The Alpha's Mate

Chapter 3

Charlie's POV

There were many times I wished I could live alone; today was one of those days. Partially because my nephew Emilio barged into my room, waking me up a few minutes before my alarm clock. Another reason was for my overbearing family, which seemed to never give me my own space. They interrupted me when I was reading or when I was trying to play the piano; any time of the day, someone in my family was bothering me in some way.

"C'mon, uncle." The three-year-old toddler shook me away. "You said you would take us out to the pasture." He whined, continuing to shake my arm.

"I said I would take you guys to the pasture, yes, but when daycare started, it's still almost an hour before we're supposed to be there...." I responded, wrapping my arm around the kid, pulling him up onto my bed.

"Daddy said to come get you, though."

"That's why, dear nephew, I'm going to kill your daddy." I kissed the top of his head, hugging him to my chest. He giggled, rubbing his face into my chest, scenting me. It wasn't uncommon for the wolves in my pack to scent their family members- it was to show other wolves that we were a part of a pack, to ward off rogues as well.

Well, sometimes.

A few years ago, before Emilio was born, I had been attacked by a rogue, well, almost. I had fallen into my heat at the wrong place at the wrong time. I had gone out alone to swim in the river, didn't notice the putrid smell of the rogue lingering nearby, and almost got attacked. My brother had noticed the smell of said rogue but also my heat.

The rogue had tackled me down to the ground, and that's as far as he went before my brother took the wolf down. I was shaken and too scared to even go out of the house for about a month after that. It wasn't like my family would have let me anyways. They were all overprotective of me, and sometimes it was a nuisance, other times, I felt safe at all times knowing they would always be there for me.

After I turned eighteen and didn't find my mate, my dad was more than relieved, saying that his bambino wasn't going to be taken away by some creep from our pack. Our pack often received other alphas due to being the top pack in Italy. So every time, my dad would make sure his presence was known, especially if another alpha or even someone accompanying them to visit decided to get too friendly for my dad's liking. Meaning my love life, even before finding my goddess-given mate, had been nothing, not even a peck on the lips.

"Uncle Charlie, you're squeezing me too tight." My nephew groaned into my chest.

"Welp, I think it's sufficient punishment for waking me up." I chuckled, loosening my grip on him, patting his bottom.

"But daddy told me too." He looked up to me, pouting.

"Tell me, dear nephew, was your daddy also in bed?" I cocked my eyebrow.

"Yeah," he answered innocently.

"How about we go get him up?" I chuckled, sitting up, cradling the toddler in my arms.

"Okay." He gave me a toothy grin. I groaned, getting out of my bed. Emilio wrapped his tiny arms around my neck, hugging himself close to me to keep himself from falling.

I walked to my brother's room, kicking the door open. "Alright," I whispered. "When I count to three, I'm gonna chuck you at your dad, do me proud kiddo." Emilio giggled, letting go of my neck, turning around in my arms, ready for me to throw him on his dad.

My brother Karsen had enough on his plate. Not only was he the alpha of the pack, but he was also a single father. His mate passed away shortly after having my nephew. She hadn't told my brother that she was feverish and she passed in her sleep from preeclampsia. Our pack still mourned the loss of our late Luna. She was such a gentle soul who had lost her life way before her time. While our pack took the loss of our Luna, my brother had taken the loss of her harder. He was now semi-back to normal, but it didn't seem like he would find someone who would ever match the energy that Jenine did.