Mated to the Alpha Triplets

Chapter 19: The Blood Moon Pack

Damon POV

I felt hugely conflicted walking away from Ottilie. Although I knew she’d be safe with Jake, my inner wolf wanted to stay with her. I couldn’t work out if she was our mate or not.

I think she is, said Leo, pacing up and down in my mind, but there’s some sort of block there, I don’t know what it is.

I sighed heavily as I ran back to the packhouse. This was an added complication I could honestly do without. The Silver Fang pack were trouble which is why we’d kept our distance. My father and uncle had fallen out years ago and we’d had limited interactions with them since, the treaty between our packs hanging by a thread. I’d seen the triplets at summer training camps but on the advice of my parents, had kept well away. They were known womanisers and seemed extremely arrogant. I’d never understood why people didn’t wait for their fated mates, at least I hadn't until I’d met mine. My mood darkened as I tried to push memories of Alissa away. I didn’t want to think about that now, there was enough going on that needed my attention.

I really hadn’t wanted to go to the birthday party but Mum and Dad thought it would be a good idea to break the ice and the more I’d thought about it, the more it felt as if something was pulling me to go. At least now I knew why.

I made my way into the packhouse, greeting the omegas who worked there with a smile before heading out of the backdoor towards my parents house. My Mum and Dad had left the packhouse when they’d handed over to me and had moved into a little cottage. They'd grown tired of being in such a huge house and wanted to live a simple life. Dad was already not very well at that point but him and Mum seemed so happy in their new home. After loosing Alissa, I'd resigned myself to the fact that I would probably never have a family although it had nearly killed me.

Meeting Ottilie had really thrown a cat amongst the pigeons though. She was beautiful but it wasn’t just that, she had a fire in her belly and a wary look in her eye, like everyone she’d ever known had betrayed her. There was something familiar about her, I just couldn’t place what it was. I knew about her family, we all did and what had happened had never sat right with us. I was three years older than the triplets, so I remembered Beta David and his wife Susan. They were good wolves, which is why they’d stuck out amongst the rest of their pack so much. Ottilie looked just like her mother and when I’d said her surname her reaction had proved my suspicions right.

I knocked on the door of my parents cottage and waited for my Mum to answer. She looked exhausted when she finally came to the door, her dark hair looked as if it could do with a wash and her clothes looked several sizes too big. I'd tried to suggest that she might need some help but she was determined to look after Dad on her own. At the time she'd said he’d have done it for her and I couldn’t argue with that, he completely adored her.

“Darling.” she said softly, “thank you for coming, Dad wants to see you.” I stooped to hug her, she was on the small side for a she wolf, a bit like Ottilie.

Dad was lying on the sofa looking thin and grey. I knelt down beside him, taking his hand.

“Hi Dad,” I said quietly, “what’s going on then?”

He tried to sit up but started coughing. I handed him a cup with a straw in and watched as he took a long drink.

“Mum,” I said looking up at her, “why don’t you go and have a bath or a lie down? I’ll stay with him for a bit.” She nodded gratefully and made her way up the stairs.

I took the cup from Dad and set it down next to him.

“Son,” he croaked, smiling slightly, “thank you for coming. There are are a few things we need to discuss.”

I nodded, trying to ignore the aching pain in my chest. I knew what was coming, he'd been trying to have the conversation with me for weeks now.

“I know that you’ve had a hard time of it these last few years, that business with Alissa was terrible and me being ill has taken its tool on you and your Mother.” He paused to cough, clearly not used to speaking so much.He took my hand and squeezed it as much as he could.

“I need you to look after your Mother whatever happens, can you promise me that?” He said quietly. "The pack is a good one, but it takes just one bad seed to upset the apple cart. Surround yourself with people you can trust and take even the smallest issue seriously." He added, looking at me straight on.

I nodded, blinking away the tears that suddenly filled my eyes. We’d searched for a cure for Dad for years but had gotten nowhere with it. Now it looked as if it would be too late anyway.

“How was my brother?” He asked suddenly, giving me a shrewd look.

“Fine,” I said shortly, sitting up. “Something happened though whilst I was there.”

Five minutes later Dad was looking at me aghast.

“They were going to SELL her?!” he tried to roar before collapsing in another coughing fit. I passed him his drink again and waited for it to pass before nodding.

“I know. She’s special Dad, there’s something about her I just can’t put my finger on. Leo thinks that she might be our mate but there’s something stopping us from claiming her.”

He looked thoughtful and was silent for a few minutes.

“I want to meet her,” he said suddenly, “her parents were good wolves but I want to see what she’s made of.”

