My Unknown Wolf

Chapter - Homecoming and tea parties

Chapter 4 

Jax and I enjoyed our three-day road trip back home, but I was excited to see the main set of gates to our territory coming into view. Dorothy from the ‘Wizard of Oz’ was right when she said there was no place like home. 

I linked the guards as soon as we were close enough to let them know that it was us so that we didn’t have to stop at the gate when we got there. It felt good to use my mind link with someone other than Jaxon again. 

When we got closer to the pack village, Jaxson veered off to check in with his parents while I continued towards the packhouse. Dante wasn’t lying when he said the pack had grown, the size of the village had doubled, and there were faces I didn’t recognize all over the place. 

I pulled out the front of the packhouse, the place that I had spent the first fifteen years of my life. My parents had moved out when my brother had taken over as Alpha something about letting the pack know that he was boss, but this place would always be home. This house was where I learnt to walk, talk, play and where I lost my virginity. It held many good memories for me. 

After I parked my bike, I pulled off my helmet, taking a deep breath in, relishing in the smell. There was nothing like the smell of the forest mixed in with the scent of wolves. It smelt like home. I loved living in LA, the sun, the surfing, the women, but I could never truly be myself there. I had to hide half of who I was. Ace was running circles in my head, itching to get out. For the past four years, he had to settle for only going out on runs when we could get away for a hike and even then, the good spots got a lot of foot traffic, so he never got to run the way he liked to.  What I didn’t smell in the air was anything special, no delicious scents, so maybe Cassie was wrong, maybe my mate wasn’t here. Part of me was a little disappointed. I had gotten used to the idea on the drive here, maybe even gotten my hopes up a little.  

“Well, well, the look who finally decides to return.” A voice called out, breaking my mind away from the pity party it was having. 

I looked up, smirking at my brother as he walked down the front steps of the packhouse, holding a wriggling blanket in his arms. To anyone who didn’t know, Dante Rivers would look intimidating. He was 6’5 with the build that even the best MMA fighter would be jealous of. He shared our father's brown hair and hazel eyes, I guess the family trait missed me. 

“I guess I couldn’t stay away forever,” I responded, getting off my bike. 

He got close enough and rested his free hand on my shoulder, “Welcome home Dec, we’ve all missed you.” Our tender moment was interrupted by a tiny cry from the blankets in his arms. I looked down to see a tiny little face staring back at me, “Is this, my new little nephew?”

Dante broke out in the biggest smile, “Yep. This little guy is Lincoln. Cadi had a rough night with him, so I thought I would take him on the rounds today so she could get some sleep.” 

I stared down at the baby in his arms. I had never thought of him as anything but my brother and my Alpha. But, now he was a father and had a mate. I had never seen him so happy before. 

“He’s beautiful, brother,” I told him. 

“Wanna hold him?” He asked, holding my nephew out towards me. 

Before I could say anything, he placed the baby into my arms, and  straight away, the baby started getting grizzly which made me start freaking out, “Um, you better take him, Dante, I don’t think he likes me very much.” 

Dante chuckled but didn’t take him, “he’s only a few weeks old. He doesn’t know what like means. Just relax a little you’re too tense.” 

I rolled my eyes at him, “I’ve never held a baby before.” 

“Neither had I before we had the twins, he may be tiny, but I promise that you’re not going to break him.” He promised. 

I tried to do what he said and relaxed, trying to rock him like I had seen random parents on the street do and slowly but surely, he stopped fussing and let a little yawn out of his cute mouth before falling back to sleep. 

I beamed up at my brother, “This must be the cutest little kid that I have ever met.” 

He laughed at me, “Just wait until you meet his big brother and sister.” 

“Dante Anthony Rivers!” A feminine voice called out from the front door of the house. 

He gave me a sheepish look as a young woman stormed towards us, looking pissed. She was about 5’11 with shoulder-length red hair and gorgeous green eyes. If this was his mate and she had a body like that only a few weeks after giving birth, then, damn, my brother was a lucky man.  

She checked on the sleeping baby in my arms before turning her attention towards my brother, crossing her arms and glaring at him. “The next time you decide to take our baby from the nursery while I’m sleeping, maybe you could leave me a note so I don’t go to check on him and have a heart attack when I find his crib empty.” 

I watched as he cupped her cheeks, leaning down to place a like kiss on her lips, and suddenly her body relaxed, “I’m sorry little wolf, I was just trying to let you sleep.” 

