11. Jasper

CHAPTER ELEVEN

JASPER

I looked over the paperwork again, sure I was mistaken.

Aria Maloy - Shifter - Alpha Gene

It was so improbable. Not only were Alphas so few and far between, but I had never heard of an alpha being born from a human and shifter pairing. It did seem to be correct, though.

And it meant we'd need to be a bit more vigilant about her. An alpha without a pack would draw unwanted attention from other packs who want to claim her. I needed to let them know, but I didn't want to scare Harper any more than I needed to.

I left the clinic soon after and headed home. When I pulled up, Harper's car was in the drive. I was glad they were already there so I could deliver the news to everyone at once.

It was oddly quiet inside for having a four-year-old in the house. I found them in the living room, Harper lying on Hawthorne, Leo on her.

"Hey, Hun," Leo said, looking away from the TV. "Wanna come watch HGTV with us?"

"HGTV?" I asked skeptically. Sure enough, there were a bunch of people knocking down walls on the screen. "Why?"

"Harper likes it," he said. "And it's fun when she points out what's fake."

"There's no way that last house would have sold for $400,000," she said. "Especially in that area. I would say $250,000 max."

I laughed. "Where's the munchkin?"

"She's taking a nap," Harper said. "She shifted today and was very tired afterward."

I paused. "She shifted. How did it go?"

"Well," Hawthorne said, "she's a natural. She shifted back easily too, better than I've ever seen."

"That's good. I got the results back today, and it was as we suspected, she is a shifter."

"No denying it after today," Leo said.

"No," I agreed. "But there was something else."

Harper's smile dropped as she sat up. "What is it?"

"Aria also carries what we call the alpha gene. It's nothing bad," I quickly clarified. "It means that she's like Hawthorne. She's more in touch with her wolf side than others, and she'll be more dominant."

They all look confused. "So she's meant to lead?" Harper asked.

"Not necessarily, but packs see having many alphas as a positive, since they're considered stronger."

Hawthorne looked thoughtful. "And without a pack, there will be many vying to have her in theirs."

"How would they know?" Harper asked.

"I tested her blood, meaning she's in the database for shifters now. I hid her results for now, but they came in early, so there's a possibility someone could have already seen."

The room went silent. "So what do we do?"

I looked to Hawthorne. We hadn't told Harper about the mating yet, but this may be the time.

"What else do you know about shifters?" I asked Harper.

"Uh, a bit," she said. "I did some research when I started dating you guys and after everything happened with Aria."

"Did you read anything about mates?" Leo asked.

She thought for a moment. "Wolves have mates, right? The person they're meant to be with or something…" She trailed off as she noticed us all staring at her. "You all think I'm your…"

"Mate?" I asked. "We don't think, we know. You are our mate. A mage who passed through told us about some mystical app that could match you to your mate, even with three of us. We didn't believe her either, but it brought us to you, and when we met you, we all knew."

"How did you know?" Harper asked.

"Our wolves could sense it," Hawthorne explained.

"I thought your wolves weren't separate?"

"They aren't, and they're different for everyone," I said. "Mine is more like another sense, like taste or smell. It knows you're mine."

"Me too," Leo jumped in. "I always think of my wolf like my conscience, and it knows you're the one."

She looked to Hawthorne, who had remained silent. "I have to be honest. My wolf and I always felt like one, but since I've met you, it's been different. It does feel like there are two of us. I don't know how to explain it, but what I do know is we both crave you in a way that can only be explained by a mating bond."

Her eyes were watering. "I like you all too. A lot. I just worry about moving too fast."

"And we don't have to," I clarified. "If we decide to move forward and mate, you guys would be a part of our pack. But there's no rush on that."

She took a deep breath. "Good. I do still want to stay, if that's okay."

Leo crawled up her body and planted a kiss on her lips. "Of course it's okay. You can stay forever if you want to."

I laughed. Leo has always taken things too far too fast, but we expected nothing else.

Leo kissed her again, and again, his touch becoming more feverish as his hands moved up her body, to her breasts. As he squeezed them, she gasped. My dick started hardening just watching the two of them, and I could tell Hawthorne wasn't unaffected either.

I walked over until I was right above them and ran my hand up over Leo's plump ass down to his muscular, toned thighs. I gave it a slight smack that made him take in a sharp breath of air.

Leo began kissing down her neck and pushing up her shirt, almost frantic to get to her tits.

When he finally managed to free them, we all growled around her. Her large, round tits hung down heavily, her creamy skin looking good enough to eat.

Leo took the right one in his mouth, and I reached around him to play with the left, rubbing the bud between my fingers.

Harper was so responsive, moaning and wriggling beneath us.

When Leo pulled away, Hawthorne tilted his chin up and kissed him above Harper's head. She watched them, her panting breaths coming out heavy.

Suddenly, I heard the thud of small footsteps coming from upstairs. I froze, as did the other two.

They fell apart, and Harper looked confused as we quickly put her clothes in place and helped her sit up.

A moment later, she seemed to understand when the footsteps became louder and Aria came bounding down the hall.

She came around the corner, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Mom, I'm hungry."

Harper laughed. "I'm sure you are. How about we have a snack?"