#12 The Triplets of Emerald Forest

Gabriel

The haze of desire was almost becoming unbearable. I would never compromise my mate or go against what she wanted, but I was going to have to start taking some cold showers if she made me wait much longer. She was killing me, slowly and mercilessly.

About an hour later, I felt a mindlink coming through.

“The rogue camp is deserted.” Godric said, “We arrived about two hours ago and did a thorough investigation of the area to make sure they weren’t hiding somewhere or nearby, and nothing. But, there’s tons of evidence of rogues and scents everywhere so we’re going to camp out tonight and start tracking the scents tomorrow.”

“Same news on Griff’s end and same plan. Let me know what you find tomorrow. And, for the sake of my sanity, please check in more often.” I grumbled.

“Why?” Godric seemed confused.

“Why? Because our mate is over here having a heart attack. You two should feel good about yourselves, she’s extremely worried about you.” I explained.

“I’m not going to lie, that does make me feel pretty good,” Ric purred, “But, I hate that she’s so upset. Is she okay?”

“She’s okay. She’s with Matti who’s missing Ambrose, of course. They’re having a sleepover and I’m sulking in my office because I can’t be involved in any pillow fights.” Lewy and I were both pouting. I heard Ric laughing,

“Poor Gabriel.” He faked a pout.

“Shut up and just update in the morning so I can tell her news before she asks. I’m taking her shopping tomorrow to keep her distracted.”

“Are you sure leaving the pack is a good idea?” Ric sounded concerned.

“Half the pack is going with us, we’ll be fine.” I laughed.

“Okay, okay. I know you’ll keep her safe.” Ric conceded and then closed the link.

Keeping true to my word, I immediately left my office and hurried up to our floor. I smirked at Waylon who was lounging on the sofa in the front living room. He gave me a two finger wave before going back to his TV show. I knocked on the door to our wing and opened it without waiting for an answer. I was shocked when Harlow was already standing in front of me, waiting for news. I put my hands on her hips to stop her bouncing and laughed at her.

“Is it Godric?” She glared at my stalling tactics.

“Yes and he’s fine. He reported back the same news at Griff. They’re resting tonight and will track tomorrow.”

“Okay, that’s good.” She nodded, seeming to be trying to convince herself that everything was fine.

I cupped her face and smoothed down her hair, pressing my lips to hers sweetly.

“Your mates are all fine, my love.” I assured her.

I looked behind her to see that the girls had created a very comfy looking nest on the floor in front of the sofa. I laughed and guided her back over there.

“Ambrose is good too, Matti.” I said and she smiled brightly at me.

“Thanks, Gabe.”

“I’ll be in my room if you girls need anything.”

“You can join us for our chick flick marathon, Alpha.” Matti teased me and then I was being pulled into the nest.

Harlow started laughing as I fell across her lap. She tangled her hands in my hair and that was it, I was held captive by my little mate until she said I could leave. These girls were relentless with their movie choices and managed to stay awake until 3:00AM to end their movie marathon. They both fell asleep in the nest and I wasn’t about to argue with the chance to sleep an entire night with my mate.

I woke up a few hours later and saw that Harlow and Matti were still passed out in the glow of the TV. I carefully untangled myself from my mate’s arms and wiggled away. Tip toeing into my bedroom, I took a quick shower and got dressed in a pair of jeans and a green V-neck. It occurred to me that Harlow had no trouble telling the differences between the three of us, even when we didn’t wear our color coded outfits. She truly was made for us.

By the time I made it back to the living room, the girls were gone. I followed Harlow’s scent to her bedroom and knocked on the door.

“We’re getting dressed in here, go away!” Matti yelled out and I laughed. I stepped over their blanket nest to sit on the sofa.

Throughout the next hour, my wing was taken over. Annie, Kori, Nova, and Sammy all poured into Harlow’s room and their mates ended up in the living room with me.

“How did we get here?” Cambridge frowned, looking a little irritated. I threw my head back and laughed,

“This is our life now, boys, mindswell get used to it.”

“I’m going downstairs for breakfast. They’ll probably be another hour.” Wade said and I realized that he wasn’t actually joking.

Wade, Alaska, Cambridge, and Waylon went downstairs to make sure that breakfast was ready when the girls came down so we could leave immediately after. I stayed upstairs to wait for the girls. The packhouse was the safest place on earth for my mate but, with all the attacks recently, I wasn’t about to leave her unguarded for even a second.

Wade was pretty spot on with his time estimate. Finally, the girls came pouring out of the room. My eyes eagerly waited for Harlow to exit and when she did I was blown away. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans that perfectly hugged her curves and a dark green crewneck sweatshirt that was just a little short, so when she moved a certain way a sliver of her stomach poked out. Her hair was freshly washed and laying in golden waves down over her shoulders and her new necklace was displayed proudly on her chest.

“Come here, gorgeous. I like your color choice.” I pulled her against me and growled seductively.

She looked down at herself and then at my shirt before blushing.

