Thoreau - Chapter 55: Chapter 55

I woke up on my eighteenth birthday with a heavy weight on my chest and something sandpaper-rough licking the tip of my nose. Blinking my eyes open, I saw one of the most precious fuzzy faces ever staring back at me.
"Squidge?" I questioned in my raspy morning voice, and he began to purr. "Squidge! It is you!"
Filled with happiness, I sat up and cuddled him, which made him purr harder.
"Is he saying happy birthday to you, piccolo orso (little bear)?" came Zia Maria's voice from my bedroom door.
"I think he is!" I told her with a big grin, then looked back at the rumbling ball of fluff in my lap. "Thank you, Squidge! I love you. You're the best cat I've ever known."
"Must not have known too many gatti (cats) in your life then," Papa said as he came to stand behind Zia Maria.
"No, I haven't, Papa," I admitted, "but I'm sure Squidge is a king in the cat world!"
"I'd be more inclined to believe he was enslaved to a tiger khan who sent him on a suicide mission into enemy territory just to be rid of him."
Jumping off my lap, Squidge arched his back, flattened his ears, and hissed at Papa.
"See?" I scolded. "This is why he doesn't like you! You keep insulting him! Say you're sorry!"
"The hell I will," Papa muttered, then louder, "Happy birthday, cucciolo. When you're ready to get up, come downstairs for breakfast."
"Thank you, Papa!" I called as my little ear heard his heavy steps walking away. Grinning at Zia Maria, I stroked Squidge's back so he'd relax and curl up in my lap again. "Are you and Zio Matthew having breakfast with us?"
"Not Matthew, but me, your zias, and all your nephews," she said. "Your beta zios and your dad are with Luna Posy while the alphas are having an important meeting at their offices, and Zayne and Zayden are at fighter practice with Kon. Don't worry, though. Everyone will be here in time for your party."
"Yay!" I cheered.
My boyfriends and friends and family were supposed to be here by noon so we could have cake and ice cream and, since the weather was nice enough, some outdoor games! I knew several of them would want to run the Luna Emergency Route so they could post their times. It had become so popular, Papa had moved the scoreboard from our kitchen wall to the pack's website, and the competition was fierce for fastest and most improved times.
The alphas and Zio Leo were always the top six, followed by the betas and a few shifters with beta blood like Zio Zayne and Zio Zayden. The gammas were usually next, although Gamma Reuben sometimes broke into the betas' times, and Papa and Olivia Bel Air usually led the unranked.
Except for Alpha Mason and Beta Crew, the LER regular runners were horrible about teasing and razzing each other in the online chat, and Papa forbade me to read it anymore after some things Alpha Wyatt and Alpha Ash posted.
They are very naughty alphas! I giggled to myself as Squidge squiggled into a more comfortable position in my lap.
As for those who didn't want to run, Dad and I had set up some other games. I had a half basketball court, lawn darts, laser tag, and cornhole boards, plus we could always play Tag or Hide and Seek, so there should be something for everyone. Well, except the youngest pups, and they would probably play inside with their toys or sleep, which little pups did a lot of!
Speaking of little pups...
"Did Zia Ariel bring baby Trace?" I had only gotten to see him the day after he was born two weeks ago, and I was excited to hold him while he was still so small!
"Yes, he's here. Drew, Jack, and Madds can't wait to see their Zio Reau!"
"Yay! I love my nephews!" I kissed the top of Squidge's head, then looked into his glimmering eyes. "Are you hungry for some strawberries and chocolate chip pancakes, Squidgey?"
"He will probably hide up here in your room all day," Maria laughed, "especially once your guests start arriving. You know he isn't a people person."
"A people cat, zia," I corrected her with a nod. "I will leave my door open for him so he can come and go as he pleases."
Carefully setting Squidge on my nest of pillows, I leapt out of bed, ran over to her, and picked her up in a big hug.
"Happy birthday, piccolo orso (little bear)."
"Thank you! Now for strawberries and pancakes!" I yelled.
Holding her tightly so I didn't drop her, I carried Zia Maria out of my room and raced down the stairs, her giggles mixing with mine.
Wayne
"Boyfriends!" Reau screamed as he ran out of his house with his arms up in the air and a huge grin on his face.
