His Disguised Mate - Burgov Series II

3. Ilia

I jogged out of the elevator heading right to the dining hall on the main floor. I'm not a fan of Omega cooking especially for me in the comfort of my own suite, like my brother. I like to mingle with our men, hear their jokes, banters, and problems. It makes me feel closer to the Pack, and I'm not exactly opposed to having fun with them. Not that I wouldn't like to go for a beer with Vanya, but the old gruff seems to not understand what 'fun' actually means. I swear if the guy won't get laid any time soon I might consider switching Packs and working with VanWoert. It may be a bit nauseating that all his dirty jokes are about my sister, but at least he remembers what it's like to actually laugh.

I turned around the corner and bumped into a blonde female warrior I had an opportunity to get to acquainted quite well in the past, before Vanya forced me to look for women outside the Pack, after he had to stop one too many fights between she-wolves.

"Gamma." - she said seductively, catching me by my biceps, and flipping her hair innocently behind her ear. The gesture I learned was totally fake, I knew what she could do with those fingers and face, and there was nothing innocent about her. - "I haven't seen you since forever. You've been greatly missed." - she said, pushing her t**s in my chest, as if it was a sacrificial lamb, meant to bend me to her will. In the moments like this, when they offer themselves on the silver platter, I sincerely hate the promise I made to my brother, but I'm a man of my word.

"Yeah, hi Sienna, it's been crazy busy lately." - I said, trying to awkwardly free my arm from her deadly clutches, but she narrowed her eyes and dug her nails harder in my skin, making me think I would have to bite the damn thing off in order to eat breakfast in peace.

"It's Silia!" - she hissed clearly offended.

Fuck, I completely forgot about my own rule to never refer to them by names, unless I'm absolutely sure. Focus Ilia, those rules are there for a reason! Such a rookie mistake.

"Right, Silia. That's what I said." - I said, scratching the back of my head sheepishly.

She didn't look convinced at all, but she quickly shook her annoyance and decided to play her game even harder, pulling the big guns. And by the bug guns I mean the doubt Ds that were practically in my face.

"Anyway, I was thinking that we could do it again sometime, you know the workout with you was great." - she said seductively tugging on the help of her top making her t**s almost jump out.

"Yeah, sure. I'm always up for helping my fellow Pack mates. Contact Samantha and schedule a practice with me." - I said purposely mentioning our Pack's secretary who was in charge of all our callenders, something that proved to be necessary after Sasha moved out.

Her face twisted in confusion and she started shaking her head to clear up the misunderstanding, but thankfully another familiar face saved my ass.

"Baxter! We've got a meeting now, right?" - I shout over Sienna or Silia's shoulder, and then I look down at her. - "I've got a run, S. I'll see you around."

Not waiting for her response I rushed towards Norvin who stood in the middle of the hall looking around, as if making sure he was the Baxter I was referring to.

"Phew, call it luck, but you coming here just saved my ass." - I said to him in a low voice.

"Glad I could help?" - he said looking over my shoulder at Silia, who's eyes I could still feel on me.

"You're heading for breakfast?" - I asked.

"More like dinner since I just finished my shift, but yeah." - he shrugged and now that he mentioned it, he did look kind of tired.

My sister always said that Norvin, who is in fact her best friend, was the absolute worst at rebelling against his parents. He is a typical guy from a rich home, with way too much money and not nearly enough attention. So when it came to picking his life career, he did the only thing he could to be seen by his parents, who are absolutely awesome people by the way, but they are more concerned about socializing with others, often forgetting about their kid. We all knew Nolan, Norvin's father, the hot shot accountant, who takes care of not only our assets, but my sister's Pack too, wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. But Norvin shocked us all when he went to medical school to become a doctor. I know, quite the rebel, right?

"How about we eat in my office?" - I suggested, but Nor only raised his brow in question. - "Oh, come on, be a friend here, I need you to be my cover, otherwise I won't get rid of her." - I added in a pleading tone.

"First of, I'm your sister's friend, not yours…"

I grabbed my chest and feigned pain.

"That hurts, man."

He smirked and shook his head in amusement. Norvin has known me since we moved to this country and he met my sister, so he's quite used to my antics and they never shocked him as much as they did my brother. I guess he, just like Sasha, chose to have an open mind when it comes to me.

"Fine. But you'll owe me for this." - he said with narrowed eyes, and I knew that whatever that favor would be, it would most likely be about some new expensive medical equipment, and passing his motion with my brother. There's no harm in that, right?

"Done." - I said happily.

We went to my office and I asked Sam to order us two breakfast here. She was a lifesaver who didn't question me on anything, like others tend to do, still seeing me as Alpha's little brother.

"So what's new, Baxter? I feel like we haven't talked for ages." - I asked while munching on my toast.

"We haven't, because as far as I know, I have the wrong set of genitals." - he snickered. - "By the way, did you know that STDs are a thing even among werewolves? If you want I can run some tests for you. Everything would be of course under doctor - patient confidentiality."

"And my sister." - I said matter-of-factly, knowing fully well he would blab even my darkest secret the first opportunity he gets.

