#12 The Triplets of Emerald Forest

Godric

Harlow whimpered and I could see the conflict in her eyes.

“I….” She began but I put my finger against her soft lips,

“Shhh, precious, wait until you can tell me without guessing. It’s okay, I’ll wait forever.”

I pulled away and chuckled at her expression. She was in quite a state. Her lips were red and swollen, her cheeks were fire engine red, and her eyes were bright and wild.

“Should we go up and check on the others?” I suggested and she nodded, still speechless. I laughed at her again and took her hand, leading her from my office.

“Oh, there’s a new security system on the elevator. You’ll need a code to make it go and there’s a separate code for each floor. Our floor’s code is 91020.” I said, pressing the appropriate numbers on the new keypad that was inside the elevator.

Her eyes went wide and she had a curious expression on her face.

“Who picked those numbers?” She asked, and I could tell that she was wondering if it was all just a coincidence.

“We did, precious. It’s the most important day of our lives, the day you were born.” I said and her face broke out into an earth shattering grin.

This woman was going to be the death of me. Her lips were too intoxicating and seductive for me to handle and I was barely holding onto my control. I was frustrated when I found out that both Gabe and Griff had gotten to taste her lips already, and I hadn’t. I knew I couldn’t end the day without having a taste for myself, Quill was becoming increasingly more unstable the longer we spent away from her.

I knew I was testing my limits by forcibly kissing her in my office, taking her by surprise instead of asking for permission like my brothers, undoubtedly, did. To my delight, she was 100% on board and leaned into me without any doubts. I was so in love with this woman that it was ridiculous.

We stepped out of the elevator just in time to see Gabe and Griff leaving the guest bedroom wing of our floor.

“They’re all down.” Gabe said,

“Our pups.” Quill purred in my head.

I froze, nearly tripping over myself.

“What?”

“Our pups are in there sleeping.” He purred.

“No, Quill, they’re not….” I started to argue.

“Our pups!” He growled, cutting me off.

“What’s wrong, Godric?” Harlow was tugging at my hand, demanding my attention. When I looked into her eyes I immediately began to settle.

“I…”

“Is Quill saying it, too?” Gabe asked, his eyes darting from green to black.

“Frost, too.” Griffin forced out, seeming very tense.

“What’s going on?” Harlow looked irritated with all three of us.

“Our wolves are claiming that the three kids are our pups.” Griff took a deep breath and explained.

“Pups?”

“Kids.” I clarified, running my fingers through her hair. She jumped and backed away from me.

“Excuse me?” She looked a bit freaked out.

“Harlow….”

“Uh-uh. Nope. I just wanted to give them a place to stay until they can find a new home. I am no one’s mother.” She shook her head, backing away from us quickly.

“Calm down, angel.” Griffin reached out and snatched her before she could retreat, bringing her towards him, “Nothing is settled.”

“Sounds like it’s settled to your wolves.” She lashed out.

Griffin chuckled at her. Bad move. Harlow glared harshly at Griffin and shoved him away from her. She stomped back to our wing of the floor and we followed after her.

“Please, angel, don’t be mad.” Griffin whined.

“Harlow.” Gabriel’s voice made her freeze before she could enter her bedroom. She stiffened and turned around, her glare trained on Gabriel. He was frowning and looked irritated.

“What?” She bit.

“Gabriel….” I warned him, sensing that something stupid was about to come out of his mouth. He ignored me.

“Don’t ever say that you aren’t anyone’s mother. You’re this pack’s mother and, when its members need you, you are there for them. Right now, these children need you.”

He stepped right up to her and pinned her against her door. He put his hands on her arms, keeping her still. If I was a betting man, I would’ve put all my money down on Harlow taking a swing at Gabe. Instead, her face actually began to soften.

“Harlow, they’re orphans now.” He said and all the anger fell from her face. She nodded slowly,

“You’re right.” She sighed and I felt my jaw hit the floor.

“Excuse me?” Griff said, sounding flabbergasted. I looked over and saw that he was gapping at the pair as well.

