Glaring at the phone in his hand, Josiah took in a deep breath and swiped the phone. Lisanna had just called him and they were not on the best of terms, especially after he left home.

“What do you want?” He asked.

Lisanna sighed and said, “I am only phoning you to let you know that your grandfather’s fiftieth birthday passed over the weekend and all he asked for was to see you again. He isn’t looking too well and has been in and out of the hospital. I know how much he meant to you and he was the most affected when you left.”

He removed the phone from his ear and switched the phone off. Chucking it to the side, he sat back down on his chair and returned to the camera where he was filming and smiled, “Sorry for the interruption everyone, I guess it was not as important as I thought.” He looked at the live chat screen and read all the comments, saying that it was okay. 

He smiled and thanked them, then got back to what he was doing, spreading his legs and pleasing himself for all of his viewers.

 

Stopping in front of the school, he climbed out of the car and went to the lawn where he had to wait for his children with the other parents and sat down on the chair, crossing his legs. 

Pulling his phone out, he checked his currency app and smirked. Making money never seemed so easy, especially when he was around people who thought that he was disgusting and strange.

He transferred all the money to his bank account, then started paying his bills when the school bell rang. Josiah looked up to see if his kids were out yet, but they weren’t, so he continued paying his bills until he heard one of his baby’s scream, “Daddy!”

He looked up with a smirk, placed his phone in his bag, and stood up with his arms open. Declan ran into his arms and started whimpering from exhaustion. He complained, “My legs hurt from all the walking. Please carry me.”

Josiah laughed. He looked at the others, who walked over with glares on their faces and plopped down on the grass in front of him.

He sat back down and asked, “So what happened now.”

“She was picking on me again,” his daughter Diana.

Josiah’s gaze flicked over to the school entrance and saw their teacher speaking to one parent there. She could feel his gaze on her and looked at him.

The glare in his eyes made her heart shudder, especially when she saw he got up. He glanced once at his children, who immediately stood up and they followed him to her.

He smiled at her once he stopped and even the other parents were looking at him. “So, what was the problem today?” He asked.

Miss Winter’s gaze flicked to his daughter, then up at him and said, “I do not know what you are talking about.”

Josiah pushed his daughter forward and said, “I didn’t give her a chance to speak yet. So tell me your side of the story, since no one believes a five-year-old.”

Miss Winter swallowed hard and kept her demeanor brave. She looked down at Diana and asked, “So, what do you have to say today?”

Diana lifted her red shirt’s left sleeve and said, “Look daddy, she pinched me today because I was still looking at the wales swimming. And if you don’t believe me, just ask Mason. She pinched him too, and he was crying, then she told him to shut up!”

Mason’s mother was not too far from them because she returned with her son after he told her what happened. She was incredibly convinced when he showed her the bruise on his arm.

She came just in time to slap Miss Winter across the face and kicked her as she yelled, “How dare you lay your hands on our children!”

The security guard came rushing over and stopped Mason’s mother before she could do any more damage. One teacher rushed over too and helped Miss Winter up as she said, “I will immediately report you to the police.”

“Go ahead, you horrible female! I’ll make sure you never step foot near a school again and you better believe I am getting the lawyers involved in this!” she demanded and walked straight into the school and yelled at the principal.

Josiah was right next to her when he said, “Now you know what I was talking about. My children will take leave from school until this mess is sorted out.”

 

“Daddy, you never let us stay out of school,” Damian, his second oldest, spoke.

He took a sip of the milkshake he was sucking on and said, “Miss Winter messing around. Came just in the nick of time. Daddy received a phone call this morning about my grandfather, he isn’t doing too well and I know I told you four that we will never go back there but I really miss him and I am sure once he meets you all, he will be happy again.”

“Does that mean we get to meet daddy, daddy?” Dominic asked.

He sighed, realizing that that was what his children concluded and nodded his head, “Yes, but don’t get too excited. Your father and I aren’t on speaking terms and my life with them is over. There is no guarantee that they will accept us because they did not accept me for being gay.”

His pups frowned together. Tears swam in their eyes.

“Oh now, what is with the floppy woppy faces? I brought you out to eat, so eat up and go play yourselves tired,” he said with a chuckle and continued eating.

The quadruplets exchanged a conversation within the mind-link, cheering each other up then started eating.

He watched as the children ran around like crazy in the play area and smirked when the other customers started complaining about them, but this was a family friendly place and the owner loved his pups. He wasn’t going to chase away a regular customer.

