The Mating Rules

Heading across the training ground, I link my arms with the two werewolves on either side of me.

Hadley pats my hand comfortingly, ‘it will be fine sweetheart’ he whispers, ‘we will not be leaving you alone.’

I nod, smiling up at him, ‘I know’ I reply, ‘and Caden will never allow me to be more than five paces from him unless forced, anyway, so the Alpha has no hope of catching me alone’ I add, making the warrior chuckle.

‘I would take offense at that, but it’s true’ the Alpha growls beside me, ‘I want my Luna as close as possible, preferably without any clothes on’ he mutters in my ear seductively.

I wonder if we could just turn around and head back to Hadley’s house, what would the punishment be for ignoring an Alpha command?Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

‘We have to go, sweetheart’ Hadley murmurs beside me, making me huff, but I allow them to guide me toward the pack house and through the front door.

‘Alpha, Luna, Warrior Hadley’ an Omega greets us as we pass through the foyer toward the stairs.

‘Good Evening Jack’ I reply warmly, smiling at the older Omega who bows his head toward me before walking away.

I turn to find Caden staring at me, eyes narrowed, ‘what?’ I demand.

‘That was friendly’ the Alpha replies roughly, his gaze swivelling to the door where the Omega had just disappeared through.

I stare at him before choking on a laugh, ‘really?’ I scoff, ‘he’s like eighty!.’

Caden shrugs, ‘he was looking at what is mine, I don’t like it.’

Beside me, Hadley coughs loudly, the noise sounding suspiciously like the words ‘possessive much?’

I giggle as Caden glares at Hadley over my head, ‘so you are OK with some wolf undressing our mate with his eyes?’ he demands.

The warrior rolls his eyes, ‘firstly, Jack is happily mated with children, grandchildren AND a great grandchild’ he replies calmly. ‘And second of all, it doesn’t matter who looks at Lee, she is ours and everyone knows it.’

I pull my hand from Caden’s to give the warrior a quick hug, ‘and this is why you are my favourite warrior’ I reply, reaching up and pecking his lips.

‘What?!’ the Alpha growls, ‘he’s your favourite?’

I turn back to Caden with a smile, ‘favourite warrior babe’ I reiterate, ‘and you are my favourite, overly possessive, slightly neurotic Alpha’ I add, kissing him too, feeling him relax.

‘Only possessive over you baby’ he rumbles into my hair as he snakes his arms around my waist and holds me to him.

‘Come on, let’s get this over with before the Alpha starts growling in his office’ Hadley sighs, waiting for me to untangle myself from Caden and take both their hands in mine.

Heading up the stairs, we arrive at the top floor, making our way to the Alpha’s office, where Caden knocks smartly, waiting a few seconds for Alpha Scott to call us in before opening the door and stepping inside.

‘Caden, Jamie-Lee, Hadley’ the Alpha greets us as we walk in, indicating to the couch for us to take a seat. Sitting in one of the armchairs is my father, who gives me a small smile that I return.

Taking a seat, I notice that my mates sit on either side of me, crowding me protectively as Caden glares right at his father. Yep, he still hasn’t forgiven or forgotten that the man wanted to kill my other mate. He might not be best friends with Hadley, but he knows how much that hurt me and what hurts me, infuriates my Alpha mate.

‘Why are we here?’ Caden demands after a few seconds of silence.

‘Watch your tone’ Alpha Scott snaps back warningly, ‘you are not Alpha yet.’

‘Because you won’t step aside’ my mate retorts challengingly, ‘I have my mate, so I’m unsure why you are still in that chair.’

I can see both Alphas’ tempers rising and I quickly place a hand on Caden’s arm, calming him. He looks at me, his shoulders relaxing as I raise an eyebrow at him. Now is not the time to pick a fight over the pack.

‘I called you all here because we have a situation’ Alpha Scott starts, ‘you are all mated and marked, so . . ‘

‘That is not a situation’ Caden breaks in gruffly, ‘calling it a situation makes it sound like it needs fixing, our mating does not. Jamie-Lee has two mates and always will.’

‘Caden’ my father sighs, as I look up at him, ‘let your father finish before you start getting irate. Maybe we can save some of this aggression for once?’

