Part 12
"Did you know that Lynda Boyle-Reid was pregnant again?" Spencer said, as he read an article online in the Las Vegas Sun.
"Is she?" Hotch smirked. "She and your father really seem to be cranking them out now that they're together, officially."
"She must really believe that she loves my father and that he loves her too," Spencer said slowly. "The only way I can see this Lynda still being with my father is if he lied to her about what happened to his first wife since it was all over the paper at the time. I mean from what I can find out about her she's also a lawyer, although different type then my father. She deals more with lawsuits and is part of a team of lawyers for this very big company based in Las Vegas. This Lynda is apparently about 15 years younger so she still has a few childbearing years left, as my father is over fifty and even werewolves can't have babies past what is normal for a human woman, since their biological clock runs down around the same time."
"Why doesn't it surprise me that your father is involved with a much younger woman?" asked Hotch.
"Because you know my father's very flawed character?" suggested Spencer. "Of course, there's nothing wrong with two people of vastly different ages getting together, since I am 12 years younger then you are, but somehow their relationship reminds me of a pimp and his whore."
Hotch smirked at that rather apt description, although he was rather surprised it had come out of his mate's mouth.
"I know I don't know her or what her relationship with my father is like so maybe I am being rather unfair, it's just that I can't see William Reid caring anymore about Lynda then he did about mom, unless he has done a total 180 from the man I remember," Spencer continued, not looking up from his computer screen, so he didn't see his lover's expression and it was a good thing as he loved it when his mate smirked like that as it did funny, but pleasant things to his insides and almost always led to lovemaking.
"You have a right to your opinion and I didn't want to say anything before, but I do agree with you as there just something slimy about your father, at least from what I've read about him and also from what you have told me. Once I actually meet him my opinion might change to something a little better, but that is rather doubtful," Hotch agreed.
"Slimy now there's a word I hadn't considered where my father is concerned, but I think it fits," Spencer said with an appreciative chuckle. "I wouldn't be surprised in the least if my father is involved in something illegal, like accepting bribes for example, although I don't have any proof of that."
"It's possible," Hotch said slowly. "Really, it's more than, possible. We shouldn't worry about it though because your father will likely be dead very soon so there's no point of finding out if he is involved in any illegal activities. Besides, even if we did find something it's not like we could put him in prison."
"That's a good point," Spencer admitted.
"So why are you looking up this, Lynda?" Hotch asked with a half smile as he gazed at the gorgeous form of his mate who was sitting crosslegged looking very comfortable on the couch with a laptop in his lap.
"I just wanted to see what kind of women that my father got involved with," Spencer explained calmly. "It doesn't really surprise me that he's involved with a much younger woman and apparently has been since he separated from my mother and as I said there's nothing wrong with two people having a big age difference, but what does astonish me is this Lynda is staying with him, as from all I can find out about her she seems to intelligent the fall for my father's particular brand of bullshit. I would think that she would be able to see right through him and the act he puts on."
"We are often blinded to people's flaws when we believe we are in love," Hotch told Spencer. "It wouldn't surprise me at all if your father has a sidepiece or even two, even though he is married again for he did cheat on your mother after all, even if you're finding out about it years later so what's to prevent him from doing the same again?"
"Certainly not his sense of right and wrong or his conscience," Spencer smirked. "I for one would never cheat on you."
"Good, because I would rip whoever it was to pieces literally and then get rid of the body in such a way that it would never be traced back to me or even identified. Afterwards, you would have to be reminded that you are my property and believe me, you wouldn't like that particular lesson at all," Hotch growled sounding fiercely protective and territorial.
Spencer blushed not at all angry or upset, because he knew that Aaron might teach him a lesson, but that it would be deserved and that his mate wouldn't kill him, just stake his claim yet again on his body. He was sure there would be pain involved, probably a lot of it, but if he was stupid enough to cheat on the man he adored, then he would deserve the pain. From the way the Omega wolf in his chest quailed at the thought of cheating on his Alpha mate it wasn't about to occur anyway, so he didn't need to worry about having Aaron teach him that lesson.