He looked down at his phone and started reading through the comments of his latest video and couldn’t help but smirk. All these perverts that were paying his bills were greedy and just wanted more of him. If it weren’t for the mask that he wore during the videos, he wouldn’t dare show his face around his parents, not to mention they might have even found him in case someone was watching his videos.

 

Putting them to bed that evening, he kissed them on the lips then went to his studio and created more content for the days that he would be gone.

Going to bed that night, Josiah couldn’t fall asleep as all the memories flooded in, those painful memories that made him cry endlessly and wish that he never existed, but now, he wouldn’t change what happened to him for the world. He had his four pups that he would go to hell and back for.

 

Six years, two months ago…

 

It happened two nights after his fifteenth birthday. 

Josiah was placing painted smooth rocks around each tree in a circle, lining it up, when he suddenly caught a scent that he loved so much.

He stood straight as he blushed and turned around to face Daniel. Daniel was only wearing silver basketball shorts, leaving his abs on full display.

He bowed his head, greeting, “Good afternoon, alpha.”

Daniel rolled his eyes and lay down on the grass between the trees and said, “My brother is the alpha, not me.”

Josiah stood there, confused, but said nothing. Daniel was the third son and the favourite, spoilt and a bastard when he wanted to be. But why was he here? Thought Josiah.

He nodded his head and unpacked the stones from his basket and moved onto packing them under the next tree. Daniel watched him do this, then picked up one stone that was already laid out and looked at it. 

The stone was covered in yellow acrylic paint with a pink flower painted on it and said, “You do pretty useless things with your money.”

Josiah glared at him and said, “And so do you, but do you hear me complaining?”

Daniel smirked at his response and placed it down, laying on his side. He rested his head on his left arm and watched him for a bit. 

“So, why do you watch me?” He asked.

“Because I love you!” He hissed, then froze and cursed. He thought Daniel said something slick. That’s why he answered, but if only I had thought he wished.

They stared at each other in a moment of confusion, but immediately when Josiah collected himself, he lied, “Sorry, that’s not what I meant. I just wish that I could be strong like you and the others, but that's too much to ask since I am an omega.”

Daniel sat up, crossing his legs, asking, “So you don’t love me?”

Josiah seemed to be in a dilemma. He couldn’t say no because that would offend the alpha and now he was stuck. Fiddling around with the rocks in his hand, he sighed, saying, “I do like you.up,”

Daniel grinned, saying, “You didn’t have to tell me. I already knew that. You were lurking around me and only someone dumb wouldn’t see that you are interested in me.”

He had nothing to say and continued placing the rocks down. When he was done, he stood up and was about to leave when Daniel said, “So go on a date with me.”

“What?” He said confused. Staring at Daniel, he could see that he was serious and said, “You’re not even gay.”

“But we are both single and it’s not like I care if you are male or female,” he said.

Josiah didn’t know what to say. On one hand, he was happy and on the other he was worried that this was a prank, but would he go this far to ruin his reputation in the pack?

Daniel stepped forward when he saw that his mind was elsewhere and placed a finger on his nose. Josiah looked into his eyes, wondering when did he get so close to him.

“So what do you say?” Daniel asked in a seductive voice.

He nodded his head nervously, earning a smile from Daniel.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow after school, okay? Let’s go watch a movie together,” Daniel said and walked away, not waiting for an answer from him.

When Daniel was out of sight, he jumped for joy and squealed, and continued placing everything down. 

When he was done, he ran to find Lisanna in their usual spot, but found her making out with Daniel’s cousin, Lincoln. He sighed and walked away, back to the packhouse, and started painting again until it was time for dinner.

At the dinner table, he was completely ignored by his so-called best friend and even Daniel, who wouldn’t look his way.

He ate his dinner in peace, then did his dishes then went up to wash himself, then to bed. The next day at school too, it all felt like he had imagined it all.

The day went slowly by and when it was lunch, Daniel told him to not forget about the movie and that he could not take him there. Josiah started getting suspicious, thinking that Daniel didn’t want to be seen with him and it was true.

When he arrived at the cinema, he saw Daniel dressed in all black, not wearing what he had on at school earlier on. Walking up to him, he greeted, “Hi.”

Daniel smirked, “Hi, took you long enough.”

He rolled his eyes and walked towards the counter, asking, “What are we going to watch?”

“Me in my prime? I already bought the tickets. Let's go buy the snacks,” he said, dragging him off in the other direction.

