The Mating Rules

Isaac’s POV

I throw my arm over my eyes, blocking my irises against the morning light that streams in through the gap in my curtains. Even with our soundproofed doors blocking out all of the noises from the pack house, I know people will already be awake and getting ready for training or work. I know I don’t have a choice, but right now I really don’t want to face them. I don’t need the pitying looks as I walk past, the low whispers about how maybe my mate is already dead or so far away that I might never meet her.

Last night was another full moon, and yet again my wolf Indigo didn’t react to the she wolves that had been led into our forest. I’m now Thirty four years old and even I’m wondering if Indigo and I will ever hear the calling of our mate.

When I was younger, I would hole up with my best friend Caden the future Alpha, in his bedroom. The two of us waiting nervously, straining to hear what is supposed to be the most beautiful sound we will ever get to listen too. Well, I thought we were both waiting desperately to hear it but it turns out it was only me who wanted to be summoned to the forest. Caden, it turned out, wanted nothing more than to not hear a she wolf call to him. Prayed each and every full moon to the Goddess to leave his world silent.

He had the biggest crush on my little sister Jamie-Lee, he tried to keep it from me but there’s only so many times he can watch her leave the room with longing before you start to notice. So yeah, he didn’t want to be called, he only wanted my sister and got more and more depressed the closer that her claiming came, believing she’d be destined to someone else.

He was half right, she was destined for another, our best Warrior, Hadley Carrington, but she was also destined to him. It was a mess to start with, but they figured it out and are happy as a trio and have five kids! Yeah, I don’t even want to think about how my sister got pregnant so many times, we’ll just say that the Goddess gifted them and leave it at that.

I love my sister and my best friend, I really do, and I’m so happy for them to have found each other and Hadley, but as the years go on, it gets harder and harder to be around them. I’m eaten up with jealousy every time I see Caden brush my sister’s hair behind her ear, smiling down at her like she’s the reason he gets up every day. My stomach tightens painfully when Hadley stalks up behind her after he has been out all day, wrapping her up in his arms like he hasn’t seen her for weeks. I am not ashamed to admit that I want what they have, and the more time that passes, the more I wonder when it will be my turn, when will the Goddess bless me with a mate.

A knock on my door echoes sharply through my room and I g***n, throwing the pillow over my face to drown out the noise.

The door slams open and the pillow is dragged away, thrown to the floor as the smirking face of my best friend looms over me. ‘Come on’ Caden orders, ‘up you get.’

‘Go away’ I grumble, rolling over and covering my head.

‘Nope’ the annoying a*****e replies, pulling off my covers before turning around with a growl of disgust as I smirk into my pillow. ‘Dude! Seriously!’

‘It’s my room’ I reply, ‘if you don’t want to see my naked a*s, don’t barge in here and steal my covers.’

I feel something slap my a*s and yelp as I roll over, Caden holding out his hand as he turns his face away from my junk. ‘get some pants on, I do not need to see that’ he growls.

‘Why jealous?’ I ask with a grin as I sit up and throw my legs over the bed before standing up and stretching, purposefully taking my time just to piss my friend off.

Caden scoffs, ‘more like I don’t know how long I can stand here and feel sorry for you before I offer to have the pack pay for some cosmetic surgery’ he counters.

I flip him off as I stride over to my chest of drawers to grab some underwear. ‘You should keep that money for yourself’ I throw over my shoulder, ‘I’ve seen what you are sporting and I’ll be honest, I always felt bad for you when we had to get changed for gym.’

The Alpha laughs, throwing my jeans at me, ‘your sister has never complained’ he retorts as I grimace, ‘in fact I can describe many occasions where she was very very happy with what I had to offer.’

‘OK, we’ve talked about this, no discussing your s*x life with my sister in front of me’ I growl, pointing at him warningly as he laughs louder in response.

Yeah, happiness looks good on my best friend and there is no arguing about the fact that he worships Jamie-Lee, it’s actually a toss up over whether Caden or Hadley are more besotted with her to be honest.

‘Why are you even here?’ I grumble, heading into my closet so I can change into my clothes, pulling up my jeans and walking out again, heading toward the bathroom to use the facilities and brush my teeth. The silence tells me immediately why, Jamie-Lee, she’s sent Caden to make sure I’m Ok after another claiming where it wasn’t my mate calling out.

I stick my head out of the doorway, toothbrush hanging out of my mouth as Caden stares at me sheepishly, raising his shoulders in a ‘what could I do?’ kind of way.