"You don't need to worry," Spencer told Aaron softly kissing him on the lips, which the older man accepted with pleasure his body relaxing. "I love you way too much to ever do something so stupid as to cheat on you, so I promise you that's never going to happen at least not on my own free will."
"I know," Hotch said softly in a much calmer, tone of voice. "I'm sorry about what I said a minute ago, but the wolf in me just overtook me for a moment and changed how I would normally respond. That part of me is terrified that you're going to leave me, even if he knows intellectually that's never going to happen."
"It's fine," Spencer promised him with a smile and another kiss. "I promise I'm not going anywhere unless you're coming to. Our bond prevents us from separating anyway and while I could say go up to visit my brother in New York, without you, you told me that I would soon start to miss you intensely and that you would feel the same effect."
"Yes, that's true," Hotch said in his usual calm tone that made Spencer smile in relief. "Once a bond is forged nothing that is known to our kind or to humans for that matter can break it."
"You see? I'm not going anywhere, at least not without you," Spencer said smiling at the man he had come to trust more then any other just in the short year and a half he had known him.
"Good," Hotch growled playfully this time, his arm coming up to encircle Spencer around the shoulders pulling his mate close again.
The two men, one older, one younger were silent for a few minutes and then Hotch told his mate with a smile, "I'm happy see you can make jokes about your father considering all he put you and your brothers through."
"I couldn't make jokes and in fact, I barely thought about him at all before I met you. You give me the strength to get over what my father did to me and my siblings and therefore, I can make jokes," Spencer said content to just lay his head against his mate's shoulder and relax.
"Good, because you really shouldn't give him the power to still bother you after all this time considering he was in the wrong, even if he'll never admit it," Hotch said leaning down to kiss his lover gently on the lips. "It won't be long before he'll get what's coming to him pups or no pups as they will have their mother to look after them."
"You know they now have eight children and that doesn't count the ones that Lynda is pregnant with. I'm actually surprised she got pregnant again so soon after giving birth as she just had her second set of twins a few months ago.
"Well, I did mention that werewolves tend to be extremely fertile," Hotch reminded his mate. "Now, I realize we have no way of knowing if Lynda's also a werewolf, as it's quite possible she is, but if that the case, then she's probably from another pack as I can't see one from your old pack getting involved with your father, after what he did to your mother and to you as it would be common knowledge. However, even if Lynda is completely human, some human women are extremely fertile just like female werewolves so it's quite possible that she got pregnant while she was still breast-feeding, which happens often in older women in both species and she is 37, which makes your father 52."
"He's nearly 53 actually," Spencer said, "and will be in just another month. You know if Lynda is human I'll be very surprised if they have anymore after this depending on what she is actually carrying as we both know that it can be anywhere from a single pup to six, although your mother did have nine that one time, but she was also 50 and it killed her."
"Having nine, even if one of them died is not a very common occurrence, not even for werewolves," Hotch told Spencer who nodded having known this. "Usually it's anywhere from 2 to 4, with twins of course, being the most common followed by triplets. Really, we have to consider my mother's age when my siblings were born as from what little I know on the subject the age of the woman in question is a big factor."
"Yes, that true and there is plenty of scientific evidence to support that," Spencer agreed. "You know I wonder why my father is having so many pups considering how he failed to support the three he had. I mean he left us with no support and if the utilities for the house hadn't been automatically paid I don't know what we would have done as those six years before the three of us went to college were hard enough."
"Maybe their mother wanted them?" Hotch suggested. "She could even be using having children to try to save her relationship with your father, even if they've only been married for seven years now and even if they were together before that."
"Yes, they were lovers years before that and if so she should know what my father's like if she's as intelligent as she seems to be," Spencer said. "Of course, I realize it is possible that her oldest twins aren't my father's, but I still consider it unlikely. I doubt very much that my father cares anymore for the children he has now than he did for me, Dylan and Trevyn. I'm sure if my father has his way he'll place the children in some boarding school or something as soon as possible, just to get them out of his hair. Of course, it's also possible that he'll just abandon them and Lynda when it becomes too much instead of working out whatever the problem is."
"You know I hate to say this about any werewolf as it's considered a grave insult, but your father isn't acting like a werewolf at all," Hotch said in a disgusted tone of voice.
