Aiden's POV
Josh and I had decided that I would take morning Alpha duties then I would have Bayne for the afternoon. I was completely fine with that, seeing as how she's been sleeping in a lot more, she'll be awake when I walk into our room. I couldn't help the smile that crept up on my face as I thought about spending the afternoon with Bayne.
"What's with the smile?" Aaron asked me with a raised eyebrow.
"Just thinking... What's up?" Aaron had taken over training regiments and was doing a great job with it. He wasn't as hard as Bayne was but he got the message across.
"Are you ready? You may be an Alpha, but you need to train too." Aaron's arms were crossed as he waited for me to get up and come with him.
"Oh right, yah I'll be right out. I just need to finish up this last document. It shouldn't take me more than a few minutes." My attention went from Aaron to the paper in front of me. I groaned internally as I realized my dad didn't keep up with the written requests from pack members. I couldn't be mad at him because he had stepped up and took over when we needed him to, and the approval needs to be from the current alpha, but he didn't know about half of the things we added or changed since he retired. This just made for a little extra paper work that needed to be taken care of before we got too far behind.
~
It was about 1:30 when I finished training with Aaron and was finally headed up to Bayne. I had a few documents that I needed to go over and give my approval, but I could do that while I was with Bayne.
When I opened the bedroom door I peaked in and saw my beautiful mate sleeping on her back, her face turned to her left so it was facing the door. I smiled and walked in quietly. I made sure my footsteps were quiet enough to not wake her as I went around to my side of the enormous bed. The bed had seemed overkill when we ordered it, but now I could see that the bed was the perfect size. There was just enough space for all three of us. I climbed in on Bayne's right side and rested my back on the headboard as I went through the documents one by one. Most of them were requests from pack members on little, fairly insignificant things like vacation requests or temporary pack transfers. I didn't see any that seemed unreasonable.
It had been at least thirty minutes after I walked in before I saw any movement in Bayne. She had been tired lately and didn't know why although Josh and I think it's her body still working some of the chemicals out of her system. She not only acted overly tired but she looked it too, some mornings she looked as if she hadn't slept in weeks. Zackary couldn't find anything wrong with her, not that we could get Bayne in for regular visits, but when we did there was nothing physically wrong with her. Maybe it's all in her head?
My thoughts were interrupted when I heard Bayne groan and caught her shifting out of the corner of my eye. Her eyes fluttered open and she automatically looked over at me.
"Did you have a nice nap?" I asked with a smile on my face, she looked amazing, her hair was all over the place and her breathing was still deep. I chuckled when Bayne gave me a look that would otherwise frighten anyone who saw it. I knew that Bayne was not amused, she thought naps were a waste of time. Not that she had anything better to do with her time right now, but she didn't like falling asleep in the middle of the day.
"Shouldn't you be working on keeping this pack on track? I know Aaron is a decent fighter, but he's the only one in this house that is giving all of his attention to the betterment of the pack." Bayne's voice was heavy with sleep and sounded absolutely divine, if I could wrap myself in her voice I would never get out of bed.
"Are you suggesting that I am slacking on my duties?" I narrowed my eyes and smiled slightly so she knew I wasn't being completely serious.
"Well, you are here instead of out there." She pointed out.
"I'll have you know, I am here because I took care of my half of the duties Josh and I need to catch up on and while you were taking a peaceful nap I was taking care of some requests that needed my sign off." Bayne just rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Besides, that's the beauty of having two alphas for the pack. One can have an afternoon off while the other takes care of the business. And anyway, I would much rather be tending to your every need than be stuck in my office filling out paper work and filing bills and bank statements. So, for this afternoon I am at your beck and call. Do you need anything?" I smiled as I leaned in to kiss her temple. Our physical contact had been minimal and I desperately wanted to change that.
"No." Bayne's voice was calm, but there was an edge of danger to it. She wasn't telling me the whole truth.
"What's wrong babe?" I didn't know what could have been wrong or what I had to do in order to make it better, but I promised myself that I would do whatever it took to make my Bayne happy.
