“I don’t like him.”

“What do you mean? You don’t like who?”  Cobie asked as he moves his mango smoothie away from his lips. Colson who was standing beside him with his own kiwi smoothie, looked at Cobie and shrugged.

“Erik Tomlinson.”

Cobie raises his brow at his little brother. “What don’t you like about him?”

“He seems hot-headed and what is the deal with him leading an insane number of wolves?” Colson asked.

They were at the mall, window shopping. They were still in the identical clothes, mustard coloured sweatshirt and jeans, sunglasses pushed into their hair. Cobie had spent the entire day showing Colson Astir and the mall was the last stop.  It was almost sun down.

“The first time I met him, I called him McStupid in my head.”

Colson snort, bits of his smoothie shooting out his nose. Cobie laughed at him and tries to help him wipe his nose with the sleeve of his shirt.

“Why?”

“He thought I kidnapped Little Blue, a member of his pack. So he came barging in through my balcony. I almost shot him right then.” Cobie said with a chuckle as he recalled that day. “I later learnt from his brother, Gabriel, that he was often called the hulk due to his anger issues. At first it was annoying but now I find it a bit endearing. But I do put him in his place when he’s about to do so or actually does something stupid, like snapping at a four year old for not eating properly.”  

Colson takes another sip of his smoothie, the straw resting on his lip and he doesn’t say a word.

“Erik is smart, funny, a little bit corny and strong but he feels…safe.” Cobie sad, looking right in Colson’s eyes as he adds. “He feels home.”

Colson stays still for a beat before he sighs and then nods afterwards. “Alright.” He says. “But if he so much as makes you cry, I will put him in a world of pain.”

Cobie bumps his shoulder with his brother’s and grinned at him. “And I’d do the same to whoever it is you date.”

Colson’s cheeks heat up and he blinks repeatedly. This makes Cobie so happy and amused, one couldn’t understand. His brother had just been back for more than 28 hours and he already had his eyes on someone.

“Colly boo…” Cobie sings.

Colson scowls. “Do not call me that.”

“Come on. Tell big bro who you like.”  Cobie sings, poking Colson in the side.

“You came out forty seconds before me. It doesn’t count.”

“It so does, little one.” Cobie laughs, reaching up to ruffle Colson’s hair.

“Then I won’t tell you then.” Colson snaps and quickly walked away, moving through the crowd with great speed. However, Cobie catches up and wraps a hand around Colson’s shoulder. A couple of people were looking at them but it was alright. He was slowly but surely getting used to it.

“Just tell me.”

“Fine but it has to be in an elevator. Werewolves as so snoopy.” Colson said and then pulls his brother towards the nearest ones. They got into the elevator and taps the close button numerous times until it slid closed.  In the partial silence. Colson moves closer to Cobie, his cheeks and ears burning bright red.

He says the one name, Cobie wasn’t expecting.

“Michel.”

Cobie stared at his brother with wide eyes. The cup of smoothie he had in his hand falls to the ground in shock, his mouth opening and closing but words weren’t pouring out. Colson raised a brow at Cobie, he had not been expecting this kind of reaction.

“Are you sure?” Cobie asked, his voice coming out a bit scratchy. He instantly grew worried at this. Michel and Gabriel have apparently been dancing around each other for years and now, his brother just voiced out his interest in the Head Beta. He didn’t want his brother to get hurt. Fuck!

“Yeah. He’s nice and sweet and he looks strong too.”

“Are you like… interested sexually or you are looking for more?”

Colson shrugs. “I am looking for something serious. I want what you have with Erik, I want to feel a connection with someone too.”

Cobie goes a little cold at that. He would happily move mountains for his brother but this is something else entirely. He had to tell Colson before his brother gets too invested in something that might not work out. In fact, it won’t work out.

“Colly….” Cobie says, cupping his brother’s face. “Michel is … taken.”

Cobie could see Colson’s disappointment and he could feel it in his bones. He throws Colson’s smoothie on the ground and pulls his brother to him in a tight hug.

“You will find someone else, C.”

