The Defiant Luna

CH 4

Nathan POV

Nathan was prowling around inside his office, even Havoc was on edge right that minute. Though they could feel where Jay-la was; upstairs inside the packhouse, on the third floor. They seemed to be very annoyed and when Havoc tried to reach out to Kora himself, his own Mate had shut him out, growled right at him a little even.

Not aggressively, she seemed more annoyed, Havoc thought. It seemed that both their Mate’s wanted to be alone. He didn’t even know they could shut him out as the Alpha; that was news to him. He was going to have to ask his father if his mother could do that to him.

Havoc was on edge because, with their Mate Bond intact, he could reach out and talk to Kora anytime he liked, as Nathan could do with Jay-la herself. His wolf liked that, being close to his Mate, but right this minute Kora was upstairs actively ignoring her own Mate.

Something was going on, and neither one of them knew what it was. Jay-la had not done as he’d asked this afternoon, had told him she hadn’t. Then she told him she would do it when she was ready. He’d been expecting her to do everything he wanted her to do. They were now mated to each other, so why didn’t she want to close out her human world quickly and be all happy here with him?

Jackson was watching him pace and prowl around, hadn’t said anything at all other than, “I don’t think it’s going to be that simple.”

Nathan had frowned at him. Of course, it should be simple; they were marked and mated, that should be the end of it. She was his now, belonged to him and Havoc “She’s the Luna now.” He’d stated and watched Jackson stare right at him with a raised eyebrow, but say nothing.

His Beta was currently leaning up against the wall next to Nathan’s desk, his usual haunt, just watching him, and Nathan was certain his Beta had more thoughts on the subject, just wasn’t voicing them at this time.

“Where is Stephen?” Nathan finally asked after 20 minutes of unhappy prowling.

“I don’t know. Moping somewhere, I imagine. We’re snowed in and his human Mate, is on the other side of the country, completely unaware of who he is to her.” Jackson shrugged. “No different to you a few weeks ago.”

Nathan sighed, he couldn’t argue with him on that one. “Find him. I need to know what’s going on with Jay-la, something is off, both Havoc and I feel it.”

“Go and ask her.” Jackson stated, but then pushed off the wall and strolled out of his office to find the pack's Gamma. “Jackson.” He called out as he went to close the door, saw him turn and look at him in response “have all our men been brought in yet?”

“No. I’ll leave four out there to look after Suzzy, that should placate Stephen for now, I hope.”

“Alright, let him choose the warriors out of who’s still there, let him handle it. It might make him feel like he is doing something about his Mate.”

“When are you going to bring her in?”

“I’m going to ask Jay-la to bring her in, so when the snow lets up I guess.” Nathan nodded.

“You might want to let Stephen go and collect her himself, boss.”

“I need him here, with the Luna.” Nathan waved his Beta away.

Went right back to prowling about his office. He could still feel her up there, she wasn’t moving about, but from his tether and with full concentration on her, she had to be up on the third floor balcony or near it, the coffee hub up there perhaps. It had once been a place they would all go and hang out. He’d also seen her with her female friends up there, and her brother as well. When growing up she had liked it up there, that probably hadn’t changed.

He wondered if he should walk up there and ask her just what was wrong, go and talk to her. She seemed more than annoyed with him today, and at her late lunch, got the feeling she didn’t want to be around him at the moment. Even that was odd, being Mated to her. She should always want to be around him.

His presence should actually give her comfort if she was stressed out. She had gone from smiling and playful in their bedroom and the shower, to being annoyed in just an hour of getting up, and being away from him.

‘Give space.’ Havoc huffed at him, sounded annoyed himself. Likely all of them were annoyed.

“I’m trying Havoc. I don’t, however, understand why she’s not all happy and loved-up.’ And he didn’t. Even Jackson and his new Mate Margaret, who'd only been mated a day more than he and Jay-la, were all loved-up and happy, were always smiling at each other, touchy feely as well.

It was how the bond was supposed to be, how it worked, drew you to your Mate and there was nothing more joyous or wonderful than being with your Mate. You wanted to be together, and just being in the same room with each other made one happy. Especially when it was brand new. He knew that, had experienced it himself once.

One just wanted to rip clothes off each other and Mate like crazy the minute you laid eyes on each other. He did want that, had gone into her office this morning because he'd wanted that, to see her and be close to her, pull her clothes off and have his way with her. She’d been in her office for just an hour, and he’d missed her, she was just in the next room to him or so he’d thought, but still he’d missed her.

