Her Brother, Her Mate

I normally would go and pick up something for breakfast before a shift at the warrior center, but my appetite is nowhere to be found. I sucked down the energy drink from Casey, and the lack of food combined with all the caffeine and adrenaline rush from my confrontation with Alpha Jared has me buzzing with the need to punch someone in the face. Preferably Alpha Jared or my mother, but I know they would never show up to the warrior center. There is too much actual work to be done here.

I have another training session, then after lunch I’m on guard duty with Hillary and Mark. The training session is with Gamma Nathan again. Word about his beastly abilities has spread and the class is very full. Too full. To my disdain, Parker shows up, looking frantic as he searches for me in the crowd. We make eye contact momentarily, but I quickly snub him and turn my attention back to finding the best spot so I can see.

I know Parker is probably making his way to where I’m at, so when Gamma Nathan calls for volunteers for demonstrations, my hand is the first to shoot up. He gives me a bright smile and waves for me to join him in the front.

This session is in one of our indoor facilities, with a jogging track that circles above us. People are giving up trying to join the session and are crowding above on the track, watching from above. I see Casey up on the track, and he waves down to me, offering me an easy smile.

During the training, I tried to focus on Casey and ignore Parker’s penetrating stare from the side of the room. It only worked about 10% of the time. My eyes kept meeting Parker’s, and this weird desire would build inside me again.

My mood lifts the more we train. Gamma Nathan is a great teacher, and I’m enjoying the more hands-on approach to learning his techniques. When we break off into partners, most of the spectators, including Casey, leave because of the lack of space. I stayed with Gamma Nathan. He shows me how to move more intentionally, so my moves are swifter and more exact. I learned a lot from him today, which lifted my spirits considerably.

“You did fantastic, Carli,” Gamma Nathan smiles warmly down at me, “I didn’t think you would be that fast on your feet. Or that strong. Must have some good genes.”

“Speaking of my genes,” I smiled back at him, “Should I start calling you Uncle?”

He laughs whole heartedly, “I would love that,” he clasps me firmly on the shoulder, “I’m guessing you learned the truth? I saw you walking out with Alpha Jared at breakfast.”

“I did,” I frowned to myself, thinking about the talk I had with Alpha Jared. “I’m glad I finally know. The Childes have always been family anyway. This just closes the chapter on the part of my life I’ve always wanted to free myself from.”

He gives me a sympathetic look and rubs my back in a fatherly gesture, offering me comfort and support. It’s a good, almost fluffy feeling knowing I have someone else who seems to genuinely care about me.

“Your cousin can’t wait to meet you tonight at dinner. I’m picking her up at the airport in a couple of hours. She’s waited her whole life to meet you.”

“It’s weird to think I have a cousin,” I smiled softly.

“You have more than a cousin. All of us, my parents included, wanted to come down to see you. They moved up to help my wife when she had Courtney before you were even born and never got the chance to see you. Even when you came up to visit that one summer, they were told to stay away from you since they were so determined to tell you the truth. Your…alpha told my alpha we weren’t allowed to. He didn’t want to upset your mom by allowing us to meet you. I finally got his permission now because you were moving up to Blue Cliff and Crystal Moon needed help with the rogue vampire issue.”

“The prick didn’t want to deal with it himself,” I rolled my eyes, making Gamma Nathan laugh. Uncle Nathan. I make a mental note to start calling him Uncle Nathan from now on. “Hey, Uncle Nathan,” I smile up at him, and he beams back down hearing his new title, “Wanna go for a run before lunch? I wanna try those moves in wolf form too.”

“Of course you do. Tom wasn’t joking about you living for training,” he smirked.

I shrugged, “It’s where I first gained some freedom. I met Elena and Uncle To-,” I stopped myself and smiled shyly at the old way I used to address the man I now know is my father, “I mean, I met Elena and my dad for the first time at training. It’s what I live for now. Parker used to tell me he would make me his Gamma one day, so I had that goal too.”

“Do you still want to be a Gamma? It’s in your b***d. I still don’t have anyone suitable to take over after me. If you and your boyfriend both want it, you could do it together?”

“She’s not moving to Blue Cliff Pack,” Parker’s gruff voice breaks into our conversation. I g*****d out loud at his intrusion.

Parker is standing not even 3 inches behind me. I can feel his body heat against my back. He tries to grip my upper arms, but I swing them, causing them to fall to his side instead.

