#8 The Archer and her Wolf

Xaiver

I took Thea back to the table and we sat down next to each other. I had her hand in mine under the table, both of them resting on my thigh. I couldn’t get enough of this woman. She was pure ecstasy and I just couldn’t get enough.

“So, how did the two of you meet?” Tate asked, looking over at me and my mate.

“She saved my son’s life, twice.” I smiled at her in admiration.

“Your son?” Tate’s voice turned sour and I looked back at him.

“Yes, I have a three year old son.” I resisted the urge to bite this guy’s head off.

“I guess the matebond doesn’t mean that much to you, huh?” Tate said, glaring at me, and I felt my hand tightened into a fist under the table.

“Tate!” Luna Maizey snapped at him.

“Tate, that’s enough.” My mate’s voice was the most deadly one in the room. I looked at her and realized she didn’t know the story of my son’s mother.

“I owe you an explanation, Thea.” I said, nudging her with my shoulder.

“No, you don’t.” Her eyes pulled together in wonder.

“Your parents and the future Alphas know the story, they asked me before you got here.” I explained and she shrugged.

“It’s your story to tell, Xaiver.” I was shocked at how unbothered she seemed by it.

“I want to tell you.” I said and she nodded, turning in her seat to face me head on. I cleared my throat and dove into the story,

“Logan’s mother’s name is Summer. She was a she-wolf in my pack. We grew up together and were friends when we were children. Her two best friends, Shay and Yasmine, and my two best friends, Gamma Lion and Beta Frankie, were thick as thieves. We all thought we would end up mated together. Shay and Frankie, and Yasmine and Lion, did. Summer and I did not,

“I removed her from my life. I wasn’t interested in dating anyone who wasn’t my mate from the moment I turned 18. But, she kept trying to get back with me. She wanted me to take her as my chosen mate. One drunken night, she got me into bed and suddenly she was pregnant. I vowed to stand by her throughout the pregnancy and to help her through it. I made it clear that, once the baby was born, her and I were done. I would provide for her, as the mother of my child, and make sure neither her or our child needed anything. I wanted to be a part of my child’s life and I wanted them to have a good home life, you know?

“Anyway, she didn’t take me seriously and kept assuming I was going to mark her as my chosen mate and make her the Luna. Once Logan was born, she demanded that I make her the Luna. When I refused, she left. Logan was only a few hours old.” I sighed and was surprised when Thea reached between us and picked up my free hand. She squeezed both of them and offered me a small smile.

“I’m sorry you and Logan had to go through that.” she said.

“I’m sorry I was an ass.” Tate mumbled from across the table and I chuckled.

“It’s okay.” I said to him before quickly returning my gaze to Thea, “All the pain was worth it to find you.” I whispered.

“Oh that’s just so sweet.” Luna Maizey sniffed and Thea rolled her eyes at her mother.

“Why don’t you two say stuff like that to me?” I heard Nora chastise her mates.

“Thanks a lot, man.” One of them said, I couldn’t tell which. I was smiling widely at Thea who was fighting with herself to avoid smiling back.

“That’s why Logan is so reserved, so weary of strangers. Besides you, of course. He knows who you are to me.” I said softly, just for her ears.

“Logan is a sweet boy, I don’t want to hurt him.” She whispered.

“You won’t hurt him. You know, he loves you already. He asks for you everyday. I should warn you, though, the day after you two met, he called you mommy.” I confessed. I didn’t want to scare her away, but I also didn’t want Logan to bombard her when she first arrived.

Her eyes went wide and I knew she was terrified by that.

“Maybe he’s just confused.” She stammered.

“No, he knows what happened to Summer. I’ve always been honest with him, delicate, but honest. He knows that his biological mother left because she wasn’t well enough to stay. He knows what she looks like and I answer any questions he has about her. He calls her mother. When he asked about you, he called you mommy. He knows you’re two different people.” I explained.

“That’s deep stuff, man.” One of the twins said. Thea looked so horrified that she didn’t even react.

“Logan is such a great boy. He knows more and is so much stronger than he should be. Luna….Thea, you’ll be fine.” Lion said, speaking for the first time.

“Lion, my Beta Frankie, and their mates are Logan’s family, his aunts and uncles.” I told her as her eyes flashed towards Lion and back to me.

“He already had one mother abandon him. What is he going to think when I leave?” Her voice quivered.

“You don’t have to leave, honey.” Her mother said and Thea glared at her. She promptly stopped talking.

“He’s smart, like Lion said, he’ll understand that you aren’t abandoning him. You’re leaving to do your job and then you’ll come back.” I said soothingly.

“What if I don’t?” She asked matter-of-factly.

“Then, we’ll deal with that, too.” I hated thinking about her not coming home, but I knew it was a reality of her occupation and it was something I had to get on board with if she was going to stay.

She was blinking her eyes rapidly and, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was holding back some tears. She tore her face away from mine and released one of my hands, allowing me to keep the other. She ran her hand over her face in frustration.