"What do you mean by that?" Spencer asked carefully looking up into his mate's intense dark eyes.
"Well, you know that we're partly wolf and that one of the wolves finest qualities is in their loyalty to their pack, especially their spouse and pups," Hotch begin to explain and Spencer nodded. "Now normally a regular male wolf doesn't look after their pups and leaves it to the mother to see them weaned. However, in a werewolf pack this is where our species differ slightly. Usually both male and female werewolves are equally protective of any pups they have and as I said it is considered a grave insult at the least to be accused of not looking after their offspring. Now, while my father was a bastard and my mother a bitch, they were still pretty protective of all the pups they had even if they didn't know how to show them affection and love. Also, they took their duty seriously and taught all of us what we needed to know about our history, traditions and laws. Your father failed in his duties of not only teaching you and your brothers what you needed to know about werewolf society, but also in protecting you and your siblings, like from those bullies for example when you went to high school at such a young age. At the very least your father should've counseled you about how to deal with the problem of being pushed into lockers and so forth and also comforted you when you came home in tears. He should've been proud at how intelligent the three of you were instead of resenting that fact. He should have congratulated all three of you when you were able to skip so many grades. He should've been there as a support system when the three of you went to college at 13 and this was doubly important because your mother was so sick with an illness that was in no way her fault and unable to fulfill the role. Now, I freely admit that humans have been known to resent their children when they're not turning out like they are expecting, but then a human doesn't have very strong protective instincts when it comes to the offspring of their loins like wolves do either, well, except the mothers in some cases, but you understand what I mean."
"So you're saying that father should have supported the three of us when we turned out to be so intelligent," Spencer summarized. "He should have congratulated us on our accomplishments and been proud of them instead of resenting us for outstripping him when he was the same age. That he should've been there to support us and advised us when we were being bullied."
"Yes," Hotch said firmly. "In fact your father is not acting like a wolf at all, but like a human who resents his sons accomplishments, because they overshadow his own, instead of being proud of them, which I promise you is a very rare thing among werewolves as usually we love our pups so much that we are proud at whatever they manage to accomplish and if they start down the wrong path we gently encourage them and try to get them straightened out. I'm not saying that there isn't an occasional bad wolf just like there are humans as you know for a fact, just that most of our species love our pups unconditionally no matter what. Now a wolf isn't perfect as you know and when we get off the subject of pups well every wolf has their idiosyncrasies just like humans do."
"So you're saying one major difference between us and humans is that we are all very protective and loving towards our pups," Spencer said.
"Normally, that is the case," Hotch agreed. "Your father however, doesn't seem to care about how many pups he has. Really, it's like he's just trying to show how vital and manly he is by producing as many pups as possible, but without caring about the pups themselves."
"If that was the case, then he wouldn't have abandoned my brothers and me," Spencer disagreed. "After all, we weren't sickly, we were extremely intelligent and healthy, so I would think he would want show us off and brag about how vital and manly he is for producing three children at once."
"Not necessarily," Hotch disagreed. "He might brag about producing a lot of children at the same time, but he wouldn't necessarily have to show evidence of that fact. Men in particular brag about their manly powers all the time and leave it up to people as to whether they think they are lying or not. There are a lot of gullible people in the world, so a lot of them probably believe him and he could use it to get with other females, although I don't know if he's actually done that or not, just that it's a possibility."
"Yes, I can see that working," Spencer said after he'd considered all he knew about humans and werewolves. "It's called the Adonis syndrome."
"The Adonis syndrome?" asked Hotch curiously.
"Yes, Adonis lived back in ancient Greece," Spencer explained. "From all reports he was a fine specimen of a man, the utter perfection of physical beauty and manliness. The problem was he knew it and he used to get with as many females as possible until he angered one of the ancient Greek goddess and she cursed him. According to legend he was killed by wild boar sent by Artemis who was jealous of her sister Aphrodite who loved him and of his good hunting skills. There are many different versions of the legend just so you know. In any case, ever since then an Adonis is a man who is especially shallow, arrogant, manly and vital, and although a man's physical beauty and perfection doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it, it usually goes hand-in-hand with the rest of it."
