Red Riding Hood

The End

[ Eric ]

Never judge a book by its cover.

In the last few years that lesson had been learnt over and over. My Alpha had suffered due to this, an outcast from the pack he still tried to protect. The Alpha female, had seen through the façade despite the events that followed, so did our second in command Finn, which was why he held that position now. Marcus didn't mind and gladly stepped aside, able to spend more time with Cecilia. The rest of us never stopped to ask questions, we never doubted his actions were not done with ill intentions. I regret it all but at the time I thought what I was doing was right. The old Alpha was not who we all were led to believe he was.

You can only live and learn. 

"Eric come on!" Elizabeth whined from the living room. Shaking my head to clear the thoughts away I grabbed the bowl of popcorn and headed in. It had been five years since those events that made me question who I was. No one knew it had affected me so much. Beth did, she was more than my Alpha, and it was hard to explain our connection.

It had always been there.

Her usually athletic frame sported a rather large baby bump. It was something I couldn't have been prouder of. I was going to be the best Uncle to that kid. She and Parker had finally done the human thing of a traditional wedding the year before and now their first pup was barely a month away.

"Dude, what took you so long?" James her little brother teased, looking up from the beanbag he had positioned beside Beth's chair. 

He was nearly twelve now, and after the death of his Mum Beth had gained custody of him. While we never spoke about it around the others, it was still fresh in his mind. We never told him the truth, he would want to know one day but for now we all helped him deal with the loss of both his parents and the disappearance of sister for that week. He had been introduced to our world a few weeks ago and bragged he always knew.

 "Well you know how this one eats now, I had to make sure we'd all be able to have some," I put the bowl down between Beth and I on the lounge and she shot me a look at what I implied. 

I laughed easily and got comfortable as the movie started. Beth sat a hand protectively over her belly; if you listened close enough the faint flutter of his heart could be heard. It was only weeks away until our family would expand by one and I looked over at her curiously. Catching my gaze she raised her eyebrow, nodding towards her stomach I grinned and my hand reached hers. At my touch the movement within increased and my smile grew.

"Guys come on, watch the movie. When my awesome nephew gets here you can gush over it but its just gross now!" James teased, throwing popcorn at me. 

I glared at him briefly. 

He was freaked out with the whole pregnancy thing, he refused to feel it move and while he was excited he couldn't handle the idea of birth. I thought it was a miracle. A couple hours later we all got up and went to the kitchen, Beth was straight into the fridge looking for food while James washed the popcorn bowl and cups before heading to bed.

"Do you know when they'll be back?" Beth asked worried. 

Parker had been gone for a few days on pack business and refused for her to travel with him in her condition. The fact she was missing him didn't surprise me, she had always been independent and strong enough to stand up to him yet since she was carrying her child she had become clingy. Parker had loved it, finally having her agree with him on most things and not challenging him every second. The change in her behavior had her worried it was something to do with another spell yet thanks to constant awareness and the ring Parker and Finn had given her years ago it wasn't possible. When she finally did the pregnancy test she had freaked out completely but she was loving the idea now, she really did glow.