Introspect [The Mating Games #3]

WENDELL ZERONE

Being the Royal Beta-to-be had its perks. One of those perks included being the first mated couple in front of the Alpha king, Luna queen and Moon Goddess.

“Ready?” Talulah grinned as she held her hand over the fountain, getting ready to alert the Moon Goddess that they were ready for her.

Wendell gulped and nodded his head at the same time Troy voiced his agreement.

As he had seen many times before, the Moon Goddess appeared from a cloud of smoke that now bubbled on top of the fountain. Like a hologram, the Moon Goddess towered over them both with a bright smile on her face.

“Thank you for that, Talulah. It’s nice to see you again,” the Goddess smiled warmly at both Talulah and Bernard before turning her attention to the two wolves kneeling in front of her.

“Wendell Zerone and Troy Christian,” she called out both of their names, indicating for them to stand. “Well done for winning the Mating Games and Troy,” she said, turning her attention to the man in question. When she spied the mystified expression on his face, she chuckled and continued, “Well done for recognising Wendell to be your mate straight off the bat.”

At the Moon Goddess’ choice of words, Troy beamed and Wendell flushed, looking rather sheepish with himself.

“I understand that you might have some questions for me,” the Moon Goddess murmured, watching the Royal Beta-to-be intently.

“I did, but not anymore,” Wendell was very proud to say. While he was happy that he was able to move past the shock of the situation, he wished it could have been done sooner but alas, it had all been out of his control then.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that. Regardless of the troubles you’ve faced so far, you two have a very bright future together and I’m excited to see all that you achieve,” the Moon Goddess finished saying making a show of disappearing back into the fountain; taking the little storm cloud with her.

“That was fairly quick,” Bernard murmured from where he was sat on his throne next to Talulah. “I feel like old age is making her less dramatic.”

“That or she ran out of things to say,” Wendell chuckled along with Bernard and Talulah while Troy glanced between the trio with wide eyes, as if he couldn’t believe that they were casually chatting about the Moon Goddess like this.

“Don’t worry, Troy,” Talulah tried to assure him. “I was just like you at first but you’ll get used to it.”

Troy sent her a thankful smile which very quickly started up an easy conversation. However, Wendell found himself zoning out.

The whole time, Wendell had been worried about the way his parents would react to his mate being a male. Not once had he considered the reaction of Bernard or Talulah. While they were the Alpha king and queen, they were also his friends. And frankly, Wendell wouldn’t be happy if they had disapproved or reacted negatively.

“You knew that my mate was a male all along,” Wendell more stated than questioned as the Moon Goddess seemingly disappeared into the water of the found; something which he knew wasn’t true.

“Not all along,” Talulah denied, her lips curled up into a small smile. “We found out about the time that you found out.”

“You could have given me a hint. It would have saved us both a lot of uncomfortableness and awkwardness.”

“But then it wouldn’t have been your journey,” Bernard added, a small smile on his face.

“Touché.”

“I’m not sure if you remember this, my love,” Bernard began, sending his mate a warm look before turning his attention to Wendell and Troy. “But before I met Talulah, I had been rather horrid to her. I was mean, nasty and completely out of order so when we did become mates, things were kind of tense and uncomfortable between us for a little while. That’s something that I still look to this day on and feel bad about,” at that, Talulah reached out to give her mate’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “It’s something that I regret and while I don’t want you to regret any part of your life, Wendell, I knew that this was something that you needed to deal with and discover on your own. If things were truly getting out of hand, then we would have intervened but just like you said to the Moon Goddess, thankfully you managed to deal with it on your own.”

Wendell didn’t say it but knowing that his friends believed in him to that extent warmed something inside of him; to know that if things went awry with his parents, he and Troy still had a family to turn to.

“I’m glad it didn’t go on for longer. I’ve had enough of Wendell walking away from me to last me a lifetime,” Troy chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. At the admission, Wendell flushed at just how accurate it was.

“I had the same thing with Talulah!”

“Yes, but you were in the wrong then,” Talulah chastised her mate playfully.

The easy conversation continued to flow until they remembered that they all had a long day ahead of them. While Bernard and Talulah had to make their way through the rest of the mated couples, Wendell and Troy had a brunch date.

Despite all the reassurance that he had received from Bernard and Talulah, not to mention Troy who had been on his side from the very beginning, Wendell still couldn’t help but feel nervous. And as he was determined to rip the band-aid off, there was not turning back now.

