My Crazy, Orphaned, Dangerous Mate

6*Amos POV

"Has anyone seen my shirt?!" I holler down the stairs to my family. I have been looking for a specific shirt, they know the one, for 8 minutes and I cannot find it anywhere. Driving me nuts!

"No, baby, did you check your closet?" My mom shouts up to me. Nooooo, mama, I haven't checked the one place I keep my shirts that aren't t-shirts.

"Yes!"

"Sweetie, check the laundry room, I think I washed it yesterday!" Helena yells from another room. Why go see someone when you could just shout to them from anywhere in the house?

"Okay!" I jog shirtlessly to our laundry room and, sure enough, it is hanging there all nice and ironed. Excellent.

"Found it, thanks!"

"No problem, angel!" See what I mean about the names? I even find myself unknowingly calling some people 'hun' or 'babe' when I'm talking to them. It just comes out naturally. Curse my incredibly endearing upbringing. My manliness is being compromised and I can't help it!

I throw the shirt on and quickly button it up. On the last button, I realize I had skipped the top one, so I have to undo it all and start again. I need to chill some, damn.

"You almost ready? We're leaving in ten!" I hear Vego shout from downstairs. He came about an hour ago and Beta Dane arrived a bit later. I don't know why they came so early, but whatever.

I push my feet into my boots and hurriedly strode down the stairs.

"Yes, I'm ready," I tell him once I reach the living room. He is drinking coffee from a large mug. What's with adults and coffee? I swear.

"Is it just us three going?" Dane asks, sitting on a couch and drinking coffee as well.

"Uhh yes, I think," I answer uncertainly. I really hadn't thought about who'd all be going. Not that it matters. We'll be back within two hours with my mate and everyone can meet her then. If she wants to meet people, that is.

"Let's go, then," Vego stands up a few moments later after finishing his cup of caffeine.

My mom runs into the room right as we are going out the door, and much to my displeasure, I don't escape fast enough.

"Honey, be safe and careful, have a good time and bring her back real fast so we can meet her okay? I love you so, so, so much, Schnookums!" Okay, now I know for sure that she's just trying to embarrass me by babying me in front of two high-ranked members of the pack. She pulls me into a tight hug, then releases me slightly to kiss my face about 8 times before letting me go.

When I reach Dane's Hummer, the two men were are snickering, no doubt about me.

"Get in the car, Schnookums!" Dane exclaims teasingly and he and Vego start laughing hysterically. Thanks, ma.

I roll my eyes, "shuddup," I mutter quietly while climbing into the back seat.

Dane may seem intimidating, not nearly as much as the alpha of our pack, Ambrose Atarna, but he really is harmless. To people he likes, that is.

He can attack an enemy without a second thought and kill them in an instant. Every day I thank the skies that he likes me.

The Beta isn't just a second-in-command to the Alpha. No, they're much more than that. The Beta is the, I guess, 'people person' of the elites. The Alpha, obviously, is in charge of the pack. He's the head honcho, the big cheese, the boss. He's scary, which he has to be in order to keep the pack safe and keep unwanted visitors far away. He knows of all the pack members, but he hardly has time to come sip tea with us and watch I Love Lucy reruns in our living rooms on Sunday mornings. That's more of the Beta's job.

That's what Dane does. He knows all of us by name and comes to chat with each shifter family often. He's entirely straight-faced and unfeeling at important meetings and during conflict, but he's a childish jokester at heart. A six-foot five-inch, occasionally terrifying childish jokester, but he's fun, nonetheless.

The Gamma, which is the third-in-charge, is the trainer and fighter. He teaches us how to defend ourselves and our pack-members against rogues or other packs that may attack. Ours is the ever-stoic Quade Livinston. I've never seen the man smile, and aside from the times he's screamed in my face for goofing off when we were supposed to be practicing killing each other, he makes hardly any facial expressions. He, Dane, Ambrose, and their families are the only ones who live in the Pack House.

And let me tell you, it is nice. The 14 bedroom mansion ought to be on MTV Cribs with how pimped out it is. The place has 8 bathrooms, a huge home-theater, a gym, and an indoor pool, amongst other things. Dom invited Ace and me over a few years back and I swear, my life changed because of it.

"Are you even listening, Ellery?" Dane calls back to me, using my surname.

"Nope. What are we talking about?"

"Never mind. How do you deal with this kid? He has the attention span of a toddler."

"You get used to it. I gotta deal with nine more of 'em," Vego replies to him.

Yeah, we're probably pretty bad.

"Are we there yet?" I semi-whine from the back of the vehicle. I may also have kicked the back of Vego's seat, but that's besides the point.

"You're whinier than Ace's baby boy. We're almost there, quit it," he scolds. Alright damn chill.

I lean my head on the window and stared down at the road that gradually turns to just rocks or dirt as we get closer to Pikes Point.

Pulling up to the orphanage several moments later, I am the first to throw my seatbelt off and jump out of the car. I want to run straight in there but I have a strong feeling that if I do that, Dane would smack me for being a doof. So I just calmly--and by calmly I mean I am bouncing on the balls of my feet and mentally dragging Vego and my Beta from the car and forcefully taking them into the building with me--wait for them to get out and come in with me.

"What's the hurry?" Dane teases, walking extremely slowly. I roll my eyes.

"Now you're just trying to piss me off," I tell him blankly as we walked up to the door. Dane laughs a little bit and knocks on the door.

Then I am suddenly struck with the worst case of nerves realizing that I am about to meet the person I plan to be with forever.