Page 391 of Alpha Mates

“Hey,” Jewels calls when he spots me, “can you make sure the twins set the table properly?”

I nod and head for the living room, where the twins race around the dining table. Things are sort of in place, but I’m just relieved that nothing’s broken.

“Dad! Dad! Look, I did it!” Hagen shouts as he abandons a placemat to shake my leg with all his strength. He grins up at me with bright brown eyes. “And I didn’t break anything!”

“I see that, good job!” I say, patting his head while Josey quietly straightens the things he left crooked. He tried to do so much but often failed or was off a little, but Josey was always cleaning up his mistakes before he could see them. “We’re eating soon, so you guys clean yourselves up first.”

They nod and run to their room. The twins were thankfully obedient, just a little more prone to being distracted. All the kids were easy to take care of for the most part. Well, all except Damon, he was always more troublesome.

“Stop right there,” I say when I hear him slip back into the house. I step out of the living room just in time to catch him in his tracks.

“What can your loyal servant do for you today, your highness?” he asks as he folds his arms behind his back and dips low.

“Drop the attitude, kid,” I say with a wave. “We’re eating soon so I want you down in ten. If you behave, maybe I’ll take you out for a hunt after we eat.”

Damon’s entire face lights up. Hunting with everyone else meant game in the woods, but with Levi and Damon, it meant rogues.

“For real?” he asks, and when I nod, he grins with all his teeth. “Thanks, old man,” he says, patting my shoulder before he dashes up the stairs.

“Stop calling me that!” I shout after him, but he’s gone and all that’s left is his laughter echoing after him.

Sighing, I slide my hair back from my face as I look around for the last of the bunch. His scent leads me outside, just in time to spot a glimpse of Caspar running out of the woods, his jet black fur easy to spot in the day.

Closing the front door behind me, I follow the big jaguar out to find his owner. He’s in his usual spot, sitting beneath a large tree in our spot with his sketchbook in his lap. In my eyes, I see the same little warrior who Julian and I saved, but now he’s eighteen. Somehow, the years had just flown by with him, and now that little guy isn’t so little.

“That looks nice,” I say as I creep closer.

Levi glances up, his dark eyes heavy before he drops them again. “Thanks.”

I take a seat beside him and look out at the woods and the rest of the packlands from here. I sit with him in the quiet until he closes his book, and I know he’s ready to talk.

“Spit it out,” I encourage and he sighs.

“I don’t know what to do now,” he murmurs, running his hand through his hair that had straightened out over the years. “I finished high school. I’m eighteen, almost nineteen, with no mate, and I don’t know what I should be doing with my life.”

“I already told you, we’d support you going to college if you want to.”

“But then what happens after that?” he asks, frustration breaking up his stoned expression. “What do I do then?”

“I don’t know, kid,” I reply honestly as I look out at the view of the pack. “I can’t tell you everything that comes next, only that you’ll figure it out when you get there. So go to college with Sammy, do your art out there,” I say as I return my gaze to him. “Or stay in the pack, work your way up in the ranks or join a circus and become a fucking clown, it doesn’t matter.”

Levi laughs, and so do I as I slide a hand over his shoulder. “Do whatever makes you happy and then go from there. You get to decide.”

Levi’s expression turns thoughtful as he nods slowly, letting his lips tilt into a smile.

“Thanks, Dad,” he murmurs and at the sight of his owner’s happiness, Caspar comes racing from the woods to get to Levi, dutifully knocking me over in the process.

I groan as I roll over, spitting out dirt and twigs while the big cat rubs itself under Levi’s chin. “That jaguar is too possessive.”

“He’s loyal,” Levi corrects.

“Loyal my ass,” I grumble as I push myself to my feet. “Come on, you know how your Dad gets when we’re late for lunch.”

That gets Levi up on his feet in no time, and together we make our way back to the house, leaving the crazy cat outside when we slip through the back door.

“Smells good, Peter,” Levi says as we enter the kitchen and find him plating everyone’s food.

“Th-thanks,” he whispers in a barely audible voice.