39
Knightly
“Do we know if he’s alone?” Phoebe asks suddenly.
“There are two others in the house with him. I think it’s my two younger brothers. But the entire property is surrounded,”
“It’s a big property,” she finally looks at me.
“Debatable, I laugh.
“Oh, so you can be snobby, she lets out a sigh.
Something between relief and exhaustion. My little human has a dark sense of humor and it keeps her centered. Maybe letting my father kill her bastard of a dad wouldn’t be too wrong.
“I have my moments,” I smile at her trying to keep the calmness working up between us.
The gate around the manor is ridiculous. This house is big. Really big. It’s not difficult to see how uncomfortable it makes my mate. She looks down at her hands and breathes as if trying to calm herself. The sweet tang of her stress hits me. She‘ s suffered here and there’s a deep urge to snuff anything that’s ever hurt her in any kind of way, out permanently. I can’t help the smile on my face when she arches her back and rotates her head popping her neck and shoulders.
“I am not excited to see these people,” she admits.
“We could turn around and leave them,” I remind her.
Her reactions are the best. They never disappoint. A massive wicked grin appears on her face and she lets out a low laugh. She’s going to make one feisty little wolf when she accepts my mark.
“You’re going to be a very bad influence on me, aren’t you?” her face is pink again. I love it when she’s like this.
“I hope so,” I say and cut the engine. “I’ll take Ayrie. He’s going to know,”
“Fuck,” she takes one last deep breath and nods.
We both exit the car and go around to get our pups. Ayrie taps the little red button to release the straps around her without opening her eyes. I laugh taking it apart. Her little smile just makes me undeniably happy. She is going to be a handful. As soon as she’s free, her little arms wrap around me. Phoebe comes around with Aizen in her arms. He’s up and looking around with his sleepy eyes until they land on me and Ayrie. He makes sure she’s okay before meeting my eyes. I reach out squeezing his hand just to make that small connection with him. To my surprise, he smiles and rests his head on Phoebe’s shoulder.
“Ready?” I ask. She nods.
We walk up the steps that lead up to the birch doors. Before either of us could knock, my youngest brother opens the door. I’ve met Desmond a handful of times. In most of them, he was in wolf form. He’s the most like my father.
“Des,” I greet him. He bobs his head and then glances at Phoebe.
“I know you,” she says gently.
“It’s nice to see you again, Phoebe. How was Paris?” he asks her. She smiles.
“Good. How was Austria?”
“Not good,” he smirks. The two of them laugh. How the fuck do they know each other? “He’s in the family room with the
rest of them,
“Is he in a mood?” I ask.
“He’s-” he pauses looking me over. “Excited,”
“Is that good?” Phoebe asks.
“We don’t know,” my brother and I say at the same time.
He leads us into the house and up the stairs. I can hear Phoebe’s heart starting to beat faster with every step we climb. When we get to the top my father’s secondborn greets us with a smile.
“Nathan,” he bows his head greeting me by my first name. He knows I hate it.
“Cory,”
“Nathan?” Phoebe asks. My brothers both laugh.
“You didn’t think his real name was Knightly, did you?” Desmond asks her. Her eyes light up when she looks at me. I shake my head to tell her it’s not.
“Knightly is my father’s last name,” I inform her.
39
“Crazy,” she shakes her head and looks the three of us over. “Okay, there are three of you,”
“Eight,” Cory corrects her. “And three sisters,”
“Oh,” she pales.
“Come on,” Cory sighs. “Let’s get this over with. The old man is a little excited and he can be worse happy than when he’s
angry,”
The second floor is open and decorated like something out of a lifeless magazine. There are huge portraits of a family all over the walls, but not a single one of my mate. The walls are chalk white. This house has so much potential, but there’s no heart or creativity in it.
There’s a boxed sectional in the middle of the room where a man and a woman are sitting with their backs to us. There are two boys between the ages of fifteen and twelve beside them and two little girls about my pups‘ age between the two adults. Across from them in an armchair is my father sitting there like he owns the place. If I didn’t know any better, it actually looks like he’s glad to see me.
“Nate,” he stands fixing the button on his suit. His eyes instantly land on the bundle in my arms before they move over to Phoebe. “You must be Phoebe,”
“Yes,” she nods as he approaches us.
“Come. Come take a seat,” he waves us forward. He stops next to the man and woman and growls at them. “Move,” They don’t hesitate to scoot all the way down to make room for my mate and children. I shouldn’t be taking pleasure in seeing them squirm but I am. No one does fucking bastard quite like my father. Phoebe looks up at me to make sure it’s okay. I give her a single nod and she sits where he dusts the cushion for her. Of course, he’s trying to be a gentleman. This is the woman who has extended his legacy.
Aizen sits on her lap and then slides off to stand between her legs. My father crouches down in front of him and places his hand on his head. The connection is made and he smiles.
“You’re going to make a magnificent beta, Grandson,” he nods. “Do you love your sister?”
“Yes,” he says quietly.
“Good. You protect her. Always. Can you promise me that?”
“Yes, sir,” he nods. My father looks up at Phoebe and smiles.
“Do I have your permission to embrace him, little human?”
“It’s not my permission you need,” she answers.
“No,” Ayrie shouts. She wiggles in my arms until I set her down. “Bad man!” she stands in front of Phoebe and Aizen. “No! You are a bad man!”
