Chapter 4: Cohen

The next day, I wake with a smile on my face. My mate is sweet and adventurous, but she’s also underage. I’m going to take it slow with her but I admit that I love waking up with her sweet smell in my nose and her scent all over my body. It’s worth the raging hard on that I had all night while we played around and even long after she had fallen asleep.

That doesn’t even include how hard I was this morning. Ice water wouldn’t have been enough to alleviate the ache in my dick, so during my shower, I took care of my problem. Twice.

Now, I walk down to my office, ready to start the day and have my meeting with Rich and Emerson. We need to talk about how we’re going to prepare for this impending war and protect each other’s packs in the process.

“You smell like my sister,” Rich says, walking up behind me as I open my office door.

“Yep and you smelled like Emlyn for how many years?”

“Malin is my sister,” he growls as I open my door.

I turn to face him. “Do you question my feelings for your sister, Rich? Do you really question that I’ll be a good mate to her?”

When he doesn’t say anything, I turn back around. “Then get over it. She’s my mate, I love her.”

“Yeah, get over it, I had to,” Emerson says, walking into my office. Rich knows he can’t say anything now. Emlyn is Emerson’s sister. It’s one thing to say it to me, but he’d be hypocritical saying it to Emerson.

“So, does this mean you’ll be asking Malin to be your acting Luna?” Rich asks instead. I know why he’s asking. He wants Emlyn and his son home, back in his pack. After everything they’ve been through, it’s time for them to figure it out. Since Emlyn has no problem with it, I don’t either.

“Yeah, and I’ve already talked to Emlyn. I know she’ll talk to you, but I think she’s planning to stay here another week or so to get Malin settled before she moves back to Shadow Falls.”

I can tell that Rich is excited about this as he sits down. Emerson sits down beside him.

“You talked to Quinn?” I ask him.

He nods and Rich looks at him, narrowing his eyes. Emerson turns and stares at him, daring him to say something about Quinn being his sister.

“So, you’re Quinn’s mate?” is all Rich is willing to say.

“Yes.”

“Good, at least they’ll stay close together. That will be important to them.”

“Close to each other and close to the rest of their family, Rich. Family is important to all of us, but the twins…” I break off, looking at Emerson.

“It means a great deal to them. They are close to your parents, each other and to you, Rich. Being our Lunas will give them the freedom to continue to see their family frequently.”

Rich nods. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

Just before we get started, lunch is sent up. All of the sandwiches are different and when Rich reaches for one, the omega who brought them up specifies that there is one in particular for him. At first, I wonder if Emlyn did this just for Rich, but then I realize that she also knows my preferences as well as Emerson’s and our sandwiches cater to that.  

“Wow, I hope Malin’s this good.” I say.

“Believe me when I tell you, she’s not. But she’s a Holstin. She will be….someday.” Rich say ominously. Emlyn is fantastic and I know that Malin hasn’t had the same amount of experience that Emlyn has, but I’m sure she’ll catch on quickly.

As we eat, we begin our discussion. “If Alpha Wyatt is really planning an attack, he will be working with someone else. Any ideas on who that might be?” I ask.

“I’ve heard rumblings of another Alpha that Alpha Wyatt is working with. I don’t know anything about him, but I’ve got my scouts out trying to get some intel,” Emerson says.

“The only person I could think of would be Beta Trevor because of Gwen. But his Alpha, Alpha Carter, seems like a stand up Alpha. He understood exactly why Gwen needed to be executed and also told his Beta that he would never allow her into his pack, even if Emlyn had let her live.” Rich says, just as Emlyn knocks on door.

Rich is up and at the door as Emlyn walks in with a fussy Leander. Since Rich has barely spent any time with his son, I know it’s important for him to see him. If it were me, I’d move hell and earth to spend time with my pup. But I also didn’t have a witch casting spells over me, keeping me from my mate, thankfully.

“Sorry to interrupt. I promised Richie that he could feed Leander when he woke. I just thought he’d sleep longer,” Emlyn says, looking at Rich. “I brought you two bottles, don’t be surprised if he finishes them both,” she says as she comes in and collects our plates.

I thank Emlyn and watch as Rich holds his young son, getting him settled in his arms and beginning to feed him a bottle. Something deep inside me aches to have my own pup, one that Malin gives to me. I want to smell my pup’s scent, like I see Rich sniffing Leander. I want Malin to look at me the way Emlyn is looking at Rich as he feeds their son. I look at Emerson and see the same longing on his face that I’m feeling.