"Nothing." Her voice didn't change, she still sounded aggravated. I took her right hand in mine and looked her in the eye.
"Tell me, I can hear it in your voice." I tried to reassure her by smiling but I don't think that helped much.
"NOTHING'S WRONG!" Bayne yelled. This took me by surprise, Bayne had never raised her voice before, not unless it was during training, and then she was yelling at the pack as a whole. "Nothing is wrong and I. Don't. Need. Anything!" her face was red and her eyes held nothing but anger and frustration. "I just want to be left alone right now." Her voice went down and her demeanor changed. She almost sounded sad or upset about something.
"Okay. I'll just... go then..." I felt dejected, I knew something was wrong but she obviously didn't want to talk about it. So instead I left the room with a weight on my shoulders that I thought would crush me. She needed some time alone and fighting with her wasn't going to help anyone. I walked out and closed the door gently behind me before I headed for the office. I was hurt that Bayne didn't trust me enough to tell me what was bothering her, but I guess we haven't known each other for very long. When I entered the office I found Josh and Aaron having a discussion. I had hoped that Josh might have some things that he hadn't gotten to yet so I could take my mind off of this pit in my stomach, but by the looks of it he was nearly done with everything. I gave a small smile to my brother than to the only man that understood my mate completely, the only man that she trusted completely. I was both jealous and grateful for Aaron, on the one hand he understood all of Bayne's nonverbal ques and her signals. He understood all of her lessons and my brother and I were still learning. However Aaron had the insight that we needed to understand what Bayne was thinking and what we could do to make her comfortable. With Aaron around we had someone to translate what we didn't understand. This was one of those times where I was more than happy to have Aaron around.
"Hey, you okay? You look like someone just stepped on your tail." Josh noticed my mood immediately. And why wouldn't he, we did just about everything together. He knew me better than I knew myself, just as I knew him better than he knew himself. We could never lie to each other.
"Uh... yah I guess I'm okay. But I don't think Bayne is." I kept my eyes on the area rug that was under both our desks. I never really noticed it before; we really needed to replace it.
"What?! What's wrong? Where is she? Don't tell me you left her alone right now!" Josh moved to get up and walk out of the room when I put my hand up to stop him. His worry was immediate and made me glad I had such a great brother to share my mate with.
"She said she wanted to be left alone." I hadn't realized how broken I sounded until the moment those words left my mouth.
"So? She almost always wants to be left alone. She only socializes when absolutely necessary." Aaron said, "What's the issue?" Josh looked at me and I could practically see the questions written on his forehead.
"She yelled at me." I broke eye contact with Josh and this time examined the old leather chairs that sat in front of each of our desks. Each of them were in decent shape, they were just purchased a few years ago when we redid the living room. My eyes narrowed as I remembered what happened.
"She yelled at you?" Josh's face communicated that he didn't understand why I had been so hurt. Bayne had 'yelled' at us before and I never had this kind of a reaction, but this time was different.
"Yah..."
"Define 'yelled', did she just reprimand you, or did she raise her voice?" Aaron asked with one brow raised.
"She raised her voice." I answered quietly.
"Shit... What day is it?" Aaron asked, his eyes were wide and full of fear. He gulped as he absently rubbed the front of his left shoulder.
"Tuesday." Josh answered, completely lost as to what the big deal was.
"What's the date?" Aaron clarified.
"The 23rd." as Josh said this Aarons eyes started bugging out. He shook his head and mumbled something about him being a complete idiot.
"Okay... Shit." Aaron reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Here's $60, go out and get as much dark chocolate as this will pay for." He handed me the money and then turned to Josh, "Make sure there's a steak for dinner tonight, she likes it medium rare..."
"Whoa, hold on. What is going on here?" I asked.
"What is wrong with Bayne?" Josh was starting to get angry that Aaron hadn't told us yet. Not knowing what was wrong with Bayne made it very hard to take care of her.
"She's on her period!" Aaron all but yelled, thankfully the office was well-insulated and almost sound proof. My eyes got wide and my jaw dropped, Aaron was making a big deal about something that every woman went through. Every woman that I had met, at one time or another had her period and didn't act much different when I was around her.
