#12 The Triplets of Emerald Forest

Harlow

When I left the brothers, I decided to shower and wash off the day. To say I was surprised when I conceded to Gabriel is an understatement, but I couldn’t deny that he was right. These kids needed help and I knew exactly how they were feeling, as orphans. I never thought I would have responded positively to an alpha male shoving me against a door and speaking to me in such a manner, but something about the way he did it told me he wasn’t a threat, just passionate.

Passionate. That’s what Gabriel, Godric, and Griffin were. Everything about them was passionate.

I sighed as I leaned my forehead against the tiled shower wall, letting the hot water fall down my back and sooth my stressed out muscles. It had been one hell of a day, a hell of a week, and it’s only been a couple of days. My mind was running a million miles a minute and my body was literally on fire. It was begging for the touch, the caress, the kiss of one of the triplets; maybe all of the triplets. It was betraying all things logical and cautionary.

Even my heart was running towards the brothers. The way it raced when they were near, the way it broke when they were in danger, the way it melted when a pair of those green eyes landed on me; it was prepared to beat only for them and that was scary as shit. My mind was the only rational part of me left and that was slowly fading. Every sideways glance, every soft touch, every husky growl made my brain a foggy mess.

When the water grew cold, I jumped out and pulled on a pair of matching cotton bra and underwear. I was surprised to see that all my dirty clothes had been washed and hung back up in the closet. I had no idea when or how that happened, but I had to remember to thank whoever was responsible for it. I crawled under the warm comforter and fell asleep quite quickly, dreaming of the green eyes of my three mates.

The next morning, I took care of my teeth and hair, and dressed in something comfortable. I opened the bedroom door and greeted the brothers before they even had time to knock on my door. They grinned when they saw me and rushed to my side, already starting with the kisses and unique pet names.

“I’m hungry.” I complained loudly, shoving them away. They shared a chorus of laughter and then escorted me downstairs to the kitchen.

The usual group was at the table, plus Wade and his mate, Sammy. I learned that Wade was completely human, he had no wolf at all. Sammy, on the other hand, was a full blown werewolf who was raised in the Emerald Forest pack. They realized they were mates when they both turned 18 only a few weeks apart. He told Sammy of his plans to leave for college, the police academy, and then, eventually, Quantico. She agreed without hesitation and has followed him ever since.

After spending only an hour with Sammy, it was easy to love her. She was giddy, fun, and outspoken. She loved to write so that’s what she did while Wade worked. She wrote horror fantasy fiction that involved wolves. She said she wanted to lean into the human’s natural fear of wolves because, and I quote, why not?

“In an hour, I would like everyone to meet in my office for an update on the rogue situation. I want to throw around some thoughts and ideas.” Gabriel announced when breakfast was wrapping up and everyone nodded.

“Harlow, love,” He pulled my attention towards him, “We would like you to attend the meeting if that’s okay with you?” I blinked in shock, surprised that they wanted to include me.

“Are you sure? I feel like I’ll just be in the way.” I frowned and Gabriel shook his head,

“Absolutely not.”

“Okay, then, I’d love to be there.” I smiled and Gabriel returned it with equal vigor.

“In the meantime, we have something to show you.” Griff said, standing up. He offered me his hand and I took it, allowing him to pull me from the chair.

The brothers led me out of the dining room, bidding a quick farewell to the room since we’d see them all in an hour. We weaved through the short set of hallways to the office wing of the packhouse. Instead of heading towards one of their three offices, they went to the fourth office down the hall. The door plaque read: Luna.

“We know you’re not ready for the Luna responsibilities, but we also know that you have school responsibilities that you haven’t really been able to tend to.” Godric said, opening up the door.

He revealed a well put together office. It was brightly lit by the huge windows, the blush pink paint color on the walls, the fresh white trim, and the matching white and blush furniture. The desk was slim with a white marble top and black industrial looking legs. Behind the desk was a wall of windows trimmed in chunky white painted wood. The left wall was completely covered in built-in bookshelves painted white. In front of the desk were two plush white chairs wrapped in a fuzzy looking fabric and a blush colored sofa sat off to the side.

“We thought you could use this space for our school work. We got you a laptop, as well. Oh and your phone.” Griffin motioned towards the desk where a slim pink macbook sat and my iphone which the brothers had taken from me on abduction day.

