To Feel Again [Welcome To Wolf's Peak]

Chapter Three - Niko

Niko

My head was starting to pound, what had fate been thinking? Adrian was never going to accept us and Owen was going to be heartbroken. He'd felt the pull to Adrian, he was attracted to him, he'd been hurt already by Adrian's cruel words.

I'd dropped Owen off at work this morning and there'd been no sight of Adrian anywhere. It wasn't really surprising since both their shifts didn't overlap. Now I was on patrol even though my mind kept wandering away from the job I was supposed to be performing. I'd never been distracted from work before, it was dangerous. 

I tried to push away my unwanted thoughts once more and concentrated on the woods around me. I didn't see or hear anything out of place at first, then a quiet whimper broke the silence. I creeped closer to where the sound had come from ready for anything but what I saw.

Two of the young shifters were heavily making out against a large tree trunk. William, the Alpha's adopted son, had his back pressed against the trunk with his arms wrapped around Jimmy, the adopted son of the Beta. The two had realized they were mates but they were both still too young to complete their bond. Their parents wouldn't be happy to find them like this.

I cleared my throat loudly and the boys tore away from each other with flushed faces, Jimmy removing his hands from their resting place on William's ass. "Do I need to ask why you're alone in the middle of the woods?" I raised a brow even though I wasn't expecting an answer. "It's not a safe make-out spot, now go and find somewhere else before I tell both your parents what you've been up to." I chucked my head to the side telling them to scram.

"Sorry Niko," William mumbled blushing furiously as he passed me. Jimmy had a shit-eating grin on his face as he told me, "thanks Niko." I rolled my eyes. Bram and Austin would kick my ass if they knew I was letting their kids hang out together alone. I didn't have the heart to keep them separated though, I knew what it was like to not be with your mate. I shook those thoughts clear of my mind again and continued on with my patrol.

Once my patrol was finished I entered the kitchen at the pack house and pulled out fixings for a sandwich. I was starving and a loaded sandwich sounded good. I'd just taken my first bite when Bram waddled into the kitchen. He was at that irritable stage of his pregnancy, he just wanted it over with. "Hi Bram," I greeted him.

"I'm glad you're here I wanted to talk with you about something." He pulled out a chair at the table and sat so I picked up my plate from the kitchen island and followed him over. I offered him half my sandwich but he waved it away with his hand a scrunched up nose. "I've had a couple of requests for training. I wanted to talk it over with you for three reasons; first because you're my best warrior and I value your input. Secondly because these requests directly affect you, or at least one of them does. And thirdly because one of the people making the request asked that you not be directly involved in his training, so I would like you to recommend who you'd be comfortable with training him."

I sat in confusion watching Bram until I'd swallowed my bite of food. "Who's asked for training?"

Bram watched me closely as he answered, "Jacob and Adrian Mentis. Jacob is willing to be trained by you but Adrian has asked for someone else."

"Peter," I choked out past the lump in my throat. My mate didn't even want to train under me, I couldn't express how much that hurt me. "Peter would be the best to train him if I can't do it myself." I pushed away the half eaten food in front of me, no longer hungry now that a cold pit of fear had opened up in my stomach. It was a fear that Adrian would never change his mind and accept me or Owen.

At first glance no one would mistake me for a romantic, I looked too rough, spoke too gruffly and acted like nothing touched me, but since I was old enough to understand about mates I'd wanted my own. When I'd first met Kennedy, Jacob's mate, I'd been attracted to the small shifter. I knew he wasn't my mate but I could picture myself with him, I could picture us in a relationship. That was why I'd been so tough on Jacob when he'd hurt his mate during their first meeting. I still didn't think that Jacob was good enough for Kennedy but I wouldn't interfere with a mating.

"Thank you Niko. Jacob is going to contact me with a copy of his work schedule, I'd like you to be in charge of training him. Do you think you can do that without any attitude?" Bram knew that I didn't like Jacob he just didn't know why I didn't like him. I had my own mates now so I no longer harbored romantic feelings for Kennedy other than friendship but I still enjoyed giving Jacob shit.

"I can't promise anything but I'll give it a shot," was the best that I could offer. "Did they mention why they wanted to learn how to fight?" I asked curious about my mate's motives.

"When I spoke with Jacob he told me that his original pack were very peaceful shifters. They never learned to fight and when they were attacked they were almost defenseless. He wants to learn now so he can keep Kennedy safe if anything ever happens again. I guess everything with Kennedy's father has taken its toll on him too." He surmised.

Kennedy's father had sent people after Kennedy to take him but when everything failed he'd come here himself. Kennedy had killed his father when he'd taken Jacob and tried to hurt him. Kennedy was an omega with the power to freeze time. He was a valuable asset that any pack would kill for. But that still didn't explain why Adrian wanted to train. I would have to ask him myself.

"Let me know when he wants his training to start but let him know that I wont be going easy on him just because he's never done it before," I informed Bram.

"I will. Thank you." Bram stood and winced.

"Are you okay?" I asked frowning at the pinched look on his face. The babies were overdue and we were all keeping a close watch on Bram in case he went into labor.

"Yeah I'm fine," he took a step and then paused. "Shit! No, I'm not." His trembling hand reached out to grab table but I was there in under a second taking him by the arm and easing him back into the seat he'd just vacated.

"Sit down and breath for me, I'll link Jason and the doctor." 

By the time the doctor arrived Bram was panting and squeezing his mate's hand in a painful grip. I could feel my balls shriveling up at the thought of what he must be going through. How could anyone knowingly put themselves through this?

I watched them rush Bram to the infirmary and figured I better inform their parents since they were too distracted to think of it. After that there was a lot of waiting around in the hallway outside the infirmary. When a tiny cry sounded inside we all breathed a sigh of relief and waited to be told what sexes the babies were.

Jason walked proudly out of the room a few minutes later holding two tiny bundles in his arms cradled against his chest. "I'd like you all to meet our little angels, Angelica and Angelina." His mother pulled one of the blankets back slightly until a little pink face was visible. She was tiny and beautiful with little puckered lips that moved in and out as I presumed she dreamed of suckling a bottle.

"They're perfect," Jason's mother cooed reaching to take a baby from her son for a cuddle of her own.

"Congratulations Jason," I told him. "How is Bram?"

He smiled dreamily before answering. "He's tired but he was amazing. He did so well in there, I'm proud of him."

I smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Why don't you both take some time together to enjoy your daughters and introduce them to their big brother. If anything pops up within the pack I'll take care of it for you," I offered.

"I appreciate that Niko, thank you," he answered genuinely. "Do you want a cuddle before you go?" He indicated to the baby still in his arms.

"Oh, no," I answered backing away. "She's way too tiny and I'm way too big, I'd hurt her." I held my hands up in front of me as I backed away until I could turn and flee. Call me a coward but the one thing that scared me was babies. They were so small and fragile. Maybe someday I would be able to conquer that fear, maybe if I ever had a baby of my own. That thought brought images to mind of my mates with swollen bellies and a warm feeling spread across my chest. That thought wasn't frightening at all.