Chapter 24

***Alpha Ethan***

As soon as the words barely leave my mouth, I earn a stern glare from the scrawny little boy, who has a defiant aura around him, daring me to mess with his mother with his eyes.
I look at her and then at him before the realization dawns on me. This is the little boy I found in that street who had just been turned into a werewolf.
And he is her son.
Fuck me.
Luckily, this human hasn’t realized that I’ve already met her newly turned son, and from the look on the kid’s face, he seems to want it to be kept that way. Well, like mother, like son.
The scent of Alicent fear invades my senses when Vi mindlinks me, ‘Why did you ask if she has a child?’
‘Not only did she come here for help, but she also has a child with her.’ I lie.
The expression on Vi’s face is both disappointment and fury as she looks at me, reacting to my answer. I feel like shit because the reason for my question earlier wasn’t it.
Vi turns to the boy with a smile, “Hi, I’m Violet. But you can call me Vi.” The little shit smiles back at her, and she shifts to Alicent, “So this is your son! You’re both welcome here, Allie.” She firmly assures Alicent again.
Since when did she know this human? And why is my sister her friend, by the way?
“Thank you, Vi,” the human replies at the same time as I confront Vi through our mindlink about her new friend.
However, Vi’s response is short. ‘We’ll talk later. I’ve already told everyone that we have a human here in the pack, so don’t worry, the members know about her.’
We have a program for when this happens. Everyone knows that it’s forbidden to shift in front of a human who doesn’t know about our world. That’s why we have huge gates to keep anyone from entering Blackmoon without first being allowed.
Yet, I’m furious with my sister for not telling me this before. I was taken by surprise, but she probably must have mindlinked her useless mate and he must have only informed the people who had come into contact with the human until she made it to the packhouse. I really don’t know why he’s still my Gamma. Once I am away from them, I will have a serious talk with Vi and inform the remaining pack members who are unaware.
My sister exchanges a few words with Alicent as I try to silently take a deep breath to calm my anger. I don’t know why, but this human affects me in a way it shouldn’t. I want her as far away from me as possible, and yet what does my sister do? Welcome her to my own fucking packhouse.
I glance at little Dove’s delicate figure, and flashes of our brief night together rush through my mind.
My dick kicks in my jeans. Oh, hell no!
I quickly force myself to think about something else.
The little boy looks up at me, but doesn’t smile. His green gaze is assessing. It transitions from my sister to me, then around the living room, probably overwhelmed with the swirl of scents from several werewolves. He moves beside the woman, putting his thin arm around her waist.
His touch is careful and protective as though at any moment he intends to push in front of his mother, prepared to protect her with his much smaller body.
I should have known he was related to her the first time I saw him. I could smell her scent on him, but I mistakenly thought it was coming from me. I should have known better. Now, looking carefully at them, I spot the many things they have in common. He takes after a lot of his mother.
So, she has a child, I think to myself as I study her. But then my traitorous mind reminds me of how perfectly her body fits against mine... how I like it.
‘Well, like her from a distance,’ my wolf grumbles in my mind. ‘She isn’t our mate.’
“...Oh, my! I totally forgot to introduce you guys!” Vi points her hand at me. “This is my older brother Ethan.”
I reach out and take hold of her raised small hand. Her son’s glare increases in my direction as I’m trying so hard not to grin at this messy situation. “Hi, I’m Ethan.”
“Alicent.” She shakes my hand. *Aren’t you going to say your last name this time, little Dove?* I arch an eyebrow in her direction.
“You can let go of my mom’s hand now,” the little brat says, grabbing hold of her thin wrist and tugging his mother’s hand back. This little boy is something. If he were anyone else, I would already be using my Alpha aura to put him in his place, but I choose not to because he is just a mere child.
“Azrael!” Alicent whisper-scolds her son in her sweet voice, but he keeps looking at me. “I’m sorry about that. He must be tired from the trip. Uhm,” she says, looking between me and him. “This is Az. I have only one of him.”
Only one of him?
She looks at me, blushing as if she’s realized what she’s just said. Even her son tilts his head at her with a confused look.
