"The rest may leave," Simon said, commanding the few remaining pack members to exit the room while the brothers and cousins remained. James was undecided about whether he should leave or stay.
He was only twenty-one years old and didn't believe he had anything to say or contribute to the discussion.
However, Daniel, the youngest of the four brothers, who was twenty-five years old, was still seated, so he returned to his seat.
They all exhaled deeply as soon as the others had left. Scott was the most lethal and savage of their wolves, and he couldn't care less about who was who.
"So you're marrying her, right?" Jackson, the oldest of their three cousins, questioned again. "Humans are only interested in this after the end of a relationship. She couldn't give a damn about marking or mating. She wants to show her friends and family a ring."
Alan gave him an odd look. His eyes were still- hazel, indicating he was still in command.
They had no idea how badly Scott wanted to beat up on whoever thought their mate was below par.
"No. You can't just let Eleanor go because you've already marked her! It would only be a question of time before she felt the heat." They had nearly forgotten that Jackson had snatched a partner for himself.
She was a queen in high school as well as in university. People admired her beauty, and Jackson had a long-standing crush on her.
So, to cut a long story short, he rejected his mate in favor of claiming her.
The woman, who later became his wife, had no idea who he or his family was, and he went about their daily lives as usual.
Jackson had never shifted at home, nor had he ever taken her to their pack, nor had he ever sent any werewolf business to his house. He had, however, marked her under the guise of making love.
Except for James and Alan, they all greeted him as "the maestro himself." He enraged his father, the previous Beta. One of the reasons he got stripped of his right to compete with the others because of this. His father had disowned him.
However, when Simon and Alan resumed their duties, he was promoted to Overseer. He served as a link between the pack's leaders and the rest of the members.
"Wait," James said, his voice low as if he was afraid they'd swallow him up. "If you've marked her, it means you both can hear and feel each other's thoughts and feel whatever each other feels, right?"
The others shifted their gaze to Alan. It would have meant; if he hadn't blocked her out-
"I've blocked her already. But I can hear hers and sense what she's going through. That's why I'm telling you that she's not guilty. Scott wouldn't have marked her if James hadn't gone in there," he mumbled the last bit but loud enough for them to hear him.
James bowed his head, his face flushed with embarrassment.
"So, what comes next?" Alan had given Andrew a stern gaze after he whined, "Mum had gone missing, and you got mated to a human."
"Andy, you're the Gamma!" When Andrew couldn't figure anything out, and it got rubbed in his face, he despised it.
He was the commander of the park's military unit. He was in charge of locating their mother. However, they had looked in every direction for her.
Unfortunately for them, she forgot to take her phone with her when she left the house. For goodness sake, she went for a run and left no trace in the woodlands and shrubs.
"The Queen is back!" the guys at the gates mind-linked to them as they sat there, arguing. All of the boys dashed through the door at the same time.
As they raced out, the other members only gazed at them in disbelief, as if the men at the gate had only notified those in the room. They looked at each other since it was the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Overseer, and others they admired.
"We left the car keys in the room!" They all screamed in response to James' announcement.
They had all remembered that their mother would come to the residence. So they waited in front of the house while the driver drove her home from the gate.
"What have you been up to?" Their mother inquired with a grin as if she had just got back from the supermarket.
"Could you tell me what happened to you?" Alan and Simon were impatient, and their faces had turned red- while Andrew and Daniel were close to tears.
"Alan has found his mate!"
However, while they were all anxious about their mother and aunt, Daniel decided it would be a good idea to tell their mum Alan had met his partner, leaving out the bit about the marking.
Elizabeth's grin widened, and she regarded her second son with pride. She had assumed he'd be the last to find his partner, but who could predict the moon goddess's plans?
Simon, who had appeared to be a bookie, had discovered his mate first, and he was fortunate in that she was a werewolf.
"I believe you all have a great deal to say to me. But first, when will I see this mate of yours?" She smiled as she walked down the hall to take a seat. All the lads sat around her, men who always seemed to act like boys around the woman who nurtured them.
Alan had given James an angry look when he replied, "She's upstairs."
"Really? Is she a werewolf as well? Alternatively, she could be the moon goddess herself! Tell her to come downstairs," she said, her head going toward the stairwell.
Everyone was staring at her, knowing what she would do if she found out what they had done to her. They would have slept outside for a month if Diana had been present.
"Well, we were still unaware- we didn't know where- it was Simon's idea!" Daniel got stumped for words. When they were all asked about something that went wrong, Daniel would always be the first and only one to confess the truth and find someone to blame.
"Mum, where were you?" Simon decided to go for the kill.
They were relieved to see her return, but they were puzzled and wanted to know where she had disappeared for nearly a week without informing them. James shifted in his chair uncomfortably once again.
"I paid a visit to your father's grave. It's been challenging these past few years without him. I'm delighted you all did well in school and grew up to be successful, but I couldn't help but feel down these last several months." She finally got the resolve to tell them, her voice quivering as she did so.
She had always been the rock for them, ensuring that they never missed their father, but she had no one to fill the gap that their father had left in her.
All of the boys, including Simon, gathered over to hug her.
"Why do I feel that James was aware of your whereabouts?" Daniel yelled, directing everyone's gaze to James.
"He generally tears up when things happen," Andrew continued, "but he never cried when Mum went missing."
James immediately remarked to them, "Let's keep hugging," as he tightened his arms around Jackson, who had his around her.
"Huh! It was obvious to me! So why did you stand there and watch us look for her? Alan's mate got even kidnapped!" As Scott made his way to James' side, Simon was enraged; they had already gotten it up to his neck.
Scott threw James to the floor as James' back touched the ground, his fingers still around his neck.
"Scott, please put a stop to it!" Their mum and Jackson exclaimed, "Get him out of here!"
Even their mother's words couldn't calm Scott down. Eli, her wolf, needed to be in charge.
"I made him vow by his wolf that he would never tell any of you!" she exclaimed. Scott seemed to have calmed down after hearing Eli's voice.
He let go of his hand around James' neck without hesitation.
Eli caressed Scott on the head and combed his hair with her fingers slowly.
"Who came up with the plan to kidnap her?" As her gaze moved from one child to the other, their mother inquired.
They all shifted their glance to Jackson. "In my defense," he said, raising his hand, "I had no idea she was his mate. When Simon told us, I quickly ordered the boys to let her go and they sent her to his room!"