The Triplets of Emerald Forest

Chapter 9 Godric

This was torture. Complete and utter torture.

"We should be upstairs." I growled, kicking the door to Gabe's office shut and plopping down on the sofa.

"We can't." Gabe sighed, looking up from his computer.

"She's safer with us guarding her." I let out a frustrated sigh.

Griffin was sitting on one of the chairs across from Gabe's desk with his laptop perched on his knee.

"We're right here. She's safe." Griff said without looking away from the screen.

"I hate this." I grumbled.

"We all hate this, Ric." Gabe sighed at me.

"You don't seem so bothered. Griff maybe, but you're just fine with her being here." I snapped. Gabe's eyes shot up and were black as they glared at me,

"How dare you question my dedication to our mate!" He snarled.

"That was pretty harsh, Ric." Griff said, eyeing me cautiously. I sighed loudly and dropped my head,

"I'm just frustrated."

"We're all frustrated and we all care about her. We all want what's best for her and to be with her. It's just not possible right now." Griff tried to reason with me.

"We all have different priorities, though." I pointed out.

"But, the same goal." Griff countered.

"Okay, okay." I conceded the fight.

The three of us tried our best to stay busy while our mate slept upstairs. We had plenty to do between the pack business and our personal businesses. We each had different interests after grade school and gravitated towards different aspects of the family business.

Our family business already included several restaurants which I took a particular interest in. I went to culinary school and studied abroad in Europe for a year before returning home and taking over the restaurant franchise. I opened up several more places including a few fine dining options, one of which was located in downtown D.C. Whenever I could, I was the executive chief at that restaurant.

Gabriel took after our father and dove head first into the finances of the family business and the pack. He received his MBA in accounting and opened a corporate office in D.C. Our father did all of his business from the packgrounds and had his employees handle in person and international business on his behalf. Gabe had a different approach and was much more handson. He enjoyed traveling for the cooperation and handling business from the head office.

Griffin, as usual, was the wildcard. He took on a totally new interest that our family hadn't gotten involved in yet; art. Our mother confessed that her brother, an uncle we never met, was an artist who owned art galleries in New York City and D.C. Griff went to NYU to study art, traveled the world for a second degree in art appreciation, and then opened a gallery in D.C. He also uses the Emerald finances to invest in art galleries and museums, pushing our family name to new heights.

A few hours later, the girls mindlinked us that Harlow was awake and, exactly as predicted, was freaked out and pissed off.

"We should go up there." I said,

"That's a horrible idea." Gabe quickly shook his head.

We were still arguing when Nova and Matti entered Gabe's office without so much as a single knock.

Nova was our youngest sibling at 24 years old. She's a half human half werewolf who isn't able to shift into her wolf, but is able to communicate with her. She took after our mother and went into forensic psychology and is currently working for the Stafford police department. Her mate, Alaska, was the brother of the Beta of the Red River pack in Maryland.