Midnight River Shorts

Shay's Advice

Brandon's POV

~Day of the Field Day~

"It's Brandon, right?" A voice says. I look up and see a large man smiling down at me. I nod silently and he sits down next to me at the table.

I look at Dad and Callum. They look relaxed, talking with each other and the Alpha from Midnight River. I look back at the stranger.

"I don't mean to frighten you." He says calmly. "My name is Shay. Stacy's my little sister." He smiles.

"But... She's Alpha?" I feel confused with this man.

"She is." He chuckles. "My parents adopted me before they had Stacy." He says, getting comfortable. "But I wasn't born to be Alpha, so I had no issue letting her do it."

"Oh." I blink. "Like me and Axel!"

"Exactly." He chuckles. "I wasn't born in Midnight River, but that didn't stop my parents from adopting me. When we were younger, Stacy was a bit... Abrasive. At first it was because she thought I'd try and take her role, which I never had any interest in." He chuckles. "Then as we grew up, she heard more of what the other Packs did than I did, so she grew to be biased against some of them."

"What convinced her you didn't want to be Alpha?" I ask, playing with my fingers. I don't want to fight Axel when we get older.

"I left." He shrugged. "I spent some time in the human city, found my love for baking, and met my Mates." He smiles.

"You have more than one?!" I gape at him. "Is that even possible?!"

"I do." He chuckles. "I have two Mates, Ethan and Taylor. And it's very possible." He laughs. "Taylor's best friend got Mated to a pair of Wolves as well."

"Whoa." I murmur in surprise.

"Right?" He chuckles. "I did get in a fight with my sister when we came back. I broke her nose." He grins, proud of himself.

"I don't want to fight Axel." I say, shaking my head

"You probably won't." He smiles softly. "Stacy and I's relationship is... Like a really long roller coaster." He says thoughtfully. "We started off okay, then it got a bit bumpy. It took a big turn after I broke her nose though. Because that's when she went to the clinic and found her Mate." He smiles at his sister and her Mate. "Then it started getting better. And now, we're really good friends." He looks at me. "You and Axel are already really good friends. So, you just have to make sure he knows that being Alpha isn't something you're interested in as soon as he's able to comprehend it. I'd say find out what you want to do, and do it."

I look at Shay, this big, strong man. He could probably easily beat his sister and take over... But he chooses to bake because it makes him happy.

"I want to learn how to bake, I think." I say softly.

"Yeah?" He beams, his eyes glinting happily.

"I think so, yeah." I smile softly, looking at the big man.

"I'll send you some cookbooks for you to try out!" He grins. "Oh! And if you want, I could come out every once in a while and we can bake together!" He looks genuinely excited.

"That sounds fun." I nod.

"Yes!" He cheers. "Finally, someone wants to bake with me!" He grins so widely.

"Your Mates don't want to bake with you?" I ask.

"Well, Ethan's a designer. So, he tends to enjoy drawing more. He'll decorate cookies with me, but he doesn't do baking. And Taylor was raised as a human, so they have some human health conditions that make it difficult." He sighs softly. "My kids though..." He groans. "Mira's going to be the next Alpha, Savvie's in a band, and Nicholas was just born."

"I'd be happy to bake with you, Shay." I smile at him. "If my parents don't mind, of course."

He grins again. "Can I hug you, Brandon? Feel free to say 'no' if you want."

"I'm okay with a hug." I smile at him, and this large man gives me a gentle hug. "Have your parents let me know when you want to bake, okay? We could even do facetime baking!" He grins.

"Okay." I smile up at the big man.