Chapter 38

I really wish the floor would open up and swallow me whole because I can’t be any more mortified.
“I...I-Well, uh, I,” I look away, desperately searching for an excuse, but she deserves more than that, so I turn my gaze back to her. 
Vi has her arms crossed and is looking at me with an arched eyebrow as if waiting for my lame excuse. “You what? Slipped and fell on my brother’s dick?” she asks sternly, but I can see the amusement in her eyes. 
“Good Lord, Vi!” I put my hands on my face. “It’s not what you think!”
“So you didn’t have sex with my brother?”
Oh, God. How do I always get myself into these embarrassing situations? 
Even when I don’t open my fat mouth and talk, I still end up in embarrassing situations.
I groan. “I didn’t know he was your brother,” I say, taking my hands away from my face. “I’m so sorry, Vi!”
“Really, Allie? My brother?” she asks, uncrossing her arms.
“I didn’t know! I swear!” I repeat, walking towards her and stopping when I’m a few feet away. “It was stupid to have a one-night stand. That’s just... not for me.” I groan again, looking up at the ceiling. I feel my cheeks flush, and my voice trembles just a little as I say, almost whispering, “I thought Ethan and I had something special.”
We both fall silent for a moment. But then Vi reaches out and touches my arm, causing me to look at her. “Allie...” She blinks at me, the soft smile she always wears fading into something more guarded. 
“I mean, I know it sounds silly, but I...” I say right away, feeling my skin get warmer.  “I really thought Ethan and I had something special.”
Vi stays quiet. Her eyes meet mine; they’re gentle but firm.
“I get it,” she says softly. “I do, really. But, Allie...” She pauses, and I can feel the weight of her words before she even says them. “I don’t think Ian—”
“Ian?” I ask, confused.
“I’ve always called him that since we were kids, I couldn’t say Ethan, and it just stuck.” She shrugs. I smile. How adorable. “As I was saying, I love my brother, but I don’t think Ian is the one who’s going to give you the kind of love you deserve.”
For some reason, her words hurt more than they should have. I bite my lip, trying not to let the tears in my eyes fall. “I know he’s your brother, but he...” I look at the stairs behind her. “I’ve never felt what...” My voice is barely a whisper now as if saying it too loudly might break the last thread of hope. I try to explain my feelings, but I can’t find the right words. “Maybe he—”
“No,” she says, gently shaking her head. “It’s not you, Allie. It’s him. I know my brother, and he can’t... see you the way you see him.”
I blink rapidly, trying to stop the tears that threaten to spill. I already knew that. 
*Stupid, Alicent!*
“Yeah! Yeah, I know...” I say, my voice cracking just a bit. “I just... I was just... venting. I’m sorry! I’m being silly.”
Vi takes my hand in hers. Her touch is warm. I look at her eyes again. They hold that same steady kindness that I’ve come to count on. “You have such a big heart, Allie,” Vi says softly. “You deserve better. Ian can’t....” Vi pauses, biting her bottom lip. “Never mind. Let’s go to sleep. You must be tired.” 
I frown at her sudden change of subject. But I let it go. “Okay, let’s go...” 
We start walking up the stairs in silence. 
“How many one-night stands have you had?” she asks me with a teasing smirk, and I’m glad to see that her demeanor is completely different. 
I playfully push her arm. “Well, I only took your advice once,” I say with a smile. “And look where I ended up.” 
“Ugh, and why did it have to be with my brother?” This time, she’s the one who groans. “Karma is a bitch!” she says, chuckling. 
I giggle, but then I notice that when her head looks forward, her eyes look distant. 
I hope that now that she knows I had a one-night stand with her brother, it won’t affect our friendship.