"There is no way that is all that is wrong with her, there's got to be something else."
"Yah, every she-wolf goes through some mood swings during... that, but-" Josh stopped when he noticed the horror in Aarons face as he shook his head.
"While you're right about other she-wolves having mood swings, Bayne goes through a blood-lust. She doesn't just get upset, she gets angry enough to kill." Aaron explained then he pulled away the collar of his shirt exposing his left shoulder.
"Damn, what is that?" Aaron's shoulder was decorated with an angry scar that ran from the base of his neck to his outer shoulder. The scar was huge, matching the severity of some that I had seen on Bayne's back, however Bayne's scars were clean cut, Aarons was ragged and uneven. It was clear that this wound was done out of pure rage.
"Last time I pissed off Bayne when she was on her period, she nearly took my head off. Literally! Don't make her angry. The only reason she didn't kill me that day was because she found something else to take her blood lust out on." Josh and I looked at each other in what can only be described as absolute horror.
"I'll get the chocolate." I said as I headed for the door, money in hand. I was already planning the fastest route to the store. I needed to get chocolate and whatever supplies Bayne would need. I practically ran out of the office and down the hall.
"I'll get a heating pad." I heard Josh say behind me.
~
Bayne's POV
I felt a little guilty after Aiden left this afternoon, I didn't know why I was so aggravated; I just knew I wanted to be alone. I had moved so I was sitting on the edge of the bed facing the door. I had been trying to get the pins and needles feeling out of my feet so I could try and stand up on my own. But after thirty minutes the uncomfortable feeling was still there, and it seemed to be getting worse. I hated felling dependent on other people. I wanted to run and get out of this house, but I knew that the twins would insist on keeping me close. I didn't want to be close; I wanted to be free. I was lost in thought when I picked up the scent of pine. My nose was not at its best so I didn't know who it was, but the overwhelming pine smell confirmed it was one of the twins. I half expected him to open the door and immediately start fussing about the fact that I was sitting up. They acted like I was some fragile little doll that would break if they breathed on me. The door didn't open for another few minutes; he must have been listening to my breathing, trying to determine if I was asleep or not. But when the door did open Josh poked his head in and smiled shyly.
"Hey," he timidly walked in and headed for the bed. He didn't say anything for a few seconds but he was chewing on his lower lip, deep in thought. "How are you?" Ugh here we go again...
"I'm fine." My voice was a little clipped, but I was tired of telling people I was fine. I was sick of people asking me how I was feeling, I was done with these checkups. I just wanted people to go back to how they were and not worrying about me.
"Have you tried standing yet?" he sat down next to me and looked at me. I furrowed my brow and looked from him down to my feet.
"No, I can't get this pins and needles feeling to pass, and I think it's getting worse. Ugh, I can't spend another day in this bed. I need to get up and move." I put my head in my hands and closed my eyes as I rubbed circles into my temples.
"Lay down on your stomach for me, and put this under you." Josh held something out for me to take. When I looked up I saw he was handing me a heating pad. At first I didn't understand, I wasn't cold so why would he give me a heating pad. Then it dawned on me, the only reason I feel so shitty was because of the blood lust that comes with my period. Josh must have thought the heating pad would help with my nonexistent cramps.
"Josh, a heating pad won't do anything for me-"
"Just do it. Please." I was a little shocked; normally Aiden was the bossy one. This new side of Josh was interesting; he was commanding and frankly a little attractive. But the please is what caught most of my attention. He ordered me to do something, but he made it sound like a request. I was torn, I could defy and anger him, or I could do what he wanted and submit. Neither option appealed greater than the other, but I decided to humor him and went to lie on my stomach. He plugged the heating pad on and turned it to a medium heat. Then he got up on his knees and started walking/shuffling over to me on the bed.
"What are you doing?" I asked as he situated himself over me, with a knee on each side of my thighs. I heard him rub his hands together and clear his throat.