"Think he's excited?" I grinned as I opened the door of Arch's truck and hopped out.
"Maybe a bit," Arch chuckled as he shut off the engine.
Leaving him behind, I took off toward our baby and, as soon as he was close enough, Reau launched himself at me, his octopus arms wrapping around my neck as his legs went around my waist.
"I'm so happy you're here!" he hollered in my ear.
"Reau. I can hear just fine. Well, I could until you broke my eardrum."
"Oh, no!" Pulling his face out of my neck, he latched his hands onto my head and turned it, presumably to look in my ear. "I'm sorry, WayWay! Osh, heal him quickly!"
He's not injured, Reau, Ocean told him before I could. He's just teasing you, although you did yell right in his ear.
"Sorry! I am just excited!"
"I know you are, Curls." Clasping my arms under his ass, I nudged the tip of his nose with mine. "Give me a really good hello kiss to make up for it."
Mischief lit up his face, but I didn't have time to figure out what he was planning before his lips were on mine, and any hope of a logical thought process evaporated. His nimble little tongue lapped at the seam of my lips, which surprised me, but I held back my need to dominate his sweet mouth and let him in to explore. The last thing I wanted to do was make him feel like it was wrong for him to take the initiative.
Besides, it was hot! Reau wasn't normally aggressive. Blunt and sometimes bold, but not usually the first one to make a move, so this was a surprise - and an arousing one.
Who would have thought I'd get turned on by my sweet baby bunny shoving his tongue in my mouth!
Must be how Wyatt feels when luna gets aggressive during her heat! Ocean tittered.
Fucking hell, Osh! I don't want to think of my little sister-in-law that way! I growled at him.
Then the tip of Reau's tongue swirled around mine and my wolf's giggles faded to white noise as I lapped up the taste of strawberries and chocolate, which had become one of my favorite flavors recently...
"Quit hogging each other," Arch muttered from somewhere behind me. "I want to kiss you both, too."
Reau's mouth broke away from mine without warning, and he squirmed around in my arms and reached for Arch.
"I'm sure you two already did some kissy-kissy this morning!" our baby giggled as Arch took him from me, both of them ignoring my pout at losing contact with him.
Arch's husky laugh never failed to make my dick twitch, and now was no exception.
"Yeah, but it wasn't with you squished between us," he purred and glanced over Reau's shoulder at me.
Brightening up at the clear invitation, I eagerly smushed against Reau's back and put my arms around both of them as far as I could reach. That was more because of Arch, who really had turned into a bear, just like his older brother, Cole.
As for Reau, his body had recovered a lot since we first met him two and a half years ago. Sure, he still had trouble eating much at one time and did better with small meals and snacks throughout the day, but he was close to six feet tall now and had some definition in his light build.
He was nowhere near a normal male wolf shifter's size, though, and looked positively tiny compared to Arch and me. When we hugged him like this, he all but disappeared in our arms with just his mass of dark brown curls poking out above our shoulders.
I thought it was cute as hell and made my stomach flutter for a whole different reason.
With Arch, I could be as rough and tumble as I wanted to be, and I knew he felt the same about me, but Reau brought out all my tenderness. Thankfully, he unwittingly forced Arch to be gentle, too, which my boy wasn't so used to. Even with our younger brothers, Arch sometimes struggled to be gentle enough, probably because those heathens were just as rough and tumble, even little Walker who was about to turn two, but Reau made Arch think about being gentle every time he touched him.
"Are you excited for your party?" I nuzzled my face into one side of Reau's neck as Arch did the same on the other side.
"Yep! It is going to be so much fun, and Dad said the alphas are bringing me an extra special surprise!"
"WayWay and I have a special surprise for you, too," Arch murmured, and I grinned against Reau's skin as I felt our baby shiver.
I feel you, Reau, I thought to myself. That deep voice stirs up my butterflies, too!
"Yippee!" Reau suddenly sat straight up in Arch's arms and threw his hands in the air, whacking the back of his head on my chin.
You'd think I'd have a permanent bruise there by now, I linked Arch ruefully as I rubbed Reau's head where it had collided with my face.
