#12 The Triplets of Emerald Forest

Godric

I stood up and looked at the piece of paper Ambrose had just put down on Gabe’s desk. It was a colored poster with big block letters on the top reading, missing person and then a picture of Harlow below it.

“Shit.” Griff grumbled, reading over the details.

“Hold on, let me search this number.” Gabe said,

He started typing away on his laptop and went to some sort of website he found that allowed him to look up unknown numbers. He used it when he was investigating other packs, rogues, or even human clients.

“It belongs to a woman named Toni Blank. It looks like she’s enrolled in the same university as Harlow so they must be friends.” Gabe said,

He was looking up the girl’s name to find out more information about her. He was scary good at this, which probably stemmed from all the police force experience we had in this family.

“I think we should ask Harlow about it. If she’s really keen on cooperating, she’ll call her friend and have her back off. It could be a good way for us to show her that we trust her.” Griffin suggested.

“I swear to the Goddess, Griff, if the human police show up at our front gate I’m going to be pissed.” Gabriel grumbled, looking irritated.

“Then we’ll just have to call up Wade and his fancy FBI team.” Griff suggested.

Of course, he was referencing our 26 year old brother who was a profiler with the FBI just like our mother was. He was born completely human, not a wolf soul in sight, but he didn’t let that slow him down. He followed in Mom’s footsteps by studying psychology in college and then joining the FBI after graduating from the police academy. Nova and Wade were on the same wavelength just like the three of us, honestly it was like they were twins.

“He’ll get a kick out of that.” I scoffed, thinking about the ego boost Wade would get from having to bail us out of human legal trouble.

“We would literally never hear the end of it.” Gabe said as he began fiddling with his laptop.

“We’ll talk to Harlow about it.” Griff said, settling the issue.

“I have to say, I think today went better than I expected.” I said, thinking about our mate.

“For sure.” Griff nodded, even Gabriel seemed to be in agreement.

“Now the real work begins.” I mumbled.

“What do you mean?” Gabe asked and I eyed him like he was insane.

“Have you ever actually wooed a female before?”

“No, have you?” He threw back at me and I frowned.

“Okay, no, but I know it’s not easy.” I grumbled.

“We just have to be ourselves.” Griff shrugged, not looking concerned.

“Maybe you can get away with that but, Gabriel is going to have to be like someone else.” I said, mocking his stiffness. He glared at me,

“The Moon Goddess paired her with us, that means she’ll like us how we are.” Gabe replied stubbornly.

“True but a little effort goes a long way.” Griffin said,

“Well, what do you suggest, then?” Gabe asked with an attitude.

“First off, I think we need to show her that we’re three individuals. We each need to spend some alone time with her, like arrange a date that’s just the two of us.” Griffin suggested, showing off his romantic dominance over the rest of us.

“Ooh, that’s actually really good.” I said, impressed.

“I have no idea how to arrange a date for a human but I do agree we need some solo time.” Gabe nodded.

“I’m sure you’ll think of something. No rules against calling in backup.” Griff chuckled and I immediately knew he was referring to the girls.

“Griff?” A thought struck me and I knew Griffin was the one to ask.

“That’s an unsettling tone.” Griffin said, cocking his head to the side.

“Do you think she’s really gonna be bothered by the fact that Gabe and I aren’t virgins?” I asked in a serious tone.

Griffin’s eyes went wide, like he was in shock, and Gabriel started hysterically laughing from behind his desk.

“What?” I yelled at him, feeling defensive and a bit embarrassed.

“She’s a human who worked as a pole dancer.” He stated obviously and I growled dangerously at him.

“No, I think he’s actually got a point this time. A she-wolf might’ve been jealous about that but I don’t really think she’s the type.” Griff shrugged with a crooked grin.

“I still want to know why she was in that club.” I grumbled.

“Well God damn don’t ask her like you did the last time. She didn’t like that at all.” Gabe snorted at me.

“I know, man, I don’t want her to think I’m judging her.” I sighed.

“I mean, I think it’s pretty obvious. She did it for the money. She’s a college student who, apparently, grew up in the foster system.” Griff said,

“I guess I didn’t think of it like that.” I mumbled mostly to myself.

Gabriel was suspiciously quiet as he typed away on his laptop. For some reason, I got the vibe that he was up to no good.

“What are you doing?” I asked him. Gabe remained silent and now Griff was on alert, too.

We looked at each other and stood up, walking behind Gabe’s desk to look over his shoulder. He had the website he used to search people up on the screen and a familiar name in the search bar.

“You’re looking up our mate?” I said in astonishment.

“Don’t we want to know about her parents?” Gabriel said, glancing at me from over his shoulder.

“Sure, but why can’t we just ask her about it?” Griff said, looking concerned.

I heard Griffin’s concerns, but I also found myself curious as I looked over the screen. Her birth certificate read Harlow Winters Nyx, date of birth: September 10th, 2120, place of birth: Syracuse Medical Center, Virginia. Mother: Bianaca Winters. Father: unknown.

“Her mother’s last name is Winters but that’s listed as her middle name. Her father is unknown, but her last name is different.” I said, pointing to the screen. I could feel Griffin glaring at me.

“Yeah, I’m not sure.” Gabriel shrugged as he continued to scroll down the webpage.

“Her mother was arrested when Harlow was two years old for drunk driving and that’s when she was surrendered to foster care. She was never adopted.” Gabe read off.

“Where’s her mother now?” Griff asked, leaning forward over Gabe’s shoulder. We both looked at him and he just shrugged, “Whatever.” He scoffed.

“Looks like she’s been in and out of jail for a variety of charges. DUI, public intoxication, drug possession, petty thief, and the list goes on. She’s serving a ten year sentence right now.” Gabe said, scrolling and clicking on random buttons until he was satisfied with the information.

“But, no idea who her father is?” I asked and he shook his head,

“Nope. No mention.”

“It doesn’t matter. If Harlow doesn’t want to know, we don’t need to know.” Griff said with a huff, walking away from us and the computer.

“Okay, okay.” Gabriel gave up and closed out of the program, “At least now we know some of the background to her attitude.”

“I think you bring out her attitude.” Griff chuckled and I kept my mouth shut, knowing better than to poke this particular bear.

“Then you two should vibe perfectly fine.” Gabe shot a glare towards Griff who covered up a laugh with a cough.

While those two were bickering, I decided to mindlink Waylon to check in on our mate.

“How’s it going?” I asked him.

“All good, boss. The ladies are all chatting in the Luna’s room. Lots of giggling going on so I guess she’s in a better mood.” Waylon sounded optimistic.

“No signs of her running?” I asked hesitantly.

“Nope, she’s having a good time under the girls’ watchful eyes. Don’t worry about that, Alpha, she won’t get away from me.” Waylon said seriously.

“Alright, thanks, man.”

“What are you doing?” Griff’s voice broke through my concentration.

“Nothing.” I said innocently, like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“You lie. You’re totally mindlinking Waylon.” Gabriel called me out and I just shrugged.

“Don’t you have some work to do?” I asked, trying to change the subject. Gabe just shook his head at me and turned his focus back to some files on his desk.

“I know I do.” Griff said, standing up from the sofa, “I’ll be in my studio for a bit. Let me know if you hear anything from the girls.”

Griffin’s office was made larger than ours and split into two rooms so half could be utilized as an art studio for him. He practically lived in that room.

“I guess I’ll go get some work done, too.” I sighed reluctantly, heading off to my own office to answer some emails regarding the restaurants.