Josiah looked at their hands and couldn’t help but blush under his milk chocolate skin. They stopped at the counter and just as Daniel was going to order the popcorn he said, “Get me the jelly beans and colourful chocolates. I don’t care about the popcorn and anything else.”

“Damn, well you’re going to get fat,” Daniel scoffed and ordered just that. They went to sit in their seats and before the movie started, Daniel asked, “Can we keep this between us for now?”

As days went by, Daniel became more interested in him, but they had to keep their relationship hidden. He couldn’t speak to him, but Daniel was always sending him messages through the pack link. Sometimes he would have to shut the link down, all because he became annoying.

The night of his sixteenth birthday, a year later, they were out in the woods going for a walk and watched the moon shine high in the sky. Things took a drastic turn. He was high on cloud in love and they did the unthinkable, losing their virginities to one another, but that was what Josiah thought he knew.

He went home late that night but luckily it was over the weekend, but everything went downhill the moment he opened his eyes the next morning.

He woke up, got dressed and was ready to help his siblings with the chores, but when he stepped into the kitchen, the newspaper in his father's hand dropped onto the table and he stood up. He stalked over to Josiah and slapped him across the face and yelled, “WHo did you sleep with last night!”

Cupping his face with wide eyes, he looked up at his father, frightened. It had already been bad that he was born an omega, gay and now his father knew, but how? Right. A wolf’s nose could smell anything.

He stood up with shaky legs and refused to look at his father.

“I asked you a question, Josiah,” he said.

He wondered if he should lie, especially when he promised Daniel that they would keep their relationship a secret. He looked at his father and said, “A human from my school, but it meant nothing, dad I swear.”

“It meant nothing?” His father repeated and the next thing he knew, his father shifted into his wolf, grabbed him by the shoulder and flung him across the family room into the wall unit.

Just as Arthur was getting ready to charge at his son again, Julianna, his mother, shifted and attacked her husband.

Josiah didn’t wait to see what would happen, especially after he heard his mother's wolf whimper, then saw his brother and sister fly into the room and tried to stop their father too.

Josiah rushed to his grandfather's house in unbearable pain. He ran as fast as his feet could take him, afraid that his father would be at his heels soon.

He suddenly heard a giggle behind a boulder, followed by Daniel’s voice. He stopped in his tracks with the worry of his father chasing behind him disappearing.

He walked up to them not even bothering to mask his scent, and immediately paled when he came around the boulder. Daniel had his pants down while the girl he was with, a human, was on her knees with his manhood in her mouth.

Daniel was so relaxed that when he saw Josiah he didn’t jump to defend himself but the blood sliding down his shoulder and head that he grew worried. 

Michael came flying past them in his wolf, but stopped when he smelled blood. He shifted back when he saw Josiah who quickly rushed into his arms and started crying.

Soon many gathered around them, including the Alpha, Daniel’s father Daxton, who was alerted that one of his best warriors was going crazy.

Even before they reached the house, the smell of blood attracted him and to find his son there with a human, doing the unthinkable (since they could smell what was in her mouth) They picked up the scent of what was still swirling around inside Josiah’s forbidden walls.

Daxton grabbed his son by the neck, putting two and two together, then dragged him off to Josiah’s home to get the full explanation, but Josiah didn’t want to go back there.

Jasmine took him back home while Michael went to sort his son-in-law out for harming Josiah.

Daniel came clean under his father's threats about the two of them and what they had been up to over the past year. Arthur was glad that it was Daniel and went to Josiah to apologise for how he had behaved, but Josiah was scared shitless by his father that he didn’t even want to be in the same breathing space as him.

 

When morning came, he had made up his mind about forgetting everything and leaving here, especially now that everyone was talking about him.

He went home to fetch his things, a bankcard included with just enough clothes that he wouldn’t be caught with and went to school with everyone.

Attending classes that day was both embarrassing and painful for him, especially when he was constantly glared at by Daniel who was being teased too.

 

He excused himself for the toilets, went to get his things out of his locker and jumped the fence. Jumping on the bus that was just in time to pick up the little children from school, he climbed in and didn’t look back.

 

What happened at the pack and school after they found out that he left he didn’t care for? The stupid crush that turned real but crushed his heart could die too, but he would miss his grandparents.

The bus came to a stop, and he did not even know where to start. The hardest part was to leave the pack now. He needed a place to stay, but before that, food!

