I want babies... just ones that don't s**t stink bombs and puke all over me." I told them and hiked my feet up on the bed. As soon as I did that, I took a breath as they giggled, and I was hit with her scent. She was close and I reached back and pushed the curtain far enough to pass over the heels I saw. "Hi there."

"Not sneaking... just coming to introduce Tino...he and his wife are washing up." She was blushing hard and I just smirked and she blinked hard before walking and almost collapsing with a weak ankle.

"Careful now... don't break anything doc." I smirked and she reached over the tugged my ear and I swatted her hand before catching it and holding it as we heard people head our way talking about blood samples.

"Hi." I heard the chirpy voice and had to crane my neck back even a little more before I saw a more grown looking Tino who was sporting more of a beard than the barely there facial hair there used to be when I first met him. He had a little wife next to him, she was pregnant... and she smelled of a witch and a werewolf, which meant the little one in her oven was wolf.

"Hi."

"I'm Ivory Ames... well Ivory Clarke." She saw the way her mate had looked at her from her old last name and I smirked. Tino was like this fun loving guy when I met him, he had talked about cool dirt... now he looked like someone I didn't want to mess with. 

"Nice to see you again." He nodded at me and then Sam before my sisters. "I looked at the blood samples." He came closer and pulled out some papers from an envelope. "Very unique. It looks more like an old witch family... we were kind of going through blood samples to find out where the magic in my mates blood came from..." Tino sent a smile to his wife and she blushed but started to open her folder too.

"There were four witch covens with the pure line back to the elders of the world. We did a lot of digging, but it looks like... you could possible know who your dad might be." She set down some more papers, some were with pictures of older men... and I looked at them all before seeing a familiar face.

"You ok?" Sam asked me and touched my shoulder and I put my feet down and moved to grab one picture.

"I just wanted to make sure... but I remember this guy." I pointed at the man and raised it to make sure that I knew the name. "Brandon Morris." I whispered and I felt like I was 8 years old again meeting him in an arcade, he gave me 100 bucks and told me to have fun. Courtney was still a baby, and... Rene wasn't even a thought.

"You know him?"

"Yes... mom and him met up once when I was there... gave me a hundred and I played at an arcade all day." I rubbed over my lip and then my jaw. "Court was just  a baby and Rene wasn't even conceived yet." I put the picture down and I leaned back in the chair again and thought more about it.

"You knew him?" Courtney asked again and I sighed.

"I knew he had money and that he gave me some. I was 8." I told her and she sighed but let it go. I looked at Rene and she made a reach for the paper I had picked up. Looking at her now.. I kind of saw it. She had a more pointy jaw than mom or dad did... she had grey eyes, not brown or green. It was kind of surreal how I remembered it now that I saw him again. His eyes had reminded me of a quarter... really shiny.

"He's alive... in Chicago." Ivory said and I saw Rene kind of light up before she seemed to lose her spark. "We have his contact information." Ivory added slowly.

"Married? Other kids?" Rene asked and I worked my jaw as she looked a little in pain and sad before she even got the news.

"Neither. He lives alone, his family is pretty wealthy so what work he does do it's mostly... online or whatever." Tino said and I watched her face kind of relax as she nodded.

"Can be here in probably less than 3 hours... private jet and all." They were encouraging it which meant they knew him more than a little and thought this was a good idea.

"Have you informed him of a DNA match?" I asked before this got too far out of hand.

"No. We would never inform him without permission from your sister." Tino told me and I nodded and looked to her. 

"So... what do you want sis... to meet him? Ignore him?"

"Meet him... find out what he and mom were to each other." She whispered and she looked down at the picture again and she was staring awfully hard before she looked back up. "Maybe tell him to come when I am released."

"Which actually will be today." Sam said and smiled. "The hybrid blood did you a lot of good. You're well enough and healed enough to go home... after lunch." She added the last part as an after thought and I just smiled at my baby sister.

"Are you guys going to hate me if I meet him?" She asked and looked from me to Courtney before focusing on our sister.

"Who could hate you?" I asked when I knew Courtney and I could never feel that way towards her ever. "Even if you're a weird blooded sibling you're still my baby sister." I winked when she looked back at me and she seemed to relax when Courtney laughed and agreed and took her hand.

"We can call him and set up the meeting for a dinner... our place?" Tino offered out and I knew that was mostly for our benefit... meeting on neutral ground.

"Ok." Rene said and took a deep breath, almost as if smelling herself she made a face. "That would give me a lot of time to actually shower and look nice."

"You always look nice." I winked at her and she rolled her eyes but I felt my mate seemed to back away... "Even Sam always looks nice." I reached for her hand and she let me take it and keep her closer to me shoulder before she smiled down at me.

"Head is finally out of your ass huh?" I heard Courtney ask before she hooted and Rene added hers in too. "Girls rule and boys drool in our house... yet again."

"It was always that way." I told them and rolled my eyes. Sam ran her hands through my hair before she scruffed it up and I looked back at her. 

"I have more patients but I will take off when she is out of here... be on call for the rest of the night... still down for that brawl if you are." She turned and got out of my reach before I could grab her and bring her back.

"You're on." I shouted knowing that Court and Rene were going to be girly and fuss over what they could wear and how much makeup they would do and take forever. Plus... I would need more clothes.

Before Rene was discharged I called Jack Titan and asked if he had clothes that would fit me that he didn't want anymore, we were about the same size, and he agreed to let me have some of his old dress shirts and some jeans. Apparently he liked his t-shirts too much to ever throw them away.

Gene was happy to see me, told me I grew up well, and little Evie was to my hip. She had the biggest smile and her little brother was barely toddling around... no dirty diapers or puke faces... some kids were cute.