3. Better Safe than Sorry

Brax's pov

"Can’t they come another time?" I asked my beta, Elora.

"No, they have summer break now, and they haven’t seen me in months. I don’t get your problem anyway. You used to get along just fine." Elora replied, wiggling her eyebrow suggestively.

I loved my beta like a little sister, but she was way too observant sometimes and really noisy.

‘You can tell her the truth,’ my wolf Hudson advised, but I ignored him.

Elora is the sister of our ally, Alpha Aeryn, and has two brothers. A set of twins that couldn’t be any different. They looked differently, they acted differently, and they loved differently.

I wasn’t worried about seeing Argo; it was the shy Airk that had me worried. We had shared a few moments when I trained to become Alpha at the Iron River pack, but he was fifteen at the time.

The twins were seventeen now, and in a few months they’d get their wolves and be able to find their mates.

It had been a little over two years, and we only flirted a bit, but Airk had not left my mind. His scent, his beautiful face, those eyes, and his small frame.

"Brax? Are you listening? They’re already on their way. This is my home too."

Elora had become a lot more vocal since becoming pregnant. That’s why the twins wanted to visit too. She was giving birth in the next few weeks.

"Fine, but I’m keeping my eye on Argo. Mila is seventeen too, and I don’t want him hurting her feelings."

Elora laughed, "your sister can handle herself better than most."

She wasn’t wrong; Ella was raised like me and the rest of my four siblings in the pack of our uncle. My mother hadn’t known who her parents were until Alpha Asher helped her. It was also when he killed my father, but that’s a whole other story.

I tried to calm myself for the rest of the day and night, knowing Airk would be here soon. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe it had just been a stupid crush, and whatever I felt would disappear as soon as I saw him.

In these two years, I had dated plenty of people and had men and women in my bed, sometimes at the same time, but nothing took away the feeling of loss I had gotten the day I got my pack back. Nothing probably would. It was simply the price for my sins. I’d never feel whole again.

Darian and Elora were already eating breakfast when I came down, but my sister was still up in her room, it seemed.

"Can I fill you a plate?" Elora asked, grabbing some food for me.

I shook my head, "save it for Mila; I am going straight to work. We still have a lot to do before the packhouse is donedone, I want to check on the soldiers and the council as well."

"Don’t forget my brothers are coming...." Elora said, but I didn’t reply and left quickly. I knew Mila would entertain herself; so far she had been either training with the soldiers or hanging out around the city.

Like Elora said, Mila could take care of herself, but she was still my little sister, and I had warned every adult wolf in this pack to stay away from her. She was seventeen, and although we had different rules than the White Claw pack, I had promised mom to make sure she wasn’t dating any unmated wolves.

My first task on my to do list was looking over the list of potential gammas. Again…. So far we have had no luck finding the right person.

‘It’s not like you've got a good group to choose from anyway,’ Hudson growled.

When I took over, the pack was in the business of hiring soldiers instead of focusing on training their own. We had gotten help from our allies to train our soldiers, but they weren’t up to the standard I was used to.

When I was done, I walked over to the training ground but didn’t notice my visitors until it was too late.

"Hey fucker. You weren’t there to greet us," Argo said, surprising me. He was a sneaky guy and a good fighter. From what Elora told me, he had been training every chance he got.

I didn’t see Airk yet because he usually hid behind his brother’s larger frame and big head of curls, but I could smell him.

Just like how I remembered. His scent reminded me of the fields of sunflowers back at my uncle’s pack.

"Sorry, some of us have to work." I joked. "We can’t all rely on our good looks."

"While you’re so much more than your looks, you shouldn’t doubt that you’re handsome," Airk said, stepping out from his brother’s shadow.

"Yeah, I’ll take that as my fucking cue to leave. Brax, is it okay if I train with your soldiers?" Argo said, eyeing me and Airk together.

I nodded my head, and Argo ran away, leaving me and his twin behind.

"Hi Brax, or should I be calling you Alpha now?" Airk asked, and I swear to the Goddess, my dick got hard just hearing him say my name.

"You can call me whatever you want." I replied. "Good to see you again."