 

An hour after stuffing his face with pancakes and strawberry milkshake, he had searched up inexpensive places to stay and found one not too far from where he was, but it was so creepy! Counting the last of his money, he wondered what he was going to do next when a naked female popped up onto his screen thanks to a shitty ad, but that's when he got the idea. Why not do and wear what he wanted? He could be openly gay now and hopefully find a man who would love him for who he was, but he had to be a wolf too. It would be even better if he could meet his mate.

Going to sleep that night, he tossed and turned, especially when he just wanted to check his phone, but he broke the sim card.

Connecting to the Wi-Fi of the motel, he went onto the pornsite trying to forget about his problems. Maybe he’d see something he liked, and he did. 

He was able to make a user account with the name “Strawberry.”

But reality hit him pretty hard after a month of living his secret life.

 

The quadruplets glared at their father as he introduced the old nanny. They arrived at the hotel after a long flight and were looking forward to going to the place where their father grew up.

Josiah smirked down at them and said, “Now I want you all to behave and do not, under any circumstances, switch, okay?”

They looked away and mumbled, “Yes daddy.”

“And when I return, I will bring you all something nice to eat and tomorrow morning, we’ll go watch a movie,” he said.

“And eat lots of candy?” Diana squeezed in.

Josiah raised a brow and nodded. “Fine. I will see you all later,” he said, giving them each a kiss ending on Declan. 

He already had tears in his eyes and said, “I don’t want you to go alone to a place you don’t like.”

“Oh my baby,” he said and pulled him in for a hug. Kissing his temple, he said, “I will be back in no time, my love, okay?”

Silver Forest Pack

Daniel Rallison, the third son of the Alpha family was going through the last file of the packs, finances and sighed it off. Closing it, he stood up and stretched his limbs.

His brother, the Alpha, Darren, looked at him and asked, “Off to party?”

Daniel nodded his, “Always.”

After taking a shower, he went for a run, then made his way to his best friend's place on packlands.

At the gate, Josiah pulled up in a green rented car. He looked out of the window at the warrior, who was cautiously looking at him, and said, “This place is forbidden to outsiders.”

The wolf smell was on Josiah not that he was trying to hide it. He pulled out his old family card and handed it to him as he said, “I’m here to visit my grandfather, Michael Brooks.”

He took the card from Josiah and looked at it. He mind-linked with Alpha Darren and he was shocked too. The identity number matched up with one of the pack members and he was let in, but first he needed to go to Alpha Darren’s office.

He was annoyed, but whatever. Alpha Darren came out to meet him by the front door and when he stepped out of the car, the faint familiar scent he was surprised to see who it was because his name was not familiar at all.

Josiah climbed out of the car wearing red tracksuit pants with a white crop top. He had a silver chain around his neck with four paw prints in the centre, hanging from it with names engraved on them.

Josiah looked at him and smiled, “Hi there.”

“Where have you been hiding?” Darren asked.

“Around,” Josiah said.

Darren nodded his head, confused, and said, “Okay, sure. You can go visit your grandfather.”

“Thanks,” he answered and climbed back into the car. Darren looked at the back of the car, confused, and could clearly remember what had happened in the past. Before he even made it to the house, a huge grey wolf jumped in front of the car, making it immediately stop.

He climbed out of the car and said, “Do you mind?”

The wolf shifted back to its human and Josiah stared, horrified as he looked at Daniel. Daniel too, couldn’t believe who he was staring at. 

Josiah’s hand moved up to his nose and rubbed it. He tried his best to ignore the smell and said, “You are in my way.”

Daniel just couldn’t believe it. He was having a good time and when he smelled the scent of his mate; he was so happy and came running to find her, but here Josiah stood. Someone from the past he messed with and tried to forget.

He walked up to him and asked softly, even though it wouldn’t help with all the wolves gathering around, “Am I imagining it?”

“Imagining what?” He asked.

“You’re my mate,” Daniel said.

Josiah laughed out loud and shook his head. “Over my dead body,” he scoffed and climbed into his car. He started it up and just as he switched gears, he was sprayed with something. He turned to look at Daniel, who was outside the window, and watched as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, with the blood still gushing out of his mouth.

The pack members who were gathering around shuddered and immediately rushed to his side while Josiah ignored the entire scene and made his way to his grandfather's house.

Since he was covered in blood, he had to change his clothes, then walked up to the door and knocked. Inside the house, they could smell that there was someone unfamiliar there.

