Calix
I sat on the bed and pulled her into my lab. She relaxed in my arms. I breathed in her scent. I groaned. She smelled so good. My lips found the unblemished skin of her neck. I licked and bit the skin without breaking it. Chasity shivered in my arms. I could smell her arousal. I found the spot I wanted on her neck and sucked on it, giving her a hickey so the other wolves at school would know she was mine. The hickey would be enough for now to deter other unwanted suitors. It was something those fated but unmated did. Like a temporary mark. Alex and Felix stopped squabbling abruptly. They climbed onto the bed. I gave Chasity to Alex.
Alex
I held Chasity close to my chest. I did not want to alarm her so I took things slow. I planted soft kisses on her neck until I zeroed in on a spot. I sucked on her skin. She tasted sweet like honey. She always smelled like honey too. Everything about Chasity was golden like honey, her skin, her hair. I grazed my teeth over her neck without breaking the skin. Calix was massaging her feet, helping her to relax in my arms. I admired the hickey I had made before I gently handed her to Felix, giving him a warning look as I did so.
Felix
I tried to go as slowly as my eager wolf would allow. He dictated the spot he wanted and we actually agreed. It was a more prominent spot on her neck than the placements of the other two hickeys. We wanted it to be unmistakable and difficult to cover. All the boys at school should beware. I sucked on her skin, relishing its sweetness. I could smell how aroused she was. Calix was rubbing her feet and massaging her ankles. I took the opportunity to breathe in her scent deeply before I pulled away to admire my handiwork.
Calix
Now at least Chasity didn’t look totally unspoken for. I doubted she would allow us to make a formal announcement to the pack, re-introducing her to everyone as the Luna. This would have to do for now, triplet hickeys. Word would spread like wildfire the way it always did when something happened in our lives. Everyone was always intrigued to hear about the affairs of the triplet alphas. I was used to the attention but I knew it would be an adjustment period for Chasity. She usually managed to fade into the background despite her beauty. She was somewhat shy and seemed to be a loner. No one had ever come to call on her at the pack house. I hoped she would befriend a few of the other young women in the pack. A Luna needed a strong support system. It wasn’t an easy job.
“Don’t forget date night,” I reminded her brightly on the way out.
On my way back to my room, Mom stopped me.
“Calix, Honey! Come talk to Mommy!” She said.
I smiled. She led me up to her room. Dad was out.
“What’s up?” I asked, having a feeling this was about Chasity.
We’d scarcely been fated to her for a day and Mom was already filled with trepidation. We both sat on the edge of the bed.
“It’s about Chasity,” Mom admitted.
I stifled a groan. I nodded, showing her I was listening.
“I’m worried about you three, especially you, Honey! You know you’re the most sensitive,” she said in hushed tones.
“I suppose,” I said.
“Yes, well, it’s not your fault. You are the youngest so it’s to be expected!” She said.
We were only a few minutes apart each but birth order was extremely important among wolves especially regarding Alpha Lineage.
“Chasity clearly want to leave as soon as she finishes high school. She wants to go looking for her parents. If you get too attached to her, it’ll be heartbreaking for you when she leaves,” explained Mom.
It was a possibility.
“If she leaves, I’ll go after her,” I said simply.
Mom chuckled sadly.
“You can’t make her be with you,” said Mom.
“You made her clean this house,” I retorted. Mom narrowed her eyes.
“And I’m not forcing her. I’m wooing her. All mates require a little convincing. All Alphas have to win over their respective Lunas,” I reasoned, trying to soften things because of my earlier retort.
“I just think it might be easier for you to reject her now so you have time to get over it,” said Mom gently.
I stood up.
“Relax,” said Mom putting her palms up and motioning for me to come back.
I folded my arms and remained standing. Mom took a deep breath.
“I’m not rejecting Chasity,” I said before she could say anything else.
“If you change your mind, your father and I are willing to pay for Chasity to have a nice place to stay, other than here at the pack house, where she can finish high school. I know it’ll be too painful having her around the house if things don’t work out,” said Mom.
I stared at her blankly.
“So don’t let the fact that your mate already lives with you influence your decision,” said Mom with an awkward laugh. “You’re not stuck with her.”
“Before you help me make Chasity comfortable here so she’ll stay, you’re already planning her departure,” I said sadly.
Mom opened her mouth but did not say anything. She sighed.
“I have a date to get ready for,” I mumbled, walking out of the room.
“A date?” Said Mom eagerly, running behind me. “I thought you had broken up with Audrey!”