He loved touching her, wanted her right now, if he was honest with himself, knew that they had to tone it down because they had three children to consider, he couldn’t just go having her anytime, anywhere he wanted. The children were likely going to be with her a lot.

Not having been here before and not understanding how it worked between mated wolves, he had to take that into consideration, keep it in their bedroom, at night only. Annoyed him a fair bit, actually. Wanted to have what his mother and father had, be able to go and mate anytime he liked, wherever he liked for as long as he liked.

He sighed, he couldn’t. He had 5-year-old triplets to think about and so couldn’t go mating Jay-la where they might come across them. That being said, even just the thought of them made him happy. The twins, Rosalie and Lilly, so cute and adorable, really did make him smile when he thought about them. They were already happy and had seemed to accept him, hugged him already, had chatted away with him at breakfast this morning, excited to go and build a snowman today.

They were all smiles and so bloody cute, Havoc had been purring inside of him, was a proud wolf. Loved his pups right away, wanted to sit and watch them, spend time with them in wolf form even. He loved looking at his little girls as much as his Mate. His wolf's obsession, it seemed, was with all of them, now that they were here, not just his Mate.

Little Nate, on the other hand, was not so happy. Hadn’t spoken a word to him, though he’d seen him smiling and laughing at his grandfather Jody’s house, out in the snow during that video call. In person was another matter altogether, it seemed.

He had tried to talk to his son, gotten glared at in return. Then he had just ignored Nathan, who’d looked to Jay-la for some assistance where the boy was concerned, and she’d not given any at all. He had been disappointed that she had not even tried to help him with the boy. It didn’t appear that she even wanted to help him.

Havoc was quiet on the subject of their son, and heir to the pack, watching him but was not trying to interact with him, in any way. This more than surprised Nathan that his beast was sitting back and doing nothing about his own heir. Just sat back and watched him, and kept his thoughts about the boy to himself.

Nathan noted that Havoc had not only done that before, but at lunch as well, Nate had been seated on the other side of his mother. Like when they had been introduced to him, he’d stepped towards his mother, was not at all comfortable around him.

He did understand that he was a complete stranger to them, but their bond should have started to form. Usually, a bond between pups and their parents formed very quickly. The girls had, but not his son. No, he was more like his mother, Nathan guessed, than he looked. He had her eyes and likely, he now thought, her personality, but was all him in looks. Spiting image of him at that age.

They all had his blonde hair and skin tone, but her green eyes. Nathan really liked that actually, loved her eyes, was glad all of them got her eyes. But his son was not carefree like his sisters, was standoffish and stubborn like his mother. He could only hope that with time he would come around.

He had to remind himself that the boy had grown up in the human world, that he didn’t know how it worked in the wolfen world. That he would need time to adjust to this new life, that had been sprung on him; out of nowhere.

Would have to give it a few more days. Not much else he could do at this point. Perhaps when he got to see him interact with Rosalie and Lilly some more, he would come around quicker. That thought sent him right out of his office and off to find the children.

Thankfully, he didn’t need to initiate them into the pack, or explain that. She’d had them, and was thankfully still a pack member. His banishment of her had not turned her rogue and so the children were actual pack members themselves, and were already connected to him and the pack. At least, he didn’t have to scare them with a blood bonding and the ceremonial knife. He didn’t think cutting his boy would help the situation.

He found the three children outside the back of the packhouse with Rae-Rae and Michael, building that snowman the girls had been talking about. He smiled at them, and both the girls waved at him. Both were dressed almost identical, thankfully they smelled slightly different, or he was unlikely to be able to tell them apart.

He looked at his watch and then at Michael pointedly “I’m on a break Nathan.” He muttered.

“Alright.” Nathan nodded, though he did note that it was very late for the man to be having lunch. “May I join in the fun?” he smiled at the children.

Both his girls grinned up at him and Havoc was all attention, purred so loudly that he had to clear his throat and punch his chest at Rae-Rae’s odd look. ‘Tone it down.’ He told Havoc ‘Rae-Rae remember is human.’

He stepped over and joined in the fun when the girls waved him over, but then sighed internally when he saw Nate take a step back, moving closer to Rae-Rae, he noticed. The boy, his own boy, didn’t like him at all, it was crystal clear, and it hurt more than a little, to see him stop playing altogether and just stand there and watch on from the side line now.

His very presence had stopped him from playing with his siblings. He took a breath in and then hunkered down right in front of the boy, “I won’t hurt you Nate. I’m your father.”

