#12 The Triplets of Emerald Forest

Chapter 2 Griffin

“There is so much about this that is unnecessary.” I grumbled, following my brothers, Godric and Gabriel, out of the packhouse.

“Oh, I don’t know, I think it’ll be fun.” Ric winked and I just rolled my eyes at him in disgust.

“This isn’t about having fun, Ric, it’s about business.” Gabe snapped, seeming irritated with the pair of us.

“I don’t think we need to make an alliance with a pack like Harvest Moon in the first place.” I argued.

We reached Gabe’s SUV and climbed in. As usual, Gabe drove with Ric in the passenger seat. As the youngest, I was always shoved in the back seat. Mind you, I was only younger by 10 minutes, but they never let me forget it.

“They’re only a few hours away and could be helpful in the event of an attack. Having an understanding with them is not the same as being friendly.” Gabriel eyed me from the rearview mirror.

Gabriel was born first, making him the ultimate Alpha over the three of us, but we all shared in the responsibility of leading our pack and making decisions as joint Alphas. Ric was the middle triplet and, as such, was the loudest and most rambunctious. I liked to think of myself as the fun, easygoing brother, but I’m sure Ric and Gabe have other opinions.

We were driving into the city to meet up with Alpha Kingsley of the Harvest Moon pack. D.C. was a neutral, centralized location between our two packs making it, in Gabe’s opinion, the perfect place for hosting our meeting. Being the generous Alpha that he is, Gabe allowed Alpha King to pick the location and he chose a gentlemen’s club in the downtown area. Ric was beside himself with anticipation, Gabe, as usual, was emotionless about the whole thing, and I was struggling to hide my irritation.

“I’ve heard good things about this club.” Ric said, changing the subject.

“Alpha King has reserved a VIP booth for us to conduct our meeting. Once our business is finished, we’ll be going.” Gabe glared at Ric.

We might be identical triplets, but we couldn’t have been more different.

Gabe was a strong, level-headed leader who remained impartial and emotionless in nearly all aspects of his life. He looked at things from a logical perspective which, as an Alpha, was great but, as anything else, was not so great. This included the idea of finding our mate and Luna. Instead of a romantic life partner, Gabe was only interested in a Luna who could rule at our side without much assistance; a sort of business partner if you will.

Godric was all brute force and bullheadedness. He was the best fighter among us, brutally honest, and not at all tactful or in tune with his emotions. However, he felt that a mate was precious and his to protect, care for, and nurture. He sees his mate as someone who should be guarded and protected, under watchful eyes, and not allowed to leave the packhouse or engage in any sort of activity that he deemed as dangerous (which were nearly all activities). I wasn’t sure how well he thought that was going to go over with a woman but, that was his problem not mine.

I see myself as the most emotional of the group and definitely as the jokester. No doubt I was the class clown, always playing pranks on my brothers and getting a laugh from our pack members. I wanted a Luna who would be my equal, and a mate who I could love and cherish. I wasn’t interested in arm candy or a model Luna. I wanted a real life woman, strong and opinionated; my mother and younger sister have given me plenty of practice with that.

“You can leave whenever you want to.” Ric said,

“It’s dishonorable, Ric.” I kicked the back of his seat and he turned around to shoot me a mischievous look.

“Don’t be such a prude, Griffy.”

“Our mate won’t thank you for looking.” I shot back, swatting at his hand as he reached for the collar of my suit jacket.

“Knock it off you two.” Gabe growled, “This has nothing to do with our mate, Griff.”

“Going to a strip club is like cheating with our eyes.” I argued.

“You are such a sentimental ninny.” Ric huffed, turning back around in his seat.

“You won’t be saying that when our mate is tearing you a new one because you’re not pure.” I muttered in a smug voice.

I knew I was the only one among us who was still a virgin and I was determined to use that to my advantage.

“It’s been ten years, I’d say any decent she-wolf wouldn’t let that bother her.” Gabe pointed out.

“And if she’s not pure?” I c****d an eyebrow, challenging them. Gabe and Ric both growled in response.

“You two are such hypocrites.” I huffed and plopped back in my seat, crossing my arms over my chest in defiance.

“Can we steer this conversation back to the topic at hand?” Gabe sighed.

“Fine. We want an alliance with Harvest Moon in case we come under attack by rogues and we’ll offer them the same support in return.” I said, Gabe and Ric both nodded.

“Agreed and we’re not prepared to offer anything else. I don’t want any more ties than are absolutely necessary with this pack.” Ric added.

“Yes, I agree.” Gabe said,

Our three Betas were following us in a separate vehicle while our single Gamma stayed behind to oversee the packhouse in our absence. Our two SUVs pulled up behind the gentlemen's club and parked side by side. It was almost midnight by the time we arrived and the parking lot was nearly full.