"And your sister." - he repeated with a chuckle. It wasn't a secret the two told each other way too much. But at least my brother-in-law drew the line at overseeing her pregnancies, and the Goddess blessed him for that.

"What's up with her, by the way? It feels like I haven't talked with her since forever." - I asked.

"Three weeks, if her hormonal brain is correct." - Nor rephrased, taking another sip of his tea. - "She's good. But she looks like she could pop any minute now, so you could show some interest in your new nephew." - he gave me the judgmental look I knew oh too well, but he did have a point.

"I will. Have they chosen the name yet?"

"Apparently yes, but Sasha claims she won't reveal it until the baby is born. I tell you those pregnant she-wolves are getting more and more ridiculous with every passing year. But anyway, what's new with you, aside from troubles with the ladies?" - he asked.

"Overflow is rarely a problem." - I pointed out, and Nor shook his head, but an amused smirk crept on his face. It was no secret that he saw me more like his best friend's younger brother than his Gamma, and that's quite alright. As original members of Harvest Moon and a family who helped us greatly, the Baxters, even though without a rank, were treated differently than any other members. They were almost like a family.

"As your physician I should probably tell you that too much of… well, everything is bad for you, but you share a gene pool with Sasha and Vanya, so you probably already know that."

I chuckled to myself and nodded.

"Yeah, you're probably right." - I admitted, there was no point in arguing with him, he either knew me too well to buy my cocky remarks, or would simply call my sister to get his story straight. That what happens when someone knows you since you were thirteen. - "So how's your internship going? Doctor Chow is giving you a hard time?"

Nor sighed, wordlessly saying that it's not a piece of cake, but before he could elaborate someone knocked on my door and without even asking for my invitation pushed the door open. And there are just three people in the world who do that, and sure enough it was two of them at once, the third one is heavily pregnant, annoying someone else at the time.

My brother was first one in, he glanced around and slightly frowned when his eyes landed on Norvin, but he only stepped closer to him and shook his hand. And so did Grisha.

"And now my morning is officially ruined." - I said, dramatically blowing out the puff of air.

"Shouldn't you be more respectful towards your Alpha." - Grisha scolded me.

"Shouldn't you be in your room listening to Lionel Ritchie, and jacking off to my sister's pictures?" - I smirked, loving every second of his face getting red, like a ripped tomato. Yeah, making fun of his past relationship with Sasha will never get old and as a younger one with a certain reputation, it's my duty to never let him live it down.

"Enough you two." - Vanya broke us off, before our Beta could retaliate, and man we could go like this for hours. That's probably why Vanya hated it so much. - "We came here to inform you about the change in your schedule." - he announced, not even carrying, that Norvin was in the room. Like I said, we treat him like a family, with all its perks and downsides.

"Am I going on a trip?" - I joked, and surprisingly Vanya nodded. Which wasn't such a bad idea, after all, she-wolves from outside Harvest Moon were a fair game. - "Hopefully somewhere warm, the October days are getting colder." - I grinned at my brother.

My brother shook his head this time, and judging by his expression it wouldn't be something I enjoy. I may not be Sasha, but I can put two and two together just fine.

"Don't tell me I have to babysit Sasha until she pops. That's a hard no, Vanya and you know it. I got as close to newborns as handing a congratulations card makes me to." - I said, utterly mortified. That's not a secret that I first held Orson, Sasha's firstborn, when he was six months old, and his spine was no longer made of marshmallows.

"No, but it's good to know I would still be the best Uncle." - my brother said smugly and I was impressed with his almost joke. The guy is so strict and stressed out most of the time, that I was wondering if his facial muscles, other than those responsible for his permanent scowl, worked at all.

"So what is it then?" - I said leaning in my chair and watching my brother curiously.

"I've bought a few acres of forest on the northern outskirts of our land. I need you to scout the area and put the motions in place. But be careful, I heard some rogues reside in those woods. You can take a small squad with you, if you want." - Vanya said and I almost heard a concern over my safety in his tone. Touching.

"So we're growing again?" - that was great news, more lands mean more wolves and more wolves mean more security. It's always better to live in a big Pack, others would have to be mad to attack stronger Pack. And not to brag, but combined with my sister's Pack, we've got the numbers to be reckoned with.

"Yeah, I want to move there a survival course, and in the place of an old one build a block of row houses for at least twelve families." - Vanya said and I could already see in his eyes he had it all planned out. Or someone helped him.

"Good idea, let me guess… Sasha?"

My brother smirked and that's all I needed to know that was another one of my sister's ideas. Sasha may be an official Luna of Midnight Banes, but the deficiency of ranked she-wolves here, and her shares in Harvest Moon, makes her involved in our matters too. And I won't admit it to her face, but is a great thing for us, since she had that motherly touch that makes our Pack more homey and welcoming.

"So when do I leave?" - I asked.

"Tomorrow. I already asked Sam to move all your meetings, so you should be good to go."

I nodded, carefully to not show him I liked the new assignment way better than sitting behind the desk. After all, running through the forest is in my blood.