Chapter 23: Twenty

Tobias

'I'm getting real sick of these fucking hunters.' I growled through the mind link to Jax as I tackled yet another hunter to the ground. Two more camps were discovered since I had been released from the hospital. There hadn't been any more attacks yet, but we weren't going to sit around and wait for one either.

'Tell me about it. It's like we get rid of one camp and another one pops up somewhere. How many more can there be?' I internally shrugged as I quickly snapped the neck of the hunter with my teeth, grimacing at the rancid taste of his blood. I sat back on my haunches, and began licking my paws clean while Jax finished off the last hunter.

We still hadn't found any more evidence of who might be betraying the pack, or what other pack is helping the hunters. Any time we find foreign prints, they've covered their scent so we can't track them. It was beginning to drive me crazy. Just looking at all those people I've known since I was little, knowing any one of them could be lying right to my face. After Gill and I discussed our dreams that night in the hospital, my father moved the mandatory curfew back another two hours and doubled the number of patrolling warriors. Training has been more intense, preparing for an upcoming war.

'I already linked someone to come take care of the bodies. Didn't you say you had a video meeting with the council and our ally packs?' I swore and ran to the lake to clean off my fur.

'Yes, my father is probably waiting for me already. Are you going to see Kayla?'  Jax followed shortly behind l, definitely eager to get to his mate.

'Yeah, I'm meeting her pack today. I mean, as her mate. We already knew them before. So I don't know why I'm so damn nervous' I chuckled before jumping into the cold water when we finally reached the bank.

'Just relax, they already love you. We've known them since we were pups.'  He groaned.

'I know, but this is different.'

'I get it. Well, since you're going to be there, you mind talking to Alpha Steele about possibly helping us?' I dunked my head under the water before climbing out. I was just gonna take a shower at the pack house.

'You got it. I'll see you later, I still reek like hunters'  I nodded before closing the link as we both sprinted back to the house.

***

"Gill, I told you, I'm fine. Not a scratch on me!" He huffed and finally stopped inspecting my entire body for injuries.

"Sorry, I'm just worried. You just got out of the hospital and you keep having to run off and fight. I'm just scared they'll hurt you again." We were back in my bedroom, and I had just finished showering and getting ready for the meeting.

"I know, but I'm okay, I promise. If anything happens to me, you'll know right away, okay? I'm not going to keep anything from you." He sighed and nodded, still not completely satisfied. I chuckled and pecked his lips softly.

"I have to go do this meeting now, is Holly on her way?" He nodded.

"So is Andrew. We're gonna have a Disney marathon and gossip about boys and paint our nails!" I rolled my eyes and chuckled.

"Good luck trying to paint Drew's nails." I heard the front door to the apartment open followed by Holly yelling at Andrew for something.  I sighed, still not wanting to leave. I didn't want to suspect anyone I loved, but the reality is, it could be anyone and leaving Gill in the care of anyone but myself made me, and my wolf feel uneasy.

"I'll be okay, Toby. Holly and Drew are both here, and we're in the pack house. Even if something did happen there's literally like a billion other wolves here." I nodded and kissed him again before pulling away and heading toward the front door.

"I love you!" I yelled back as I was leaving, making Holly awe as she sat on the couch.

"I love you too!" Gill replied with a light blush on his cheeks.

"I love you three!" Drew screamed, making me roll my eyes. I shut the door behind me and made my way down to the office.

"Sorry I'm late. Another hunter camp was discovered so Jax and I went to take care of it. He's also going to talk to Alpha Steele while he's visiting Kayla." I said to my father as I opened the large wooden door to his office.

"Another one? How many more of these fucking hunters are there?" He growled. I shrugged.

"That's what Jax and I said. They haven't been attacking though. Is everyone on the line already?" He shook his head.

"I was waiting for you, I knew you wanted to talk to the council alone too." I nodded. I knew I told Gill we'd wait to ask the council about us having kids, but I wanted to know now, so I was prepared. Even if it didn't happen for another decade, I knew it would give both of us peace of mind just knowing what to expect. I also wanted to bring up our dreams, and I didn't want to make Gill upset talking about his mom who may or may not be dead, right in front of him.

