Page 389 of Alpha Mates

“Is that a …” Beckett pauses, eyes squinting. “Is that a jaguar?”

“As a matter of fact, it is,” she says proudly while her magic rests the cake down and she joins the rest of us in the line opposite the front door.

“And why do you have a jaguar, Kat?” I ask as I drag myself upright.

“It’s Levi’s birthday gift,” she deadpans and I almost fall back down.

“No,” Aiden and I say together.

“We have a full pack of wolves running around us now because of moi,” she says, referring to the actual wolves she’d adopted like pets when she moved into the pack. It was a joke at first, to help her “fit in,” but then she got attached, and now the pack had real wolves living in it.

“I thought, why not add some spice? So, I got him a jaguar.”

“It’s still a no,” I say, but she ignores me as she pets the animal that would be a pain to get rid of, especially if Levi saw it. Jaguars were his favourite animal.

“Put it back, Kat,” Aiden says from his chair as he tugs his blanket higher so that when Sammy comes, he’d look more like an overweight father than a pregnant man.

“No,” she declares defensively.

“They’re going to be here any min—”

A car door slams outside, and I glare at Kat, who smirks. I try to jump at her, but she levitates up to the ceiling, so I can’t reach her, leaving me growling beneath before the door opens. Kat lands back on her feet just as I turn to face Levi as he enters with Sammy, Amelia, Damon, and Emitt at his sides.

“Surprise!” everyone shouts in unison.

Levi jolts as his eyes bulge and he looks around the decorated house in shock before a shaky smile makes its way onto his face.

“Happy Birthday, Levi,” I say, and my heart floods with joy for my pup, who turns to me and runs straight for me. He hugs me as tightly as he can before doing the same with Aiden.

“For me?” he whispers, looking between us, and we nod.

“All for you, pup,” Aiden replies with a wink.

“My gift first!” Kat declares as she squats beside him. “I got you a jag-”

“A jaguar!” he shouts and I don’t think I’ve ever heard Levi shout.

Screaming, he takes the cub from her hands, staring at it in awe and my shoulders slump. Great, now we’re stuck with it.

“Wow!” Sammy says, joining his side as the two marvel at the creature that’s already rubbing all over Levi.

“I know. I’m the best aunt ever,” Kat says, flipping her hair over her shoulder. I roll my eyes and pick up Peter as he whines.

“Well, are you going to introduce us to your friend?” Aiden says as he tugs the blanket higher.

“Everyone, this is Sammy. Sammy, this is everyone,” Levi says, done, until he spots my frown. “Okay, fine. That’s Aunty Kat, Uncle Beckett and Uncle Emitt. Aunt Isabel, a strange man, and my dads.”

“Hello,” she says brightly, just as confident as ever. “You live far.”

“Yeah,” I say, chuckling before I watch the two dive into their own conversation about the stupid jaguar.

“Damon!” Aiden scolds, stealing my attention as I glance back at my other pup. “Stop pushing the girl down!”

Damon slides his hands behind his back as he blinks innocent eyes at us, as if he didn’t just push Amelia down. Amelia struggles to get up, but once she does, she kicks Damon straight in the shin, sending him falling with a cry of pain while she giggles.

Sometimes I forget they were both devilish together. I was only glad they were best friends rather than enemies like Aiden and me.

The day passes quickly as Levi gets drowned in gifts by everyone except Aiden and me, we’d give him our gift in private. Beckett and Emitt got him a collection of books that he was saving up for, Isabel got him some souvenirs from her latest adventures, and Kat got him a fucking jaguar.