I winced as Liya pulled the brush through my fur a little too roughly. I was getting the feeling that my sister loved the fact that she wasn't limited to my head and could put clips all down my back. My tail flicked back and forth. She had tied bows up it. I was to the point that I had stopped caring and simply laid on the floor with a pillow under my head. Jedrek had turned on some kind of cartoon.
"Milo, can I paint your nails?"
I tapped them on the floor. "I don't know. I have toxins. I don't want you to get hurt by accident."
"You're a sub," breathed Jed.
I lifted my head. "And she a little human girl. It'll still hurt you."
Jedrek raised an eyebrow. "They're not razor blades."
"Let her paint yours then?" I retorted.
Jedrek kicked up his feet on the coffee table. "Have at it. I bet Axil would love to see his mate getting in touch with his feminine side."
Liya carried the small container of different nail polish to the table. "What color do you want?"
"Surprise me."
"Can I do a different one on each nail?"
"Sure." He rested his arm along the back of the couch.
"Be careful, Liya," said my mother from the kitchen. "They're both werewolves."
"I know." She rolled her eyes and started painting.
Jedrek motioned to my sister. "See, she gets it. You two are being a little extreme."
I wasn't impressed. Sitting up, I took the brush and smooth out my stomach fur. I felt like a puffball. All that brushing had left my fur looking overly fluffy.
"What did Collin say about joining that group?"
I shrugged. "I saw him looking through it last night and he didn't tell me no. There might be a chance that he'll let me do it."
"It's not going to kill you to talk to other werewolves. I mean"—he pressed his hand to his chest—"right now I'm all you got, and my opinion of our hairy superiors is rather low."
Shaking my head, I laid down. "Midfield raises the strangest humans."
"You're from the Midfield pack?" said Liya.
My mother walked out of the kitchen, drying her hand on a towel.
Jed nodded. "Yep, I grew up on a human-ran farm."
"Human-ran?" My mother came to sit by him. "What do you mean?"
"My parents were given a farm a run. As long as we took care of it, the werewolves didn't bother us much. The overseers would come by to check on us occasionally, but it could have been worse. Humans closer to the capitol are a bit more restricted in what they can do. Kind of like the humans here, minus the weird suits." He pointed to a human servant that dipped into my room without a word.
"We lived on a farm," said Liya. "With my old master." She smiled. "Now I don't have a master."
Jedrek patted the top of her head. "Keep that mindset."
"Midfield is so different than here," breathed my mother. "I couldn't even imagine that."
"We had our own house too. As long as we followed the rules and did what they asked, it wasn't too bad."
"Then why did you run?" asked my mother. "I heard in the news that you ran away from Midfield and that is how the beta was able to get you as a mate."
He let out a deep breath. "I was scared." Jedrek folded his arms. "I got my blood tested in secret and knew that it was good. I was scared of being made into a werewolf. I still don't like it." He cleared his throat. "But here I am," he laughed, "I'll be a dad of a werewolf pup soon. I never thought that would happen." Sitting up, he wiggled his toes. "Wow, you're pretty good at painting nails."
"Thank you." Liya grinned. She eyed me. "Please, Milo."
"Fine." I held up a claw. "But if something happens, remember that I told you it was dangerous."
"Just don't move," she replied. "Jed didn't and it was fine."
"Yeah," Jedrek added in with a smirk. "Sit still and stop trying to stifle your sister's artistic abilities."
***
With bright pink claws, I clicked on the mouse to turn on the computer. Jedrek hovered over me as I typed in the password one letter at a time. I leaned back in the chair as he went to the web browser and brought up the website. He started to read through the different posts. I tried to read a couple myself but he would start scrolling before I could finish.
I glanced at the books laying across the desk. One had pieces of paper in it. I flipped it open. It looked like medical stuff.
"Collin must be getting more serious about having a pup," said Jedrek.
"I kind of told him I was thinking about wanting to try."
"That talks about the risks for gay couples." He nodded toward the book. "There's a twenty-five percent chance of not getting a viable embryo."
"Oh." I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"Yeah, it's right here." He pointed to the diagram. "Fifty percent chance it's a boy and twenty-five percent chance you'll get a girl and the rest results in a no go."
I stared at the picture and tried to read some of the descriptions. "So it's harder to get a girl for couples like us?"
"Yep, according to the doctors, it is."
Jedrek kept looking through the forums while I skimmed through the different books. It was a step that Collin was ready to take and now that I had my mother with me, I was feeling more comfortable with the idea.
***
(Collin)
"So what do you think about the name Jeff?"
I rubbed my brow. "Why are you asking me this?"
Axil shrugged and looked at the list in his hands. "Because I want to know what you think. We could name the pup Jeffery and call him Jeff for short."
"This is something you should talk to your mate about." I kept reviewing the report that the beta should be paying more attention to himself.
"Jeff doesn't sound very scary for a potential beta," breathed Axil.
"Maybe ask Jed what kind of name he wants to name his son," I said firmly.
The beta rolled his eyes. "He doesn't want to talk about it. He still struggles to accept that his son is going to be a werewolf. It makes wanting to kill the entire werewolf race a little too real."
"Hopefully, it calms him down."
Axil shrugged. "He's doing better. Since he threw a fit when he found out we had a pup on the way, he's been rather passive."
"Or depressed." I tossed the report across the beta's desk. "Have you even read it?"
"Nope." He scribbled something now. "I could go with a really tough name, like Brutus. Or I could honor the founder and name him Jet. I'm worried his years left are running low."
"I'm thinking the alpha would want to name his son after the founding alpha."
Axil scoffed at the comment. "He's my grandfather, too. So fuck Judah. I don't even think he wants to have another pup, anyway. His mate is too busy with overseeing the defense department to take a break to go through a pregnancy and then have to take care of a newborn."
"She's a woman on a mission. I wish my beta was the same." I tapped a claw on the booklet.
"I'll read it later."
I watched him type in 'tough baby for boys names' into his tablet.
"Oh, how about Flash." Axil grinned. "A flash of red."
"Please don't set the kid up to be bullied throughout school. Even a future alpha isn't born with the strength of one."
"I'm kidding." He scrolled down the list. "What about Lette? He's played as much a part of making this pack as Jet."
I scoffed. "Lette is a sub name."
"Says who? When did a name have a rank," muttered Axil.
"Since the most famous person in this pack with that name is a sub," I replied. "Just go with Jet if you want to name him after someone."
"I like Jet." Axil sunk down in his chair. "But there's no way in hell Jedrek will let me name our son after someone he despises."
"Like I said, maybe you should talk to him about this. It's between you two. My opinion shouldn't matter."
With a sigh, Axil sat up and pulled the report to him. "So there was a medical request that was approved involving you."
"That's between Milo and me. It's kind of what you do when you have a mate. You talk to them."
"Stop being a mopey bitch." He opened the cover. "I get it already. You're sick of hearing me whine about Jedrek. The problem is you know the little fireball and understand why it not that easy to talk to him. I'm just glad he hasn't tried to withhold sex. He liked doing it more than me, so I don't have to worry about him going on strike."
Groaning, I stared out the window. "Who did I piss off to get stuck working for you?"
Axil shrugged. "No one. I just took a likely to you." He ran his finger down his face where I had scars on mine. "I tend to mark the things I like."