He saw the boy raise an eyebrow at him, and saw Jay-la right there in the boy. Oh, he might look like him, but he was all his mother. That one look told him a lot, going to be stubborn and defiant just like she was. Good qualities in an Alpha Wolf, for protecting one's pack and making deals or alliances. But he was just a boy, who should be happy and carefree like his sisters were right this minute.

“Ask me anything.” He offered.

“Where were you?” The boy stated.

Nathan sighed, he’d asked that very question before, but how did one explain the situation to a five-year-old? Nathan didn’t think telling him the truth, that he’d banished his mother, was going to endear the boy to him at all. He also didn’t exactly know what Jay-la had told them either.

“That’s complicated,” he answered.

“That’s a grown-up way of saying, you don’t want to tell me.” Nate shot right at him. More shades of his mother.

“Son…”

“Nate.” The boy stated “That’s my name, I’m not your son.” He muttered and turned and stomped off.

Nathan’s eyes were completely widened by his son's words, as pain touched his chest, he felt Havoc feel saddened as well, to hear this from his own boy. Watched as his own son stomped away from him and went and sat down on a picnic chair by a table. Then the girls were gone, right over to sit with him. One on either side of him, both girls were looking up at him.

Triplets? He wondered just how connected they were, likely very, from what he was seeing. Wondered if they could feel each other's pain or emotions, he knew in the wolfen world that once they got their wolves. It was very likely they’d not ever be separated, or at least, he didn’t think the girls would be likely to have the same Mate or twins of their own.

“It’ll be alright Nathan.” Michael tried to console him.

He didn’t say anything as he stood up and watched them. He couldn’t go over there and make the boy like him. They all just sat there together, and he had no idea what to do or to say about anything right this minute.

“What can you expect really?” Rae-Rae stated “After how his mother looked, when she came home from here.” Put so much emphasis on the words ‘from here’ that Nathan knew she had refrained herself from saying ‘What he did to her.’

Nathan looked right at her, and Michael was very quick to step in front of her, turn her away and give her a gentle push towards the triplets, away from him and Havoc. Michael knew, hell, everyone in this pack had seen Havoc’s temper. Michael had near gotten the beating of his life himself only a few days ago.

The man did not want Havoc’s temper or Nathans, for that matter, unleashed on his Mate. He moved his eyes towards his brother, “It’s fine.” He muttered and then just turned and walked away. She was like Jay-la’s sister, had seen the injuries herself, he supposed. Was as mad about it as the boy was.

The children had been having a good time with their Aunty Rae-Rae and Michael, until he had showed up. He would leave for now. Perhaps they would be able to go back to it without him there. He wanted them to be happy here.

Perhaps he needed to get Jay-la to discuss this with Nate, try and get her to help bring the boy around to accepting him. It was very clear to him that Nate was not going to interact with him until he got answers to his question ‘Where were you?’

He sat in his office and thought about that, explaining the whole truth to him, knew it was not going to help the situation. Likely only make the boy hate him even more than he did now. It could even affect the way the girls felt about him, and he didn’t want that. He needed to find a way to sort it out and quickly.

Nathan nor Havoc wanted to hear those words come from his son ever again. It had hurt more than a little, still hurt now just knowing that was how he felt. Wondered if this was what one's parents felt like when a child rejected them. Havoc was very quiet, not a good thing. Neither he nor his wolf wanted the children to know the truth, they had to find something close to it, he supposed, something that would ring true.

He couldn’t tell Nate his mother had left and just not come back, not when he’d ordered her to do that. That would make the boy blame her and it wasn’t her fault. She’d told Jackson she’d not known she was pregnant at the time. Jackson had believed her, so did Nathan. He didn’t think she wouldn’t have told him if she knew. Not who she was.

Hadn’t told him, because of the fear of what Sophia would have done to her, to the pups. Had good reason to be afraid. Sophia wouldn’t have liked it at all, would likely have tried to hurt her. She might not have wanted to give him an heir, but he was damned certain she would never have accepted another doing it.

That much he did know about her. She’d hit more than just Jay-la over the years, they’d been mated to each other. Didn’t like any she-wolf touching what was hers. Not that she had cared about other wolves touching her and hurting him. Double standards if ever there were any.

He was going to have to really think about this, discuss it with Jay-la and see what she wanted to tell the children. She had a good strong bond with them, and it was likely only she was going to be able to solve this problem.