My Taken Mate

Fitting In

Hayley

Once dressed in my camo overalls and a black tank, I return to the kitchen to see my brothers Hunter and Hayden have joined the group and are sitting at the table with Cody and his friends. Introductions are made and I find the one I was referring to as surfer dude is Grayson and the other equally hot yet a little more reserved one is Eric.

Mom serves breakfast, a feast of eggs, bacon, sausage and toast. As we eat, the guys fill us in on their trip. Evidently the trio is actually a quad of buddies. Their friend Phoenix will be arriving next week with his mate Jeanette. He would have come with the guys but his mate needed to tie some things up back home before making the move here to Hawaii.

Evidently they all decided to follow Cody back home after hearing all the stories about our pack and the new and exciting things we were doing here alongside my uncle Jared's pack. They've already asked permission to join our pack and a ceremony is set for next Saturday morning when their friend and his mate will be here.

After breakfast, dad gathers the guys to show them to their house. Our pack is situated in a neighborhood of sorts. Every member having a home. Unmated wolves mostly lived together in groups of three, and once they find their mates they're gifted houses of their own to start their families in. Cody would be rooming with his friends in a house just a street over from ours. Mom understands he's an adult now at almost twenty-three, but she still wants him close so she talked dad into placing them as near to her as possible.

I'm surprised to hear their friend Phoenix and his mate will also be living with them. From their explanations the mating is new and they're still adjusting. I'm not sure why that's the case, from all the matings I've been witness to, the bond is instant and they can't wait to start their lives together.

Maybe this Phoenix guy has a similar situation to my parents. My mom was rejected by her mate while my dad lost his in an accident after she gave birth to Cody leaving my dad to raise him. Cody may not be our blood but he's my brother through and through. Mom and dad eventually found each other and were given a second chance at a mating. It started off rocky but my dad got his head on straight and the rest is history.

It's really none of my business, but I have a curious mind.

Cody, Eric, and Grayson say their goodbyes as they follow my dad out the back door. The latter giving me a wink as he does so. I can't help but smile at the gesture, something that doesn't go unnoticed by my mother.

"Don't even think about it Hayley, not only is he too old for you, but your father would never allow it." She warns.

Rolling my eyes I start gathering the dishes to help clean. "I'm not thinking anything mom. Can't a girl just appreciate the sight of a very hot guy?"

Now it's her turn to roll her eyes, "Yeah, that's all you plan on doing. Appreciating the sight."

After placing the dishes in the sink, I face my mother, "It is. This is the first time I've ever been around any of Cody's friends post puberty. I was always too young to notice any of them and now that I'm older I am definitely noticing."

"Hayley," mom starts using her serious voice.

I stop her before she can begin one of her lectures, "Relax mom. I'm just looking. They're both too hot not to."

"Hayley bear, are you bragging about our good looks to your mom again. I tell you Mrs. H, sometimes I feel so objectified by her. I'm more than just my looks." Slater, one of my best friends says as he stops to kiss my mom on her cheek.

"Yeah, she's always drooling over us. It's not one of her attractive features, but we love her anyway." Adds my other best friend Nick.

I give them both a look they're familiar with since dealing with these two donkeys on a daily basis is trying, and say, "Please, this from the two idiots that think they'll be future receivers of the sexiest man alive title because, and I quote, 'Women can't get enough of our hot faces and even hotter bodies'."

Before they can respond I continue with, "When did you even learn the word objectified Slater? That's too big a word for your tiny brain to manage. It just might explode!" I'm sure to widen my eyes in mock fear of such a thing.

Before I have a chance to escape, he's crouching down and shoving a shoulder into my stomach as my world is turned upside down when he lifts me. He heads toward the back door, Nick follows after planting a kiss on my mother's smiling cheek.

"Now, now Hayley bear, that wasn't nice." Slater scolds. As the wooden planks of our back porch disappear and the mixture of grass and rocks appears I know exactly where he's headed and I start to struggle in his hold. 

"Don't you dare Slater!" I warn.

I see the little gazebo my grandfather had built for my grandmother to my right and I know the man made lake he also constructed behind our house is just up ahead.

Nick laughs, "Sorry sweets, but it has to be done. You can't expect to insult his intelligence and get away with it."

Before I can control my knee jerk reaction I hear myself say, "Wow, look at you using a big word too. Must be something in the air increasing the size of your pea brains."

My peals of laughter echo in the surrounding trees as Nick tickles my sides all the while Slater continues to carry me toward the lake. 

There's no escape. I'm destined for a cold dip in the water. I'm about to give in to the inevitable when a banshee wail is heard followed by a rapid fire attack of water balloons that hit Slater and Nick causing the former to release his tight hold on me and the latter to trip over his own feet.

The distraction gives me just enough room to break free from Slater. As he swipes his big hand toward me, he's hit smack dab in the middle of his forehead with a water balloon by my rescuer and fave best friend Samantha, or as she prefers to be called, Sam.

"Girl, I could kiss you right now!" I say as she approaches with a small bucket full of water balloons.

"Let's save the make out sesh for after we take these losers out."

"Deal."

I grab a bunch of balloons and we team up to soak the guys, our werewolf reflexes make it an interesting match and before we know it we've acquired an audience of my brothers and Cody's friends. A stray balloon accidentally hits Hunter in his chest splashing the rest of their group and it turns into an all out war. I see my youngest brother wheel out a wagon full of balloons and realize that must be where Samantha got them from in the first place.

We play for a good while, deciding to jump in the lake when all the balloons are gone. We spend the rest of the afternoon there, everyone getting to know each other. Grayson and Eric fit in perfectly with our group and it feels good having all my brothers together again.

If Phoenix is anything like the other two he'll fit in just fine.