Once Sera had closed her bedroom door I had let out the growl I was hold back. Desmond rolled his eyes in annoyance knowing damn well that I was foaming.

Correction, I was more than foaming I was on the brink of seeing red and unleashing my wolf.

He kissed her. My little fucking brother kissed her, my mate. My skin reddened, my eyes dilated, and my canines itched my gums as he begged to be released.

I slammed my office door behind me caring little of the loud noise it made.

The office door opened as I rounded my desk. Looking up I watched as Desmond entered shutting the door soundlessly behind him. Turning around to looked at me exasperated.

"Couldn't hold the door for me?"

"Shut the fuck up Des." I swatted the stapler and paper weight off my desk. "You don't get to joke and be sarcastic. What the fuck was that?" I pointed in the general direction of the kitchen.

Desmond crossed his arms looking out the window. "That was your mate mistakenly kissing me believing me to be her mate, and then she accidentally slash not accidentally admitting to you her true mate that she doesn't know is her mate, that she kissed the man she was told is her mate that is in fact not her mate but her mate's fucking brother!"

"We had an agreement, Des."

He scoffed pinching the bridge of his nose. "No shit but I can't control what she does. I can only control myself."

"So then why'd you let her kiss you?" I shouted.

"I didn't. Are you stupid?" I growled at his accusation. "Your really going to sit there and act like I went out of my way to kiss your mate? And here I thought I was the brother with no brains."

He moved closer to the desk plopping himself down on one of the chairs. "She doesn't know you're her mate and she practically human Osiris don't forge that. She only acted like she normally would if I were her mate, you can't blame me or her for that. That's all on you."

"So this is my fault."

Desmond clapped his hands together as he stood up with a beaming smile. "Great! And here I thought you'd never admit your mistake."

I growled at his sarcastic comment stepping around the desk. I stopped only when I stood in front of him. Usually I would dominate others just simply from my height but Desmond was practically the same height as me, so it did nothing but cause Desmond to smirk.

What I wouldn't do to smack the smug smile off his face.

"The only mistake I made was agreeing with you back at Dark Titan."

"Then why didn't you correct my mistake and told her the truth?" Desmond pointed his finger into my chest.

He wanted me to admit my mistake, he wanted me to fix what still needs fixing. I wasn't about to admit to my faults, not yet anyways. It was too soon and Philip was showing signs of suspicion about Seraphina and Desmond being mates. I didn't entertain his comment on their "relationship", finding it both unbearable for my wolf to acknowledge and not seeing why the information was needed by Philip.

He was a weasel of a man and I wasn't about to give him further information to use at his advantage.

Things were getting complicated and with Philip breathing down my neck my wolf and I both were on edge every moment of every day. I'm sure my pack have noticed, steering clear of me whenever I walked in the room.

Today's training was no different. After the meeting I was heated and I inadvertently took it out at today's training session. The training members from today will without a doubt be sore the next couple of days.

Good, I couldn't have my pack lacking in anyway. I had a mate that was virtually defenseless and a neighboring alpha with borderline psychotic behavior. I couldn't have a worse mix for a disaster.

"You and I both know Des that I can't tell her yet." I explained.

Desmond huffed. "I'm beginning to think you won't ever tell her. If that's the case Osiris then you-"

"I'll tell her, just not yet Desmond." I grabbed fistfuls of hair. "I have things I still need to figure out."

"Then you better figure that shit out now because I'm getting tired playing house with your mate. People are asking me if she's mine and why I haven't marked her if she is mine. It's only a matter of time before she asks me to mark her Osiris." He sighed. "This isn't right to her. Honestly, I thought you would have told her by now, isn't the mate bond begging you to mark her?"

I pursed my lip looking away from him. His question wasn't far from the truth.

My wolf was constantly nagging me to claim her and apologize for being so rude to her. He wanted to make amends with her and live happily ever after, but there was so much he was ignoring. Like the fact that Philip and other alpha's that hate me would without a doubt come after her.

Until I dealt with them there was no reason to put her in such a position.

You never put those that you love in harms way.

It'd be selfish of me to claim her only because I wanted to satisfy my own needs and wants. Dammit, I wanted her more than I wanted the air I breathed. She was the last puzzle piece in and I couldn't have her yet.

The urge to whisk her away was pulling at every fiber of my being. My wolf fought me everyday I walked pass her bedroom door and her honey scent enveloped my nose. My canines itched my gums with the need to claim her when I saw her. It took every ounce of will power not throw her over my shoulder and carry her to my bedroom.

I wanted her in my bed with her sea of blonde curls laying against the bed sheets exhausted after she let me take her over and over again. I wasn't satisfied with inhaling her scent, I wanted to taste her, I wanted her to be covered in my scent from head to toe.

She was mine and seeing her with Desmond tore at the strands of my heart. I had to remind myself that she didn't know.

She didn't know.

Rising my head to face my brother I leaned against the desk. "I'll tell her as soon as I have Philip off my back. Until then she's not my mate."

"I don't see why you can't tell her." Desmond shot back.

"I can't risk her accidently slipping up and letting the truth out." My brother scoffed at my words and I rose an eyebrow.

"You are going to be the only person that is going to accidently let the cat out of the bag. You can't even stay away from her too long before you're seeking her out. She might not have noticed yet, but Aspen, Ivy and I have." He took a large breath. "How long do you think it'll take before Sera notices? A week, a month? She's a bright girl, she's going to catch on sooner or later."

He was right however much I wished that he wasn't.

It was hard not knowing for myself if she was okay and safe. Every morning before she woke up I'd sit against the wall outside her bedroom listening to her soft murmurs in her sleep and taking in as much of her scent as I could.