"Well, I have to admit that sounds like your father alright, although I don't consider him to be the utter perfection of handsomeness. I'm not saying he isn't handsome, just that he isn't like those models you see in those magazines or on billboards or those movie stars on TV, with they're extremely good looks that have woman falling all over them," Hotch said.
"I know what you mean," Spencer said with a little smile not at all insulted as he understood exactly what Aaron meant, "and believe me, I'm not insulted, since I never considered myself very handsome either, just kind of like the the boy next door. I definitely never had the females draping themselves all over me like some people do, like Morgan or you for example. Of course, if I hadn't met you it was unlikely that I ever would have married at all because as I said I don't consider myself the kind of man that women go gaga over."
"Well, I think you are very handsome and that's just not the Lifemate bond talking," Hotch told Spencer firmly. "I'm actually glad that you're not movie star handsome, as that means most females won't give you a second look and definitely won't try to get your attention, although I warn you it will happen some, just not as much as it does with Morgan. I don't know how I'll react if some female tries to drape themselves all over you, as you are my property, even if I know that you did nothing to encourage them. You know normally, I'm a very controlled individual, but when it comes to you I'm extremely jealous of anybody who sees you in that way, but especially of those that act on it."
"I hope you're not concerned about my loyalty to you and the bond we share," Spencer said just a little anxiously.
"No, it's not that at all," Hotch promised soothingly kissing his mate on the side of his neck causing Spencer to relax. "It's just that us Alpha males tend to be very jealous and protective of our Lifemates or even just our spouses as they are considered our property and no one else's. Now, this doesn't mean that they can't have friends of both sexes, just that us wolves are very territorial and will scare off anybody that thinks they can take their mate or spouse from them."
"You know I should be upset that you consider me your property but somehow I'm not," Spencer said quietly. "I never imagined I'd be comfortable being owned by anyone, but somehow to me it just seems natural and right."
"Good, that's how you should feel," Hotch told his mate pleased giving him another tender kiss on the side of his neck, causing Spencer to shiver in delight as lust began to swell through his form, causing Hotch to smirk, as he felt the swelling of lust and also smelled Spencer's arousal. "Yes, you are my property, but technically, I'm also your property as well and believe me, that's not a bad thing. Just think of it as a monogamous relationship, where neither one of us will ever be dissatisfied with each other and how our relationship is. Lifemates never cheat on each other and therefore, you're my property and mine alone, just as I am yours. Remember what I whispered to you when we made love for the first time?"
"You were whispering words of dominance and ownership over me and the fact that you now owned me, heart, body and soul," Spencer recalled blushing, as he remembered that night in vivid detail. "You claimed me as yours."
"And remember how you felt?" asked Hotch.
"I felt...as if I had finally come home," Spencer recalled blushing again. "As if I had finally found my place in the world and that there was no other place I'd rather be then by your side. I remember feeling happier than I'd ever been in my life, sated and satisfied when you finally spurted your seed into me that first time and the bond snapped into place. I wanted you to make love to me again and again, once I had recovered somewhat from that first orgasm and got over being scared of having your Knot tucked within me."
"Good, as that is exactly how you should have felt as the wolf in you knew that the ownership was mutual even if I am the Alpha and therefore, in charge. However, that doesn't mean that I don't listen to your opinion or that we don't make decisions together, just that I have overall authority and therefore, final say in any decisions that are made. Really, if you think about it that's how it is in any relationship where just one person is in overall charge, but if the relationship is solid then that person also listens to their partner's opinions and takes them into account before making any final decisions. I admit that a lot of relationships aren't like that, but the ones that last for 60 years or more are, because really marriage is about compromise and not about one person dominating the other and refusing to listen to their partner's opinions."
"So you're saying that even though I'm your property my opinions still matter just that you have final say what course of action to take?" asked Spencer wanting to clarify it just to be sure he was understanding correctly.