My father quickly typed away at his computer as I moved to sit beside him. Soon enough, the screen was filled with a bunch of faces, most of which, I hadn't seen since I was a kid. I recognized Atticus, Viktor, and Hugo from the council right away, but the rest it took me a bit to remember. First was Alpha Drake Matthews of the Hollow Moon pack, located in Oregon. He was about ten years older than me, and had just had his second child with his mate, Sarah. Then there was Alpha Thomas Herring of the Dark Woods pack in Maine, who was just a bit younger than my father. His son, Felix, who was two years younger than me, would take over for his father when it was time. And last but not least, Alpha Wesley Parker of the Moon Stone pack, just on the other side of Washington. He was a year older than me, and didn't have a mate, but due to him being the only heir and the sudden death of his father by hunters, he had to take the position without one. I knew the council was on his ass about it and if he didn't find his mate within the next couple years, the position would go to his beta. There were three packs in Washington, which was actually a lot for such a small state.  Crimson Lake, obviously, Moon Stone, and Steele Ridge, which was Kayla's pack, where her uncle was the alpha.

"Good afternoon, Alphas." Atticus, who was considered the alpha of the council's pack, greeted. "This meeting was called by Alpha Greene of Crimson Lake to discuss security concerns in his territory. Take it away, Alpha." My father cleared his throat before he began speaking.

"Yes, first off, as you can see, my son Tobias is joining me today, as he finally found his mate and will be taking over for me soon." I smiled at the congratulations from the rest of the alphas before giving a polite thank you. "I'll let him take over for a bit, as this has to do with his mate." My father sat back in his chair and let me speak.

"My mate is human, and is male. Yes, I know, I was just as shocked as you." I laughed at their surprised faces. I knew it was a risk revealing that to them, but I was also trying to see if any of them would give anything away, just in case they could be the ones helping the hunters. Besides, Gill was perfect and I didn't want to have to hide him just because he was a guy. Even though I had never had feelings for a boy before meeting Gill, his gender changed absolutely nothing about how I felt about him, nor should it change how anyone else viewed me or our pack.

"Shortly after meeting him, before I had told anyone, my mate was attacked by a hunter in his own home. I killed him right away, and he was alone that time. My father and some warriors discovered and took down a whole camp of them while he was in the hospital recovering, and then when he got out, a warrior, my future beta Ajax, and myself, took down another one. And then just a few weeks ago, I was shot with a homemade silver arrow while with my mate. The pack information was scratched off, so we don't know who shot it, or what pack it came from. And just since getting out of the hospital, we've taken down two more camps. That's actually why I was late today. Ajax and I took down a small camp close to our southern border. Due to fact that the arrow was scratched off, and also the fact that my human mate was attacked by a hunter, before our pairing was public knowledge, we believe our pack is being targeted, and that we may have a traitor among us." The rest of the alphas get tense. "I've received warning of an upcoming war, which is the reason for this meeting. We do not yet know who is behind this, or how many are on their side, but the fact that every time we take down one camp, more pop up, leads me to believe they have a lot. As an ally to each one of you, future alpha of Crimson Lake, and a wolf that just wants to protect his mate, I'm asking for help from all of you in whatever is coming. I know, a vague warning of a war that might not even happen is nothing to go off of, but as soon as we have more information, we'll let you know. I would just like to take precautions. So, alphas. Will you help us?" A low growl from Wesley turns my attention to him.

"Fucking hunters. Of course, Moon Stone will be proud to fight with you when the time comes. These hunters need to be killed off for what they do to our kind." Wesley growled out. I nodded, already knowing he would want to fight after what happened to his father.

"Count us in too. We've always considered the Greene family as our closest friends. We'll be honored to help you." Drake replied.

"We might not be as much of an immediate help being so far away, but we will help in any way we can." Thomas answered, anger in his voice.

