Wolf’s Bane

“Look at you, Victor! You’re all grown up! I can’t believe I missed all the years that you were still a baby… I hope you’re taking good care of your little sister, Myrrh…” the Luna exclaimed in delight while holding the older, yet, still very young boy of the couple hosting them, and playing with the shiny, blond curls of the little girl by her side.

Virgil looked at his mate with a big smile on his face.

Alicia and Helena were the first to walk inside the cozy two-story home, and the second Helena saw the two cute kids playing together on the floor of the living room, she briskly walked towards them to instantly sit on the floor so they could play and talk together.

“I believe she likes children,” Hero slightly whispered to Virgil, avoiding at all costs to embarrass his old friend’s mate, but slightly teasing V at the same time.

“She does. The kids at the packhouse love her…” V said, in the same almost whispering tone, and still not taking his eyes from his lady.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but, bro… why haven’t you had kids yet? I mean, I’ve never asked because that’s really personal. I thought one of you, or both, didn’t want babies. But now that I’ve seen you both with mine, I can’t help but wonder…”

“Once, a long time ago, she told me that she didn’t want to have kids. I respected it, thinking that you know, not everybody is made to be a parent… but with time, I noticed that she does like them…and they liked her, too.”

At this point, Virgil walked a little bit away from the ladies and kids, and the Ogre closely followed.

“Truth is, she tells me different stories when we talk about that. First, she said she didn’t want to have kids, then she said she wanted to enjoy time with me. Then just recently, she got so involved with pack matters that we didn’t have time for anything, to the point that we had to schedule our weekly date nights, and let everybody know that we would not be available during those times.”

Hiromoto stared at his friend, then at Helena, and then at his friend again.

“I don’t want to be nosy, but bro… I’m getting the feeling that you need to talk to her again… I mean, just look at her, bro! She’s pretty much glowing with Myrrh and Vic…”

“I never wanted to pressure her. I myself don’t know what kind of father I’ll be, but seeing her this happy makes me wonder like you say, if she’s finally ready… I’ve thought about it a lot, but mostly when my father tried to command me to give the pack, and the clan, an heir for the title… So I kept putting it aside, just to piss him off, unfortunately.”

“Yeah… your father never was the same after… that… right?”

“No… I wish he would understand, but it’s almost impossible to talk to him these days… not even with Eron’s situation… well, especially with Eron’s situation…”

“What are you guys whispering over there?” Helena suddenly asked, causing the two gentlemen to look her way, to four pairs of eyes suddenly quiet and looking at them.

“Not much, baby, at least nothing to worry about,” Virgil walked back towards his mate and picked up the little girl sitting by her side. “Hello Myrrh, Did you miss your godfather, Virgil?”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

The baby shook her head from side to side, and with her round, bright eyes, stared into his.

“I saw Godfather yesterday. But if you leave for a long time, I will miss you,” she said in the cutest, softest and shyest voice ever, which immediately melted all the adults who were listening around them.

Even Antoine, who was currently standing outside the door, not meaning to eavesdrop but having enhanced senses, found himself widely smiling at the young girl’s naturally adorable nature.

“Oh, I understand that,” Virgil said, kissing her round, squishy, rosy cheeks and hugging her tightly. “I agree with you, too. I would miss you very much if I wasn’t around for a long time.”

He placed the smiling toddler back on the floor to continue playing with Helena and her little brother.

“Why don’t we go and prepare some lunch, and let the ladies enjoy themselves, bro?” Hero said with a smirk.

“Show off, and I know why you ask me. You worked on I don’t know how many restaurants already, while I barely can make sandwiches for myself!”

“Well, then this is a good opportunity for you to learn a thing or two, don’t you agree, Luna?” the Ärgerlich’s second most important man stated as he grinned widely, looking from his old friend to his friend’s mate, but not looking at his own wife since he could feel her smiling widely as well.

“You know, baby, I actually agree with Mr. Wall. I’d die a happy girl after trying a meal that my man cooked,” Helena replied as she looked at V with shining eyes and a genuine smile.

“Really? Ok, let’s prepare lunch! Where’s your kitchen, bro?” exclaimed Virgil, now eager to make his mate happy.

“Follow me… Alpha,” Hero scoffed, yet, he was quite awestruck at his friend’s sudden enthusiasm.

“I really don’t care about your teasing right now, H. Say whatever you want, I don’t mind.”