“Avery! And yes we are broken up. The date is with Chasity,” I said without turning around.
She let me go.
Alex
Dad had asked me to go for a drive with him which was always his way of saying he had something important to tell me that he could not share with Mom or my younger brothers. Dad parked on a lonely road. There was just ice and snow for miles. The ice up ahead was the Ice Moon River, frozen over. It was that way for about six months each year. There was only about two months each of spring, summer and fall after which there was another six month winter. That was how our pack lands were. We were in November, one of our winter months. Winter usually lasted from November to April, followed by Spring in May and June, summer in July and August and Fall in September and October. I had to do whatever was necessary to keep Chasity with us throughout the long Winter. Once it was spring time, there were a lot more things I could impress her with. Springtime was a romantic season. The pack morale was high in the warmer months and our pack lands were so beautiful then with our clean rivers and fragrant forests. We had a lot of Maple trees so the forests always smelled sweet. Chasity used to love drinking from the faucets screwed into the Maple tree near the pack house. It was usually difficult to get open so Calix would turn the faucet on for her. I would watch them from my bedroom window. I felt stupid when I thought about how most of my memories of Chasity were from afar.
“I have something to tell you,” said Dad.
We both stared ahead, not looking at each other. We had a lot of talks like this.
“Tell me,” I said simply.
“It’s…I don’t want you to get angry,” said Dad.
“You know I’m not easy to anger,” I said.
That was Felix.
“It’s about Chasity,” said Dad.
“If this is you trying to talk me out of being with Chasity then don’t bother,” I said frankly.
“It’s not. I won’t insult you like that. You’re a grown man and an Alpha. I raised you to be in charge of a lot. If you want to be with Chasity, I know there’s no stopping you but you need to know that Mom and Chasity’s Dad are…related,” said Dad.
My heart plummeted.
“Related how?” I asked quickly.
I was already in love with Chasity. Fuck. We had not done anything yet. I tried to calm myself down.
“They’re not biologically related,” clarified Dad.
The relief was massive.
“You could have started with that!” I snapped.
Dad glared at me.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “Continue.”
“Your Mom and Chasity’s Dad are step-siblings. She’s his older stepsister,” said Dad.
I stared at him.
“Why was this a secret?” I asked.
“Your Mom…she was estranged from her step-brother so she didn’t really know Chasity until he dropped her off on our doorstep when she was nine and he was in trouble and on the run from some bad people he had gotten mixed up with. I don’t know all the details. I just know that your Mom and him used to be close as kids. Their relationship fell apart when he met his mate, a girl your Mom hated and saw as a bad influence. She was a bad influence. Your mother was right. The girl got him into drugs, drinking, partying, gambling. Chasity always reminded your mother of that girl,” explained Dad.
“Well, obviously! That girl was Chasity’s mother,” I said, feeling annoyed.
This did not change anything between me and Chasity. We were not biologically related and we still belonged together.
“I don’t care,” I said with a sense of finality.
“You should,” said Dad.
“And why is that?” I asked.
“If you mean to make Chasity your Luna…”
“She is!” I said fiercely.
“Well, you can’t keep a secret like that from your own Luna. You have a pack to run together,” said Dad.
He was right.
“Let me…endear her to us a bit more before I tell her,” I said.
“Ok, good idea. Don’t rush to tell your brothers either,” said Dad. “You’re the best at handling stress so let them adjust to being Alphas and to having Chasity as a mate before you dump this on them. It complicates things,” said Dad.
“Chasity is your step-niece,” I said.
“Your mother’s step-niece,” he corrected.
“Ok fine but your step-niece in law,” I countered since he wanted to be so specific.
“Why didn’t you raise her like that? Like a niece that you had taken in? How can she be paying off debts if she’s family?” I asked.
“She’s not related to us,” said Dad stubbornly.
“You know what I mean,” I said.
“I never wanted her to come live with us. Her father did not give us a choice. He just dropped her off. We didn’t even know her. Your Mom saw them drive away and recognised Chasity from a Christmas Card or something. She was a stranger,” said Dad.
“She was nine,” I said.
“Well, may you be perfect then,” grumbled Dad.
“Chasity and I would never do what you did. We would never make a child work like that to pay off their parents debts whether we were related or not, whether we knew them or not. It’s not right and you know it,” I said.
“So you only just realised it’s not right?!” Dad snapped.
I laughed humourlessly.
“I’ve known but I wasn’t the Alpha then. I’m the Alpha now.”