Even though our baby didn't even seem to notice, I knew it had to hurt him because my lower jaw was throbbing. Fortunately, he had a tremendous pain tolerance, for which I was grateful since he had lots of little accidents like this one throughout the day, but I hated knowing how he'd gained it.
Before my thoughts could spiral into a dark place, Arch linked me back with a snort.
You'd think you'd learn to expect it by now.
How could I expect it? I rolled my eyes as we struggled to hold onto our baby, who was bouncing up and down in excitement now. I can't read his mind, and there's no way to predict anything with him. He's worse than a water witch!
"All of my gifts are inside! So is my family!" Reau hollered. "I've been playing with the pups! Come on inside!"
"Alright, calm down, baby. We'll go in," Arch laughed. "You're harder to hold onto than a greased pig when you get all squirmy like this!"
"Hmm. I like him squirmy," I smirked. "I want to see him squirm even more in a few weeks."
"What happens—" Reau stopped bouncing to ask right as Arch, Spring and even Firth and Ocean shouted, "Wayne!"
Pulling Reau away from me, Arch sprinted up the walk and the front porch steps, but I caught up to him as Reau leaned down and turned the door knob. Since he was basically sitting on Arch's arm, his movement made his joggers cling to his delicious little derriere, and I closed my eyes with a groan.
Less than four weeks until my birthday. Less than four weeks—
"Come on, WayWay! Why are you just standing there?"
Swallowing hard, I opened my eyes to see Reau's puzzled eyes and Arch's smirk.
"Nothing, baby. Just hoping you'll like your present, that's all," I lied without batting an eyelash.
"I'll love anything you give me, WayWay, because it's from you!" Giggling, he turned to Arch. "Carry me into the living room, please?"
Of course, he did, and the room was almost overflowing with witches and beta wolves, and it would get even more crowded once the guests on Reau's extensive list started to arrive.
Thank the Goddess the weather's nice enough to have the party outside, I linked Arch.
I told Beta Em he should have rented the community center, Arch agreed, but he wanted it here.
"Hey, Reau, what was with all that smooching in the front yard?" Beta Crew gently teased our baby with a soft smile. "Did you get eighteen birthday kisses instead of licks?"
Fucking hell! Did beta have to say licks? Moving to stand behind Arch, I reached down and adjusted the front of my jeans. Now that's all I'm going to be thinking about!
That's all you've been thinking about for years, Wayne, Osh snickered. Licking every inch of Arch and Reau and their long, hard —
Hush, wolf! I hissed as my brain painted images that were a little too realistic in my head.
Now that I was completely hard, I looked for an escape.
"Let's go to your room." I put my hand on Reau's head and stroked his soft curls. "We want to give you your present in private."
"Why? Is it too smutty to give him in front of everyone?" Beta Matthew waggled his eyebrows up and down.
"Puppy!" Maria handed their three-month-old son off to Gelo so she could smack the back of her mate's head. "I'm sure it's not anything smutty at all!"
Might turn smutty as soon as we're alone, I linked Arch with a tiny smirk.
Don't make me smack the back of your head.
"What's smutty mean, zio?" our baby piped up, staring at Beta Matthew with big eyes.
"See what you did?" Arch growled.
He never did like anyone corrupting our baby's innocence, not even with cursing.
Yeah, because he wants to do all the corrupting himself, I snickered.
"You know you can tell me!" Reau insisted and squirmed so much in Arch's arms that my boy set our baby on his feet, and Reau hopped over to stand in front of Beta Matthew. "I am eighteen today! I am an adult now!"
"True, but I think I'll let your boyfriends explain it to you." Beta shot us a wicked smirk and Maria huffed at him before she sat down in his lap and looked up at him in that wifey way I'd see all too often on Mom's face.
Beta Matthew is in trouble, Ocean and Firth giggled.
He's always in trouble, I grinned. That mouth of his gets him there every time.
"But I waited until I was eighteen just like I promised Binda I would!" Reau's bottom lip rolled out and his fingers started slapping into his palms.
Uh-oh. Our baby's getting upset.
I wasn't the most observant guy. Hell, to be honest, I didn't notice half the shit that went on around me! But I'd trained myself to be hyper-vigilant when it came to Reau. Merging with Spring had helped him a lot, but he was still Reau.