“This is amazing.” I gasped, admiring the space.

“We know you’ll go back to school eventually, but you’ll still need a workspace. Then, when you’re ready to take on the Luna responsibilities, the office will be all ready for you.” Gabriel said proudly.

“We weren’t sure if the colors were to your liking or not?” Griffin looked concerned.

“It’s beautiful.” I grinned, wrapping my arms around Griffin’s neck and giving him a quick kiss. He beamed up at me.

“Hey, hey, it was a group effort.” Godric pouted adorably and I laughed, throwing myself at him next. I planted a kiss on his mouth before I was yanked away by Gabriel. He demanded a kiss of his own.

“You three are a lot of work.” I sighed, leaning against the desk and away from their needy arms.

“You have no idea, little mate.” Gabriel growled, looking at me suggestively. I felt my cheeks flare up and then the brothers were laughing at me.

“Get out of here and let me relax before the meeting.” I shooed them out.

A little while later, the door was thrown open by Annie.

“Swanky digs, Luna.” Annie smirked, throwing herself down on one of the soft chairs. Kori and Matti followed behind her.

“Are you guys going to the meeting?” I asked, wondering if it was normal for the mates to attend.

“Yup, we’re the Beta and Gamma Females, we always attend if it’s something important. Nova, too, if she wants.” Matti shrugged, stretching out on the sofa.

“So, they don’t shun the girls?” I asked, only teasing a little.

“No way. The Emerald pack has always been about equality.” Kori was perched on the second white chair.

“Good.”

“I heard you guys took in the Meadow children.” Matti said, eyeing me curiously.

“I didn’t want them to be shuffled around after losing their parents. I remember how horrible that was. They’ll stay with us, for now at least. Although, the Alphas seem to have other ideas.” I mumbled, thinking back to last night.

“What’s that?” Annie cocked her eyebrow at me.

“Apparently all their wolves recognized the kids as their pups? I don’t even really know what that means.” I said,

I was watching for a reaction from the girls and, oh boy, did I ever get one. Their eyes went wide and snapped in each other’s direction, seeming to have a silent conversation with just their eyes.

“Their wolves called the kids their pups, you’re sure?” Matti said with a gasp.

“Yep, I’m sure.” I nodded.

“That’s a big deal, Harlie. Wolves are super possessive over their mates, as you know, but they’re also overly possessive of their children. We don’t usually adopt because our wolves won’t accept the child as their own and it can become ugly. For all three of the Alpha wolves to immediately recognize the kids as their own pups is huge.” Matti tried to explain delicately as to not freak me out, but I felt my heart begin to race.

“So, they have three kids now is what you’re telling me?” I gulped.

“I mean, yeah.” Matti replied.

“What would make their wolves just accept them?” I wondered.

“Probably a combination of things. The pups were orphaned by two of their pack members after fighting to secure the pack’s safety, and their mate and Luna brought the kids to them.” Matti said,

“You shouldn’t worry about it, Harlie. The Alphas were always going to make amazing dads and you’re definitely going to be an awesome mom. You’ll grow into it easily just like you’ve been growing with the pack so easily.” Kori shrugged.

“Easily? I don’t know if I’d classify any of this as easy.” I laughed nervously.

“Girl, you’re doing way better than I thought you would. I mean, Kori and I took months before we adjusted to the idea of werewolves and mates, and we weren’t even abducted!” Annie laughed at me.

“She’s got a point.” Kori smirked.

“I can’t explain it, it just all feels….” I struggled with the correct word, “Right.” I finally decided.

The girls grinned excitedly at me.

“That’s so amazing to hear, Harlie. We already love you as our friend, sister, and Luna. We want you to stay forever and be happy.” Kori jumped up and threw her arms around me. The next thing I knew, Annie and Matti had joined the hug and I was squished in the middle.

“Woah, what’s going on in here?” I heard a deep voice chuckle. We pulled back to see all of our mates had entered the room.

Annie found her way into Cambridge’s arms, Matti quickly leaned into Ambrose, Kori skipped up to Waylon, and I was engulfed by various body parts of my three mates.

“It’s time for the meeting, angel.” Griffin said and I nodded my head towards the door, gesturing them forward.