MINI STORY: Love Within the Realm

Loving the Siblings of an Alpha

“Loving the Siblings of an Alpha”

The Story of Jack Landry and Meredith Greystone

“Meredith.” Jack sighed.

“Jack.” Meredith replied in an equally irritated tone of voice.

“You are killing me.” Jack shook his head.

“Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it’s wrong.” Meredith snapped.

“I just had to be mated to the sister of a stubborn ass Alpha.” Jack mumbled, mostly to himself.

“Right, because being mated to the boneheaded brother of an Alpha is so much easier.” Meredith rolled her eyes, “Even Knox lets Navy visit the siren realm without him.”

“Well, I’m not your brother.” Jack argued.

“How about your brother who has no problem with Evie visiting her family in Hawaii without him?” She snapped back.

“She’s not going to another realm to visit her family and she’s not unmarked.” Jack said,

“My entire family is at Blue Moon and I just up and left them. We aren’t banned from ever leaving the werewolf realm. The witches put portals in each of the four packs for a reason. I can be in California in two seconds flat.” Meredith replied with her hands sternly placed on her hips.

Meredith wasn’t entirely sure why she was arguing with this i***t in front of her. She blamed the matebond. They had been living together in the werewolf realm for three months now and they were no closer to being a happy marked couple than when they first met. They were struggling to connect. Jack was overly assertive and Meredith wasn’t willing to give in with anything.

“I’m not saying you can’t visit them….” Jack started.

“No, you just won’t let me visit alone.” Meredith bit, interrupting him.

“You’re unmarked, Mer.” Jack sighed.

“And you don’t trust me.” Meredith countered.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. I don’t trust anyone else.” Jack was losing steam, he didn’t like arguing with his mate anymore than he liked the idea of her leaving the realm without him.

“I don’t know what we’re doing here, Jack.” Meredith dropped her hands from her hips and let her arms dangle at her sides.

“Meredith.” Jack closed the distance between them and grabbed a hold of her arms, pulling her close to him.

Meredith resisted at first, but then caved and let the sparks from the matebond take over.

“I love you and I want to make you happy. That’s what we’re doing. We’re loving each other.” Jack said in a low, quiet voice, “Tell me that you don’t love me?”

Meredith felt her body tremble as Jack looked over her with his needy eyes. She let the anger leave her for a moment and sank into his arms.

“I can’t.” She whispered.

“We’ll figure this out, I know we will.” Jack mumbled, resting his cheek against hers and speaking softly into her ear.

“I still don’t like you.” She grumbled.

“I know,”Jack chuckled, “You don’t always have to like me.”

“I’m going to visit home alone, with or without your permission. Jack, I’m not asking you permission for anything.” Meredith said, pulling away from him.

“Just give me a little more time.” Jack asked.

“Fine.” Meredith said, giving in, for now, at least, “But, you owe me.”

“Oh, I’ll make it up to you however you’d like.” Jack said with a dirty look.

Meredith rolled her eyes, but she allowed herself to be kissed. Jack’s mouth moved urgently against hers, demanding entrance. Meredith gave in.

She fought Jack on everything else, absolutely everything, except for this. She allowed him to be dominant in this.

Meredith and Jack haven’t marked each other, but they have mated, oh have they’ve mated. It was killing Jack to be with his mate and not mark her, it was killing his wolf, but he would do anything to meet her needs.

Meredith moaned as Jack laid her down on the bed, ravishing her with his mouth. Jack ripped Meredith’s pajamas off her body and discarded them on the floor just as Meredith tore his shirt to shreds. Jack roughly pushed inside Meredith and she cried out in pleasure, fisting the bed sheets in her hands.

“Say my name.” Jack said, his eyes dark as his wolf came forward.

“Jack!” Meredith shrieked.

“No, my name.” His wolf demanded.

“Maximillion.” Meredith corrected herself, locking eyes with Jack and his wolf.

Maximilian growled in approval and increased his movements, thrusting hard into Meredith as she screamed out. They chased their highs together and came crashing down, hard. Jack collapsed on top of Meredith, listening to her pounding heartbeat as she ran her manicured fingers through his dark brown hair.

“At least we can do that right.” Meredith said breathlessly.

Jack chuckled and turned his face into her breasts, kissing her passionately.

*****

“Jack, how are the borders?” King Leo asked as they sat around the large meeting table in the grand hall of the palace.

“Progress is steady, Alpha. The west, north, east, and south all have main security gates with guard towers on either side and they’re fully staffed. The security fence around the entire royal territory is nearly finished.” Jack reported.

Jack was in charge of the border security. Each of the four men who came to live in the royal realm took on a lead responsibility along with being the heads of the royal guard. Since the realm was light on occupants, they all had to pull double duty. Jack had experience with the borders from his work at Blood Moon under his brother, Alpha Noah.