“He’s right. I’m sorry for being selfish.” She mumbled, glancing back at us.

Gabe shook his head and relaxed his stance. He ran his fingers across her cheek and cupped her face,

“You weren’t being selfish, you were just afraid. You don’t have to be their mother, you just need to be there for them like you were today.” He said in a soft tone and she nodded.

“I’m tired.” She finally said and Gabe backed up, opening her bedroom door for her.

“Then sleep, my love.” He said, giving her a kiss.

Griffin walked up next, gently cupping her face and giving her a lasting kiss. She smiled at him before I took over his spot.

“That necklace looks lovely on you, precious.” I said, picking up the wolf charm we had picked out for her. She smiled,

“Oh! I almost forgot. Thank you, both of you, for the necklace. I love it.” She grinned at me and then looked at Griff over my shoulder.

“Anything for you, angel.” Griff replied.

I pinched her chin and brought her attention back to me, Griff had his turn. She giggled at whatever look she saw in my eyes and then reached up on her tippy toes, initiating our kiss. I was stunned at first but then quickly responded. When she was gasping for air, I released her,

“Sweet dreams.” I told her, motioning for her to walk inside.

Once I closed the door on Harlow’s room, I turned to face Gabriel with a puzzled look.

“Okay, what the hell was that?” I asked him.

He smirked and walked out towards the front living room. We followed him so our conversation wouldn’t disturb our sleeping mate.

“What?” Gabe settled innocently into the couch.

“Don’t give me that shit, Gabe.” I grumbled at him, sitting on the other side of the sofa.

“We have a strong mate who is already making a strong Luna. She wants to know everything, she wants to be spoken to like a Luna, she doesn’t want to be coddled. I was just being honest with her, like she’s always wanted.” Gabe shrugged.

“I thought for sure she was going to deck you.” I chuckled as Gabe rolled his eyes at me.

“I was worried she would be weak, but I was miserably wrong.” Gabe admitting to being wrong was enough to convince us that he was right.

“Well, you can be the one to handle all the tough love stuff, I’m too much of a softie for that shit.” Griffin laughed at himself, leaning back on the recliner he was sitting in.

“She’s even turning me into a lightweight.” I chuckled, “But, the stunt she pulled today during the attack nearly had me bending her over my knee.” I started to get angry again thinking about how she put herself in danger.

“I was proud of her for taking the initiative to check on you and wanting to be more involved.” Gabe said and I growled at him. He just waved his hand at me dismissively.

“I want her to be involved as the Luna, but, when there’s danger, she should be as far away from it as possible. I swear, I’ll chain her to the bed if I have to.” I grumbled.

“Yeah, you go ahead and do that and see if she ever talks to you again.” Griff snorted.

“It’s better than the two of you just going along with her delusions!” I yelled and they both shushed me,

“The pups and Harlow are sleeping.” Griff glared at me.

“Sorry.” I muttered.

“She said it herself, the pack rallied around her the second they saw their Luna out and about. Hell, they didn’t even know that she was the Luna and they still felt compelled to guard her. She’ll be well protected and she won’t be wandering across the battlefield like she was today. She’ll be confined to the bunker or the hospital.” Gabe said, looking at me like I was overreacting.

“You try to keep her away and she’ll just end up hurting herself getting out and standing in the middle of all the fighting.” Griff pointed out. I grumbled incoherently, frustrated because he was right.

“We need to get to the bottom of these rogue attacks. I’m tired of our pack and Luna being put into danger.” Gabriel said, changing the subject.

“I agree, and it sounds like it’s not going to end anytime soon.” I said, we had filled Gabe in on everything we learned in the cells earlier.

“Let’s hold a meeting with everyone tomorrow to discuss it. Maybe Dad recognizes the names the rogue gave us and we need to catch Wade up on everything.” Griff suggested and we all nodded in agreement.

“And we should ask Harlow if she wants to sit in. Give her the option.” Gabe said,

“Let’s do it.” I said,

We all went off to bed then. I showered and laid down in just my boxers, closing my eyes and dreaming of having my mate in my arms.