“Next time, just write me a note, will you.” She warned him before turning her attention to me, “Nice to get to meet you Declan, welcome home.”

“Thank you, Luna. It’s nice to finally meet as well.” I replied. 

Lincoln let out another cry in my arms, causing Cadi to reach out take him from my arms, “Sounds like this little one needs a feed. I’ll see you both later.” 

I watched as she walked away, and the back was as good as the front, “You’re a lucky man Dante.” 

He let out a little growl and smacked me across the back of the head, “Dec, stop checking out my wife before I’m forced to lay you out on the driveway.” 

I gave him a smirk. If any other male looked at his mate like that, he would have snapped their neck without a second thought. Thankfully for me, he knew me well enough to know that I was just playing. My one rule when it came to mated she-wolves is that I look but never, ever touch. So I would always appreciate that he had a gorgeous mate, but I would prefer to wait for mine. 

Before I had come home, I had had a lengthy discussion with Dante about where I would be staying. I could have always gone back to my old room with my parents for a while but chose instead to stay in one of the guest rooms in the packhouse until I worked out what sort of cottage I wanted to build and which part of the territory I wanted to build it. I wanted to have my freedom now. 

As we entered the packhouse, a small little girl with bright red hair came running up to Dante before taking a running leap into his arms, “Daddy, where were you? We were supposed to have a princess tea party.” 

He peppered her face in kisses, “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I brought you a little present.” 

She squealed, clapping her hands together, “I lub presents.” 

He looked over at me, “Lydia, I would like you to meet your Uncle Declan. Can you say hi?” 

Lydia muttered a small hello before burying her face in her dad’s shoulder. 

I smiled at her, “It’s nice to meet you.” 

Dante started tickling her, “since when is my little princess shy. You know what, your uncle was just telling me how much he loves princess tea parties but has never been to one before. Do you think we should show him how they work?” 

Her body shot up, and she gave me one of the cutest smiles I had ever seen, “Can you come to my princess tea party, Unce Decan?”

 “I…..umm….ahh…What I mean to say is….” I stumbled, trying to find my words. 

Dante placed her back down on the floor, “what he means to say is that he would love to princess.” 

She grabbed my hand and started pulling on it to try to get me to go with her, “Come on Unce Decan.” 

“Yeah, come on, Unce Decan”, Dante mocked, sensing my discomfort. 

“What are you doing, Dante? I don’t do tea parties,” I stated harshly in a whisper so she wouldn’t hear us. 

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have checked out my mate’s ass.” He countered back just as quietly, “I could make it an Alpha order, or you could just do it for your niece who has been waiting a long time to meet her uncle.” 

I sighed in defeat. He was right, I had been a very neglectful uncle. I always made sure to send Christmas and birthday presents each year, but I never made an effort to come home to spend time with them, which made me feel pretty s**t about myself. I had always put off coming home because it took me a lot to leave the first time. I was also worried that if I stepped foot on this territory before I finished school, I would never leave again. But, now that I was back, I needed to make it up to all of them. Family means everything to wolves and especially to me. 

For the next hour, I sat on a mini chair at a child-sized table with a furry, glitter tiara on my head, fake drinking tea and pretending to nibble on plastic food as Lydia introduced me to the world of princess tea parties. I had never thought I would see my tough, Alpha, big brother wearing a tiara either, but he did it with a big smile and enthusiasm.  

Dante’s eldest Luca joined us later, and let me tell you. He was the spitting image of his father. He was so confident for his age and talked my ear off from the moment Dante introduced us. He was going to make a good alpha one day, just like his dad. I promised him that we could play catch in  

By the time I got through the welcome home dinner that my mother had planned and the endless questions about my life back in Los Angeles, I was wrecked. So I excused myself from the dining room and took myself up to the room I would be using. The guest rooms weren’t as extravagant as the Alpha and Beta and Gamma levels, but they were comfortable. Each guest room had a king-sized bed, a television, a dresser, a small walk-in closet, and an ensuite. Most of my stuff had been taken to storage, but the few boxes that I had marked were waking for me on arrival. I kicked off my shoes and collapsed on the bed, promising myself that I would unpack first thing in the morning. 

As my eyes drifted closed, I again wondered about Cassie’s prediction about a young woman coming into my life and wondered how long I would have to wait for her.