The Mating Rules

Lauren’s POV

‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!’ a voice yells at me before a heavy weight lands on top of me crushing my body into the mattress.

Screaming in shock, I kick and shove with everything I’ve got until the weight moves and a loud thud sounds beside me.

Peeking out from under my covers, I find my brother Philip sitting up from the floor rubbing his head as he g****s.

‘Ow’ he states pointedly, glaring at me.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’ I demand, tugging the blanket further up to cover my cami top, ‘get out of my room!’

My brother shakes his head, standing up and dropping himself next to me on the bed, grinning widely.

‘No can do little sis’ he replies, ‘it’s your big twenty one, I had to come over and see you!’

I narrow my eyes at him, ‘you have never been the first to see me on my birthday. What did you do? Why has Missy kicked you out?’

Philip’s eyes move away from my face, a shifty look crossing his features. ‘It was nothing’ he replies, an inflection of defensiveness in his voice, ‘and the kid is fine, he thought it was awesome!’

My eyes widen as I sit up, turning to face my brother who is now very interested in my bed spread design.

‘What did you do!’ I demand, my voice growing louder.

‘He’s fine, I swear, I caught him’ my brother mutters, still not looking at me.

‘Philip, WHAT. DID. YOU. DO’ I growl, enunciating each word as I grab his shirt and tug, hard.

The werewolf sighs, ‘Paulie wanted to go on his new swing’ he mumbles, ‘he’d watched a video online where some kid went all the way round? He wanted to try it. What kind of dad would I be if I crushed his dreams?’ he asks petulantly.

‘Oh Goddess, I swear, if you tell me that my barely four year old nephew went over the bars on that damn swing, I’ll murder you’ I growl dangerously.

Philips hands raise up in surrender, ‘he didn’t!’ he protests, ‘I promise, he never went over the bar! He just . . . decided at the top of the swing to see how high he could jump and launched off the seat.’

‘Philip!’ I scream, starting to hit him everywhere I can reach as he holds up his arms in self defence.

‘Ow! Ow! I caught him Goddess dammit! He was fine’ he yells over my shrieks.

‘I see he told you what he did’ comes a voice from my door as I stop hitting my brother just long enough to acknowledge my sister Jamie-Lee who is leaning against my door frame watching us but making no move to step in the middle. That tells me how pissed she is with our brother as she’s been refereeing all the sibling fights since we were born.

‘I caught him!’ Philip huffs, rubbing his arms where I hope bruises are forming, ‘what is with you women and over reacting? Missy almost cut my junk off, if she didn’t want more pups I’d be walking with a limp. It wasn’t even my fault, who knew the kid would let go?’

‘Umm everyone?’ I snarl crossly, ‘he’s four, of course he’d let go.’ Turning back to my sister I frown, ‘what are you doing here? Aren’t your Mates being all overprotective what with you being pregnant for the seven hundredth time? And where are the kids? It’s way to quiet down there.’

Jamie-Lee growls, rolling her eyes, ‘Caden and Hadley are downstairs’ she mutters stonily, ‘mum is force feeding them both blackberry pie because supposedly they look underfed. The kids are with Caden’s sister, she volunteered to do a movie day with them along with her own three. Caden wasn’t happy I dragged him over here, he thought that he was going to get alone time she adds with a smirk.’

Philip g****s loudly, ‘Eww! TMI! I do not need to hear about my sister getting it on’ he huffs.

I turn back to him incredulously, ‘Excuse me, Mr I got caught in the games room with Florie Anderson at fifteen? I don’t think you have any room to comment on other siblings s*x lives.’

‘Whatever’ my brother grumbles, leaning back against my headboard and stretching out. ‘Are you getting up? Mum always makes pancakes on a birthday morning and as you are the only one left at home, I don’t want to miss my chance.’ Eyeing me, he frowns, ‘how did you convince Caden to allow you to not move into the pack house anyway? No other kid gets to live at home with their mommy until twenty one.’

I shove him again, smirking as he topples off the bed for a second time with a yelp, ‘I’m just special’ I retort, ‘now get out so I can get up and dressed.’

‘Fine, I’m going, I’m pretty sure I can smell pancake batter anyway’ Philip replies, climbing to his feet and stalking toward the door. Inches from Jamie-Lee he turns back to me with a wicked grin, grabs the covers and yanks them off the bed.

Screaming loudly as the cold air hits my skin, I yell at my youngest brother as he runs from the room laughing, followed by my sister who scolds him all the way down the stairs.