His grandmother opened the door and went pale when she saw him. 

“Hi grandma,” he said.

She took a moment to collect herself and teared up. Opening her arms, she hugged him. “Josiah, where have you been?” She wailed.

His grandfather quickly got up from his recliner and rushed to the door. He looked at Josiah, who had tears in his eyes and couldn’t believe it. 

“Well, don’t just stand there. Come in here and give me a hug too,” he said.

He went in and jumped on his grandfather. Not even seconds later and they were both crying.

“I missed you so much, grandpa,” Josiah cried.

Michael rubbed his hand up and down his back, comforting him while he walked him back to the family room and sat down with him on his lap. Michael cupped his cheeks and looked at his grandchild, who had grown so much, and said, “I missed you too. Who told you to run away from home?”

“No one,” he answered.

Jasmine sat down opposite them and looked at him, saying, “How have you been? If you told me you were coming over, I would have made peach cobbler, just the way you like it.”

He wiped away his tears, saying, “You can still make it. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and the elders could smell that it was the alpha family elders.

Michael got up and went to open it. “How can I help you Dennis?” He asked Daniel’s grandfather.

Dennis looked at him, then looked inside of the house and said, “Where is he?”

Michael looked back into the house and thought that it had something to do with the past and asked, “Who?”

“Your grandson that just arrived. He’s Daniel’s mate and rejected him in front of everyone. We rushed him to the clinic and they are busy operating on as we speak.” He answered.

Michael turned to look at Josiah, surprised, and saw that he could not be bothered with their problems. Michael recalled what happened that led his grandson to run away from home in the first place and turned to him and said, “Please leave. You know what has happened in the past and whatever you want to say or do won’t make anyone's situation right.”

“Michael, you know what a mate means,” he said.

“And you know what happened to my grandson, now if you will excuse us, we have some catching up to do,” Michael said and closed the door.

He turned to Josiah, who sat back down and asked, “Are you two mates?”

He looked at his nails unbothered, then placed his hair behind his ear that was tickling it, “It seems so.”

“And you rejected him?” Jasmine asked.

“Pretty much,” he answered, ignoring the pain he felt in his heart. “Daniel is not my problem. He never was and never will be.”

He slapped his hands on his thighs and said, surprised, “I thought you were dying. That bitch lied to me!”

“Who?” They questioned.

“Lisanna, she said you were upset and dying that's why I came, even the children were worried when I…” He started and stopped when his children came up.

Michael wasn’t stupid nor was his wife slow, “What children?”

“Well. . .” He explained his situation to them and they had nothing to say. Jasmine was so proud of him for making it this far and said, “And I am not surprised that you rejected him. I would too!”

“This actually explains why he was so sick after you left,” Michael suddenly said with a grave expression.

Josiah’s brows flew up in confusion, and then he snickered. At least he wasn’t the only one going through so much shit back then.

“But the kids, they want to meet him,” he said sadly.

“All children what to get to know their other parent,” Michael said.

“But what significance will it make? I want nothing to do with him,” he said.

“Happiness? Love? Your father may have despised your gender and what you liked, but he never stopped loving you and when you left, he felt miserable till today,” Michael said.

Josiah sighed, pulling his legs up and hugging them. He said, “I missed everyone and my place here but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I have a job, four kids that will love me endlessly and a life that I’ve built for myself and them. I can’t just suddenly change and pretend nothing happened. The scars are still there, and how would my life have been if I stayed behind? It’s not like Daniel would have accepted me especially when here, he was ready to be with someone else the next day and what about me? Should I have just left it all to be with him and forget that he was a bastard?”

“All what if’s,” Jasmine said and went to the kitchen, “I’m going to bake my grandkids a cake. What do they like?”

“Well, that’s a shit load of work. Dianna likes vanilla, Damian likes orange cake, Dominic likes chocolate cake and Declan likes everything but mostly like myself, he eats carrot cake.”

“Okay, I’ll make a bunch of cupcakes and a cake for you, is that okay dear?” Jasmine asked.

Josiah laughed and nodded, “You are not wasting any time in fattening me up.”

Michael stood up and said, “Let me get a few things. I want to go shopping with them too.”

Josiah shook his head, amused at his grandparents. They only knew how to spoil him and now it seemed like his kids were their next target. He pulled out his phone and went through what he needed to pay and how much, then went to his account on the site and saw that his balance was skyrocketing again. 