"And of course, we already discussed this, but we will be honored to fight with you as well, Tobias." Atticus responded, his brothers nodding along with him. My father smiled and pat me on the back.

"We are very grateful to all of you. I hope you all are well, and I wish we were meeting under better circumstances." He said to the other alphas. "Have any of you, specifically our closer allies, had any trouble?" He continued.

"We caught a group of hunters passing through our land about a month ago. They were headed toward your territory, but I didn't know it was related at the time. If I would have known, I would have captured them instead of killing them to get information. We haven't seen any since then, but we will keep a close eye out." Wesley replied.

"Nothing but the occasional rogue wanting to stir up trouble here. I will let you know though." Drake said. My father nodded, thanking them again, before letting the three alphas sign off, leaving only us and the three council members.

"Alright, I'll leave you guys to it. Tobias, I'll be right outside if you need me. I wanted to discuss something with you when you're done anyway." I nodded as he stood up, giving me a hug.  "I am so proud of you." He said cupping my cheek, giving me a wide smile. I chuckled and smiled back. He left the room and I took his chair.

"Alright, what can we do for you Tobias. How is Gill doing?" Atticus greeted now that I was alone. I couldn't help but widen my smile at the mention of my mate.

"He's doing well, though he's scared with the recent things going on. I'm glad it's not pushing us apart though. That was my biggest worry telling him about our kind, that it would frighten him and he'd become distant." Hugo gave a soft smile before nodding.

"I remember when I told my Mallory about us, she didn't talk to me for almost a week before I finally showed up at her door in tears. We're going on  twenty four years of marriage now, and our boys are all grown up and mated off. Our oldest, Dante, and his mate Elise are expecting my first little grand baby!" He gushed with pride in his voice. You could tell the other two men, his brothers, were also excited for him.

"Congratulations, Hugo. That's very exciting news! No babies for Gill and I yet, though that is part of the reason I wanted to speak with you."

"Of course, what is it?" Viktor spoke this time.

"Well first off, I know last time we spoke, you informed us we could actually produce an heir, and you told us the history of same sex mates. I was hoping now you could tell me more about the...science of it I guess? Gill and I were beyond thrilled we could have biological children together, but he's also very frightened considering he'd be the one carrying our little pups and neither of us know what to expect." Atticus chuckled and nodded.

"Of course, there's a lot of information I'm not totally brushed up on, but we do have several books in our library on the subject. We could mail you some copies for you both to read if you're interested." I nodded.

"That would be great! Thank you so much! I know Gill will be thrilled also."

"Speaking of the little human, where is he? Did he not want to join you?" Viktor asked.

"He might've, but frankly at this point in time, I don't really trust anyone. Any one of those alphas could be behind this whole thing, and I didn't feel comfortable with them seeing him. Also, there's another thing I wanted to talk to you guys about, and I didn't want to make him uncomfortable."

"Go on."

"Well, Gill is adopted. He never met his birth parents, and while I was unconscious after that silver arrow, I had a dream. There was a woman there who looked just like Gill. She said she was his biological mother. She told me why she had to give him away, and then she told me that the Moon Goddess sent her to warn us of an upcoming war. She doesn't know when it's going to happen, or who is responsible, but she said there will be a lot of casualties. When I woke up, I talked to Gill about it, and he said when he was unconscious from his attack, he had almost the same exact dream. He described the same woman claiming to be his mother, who told him the same story of his adoption. I was wondering...does the Goddess ever send people messages? Like warnings? And if she did send Gill's mom, does that mean she's dead?" The three men on the screen seemed shocked to say the least.

"I've only heard of this happening once before." Viktor answered. "To Samuel Locke." My jaw dropped.

"The son of the first gay alphas? I thought their pack was killed off?" Viktor nodded.