“That’s good to hear. Let’s try and get the fence completed by the end of the month and staff it.” King Leo said, “We have more volunteers from the human realm coming in next week.”

“We also need to get those houses finished inside the village for our new guests.” Queen Austyn-Rose chimed in.

“Yes,” Frankie took up the conversation then, since he and Nadia were handling the village and city renovations.

After the meeting was complete, Jack left to check out the borders while Meredith went to work with Nadia. Since Nadia was barely 17, the other girls had taken her under their wing. Meredith helped her whenever she could with preparing the cabins and cottages for the new residents of the royal realm.

“What do you have left to do?” Meredith asked Nadia.

“Well, we’re getting more newcomers than we first thought so about half a dozen more of the houses needed finished, then all the finished houses need landscaping.” Nadia said, looking frazzled.

“Alright, we can do that. Where's the construction crew you put together?” Meredith asked, giving Nadia a reassuring smile.

“Already out working and the landscapers should be, too.” Nadia replied.

“Okay, let’s go check on them.” Nadia said and the two of them left the palace.

A construction crew of wolves that Nadia and Frankie put together were hard at work and already had two of the six houses complete. The landscaping crew were the same, adding grass seed and mature flowers to the mulched areas around each of the houses. It rained often enough here that the grass should have no trouble growing quickly.

“Everything looks great, Nadia.” Meredith grinned.

“Oh, good.” Nadia released a sigh of relief.

“You’re doing fine, relax.” Meredith wrapped her arm around Nadia’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze.

“It’s just a lot, you know? Of course you know, you’re going through it, too.” Nadia rambled.

“Yeah, but at least I’m 18.”

“Frankie is so patient, I swear. He’s amazing.” Nadia blushed as she spoke about her mate.

“Good, he better be!” Meredith said, narrowing her eyes threateningly.

She had come to see Nadia as a little sister, which was only fair considering Meredith’s brother was mated to Nadia’s sister and they shared a nephew.

“How are you and Jack?” Nadia asked and now it was Meredith’s turn to blush.

“He’s not so patient, but we’re working through it.”

By working through it she meant they were having s*x, lots of s*x, and talking very little.

“Mhm.” Nadia didn’t believe her.

“I want to go visit Blue Moon, but he doesn’t want me to go without him.” Meredith confessed.

“Oh, because you’re not marked? Navy says that werewolves are much more possessive than sirens.” Nadia said,

“Right, yeah, but that doesn't give him the right to be a controlling jackass.” Meredith grumbled.

“That’s true. So, just go.” Nadia shrugged and Meredith snorted at her response.

“Yeah, that would end well,” She replied sarcastically, “Do you have any idea what a werewolf is capable of doing when he doesn’t know where his mate is?”

Nadia shook her head.

“Bad things, very bad things.” Meredith replied.

“Oh.” She squeaked.

******

A week later, the new residents of the werewolf realm arrived and settled into their homes. Most of them were single men and women, rogues who were completely displaced after the Council was overthrown. There were a few single mothers and fathers who lost their mates and needed a fresh start with their children. Queen Austyn-Rose and King Leo made sure that everyone had a new beginning inside their realm.

Frankie and Nadia decided to throw a welcoming festival since there were so many new arrivals this time around. They were used to people trickling in, but this was the largest bunch to arrive at one time. It was the night of the party and everyone was eager to have an evening off from their normal duties.

Jack was waiting for Meredith at the bottom of the grand, twisting staircase that descended throughout the many floors of the palace. It was made of marble, something they found underneath layers of dust and destruction, with handrails of intricately designed brass and gold. He was distracted by staring at the elegantly designed flowers etched into the railing when he heard the sound of heels on the marble steps.

He looked up and sucked in a breath at the sight of his mate. Meredith had her dark black hair curled and hanging loosely over her shoulders, her bright green eyes were embolden by the dark mascara and makeup she powder her face with. Her dark skin was complemented by the deep red dress that clung tightly to all her curves. The top was a deep v-neck that showed off the soft skin of her breasts which were pulled up by the thick straps of the dress. It stopped above her knees and looked like it was painted onto her flawless body.

“You look breathtaking, my dear.” Jack grinned, offering Meredith his arm.

Meredith blushed at his affection and accepted his arm, wrapping her hand around the crook of his elbow.

“You’re not too bad looking yourself.” She whispered, looking him over.

Jack was wearing a midnight black suit with a red dress shirt and tie that matched the color of her dress. HIs dark chestnut hair, which was usually an unkept mess, was gelled back skillfully, and his dark, olive green eyes were sparkling as they adorned her.

“Why thank you.” Jack smirked, leaning down to kiss her gently on the lips, “Shall we?” He motioned towards the hallway.

