Their Terrified Mate

Chapter Six

James' POV

I don't like the way Alpha Cam came for my mate, leading him out of the room like property. But Dennis doesn't seem to notice, distracted by something else.

"I always wanted pups," my other mate says, "but I didn't think." He pauses and my attention goes back to thinking of the young child who called our mate papa.

"How could he do that?" Dennis asks, "I've never even kissed a wolf that wasn't my mate, but he's gotten pregnant from another wolf and had the pup."

"Do you think it was his choice?" I ask. Not that it matters. Our mate is so small, he can't be old enough to drink, much less be old enough to have a pup that age.

"That's a good question," Dennis sighs, "why can't things just be simple?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, even though I have an idea of what he means. I'd be lying if I said I wish our mate didn't have a pup, wish I didn't have to think about him with another man.

"I mean," he starts, "we spend years looking for our luna, and he comes to us with another pup."

"He's still our mate," I say, feeling giddy just thinking about it, "we did finally find our mate."

"Yeah, we did," Dennis says with a smile, but then it turns to a frown, "not that it seems to matter to him. It didn't seem like he wanted us as his mates. You heard what he said."

"I think he's just scared," I say.

"Yeah," Dennis agrees, "I wish I knew why, I wish I could take those fears away. Fuck," he says, running a hand through his hair, "it seemed like our mate was scared of us. Why?"

"I don't know," I say, "but the important question right now is how much does our mate having a pup bother you?"

"I don't know," Dennis says, "I don't think it bothers me. It's just that it's not what I was expecting. Not what I thought our mate would be. That and I don't know how to be a father. Fuck," Dennis panics, "I'm going to be a father."

I laugh, but his panic mirrors the fear that I am trying to control. Dennis has always had a harder time with change than I have, so I'm trying to be strong for him. But I'd be lying if I said this was everything I dreamed of, or that I'm prepared to take in a pup. I don't even have siblings for goddess sake, I don't know how to take care of a child.

I take a deep breath at my spiraling thoughts and look at Dennis. I think about our mate and something tells me that the hardest part of all of this won't be the pup.

"Do you want to find him?" I ask Dennis.

"Noel?"

"Henry," I say.

Dennis looks unsure but I can tell he's trying to be brave. "What if he doesn't like me?" he asks and I laugh a little.

Dennis was always more concerned about the opinions of others than I have been, but something tells me the pup will be easier to please than his father.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about."

When we get to the kitchen, Henry is there, making a mess out of leftover cookie dough and I laugh when I see it, announcing our presence to the room of omegas. There are four of them and they all stop when Dennis and I enter the room.

"Hi. We heard something about cookies," I say and smile at Henry, who giggles at me, "and were wondering if we could help make some."

"Of course, Alphas," one of the girls says, a little stiffly, but I plan to change that soon. I would never want someone to be uncomfortable or overly formal in my presence.

Dennis asks where the ingredients are, and is happily shown by Henry, before being asked to give the young pup a ride on his back.

"You're so strong, like my papa," Henry says, and everyone laughs.

After a while of baking together, and talking, the omegas start to open up a little more and I learn their names. Kade, Carol, Johanna, and Georgie.

We're laughing together at some joke Dennis made when suddenly the room is tense again.

I turn and see an omega with short blond hair and a frown on his face.

"Oh, hello," I say with a smile on my face, "who're you?"

"Ben," he says, curtly and a little snotty, "who are you."

"James and Dennis," Dennis answers for me and I see the omega's face transform to shock before he bows.

"The visiting alphas, of course," he says, "sorry for bothering you."

"You're not bothering us," I say, "we're just making cookies." I raise my hands to show him the chocolate cookie dough that I'm holding.

"I see," he says, but he doesn't seem happy about it. "Does anyone know where Noel is or is he whoring himself out again?"

"Excuse me," Dennis says, offended on behalf of our mate.

"Well everyone knows that's all he does," Ben says, "I mean how else do you have a pup at fifteen?"

"You know as well as everyone else that he didn't have a choice," Carol says, and I can hear Dennis' intake of breath while my heart breaks for our mate.

I was worried that was the case, what with him being so young.

But Ben just scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Whatever," he says, "just if you see him, tell him to find me."

Ben then leaves the room, and the kitchen is still tense.

Carol punches the dough that she's been kneading. "I can't believe the nerve on him sometimes," she says, "to say such things about Noel, and in front of his son."

His mates, too, I think, but don't say, I just let her continue.

"Besides, it's not like everyone doesn't know what Alpha does to that poor man," she says, and I stop everything.

I look at Dennis to see him staring intently at Carol, gripping a spoon in anger.

"Alpha Cam?" he asks, "what does he do to Noel?"

Carol shakes her head. "He brutalizes him," she says before turning to whisper to us, looking to make sure Henry can't hear. "He's been doing it to him since he was a little kid. I'm pretty sure that's how Noel got Henry."

I can feel the color draining from my face while I see the realization hit Dennis.

"Noel," he says, voice breaking, "is with Alpha Cam right now."

Carol frowns and shakes her head. "That poor boy."

At her words, the spoon drops from Dennis' hand and he runs out of the kitchen. I follow him on the hunt to find Cam and Noel.