5. Conrad

-Stuck—Thirty Secondsto Mars-

It’s day five of Grace’s heat and she’s damn near feral with the way she is popping out of nowhere and attacking us. I found Barrett laying on his bed flat on his back naked, drenched in sweat. His favorite vibrating cock ring with matching vibrating butt plug still humming away. I creep into his room and gently turn the cock ring off first and remove it. Carefully, I roll him over and pull the butt plug out and shut it off. He awakens for a moment, then rolls over and goes back to sleep. I take both toys and set them in his bathroom sink in soapy water to soak.

With as potent as his scent is, I know Gracie left him recently. I clean up Barrett some, then throw a sheet over him and lock his door when I exit. The house is quiet, too quiet for all the people that live here. Creeping down the hallway, I check the other bedrooms and find Ethan getting out of the shower, so she’s not there. In the next room, Griffin is in the middle of a pile of tangled sheets. It appears that she worked her way from Ethan to Griff, then to Barrett.

Is it wrong to be afraid of my mate? I peek around every corner before stepping fully into a room and I keep my back pressed against the wall. With as much as she’s been attacking us, I have bald spots on my hips and thighs from friction. Thankfully, mom is in the kitchen and she raises a finger to her lips then points to the window seat where Gracie is curled up as her wolf sleeping with her pup.

“How long has she been there?” I whisper, afraid to awaken Grace.

Mom looks over her shoulder and smiles. “About thirty minutes. Her scent has changed since she’s with pup. Her heat officially broke this morning.” A slow, wistful smile crosses mom’s lips as she stares at my mate. “She’s such a wonderful mother. You boys got lucky.” As mom finishes her sentence, Ethan steps into the kitchen and mom hushes him.

“It’s over?” He looks past mom to where Gracie is sleeping.

“Yes, her heat broke this morning.” Mom’s smile is radiant. She knows her sons are safe now.

“So she’s with pup?” Ethan’s voice is softer, gentler than I’ve ever heard except for when he tends to Grace.

“Seems so.” I answer before mom does and Ethan pales and looks around the house in a panic.

“There’s going to be another pup … I need to … I don’t know what I need to do. Griffin will know.” He turns and bolts out of the room and I can hear him blast Griff’s door open. “Wake up, asshole. One of us got Gracie pregnant.”

I almost spit my coffee at hearing Ethan’s nervous tone. The waver in his voice and the change in pitch has me covering my mouth. It’s a bitch to hold my laughter in, but I need to be quiet. Gracie needs her rest more now than before. I take several deep calming breaths before turning to my mom. “What do we need to do next?”

“When she wakes up, spoil the shit out of her. Get her whatever she wants to eat. If she’s uncomfortable, make her comfortable no matter how uncomfortable you are. You think her aggression had a hair trigger before? A pregnant she wolf is damn near feral.” Mom finishes her instructions as Griffin walks in the room.

“I was thinking now may be a good time to bring Nicolai over. Care and worry are his jam.” I mention and look at Ashina as she wakes up hearing everyone.

“I’m not so sure about that Con, she may not react well.” Ethan moves to the fridge and pulls out bacon, eggs, and sausage and starts making breakfast.

“Ashina will have Nina to play with, and that will help her relax.” No sooner do the words leave my lips than Ashina awakens her mother and they both stretch before leaping out of the window box.

Grace shifts and reaches back to the window box and slips on the robe she had there. “Why didn’t anyone wake me up?” Her eyes dart around the room and land on Ethan cooking and she tilts her head to the side, watching him.

“You looked so peaceful and Ashina was comfortable, so we let you two rest.” Griffin offers before moving forward and hugging her gently.

Grace rubs her face and neck all over Griffin’s chest, then bounces up and kisses his cheek. “All of you are so thoughtful. I’m so lucky.” Grace smiles, then moves to Ethan and rubs her face and neck all over him from behind.

A hearty laugh escapes Ethan’s lips and I swear my brother has been replaced by a pod person. Ethan laughing? It has been damn near twenty years since the last time I heard him laugh so freely. Grace hugs him from behind, using him as a human shield against the bacon splatter.

When she’s clung to him enough, she closes the distance between us and repeats the process with me. Leaning down, I rub my face and neck all over her and she smiles. “Can we sit together, Con?” I nod and she leads us to the chair she wants us to sit in. The minute my ass is planted, she climbs into my lap and rests her head on my shoulder.

“Anything you want sweetness, you know that.” I kiss the crown of her head and rest mine gently against hers.

“I heard you guys talking about Nic.” She pauses and draws in a deep breath. “Invite him to breakfast. May as well start blending him into the family.” Ethan approaches with some of the sausages he was cooking and drops the plate close to Grace.

“Eat up Darlin, plenty more where that came from.” I lean back as Ethan leans forward and kisses Grace’s temple.

Griffin makes Grace her coffee and places it near the plate and she shakes her head. “Oof, why does that smell so bad? I don’t want coffee this morning. It doesn’t smell good.” Grace reaches out and pushes the coffee to the other side of the table. She shakes her head, then rubs her nose before returning to the sausages.

