Siren Alpha✔️ [A mmf shifter story]

Chapter Twenty-Three: Webb Industries.

Freya

"Freya?" Dustin garbled, mid-chew a piece a of muffin.

That morning, I had woken up to an amazing smelling kitchen. Marie had baked her "famous" muffins. I didn't taste them-- I had no interest in flavoured dough-- but I loved the smell: Chocolate and Cinnamon. Mmmm. And for a while, I just sat in the kitchen, simply taking in the sweet scents. Did someone say "aphrodisiac"? It was intoxicating.

"Yes, handsome?" I automatically responded, nickname rolling off my tongue like they were made for each other.

Cue Minnie glaring at me. I rolled my eyes at her. Not today, Minnie! I was determined not to indulge her in our usual arguments.

"Go to work with me today," Dustin said. He sat down at the breakfast table on the chair next to me, leaning his shoulder on mine.

Minnie's anger was so potent I could smell it. And emotions are difficult to scent out, especially if you have had no one to teach you while growing up.

I, for one, grew up in a family of twelve and therefore had a good idea about deciphering the different pheromones. But we were sapily happy--even the damn town was singing rainbows-- and such an environment leaves out a lot of emotions to be explored. In a pack though, tempers run wild, love is intoxicating. There's just so many emotions everywhere. Which means that pack-grown wolves are better at it than the rest of us.

Dustin and Riley? The ones raised in a shifter-free town and by humans? Horrible at scenting.

"Yeah. Sure. I'd love to" I replied.

Marie, our household-manager-extrodinaire, placed my bowl of boiled then stir-fried chicken pieces in front of me--I really did not care for the "how", as long as meat was placed in front of me, but Marie took a lot of pride in the way her food was prepared.

"Thanks," I said rubbing my hands excitedly. I really liked chicken.

"Of course, dear," she said, petting my maroon-pink hair in a motherly gesture.

"I could hitch a ride with you too, Dustie," Minie said.

I hated that nickname, it made Riley boil over with rage, and I'm pretty sure Dustin flinched each time it poured out of her mouth.

"Minnie, you have a very expensive car that mom bought for you."

"Yeah, but your mom won't mind." She stressed the "your".

As much as Dustin previously thought of Riley as his brother, he had always subconsciously emphasized the fact that they did not share a mother. Always.

An outsider would have thought it was a jealous son keeping his mother for himself, refusing to share her with her adopted son. But to me, an intellectual, who both knew him and witnessed him refer to Agnes as just plain "mom" when talking to Minnie, I knew that it was because he had always known deep down that Riley was his mate and that the whole sharing-a-mom thing was weird and twisted.

To Riley he always said "my mom", and in turn Riley always said "your mom". It was cute, even though they were completely oblivious and I literally had to spell everything out for them.

"Well afterwards, me and Freya will head out to Feral for lunch. We won't be able to bring you back home at the end of the day."

Minnie worked at the factory as an assistant of some sort. It was supposed to last until she graduated from college and obtained a degree to get her a real position. She curled her lower lip in distaste. "Isn't Feral a club, and not a restaurant?"

"Take-out, Minnie. It's an actual thing people do," Dustin said, a tad bit defensively. His hands clenched into tight fists, knuckles turning white.