"Yeah, you’ve been busy. Not too busy, I hope?"

He was so adorable. I still didn’t get how he looked so much like his mother, and Argo got all of his dad’s look. Airk had the cutest face and dark blond, flowing hair. All he got from his dad were his eye color and strong jaw line; the rest was all his mother, Leia.

I smiled at the beautiful young man before me, "I am lucky to have your sister here to help me."

"So, can I get a tour?"

My plan was to avoid Airk and focus on work, but after seeing him, that ship had sailed. How could I say no to that cute face?

"Sure." I said, like my heart wasn’t beating loudly.

Airk and I walked through my pack, and I loved telling him everything we had improved. My father and his beta had been selfish and had let so many people live in poor conditions while he and the rich lived in luxury.

Elora’s mate, Darian Goldacre, was the owner of one of the largest businesses in the werewolf community, and he had set up one of his factories here. It not only meant job opportunities for those that needed them but also money for the pack that we could infest back where it was needed.

"It suits you, being Alpha." Airk said, bumping his shoulder against mine. It didn’t skip my notice that Airk kept moving closer to me and that he had wasted no opportunity to touch me every chance he got.

"Thank you," I said, looking down at him. There was something incredibly hot about him being shorter than me.

"It must be lonely, though, doing this on your own. No Luna or mate."

I smirked, "don’t worry, my bed hasn’t been cold."

Shit, I shouldn’t have said that. The disappointment was clear in Airk’s eyes. Had he not been with another man? The thought of Airk touching or kissing someone made Hudson growl inside my head.

"None stay there, though. I am not interested in something serious." I added.

"Until you find your mate?" Airk asked, moving closer to me.

"No," I replied. Not wanting to talk more about mates right now.

"I’m not serious. I mean, I can be casual." Airk moved even closer, now close enough to kiss me.

"You’re playing a dangerous game, Air."

"You remember."

"Of course I remember how you kicked the air out of me. I remember everything about you." I replied, thinking back to the time we sparred. We ended up making everyone else awkward by flirting more than fighting.

"Then let me give you something else to remember me by," Airk said before standing on his toes to kiss me.

I knew I should stop. I knew that he was lying when he said he could be casual. But I forgot all that when his lips touched mine gently.

His kiss was soft and brief, and when he pulled away, he blushed.

"When did you become so bold? Where is shy Airk?"

Airk chuckled. "It’s you. You make me bold. I’m only like this when I’m around you."

How do you respond to that?

‘With another kiss,’ Hudson suggested, but I should really nip this in the butt before it gets too far.

‘You should nip him in the butt,’ Hudson joked, and I almost laughed out loud at his stupid joke.

"You look really good when you smile," Airk said. "I remember your smile so well; Elora tells me you’re not as easygoing as you used to be."

I sighed, "Elora needs to mind her own business. I’m fine. It’s just a lot of responsibility to be the alpha. I can't joke and mess around like I used to."

Airk nodded in understanding, "well, Argo and I are here now, so we can help wherever you need us. Preferably near you if that’s possible."

‘Or under you. Or on top of you,’ Hudson suggested, and I had to ignore my wolf once again. Goddess, how could he be so horny all the damn time?

I smirked at the young man in front of me, "my brave Airk, you’re here one day and you’re already making requests."

Airk blushed, and I suddenly realized I had called him mine. Crap.

"Let’s see what your brother is up to with the soldiers. While I’m pretty sure he can’t make them worse, I’d like to check anyway. Better safe than sorry." I said with a wink.

Airk and I walked to the training grounds, and every time his fingers brushed mine, I had the urge to grab Airk’s hand, but I fought against it.

If such a brief kiss could mess with my head so much, engaging in more would make me lose my mind.

‘I hate the saying "better safe than sorry," sometimes you have to take a risk or else you’ll regret it even more.’ Hudson said. ‘He’s only here for a few weeks, and he clearly likes you just as much as you like him.’

‘That’s the problem,’ I replied. He’ll get hurt.’

Before my wolf could reply, I spotted Airk’s brother and my sister on the training grounds and roared loudly at Argo, "What the hell are you doing?!"