I nodded slowly, “I’ll bring her to see you soon," I promised. I reached for the TV control and flicked through the channels on the TV until I found an old football game I knew Dad would like.

“Come on,” I said, changing the subject. “You can fill me in about why these are proper footballers, unlike modern ones."

An hour later and Dad had fallen asleep, even the most brief of conversations could take it out of him. I headed upstairs to find my Mum sat on her bed, going through photo albums.

“I’m going to head out Mum, I’ve got some pack business to deal with,” I said, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

She looked up and smiled and I noticed she looked a little better, at least she’d managed a shower if not a nap.

“Pack business? Would that involve a certain dark-haired she wolf,” she said with a knowing smile.

“I knew you were listening,” I said smiling and sitting next to her.

“Wolf hearing my love, I couldn’t not hear even if I tried.” She nudged me slightly and handed me an old photograph of me and what looked like the triplets. As I looked closer I noticed a girl in the photograph, a girl who looked like Ottilie.

“We’ve met before,” I said stunned. I knew she felt familiar, I just didn’t realise why.

Mum smiled softly, “Yes, this was a while ago now but all of you boys were obsessed with her. It was like she’d cast a spell over you. None of you would leave her alone all week. After the business with her parents, well, that's when everything fell apart really. Your Dad dared to question Marcus' story and he lost it. We never went back there after that." She said sadly.

I looked at it silently for a second.

“You can keep it,” Mum said knowingly, “I’m sure she’d like to see it.”

I nodded and stood, making my way to the door.

“Oh and Damon?” Mum said, making me turn. “Be careful, if she’s bonded to the triplets as well they’ll come after her. They're not bad you know, just misguided. Not everyone can have parents as great as yours," she added, her eyes sparkling.

I nodded slightly, unconvinced, and made my way out of the cottage towards Ottilie.

As I entered the packhouse I could hear shouting and as I turned the corner to the entrance hall caught sight of a trembling Ottilie cowering behind Jake as his mate Sophie screamed at him.

“Why the f**k was she holding your arm?” she shouted as she made her way towards them both. The atmosphere was thick with tension and danger and Ottilie looked terrified.

“Enough,” I said firmly, surprising them all. Sophie turned towards me, her red hair flipping over her shoulder as she looked at me scornfully before she remembered her place and dropped her eyes.

“Sophie, I asked Jake to escort Ottilie back to the packhouse. She’s my guest and will be staying with me. Jake was just carrying out my orders.”

She nodded, still clearly not convinced.

Ottilie stepped out from behind Jake suprising us all. “It’s true,” she said boldly although she was still shaking, “I’m not after your mate, he was just kind enough to bring me here rather than leaving me in the forest on my own." A feeling of calm spread over my body as she spoke.

Sophie looked at her dead in the eyes and then nodded, “Ok,” she said, “I believe you.” Jake and I looked at her shocked, Sophie never backed down, I had been convinced there was going to be an all out war between them.

Jake looked at me mouthing what the f**k? I shrugged, outwardly relaxed but inside I was so confused, was it Ottilie? Did she have something to do with it?

Ottilie smiled at Sophie, “It’s nice to meet you,” she said softly and held out her hand.

Sophie paused before pulling her in for a huge hug. "No need for a handshake, a friend of Damon's is a friend of mine. Sorry about all of that, we don’t get many wolves around here who are as hot as you and I can be a bit nuts sometimes.”

Jake snorted loudly, immediately diverting his attention to an apparently extremely interesting part of the ceiling moulding as Sophie shot him a look over Ottilie’s shoulder.

“No problem,” said Ottilie blushing at the compliment, “I get it, I’d be furious if I found you hanging on to my mate too.”

Sophie looked between the two of us suspiciously and opened her mouth. Before she could ask the question though I stopped her, I definitely didn’t need her talking about mates in front of Ottilie. I wanted to work out what we were to each other first before opening that can of worms.

“Jake thank you for your help today, Sophie, can you show Ottilie around later? I've got some meetings this afternoon.” She nodded and smiled broadly at Ottilie.

"Sure thing, I'll swing by after lunch,"

“Ottilie, let me show you to your room.” She smiled at me gratefully as I steered her out of the hallway towards the elevator.

“Thanks,” she said softly. “Sorry, I'm already causing drama for you.”

“Nonsense,” I replied, pressing the button for the top floor. “Sophie’s one of the best people I know. She can just be a bit crazy where Jake’s concerned. She had a hard time when they were first mated, a lot of the other she-wolfs thought they were the better option for Jake.”

She nodded slowly, biting her lip. Leo growled inside me as an uncontrollable wave of lust washed over us.