He shook his head, hiding his happiness, and withdrew all the money.

A few hours later, the house smelled great, but then he got a phone call from the nanny.

“Hello?” He answered.

“Hi, Mr Brooks? I received an urgent call from my sister, and my mother was rushed to hospital. Would you be able to come home sooner?” She said.

His hand clenched into a fist. He needed time away from his children, and this woman was there for this specific reason. Sighing, he said, “All right, I will be there in twenty minutes.”

Ending the phone call, he got up and called out, “I have to go. The babysitter had an emergency back home.”

Jasmine popped her head out of the kitchen door, “Okay baby, just let me put these in the container for you. I am glad I finished it on time.”

Michael looked over at him and asked, “Would it be okay if we went with?”

He shook his head. “I don’t mind, but I want to be alone. Being back here and running into Daniel brought back so much that I hoped to forget. Even before today, I knew we were mates when I found out I was pregnant or how else would I have fallen pregnant?”

He sighed as he felt himself tear up and said, “I’ll be back tomorrow. If they want you to go over, I will let you know.”

“Aren’t you going to see your parents, too?” Michael asked, as Josiah wiped his tears away.

He shook his head. “I have nothing to say to them.”

“Enough of this. Just go to your children and sleep on it and you better bring my babies so I can feed them tomorrow. Hotel food is not good for growing kids.” Jasmine said, handing him the containers.

*

After relieving the nanny, the children went crazy, especially after eating all the cupcakes. The hotel room was a mess and Josiah’s mind was even crazier. 

He sat down on the couch after settling the kids in bed, dinner and all, and cleaned himself. He grabbed a pillow and screamed into it, then burst into tears. A few minutes later, he heard a knock on the door and called out that he was coming, but then he smelled it was Daniel.

He stomped his foot in frustration and quickly wiped away his tears. Answering the door, Daniel was surprised to see that his eyes were red. “Can I come in?” He asked.

Josiah let him in and almost immediately the scent of the pups was smelled. He turned to Josiah, who closed the door and asked, “Who?”

“What do you want?” He cut him off.

“You can’t do this to us. Rejecting me is only hurting you too, and I almost died today,” Daniel said.

“So what? I should just accept you then?” He asked.

“Give me another chance to make up for what I did in the past. I was just a fucking kid who thought he could do whatever he wanted.” He said.

Josiah went to sit down on the couch wiping his tears away and said, “I do not want to give you a chance. You didn’t have to go through what I went through and when I thought I could count on you, but I found you sneaking around with your dick in someone's mouth.”

Daniel sat down in front of him and said, “Josiah, I know you don’t want to admit to it, but you feel the mate pull. If I really had a problem with having another man as my mate, I would have never dated you back then. Yes, we had a secret relationship, but that is because I was a coward. You are the only one who was truly brave enough to be yourself in front of everyone. Fuck, if I could go back in time, I would. After you left, I missed the feeling of having you around and even tried finding a replacement, but all those guys I went out with couldn’t compare to the love you showed me.”

He cupped Josiah’s face continuing, “I know you won’t believe me, especially with the reputation that I have. You were the first person I slept with and when I woke up the next day, I didn’t want to admit that I enjoyed it. That’s why I tried to . . .”

“Just stop,” Josiah said, and moved his hands. He looked into Daniel’s eyes and said, “I didn’t come here to rekindle with my mate. Yes, I’ve known we were mates for five and a half years now.”

“What?” Daniel said.

Josiah nodded his head. He let his tears fall and explained, “I fell pregnant.”

Daniel’s gaze unfocussed as he processed it. His mind picked up on the scent in the air and turned his head in that direction. Four very faint snores could be heard.

“I wasn’t trying to keep them from you. It's just that I was never planning to come home,” he explained.

Daniel bit his bottom lip to prevent it from trembling and asked, “So they don’t know about me?”

He shook his head, “They know you exist and that you and my family put me through so much that it forced me to leave.”

“How can you head.be so selfish?” He asked.

“What did you expect? For me to pretend that you were a nice guy? You ignored me eighty percent of the time, even though I loved you so much. You never put an ounce forward to building our relationship. I was always the one who reminded you I exist.” He said and started crying again.

“Jo . . .”

“You don’t know what I have been through to raise myself and be a teenage parent. I couldn’t even go to the clinic, I had to see to myself. Make money, give birth alone, and I swear, if I wasn’t a werewolf, I wouldn’t have had the strength to go through all of that.” 

