The Tribrid Heir's Orphaned Mate

The Banner

Warrick's P.O.V.

Sylvia and I are walking back to the packhouse from school and talking, but I can barely pay attention to her since Tucker is going psycho in my head. It's taking everything in me to control him. He's never acted like this before and it's really starting to freak me out. I had no luck at school today with finding my mate, so that didn't really help his attitude towards things, either. However, right now, he's not being whiny or depressed, he's being almost aggressive, it seems like. At school, he was howling and whimpering nonstop, but right now, he's doing everything he can to try to take control and shift so he can run off into the woods. I don't understand what his issue is with wanting to go running so badly. He was fine earlier when I promised him that we would go running after the party tonight, but ever since we left school, running after the party isn't good enough for him anymore.

"Warrick, what's going on? You aren't even paying attention to what I'm saying." Sylvia asks as she grabs my hand and pulls me to face her.

I quickly look at her, before looking back at the woods around us and scanning them again, before looking back at her again and letting out a frustrated sigh, "Something just feels off right now. Tucker is going crazy and there's literally nothing I can do or say to him to calm him down. It's taking everything in me to keep him from forcing me to shift. He's wanting to go running through the woods for some reason."

Sylvia furrows her brows at me in worry, before giving me a soft smile, "He probably just senses your mate or feels that you're about to meet her. He probably feels like he needs to search every inch of the pack territory to find her, since you didn't find her at school, and that the woods is the best option at this point. You just need to keep reminding him that if he can feel her, you guys are going to meet in due time. It'll happen when it happens."

I nod my head at her, before feeling Tucker calm down a little in my mind after he hears what Sylvia says, as well. I don't understand how she always does it, but she always finds the perfect thing to say when I need to hear it. I look around the woods one last time, feeling like someone is watching us, but still don't see anything. I shake my head to try and get rid of the feeling that someone is watching us, before I keep walking with Sylvia towards the packhouse.

As soon as the packhouse comes into view, I stop dead in my tracks and let out an irritated groan. Mom has decorated the whole front yard with balloons and streamers, as well as a gigantic banner that says HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR BABY ALPHA. I hear Sylvia let out a small laugh beside me, before I see her put her hand over her mouth to try and cover it up. I look over at her and frown, but she's just looking back at me with mischievous eyes.

"Don't even say anything about it." I tell her, before I take off walking the rest of the way towards the packhouse.

Sylvia runs up beside me as she chuckles, "I mean, I think the banner is very manly. Baby Alpha is a very masculine nickname, A.J."

"Shut up, Sylv, or I'll mind-link Ryan and tell him that he's not invited to the party anymore." I tell her through gritted teeth.

"You actually invited Ryan?" Sylvia asks me as she looks over at me with wide eyes, forgetting all about her teasing.

I nod my head at her, "Yeah, I did. I figured you're old enough to decide for yourself whether someone deserves your forgiveness or not. I'm not going to stand in the way of that. I'm your best friend, so I'll always have your back, whatever you decide."

Sylvia smiles up at me as she hooks her arm into my elbow, before leaning her head on my shoulder, "Thank you, Warrick. I really appreciate that. If he breaks my trust again, I promise I'll never speak to him again."

"I think he'll be on the straight and narrow from now on, after the threat I made today. Even if I didn't threaten him, I think he'd still be on the straight and narrow with you, though. I could feel the regret coming off of him. He knows he made a huge mistake." I tell her as I clench my hands onto the shoulder straps of my backpack.

Sylvia looks up at me with furrowed brows as she steps away from me, "You could feel the regret coming off of him? You used your magic to read his emotions today? What else did you feel coming off of him?"

I stare at the packhouse as I think about the fact that Sylvia is Ryan's mate, before looking at her and giving her a small smile, "Just regret, that was it. I mean, who wouldn't regret losing a girl like you, Sylv? You're the best girl that I know."

Sylvia stares at me for a little longer with a small frown on her face, before shrugging her shoulders without saying anything else. I know she can tell I'm hiding something from her, but I'm thankful she decides to let it go. I don't know if I would've been able to keep her being Ryan's mate a secret, if she kept bothering me about it.

As soon as we open the front door of the packhouse, both of us are greeted by the smell of chocolate chip cookies. Sylvia and I smile at each other before heading straight to the kitchen. My mom, Aunt Anna and Sylvia's mom, Lillith, are all in the kitchen chatting with one another. I walk over to the tray of chocolate chip cookies and grab a few, before sitting down on a bar stool and frowning at my mom.

"Um, excuse me? What's with the attitude that I'm getting right now, Warrick?" my mom says to me with furrowed brows as she points at my face.

I let out a scoff, before taking a bite of my cookie, "Shouldn't you be calling me Baby Alpha instead of Warrick?" I ask her in a mock tone.

The furrow on her brow deepens as she continues to stare at me, before she rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest, "What are you even talking about?"