“What if I don’t want someone else?”

“C…” Cobie says when he pulls back. “I don’t want you to get hurt and if you hang on to Michel you will. He’s with Gabriel.”

“Erik’s brother?”

Cobie nods. “There’s someone out there for you. Someone who will fight for you.” Cobie says, his gold eyes glowing a bit and that made Colson push back the thoughts of fighting for Michel who has already been spoken for. The glow in Cobie’s eyes have dulled down but his gold eyes were still as bright as always.

“I want to go home.”

“Are you okay, C?”

“Yeah. Nothing a couple hours of sleep and alcohol can’t fix.” Colson says with a small smile. Cobie nods and doesn’t pester. They make their way to Cobie’s car that was parked outside. The ride to the pack house was quiet, Colson’s eyes were closed and his eyes were resting against the window, his chest rising and falling steadily.

Cobie puts on the radio and reduces it to the songs playing come out as whispers.  Immediately they get to the pack house, Colson winks at his brother and goes up the stairs. Not knowing what to do, he makes his way upstairs too, his legs taking him to Erik’s office. He doesn’t knock and just barged in. He finds Erik seating on his chair behind his huge desk.

Erik immediately stands up when Cobie walks into the office. Cobie made his way around the table and buries his face in Erik’s chest. Erik wraps his arms around his mate and hugged him tightly.

“Is everything already? It felt like something was off with you and I tried calling but you didn’t pick.” Erik whispers as he rubs Cobie’s back slowly.

“My phone’s on silent, sorry.” Cobie said with a sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s a sibling thing.” Cobie said, looking up at his Alpha. “I missed you.”

“I missed you more, gorgeous.” Erik said as he cups Cobie’s cheeks. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Cobie’s lips, then his nose, his cheeks, his eyes and then his forehead. Cobie tightens his arms around Erik’s waist.

“I have something that can cheer you up.” Erik said before guiding Cobie onto the chair. He tells Cobie to wait for a minute before walking out of the house. With Erik out of the office, Cobie looked around until his eyes falls on the journal sitting on the table. He picks it up and flips it open.

June 11, 1798

Beta Rodrigues finally found his mate today. It was a bit unexpected since we were having a clan meeting with the surrounding werewolf clans. He found his mate within the hundred and fifty wolves present. He was even deterred at the fact that his mate a man.

Cobie flips to the next page and read the next words.

June 12, 1798

Beta Rodrigues and Omega Jussie are a delight to watch. It didn’t shock me when they came to me to inform me about their plan to mate at the next full moon which is a mere three days. I am a bit hesitant, I feel they should talk about this more but I understand the pull of mates. The goddess doesn’t make mistakes.

I told them to speak with Omega Jussie’s alpha before they prepare for the mating.

Cobie snaps the journal shut when he hears approaching footsteps and placed it back where he found it. The door was pushed open and Erik comes it with a big long box. He places it on the table and smiled brightly at Cobie.

“I got you this.”

“What is it?” Cobie asked, leaning against the table to check.

“Why don’t you come over and see it yourself.” Erik smiles, almost shaking with excitement. Cobie gets up from the very comfortable chair and made his way to Erik. He looked at his mate and then at the box on the table. He squat and ran his hand over the box before pulling the lid.

He lets out a loud gasps and let out a squeak when he sees what was resting inside the box. There was a brown Glock 19X and a Ruger Precision Rimfire. The RPR took a good number of space in the box.

“Holy shit.”

“I knew you would like it.” Erik beamed. “The RPR has an 18 inch cold hammer forged target barrel that is threaded for the addition of s suppressor or brake.” Erik said like he was reciting it from memory. “The man I got it from also said they feed from10/22 magazines and are bolt action too.”

Cobie looked away from the beauties in front him to his mate. He gets to his feet and wrapped his arms around Erik’s neck as he hugged him tightly. Erik hugged back just as tightly, laughter bubbling from his lips. Cobie goes back to his guns and picked up his RPR and lets out a soft moan. The gun was beautifully designed and cut. It was slightly heavy but cool to the touch. He checks everywhere from the magazine to the muzzle.