"They were. Apart from Samuel. It seems when Alphas Antony and Lionel heard of an upcoming attack, they hid Samuel away. Our great grandfather, who was the council leader at the time didn't learn of the attack until it was too late. He and the rest of the council went to investigate, and they found little Samuel, still hiding in a trunk in his parent's bedroom. He grew up, found his mate, Diana, and rebuilt his pack from the ground up, until one night, he was attacked by a rogue and fell unconscious due to his injuries. The rogue was quickly killed by another pack member and Samuel was taken to the hospital. When he awoke, he told his mate he had a dream that his fathers were sent by the Goddess to warn them of an attack from a neighboring pack. Sure enough, a month later, a pack near them attacked. Apparently the Alpha's parents were a part of the attack against the Locke pack and were killed, so he came seeking revenge."

"And what happened? Did the Locke pack survive?"

"I'm afraid not, and this time there was no heir to save either."

"So if this warning is true...that means Gill's mom is dead?" Viktor sighed.

"Not much is known about warnings from the Goddess, but this is our only recorded proof that it has happened before, so I would assume so." I nodded.

"If you'd like, we can send you information about that as well. Maybe you can find something we overlooked?" Atticus added.

"I would appreciate that, thank you."

"Good, we'll have our assistant prepare the materials for mailing. Is there anything else we can help you with, Tobias?" I shook my head.

"No, thank you all so much for your help. I'm sorry I have so many questions. This is all new to me." I scratched the back of my neck in embarrassment.

"No need to apologize. I can tell you will make an excellent Alpha. Give Gill our best wishes."

"Will do. And I'll let you know if we get any more information." I hung up the call and sat back in the chair l, processing what they had told me.

'I'm done, Dad. You can come back in.'

My father opened the door and sat in the chair across from me.

"How did it go? Did you get the information you needed?"

"Some of it, yeah. What did you need to talk to me about?"

"About your mate." I raised my brow. I could feel my wolf growing defensive.

"What about him?" He cleared his throat and adjusted his posture, clearly looking uncomfortable.

"I know this is none of my business, and trust me, having this conversation with my son is just as uncomfortable for me as it is for you, but I think you should seriously talk to him about mating." My eyes widened and I choked on nothing.

"Dad! We have talked about it!" He shook his head and held his hand up.

"I know, that's not what I meant. I mean like...how the timing... Could be very beneficial?" He sighed and scratched the back of his neck.

I groaned and dropped my head to the desk, ignoring the full pain it caused.

"Dad, I really don't want to talk about having sex with my boyfriend with you."

"I know! Trust me, I don't want to talk about it either. I just mean, as soon as you...mate... you'll be able to use the mind link with him and you can tell if he's hurt when you aren't with him, and he'll also be able to link the rest of the pack. I'm just saying, if you do it soon, it could be beneficial..." I sighed and lifted my head.

"I know, I've thought about that. I just don't want to bring it up to him because I don't want him to think he has to do it to benefit the pack. I want it to be because he wants to do it, when he's ready." My father nods in understanding.

"I know. It's just something to think about." I nodded. Should I bring it up to Gill? Or wait until he's ready?

***

Gill

"What do you mean you've never seen Hercules?!" Holly and Andrew stare at me with wide, accusing eyes.

"Guys, I'm poor. I literally own five movies on DVD. We've been through this." Holly rolled her eyes before turning to Drew.

"Turn it on. I'm still working on your toes." He rolled his eyes, but reached for the remote as Holly continued painting his toenails bright red. I had already done his fingernails lavender, my favorite color.

"So, Andreeeeewww..." Holly said in a teasing tone. He huffed, selecting the movie.

"Hey whaaaaat?" She giggled and put the cap back on the nail polish.

"Got a girlfriend? Or boyfriend? Or significant other?" He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Waiting for my mate."

"So you're saying you've never had a crush on anyone?" She stood up and made her way over to me, plopping next to me on the sofa.

"Don't be ridiculous, of course I have. Doesn't mean I've acted on them." She giggled again. What's up with girls and giggling? Did I giggle?

"Oooh do you have a crush now?" He blushed and shook his head.

"N-no..." Holly gasped and smacked him with one of the sofa cushions, nearly missing my head. I giggled and pulled the throw blanket closer to me. Huh. I guess I did giggle.

