Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder-Chapter 1346 - 101 : Rowdy Arrivals

*Noah*

Another day, and more pack business... not that I minded. Keeping busy was good for the mind and soul, but most importantly, the pack.

I tried to keep my mind off the situation with Gray, but annoyance tugged at my mind. He seemed to be on a good path, but I couldn’t help but feel very cautious still.

I would for a while, I knew.

His damn bastard of a father murdered my mother and kidnapped my mate. At that thought, a spark of sheer rage rippled within me once more, something I tried to shove down so that I could focus.

I was in my study, organizing things for the pack and setting aside tasks in order of importance, trying my hardest to not let my emotions get the better of me.

I had started to win out over them when suddenly a knock came on my door, causing me to let out a sigh.

Damn it, just when I’d been completely focused and without anything else on the mind, I thought.

“Come in,” I grunted.

Caleb entered my study, looking around a bit before sitting at the table I was at. “Hello, Noah,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

“Eh,” I muttered. “Getting stuff done, that’s what’s important. You?”

“I’m well enough.” He paused, then added, “We will be having arrivals to Drogomor soon.”

I raised a brow, my focus now shifting to him entirely, not that it hadn’t been strong in the first place. This wasn’t something I could split my focus on at all, though.

“Who?”

“Aaron and Brandon should be arriving in just a half hour back home from their winter break.”

I let out a soft groan. Ah, my younger half-brothers could be a handful, and Caleb knew it, too. His eyes flashed with sympathy, and he dipped his head.

“Anything I can do to lighten the stress?” he asked.

“No, I will see them soon. I’ll wrap this up and go see them. When they arrive, please tell them to remain in the great hall.”

“Will do. Should I have lunch prepared as well?”

I realized it’d been a while since I’d eaten. My stomach growled in confirmation, and a sheepish grin crossed my face. “That would be much appreciated.”

“I’m on it.”

With that, he left me to my thoughts. I reached up and rubbed my temples, grumbling somewhat to myself. This was going to be interesting, and not in a good way.

Both Aaron and Brandon were close to my heart as family, but they were a damn handful, young wolves with high ambitions and no filters, either.

They didn’t understand the nuances of life, and how there was more to it than battle and territory dominance. They rolled their eyes at the idea of a ‘simple life.’

They often teased me about my tendency to hide away in my study, as well, accusing me of being more bookish than athletic, which was incorrect.

I worked out at the gym for a hobby, for the Moon Goddess’s sake, and maintained myself well. Not that it would matter to them—their teasing would get incessant.

Nothing to do about that now, I thought.

I hoped I could keep their attention on their university work. Maybe I could get them to brag enough so they would leave me alone about my new responsibilities.

Deep down, though, I felt my stomach twist. I truly hoped they would behave, and if not, that Zara wasn’t put off by their, at times, obnoxious and pigheaded attitudes.

Well, here goes nothing, I thought.

I put aside my work for now after finishing up the last touches and made my way to the grand hall, forcing a smile and telling myself not to look too annoyed.

They were my brothers, after all, and I loved them, but still, they were going to be a damn handful.

I spotted Aaron first, giving him a warm smile and dipping my head. “Well, if it isn’t the troublemaking team themselves. I hope university has gone well for you,” I said.

Brandon wandered into view, craning his neck and giving me a huge grin. “Noah!” he said, a smile plastered on his face that reflected on Aaron’s as well.

Aaron rushed over to me, slapping me on the back in greeting. Then, his happy smile faded into a mischievous smirk, causing me to groan inwardly.

Oh great, here it comes, I thought.

“Hey Noah! You’ve been busy, huh? And by busy, I mean growing softer and softer. It’s what happens when fatherhood comes into play.”

I sighed. “Being ‘soft’ in some cases is a very good thing,” I said in a level tone. “When you mature, you will learn the value of that.”

Aaron rolled his eyes, snorting. “When I mature? Hah! Your words used to have more fight, O Father of Drogomor,” he teased.

Brandon, meanwhile, shook his head at his brother. He glared him down and waved his hand.

“We don’t have time for child’s play, bro.” His eyes fixed on me. “We should definitely talk about important plans, though. Don’t mind him.”

“Don’t mind me? Aw, do my words bother both of you?” Aaron taunted.

“What plans?” I asked, ignoring the jabs Aaron tossed at us.

“Thank you, Noah... plans to expand Drogomor territory and increase our power base. I have a map we should review and key points to focus on for that purpose.”

“Nerd,” Aaron said, rolling his eyes. “Why worry about specifics? We can snag it all. We’ve got the power to do that. You spend too much time with that crap.”

Brandon bared his teeth at Aaron. “Unlike you, my skull isn’t thick, and I understand proper combat planning. Things like this are delicate.”

I raised a brow. “Brandon has a point.” I tried being gentle as they both got a bit uppity at one another.

At this rate, they’d both shift and start squaring off right in the main hall. Aaron turned and rolled his eyes at me, his smirk widening.