"And Dad said it was werewolf law to wait until you were eighteen and now I am! That means I can do mate things and learn mate things! I can know what the word smutty means! I can even look at and touch and play with—
"Don't say it, cucciolo," Gelo growled.
He's not going to say it out loud in front of everyone, is he? Arch glanced at me with wide eyes.
Fuck, yeah, he is, I grinned with smug satisfaction.
"—other boys' dickies, but I only want to look at and touch and play with Bear's and WayWay's dickies! Did you know they are both so b—"
Covering Reau's mouth with his hand, Arch picked our baby up like he was a football and literally ran out of the living room as the witches screamed with laughter, Gelo tried to hand Baby Trace back to Maria so he could unholster his guns, Beta Em growled, and Reau's zios turned red-faced from holding back their chuckles.
Narrowing my eyes at Beta Matthew, I raised one hand and drew a line across my throat with my index finger, then followed Arch before Gelo could act on his threats.
Once we got to his room, I tried to be the bigger person and ignore Squidge as he yowled at me, but I couldn't stop the distaste that curled my upper lip. I loathed that cat, and the feeling was mutual. The only difference was that my intense hatred was limited to him and two people who were dead while Squidge's emotional range was limited to varying degrees of resentment and hostility toward everyone, Gelo tying with me for most despised.
As soon as we dropped onto Reau's bed and assumed our usual position - him squashed between us - I forgot about Saddam Hiss-ein and focused on our baby's rambling.
"So that is why I finally feel it is time to tell you!" He stopped talking, batted his eyelashes at Arch, and rolled his head to do the same to me. "Are you ready?"
"Uh." I blinked and linked Arch. What are we talking about?
The bastard just gave me a tiny shrug, making me huff. Either he hadn't been paying attention, either, which never happened, or Reau's thought process was more disorganized than usual and Arch was still working on sorting out what our baby was trying to say.
"Can you give us a minute to process?" I asked as I toyed with Reau's curls.
"Okay. One minute. Go!"
Rolling my eyes at his literal self, I asked Ocean as Arch asked Firth if they knew what Reau was talking about, but they just shook their heads and said they hadn't been able to follow him, either.
There's something he wants when you become chosen mates and he's scared you'll say no, Spring took pity on us dumbasses, so he's spiraling a bit and getting lost in what he's verbalized and what he hasn't.
"Curls, you never have to be scared to tell us anything," I whispered as I cupped his cheek in my palm. "We are your safe people. We are your safe place. I'll tell you again and again: You can trust us with anything."
"I want a cat."
"Oh, hell, no!" I sat up and glared down at him. "Anything else. A puppy. A bird. A hamster. Even a fucking python. Anything but a cat!"
"But WayWay!" he pouted.
There was that fucking bottom lip again! It was going to be the death of me!
"Boys?" Our oldest brother, Mason, called from the bottom of the stairs. "Posy wants you to come down now so Reau can have his surprise."
"We'll discuss this later!" Reau bounced out of bed, not even aware of the devastation he left behind him. "My surprise is here!"
"There will be no discussion," I growled at the same time Arch said, "But we didn't get to give you our surprise yet."
"I will see your surprise next, I promise! I want to have time to appreciate it, not rush through it, because it's from you both!"
Well, that melted my frustrated little heart. Still...
A cat! I fumed. A fucking cat!
Cutting my eyes over at Squidge, who had made a throne on Reau's rainbow cloud bean bag chair - and you had to say the full name of the damn thing every time - I decided I was not going to bend on this one. No way was I going to take the risk of getting stuck with Lucipurr the Second!
"I need to pee, then I will be right down! Go tell luna!" Reau scrambled into his bathroom, and I rolled my eyes because he could have just linked her himself.
"We are not getting a cat!" I stabbed my finger into Arch's chest, just in case he was seriously considering it.
He held up his hands in surrender.
"I'm not the one you need to convince," he chuckled.
Whirling, I stomped downstairs with Arch following me and found our older brothers and Luna Posy had joined the family in the living room. There was a stranger, too, a guy with dirty blond hair and dark brown eyes who stood about as tall as Archer and practically radiated moon power, almost as much as Leo and Dad, but not nearly on Mase or Cole's level.
