My Mate or my Husband?

1

My Daughter or my Mate?

"Mommy, daddy's home!"

A smile broke out on my face as I watched my daughter, Ellie, jump down off my lap and run to the front door as it opened, revealing Alpha Brody.

He chuckled and scooped her small body up into his arms. "Ellie, baby girl, why aren't you dressed?" he asked, his deep voice sounding amused.

"I was waiting for you to come home," she said in a duh tone. I smiled and walked over to the pair.

"Honey, go to your room and get ready so we can leave," I told Ellie.

She groaned as Brody put her back down. "But—"

"No buts. Go get changed."

She sighed dramatically, but did as she was told.

Once she was down the hall and in her room, I turned to Brody and walked into his waiting arms. He kissed my forehead and then rested his chin on the top of my head.

"How'd it go? Any trouble finding Eric?" I asked him.

Eric was his younger brother and future beta of our pack, the Shadow River Pack. He's been away at a boarding school across the country for the last six years. He just graduated and is now coming back to officially be our beta. Brody just picked him up from the airport and dropped him off at the apartment he'll be staying at so he can get ready for dinner with myself, Brody, and Ellie.

This will be my first time meeting him. I've only known Brody for five years now. I met him at a human club one day. I knew nothing of werewolves until a drunken night with Brody led to my five year old daughter, Ellie. I don't regret it at all. Brody accepted the fact that he was the father of our child and stepped up to help me raise her, after introducing me to his world. I wasn't expecting anything more than that, but we slowly fell in love soon after, despite me being human.

Luckily Brody is an alpha. Alphas don't have mates already chosen for them. They're the only werewolves that don't. If the alpha chooses to, they can pick a mate themselves, one fit to run a pack and one that they love, werewolf or human. In that case, the mate bond would be no different from if the two were assigned by fate.

Brody and I agreed we didn't want to be without each other. I couldn't be happier that things had worked out the way they did, especially since Ellie is able to grow up with both of her parents together.

"Nope, he was pretty easy to find. He said he'd meet us at the restaurant in an hour. You ready?" he responded to my earlier question.

"Yep, just waiting on Ellie." I pulled back from him to head to Ellie's room and check on her, but he grabbed my hand and walked with me.

When I got to her door, I opened it slowly to see her looking between a pink and white striped sundress and a sparkly black skirt matched with a blue top.

"I'd go with the sundress. It's pretty," I commented. She looked up and smiled, grabbing the dress and throwing the other outfit in her closet on the floor. From behind me I hear Brody sigh and pass me to walk into the room.

"Put your clothes away nicely next time, Ellie," he says as he refolds the clothes.

"Yes, daddy." She runs past me with the dress into the bathroom, coming out a moment later fully changed.

I grab her hand and lead her out to the car to get her all strapped into her car seat. Brody follows, but gets into the driver's seat. Once we're all settled, we head to the restaurant to meet Eric for the first time.

I can't help but feel nervous. I mean, what if he doesn't like me? I'm human, he might think I'm too weak to be luna or not good enough for his brother.

Brody reaches over the console to grab my hand and bring it to his lips to press a gentle kiss on my knuckles. He doesn't say anything but he holds my hand the whole ride there. It helps calm my nerves some. I love Brody so much. He understands me like no one else can.

We pull up to the restaurant and Brody holds the door open for me and Ellie. Ellie grips his hand tightly as we follow the waiter to our seats. Brody sits on one end of the table and I sit on the other with Ellie in between us.

Eric isn't here yet, but I'm assuming he'll be here soon. I halfheartedly look at the menu, mostly watching Ellie color an elephant red on her children's menu.

All of the sudden my arm is forcefully yanked to the side. I would've fallen off my seat had the person who grabbed me not pulled me to him in a bone crushing...hug?

He smelled good and he was clearly stronger than a human. A lot stronger than me. I tried pushing him off but it wasn't working. I didn't have to try long before a low growl was heard behind me and the man—wolf—slowly released me. I backed up quickly and ran into Brody's hard chest.

Luckily we had chosen a restaurant owned and run by werewolves because Brody and the man were growling at each other not so subtly. The man had similar features to Brody and I could only assume this was Eric.

The words he kept repeating had me frozen in place.

"Mate."

Authors Note: I hope you liked it! I know it was a little boring but I promise that it'll get better if you give it a chance. Please comment and vote, I'd love to hear what you guys think about it!

Love,

WDisney35