‘She was worried’ he defends my sister, of course he does, the guy is more whipped than a dessert mousse.

‘I’m fine’ I reply firmly, ‘tell Jamie Bear that I am absolutely fine and that she doesn’t need to send her Mates to babysit me after every full moon.’

Pulling my head back into the bathroom, I spit out the toothpaste, and I roll my shoulders, trying not to growl at my best friend. I know he’s only trying to be supportive, really I do and I appreciate it but I’m getting damn fed up of people treating me like I’m broken just because I don’t have a mate. I don’t know how to tell the people I love, but their overprotectiveness makes the whole thing ten times worse. Every pitying look, comforting touch to my arm or murmured comment of next full moon makes me feel like I’m letting them down somehow. Yes it kills me a little each time when my wolf and I sit by the window straining to hear the call which never comes but to have everyone else point out how much it sucks, makes it harder to bury the disappointment and keep going.

Stepping out of my bathroom, I grab a clean shirt and pull it on over my head, ‘go back to your mate’ I sigh when I see that Caden is still standing in my room, his arms crossed over his chest.

My best friend shakes his head, ‘can’t’ he replies firmly, ‘the kids have banned me from the Alpha suite, they are making me a surprise.’

The way his facial expression softens as he talks about my nieces and nephews, stabs me in the chest and I force myself not to lift my hand and rub my palm over my heart as I force a smile.

‘Oh yeah? Hope its not like the time Jayden decided he wanted to be a boy scout and set fire to the rug building a bonfire.’

Caden laughs, his eyes alight with amusement, ‘Leeway went postal man, I’ve never seen that boy run so fast, he’ll be in the elites’ class before I know it.’

I chuckle, nodding, unlike his piece of s**t father, Caden has already said that no child will be forced into the Elite training until they are sixteen unless they ask and are trialled by the trainers to make sure that they can keep up. He also takes time to tell each of his pups that he’s proud of them and encourages them constantly. At nine years old, Jayden already shows promise as a fighter, Caden and Hadley both taking turns to train him. Hayden is surprisingly much more of a gentle soul considering who his parents are. Though he trains like every pup and has obvious Alpha genes, he prefers to sit with charcoal pencils and draw than go down to the field and fight. I admit I worried when Hayden wasn’t the warrior that everyone expected, concerned that Caden would fall into his father’s ways, but the Alpha was amazing, he has framed pictures all over his office that Hayden has drawn, boasting to any visiting Alphas about them. When we realised that Hayden had a talent, he went out and bought him paints, pencils, sketch books and canvases, built the kid a damn art studio on the Alpha floor.

Under his father’s encouragement and interest, the Alpha’s second born came out from his brother’s shadow and is growing into a strong person of his own. He no longer follows along behind Jayden, agreeing with everything he says and does, he has opinions and isn’t scared to stand his ground when the eldest Star pup tries to boss his siblings around.

‘So how long do you have to be out of their hair?’ I ask, sitting down on the edge of my bed and pulling on my sneakers.

Caden smirks, ‘well I may have heard talk about a birthday cake so I’m going to guess an hour for them to wreck the kitchen, thirty minutes for Leeway to yell and clear up after them and then another hour for her to remake the cake whilst trying to teach them all how to do it properly.’

I stand up, clapping him on the shoulder, ‘Man you are getting old’ I tease, ‘what are you now? Forty-three?’

‘I’m going to be thirty-five a*****e’ my best friend growls, knocking me with his shoulder. ‘Plus, let’s not forget that you will be right behind me, maybe I’ll get the kids to make their Uncle Isaac a nice cake for his birthday next month and not let your sister redo it so you have to eat it.’

I suppress a shudder, the last time the twins made me something, it was rock cakes and they used actual rocks that they found in the grounds. Damn near broke my tooth when I bit down on it, their faces were so excited I had to force a grin as I told them how great they were before quickly spitting it in my hand and hiding it in one of my sister’s plants.

‘Yeah, I tell you what, i’ll make you a deal, you can babysit me until you are allowed to go back to your perfect life and your adorable kids. In return, you are never allowed to let the twins cook or bake for me unsupervised again’ I offer.

Caden holds out a hand to me, ‘deal’ he agrees, grinning widely as I take his hand in mine and shake it firmly, ‘now let’s go and get some breakfast, I’m f*cking starving, the twins literally kicked me out of my own damn suite before Leeway even finished making the pancakes.’

I chuckle at his pout, the guy hates being away from his family, even for a few hours, yeah, i’m not jealous at all.