One thing Barbara Wolfe didn’t like was to be ignored. His mother was not going to stop trying to match make until all her children were mated and had little cubs in the oven.
“While I don’t care for the Alpha of the central pack, I allowed him to send his daughters here in the effort to see if you boys would find any of them mate material,” his father stated. He walked up to the island and kissed Aric’s mother.
They were used to his parents’ displays of affection. One of the few couples who had fallen in love with each other and became mates at the same time, it was all of their wishes to emulate them. Aric truly thought he had found that with Jordan.
She was sassy and beautiful. He smiled, remembering the times she’d answered any of his sarcastic remarks with something meant to reduce a lesser man to shreds. He found her attitude sexy as hell and incredibly fun. Last night he’d marked her. That’s what males gave their mates during a scenting ceremony. A mark. He’d bitten her. Not deep enough to create the larger scar of a mate mark, but he’d marked her as his. The bite had put his scent on her. It let others know she belonged to him. He’d been happy he’d finally gotten her alone, and for once, he was able to do what he’d been dying to for years.
He’d asked her to wait while he verified the perimeter was secure. Later, he’d returned to her, but she’d been gone.
“So?” He glanced up to see his mother frowning at him and his brothers. “Did any of you even bother to meet the girls we arranged for you?”
A chorus of “No” dropped a frown on their mother’s face.
“This really isn’t helping your cause,” she said. “How in the world do you plan to have mates by the fall if you don’t help me out here, boys?”
“Mom,” Jake answered. “I hate to break this to you, but we never said we wanted mates by fall.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course you didn’t. If it were up to you four, I’d never see a grandchild.”
Ellie walked in at that moment. She glanced back and forth between the table and her parents. She made a move to leave the kitchen, but Aric needed her.
“Ellie, come have something to eat.” He pulled out the chair next to him.
She glared at him. Hell, his sister had done him a favor and he repaid her by putting her on the spot with their parents. She strolled to the table and took a seat across from him.
“Ellie, honey, did you have fun last night?” His mother asked with enthusiasm. Apparently he and his brothers were not the only people she was trying to hook up.
“I did. Seeing Kelly and Marco so in tune to each other and their wolves make such a match was…great. And knowing that she got marked made the entire event a success.”
Nice. She brought it back to the main event. Their cousin Kelly and Marco. This reminded Aric of Marco’s younger—much dumber—brother Ricardo. The stupid teen had been ready to pounce on Jordan when Aric had arrived. Though he didn’t scent fear from her at being growled at by the brown wolf, it had still pissed him off to see any other male near his woman. Especially during a scenting ceremony. She was his.
“Yes, honey, but did you find any males there interesting?”
“No.” Ellie placed a sandwich on a plate and proceeded to ignore it. His sister’s blonde strands and delicate features matched those of his mother to perfection, while he and his brothers took after their father with the dark hair and harsher looks.
“Do you have any news on Caleb and what is happening with his pack?” His father asked, taking a seat at the large table next to his sons. He took a bite of a sandwich and pointed to Nathan. “I understand he’s having some trouble over on the south.”
Ellie’s gaze jerked up to stare at him. There were a number of questions in her eyes. Many of which Aric couldn’t answer. He had no idea what Caleb was thinking, nobody did. Things were strained over at the Rahound Pack. Though he and his brothers didn’t speak of it, they knew Ellie and Caleb had something going on, something deep. Even his parents knew. They didn’t bring it up, but they knew.
“Caleb is getting ready to fight for the pack leader position.”
“Damn.” Jake shook his head. “Things must be really bad for it to have gone there.”
They all knew Caleb would never remove anyone from power unless they abused it. He was the Alpha’s son. When his father passed, Caleb had been out of the country, leaving his uncle Rocco to take control.
“Do we need to go help him?” Nathan asked, pushing food around his plate.
He watched Nathan swivel his glass to make the soda funnel inside.
“He knows to ask for help if it becomes necessary,” Aric answered. “But I know he wants to try to handle it himself.”
His father nodded. “He does. If he is to be Alpha, he needs to push Rocco out of the way and face the pack on his own.”