With that thought in mind, Wendell led them both out of Bernard’s office and down the hallway.

“Aren’t we supposed to be heading back to the grand hall?” Troy frowned in question as they walked right past the double doors.

“My parents planned a brunch celebration for the both of us. I hope that’s okay,” Wendell glanced at Troy. “And don’t worry about getting into trouble. The Mating Games is over now for us so the stewards can threaten to get us punished anymore.”

“That’s one way of saying it,” Troy chuckled. “And brunch sounds great. Will your brothers be there too?”

Wendell nodded and said, “I’d like to apologise in advance for anything inappropriate and any embarrassing stories that Maxwell and James may tell you. I’m going to tell you in advance that it’s all a lie so don’t believe them.”

At that, Troy threw his head back and laughed.

“I can’t wait to meet them all,” Troy chuckled, squeezing Wendell’s hand as they came to a stop in front of the door which would open up to their private family dining hall.

“Me neither. I just hope things go well,” Wendell exhaled before turning to his mate. Leaning across, he pressed a soft kiss to Troy’s lips, lingering there for several seconds too long before pulling away. “How about I go in first and prep them? I’ll call for you once it’s okay to come in.”

“Sounds good to me,” Troy smiled back at his mate. With one more kiss for good luck, he let himself into the dining room where his family was already sat around the table, waiting for him.

“Where’s your mate?” his mother asked, evidently disappointed at the fact that he had turned up alone. “I thought you were going to bring her with you today.”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” Wendell cleared his throat, trying to swallow his nerves. “My mate is standing on the other side of the door.”

“Why is she standing out there, son?” his father questioned, seemingly oblivious to what was going on. “Bring her in.”

“That’s the thing. My mate isn’t a she,” Wendell forced the words out of his mouth before he could choke on his words and back down; before he could let his nerves get the better of him.

One moment of silence turned into two which then quickly turned into several.

“What are you saying, Wendell?” his mother murmured in question, her eyebrows furrowing together in the middle.

While his mother and father continued to wait for him to clear things up, Maxwell and James had already figured things out.

“His mate isn’t a she,” Maxell repeated what his older brother had said earlier.

“Because his mate is a he,” James finished off his brother’s sentence, not looking the least bit indifferent at what he had just revealed.

“Okay,” his father shrugged, still looking rather confused and indifferent regarding the whole situation. “I still don’t understand why you’ve left him standing outside.”

“Let me bring him in,” Wendell murmured, turning around to head back to the door.

And here you were worried that they would be against this, his wolf snorted. They hardly even care! They’re more interested in why you’ve left him outside.

It does seem like all of the issues were only in my head.

With his lips curling up into a small smile, he reached for the door handle and squeezed it. When his mate’s beautiful face was revealed, his lips curled up even higher until his face began to hurt from smiling so hard.

“Ready?” Troy murmured in question, testing the waters.

“More than ready,” Wendell grinned back, reaching out for his hand as he guided him into the room.

“Mum, dad, Maxwell, James, this is Troy Christian, Beta of the Blook Rose pack. Also, my mate,” Wendell couldn’t help but puff his chest out in pride as he introduced his mate to his entire family, making a point of glancing around the table one by one. If any of them had any qualms about the situation, or the fact that his mate was a he instead of the she that they were expecting, they didn’t show it.

“Well, what are you doing over there, Troy?” his father pushed his chair back as he rose into a standing position, moving around the table to the both of them. “Come and give us a hug. We’re all a family now.”

“Thank you, Mr Zerone,” Troy grinned back, immediately moving in to reciprocate the warm gesture.

“None of that Mr stuff. You’re my son’s mate. That means that we’re family so you can call me Steve [CHECK NAME] or dad, whatever you prefer,” his father clapped Troy on the back before passing him onto his mother who greeted Troy in an even friendlier way – if that was even possible. His brothers weren’t as warm as their parents with the hugs, but a brotherly spud did the job just as well.

Brunch was spectacular, and not just because of the wide array of food that was laid out on the table. Conversation flowed freely all throughout, more so with Troy than Wendell who was rather quiet all throughout. More than happy to observe as his mate fitted in perfectly with his family.

With both of his parents discussing plans to meet Troy’s family, a possible gathering in England in the near future, and his younger brothers’ ecstatic at the prospect of adding another boy into the family, especially one that they deemed to be far cooler than Wendell, he couldn’t have asked for anything else.

And just like that, everything was perfect.

-

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Layla Knight

25.06.2021