"You'll find out." I felt him lift my shirt up about half way up my back. Then his hands were on me, one on each hip. He pushed down slightly and dragged his hands to my side then his hands were back to the middle of my back. He dug his thumbs into my lower back and worked a few knots out of the muscles. His skilled hands worked out the stress in my tired back.
"Ah... mmnnh..." The massage quickly went from uncomfortable to heavenly, Josh knew exactly where the knots were and how hard to work them. I could feel my shoulders relax as he continued, my head sunk into the pillow under my shoulders and I gave a sigh.
"Better?" I didn't answer with words, I just gave a small hum of satisfaction as I closed my eyes. His strong hands relaxed me so much that it started to lull me to sleep, and I let the feeling of calm seep through his hands into me.
"I love you Bayne."
~
I must have fallen asleep again because when I opened my eyes it was due to a knock on the door. When I looked up I saw Aiden walk in with a glass of milk and a bag from the corner store and Josh was still rubbing my back.
"Hey, how's it going in here?" Aiden's voice was a whisper. He looked from his brother then to me. When his eyes met mine he smiled genuinely and came forward.
"Good, I've gotten her to relax enough that she fell asleep for a few minutes. She even started moaning in her sleep when I finally got a knot out of her back." Josh said with a voice that wasn't much louder than Aiden's.
"Hey babe, I got something for you. Open your mouth..." due to the position I was in I couldn't see what he had in his hands, but he broke something off and then brought his attention back up to me.
"Why? What is it?" I was still groggy from the second nap this afternoon so I wasn't thinking clearly, had I been I would have thought to smell the air around us.
"Just do it." Aiden's version of the same phrase Josh had used earlier made me think. Josh had given me a nice massage after saying those same words. "You'll like it."
"And how do you know that?" I wasn't saying no, I was just giving him a hard time. I knew it would go straight to his head if I did as he told me.
"I just do, now open." Before I had time to do anything Josh dug his fingers into my back. He had been chasing a knot all around the small of my back and he finally got the stubborn little thing. His action caused me to groan out in both surprise and discomfort, but the groan made me open my mouth enough for Aiden to slip something past my lips. My groan turned to a moan as the taste of dark chocolate danced over my tongue.
"See, it's easier when you just trust us the first time." Josh said through a chuckle. I didn't say anything, mainly because I didn't want to tell them they were right. That would just add to their already enormous egos.
"You want more?" Aiden asked, holding a piece of chocolate in front of my face. I looked him in the eye and opened my mouth slightly. Aiden almost immediately slid the dark morsel past my lips, this time however he made a point to pull my lower lip down when he pulled his hand back. My eyes closed, partly because the chocolate was so delicious but also because the feeling of Aiden's finger on my lip while Josh's hands were smoothing out my back sent my hormones into overdrive. I hummed quietly and let Josh and Aiden take care of me. I had no idea it could feel this good to have someone dote on you.
"I take it Aaron told you about the blood lust." Josh had deemed me free of all knots and Aiden had to show me the empty chocolate wrapper to convince me that I had finished the whole thing.
"He also showed us the nasty scar you gave him." Aiden said with a smile. I had shifted so I was lying on my side, and Josh moved so his chin was resting, on his hand, on my hip. Aiden was lying on his side, facing me. I felt more than saw Josh shake his head at his brother.
"So you know that when the blood lust takes over I have absolutely no control. I won't stop because you're my mates. I will try and kill you." I tried to get them to understand that I was deadly serious. I didn't want them to get hurt because I lost control.
"Well, he didn't mention that, but we won't get to that point." Josh said as he tucked a piece of my hair behind my right ear.
"We'll do anything to keep you happy." Aiden added with a sweet smile.
"I don't always go after what sets me off. Aaron is still here because a deer ran out in front of me as I was chasing him. I attack whatever is in front of me at the time. I go into a primal rage that can only be settled by the blood of my victim."
"Like I said before, we won't get to that point." Josh said again. I don't know how, but I knew he was right. Josh and Aiden were too good for me, they didn't get too upset when I got angry with them. They took care of me even when I was being stubborn. These two men were far better than I could ever ask for.
Ugh, stupid hormones.