“I’m almost in disbelief… I mean, I’ve seen you with her before, but damn… how easy it was for that lady to get the usually tough, all business-like and cold Virgil Camden to become a pleased puppy that would do whatever it takes to make her happy. Even if it means to cook something for her without almost any idea on how to do that,” Hero said as they got into the kitchen.

Virgil removed his black suit jacket, rolled up the sleeves of his equally black shirt, and removed his tie.

“She’s all my happiness, bro. You have a mate, you know how that is… and like you said, I would do anything to make her smile. Now, tell me, what are we cooking?”

Hero looked at V, now with a more serious expression. “I do understand it… so yes, let’s cook some baby back ribs, a vegetable salad and mashed potatoes. Fast and easy, and I’m sure your Luna will love it.”

“Damn… well, that sounds great… where do we start?”

“We need some vegetables. I’ll go step by step so you can repeat the recipe for her. See? I’m not such a bad guy after all, right?”

“Nah, but you’re still a tease,” Virgil said with a hearty chuckle while the Ogre laughed.

Meanwhile, Alicia and Helena got up from their place in the living room.

“Would you like a beer? Wine?” Alicia offered. “I don’t think you came all the way here just to meet the kids, so I have a feeling that we’ll need a drink for it.”

“If you ask me, I’d like a video of our mates cooking. Heck, I would even pay for that. But I’d take a cold beer while talking with you as well, but both choices are great.”

Alicia raised an eyebrow and devilishly smirked. “Well, I think I can get you both, just wait and see.”

And with that, both smiling ladies walked into the kitchen.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Alicia said as she walked past the busy males. She then opened the fridge, to hide the fact that she was moving a tablet that was stored in one of the corners of the kitchen counter. “We got thirsty and will take a beer. I hope you don’t mind that I give some alcohol to your wife, V…”

The Ogre’s mate then turned on the tablet, shoved it back to its corner without any of the men noticing, and without waiting for an answer, opened both bottles and swiftly left the kitchen, leaving Virgil with an incomplete and unsure reply.

“I… don’t… ok, I take it that THAT was a rhetorical question,” V said, talking to thin air with a short laugh, then shifted his attention back to Hero. “Bro, our mates are still very much alike.”

“Tell me about it… Okay, here are the vegetables, and here is the peeler. I’ll prepare the ribs for the oven while you-” Hero was explaining when his phone rang, and seeing the name on the screen, he knew he had to answer.

And this was where the scene that you read a while ago in the other chapter happened, dear reader.

But now, back to the women….

“I don’t think my man knows what I do with the tablet he got me…” Alicia said, walking to the porch with the two beers in hand, followed by Helena.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he got it for me after seeing me fighting with my phone to follow a recipe, but I believe he forgot that the said tablet has a front camera, which is what I’m using to record their cooking session right now.”

“Oh wow, that’s clever,” Helena said, following the invitation of her hostess to sit on the rocking chairs outside on the porch while thanking her for the beer that was just handed to her.

“Well, not really, but I did say I can give you both requests…”

“And I thank you for that. To our mates’ cooking video!” Helena announced as she raised the bottle in her hand.

“To our mates’ cooking AND the video,” Alicia responded, clinking bottles with her old friend while laughing aloud.

“Cheers!” said both ladies at the same time, following it with a sip from their very cold drinks.

“Now, come on, tell me, what do you want to talk about?” Alicia asked.

“I’m actually happy to see you after such a long time. I hope you don’t think that we didn’t wanna visit you before… but we were very concerned about not blowing your cover,” Helena started, now more serious and leaving the bottle on the small table that was between the two rocking chairs.

“We know that… Hero has been almost neurotic since we came to live here. Sometimes he even prefers not to come to see us for a while so he could be sure that we won’t be found by his asshole boss.”

“I know that… You know, since not so long ago, our mates have started talking a lot more often, and it’s all related to what’s going on with Eron. I have bits and pieces of what V has let out, sometimes even unaware… They seem to have a plan, and Hero is really, REALLY worried about your safety… and your kids, too. I also know that you already talked to the guys and you said no to moving all of you to the packhouse…”

“So, they chose you to convince me to go with you?”

“Pretty much… My mission is to make sure that you’ll be safe while they do whatever they have planned to do,” Helena said in a hesitating tone as she took another sip from her beer bottle. “But anyway, why is it that you don’t want to go to the packhouse?”

Alicia looked away for a moment, deciding if she could really open up to her friend and tell her what her thoughts were.

“You promise that whatever I tell you will stay just between us?”

“Of course, if that’s what you want, you have my word.”