Arching a brow, I make eye contact with my brother and we agree it’s the first positive sign besides the scent change we have. Griffin takes the cup away and a slow smile creeps over his lips. Yet another miracle, the broody control freak is smiling. I grab my phone and dial Nic’s number and put it on speaker.

“Hey Conrad, everything okay?” Nicolai’s concerned tone makes Gracie sit up and pay attention.

“Come to breakfast.” She says before stuffing the bacon that Ethan just gave her in her mouth. “Bring Nina…” she says while chewing, and it makes Nicolai laugh.

“Yes Luna, anything you desire.” Nicolai ends the call, and it gives me hope for him.

“There, everyone can be happy now.” Gracie says as she hums a song to herself as she eats.

Slowly I thread my fingers through her hair, watching each magenta strand fall. There’s something hypnotizing about watching it. I find myself starting to massage the back of her neck and she melts against me, slowly munching on her bacon.

“That feels divine Con, thank you.” She exhales slowly and snuggles in closer to me.

The click of the door draws her attention for several moments, then she goes back to eating. Nicolai and Nina arrive, and Nina promptly starts playing with Ashina on the floor. “Good morning everyone.” Nicolai carries a box over and by its scent I know it’s donuts.

“I brought you a snack, Grace.” He opens the box and shows it to her.

“Ooh yummy. I love boston creme donuts.” I take note that in the box there are four types of donuts, three of each flavor. Well played Nicolai.

“The kind lady at the donut shop told me the flavors you usually buy, so I bought them all.” He then walks around offering each of us a donut before sitting at the table with us. When Nicolai sits at the table, he smiles. “Thank you for inviting me over.”

Grace nods and goes back to eating. “There’s one thing that I’ve been pondering and maybe sweetness you can answer it for me. When Ethan and I took you to the pond, did you see Nic?” Grace stops eating and slips off my lap to pace between all of us. Thankfully, all the noise has awakened Barrett, so he doesn’t miss what she’s about to say.

Grace goes and slides herself onto the countertop so that she’s facing all of us. “When I looked into the waters of the pond, I saw each of my mates. Then what role they would play in my life. I saw my near death experience, and Ethan’s wolf biting me.” She pauses, looking down at her hands as she fidgets with the sash of the robe. “Before the vision ended, I saw what looked like shadows standing behind the four of you. I thought they were your shadows, not additional mates. I also saw my wolf. She told me not to be afraid when she comes. All will work out how it is meant to.” Grace’s eyes slowly raise and find mine.

Pain, and what feels like shame, ebbs through the bond. I glance at my brothers and motion for them to let me go to her. Moving from the table over to the counter, and gently spread Grace’s knees and slide between them. I pull her towards me and rest her head on my chest. “You didn’t know. It’s okay. Large bonded families don’t happen often, but they do happen. We will work through this and handle it how you need it handled.” I press my lips to her forehead and stand there in silence. My curiosity gets the better of me and I just have to ask. “How many shadows did you see, Grace?” I rest my cheek on top of her head.

“Only two. The second one was faint compared to the first one. I can only assume the one more visible was Nicolai.” She shrugs her shoulders as she wraps her arms around my waist, holding me tightly.

“If that’s accurate, then there’s possibly one more mate out there somewhere?” Barrett says softly as he hesitantly moves up alongside me.

“Yeah.” Gracie doesn’t sound thrilled about the possibility. “Nic?” Grace calls out.

“Yes Luna?” He moves into her field of vision and smiles at her as he brushes his long hair out of his eyes.

“Can we go to dinner sometime this week? I don’t know what your schedule looks like, so I don’t want to assume you have time.” Grace’s grip on me tightens as she asks her question. With as tense as her muscles are and the change in scent, I believe she’s afraid of rejection.

Nicolai double blinks then pulls out his phone, looking at his calendar. “Thursday or Saturday are clear, whichever works best for you.” He smiles, gripping his phone in his hand. I notice the slight nervous tremble of the phone.

“Plan our date and let my guys know. One of my mates will want to be able to be close to wherever we end up going just in case they are needed. I do still have a psycho bitch and a half crazed rogue alpha baby daddy after me.” Nicolai’s eyebrow shoots up hearing that and glances over at Griffin.

“I’ll fill you in later. Enjoy your time with Grace for now.” Griffin’s tone leave no room for argument.

“I have an idea!” Barrett exclaims. “Grace, let’s take Nicolai for a walk in the gardens you planted. It’s behind the house and everyone will be comfortable with you close by.” Grace looks up and me, and I nod and pat her on her ass, sending her on her way.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to get changed first, then we can go.” Grace kisses my cheek, then Barrett’s. She shocks Nic by kissing his jaw before moving to Ethan and Griffin kissing them, then heading down the hallway to get dressed.

Nicolai’s hand raises up and touches where Grace had kissed him, and he stares after her in shock. “Get used to it. She’s unpredictable.” Ethan states before stepping out the back door towards the garden. I can only assume it’s to make sure there are no surprises lurking in the shadows.

The pond holds secrets in its depths, apparently all is not what it seems at first glance.