He then moves to the Glock and let out oohs and aahs. The Glock was lighter and it smelt new. How places the guns back in the box and hugged Erik again. This time whispering thank you in his ear.

“How did you know I wanted these?” Cobie asked, still wrapped in Erik’s arms.

“Remember when you were showing me all the guns and bullets you had. You began talking about the ones you wanted to add to your collection and though it was hard to remember or pronounce, I tried to write it down. I went to a shot shop and ordered the Rifle. The little Glock was a gift, it reminded me of the handgun you wanted to shoot me with the first time we met.”

“That handgun was silver.”

“Silver Smilver. They are the same design.” Erik chuckled.

“When did you order it? How did I not know about this?”

“It was a gift for you, of course you weren’t supposed to know about it.”  Erik replied, leaning down to press a kiss to Cobie’s nose.

“They are lovely. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Erik said and then adds. “I didn’t get you bullets because you said you make your special mix of primer and such.”

“It’s fine. Colson and I will find where we can make ours. We have a war coming on and we have to be prepared.”

“I will be with you every step of the way. Like I said, anyone who wants to get you has to go through me first.”  Erik growled, his eyes burning bright red. And for the first time in days, Cobie’s eyes shift from bright gold to a bright red that was identical to that of Erik’s.

“And I will kill anyone who wants to hurt you. Nobody touches my Alpha but me.” Cobie said, his eyes still a bright red.

“Have I told you how amazing you are?”

“Often but it’d be nice to hear it every time.” Cobie replied with a shrug. He slides a hand down Erik’s neck to his chest and rests it against Erik’s heart.  I love you, he wants to say. I love you so much. You are the love of my life and I will gut whoever hurts you, Cobie wants to say. His eyes shift from the bright red to a bright burning gold that startled Erik a bit, judging from the way he goes a little bit tense.

“Why don’t you show Colson your gift?” Erik said, leaning down to press his nose in the junction of Cobie’s neck, beard scratching the skin a bit as he breathe in Cobie’s berry scent.

“Oh man, Colson is going to flip when he sees this. He has been planning on getting the RPR for a while now.” Cobie replied as he slid his hands into Erik’s hair.

“You can share.”

“There are two things I can’t share, Peaches.” Cobie tuts. “My guns and you.”

Erik pulls back and smiled brightly at this mate, his heart doing a little flip at the words that came out of his mate’s mouth. They were interrupted by a knock on the door and Erik lets out a loud growl. Cobie rolled his eyes at his Alpha and tells whoever was behind the door to come in.

A red haired albino man walked into the office and bowed, his body drawn up tight. Cobie sighed as he realised the man must have heard Erik growl. He steps away from Erik and made his way to the man.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” Cobie said, smiling as brightly as he could so it would loosen the wolf a little. “Your Alpha was just clearing an itch in his throat, hence the growling.” Cobie lied smoothly, his heart beat not giving anything away. The wolf must have been listening to Cobie’s heartbeat to hear the blip, indicating the lie. When he hears nothing, he believed Cobie’s words to be the truth and relaxed.

“Why don’t I leave you two to discuss.” Cobie waves a little. He shoots a pointed glare at Erik who was still marvelling at his talented mate. Cobie grabbed his box and made his way out of the office, Erik holding the door open for his mate.

Cobie made his way to the room and gently placed the box on the bed. The room was empty, he checked the bathroom but neither Colson nor Pa were there. So he keeps the box in the closet and made his way out of the room. He made his way downstairs and bumped into Gabriel who was coming out of the kitchen with a large sandwich in his hand. Gabriel had on a black leather skirt that stopped right underneath his bum, black Vans and a bright lilac long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The shirt stopped right on his waist, showing of the light flair of his hips.

“My honey bunny.” Gabriel called out when he sees Cobie.