I turn back to the Alpha, who is pinching his nose, obviously trying to keep his cool.

‘What is the situation you want to talk to us about Alpha?’ I ask respectfully, pulling the man’s attention to me. Alpha Scott smiles over at me, the first smile I’ve seen since I forced him to submit.

‘I always loved you Jamie-Lee’ he murmurs, ‘you were like a second daughter to me, you know.’

I nod, because I do know, he and the Luna always treated me like a member of their family, welcoming me and my brother into the Alpha suite when we came to hang out with Caden and his sister.

Alpha Scott sighs deeply, ‘I apologise for what I suggested last week’ he starts, watching me earnestly. ‘I was panicking and . . .well . . that’s no excuse, I should never have threatened your mate.’

I smile back at the man, ‘thank you’ I reply softly, ‘and I apologise for disrespecting you.’

Beside me, Caden snorts angrily, but I ignore him, this needs to be done regardless of what he thinks. The man is my Alpha and as he has actually apologised to me, something that no Alpha ever wants to do, I should reciprocate.

Alpha Scott waves a hand, ‘you have nothing to apologise for, my dear, Hadley is your mate, and had your mark on him. I should never have voiced such a suggestion, no matter how worried I was.’

I frown, glancing at my dad, who I notice looks tired, as though he’s been struggling to sleep. ‘Why are you worried?’ I ask, looking between the two older men, ‘what’s wrong?’

Alpha Scott looks toward my dad who inhales sharply before speaking, ‘JJ, the reason that the Alpha called you all here today, is that . . ‘ he rubs his chin nervously, ‘we, need to inform the council.’

My eyes widen as I look between the two men, ‘OK’ I reply, ‘so what do we need to do?’

My father shakes his head, ‘you don’t understand sweetie, we have no idea what is going to happen.’

Beside me, Hadley stiffens, ‘what can they do? We have already completed the bond’ he asks.

Alpha Scott shrugs, ‘that’s the problem, we don’t know what the punishment might be. We’ve never had a duel mating before, but the rules are clear, no werewolf can have more than one mate.’

‘Well they can’t remove the marks so they are just going to have to accept it’ Caden huffs, ‘I’m not giving up my Luna.’

‘It’s not that simple, Caden’ his father growls, ‘you have broken the law, rules that have been in place for as long as werewolves have been civilised. In all that time, there has never been a wolf given two mates, we have no idea what the council will do to you three or the pack for allowing it to happen!’

‘Why do we even have to tell them, it’s none of their business’ the young Alpha flares in annoyance.

‘Caden, they probably already know!’ His father snaps back, ‘they are just giving us time to come forward ourselves. If we don’t, I fully expect their delegates to arrive at the border and force a meeting. If they have to come here unannounced, I can guarantee that the punishment will be a lot worse as they will see it as a disrespect to their authority in our world.’

As the two men bicker, I sit between my mates frowning at the floor, trying to understand something.

‘Sweetheart? Are you OK?’ Hadley asks, and I look up to find everyone looking at me in concern.

‘Please don’t be scared, Lee’ Alpha Scott says, ‘we will do everything we can to protect you.’

I shake my head, glancing at each of the men around me, ‘I don’t understand’ I finally mumble.

‘We broke the law baby’ Caden huffs, ‘so it seems the old bastards in the council have the right to come here and punish us.’

I shake my head again, ‘yeah, I get that’ I reply, I just don’t understand why.’

‘Lee, you and the boys, you went against a sacred law of our kind . . ‘ Alpha Scott starts before falling quiet when my father looks over at him, silently communicating through the mind link.

‘JJ, what is it that is confusing you?’ my father asks gently, sitting forward on his chair so he can reach over and take my hand that is clasped in my lap.

I swallow, my brow creasing as I continue to try to work out my confusion, ‘I am the first wolf in history to have two mates?’ I ask, ‘No one has any recollection of a previous double mating before me?’

My father nods, ‘Yes, that is correct.’

My frown deepens, ‘then I don’t understand’ I repeat slowly. ‘If there has never been a double mating before, Hadley, Caden and I . . why do we even have a law banning it? Why would the council even think to make that law if every wolf in our history has always been given only one mate?’