At first I cared that Desmond and Aspen would catch me sitting there, but as time progressed I cared less and less. They knew who she was to me and the fact that they did let me indulge in Seraphina's scent in peace.

At least I didn't have the need to hide the truth from them.

"Just give me time Desmond. I need time." I walked back around my desk sitting down and opening up a file about Dark Titan pack visitor registrations on my desk. I don't remember pulling this file out I thought skimming through the papers confused.

"I forget to tell you I reached out to Sera's parents. I invited them to see Seraphina for a few days." Desmond shifted his weight from foot to foot peering at the documents.

"Did you already tell Seraphina about this?" I hoped he'd say no but the timid smile on his face told me she knew. "I wished you would have spoken to me first. This wasn't a good idea right now Desmond."

I picked up a document that looked fairly knew and as my eyes scanned over the form I noticed several names on the document.

Vander Lotus, Helen Lotus, Andy Walters

My eyes narrowed as the read the name Vander Lotus once again. The name sounded familiar but I couldn't recall where it was that I heard it before.

"He's the Prince of Darkness, Osiris." Desmond clarified.

I looked over the top of the form my eyebrows lifting up as his words sunk in. My mate's father was none other than the Prince of Darkness. He was an uncanny warrior, one that fought miraculously years ago against rogues that dared to attack Dark Titan.

Rumor was it that he left the battle unscathed and victorious. As the story was told to me, Vander withdrew from his pack's battle units and instead decided to focus on his family. That was all that was heard from him as he turned into a recluse and only his pack heard from him. Many have wanted to meet him and hear how successful he was on the battle field protecting his pack but the man practically hid away from what I knew.

That didn't mean that his name didn't carry weight when mentioned. Practically everyone knew of the Prince of Darkness, I'm just stunned to find out that my mate's father was the notorious legend.

"Is this true?" I asked with skepticism in my voice.

Desmond nodded sitting back down in the chair resting his elbows on his knees. He looked nervously at the form I held. He knew that Vander Lotus was my mate's father and still invited them to our pack.

It wasn't that I wouldn't want to meet the man. It was the fact that I'd have to know lie to my mate's parents and of all people I'd be lying to one if not the most prolific warrior. If her father found out what we were to each other before they returned back to Dark Titan I was sure hell would break loss.

Just another terrible possibility to happen. It was something else to add to the list of terrible outcomes.

"When did you tell them to arrive?" I questioned needed to know how much time I had before I met Vander.

They'd have to stay out our cabin as I didn't need anyone muttering more information about Desmond and Seraphina than we already would have to lie to them.

"Most likely in a day or two. Once the snow storm passes I told them they could visit."

I nodded as my palms grew clammy as I placed the paper down on the desk. Before I signed the form of visitation approval the last name on the list caught my eye. I furrowed my brows not recognizing the name.

"Who's Andy?"

Desmond shrugged. "I'm not really sure. When I reached out to the Lotus, Sera's mother mentioned to me that he's one of Sera's close friends. He's a human."

I squinted my eyes at the name hating the boy before I had even met him. He was her friend I reminded myself, a friend, just a friend. There was no need to get hostile but suppressing that urge was harder said than done.

My fingertips tingled as the nagging feeling of letting them out and sinking them into something grew.

He was human. How did my mate become friends with a human boy?

"Word is it that Philip made some sort of agreement with the human mayor of the town to help conceal his packs supernatural identity. Suburban development started pushing into their territory a couple years ago and instead of moving his pack he made alliances with humans."

It wasn't unheard of for a few humans here and there to know of our existence but to make alliances as huge as what Philip has made is virtually unheard of. Human's out numbered us a thousand to one.

"I'll agree to letting her parents in my territory but I don't see the need to let the human in." I admitted signing off next to Seraphina's parents' names leaving the signature mark bare next to the human's.

"He's only human Oz, I don't think he's much of a threat if at all." Desmond contended tilting his head so his ear was pointed towards my mate's room above us.

My head tilted toward the noise looking up at the ceiling following the movement of the noise. We both could make out the soft padding of her bare feet against the hardwood floor. She was changing, I heard the dresser draw open as she unzipped her jeans. She was humming random melodies as she moved about the room I only blocked out her noises when I heard the click of her lamp.

She should be sleeping in my room, a room that was meant to be ours. The fact that she was sleeping alone left me feeling discontent.

I looked back down to see a smug looking Desmond.

Ignoring his smug grin I tossed the form over the desk to him. "I'm not approving the human." I thought handing him the paper would be a clear indication to him to leave but it wasn't.

"You know for someone who hasn't gotten laid in over a year, your restraint is impressive." Desmond mused leaning into the chair and getting comfortable.

Ignoring his comment I grumbled sifting through other documents. "Take a picture of the document and send it to Philip so he knows."

He crossed his legs folding the paper in his hands. "It must be the most tempting thing, seeing her everyday, smelling her sweet scent-"

"Desmond send him the picture." I repeated keeping my eyes glued to the various forms.

I didn't need him getting in my head anymore than he already was. I already had to fight for myself just to have a few hours of concentration. It didn't help that her bedroom was right over my office and I could hear every conversation that she had and every movement she made.

I swore Desmond put her in that room on purpose just to mess with me. It was already too late to move her elsewhere, she'd herself at home since arriving here in that room. Plus, the only place my wolf would even let me move her to would be our room. For now he was at least satisfied enough that we could listen for her while I completed work.

"Don't you want her to want you? You aren't going to last very long, you might want to get to jer-" He taunted.

My patience broke, releasing a furious growl. "Give me the paper." I snatched the paper out of his hand signing next to the human's name and thrusting the paper into Desmond's chest . He rose his hands in surrender making his way to the exit; an amused smirk still plastered on his face.

"Good boy, I'll message Philip now."

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