Demonic Regime

Chapter 11: First-Grader

I smiled at the majority of blue scribbles across the letter 'H'.

"It's my favorite. It's Case's favorite too. We played battle at recess." He dumped out his book bag on the floor.

Marcy sighed as the pile of paper landed at her feet. "Sounds like you had a lot of fun today." She placed the drawings with the others on the refrigerator.

Drake hugged my leg. "When can I go to school?"

"Next year." I messed up his head fur.

Sasha started to cry in the living room.

"I'll get her."

Leaving the room, I picked up the baby and returned to the kitchen.

Rudy was still in the middle of a story. Drake was listening intently while Marcy just smiled at our eldest son. It was a relief that he liked school. The pups were being nice to him, but I still worried about whether they knew that Rudy was different yet.

***

I lined the boys up and looked them over. Rudy had some of his breakfast still on his face. Marcy passed me a wipe as she adjusted the baby in her arms. She was as nervous as me about meeting the Northern Ridge alpha. I cleaned up Rudy's face and checked Drake. His fur hid it better, but he also had some crumbs.

"There." I fixed Rudy's shirt and stood. "Alright, we're meeting Grandpa and Grandma's alpha."

"Northern one?" said Rudy. "Mommy's old pack?"

"That's the one. So mind your manners. He wants to meet you, and then you can play with Max. Alright?"

The boys nodded. Drake's tail wagged as he jumped up and down.

"Alright." I took a deep breath and looked at Marcy.

She grabbed my hand. "We'll be fine."

We headed up the stairs and went to the alpha's office. Rudy raced on ahead and Drake took off after him.

"Boys! Boys, stop running."

All I heard were their giggles.

Andreas was standing outside the door with a red werewolf.

"Here they are." The alpha knelt and caught the boys. "What are you doing running in my house?" He tickled them. "Disrespectful, pups. Should I declare you rogues?"

"No, no," laughed Rudy. "We're not rogues. We're Midfield wolves," he said firmly. "That's my last name. At school, I get to use Midfield. None of the other kids get, too."

"That's because you're special." Andreas ruffled the boy's hair and stood. "Fallon, Marcy. As you know, this is Gael, Alpha of Northern Rocky Ridge."

"Hello, sir." I offered my hand.

Gael shook it. "These are your pups?"

I nodded. "Yes, this is Rudy."

The boy grinned at the werewolf. "You got red fur like me." He put his hand on top of his head.

The alpha chuckled. "Yes, red fur."

"I'm Drake!" The black pup jumped up and down.

"Hello, Drake."

"I got black fur." He rubbed his belly.

Gael nodded with a chuckle. "Two dominants in the making."

The boys bounced around, getting even more excited. Neither of the alphas seemed to mind, but I was ready for Max to come and take them.

"And who is this sweet pup?" Gael moved in closer.

"Sasha," said Marcy. "She's the newest addition."

"What a gorgeous little girl." He nodded. "I don't think Andreas will let all three of them mate into my pack."

Andreas shook his head. "You're lucky to get one."

"Um..." Rudy tugged on Gael's hand. "Your—your my grandpa and grandma's alpha?"

"I am."

"They get to live in the mountains. Do you live in there, too?"

He nodded. "It's right by a big cave with a huge hot pool. The hot water comes right out of the ground."

"Wow." Rudy sighed. "Grandpa took us to a hot pool by his house. It was so fun. Can we go again?" He ran over to me.

"Next time we go to Northern Ridge, I'm sure Grandpa will take you," said Marcy.

Max appeared at the end of the hall. "Hey." He waved. "Am I early?"

"Right on time," said Andreas. "Any other questions, Gael?"

"Just one." He dropped to a knee. "Which one of you wants to join my pack?"

The excitement left the boys as they moved closer to us.

"We're Midfield," mumbled Rudy.

"Baby can," said Drake. "We're Midfield." He grabbed his brother's hand.

Gael laughed. "Offering up their own sisters, typical brothers." He stood. "Cute pups. We're not deciding anything today. I just wanted to meet them. I've heard good things about them from my father and Hector."

"That's good."

He clasped my shoulder. "Breath, Fallon. No one is going to take your pups. They're be all grown up before we even start talking about mating. We don't plan on raising them for you."

"Can we go play?" said Rudy. "Please.'

I nodded.

"Yeah!" Rudy snatched Max's hand and dragged him toward the playroom.

"Wait! Wait for me!" Drake grabbed Max's other hand as they hurried down the hall.

Gael watched them leave. "The problem is I have to find a werewolf stronger than them so they can mate into my pack." He smiled at us. "We should have done this the other way around."

Andreas scoffed. "My dad would have never let you have Fallon, and I plan on spending the next few years trying to find a way out of this arrangement."

Flashing Andreas a smirk, Gael went into the office. "Good luck."

***

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