"YOU LIAR! WHO IS IT?"

"It doesn't matter, they aren't my mate." I tilted my head in confusion.

"How would you know though? You're not old enough I thought?" He sighed.

"I guess I don't know for sure, but regardless, they don't feel the same, and even if they did, I don't want to risk it until I know for sure." I scooted my booty closer to Drew and gave him a hug.

"It's okay, Drew." I felt him chuckle.

"Thanks, Gilly."

"Soooo...are you gonna tell us who it is at least?" Holly interrupted. I sat back and returned to my seat, waiting for him to respond. He groaned and nodded.

"Fine, but please, don't tell anybody." Holly and I looked at each other and giggled before looking back at him and nodding eagerly.

"We promise!" We said in unison.

"It's Noah." Holly gasped and nearly fell off the coach.

"Wait, you're gay? And who is Noah again?" Drew sent Holly an annoyed look before turning back to me.

"Yes, I am. And before my brother met you, I thought I was gonna get stuck with a girl as a mate, since I've only ever met heterosexual mates. But now that I see it's possible, I'm more hopeful. So thanks I guess." I smiled at him and nodded.

"Of course!"

"Well, I guess there won't be any Greene babies anytime soon." Holly giggled. I blushed and turned my attention back to Hercules, which we had missed the first few minutes of already.

"Gilllllllllll, what are you hiding?" Leaned forward and stared at me, though I still looked forward at the tv.

"Nothing. Nope. Nothing at all." Smooth. They didn't suspect a thing.

"It's not nice to lie, Gilly!" Drew leaned in on my other side, so they were both staring very intently at the sides of my face, making my cheeks burn.

"I-'m not..." I coughed and looked over at Holly. She gave me an annoyed look, so I looked back at Drew, who gave the same look.

"Fine! Tobias and I went to see the council with the Alpha a while ago because Tobias was worried we couldn't be alphas if we couldn't produce an heir and when we got there, the council said werewolves were meant to reproduce, like it's part of their design, so same sex mates are able to have babies too." I rambled out, making both their jaws drop. "I don't really know anything else about it. Toby and I were going to talk to the council again to learn more."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" Holly squealed and shook my arm violently.

"Jesus, Holly! Sensitive ears!" Drew winced.

"Sorry! That's just so exciting! So you can have little baby Gilly's and Toby's running around!" I blushed harder and nodded.

"Eventually, yeah. When we're ready."

"Are you scared?" I turned back to Andrew.

"Terrified. Though I am excited about the idea. I've known I was gay for a long time, and I've also wanted to have my own kids someday. I mean, obviously if I were to adopt or if the other person had a surrogate, I would love the child just the same. I just always liked the idea of having a biological child, with my partner. And obviously in most cases, that can't happen for cisgender gay people. So I'm looking forward to it. Though I'm scared shitless." Drew laughed.

"I don't blame you. It would be cool though, to have a little niece or nephew. Or kids of my own someday."

"So, Gilly. First thing, you're not allowed to have babies unless I can be the godmother. Second, when are you having babies?" I laughed and rolled my eyes at Holly.

"First, that's something I'll have to talk about with Tobias, and second, I don't know. Probably not for a few years at least." She nodded her head.

"And when do you get old enough to find your mate, Drew?" He grinned.

"A little over two months!"

"Nobody answered my question! Who is Noah?" I whined.

"He's one of the pack warriors. He's 19 and hasn't found his mate yet either. He's also super hot." Holly gushed, giggling at Andrew's bright red cheeks.

"He wouldn't go for me anyways. I'm just a kid, and he's almost twenty. Besides, he would know if we were mates by now. In fact, I talked to him this morning, and he seemed totally indifferent." He sighed.

"It's okay, Drew. You'll find him." I cuddled to his side and turned back to the movie, and this time it was almost half over.

"Toby says the meetings finished and he's heading back up." Holly said, cuddling to my other side.

"Hehe I like cuddles." I giggled snuggling deeper into my blanket. I heard the door open and soon I felt a soft pressure on the top of my head. I looked up to see Toby's smiling, blushing face.