"Exactly," Hotch agreed calmly. "Like for example I could use my Alpha voice on you to prevent you from putting yourself in danger as it's very difficult to ignore the command of your Alpha or any Alpha really, but especially the one that you share a bond with. Also because we are mates our relationship protects you from other Alphas ordering you around to do things that they have no business ordering you to do. A lot of Alphas like to exert their authority over those of the lesser ranks because their personalities are not as strong as an Alpha's is and because they enjoy being bullies and getting others to do things that are often demeaning just because they can be. I mean just think of Elin and the way she uses her very strong Alpha personality to bully others. Of course, some Alphas have very weak Alpha qualities as their personalities aren't as strong as others of the same rank and the ones that have stronger personalities can get them to do what they want a lot of times and they won't be able to resist."
"Yes, I had noticed that the other Alphas haven't tried to command me to do anything," said Spencer slowly. "I've seen some of them looking at me like I'm dirt beneath their heels, but they haven't actually dared approach me. Oh, not the ones that you consider friends, but some of the others that know you by reputation alone."
"That's because they know me very well, even if it's only by reputation and that I will rip them apart if they dared do anything inappropriate and not feel guilty in the least for doing it," Hotch growled. "It is also one of the major reasons why the submissive partner is considered the property of the Alpha that has claimed them as it protects the weaker partner from other Alphas or even Betas that could order them around otherwise. If you weren't already claimed an Alpha or even a Beta could conceivably approach you and order you to get them dinner for example, because they don't feel like doing it themselves. Some werewolves are incredibly lazy and want to be waited on hand and foot and in that way we're really no different from humans. Now Rolf would never allow that kind of thing to continue, as he runs a tight ship or in this case pack and he doesn't believe that any werewolf should use their authority on someone of lesser rank in such a demeaning way or really for any reason unless it's an emergency of some kind. Wolves have been kicked out of other packs for such behavior in the past, but only if they don't correct it. The wolves are given every chance to correct their behavior and only when they refuse to stop using their very overbearing personalities to bully are they then banished from the pack. That particular rule goes way back to when werewolves were first created centuries ago and it's still part of our makeup even today. Also, if you haven't already noticed the wolves that are Omegas usually get fed last and are always at the back of the line when it's feeding time. However, since the two of us are Lifemates you automatically get to be up where the other Alphas are, which is at the front of the line."
"Yes, I had noticed that," Spencer admitted. "I noticed that nobody commented when you dragged me to the front of the line that first full moon, even though I saw that the other Omegas were supposed to be at the very end. I also noticed that several couples did the same thing and I have since noticed using my observational skills that there are several Alphas and Betas that are together, and even a Beta and Omega, but that we are unique as the only Alpha and Omega pair.
"Really Alpha and Omega pairs aren't all that uncommon," Hotch told Spencer. "It's just that we are the only ones in the pack currently. It is quite common in other packs to see an Alpha and Omega together even if they're just married and not Lifemates like we are. Really, every conceivable pairing has happened. Two Alphas being together for example or two Betas, even two Omegas, although that doesn't happen very often as they tend to gravitate towards someone with a stronger and more authoritative personality, like a Beta although it's usually an Alpha that they end up with, just not always."
"You know this might be a rather silly question, but how do you know who's in overall charge if you have two Alphas together or even two Betas? I mean I can understand who's in charge when it's an Alpha and Beta together or an Alpha and Omega or a Beta and an Omega, but when you're basically the same rank how do you tell who's in overall charge?" Spencer asked genuinely curious.
"No question is silly, Spencer," Hotch told his mate gently. "This is stuff that you should've learned as a pup, which is only one of the many ways your father failed in his duty to you and your brothers. You're just learning all this stuff now, stuff you should have been taught back when you were about 10 or 11, or even earlier considering how intelligent the three of you were. Learning that stuff at ten or eleven isn't set in stone it's just usually when it's done as you need to learn to read, write and the like first.
"And since most children don't learn to read until six or seven much less write that's why it's not done until 10 or 11," Spencer said and Hotch nodded in confirmation.
"Anyway back to your original question, as to how you tell who's in overall charge when two wolves of the same rank are together and the answer is really quite simple. When two wolves of the same basic rank get together whether that's as Lifemates or just because they fall in love, one Alpha usually has a weaker personality than the other and the same goes for two Betas or two Omegas and therefore, the one with the most forceful personality is in overall charge unless there is some kind of an emergency where the one with the weaker personality needs to take over, temporarily or even permanently depending on the circumstances."
