Braxton’s POV
I am sitting in my office trying to get work done, but my thoughts keep wondering off. My wolf Blake won’t even talk to me right now. I know I shouldn’t be fooling around with Baylee, she isn’t my mate, but I just needed comfort and she was there.
Knock Knock
“Come in”
Tristan comes in and slumps into the sofa, he looks a little better than earlier today after the argument with Addy, but I can still see the pain across his face. I know the death of his father has been hard on him. It’s been hard on all of us.
My parents maybe the leaders of the pack, but his parents, they were the glue. Everyone loved his dad and mom; they were like second parents to me. I know when we lost his mom 5 years ago it was rough, but his dad helped pull him and Addy through. Now, it’s just him and Addy.
“I’m not going to ask how you are doing, because I know the answer by how shitty you look. You want to talk?”
“Which part? The part where I am trying to figure out how to grieve my father knowing that I will be stepping into his role without his guidance and dude, those are some big shoes to fill. I feel like I am set up for failure, like no matter what I do I won’t be able to be half the Beta he was. Or the part where I am now solely responsible for my little sister, and I have no idea what the fuck I am doing.”
I walk over to the couch and sit beside him while putting my hand on his shoulder. I can feel the grief rolling off him. He’s my best friend, and I hate seeing him like this, it breaks me.
“First off, you are going to be an amazing Beta because you are just as amazing as your father.”
He looks over at me with tears in his eyes.
“And we” as I motion between me and him. “We are both going to work together to continue to make sure that this pack is strong. You aren’t alone man. You never have been, never will be. Were Brothers for life.”
I hold out my fist for a bump, with a little smirk on my face. We came up with Were Brothers for life when we were kids along with our other best friend Aaron. So, I knew it would get a smile out of him.
“Thanks Man.” He chuckles as he bumps my fist. “You are corny as hell you know that?” he shakes his head at me, while I chuckle at him
“It made you smile though right and got my message across. So, win win.” I chuckle. He shakes his head at me while I get up and walk back over to my desk.
I know he went to check on Addy again after his run, so I couldn’t help but ask. “How is Addy doing?” I ask, as I sit down.
“Acting like this is just any other day and is going about her day like nothing happening. She won’t grieve or acknowledge what has happened. I haven’t seen her cry once, and we don’t talk about it. She distracts anytime I bring it up. I am just waiting for her to crack and have a full-blown meltdown. I just hope I am there when she does, and I know what the hell to do. Ever since we lost mom you know she has kept her emotions to herself and tries to hold it together. Until she can’t anymore.” He says while wiping his hand down his face.
I can tell he is stressed about Addy, so am I. I have always had a protectiveness over her since we were kids, as she got older, it got stronger. I went from just wanting to protect her like a brother would, to wanting to protect her like she belongs to me. I seriously need to get over this crush.
“She has always come to you man, and you have always known what to do. You are an amazing big brother to her; just give her the time she needs.” I reply.
“I just have so much shit going on right now, trying to get ready to take over for dad, and I feel like I don’t even have time to take care of her. She should be my top priority; I feel like I am failing her and my parents.” He mumbles through his hands that cover his face.
“How about I go and check on her a little later? I have an apology to give anyways. I know you have evening training in a little bit, while you go there, I will go and check in on her, and apologize and hope she doesn’t punch my teeth out.” I say. I notice just the thought of her has my heart racing and I try to steady it’s beat.
He looks down at his watch and stands. “Yeah, you do owe her an apology. I offered to punch you for her by the way, she said its only fun if she gets to do it.” He smirks at me.“But for real man, I know she loves you like a brother, and it would give me some relief too to know someone is with her right now.”
He stops as he walks towards the door, and looks back at me, “Maybe walk in with your hands up in surrender, maybe you will have a better chance of keeping your teeth” He smirks at me.
“Yeah, I don’t want to die before I get to be Alpha, and dude you know I love her too.” He looks over at me with a raised eyebrow. “Like a sister.” I continue rolling my eyes at him.
He chuckles as he opens the door and says, “thanks man, let her know that I will be home for dinner. Tell my little moon I love her.”
“I will man.”
Braxton’s POV As I walk towards the back door of Tristan’s house, I am hit with a smell of burnt food. My brows scrunch up knowing that Addy is an amazing cook and I have never known her to burn anything. I open the back door quietly and walk down the short hallway to the kitchen in long strides. I peep my head around and see Addy. It looks like a flour bomb has gone off in the kitchen and there are burnt cookies and bowls of messed up looking batter on almost every surface of the kitchen countertops. I watch her quietly as she pours ingredients into the bowl. I scowl as I notice she is putting in a large amount of salt into the bowl. She then lifts the oil and starts pouring it in when, I walk all the way into the room. She still does not notice me, which she should have sensed me from the moment I walked in, so I know she is out of it now. I reach over and grab her hand and keep her from pouring more salt in the bowl. She screams when she feels my hand on hers. “Damn i
Tristan’s POV I am exhausted from training. Ever since dad died, I have taken over his job of teaching evening training. On top of everything else I am exhausted. As I walk up the back of the house, I can smell Braxton still here and…burnt cookies? What the hell? I walk in and see Addy and Brax on the floor. I see Addy’s tear-stained face and my anger goes through the roof. I swear to God if Brax hurt my little moon I will kill him. “What the fuck happened!?” I yelled as I marched towards them. Before Brax could even respond Addy jumps up and explains, “I may have destroyed 10 batches of cookies and had a complete and total meltdown and ruined Brax’s shirt with snot.” She looks down ashamed and is standing as though she is in trouble. I look from Addy’s tear-streaked face to Brax’s snot covered shirt and realization hits me. Shit. My best friend was here when I should have been. He held her and let her cry, when it should have been me. Damn it. “Oh little moon.”