"Boys, I want you to meet Alpha Jace Beaudreau of Gray Shadows. Alpha Jace, these are Reau's boyfriends, Archer Barlow," Mason pointed to Arch, then me, "and Wayne Black."
I stuck out my hand, and Alpha Jace shook it with an easy grin before doing the same with Arch.
"Pleasure to meet you both. Reau talks of nothing else when he calls or texts me. Briar says you're both taking very good care of him, and I'm happy to hear that." Alpha Jace narrowed his eyes at us. "But if you ever hurt him—"
"You can't threaten us with anything Beta Emerson or the freaking Angel of Death doesn't already promise us on a daily basis," I snorted.
"Be fair, dude." Arch slung an arm around my neck and pulled me into a side hug. "They've eased up to once a week."
"Are you kidding?" I wrapped my arm around his lower back and grinned. "Gelo threatened to shoot our balls off less than five minutes after we arrived here today!"
"You'd have to stand in line to torture them, Alpha Jace." Mason cracked a tiny smile. "Goddess have mercy on any fool who ever harms this pack's darling. No one else will."
"Good." Alpha Jace's smile was full of teeth and never reached his eyes.
Before we got any further, a clamor of feet running down the stairs made us all roll our eyes. Thank the Goddess the old Barlow alpha house was a ranch style with no stairs! Otherwise, I would have gone gray from Curls running up and down them all day.
No wonder Beta Em hollers at him for it all the time, Osh snickered.
"Jace?" our baby whispered. Then, "Jace!" he screamed.
With tears streaming down his cheeks, Reau ran toward his old friend, who opened his arms with a broad grin. At first, I thought they were just happy to see each other face to face for the first time in something like six years, but then a single word left Alpha Jace's mouth, and my knees gave out as my world crumbled.
"Mate!"
Archer
As soon as Alpha Jace called Reau his mate, Wayne hit his knees with a soft wail and I reacted on instinct. Slinging my boy up in a fireman's carry, I ran out of the room and nearly knocked over Leilani, Princess Rhys, and Ayla, who must have just come inside the house because the door was still open behind them.
I didn't stop to apologize.
Running up the stairs, I kicked open Reau's bedroom door and dumped Wayne on Reau's bed, hissing at Squidge as he hissed at me from Reau's rainbow cloud bean bag chair.
We lost him. We lost him! was all I could think as I paced around the room with my fists knotted in my hair until Wayne's sobs drew me back over to him.
As we sat side by side on the edge of the bed, I hugged him and he dug his wet face into the crook of my neck.
"If it was a Five Fangs wolf, at least we would have been able to hang out with him from time to time," Wayne sobbed against my throat. "Yeah, it would have been painful to see him with someone else and to know we'd never kiss or touch him again, but at least he'd be around. Now, he'll go back to Gray Shadows and we'll never even see him again!"
A painful knot swelled in my throat, and it was all I could do to hug my one boy while I grieved for my other.
"He didn't even try to fight the mate bond, Bear!" Wayne gasped as he cried harder. "He just ran right to him!"
Stroking his hair, I shook my head, completely at a loss. I wasn't that great at words or comfort at the best of times, and definitely not when I was as devastated as he was, but I tried to come up with something to help us both understand this.
"Love, we have no idea how it feels to experience the mate bond. Others can tell us, but until we feel it ourselves, we can't know how powerful it is." I sniffed and tried to stop my own tears so I could mop up his with the sleeves of my hoodie.
"But what if— What if—" his breathing sped up until he was panting. "What if I lose you, too? What if you find your mate and leave me, too?"
Clutching at his chest, he bent over double and keened, and I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and squeezed him as hard as I could.
"If it's possible to fight the mate bond, I will," I promised him through gritted teeth.
The pressure of people trying to get through the link had steadily become so enormous, I knew I probably only had seconds before someone broke through the block I put up - and Cole proved me right when his deep voice boomed in my head.
It's not Reau, Arch! Alpha Jace's mate is Leilani, not Reau! Do you hear me? Alpha Jace smelled Leilani as she came out of the house at the same time Reau hugged him. As for Reau, he was just happy to see his old friend. Reau and Alpha Jace are not mates! Do you understand?
As the angry beehive of my mind stilled, his words slowly made sense and my heart began to beat again. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and shuddered with relief.