Meredith nodded and allowed herself to be escorted towards the ballroom. It was a room made of marble and gold details, all preserved and restored by the king and queen. The room was already alive with dancing and music. Jack guided Meredith towards the other members of their group, Frankie and Navy, Jared and April Valentine, and the king and queen who were still just Austyn and Leo to them.

“Ladies, you all look exquisite.” Leo grinned, earning several low growls from the many possessive mates in the group.

“Care to dance?” Jack asked Meredith.

“Do you even know how to dance?” Meredith asked and everyone started laughing.

“Oh, girl, please.” Jack huffed, rolling his eyes as he pulled Meredith towards the crowd of dancers.

He placed his hand on the small of Meredith’s back and grasped her other hand in his. She placed her free hand around his neck and off they went.

Jack did, in fact, know how to dance. More than that, he was good at it. When the music turned to a fancy waltz, he whisked her around the ballroom floor expertly, causing everyone else to move to the outskirts of the floor to observe them. Meredith wasn’t concerned with the eyes on them, instead she was glued to Jack’s face.

His eyes were gazing into hers like he could see all the way to her core and he was admiring her soul. She had never felt so seen before. Not with Harvord, not with anyone.

She didn’t think she would ever recover after finding out Harvord wasn’t her mate. He left her so abruptly after her disastrous 18th birthday party, that she was left to pick up all the pieces of her heart on her own. Meredith didn’t know if she would ever be capable of handing over her heart again, that’s why she pushed Jack away and resented their bond.

But, here, on this dance floor inside the palace of the werewolf realm, she had never felt so secure, so loved, and so whole in her entire life. With one gaze, Jack Landry put all her pieces back together.

*****

“Jack Landry!” Meredith shrieked, stomping through their cottage inside the royal village.

“Meredith Greystone.” Jack replied teasingly.

She was in no mood for teasing.

“Do you know what your daughters have been up to?” She huffed with her hands on her hips.

“Well, they’re 10 and 13, so probably nothing good.” He shrugged.

“Louise was out until midnight with that boy, Duncan, again and Cali skipped school today.” Meredith snapped.

Lousie was their teenage love struck daughter, named after Jack’s home state of Louisiana and Cali was their hell-on-wheels preteen named after Meredith’s home state of California. They were both a handful and a half, giving their parents a real run for their money.

“Duncan. What kind of name is that anyway?” Jack grumbled.

“That’s what everyone said about Harvord, my boyfriend.” Meredith said,

“Yeah, and they were right.” Jack really hated that guy, “You have experience with this sort of thing. Tell her that dating before she meets her mate is stupid.”

“Oh, right, because a mother telling her teenage daughter what not to do always works.” Meredith rolled her eyes.

“What do you want from me, Mer?” Jack sighed.

“To be the bad cop for once in your life! Ground those girls.” Meredith shouted, throwing her hands around wildly.

“Okay, okay,” Jack walked up to his mate and grabbed her face, “I love you.” He purred, kissing her deeply.

Just like that, all of Meredith’s anger was washed away. She sighed and melted against his body. Their moment was interrupted when the door swung open and their daughters stomped in.

“Cali, Lousie, get in here, now.” Jack used his stern voice and the girls knew they were in trouble.

*****

“Is this the part where I get to say I told you so?” Lousie said mockingly to her parents.

“Not if you don’t want an ass whooping. You’re not too old for that, Lousie.” Meredith said, eyeing her daughter with the famous mom look.

Lousie clamped her mouth shut and said nothing. She knew her mom meant business. Meredith smiled then and gave her daughter a hug.

It was the day of her mating ceremony with, you guessed it, Duncan Mack. Turns out, Lousie was right. Her childhood sweetheart and her high school boyfriend was her destined mate. It took a while, but eventually Jack came around to the idea. He still doesn't like the name Duncan, though.

The mating ceremony was a bit of a formality at this point, just something to tie Duncan to the royal realm permanently. As the representatives from the packs of the four corners, it was decided that they would be considered part of the royal family and their mates would be inducted into the royal line with a public mating ceremony. It wasn’t as dirty as it sounded. There was no public consummation of the bond or marking, just a blood oath that pledged themselves to the royal family.

But, Lousie was already pregnant with a boy, the next branch in the Greystone and Landry family trees. With respect towards her bloodline, their son’s name would be Mack Landry. It was hard to believe that the children of the packs of the four corners were already having babies of their own.

Cali was staying as far away from boys as humanly possible. She didn’t want to risk meeting her mate the second she turned 18 like her sister did. She wanted to be wild and free for as long as possible. Hell, maybe she wouldn’t even take a mate. Or maybe it wouldn’t be a man. She wasn’t going to let anyone tell her what to do.

And she had that right, because her grandparents fought for her freedoms. That’s something Cali will never forget.