"That makes sense," Spencer said wondering why that had never occurred to him as it really did make perfect sense just as he'd told Aaron.
"Don't dwell on the fact that it didn't occur to you," Hotch added after a moment seeing how Spencer was contemplating the fact that he hadn't figured it out for himself when it was pretty obvious. "You're still learning this stuff a little bit at a time and you will be for at least another couple years and probably longer than that, because we don't have time for formal lessons with our jobs and everything else we have going on. I'm sure the reason would have occurred to you eventually, since I did explain about how some Alphas, and Betas have weaker personalities than others. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you're still learning things about werewolves that I grew up knowing, just because I grew up in a pack, for the rest of your life. Some things aren't going to occur to either one of us that you should know until a situation comes up and it practically slaps both of us in the face with the obviousness of it."
Spencer shot Aaron a grateful look and Hotch smiled in return.
"You're doing very well learning all this stuff considering that you didn't start your education until just a year ago and a half," Hotch added after moment. "You pick up things at warp speed and you never forget thanks to your eidetic memory, which is a bonus. Really, you need to give yourself a break, as you've already learned a lot just in the last year."
"But I hate feeling like an idiot or at least that I should already know these things and don't. Other werewolves ask me something in particular, something I can't answer or I overhear somebody's conversation or observe something I don't understand. Sure, I know I'm intelligent and people keep telling me that I'm a genius, even though I don't believe intelligence can be quantified, but I feel like I'm lagging so far behind when it comes to knowing things that everybody else in the pack knows, because it was taught to them as pups, that I'll never catch up."
"You're not an idiot Spencer," Hotch told him sternly. "If you overhear or observe something from now on that you don't understand, then ask me and I'll be happy to explain it to you. As for those werewolves that ask you something that you don't know the answer to and then look at you as if you're stupid, well, you need to remember that they don't know your history and how you were made an outcast from your own pack when you were just a pup.
"Trust me, most wolves would be genuinely horrified if they knew you had been thrown out of your home pack for no reason other than the Alpha hated your guts. To be thrown out of your pack is a shame and a sin, but it's only supposed to happen when a werewolf has done something that warrants such a punishment and as I told you back when we first met. No, wolf under the age of 18 is ever made an outcast as you must be at least that old to be thrown out of the pack legitimately or at least that's usually the case, but Burke is apparently, breaking all the laws to suit his own ego, laws that have been in place for centuries.
"What Mack Burke did broke our laws, which you know already and I guarantee you if he isn't already overthrown and dead then I will be dealing with him and no one in the pack will stop me, because I'll be following pack law, the original ones not Burke's version of them. As I said before I am perfectly within my rights to deal with Burke in my own way and in this case that means his death.
"It doesn't even matter that I am not part of that particular pack I'm still a werewolf that's following pack laws, which is the same for every pack at least those here in the United States and what you said about not catching up? Trust me, you will catch up fast and while these feelings of inadequacy are understandable, you also need to understand that what you don't know about our species is in no way your fault, as that responsibility lies solely with your father. Your father is a no good mangy cur! That scumsucking, lazy, asshole bastard, doesn't deserve the distinction of being a werewolf. Your father acts more human than he does a wolf as wolves believe in honesty and fighting the Alpha leader openly and not betraying one of their own pack, particularly their family, which is exactly what your father did to you and your brothers."
"Well, I've never heard you cuss so much not even at the particularly stubborn asshole LEO's who do their best to prevent us from doing our jobs just because they don't want us there," Spencer said with a smile as he gazed up into the face of his mate adoringly, before leaning down and kissing Hotch on the side of the neck just as Aaron had done to him earlier. "I love you, Aaron, thank you for caring so much."