“You got to quit doing that,” I turned and grimaced at him, “We may not be legally siblings anymore, but it still feels uncomfortable. And who says I’m not moving to Blue Cliff? I already told you that’s not your decision to make.”

He slides his hands in his pockets and glares down at me, “I already had the transfer withdrawn. You are not moving. It’s not going to happen.”

“f**k it’s not,” I snarled, fighting the urge to get in his face and headbutt him again. Maybe that will knock some sense into him. “I swear, talking to you is like talking to a brick wall. Go away. Go play with those she-wolves over there.” I pointed to a group of onlooking women, just a few years older than me, who had been checking out Parker the whole training session. I tried to tell myself I was annoyed with the fact that the women were not paying attention to Gamma Nathan’s instructions, and not that they were checking out Parker the entire time.

“Carli,” Parker looked back at the women with disgust, then ran his hand through his hair, taking a step back and looking up in exasperation, “Quit fighting me. Geez. I get it. You hate our parents, but you don’t hate this pack. You love this pack. You leaving would devastate this pack.”

“They’re not my parents,” I seeth, “and I don’t understand why you are so hell bent on keeping me here.”

“Hey, you two,” Gamma…I mean Uncle Nathan pulls me back by my shoulders, probably feeling my murderous intent as I glare at Parker, “I don’t know what this is about, but this isn’t the place for your bickering. Alpha Parker,” he turns a hard stare at him, “I suggest talking about this later. My niece and I are going for a run.”

“I could go for a run right now,” he looks between me and my uncle hopefully.

“Fine,” I smirked, “You can be the test dummy.”

Uncle Nathan and I shift outside, Parker growling as I get naked in front of other people. How am I supposed to shift with my clothes on? “i***t” I think to myself, tossing my sweaty spanx and sports bra in his face.

We tossed Parker around like a football, me trying the moves out I saw Nathan use this morning. He seemed to welcome the physical contact, even if it was mostly me in wolf form, tossing him repeatedly into trees.

When we were finished, Nathan had to go before us to get ready to get Courtney from the airport. Parker tried his hardest to cover my naked form as I walked back to the warrior building. I end up placating him by wearing his dirty t-shirt he stripped out of just for me. I try not to let my eyes linger on his exposed chest and tapered abs. Fatty. I poke at his bulking abs out of curiosity and he smirks down at me when I find them to be rock hard.

“If you can’t push it in, it’s not fat,” he laughs.

“How do you know what I was thinking?” I grumbled.

“You’ve said it enough,” he muses my hair, “I could practically read your thoughts as you glared at my stomach.”

“How did you bulk up so much?” I asked, running my fingers down his abs again. He noticeably shivers under my touch, and I feel that confusing heat again. “Did you eat nothing but creatine and protein powder?”

“Ha, no. I did spend most of my free time at the gym though. Needed to work out my frustrations somehow,” he shrugs.

“Uh huh. I’m sure that wasn’t the only way you worked out your frustrations,” I ran my fingers down to the waistband of his shorts, pulling them so they snapped sharply on his lower abdomen.

He hisses in response, but offers me a crooked smile, “Maybe at first.”

“Not anymore?”

He shakes his head, “No, I’ve been celibate the last year and a half. None of the girls there had anything on…uh…well,” he grimaces slightly, “They didn’t compare to what I really wanted.”

“That why you’re now desperate enough to try hooking up with your little sister?”

“You are not my sister, if you haven’t forgotten the talk we had this morning,” he grumbled.

“Step-sister,” I corrected and rolled my eyes.

“You aren’t even that anymore thanks to the adoption. And no, I’m not desperate. I’m just going after what I really want.” Parker’s eyes bore into mine, stirring something inside me.

“Are you saying you really want to screw your sister?”

“Quit saying it like that. You are not my sister. You, Carli, are the most amazing woman in this pack. I don’t want to screw you…Well, I don’t just want to. I want the chance to show you I genuinely care for you, and that I want to be…more.”

I bit my l*p and stared up at his handsome, droopy eyes, so full of conviction. Why would he want to be more with me? He’s the next alpha. He has to wait for his mate. Unless…No. There’s no way I’m his mate. That doesn’t make sense.

“Why?” I whisper. We’ve reached the Warrior Center, and we both need to shower and get to lunch. Hunger is building inside me, and I don’t know if it’s for food or something else as I stare up at his handsome face. I can feel his longing and desperation, and I keep fighting my own longing.

“I told you. I love you Carli. I want you to stay here in Crystal Moon with me.”