Chapter 2

"Hey, Sylvie." Alvin smiled down at his youngest sister and picked her up when she held her arms out to him. Sylvie and her twin brother, Slater, shared a room for now, but Alvin knew at some point that would have to change. He considered putting Sylvie in with her sister, Alison, but he wasn't sure. He had time to decide.

Balancing her on his hip, Alvin carried her downstairs so she wouldn't wake her brother up and began making a cup of coffee for himself and milk for Sylvie. Putting her in her chair with its booster seat, Alvin gave her the sippy cup and pulled out items to make breakfast. Glancing at the clock, he realized he'd overslept and decided cereal would have to do today.

Once he had everything ready, he went upstairs, woke Alison up, and scooted her to the bathroom. At eight, she could manage on her own, and while she was in there, Alvin woke Slater. Slater was not a morning child, and his little face crumbled as he was on the verge of tears, but Alvin picked him up and soothed him.

Alison came out of the bathroom and Alvin asked, ‘Did you manage to wash your hands?"

Nodding, Alison yawned, then rubbed her eyes and leaned into Alvin's side. Stroking her hair, he placed a kiss on Slater's head, and holding Alison's hand, led her downstairs.

Once down, Alvin made sure the baby gate was closed, then went into the kitchen. Sylvie had finished her milk and was waving her cup around as Alvin placed Slater in his own chair and helped Alison onto her chair with its little booster seat.

Yawning, Alvin sipped his coffee and sighed as the bitter taste coated his tongue. He needed the nectar of the gods in the morning. He quickly made Slater and Alison's drinks, then put cereal and milk in their plastic dishes. Plastic utensils followed, and he placed Alison's in front of her and sat between Sylvie and Slater to help them eat theirs.

Once they were all done and cleaned, and the floor picked up, Alvin quickly made some toast and shoved a slice in his mouth as he got the kids out of their booster seats.

"Time to brush our teeth and get changed."

Helping all three upstairs, Alvin made sure the upstairs baby gate was shut and herded them all into the bathroom. Washing their faces and brushing their teeth took always took longer than Alvin anticipated and glancing at the clock he knew they would be late if they didn't hurry up.

Fortunately, Alvin had laid their clothes out the night before, so it didn't take long to change the twins' diapers, get them dressed, then help Alison. Once they were all done, Alvin helped them downstairs and into their shoes, then grabbed their bags. He managed to get Sylvie's coat on, and when he turned to grab Slater, he was nowhere to be found.

Groaning, Alvin called his name and searched the living room to only find Slater in his wolf form, his clothes scattered on the floor. As soon as Slater saw him, he squatted and peed on the floor.

"Slater! That was naughty. What have I told you about doing this? Change back to your human form now."

He watched Slater rock back and forth, the change slow but steady, and eventually he sat on the floor in his human floor. The diaper was done for, so Alvin placed it on the puddle Slater had left and quickly put a pull up on and dressed him. Putting Slater's coat on, Alvin quickly cleaned up the mess before checking the time.

"Damn," he muttered. They were going to be late, which meant he would be late for work. Emilio, his boss, understood his situation and didn't mind if Alvin was late by a few minutes, but Alvin hated it.

Making sure they had everything, Alvin led them outside, locked the front door, then headed for their car. He owned a small Ford and somehow managed to cram all three children in the back with their child seats. He couldn't afford anything larger, so it had to do, and once everyone was in, he drove to school.

Sylvie and Slater were in preschool, while Alison was in school. Once he had them all inside, Alvin jogged back to his car and drove to work. Checking the time, he saw he would only be a couple of minutes late. Parking, Alvin jumped out, locked the car, and headed inside.

Emilio saw him and smiled. "Easier morning today?"

"Nope but what's new." Going in the back, Alvin hung his coat up and put his name tag on, then went back outside. "What am I on today?"

Emilio checked his tablet. "Do a general tidy of the shelves for now. We have stock coming in later, so we'll do that when it comes."

Alvin went down the aisles cleaning up, checking the date on stock, and arranging it correctly. His mind wasn't on the job, however; it was on the man he'd found out was his mate. A man who had known he was Alvin's mate for probably years and hadn't said a thing.

It had hurt to find that out. Really hurt. Elliot Young wanted nothing do to with him. Why else keep something that important hidden? No wonder Elliot never came into the shop when Alvin was working. He didn't want to risk Alvin scenting him and realizing who he was.

Mates, especially shifter mates, tended to mate quickly. So, knowing that Elliot had avoided him for years cut Alvin deep. He knew Elliot was older, but that had never bothered Alvin. From the first time he'd seen the older shifter, he'd wanted him, but it was clearly all one sided.

Was it because Alvin had siblings he was raising? Did Elliot not want the responsibility? Elliot had a huge job running Morefield Village security. And now with these creatures, it would only become harder. Alvin would never have known any of this if he hadn't accidentally bumped into him one day.