"The giant banner hanging over the front door, mom!" I yell at her, before shoving the last bite of cookie into my mouth.

Mom stares at me for a few more seconds, before she walks to the front door and walks outside. After only a few seconds, she walks back into the packhouse, but heads straight towards the backyard instead of the kitchen. Sylvia and I both stare at each other in confusion, before grabbing a couple of more cookies and following her outside, as well.

"GAVIN?!" mom yells as soon as she opens the back door and walks onto the back porch, "DID YOU PUT THAT BANNER UP?!"

Sylvia and I follow her out, only to see Uncle Gavin doubled over laughing as soon as he hears my mom yell at him, before my mom starts swatting him with a dish towel she has in her hand, "How dare you?! He's going to be so embarrassed in front of all of his friends! Go take it down, now!"

"Aw, come on, Athena! Baby Boy Warrick is finally a man today! He's now going to be a part of mine, Sean's and Callan's inner circle! This is what we do; we prank each other! Just think of it like an initiation!" Uncle Gavin tells her with a mischievous smirk on his face.

My mom lets out a small growl, before crossing her arms over her chest, "Gavin, go take down the banner, now! I know you're getting old and everything, but try to remember when you were eighteen! You would've been so embarrassed if someone did that to you!"

Uncle Gavin frowns a little, before letting out a small sigh, "When I turned eighteen, I didn't have a family who cared enough to do something like that. I only did it because I love him and was trying to make him feel included. He's going to be Alpha soon. I was just trying to make him feel like one of the guys." Uncle Gavin says, before he starts to walk past her to go take down the banner.

A lump forms in my throat when I hear him say that, knowing how much my mom and uncle went through as kids, before I swallow it down and raise my hands up to stop him from walking further, "Just leave it, Uncle Gavin. It's not as embarrassing now, now that I know it's a joke. I got annoyed because I thought mom was the one who hung it. I thought she was being all mushy and sentimental." I tell him, before I give him a wicked grin, "Just remember, though, I take after my mom when it comes to how I think about things, not my dad. Retaliation is going to be coming soon, so keep that in mind."

Uncle Gavin looks at me with wide eyes, before looking at my mom and then back at me, "No, I'll go take it down, Warrick. No need to get all crazy and retaliate, or anything. I was just trying to make you feel like one of the guys. That's all, I swear. Sylv was the only one of your friends who saw it. Your other friends haven't even seen it yet, so it's not too late to take it down."

I shake my head at him as I chuckle lowly, "Might as well leave it now. I've already seen it, so the damage has already been done. I've already got a few good schemes cooking in my head, anyway." I tell him, before grabbing Sylvia's hand and pulling her with me to the oak tree in the backyard that we like to hang out under.

I can hear my mom and dad laughing hysterically as we walk away from them all, as I hear Sylvia's dad, Sean, tell Uncle Gavin that he really messed up this time. Uncle Gavin is yelling at them to shutup, but none of them listen to him, which just irritates him more. I smile as I hear him yell at me that he's sorry, but I just keep walking away from him without saying anything to him.

"So, what schemes do you have cooking in that head of yours, exactly?" Sylvia asks as she plops down in the shade below the oak tree.

I chuckle as I shake my head, "Absolutely nothing, actually. I might act like my dad, but I think like my mom. My mom is the champion when it comes to pranking all of them. You never see her doing it much anymore, because they learned long ago just to leave her alone. All I had to do was put it in his mind that I follow in her footsteps. He'll torture himself mentally with paranoia, waiting for me to pull a prank on him. It'll give me plenty of time to think of something good, before I finally follow through."

Sylvia snickers at me, "You're evil, Warrick."

"Hey, he's the one who started it. He should've known better." I tell her as I shrug my shoulders.

"It's got to be something good, though. This is your first prank as one of the guys, so you have to make it memorable. You should actually pull a prank on all three of them. It'll make your mark, plus my dad and your dad will blame Gavin for pulling them into the mess, as well. It'll be like a double whammy on Gavin. He'll be pranked, plus he'll get blamed for it." she says as she lays back on the grass beside me.

I look over at her, before giving her an approving smirk, "And you say that I'm the evil one? I would've never thought of that."

Sylvia chuckles at me, before sitting back up and wrapping her arm around my shoulders, "You might take after your mom when it comes to scheming and thinking outside of the box, but let's not forget that my mom ACTUALLY used to be evil. Even though she's good now, she's taught me a few things growing up."

"Why would she teach you something like that?" I ask her as I chuckle at her.

Sylvia shrugs her shoulders, "Even after the war and everything, she decided it would be best to teach me some battle strategies. She wanted me to be prepared, just in case something were to happen some day to where I might need it. The number one thing that she taught me, is that the best way to defeat your enemies, is to break apart their alliance first." Sylvia explains, before nodding at my dad, Uncle Gavin and Sean, who are sitting on the porch, "Those three are your enemies now. You have to break their alliance first, before going in for the kill. Figuritively speaking, of course."