“I didn’t even realize….” She mumbled.

“It’s fate, baby.” I chuckled, ducking down to give her a passionate kiss.

“Don’t you two start already, come on.” Someone groaned and then Harlow was aggressively removed from my grasp.

I growled but she was already gone and the girls were a flurry of motion out the front door. I had to run to catch the elevator with them.

Amanda already had breakfast spread out on the table and the guys had taken the liberty to prepare their mates plates already. I noticed that Deale was also at the table now, seeming to be in a better mood than when Callie left yesterday. I pulled out the chair for Harlow and piled her plate high with food. I learned early on that she was a foodie and I wasn’t going to offend her by putting too much food on her plate.

We all ate quickly, rushed by the girls who were excited to get going, and then we were out the door. Kori, Sammy, Annie, Matti, Nova, and Harlow all piled into the same SUV, refusing to be separated and I refused to be separated from Harlow. So Waylon and I took the driver’s and passenger seats while Deale, Wade, Cambridge, and Alaska piled into the second SUV.

The twelve elite warriors chosen as the Luna guard, Brett, Johnny, Carver, Williams, Lauren, Catie, Henry, Zinn, Grant, Harriet, Rilee, and Sylvia, followed behind with some in a third SUV and some in their wolf form.

In about two hours, we made it to the area just outside of D.C. where the Tysons Mall was located. We parked the SUVs side by side and the Luna’s guard immediately spread out. Six wolves remained in wolf form and stayed as hidden as they could in the area surrounding the mall. The other six set off to do a primary search of the perimeter of the mall and the inside before setting up patrol zones. The rest of us went inside as a giant crowd

The guys suggested splitting up since there were so many of us, but the girls refused. After the first few stores, it was determined that no one was going to get between the girls and their shopping so we felt safe enough to wait outside the stores. Everyone besides Waylon, that is, who was glued to Harlow’s side by his own choice.

We quickly became the bag holders. In about two hours flat the girls had gone into more stores than I could count and we had to have at least a hundred bags between the six of us guys. But, I didn’t complain, not once because of the huge smile on my mate’s face. She was even eager to show me a few of the outfits she picked out.

“Gabe, don’t you think that Harlow should get a couple of nice evening dresses?” Nova said as we all gathered outside of a fancy dress store.

“I don’t see why that’s necessary.” Harlow looked irritated.

“You’re gorgeous in anything you wear, my love, but there are some events that require formal wear.” I said with a shrug, “But, if you don’t want to worry about that right now, you don’t have to.”

She sighed dramatically and threw her hands up in defeat.

“No, we’re here now, let’s just do it.” She grumbled and the girls cheerked, grabbing her by the elbows and dragging her into the next shop.

“Is your credit card on fire yet?” Ward mocked me and I just shrugged,

“If she’s happy, I’m happy.”

“We haven’t found anything useful at the Maryland campsite. A couple of the trackers are going to see if they can trace their scent away from the camp and see where they stopped on their route from upstate to here. I’m bringing the majority of the guys back now.” Griffin reported.

“Sounds good. Harlow will be happy to hear you’re coming home soon. I haven’t heard from Ric yet.” I replied back.

“It looks like your girl sensed the link.” Cam said, nodding his head towards the store. I looked up to see Harlow speed walking towards me.

“Is something wrong?” She asked, her eyes wide.

“Why would something be wrong, love?” I wrapped her up in my arms.

“I don’t know. I just felt weird.”

“I just got a link from Griff. They haven’t found anything but he’s going to keep some of the trackers out just in case. He’s on his way home with the rest of his team.” I said and she let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, that’s good.”

I pressed my lips to the top of her head.

“I haven’t heard from Ric, yet, but he has a bigger project to handle up there. Are you sure you’re okay?” I was worried about her and the wild look on her face.

“Yeah, it doesn’t feel like it did when Griffin was hurt. It was just an uneasy feeling.” She said,

“You probably just sensed Griff checking in. Go back to shopping, love, everything’s okay.” I pulled her back and gave her a kiss before turning her back towards the shop. I gave her butt a little swat and she squealed, jumping as she ran back towards the shop.

“Her connection to you three is pretty impressive.” Wade observed.

“Yeah, we’ve been pleasantly surprised with how she’s been responding to the matebond. She’s even used her Luna aura already.” I said, feeling very proud of my mate.

“Imagine what’ll happen when she’s marked.” Wade said, “She’s pretty amazing, Gabe, you three got luckier than you deserved.” He smirked.

“And don’t we know it.”

Thirty minutes later, the girls came out of the evening gown store and continued on their spree. The only store I wanted to go into with Harlow was, of course, the lingerie store. She admentally shooed me away and threatened not to go in herself if I didn’t stay outside.

“Annie always tortures me when she gets back from these stores. She sits the empty bags out all over the house so I know she has a new piece of lingerie somewhere.” Cambridge groaned, flopping down on one of the benches.

We finally ended the neverending shopping spree with lunch in the food court and then started the trip back home.