I hear you, I whispered. Thank you, Cole. Thank you!
Breathe, little brother. Your baby is still your baby.
He didn't add, "at least for now," but I knew he was thinking it as much as I was.
Is he okay? I asked Cole.
Very upset. Didn't realize what happened until just now. Posy's helping him, but he needs his boyfriends.
Opening the pack bond a little, I felt Reau lighting it up with distress as he pounded away at our link.
Wait a second, baby, I linked him quickly. Let me get Wayne settled, then I'll link you to come up here.
It was a little mean of me to close it before he could respond, but he had luna with him and understood what happened. Wayne only had me and still thought we'd lost our baby boy.
"Wayne? Look at me, love."
He shook his head, his body shuddering as he panted, and I grabbed a fistful of his blond hair and yanked his head up. Sunk this deep in the pain and panic, he wasn't going to respond to me being gentle.
"Look. At. Me!" I bellowed.
His red-rimmed eyes finally met mine, and I told him what had happened. He was silent as he stared at me, as if trying to decide if I was lying to him or not, and I leaned down and kissed his forehead as I loosened my grip on his hair and petted it gently.
"You're sure?" he whispered at last.
"Absolutely. Feel in the bond. Reau's upset and begging to join us."
Reau! Wayne hollered in the link a second later. Reau, I need to see you!
Before Wayne could finish blowing his nose and wiping his face, the door to the bedroom flew open and crashed into the wall, sending Squidge scurrying into the closet with an irritated screech.
"Wayne! Arch!" Reau sobbed and jumped on us, his sharp elbows and bony knees colliding with places they should never collide, but it didn't matter.
He was in our arms again.
He was our baby again.
And Goddess willing, he always will be.
Wayne and I were tough guys, despite our prankster reputation, and some of the best fighters in the pack, but we were still eighteen-year-old boys scared out of our minds. We cried as hard as Reau did until, worn out, Reau and Wayne fell asleep cuddled together, and I leaned down to kiss each of them on their foreheads.
By the moon, I love these boys!
Taking a deep breath, I decided I'd go back downstairs before someone came to check on us. Beta Emerson and Gelo were getting particularly annoying in the link, and luna was worried enough to have all five of my big brothers demanding a response, too.
Needless to say, my head was getting to be a very loud, chaotic place.
"Wayne?" I heard our baby mumble as I stepped out of the room.
I paused. I'd been sure they were both knocked out just seconds ago.
"Hmm?" Wayne hummed.
"What's lube?"
"What's what now?"
"Lube. In the book I read, the boys used lube when they put their dickies in each other's tushy holes. What's lube?"
"Fucking hell," Wayne groaned.
Holding back a chuckle, I left the door open a crack and hurried down the hallway. They were fine again.
Why are you leaving, Arch? Firth asked.
It's only fair, I told him. I got stuck explaining condoms to him!
Yeah, but this is Wayne we're talking about. My wolf shook his head.
Don't worry about it. I mean, how much trauma could he possibly inflict by explaining what lube is? My brain caught up with my mouth, and I paused mid-step. Wait a minute...
"Arch?" my sister-in-law's soft, sweet voice called as she appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "Are you okay? Is Wayne okay?"
"Yeah, they're fine. I'm fine. It was just very scary," I assured her.
Trotting down to meet her, I wasn't surprised when she wrapped her arms around my waist in a tight hug.
"Arch, I think you, Wayne, and Reau need to sit down and have a serious conversation," she murmured as she squeezed me. "And include Spring. I'm worried that he sacrificed something he shouldn't have when he and Reau made their deal with the Moon Goddess."
I blinked a few times as her meaning sunk in. Would a wolf sacrifice his mate bond? Could a wolf do that? Is that how Spring had "paid" to be merged with Reau? And if so, what had Reau sacrificed?
Wayne and I had talked about it after Reau said he couldn't remember all of his conversation with the Goddess, and we agreed that Reau's sacrifice was probably his wolf, Tanner. Surely the Goddess hadn't asked for more of a sacrifice than that!
But if she had required more, did our sweet baby give up his mate bond, too? Firth asked in a panic.
I don't know, Firth, I whispered. I don't even know.