"Hi!" I giggled again. He laughed and gave me an upside down Spiderman kiss.

"Hey, love. Did you paint your nails?" I nodded eagerly, sticking my hands out for him to see.

"Drew did my left hand, and Holly did my right hand! Ooh, Drew, show him yours!" He laughed and showed Tobias his fingers and toes.

"Looking good, lil bro."

"Thanks! Hey, Toby?" Drew bit his lip, looking kind of nervous.

"What's up?"

"Uh..did you know you were gay before you met Gill?" His eyes widened and he made his way around the sofa to sit on the arm rest, since we were kind of taking up the whole thing with our cuddling.

"No, I didn't. I honestly didn't really like anyone that way before I met Gill. Except Holly that one time, but that doesn't count." Holly threw the remote at his head, nearly missing. "Why, are you gay?" Drew told him the truth, apart from his crush being Noah, but at least that he liked a boy who was older.

"I didn't want to tell you until now, because before you met Gill, I didn't think it was possible for me to be mates with a boy, but I'm more hopeful now." Toby smiled and ruffled his hair.

"Well, in a couple more months, you'll know for sure. I'm glad I could give you hope, Drew. Now scoot, I want to sit by my mate." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Toby, I'm having cuddle time with two of my besties, you get cuddles all the time. Sit in the armchair." He growled playfully and stepped closer.

"Oh really?" His eyes suddenly turned bright yellow.

"Oh shit, run Gilly!" Holly giggled, shoving me off the sofa. I squealed and ran the opposite direction, toward the bedroom, hearing Toby's stomping footsteps behind me.

"Got you!" He shouted, wrapping his arms around my waist, just as I was about to shut the bedroom door on him. I laughed and turned around in his arms, looking up at his beautiful eyes.

"Toby? Why are your eyes yellow?" He laughed, though it sounded a bit rougher.

"I'm not Tobias, little one. I am the wolf that lives inside him, and I've been eagerly waiting to meet you. It seems my human has neglected to share!" I pouted my lip.

"Awe, I'm sorry...what's your name?"

"Sorry, love. My name is Griffin."

"Okay, sorry Griffin. I didn't know you were in there, otherwise I would have made him let you out sooner. Regardless, it is nice to meet you!" He smiled brightly and nuzzled my cheek with his nose.

"It's nice to finally meet you too, mate. Tobias is trying to get back now, so I'll see you later, alright?" I nodded and puckered my lips. He laughed and gave me a soft kiss before pulling back. Soon enough, his eyes turned back to normal.

"Toby?" He smiled and gave me a kiss.

"Yes, love. It's me."

"Why didn't you tell me about Griffin?" He sighed.

"I guess I kind of forgot with all the craziness that's been happening.

"Well, you should let him out more. He seemed sad. We've been dating for like over a month now and I only just met him!" He nodded.

"I know, baby. I will, I promise."

"Good! Now, tell me about the meeting."

***

Wow I think this is my longest chapter 😂 I know it's kind of boring, but it'll get more entertaining soon, I promise. Also if you were wondering, no, as of right now, I do not plan on writing a smexy time scene. You'll know when Gill and Toby 'do the deed', but I won't go into detail. At least for now. Also I think this is the most I've uploaded in a long time 😂 hopefully it stays this way. Anywho, thank you for reading. Lots of love, as always. Stay safe ❤️

Oh, also, I'll be rewriting some of the older chapters soon, because as I was going back to refresh my memory and stuff I realized I started writing this when I was 19 and I'm now 22 and there are a crap ton of plot holes and stuff so yeah. If you've read this far, don't worry. There won't be any huge changes. I might just edit some dialogue so it makes sense, add some stuff. Nothing too important. Just so it actually makes sense. Especially since I have a plan on how this story is gonna end, so I can start setting up for that 😂

I would recommend rereading though. Since I haven't updated in like a year, other than this week.

Okay enough rambling. Have a good day ❤️