“I need a minute.” She said, standing up again and fleeing from the room. I stood up to follow her but Tate beat me to it.

“Let me handle this one.” He said before following after her.

I wasn’t sure what he was going to do. It seemed to me that he was her least favorite brother. I watched as Quinny huffed and stood up, heading in the opposite direction. I had no idea where she was going and I didn’t ask.

“Tate and Thea are extremely close, they’re practically twins at only 16 months apart.” One of the twins, Tigris I think, answered my questioning look.

“They were always inseparable. Then, Tate met his mate and had to move to another pack. What’s worse is how much Thea and Quinny don’t get along. It’s been really hard for them.” The other twin, Theo, added.

“Tate, Thea, Tigris, and Theo are only two years apart. It was like raising quads.” Alpha Hunter chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

“I can only imagine.” I smiled but I was distracted by my mate’s emotions.

I could feel what she was feeling through the matebond and I knew she was afraid. Her family continued to try and distract me.

“The twins have always been wild like their fathers and Tate was a bookworm like me.” Luna Maizey smiled, “Thea was supposed to be our little princess. Boy were we wrong.”

“She ended up being the wildest, roughest one of them all.” Alpha Archer laughed, rubbing his Luna’s back lovingly.

“Then there’s our little Timbre and Talia.” Luna Maizey smiled at her youngest children, “Talia is our goodhearted princess. The little girly girl we thought we were getting with Thea. And Timbre is quiet but strong like his Papa.” Talia giggled again and Timbre grunted.

“Not to mention, moody.” Alpha Hunter laughed, ruffling Timbre’s hair.

“Stop it, Dad!” Timbre whined, swatting at his hand, “And I’m not moody.”

“No, you’re just a teenager.” Alpha Archer grumbled.

“Is Talia your last?” I asked them and the entire table started laughing again.

“Goddess willing.” Tigris smirked, earning a glare from his parents.

“Not if I can help it.” Alpha Archer wiggled his eyebrows at Luna Maizey seductively and she blushed wildly.

“Not in front of the children, Archer!” She shrieked.

“Oh, please, princess, the kids have heard it all before.” Alpha Hunter planted a loud, open mouthed kiss on his mate’s lips and the table erupted in gagging noises.

The laughter was interrupted by the sounds of a struggle from the hallway. I jumped up and was the first to run out of the kitchen and towards my mate. She was being pulled away by Tate and she looked pissed. Quinny was crouched on the ground with a bloody lip.

“What is going on?” Luna Maizey gasped as the rest of her family filled in behind me. I growled at Tate and removed my mate from his arms.

“Relax man, I was just removing her from my mate.” Tate said, holding his hands up in surrender before running back to his mate. He helped Quinny up from the floor while I tended to Thea.

“What happened?” I placed her in front of me so I could look her over for any injuries.

“She opened her mouth.” Thea was shaking as she spoke through her clench jaw.

“Are you hurt?” I ran my hands over her body.

“No, I’m fine. She’s hurt.” She spat towards Quinny.

“Why did you do that, Thea?” Tate glared at his sister and I resisted the urge to growl at him again.

“She spoke out against my mate, Tate! You need to learn how to control her!” She shrieked at her brother and moved to attack them again.

I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her back against my chest, still reeling from the fact that she called me her mate.

“You hit her!” Tate growled and I couldn’t hold Cain back this time, I let out a growl of my own and Tate shrunk back.

“Tate, man, I think you two should go.” Tigris sighed.

“You know Quinny and Thea don’t get along. You shouldn’t antagonize the situation.” Theo added.

“Antagonize? How am I antagonizing anything?” Tate shouted.

“You let Quinny get away with talking to our sister the way she does. You have since day one. No wonder it’s come to this, honestly, I’m surprised Thea hasn’t hit her before.” Theo snapped.

“She’s my mate, I’m supposed to defend her!” Tate grumbled.

“Not at the expense of your sister and not when your mate is the one causing harm.” Tigris’ voice was smooth and cool, it was obvious that he was the first born Alpha among them. Theo was a little more of a spitfire.

“Maybe you shouldn’t bring Quinny around when you visit.” Theo suggested.

“Maybe I just shouldn’t visit, then.” Tate spat and I felt my mate wince at his threats.

“Tate.” She sighed weakly and Tate shot her a threatening look.

I pulled her closer to me. This was the smallest and weakest I had ever seen my mate and my protective instincts were going into overdrive.

“You have your own mate, Thea, you can be his problem now.” Tate spoke with venom and Thea recoiled from him. I pushed her behind me.

“That’s enough. I won’t have you speak to my mate that way.” I growled.

“Then leave. This isn’t your home.” Tate dared to growl back.

“No, Tate, you need to leave. Xaiver is Thea’s mate and a part of this family now. He’s rightfully defending his mate, your sister, who is devastated by your actions. Dude, look at her! She’s never acts like this. You hurt her. You need to go.” Tigris’ words left no room for argument.