Climbing out of bed, I head across the hall to the bathroom, washing quickly before going back to my room and pulling on a tight fitting top over some white ripped jeans. Tying my sneakers, I straighten up just as my phone dings, informing me of a message.

Swiping up the phone from my bedside table, I open the screen and smile as my best friend’s name flashes along the bottom of the screen.

Ty: Hey birthday girl! Happy twenty one! Finally legal! Meet me by our tree?’

Me: Hey, thanks! I know right! No more sneaking schnapps from your mum’s secret cupboard! Gotta do the family thing first, but I’ll be there in an hour.

Ty: Ahh, I’ll miss creeping downstairs when she went to bed and sitting on the roof with you drinking it. Pancake time? Man! Why didn’t I just come over? I love Mrs S’ birthday pancakes!

Me: Philip and Lee are here, trust me, no amount of pancakes is worth it, run away Ty, save yourself.

Ty: Lol, yeah you’re right, but maybe try and sneak one into a napkin for me? Pleeeeeeease? I’ll make it worth your while!

I perk up at that, my grin widening,

Me: Present? Is it a birthday present?

Ty: Nope, not telling, you’ll just have to come and find out, but don’t be too long as I’ve got training with my dad and the Gamma, they are talking about adding me to the Luna’s guard!

Me: Eeeek! O.M.G! No way! That’s awesome Ty! Especially with her being pregnant AGAIN! I’m surprised that Hadley and Caden are letting anyone else guard her.

Ty: What can I say babe, I’m an elite warrior ?Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

I laugh, pocketing my phone as I head out of my room and follow the smell of cooking pancakes. I’m really happy for my best friend but a little surprised that Hadley is thinking of adding him to my sister’s detail. Don’t get me wrong, Tyler is a strong warrior, his dad is the head of the Elite warriors, but I’ve never seen him be really aggressive like I’d expect one of my sister’s guards to be.

Walking into the kitchen, I’m immediately pulled into a hug by my mother, who squeals like a teenager.

‘Happy birthday my little pup’ she gushes, strangling me in a tight grip as I gasp for breath.

‘I’m not a pup anymore mum’ I grumble, rubbing my neck as she finally releases me and my father wraps his arms around me in her place.

‘Happy birthday munchkin’ he mumbles in my ear.

‘Thanks dad’ I reply, patting his arm affectionately.

‘Come ooooooon! Pancakes!’ Philip growls petulantly.

‘It’s not your birthday boy, who said you were even getting some pancakes?’ our mother demands, clipping him around the ear as she walks back to the stove.

My brother rubs the back of his head, pouting as my brother in laws both laugh at him. Sitting down next to Hadley, I grin up at the warrior as he throws an arm around my shoulders and pulls me against him.

‘Happy birthday bug’ he rumbles, ruffling my hair like he’s always done since he became part of our family.

‘Don’t pretend you are here for my birthday’ I retort playfully, ‘I know you only came so that mum would feed you.’

Hadley raises his hands in defence, ‘not me bug, I came to see my favourite little sister, this one on the other hand’ he jerks a thumb at our Alpha who is still shovelling a huge chunk of pie in his mouth, ‘he probably came to get fed.’

Caden growls at the Gamma, dropping his fork and grabbing him by the shirt, pulling the warrior against his chest before smirking and pressing his lips to his Mate’s making the Gamma blush.

‘Caden, this is my kitchen’ my mother scolds, picking up the empty plate and replacing it with a pile of pancakes as the Alpha releases his Mate and starts to demolish the stack.

‘I swear it’s my birthday’ I mutter, ‘how come Caden gets served first.’

Caden winks at me, ‘I’m the Alpha baby, perks of the job’ before grabbing my sister from her chair and pulling her into his lap as she rolls her eyes.

‘Open up Leeway’ he orders, holding up his fork to her lips.

She shakes her head, but dutifully parts her lips, letting the Alpha slide the pancake piece between her teeth and biting down, watching him closely as he pulls back the fork again.

A stack of pancakes lands in front of me as my mother k****s my hair, ‘there you go birthday girl, eat up’ she trills, beaming widely as I nod my thanks and start to eat. I speed my way through the stack, almost choking in my haste, finishing in record time, pushing back my chair and dropping the plate into the dishwasher.

‘OK I got to go! I’ll see you all later’ I call over my shoulder, waving quickly as I grab my training bag, and rush out of the front door, ignoring my mother’s voice asking where I’m going.

Jogging down the steps, I turn right, heading toward the forest and the old warped tree that Ty and I always meet under. The closer I get, the more my smile grows, my feet quickening their pace, eager to see my best friend.