Elliot must have known Alvin's routine because he had successfully avoided him. But one day, Alvin's routine changed so he could attend a meeting at the school. He literally bumped into him. Once Elliot's scent hit him, Alvin knew. And the look on Elliot's face told Alvin that Elliot had already known.

When Elliot backed away and tried to step past him, Alvin had grabbed his arm to stop him. Elliot shrugged him off, saying, "I don't want a mate."

Undeterred, Alvin asked, "What? We've just met."

Elliot stared at him long and hard. "I've known who you are to me."

Alvin gasped, his eyes going wide. "What? You know?"

"Yeah and we're not going to mate."

"How could you know when we've never met? I've never been near you for you to scent me."

Elliot had the grace to look sheepish, glancing away, a faint blush on his cheek. "I scented you."

"When?" Alvin demanded. He'd just met his mate, and his mate had known and stayed away? What shifter did that?

"It doesn't matter. We're not going to mate so forget about it." Elliot had stormed off, leaving Alvin staring after his retreating figure, his heart beating in his chest. He didn't understand how it could when his chest was tight, making it difficult to breathe. His eyes itched, and Alvin rubbed them and glared at Elliot's back.

He wasn't going to shed one lousy tear for that shifter. Elliot had known who Alvin was and had purposely stayed away. How could he do that? How could he?—

"Alvin? Delivery is here."

Pulled away from his thoughts, Alvin went out back and helped to sort through the new stock. Checking their inventory, he placed it in the correct locations, with the dates in the correct order. The shelves that had low stock Alvin filled.

Stretching, Alvin checked the time and noticed his day was almost over. He only had an hour to go before picking up the kids. Facing the shelf, Alvin tapped his chin, debating what to cook. The twins were going through a fussy stage so he had to find a way to sneak some vegetables into them.

Cheese. Lots of cheese.

It was amazing how cheese helped. Grate some over pasta and veg and he should be able to convince the twins to eat. Alison wasn't as bad. She would eat her veg, but she grumbled as she did, which didn't help when convincing the twins to eat theirs.

Maybe a small treat would help.

Working at the small supermarket meant Alvin received a discount, so he decided to buy a nice pie for dessert. Apple pie and custard. That should do the trick, and he liked it as well.

The door opened, and Alvin turned with a ready smile on his face. One that fell off pretty quickly when he saw who was stood there. He turned and walked down another aisle away from the shifter who refused to accept him. Well fuck you, Elliot Young.

"Alvin."

His deep voice sent shivers down Alvin's spine, and Alvin stiffened before turning to face the older man. "How can I help you?"

Elliot grimaced and ran a hand over his close-cropped blond hair. Those eerie silver eyes tracked Alvin as he straightened. Funny how he and Sax had similar colored eyes; only Elliot's made Alvin suck in a breath. "I came to see you."

"I'm not sure what we have to talk about. You made yourself perfectly clear, and I know about the dangers we face. Thank you for letting me know. Can I help you with anything shopping related?"

"We need to talk."

"Do we? I would have thought we needed to talk a long time ago, but you ran away from that. So no, we don't have anything to talk about now. You lost that right."

"Alvin?" Emilio appeared and glanced between Alvin and Elliot. "Everything okay?"

"Mr. Young needed some help finding the pasta sauce. It's next aisle over." Alvin spun on his heel, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He shrugged him off, growling, "You have no rights to put your hands on me."

"Elliot, what's going on?"

"I came to talk to Alvin."

"It seems he doesn't want to talk to you. If you have nothing to buy, I suggest you leave."

Alvin stood behind Emilio and watched the struggle on Elliot's face. The man was normally much better at hiding his emotions, but Alvin could pick them up as clear as day. Maybe it was because they were mates.

Nodding. Elliot left the shop, and Alvin sagged. "Thank you."

"What's going on between you? I didn't even think you knew each other?"

Licking his lips, Alvin shook his head. "It's nothing. Do you need me for something?"

Emilio watched him for a few seconds, then asked, "Did you see where the baby wipes went? I'm sure we had a delivery of them come in today."

"We did, and I've put them out."

Emilio's eyebrows arched up. "You're on the ball today. Why don't you take off and grab a coffee before you pick the kids up?"

"I still have another hour to go."

"What's the saying? Never look a gift horse in the mouth? Go. Have a free hour to yourself."

Alvin smiled. "Thanks. I could do with some alone time. Are you sure though? I don't want to leave you short staffed."

"Talbert will be in soon, so I won't be short staffed, and I think I can handle this place on my own for an hour." Emilio made a shooing motion with his hands. "Go and enjoy your hour of peace."

Grinning, Alvin thanked Emilio again. An hour to himself? Amazing.