#12 The Triplets of Emerald Forest

Godric

Gabe and I followed after Griffin as he sulked from the room. I had to admit, I felt a bit like a wounded child after the good scolding we got from our mother, but it was definitely something that we needed. As usual, Mom was right and her touch was exactly what we needed to help this process along.

We made our way to the elevator and back up to our floor. I opened the door to our wing and was surprised to see Waylon and Harlow sitting in the living room, talking. Waylon jumped up from the chair when he saw us and bowed his head in greeting. Harlow’s reaction, on the other hand, was quite different as she glared at us from the sofa.

“Alphas.” Waylon said.

“Everything okay in here?” Griff asked, eyeing them both curiously.

I was practically shaking with anger beside him but tried desperately to contain it. Mom told me to remain calm so that’s what I was trying to do. It wasn’t Harlow’s fault that I was jealous beyond belief at seeing her sitting and talking openly with another man when she won’t even look in my direction without rage in her eyes.

“Yes, the Luna just had some questions about the pack structure and our titles so I was trying my best to answer them.” Waylon said,

“I didn’t mean any disrespect. I just wanted her to feel more comfortable.” He mindlinked us, probably sensing my fury.

“Thank you for answering her questions, Waylon. I’m glad to see the two of you getting along.” Griff smiled reassuringly and clapped him on the back.

I knew that, at the end of the day, we wanted our Gamma and Luna to have a solid relationship but, it was far more important that our Luna had a passionate relationship with us. The idea that our mate was connecting with another male before us was definitely threatening.

“Give us a minute.” Gabe said, also offering Waylon an appreciative grin.

I guess I was the only one who was really bothered about what we walked in on and that was fine by me. I’ll take over being the jealous mate without a problem.

“Harlow, we want to apologize for our behavior and everything that’s happened so far.” Griff began. Gabe and I nodded in agreement.

“We want to start over.” I said, walking across the living room to sit in the chair that was closest to our mate.

She watched me walk with a scrutinizing expression and settled her eyes on me as I sat. I was drinking in the attention of Harlow greedily and I never wanted her to look away.

“Our mother told us what you two discussed.” Gabe continued, sitting in the chair across from the sofa. Griffin was, once again, perched on the armrest at the other end of the couch.

“Yes.” Was all Harlow said.

“And we think that you two created a deal we can live with, but we wanted to discuss it further with you.” Gabe said, ever the diplomat.

“Why don’t you tell us what you want?” I pulled her attention back towards me, eager to give her whatever she wanted.

“I want to leave.” She mumbled.

Okay maybe not whatever she wants.

“But, I’ll settle for giving you a week before I demand to leave again.” She added with a frustrated sigh, “I want out of this room, though.”

“We appreciate you being willing to negotiate and we know we can convince you not to leave within seven days.” Griffin winked with a mischievous smile on his face. I rolled my eyes at him and groaned.

“Anyway, we also think it’s perfectly reasonable that you should want to leave this floor and explore the packgrounds. In fact, we want you to explore and see our home. We only ask one thing, that Waylon stays with you no matter where you go. This is something we would ask regardless of everything that’s happened, for your safety.” I tried to sound reasonable and not demanding.

Gabe and Griff looked at me, clearly impressed with my tone.

“Waylon was telling me that he’s supposed to be like my guard.” Harlow said, narrowing her eyes in confusion.

“Yes, he’s the Gamma and that’s his job.” I replied in a tight voice, not liking that I’ve heard her say Waylon’s name before my own.

“He said he’s the Luna’s guard and that’s not me.” She argued stubbornly.

“You are the Luna, our Luna.” Gabriel said in a bit of a huskier voice than mine.

“That’s not really important right now.” Griff glared at Gabriel who clamped his mouth shut.

“You have to promise us that you won’t try anything like you did last night again. The last thing we want is for you to be harmed.” I said fiercely.

She turned her doe eyes on me and our gazes locked. For the first time, she was staring straight into my eyes and it felt like she was looking at my soul.

“Okay.” She mumbled in a quiet voice.

“And we promise to be perfect gentlemen.” Griffin added, sensing that, that was also something she was worried about.

We heard her complain about being left alone in a room with Gabriel and a bed earlier, and that didn’t sit to well with us at all. We never wanted her to think that we were a threat to her in any way. Her eyes narrowed on Griff and she slowly nodded.

“You have to tell me why I’m here, though.” She said sternly and we all nodded in agreement.

“We will tell you everything today. But, first we want to get you out of this room. How about a tour of the packhouse and then we can sit down and talk about everything?” I suggested.

She seemed to be considering this before nodding, biting her bottom lip against the nerves I could practically feel radiating off of her.

“Perfect! Let’s go.” Griff grinned, clapping his hands and jumping up.

She looked at him like he was an idiot and it was honestly my favorite thing ever. I laughed loudly and stood from the chair, offering her my hand to help her stand up. She eyed it like it was a ticking time bomb before slipping her petite hand in mine.

I jumped at the explosion of sparks. I had felt them before when we had to sedate her, but they were nothing like how it felt when she willingly touched me. I shivered and glanced down at her face to see that she was staring at our hands.

“She’s gotta feel the sparks, too. Look at how she’s looking at your hands.” Griffin barked excitedly through the link.

“I could sense that she felt them too when I touched her earlier.” Gabriel added.

I tightened my grip as she stood up and then allowed her to let go, resisting the urge to whimper at the loss of contact.

Griffin and Gabriel headed out first with Harlow following behind them, and then me behind her. Waylon made up the caboose as we marched towards the elevator. The five of us crammed into the elevator and it was definitely a tight fit. I wasn’t complaining though because it meant that Harlow had to press herself against my side. I had never wished the elevator would slow down so badly in my life.

The doors opened and she basically pitched herself out of them. I sighed, it was nice while it lasted. We followed after her and began the tour of the bottom level of the packhouse.

We showed her the large living room with a brick fireplace that took up nearly an entire wall, built in bookshelves that contained the minibar, large blue sectional sofa, and the oversized chairs that sat on either side of the sofa.

Next was the formal dining room with the large farmhouse style table and darkly stained wooden chairs. It opened up to the gourmet kitchen that had white cabinets, concrete countertops, and an island with dark green cabinets.

There was also a mudroom with a closet the size of a small room by the door, and a full sized bathroom and laundry room combo. Dark hardwood floors ran throughout the entire house.

Apart from the living space, there was the wing that contained all of our offices in the back of the house. All the offices looked exactly the same with a large oak desk, two chairs sitting in front of it, a small sofa to the side, and wall to wall bookshelves; the only difference was the size of each office

The last part of the house was the sunroom with fluffy carpet and comfortable looking furniture. A collapsible wall led from the sunroom to the backyard and patio area.

The backyard was huge, fenced in, and backed up to the forest. Right now, it was mostly empty with just some outdoor workout equipment and a concrete patio underneath a white pergola. The patio was huge with a covered outdoor kitchen and large stone fireplace along with plenty of furniture.

Harlow stayed silent throughout most of the tour but it was easy to tell that the sunroom was her favorite part of the house. She seemed to glow in the sunlight that streamed in from the wall to wall windows.

“Why don’t we sit here and I can have the kitchen staff bring us out some tea?” Griff suggested, also seeming to notice how much Harlow enjoyed being here.

Harlow nodded and sat down on one of the chairs. We filled in around her and Griffin mindlinked the small kitchen staff. A few minutes later they arrived with a cart of a variety of teas including ice tea, lemon tea, and peach tea, all made with fresh fruit from the trees in the pack’s large orchard. Harlow requested peach tea and I grinned because that was my favorite, too.