“Isn’t all this fight talk a bit much for you since you’re so busy rolling over like a pup and being a family man, Noah?”

His tone was teasing, and he knew I wouldn’t take it wrong.

Rather, I raised a brow, saying, “This soft wolf here could still claim victory and you know it, Aaron.”

“Oh? I doubt that now! We should see at some point now that we’re back!”

“Hello? There’s no time for that,” Brandon said. “We need to focus our energy on expanding the pack and its power. Noah, you get it, right?”

“Yes,” I said gently. “That is important for the good of the pack, as is gaining allies, but we also need to keep our eyes fixed on internal pack business too. Have you two caught up yet?”

Aaron snorted. “We just got here, of course we haven’t! We will, though. Let’s scarf down lunch and go do that, I’ve got people to greet and brag to!” he laughed, clearly only half-joking.

Yep, this was going to be a lot.

***

At dinner that evening, we sat around the table as we were served gourmet steak with a side of lemon garlic vegetables. I savored the flavor, giving Zara a light smile that she returned.

“It’s nice meeting you both,” Zara said after introductions had passed, giving a radiant smile and causing my heart to leap. As always, my mate was just so beautiful.

I was so lucky to have her.

I stared her down with a happy expression, something Aaron caught notice of immediately. Without missing a beat, he chuckled. “Oh! You must be the one turning my brother super soft!”

“Soft?” Zara asked, tilting her head. “Well, he can be soft sometimes, in the best of ways.”

“Hah! See? All that changing diapers and warming milk bottles is really chipping away at that stature, right? Softer than a wolf pup’s fur!”

I flinched inwardly, studying Zara from the corner of my eye while keeping a stare on Aaron. The joking didn’t bother me at all, but I wasn’t sure how she’d take it.

“Noah is good at a lot of things. I’m grateful he doesn’t whine about the diaper changing. His face is funny enough that he can get Briella to calm down in a fit of giggles,” Zara said with a grin.

“Hey!” I said, unable to help but laugh.

Some of the tension in my shoulders relaxed a bit as Zara took things in good humor, but I continued to listen closely to the tone of her voice.

“Not surprised at all!” Aaron said. “You know, I bet I could teach my niece to throw a great punch or five. Don’t think Noah will be hardened enough to do it, so I’ll accept the responsibility as the cool uncle.”

“The cool uncle?” I repeated, rolling my eyes. “You’re something, but that something isn’t cool... more like a yap dog who won’t stop barking.” I winked at him as he stuck his tongue out at me.

Brandon couldn’t help but snort and facepalm, giving a few chuckles here and there. Zara’s smirk widened at my comment, shaking her head.

“He knows not to shoot back at me,” she began, “because I’ve got far more sass.”

“Not at all, I’ll just sass you later, beautiful,” I replied.

“See? Soft! Rolling around in the grass with a baby girl, way too gentle to snap his jaws anymore!” Aaron cut in.

I snickered, shaking my head. “You know, maybe I will take you up on your challenge, little bro, because you just won’t stop yapping.”

“Oh, please at least do so after we establish more important things,” Brandon said, letting out a sigh. He fastened his stare on me, adding, “And on that note, can I have your attention, Noah?”

“Going to make an announcement?” I asked, my tone still joking somewhat.

“No, no, nothing like that,” Brandon chuckled, but then grew serious. “So, for some of the points on the map I identified, there may be aggressive rogues guarding where we want to expand.”

“It may not be wise to be too aggressive,” I said gently, and before Aaron could pull an ‘I told you so,’ I raised a hand for silence. “We did just get through an all-out assault in the Dark Realm.” 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

“Something I heard was successful, showing our pack’s prowess and ability to go for whatever we want, and as soon as possible... not via Aaron’s proposal, but a more graceful approach.”

“You say more graceful, I say more boring,” Aaron grumbled.

Brandon rolled his eyes and continued. “Some of the items I marked on the map may seem a bit out there, but I’m confident we can handle it.”

“Let’s take things a step at a time,” I said. “We can handle a lot, I agree. But we don’t want to shoulder too much risk, or off put our allies by showing too much aggression.”

“Oh, the aggression won’t be against people who don’t deserve it, I promise,” Brandon assured me.

“Yes, but we need to do ample research on our targets, and while I know you have, we want to have peers review everything first.”

“That’s why I would be delighted if you looked over the plans I’ve written up,” Brandon said with a grin.

Well, I walked right into that one, I thought. With a light chuckle, I nodded. I leaned over and placed a hand over Zara’s, squeezing it.

Zara smiled warmly at me, glancing at my brothers curiously as she learned more about their personalities.

“Alright,” I said. “When I find the time in my busy schedule, I will humor you. How’s that?”

“Thanks, brother. I promise I won’t let you down. And I will try... try, to reign in my expectations.”

By the Moon Goddess, I hoped he meant that.