“Do not call me that.” Cobie said, frowning a little at the name. As he stared at Gabriel he felt a little guilty about him and felt a little guilty about Colson. He wasn’t going to tell Gabriel what Colson had confessed but he was a bit lost about what to do or say. Cobie was good at keeping secrets, he had managed to keep the fact that his twin brother had been alive for years, so yeah, he can keep a secret about someone having a crush on someone.

“Have you seen my brother or Pa anywhere?”

“Not really but I can help you look for them.” Gabriel said as he takes another bite of his slowly decreasing sandwich.

“Uh… thank you.” Cobie replied with a small smile.

They began to check the rooms downstairs. They checked the game room, the sun room, the downstairs library but they didn’t see any sign of Colson nor Pa. Cobie pulls out his phone, winces when he sees the missed calls from Erik when they were at the mall and tried to search for Colson’s number before he realised he hadn’t gotten Colson a line yet.

“There are people at the back.” Gabriel said after taking his final bite of his sandwich. “I can hear them.”

“Let’s check it out then.” Cobie replied.

“Hey Cobie, I have a question.” Gabriel said as they made their way towards the door leading to the back of the house. From the sound of his voice, Cobie could tell whatever Gabriel wanted to ask was making him nervous.

“Ask away.”

“Is it a good idea to ask Michel out? I’ve been thinking about it and I can’t keep dating douchebags who aren’t comfortable with my cross-dressing. Then there’s also the tiny fact that I don’t want to date anybody besides Michel.” Gabriel said and then adds after he sighs. “I’ve been dreaming of carrying his pups and mating with him since I was sixteen and now I’m twenty-four. I can’t waste any more time.” Michel sighs again afterwards.

Cobie licked his lips and rubbed his hands against his jeans. Half of him wanted to tell Gabriel to move on and find someone else to date so Colson would have a chance and the other half, the better half of him wants to tell Gabriel to have faith and just go for it.

He goes with the second one.

“Just have faith and tell him.”

“I will and if he says no i-“

“He won’t say no.” Cobie replied, wrapping his hand around Gabriel’s shoulder.

When they made it outside, the find a lot of children running around, laughing and squealing. Cobie wondered how he hadn’t heard the noise because they were so loud. He finds Colson immediately and freezes when he sees Colson laughing and something Michel was saying, his hand on the Beta’s arm, rubbing slowly. He was flirting!

He doesn’t turn to see Gabriel’s reaction. He quickly marched forward and yanked his brother away from the Beta. He ignored the whispers and kept dragging Colson into the house and up the stairs. That’s when Colson had enough and pulls out of his brother’s grip.

“What the fuck were you doing? What the fuck are you thinking?” Cobie snaps at his brother.

“I was thinking, since he doesn’t have any mark, then he hasn’t been claimed. He not being claimed showed his availability. He’s single and I’m single and I like him.” Colson saps back, his hand reaching out to send a water ball right at Cobie.

Cobie took a deep calming breath and rubbed the water off his face. Having half the mind to retaliate.

“Don’t do that, Colson. He is as good as mated.”

“But he isn’t actually mated.” Colson argued.

“Colson let go. You’ll find some who will love you, who will treat you right.”

“What makes you think you know anything about love?”

“Because I am in love!” Cobie snapped. “I love him. I love Erik. I love everything for his face to his claws when he shifts. I love his laugh, his eyes, his nose, even that stupid anger of his. I love the way he puts me first, I love the way he makes me feel comfortable.  L love the way he holds me, I love the way he kisses me, I love the way he pampers me, I love the way he takes care of me, I love him the way he is. So yes, I do know things about love.”

“And what about you? Do you feel the same?”

It takes Cobie a couple of seconds to realise that Colson wasn’t talking to him but someone beside him. He turns around quickly and his eyes widened when he sees Erik standing there.

“I do.” The Alpha said. “I love him so much it frightens me. I love the way he makes me strong, the way he holds me too, I love his scent, I love how soft and warm he is, I love how smart he is, I love how brave and courageous he is, I love how caring he is. I love how he is always beside me, I love how he holds my hand, I love the feel of his weight when we cuddle, I love his eyes, I love his hair, I love his lips. I love him. I love you, Cobie.”

--

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