“No one said you should leave!” Daniel gritted.

“Daddy?” Declan suddenly called.

Both of them turned to him and Daniel could see that Declan favoured Josiah in skin complexion and hair, but he had his eyes.

Josiah quickly wiped his tears away and stood up. Walking towards him, he asked, “Did we wake you?”

Declan nodded his head as he was picked up and looked at the man on the couch. He stared at Daniel and mumbled, “Who is he?”

Josiah didn’t answer his question and just took him in. He placed Declan in bed and tucked him in. Kissing him on the forehead, he said, “Sleep, I’ll try to be quiet okay?”

Declan frowned but nodded his head, “Good night daddy.”

“Sleep well, my baby,” he said and waited until he fell asleep.

Returning to the family room, he saw Daniel was going through the books on the table that the pups drew in. He looked up when Josiah walked in and asked, “Why didn’t you tell him who I am?”

He ignored the question and went to the kitchen, where he cut himself a huge slice of carrot cake and started eating while sitting on the barstool. Daniel walked in and smiled when he saw the cake.

“Remember how you used to force carrot cake down my throat?” He asked.

He looked at Daniel and asked, “It’s late. When are you going home?”

“How old are they?” He asked, creeping closer to him.

“Five,” he answered plainly, and kept his eyes on Daniel.

Daniel placed his hand on the back of the barstool and his foot at the bottom. As he nodded and asked, “What are their names?”

“Dominic, Damian, Diana and Declan, in that order, born two minutes after each other,” he said.

Daniel nodded his head as he looked at the cake. Josiah couldn’t tell what he was thinking and asked, “Any more questions?”

“Will you introduce them to me?” He asked.

“You don’t seem like you want to leave,” he answered instead.

Daniel chuckled, then went to sit down on the couch. Josiah stared at him for a moment, then asked, “How are you feeling?”

Daniel raised a brow as he looked at him and thought to what happened earlier, “I wasn’t feeling great until just now, after seeing him.”

“Declan, is his name,” he said.

“D, d, d. Why did you name them with D’s?” He asked.

“After you? I thought I should keep it in tradition,” Josiah answered as he walked over with his cake.

“I thought you disliked me?” He asked, confused.

“How can I dislike you when my children look like you?” Josiah asked, and laughed. “You hurt me in the past, but I would have never moved on if I kept that hatred in my heart. After all, how will I love my children?”

 

The pups woke up early the next morning because of the delicious smell in the air. Josiah couldn’t sleep last night because he and Daniel were up talking about the children and how his life was and yes, he told him about the porn site.

Daniel wasn’t happy about his mate doing that but he couldn’t stop him. 

He was making a huge breakfast this time, to include Daniel. One by one, the pups came in and froze when they saw the stranger on the couch. Daniel slowly stood up and smiled awkwardly at them, especially when Damian and Dominic were baring their teeth at him.

Josiah clapped his hands together and said, “All right, then. My babies, this is your daddy, the one I told you about.”

Their eyes trained on him, and they didn’t know what to do.

Looking at them, he said, “I know this is too soon and I know I told you we wouldn’t be seeing him, but now you are. Just think of this as a new beginning to the new year. I’ve forgiven your father for what he did and we have decided to co-parent.”

“Does that mean we will be living with both of you?” Dominic asked but he shook his head, “No, we’ll all move this side especially because your teacher doesn’t like you but I won’t be staying with the other wolves.”

Declan pouted, saying, “I want to stay with you, daddy.”

Josiah smiled and nodded his head. Kneeling down, he hugged his son and said, “I know and you will, my love. It’s almost the holidays, so you’ll start school next term here for now. You’ll meet your grandparents, the pack members, and run around in your wolf form.”

The older siblings' eyes brightened, “We can?” Asked Diana.

“Yes, you can,” answered Daniel with a smile.

They grew excited and started running around, Declan included. Josiah shook his head, amused, and looked at Daniel, who held a weak smile. He walked over to him and sat down, saying, “Breakfast is ready.”

Daniel took Josiah’s hand in his and said, “Thank you for doing this. I know I can’t make up for hurting you but this… the children, it's the greatest gift anyone could give me.”

Josiah pulled his hand away and said, “Don’t get too comfortable. They are a handful. I need a break and to make more money.”

“You don’t need to do that anymore. I have money,” he said.

Josiah scoffed and got up. Walking away, he said, “That is not up for discussion. Go calm your kids down!”