🐺 🐺 🐺
***Alpha Ethan***

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Little Dove asks her son worriedly for the thousandth time, making me roll my eyes. “You can wait until I have a day off from work, and I’ll come with you, buddy.”
Her clothes hang off her in a way that indicates she’d lost weight since the last time she was here. Not that she had much to begin with. Even so, she is stunning... and terrifying. If she is this captivating to me now, I can only imagine how much more so she’d be when she gains some weight. Would her hips and ass get fuller from the weight she put on?
‘There is no use in fantasizing about this female. We can’t have her. We’re meant for our fated mate,’ my wolf reminds me.
“You haven’t even started work, and you’re already thinking about taking a day off? Unbelievable.” I say, quickly finishing my coffee in one gulp, then noisily pushing the chair back as I get up from the table.
‘Seriously?’ Vi mindlinks me, giving me an intense glare from across the table.
Similarly, Little Dove’s gaze lands on me briefly before turning back to her son next to her,  her eyes instantly transforming into a gentle and loving expression, utterly different from how she looks at me.
“I don’t know if this is a good idea, buddy. What if you end up getting hurt?”
“I’ve always wanted to practice martial arts, Mom. I promise I’ll be careful.” He puffs out his little chest. “I want to be stronger so that I can protect you and Lily!”
Vi and Allie giggle at his answer. Little does his mother know how much of the truth he is telling. I let out a long breath. “Now, let’s go before I change my mind.” 
I don’t know what I was thinking when I offered to train this brat. Of course, he needs help, just like every werewolf child, but I should have tasked it to someone else. I only offered because I don’t think his mom would let him do this with someone she doesn’t know. Well, of course, she doesn’t know what our training will be like. If she did, she would probably freak out.
“We have to go too, Allie. Before school begins, I’d like to give you a tour.” Vi stands up, typing on her phone at the same time.
Allie gazes out of the open kitchen window, taking in the sight of a sunny day with only a few clouds scattered across the sky. “Okay! Let’s go. I don’t want to be late on my first day,” she says with a contagious smile. 
But her bright smile quickly fades when I say, “For someone who’s already planning to take time off before even clocking in, you’re really committed!” 
Azrael gets up and runs out of the kitchen before she can say anything. “I forgot something. I’ll be right back.” The sound of his footsteps echoes in the long hallway of the packhouse.
“Wait, Az. Don’t run like that,” Allie says. “Ugh. I’ll go see if he needs help, Vi.” She gets up and goes after her son.
“I’ll be waiting for you outside,” my sister replies.
“I expect excellence in your performance, Little Dove. Don’t be late.” I say to tease her.
Before walking out the door, she turns back to me with blushing cheeks and shouts, “Stop calling me that!” Then her eyes widened, and she looked in my sister’s direction. Little Dove opens her mouth as if to say something but closes it and then leaves the kitchen with long strides.
I chuckle but immediately stop when I look at my sister, who has a smirk on her lips.
But then she shakes her head. “I don’t know what the hell is going on between you two, but stop. Just stop.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I answer with a shrug.
“Yes, you do.” She glares at me, coming towards where I am. “Leave Allie alone. She’s not like the other women you meet at the nightclub.”
“That’s funny because that’s exactly where I met her.”
“Ha. Ha.” Vi says humorlessly. “You know what I mean! You don’t know Allie. She’s not as detached as you are. Don’t encourage her to have any feelings for you, Ian. You know damn well they won’t be reciprocated.”
‘She’s right,’ my wolf agrees with my sister. 
“Whatever,” I reply to both of them. “Don’t forget that you’re the one who asked me to help her,” I say to my sister with a smirk.
“Not with that kind of help, dickhead,” Vi says, shaking her head.
“Don’t worry,” I say, turning my back to her as I walk out of the kitchen. “I certainly don’t want anything to do with her, let alone encourage it.”