Addy’s POV “Addy Wake up! It’s just a nightmare little moon!” I am woken up with Tristan shaking me in his arms. I look at him and I know I must have been screaming in my sleep. He looks down at me and wipes the tears from my face. I am looking around wildly trying to figure out where I am. I was stuck in my nightmare again. “Hey, little moon. Look at me.” Tristan grabs my face with both hands and looks me into the eyes. “Hey, you are safe, you are okay little moon. Talk to me, what was going on?” He wipes the tears that are still falling down my face. “Look at me Addy, you are safe. Do you hear me?” I look into his eyes and shake my head. “I am safe.” I respond weakly. “Addy, how long have you been having nightmares.” Tristan asks as he releases my face and pulls away a little bit so we can talk. “Since dad died.” I respond quietly. “What are you seeing in your nightmares?” He asks. “The moment I get taken away from dad,” I respond. I have never told anyone abo
Braxton’s POV I found an excuse to come over to Tristan’s and Addy’s house this morning. I kept telling myself not to, but I had to see her. I am now standing in the kitchen a little bit a way from Addy as Tristan makes his way upstairs. As soon as I hear him shut his bedroom door. I turn to Addy, taking a deep breath. I try to get out my words. I spent all morning trying to find the right words to say to her, so things aren’t awkward between us, but that is exactly what it is right now. Awkward. “Hey” I said softly. As I moved closer to her. “Hey” she whispers, I am not sure I would have even heard it if I didn’t have my werewolf hearing. I can see how tense her body is, and I know I am making her uncomfortable. I hate that. I look her body up and down. I can’t help but notice how sexy she is and think about how bad I want her. “Addy, I just wanted to say…umm…” She wouldn’t look at me, and I needed to see those beautiful blue eyes. I stepped closer to her and turne
Alpha Jack POVAs Tristan explained what Addy remembered I started to realize that we would not be able to withhold this information from him and Braxton much longer. They take over as Alpha and Beta next week. We always agreed we would wait until Addy turned 18 which is in six weeks, and they would all learn the truth. Maybe we needed to divulge a little bit more information before then though. I need to talk to Maria and Blake before I make this decision on my own. With Andrew gone, I am not sure how to keep Addy as safe unless the boys know. I stand up as Tristan finishes up his story and walk over placing my hand on his shoulder. I know it’s been hard after the loss of his father. It has hurt us all, Andrew was not just my Beta but my best friend. We had been close since pups, just like our kids are now. “Tristan, your father is a hero. He sacrificed himself, to protect the life of our future. I know you boys don’t understand everything I am saying right now, but you
Addy’s POVTristan came home early today, said his meetings were done quickly, and he had missed me. Tristan and I have always been close, but since losing dad, our bond has grown even deeper. We had spent the morning chilling on the couch and having a movie day. Tristan decided we should cook the cookies first and then have Jimmy’s. I was surprised by his change of plans, but more so because he seemed like he was up something.We had spent our time baking laughing and singing along with the music on his playlist. I was pulling out the last batch of cookies, when I turned around and caught him grabbing a cookie off the cooling rack.“Tristan! I told you no cookies until we have them all packed up!” I yelled at him. He dodged away from me when I tried grabbing the cookie from him. I maybe the younger sister, but I can pack a punch. I have socked him and Braxton several times before for being jerks.“Oh, come on! It’s one cookie Addy. I couldn’t wait.” He takes a bite and groa
Braxton’s POVI was finishing up in my office when Baylee walks in. I look up annoyed, “Baylee how many times have I asked you to knock before coming in?”She walks over and leans over my desk, pushing her breast up to show off more cleavage. “I just wanted to come and check to see if you need a stress relief.”I rubbed my temple in annoyance, I was not in the mood to deal with Baylee right now. “No Baylee, I am good right now.” I said trying not to show my complete annoyance. “Then maybe you would be willing to take me out to lunch, Alpha.” Baylee says with a sickening sweet voice. “as friends,” She finished. I looked up at her. I was hungry, and Baylee was a friend, I guess, before we started fucking. She has comforted me lately, so maybe taking her out wouldn’t be terrible.“Okay, I will take you out to lunch, as friends.” I say, emphasizing as friends at the end.“Yeah!” She jumped up and clapped like a small child and cheered. What happened to not giving her any ideas? B
Addy’s POVGabby, Lizzy, and I pull up the lake in Tristan’s truck. We jump out and pull down the tail gate, so we had somewhere to throw off our shirts and shoes.As we strip down to our bikini tops, we look around. Several grills were set up where some of the guys would grill meat later at the top of the hill. There are several pre shifters here, all of which are from my senior class and pack.“Okay Ladies, let’s go find some hunks to hang out with.” Gabby says while rubbing her hands together.“Gabs you look like you are getting ready to eat.” I laugh at her. She shrugs her shoulders at me, and smirks, “Well we are about to give the guys around here a feast for their eyes.” Lizzy and I both laugh at her, as we walk down closer to the beath. “I think I found one to ogle at while we are here,” Lizzy says while she stares off towards the volleyball court where a game had already started. “Yeah, Greg does have the abs that’s for sure,” Gabby said in response. I looked over at Li