“I mean, there’s only one of him! You know, he is my only son, no—I mean, he is my only child.” She chuckles awkwardly with flushing cheeks, trying to smooth over her confusion.
I can’t help. I have to smile at her choice of words. She looks adorable when she’s nervous.
I grab the boy’s small hand as though I haven’t seen him before. “Az.”
But then he looks at Vi instead of me. “Mom calls me Az, and you can call me that, too.” He shifts to me, still holding my hand, “For you, I can go by Azrael.”
I gaze at him with utter disbelief. “Azrael. Okay. I got it,” I give his hand a brief squeeze, more than necessary, but to his credit, he only winces slightly.
The little boy in front of me is so small that he barely reaches my belly button. Maybe his reaction is because he’s caught a whiff of my alpha scent, and since he’s clueless about our world, he senses me as a threat. Not that he’s wrong.
Alicent bends down to her son’s eye level. “Az! What’s gotten into you?” she whisper-yells at him, and he looks at her with apologetic eyes.
“You guys must be tired. I’ll show you to your room,” Vi suggests, reaching for Alicent’s shoulder. “I’ll help you get your baggage.”
Alicent slowly stands up with a blush on her cheeks and points to the small backpack with some colored marker stains on its side. “No need, it’s all here.”
I can see that Vi is trying her best to school her reaction, but she isn’t very successful. “Okay. Let’s go then!” my sister says, pointing to the stairs to the right.
“Come on, Az.” Alicent affectionately tugs her arm around the boy’s shoulder.
But he looks up at her, “Mom, I think I forgot my book in the car. You can go ahead. I’ll follow you right away.”
Alicent isn’t looking at her son’s obvious lie, she’s gazing around the living room. “Okay, let me take your backpack so you don’t have to carry anything,” she says, taking his backpack off his shoulders and then starting to follow my sister. I have no idea what weight she’s talking about since his backpack looks empty.
I watch her ass as she mounts the stairs. I don’t mean to stare, but her back is to me, so who gives a fuck. I’ve also been rock hard this entire time. That’s why I don’t want her around me and why I can’t wait for her to get out of my pack. On the one hand, I’m kind of thrilled that I feel something other than the nothing I always feel, but on the other hand, it only seems to be working for her. It’s not something I can explain. And I’m not going to the goddamn healer of my pack and ask if this shit is normal. I could ask Josh, my Beta and best friend… but then again, he’ll laugh at me so hard I’ll never live it down. Little Dove does it for me. That’s all there is to it. As she makes her way up the stairs, she sways her fucking hips, ones that I’d love to fuck agai—
Hell, no.
Little Dove smiles warmly at an Omega and greets him briefly, along with Vi, when they meet him at the top of the stairs heading to the guest quarters. I watch as the Omega smiles back at her.
A little too wide for my liking.
My attention is diverted to the boy as soon as his mother disappears from my sight. I know I should let him know that she can’t find out about our world, but I’m really curious why he’s keeping it a secret from his mother, considering their close bond. That’s why I provoke him, “You know she’s going to find out about you, don’t you?”
“Mom has suffered enough... It’s my duty to protect her,” he answers.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t like the way you talk and look at my mother,” Azrael says, changing the topic.
My lips twitch, and I have to avert my face so he doesn’t see it. It wouldn’t be a good idea to let the brat know he’s amused me.
Little does he know that what I really want is to be far, far away from her.
“Even if you wanted to tell her, boy, you couldn’t do it. It’s strictly forbidden in our world.” I cast my gaze upon him once more and make my point crystal clear. “She’s human. Humans can’t know about us.”
He nods as if relieved. Even his little shoulders relax. “That’s good. I want my mother’s heart intact.”
For a moment, I am taken aback by Alicent’s son’s devotion to her.
And a longing lingers in my heart. When will I have my own children?
A long sigh comes from me with the thought. “Okay, Azrael. Go find your mother.”
He nods and wastes no time running up the stairs in the direction she went.
As I’m turning to go to the office before heading to my room, Kelly mindlinks me, “Same time as always, Alpha Ethan? I can’t wait to take your dick inside me.”