“Everything good?” My Beta, Callie, asked as she walked up to my side.

“Other than the fact that I don’t want to be here.” I huffed and Callie laughed at me.

“Still complaining, Griffy?” Ric’s Beta, Ambrose, chuckled.

“Does he ever stop?” Gabe said as his Beta, Cambridge, joined the group.

Callie, Ambrose, and Cambridge Finley were the three children of our parents’ Beta, Garrick and his wife, our aunt, Lily. They were the obvious choices for our Betas since they had both the pedigree and our utmost trust. The six of us were practically raised as siblings and became best friends.

Waylon Greene, the adoptive son of our parents’ Gamma, Mateo and his human mate Caleb, is our Gamma. He’s the strongest warrior in our pack, an even better fighter than my brothers and myself, so he was a clear and obvious choice to guard our future Luna.

“I hate all of you.” I muttered and stomped off towards the back door of the club. I could hear the others laughing as they followed behind me.

The thumping from the music inside the club became louder and louder the closer to the door we got. The bouncer nodded at us as we approached.

“We’re here for a business meeting with Kingsley Black.” Gabriel said. The bouncer checked his clipboard before opening the door and showing us the way inside.

Once inside, one of the other bouncers took us the rest of the way through the club and towards a horseshoe shaped booth in the upper loft area. The club was dark with dim, colorful lights that changed with the beat of the music. On small circular stages around the club were dancers swinging around poles wearing almost nothing. I sighed and averted my eyes while Ric gapped openly at the closest dancer.

“Alphas!” Alpha Kingsley was already seated at the table with two men and a woman, “Welcome, welcome. Have a seat!” He grinned, motioning towards the other side of the table.

“Thank you for arranging this meeting, Alpha King.” Gabriel said diplomatically before introducing our Betas, “And I’m Alpha Gabriel. These are Alphas Griffin and Godric.” He added.

Almost nobody could tell us apart so we would purposefully dress in different colored suits and ties for meetings to help others distinguish between us.

“Of course, we’re happy you could join us. This is Beta Barren, Gamma Lucia, and my mistress, Maria.” Alpha King said,

“Not your Luna, then?” Ric asked the question we were all thinking. Leave it to him to speak so boldly. King laughed,

“No, my mate and Luna, Courtney, is at the packhouse. We are together in name only for the purpose of running the pack and creating strong heirs.” King shrugged casually like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Ric, Gabe, and I exchanged a look that said we were all on the same page about this one and that page was disgusted.

“I’ve heard that Harvest Moon and Emerald Forest have very different values.” King looked amused as he watched our exchange.

“Yes, well, we aren’t here because of our lifestyles. We’re here to make an alliance for our packs’ safety.” Gabe cleared his throat and moved the conversation towards a safe zone.

“I understand and Harvest Moon would be happy to accept an alliance with Emerald Forest. We offer protection and aid should your pack need it in terms of warriors, finances, and supplies.” King offered.

Gabe didn’t need to confer with Ric and I since we had discussed this before. We were all in agreement.

“We offer the same and look forward to continued peace.” Gabe extended his hand and King shook it.

“Splendid. I’m glad we could get that business taken care of!” King grinned, clapping his hands together once he finished shaking all of our hands.

“We really should….” Gabe made a move to stand but a waitress dressed in a bright red bikini suddenly appeared in front of the table, blocking his escape.

“Hello, boys,” The waitress stretched her arm out across the back of the booth and leaned towards Gabe, “What are we drinking tonight?” She purred.

“Hi there, Sugar, I was afraid we missed your show.” Barren sneered, calling out the waitress by name. Or at least her stage name.

“Nonsense. I go on in an hour. Honey is up soon, though.” She winked at the wolves from Harvest Moon.

“Oh, you’re in for a treat. Honey is spectacular.” King said, making a motion with his hands to indicate what body part he thought was so spectacular.

“We hadn’t planned on staying.” Gabe began to argue, earning a sharp jab to the ribs by Ric. Lucia chuckled,

“I believe that one says differently.” Ric glared at Lucia,

“It’s Godric.” He said in a threatening tone.

One thing we hated more than just about anything else was when others didn’t take the time to learn our individual names. Honestly, it really wasn’t that hard.

“Stay for a couple of rounds,” King said and then motioned for Sugar, “Get us a bottle.”

Sugar nodded and scurried off. I wondered how often King came here to know the dancers by name and for them to know exactly what he drinks.

The music changed which, apparently, indicated that a new dancer was taking the stage. The atmosphere changed as well and, based on the whispers from those around us, the dancer known as Honey was about to come out and she was certainly a crowd favorite.

That’s when my wolf, Frost, began to howl dangerously in my head.