🐺 🐺 🐺

“Are you going to be Mom’s new boss?” Azrael asks with his arms crossed, sitting on one of the benches in the packhouse gym. He’s been frowning since we got here.
Standing in front of him, I roll up the long sleeves of my shirt. “Well, yeah, because I’m the Alpha of Blackmoon.”
He looks away at the punching bag on the other side of the gym, to my left. “Will she really get a day off? Her other job made her work all the time, like every single day. And... people were super mean to her there.”
Fuck. I didn’t know that. I look at the worn-out state of the boy’s clothes. So where did all the money from her last job go? “Yeah, she will,” I answer. “But she can’t find out what we’re doing here.”
He uncrosses his arms and looks at me. “Okay. What are we going to do first?” The little shit asks, still in an insolent tone.
“First, you need to learn more about our world. You still have a year to go before you meet your wolf, but there are many things you can do to prepare yourself.”
“Uh, I have a question,” Azrael says, tilting his head to the side. I can already read several questions in his green eyes. “Why do some people have a glow around them?”
“What do you mean?”
Using his index finger, he traces a circular path around his head. “Here, here, and here. Some people have a light... Mom has such a bright light that sometimes I can’t pay attention to what she’s saying.”
No. That can’t be true. “Can you see your mother’s aura?” I ask in disbelief.
“Is that what it is called? Aura? Yeah, I guess... Isn’t that good? Does that mean something bad?” Azrael gets up from the bench, standing now just a few feet away from me.
“Hey, calm down, kid! Actually, only Alphas can truly see people’s auras. That’s how they recognize some intentions and feelings of their pack members,” I explain, putting my hand on Az’s bony shoulder. To my shock, he didn’t shake me off like I expected. Yeah. Maybe he does need some reassurance here. “That doesn’t mean anything bad. It’s a privilege. It means you’re an Alpha.”
“Like you?” he asks, looking up at me.
“Hm, yeah. One could say that. When I was your age, I could already see people’s auras too.”
“What does this intense glow in the aura mean?”
“When you meet your wolf, you’ll know how to interpret people’s auras. But in general, the more intense the glow in the aura, the more it means that the person has no negative or malicious intentions. Usually, the person is... pure. The person has a pure heart. Wolves are attracted to this because the brightness in the aura reminds them of the light of the moon. Yeah. I agree. Sometimes, I think the Moon Goddess has her favorites.” I open a small smile.
Az notices that my hand is on his shoulder and shakes his shoulders so that I can take my hand off. “Well, don’t be captivated by the beautiful glow of my mother’s aura!” He says without hesitation. The nerve of this brat! “What about the bad smell of some people? It’s not like the smell of not having bathed. It’s a strange smell... Like, it stinks a lot. It hurts my nose,” Azrael asks, pinching his nose as if he could recall the unpleasant odor and was reliving the experience.
“Ah, I know what you mean. These people are called rogues. I’ll explain what that means later. But be careful around these people.”
“Mom always said that some of our neighbors smelled bad, like, she felt bad for thinking that about them. I always thought she was exaggerating because I never smelled it, but now it’s just too much!”
Hmm... That’s odd. I had a certain urge to move Alicent out of that building, not only because of the neighborhood but also because I could smell several rogues in the building. This is likely just a mere coincidence.
“Okay, enough chit-chat. Let’s get started.” I clap my hands together loudly. “You’re too young to learn how to fight or defend yourself. First of all, you need to work on your hiding skills.”
And that’s what we did. A few hours later, I was still explaining our world to Azrael with less patience as I taught him how to hide himself. He’s been asking some pretty interesting questions for a 9-year-old boy. Sometimes, I thought this boy was like nine going on forty.
He reminded me of myself when I was younger, but I was never as innocent a child as Azrael. I’ve always been more of an adult-like child. Maybe it was because I knew from a young age that I would need to take care of my pack in the future, while Azrael had Allie to take care of him in a soft way. That’s the reason why I’ve been pushing him harder and demanding a lot from him in these initial exercises.
“You could have done better. I’ll be tougher on you tomorrow. That’s all for today. Your mom should be here soon.”
“I did everything you told me, and you still said it was all wrong! That’s not fair!” The brat complains, panting. “Also, I’ve seen how you’ve been looking at Mom! Stop it! Stay away from her! Mom and Dad will get back together, and we’ll be a family again!”
No one will fucking have Little Dove!
Wait. She’s nothing to me.
Nothing.
“What? Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t want your mommy,” I reply, running my hand over my face. Fuck.
I look at Azrael; his cheeks are rosy from exhaustion. Maybe I pushed him too hard for the first day.
“Good! Mom and Dad will be together again soon,” he says, starting walking towards the gym exit. Then, he goes on, almost whispering, “And you’re not good enough for my mom anyway!” 
“What did you say?” I ask, even though I know what he said.
He has nearly gotten to the door when he turns as if the distance could protect him. “You losing your hearing, old man? I’ve read that happens a lot as you get older. And meaner!” 
I glare at him. “Watch your tone, little boy.”
Suddenly, Alicent appears at the door with a huge smile towards her son. “Hey, buddy!” She scans Azrael’s body. He is still panting a little. “Looks like it was fun!” 
The little brat says before grabbing her hand and pulling her away from the gym. “I’d rather have another anaphylactic shock, Mom.”