Emlyn kisses Rich’s cheek and smiles at her son before walking to the door. “Call me if you need anything,” she says closing the door behind her.

Rich looks up, seeing that Emerson and I are watching him. “I’m glad you got that shit with the Beta worked out. Being mated to my sister and being a father look good on you,” Emerson tells him.

“It feels good. But it also means I have even more reason to figure out what is going on and if we’ll be attacked.”

“Have our mothers said anymore?” Emerson asks, looking at us.

“No, but they are at the council right now, something about the vampires,” I say.

“I have Xander finding out what the witch who cast the spell on me knows about the witches and any movement they may have against us,” Rich adds.

“Do you think you can trust her? The witch?” I ask. The only thing I know about this witch is that she’s the one who cast the spell on Rich.

“She was very honest when I interviewed her. Strangely, I actually liked her. I’ve never met a witch before, but from what Leana said she doesn’t want to hurt me or Emlyn. So, we’ll see what Xander says. I would have thought I'd have heard from him already. I’ll call him tonight.”

“We need more intel. We need to know who Alpha Wyatt is working with. I can’t imagine it’s the other supernaturals, but we can’t rule it out. Let’s plan to meet again in one week.” I say, turning to Rich. “You’ll want to come get Emlyn anyway. We need to figure out who is planning to attack us.”

“Agreed. And if anyone gets information before then, we keep communication open,” Emerson says.

We finish our meeting just as Rich finishes feeding Leader.

“I’ll get those.” I say, collecting the bottles that Leander finished. It’s been hours since I saw Malin and I want to make sure that she’s settling in okay and doesn’t have any regrets about last night.

“I’m heading back to Safe Haven, let’s stay in touch.” Emerson says. “Cohen, would you walk me out?”

I walk Emerson outside, away from the prying ears of the pack.

“How did it go with you telling Malin that you were her mate?” he asks me.

“She figured it out. Rich must have recognized the look on my face and was ready to punch me. She stepped in front of him and forced him to back down. She was confused, but overall, not unhappy about it. What about Quinn?” I ask.

My friend’s face softens in the way I’ve only ever seen when he’s talking about or talking to Quinn Holstin. “She’s thrilled. She said she was hoping she was my mate.”

He gives me a look I understand. “Yeah, the next three months until their birthdays are going to be very hard,” I say.

“I know this is personal, but we both know our mates talk all the time. So, are you planning to wait until she’s 18 to…you know, be with her?” he asks me.

“I’m going to leave it up to Malin. I’m not pushing her, but I know she’s already feeling the pull of the mate bond. If she wants to take our relationship farther before she’s 18, I won’t deny her.”

Emerson nods and just as he’s about to say something, Emlyn rushes out, the phone to her hear as Emerson’s phone starts to ring.

“Oh, you’re still here. Do either of you know anything about the witches working with Alpha Wyatt?” she asks.

“Levana. I think I heard my mother talking about someone named Levana who is a witch, I think. Maybe that’s who’s working with Alpha Wyatt.”

We look at Emerson. “That would make sense. It would explain why Alpha Wyatt thinks he has a chance of going against us. We’ve seen the power of the witches against the wolves,” he says.

“I need to tell Richie,” she says, rushing back inside, just as Malin walks out.

“Cohen, is everything okay?”

“I need to get home. We’ll talk soon,” Emerson says.

I turn to Malin. “We think we know how Alpha Wyatt is going to come at us. With the witches,” I say, pulling her into my arms.

“Not Maeve? She’s sweet. I’ve met her.”

“No, someone named Levana.”

I pull back, looking at my mate. She’s frowning, worry and concern etched on her face.

“Hey, we’ll figure it out,” I tell her.

“After everything that happened to Rich…..”

“Nothing like that is going to happen to us. It’s another reason I wanted to make sure you knew that I’M your mate. You are mine, Malin, and no one is going to change that.”

I pull her to me again, never having felt the sense of possessiveness that I’ve heard that other Alphas have, at least not until now. The thought of anyone thinking they can take Malin away from me makes me and Kaelen, my wolf, nearly feral.

I feel Malin relax against me, letting me hold her.

“How are you feeling about last night? Was it too much for you?” I ask her.

She shakes her head, looking up at me. “I was wondering what we might try tonight.”

I growl, thrilled that my mate is as curious about me as I am about her.

I lean in and nip at her throat which she lifts easily for me.

“We will try whatever my mate desires tonight,” I tell her, feeling her body shiver in my arms.

Oh yeah, I definitely feel possessive of my beautiful mate.