"You're more than welcome, although there is really no need to thank me at all for I'm only doing what any werewolf would do for their mate or even just their spouse," Hotch said, even as he put his arm around his mate's still slender shoulders, pulling him close. Spencer had gained quite a bit of muscle in his arms and legs in the last year and his body had also filled out nicely because he had started eating much more than he had been used to as a child and then a young man. Although, Spencer wasn't really naturally athletic he had taken to using the gym that Aaron had upstairs in one of the empty guestrooms and the two men often exercised together. Hotch absolutely adored his mate's body even more now than he had the first time he had seen his, Spencer naked. Thanks to all the exercise that Spencer had been doing his stamina had also improved a great deal and now he could often outlast him when the two of them made love. It was a change that Hotch had no intention of complaining about, since he absolutely loved his mate's increased stamina in bed.
"Since you are my Lifemate though, my protective feelings are probably five or even ten times as strong, because if you're just married there is no bond, except those of mutual respect and love, which is normal for any married couple. A Lifemate bond though is of a higher order, because a werewolf can lose a spouse and while they will grieve they won't kill themselves at least mostly. However, for one of our kind to lose their Lifemate, well, you know that usually leads to the death of the one that remains."
"Yes," Spencer said softly. "I've heard you say that before and I happen to agree, because I know I wouldn't live long if you were killed in the line of duty for instance. Just as I told the team awhile back to lose you would utterly destroy me."
"Just as it would me if anything were to happen to you," Hotch agreed immediately kissing the top of Spencer's head.
Spencer buried his face in the side of Aaron's neck and inhaled his scent, which always soothed him when he was upset or just needed calming down a little.
"You know what just occurred to me?" Spencer said lifting his head from the side of Aaron's neck.
"What is that?" Hotch asked lazily his head leaning back against the couch.
"Well, from what I can find out about this Lynda Boyle she's apparently lived in Las Vegas all her life, which means that she has to be human, because I don't remember any Boyles in the pack and I definitely don't remember her at all. Of course, I realize I didn't know every single werewolf in the pack since there was around 300 to 400 of them, but with my memory I would at least remember her face, so I believe that she's human and that's the theory I'm going to go with until proven otherwise."
"That hadn't occurred to me either, so you are correct, but in our defense we have been rather distracted so I suppose it's understandable," Hotch agreed with a smile. "If she is indeed human as you suspected earlier its surprising that she's having so many pups, because most humans stick to two or three at the most with occasional large family of four to five."
"But she's married to a werewolf so that's bound to make a difference," Spencer pointed out. "After all, it was you that told me werewolf families tend to be large unless something prevents the woman from having too many children. You told me back when we first met that a dozen to fifteen was about average in a werewolf family. "
"Yes, that's true enough," Hotch admitted. "Not all werewolf families are so large just those where the parents have good jobs or come from old family money or have made a lot of money themselves by owning their own business or by investing wisely, where they can afford to have that many pups. However, while your father and his wife can likely afford to have a dozen pups or more thanks to their very successful careers, Lynda just doesn't strike me as the mothering type, even if I said earlier that she could have wanted a lot of children. If she is human like you believe, most of the ones who tend to be very successful, also tend not to want large families, although that's not always true, just that usually very successful women want a pup or two, but not a horde of them. Of course, since I've never met her I can't say for certain whether or not she wanted so many or if your father just hasn't been using protection or if Lynda isn't using the pill, the ones that prevent pregnancy. Now if Lynda is a werewolf it's different as most werewolf females want large families, but then again they usually have the entire pack to help look after any pups, which is why werewolf females don't mind having a dozen or more."
"Well, I don't blame most human women for not wanting to go through the pain of childbirth more than two or three times," Spencer said, "and you know that my very well be the reason why most human women don't have more than two or three children, because from what I've read childbirth is an extremely painful process."
"That's a good point," Hotch said. "So basically, what you're saying is this Lynda is likely able to handle the pain of childbirth better then a lot of women."
"Or they could be drugging her up with a epidermal, which lessens the the pain considerably," Spencer said. "By the way, your comment of a minute ago about my father using protection, well, let me tell you now that from what I can remember of my father he used to be very irresponsible. I remember overhearing a conversation between father and mom back when I was about six and it was less than a year before he left his family. My father wanted more pups hoping that they would turn out more to his liking, but my mother, who was ill by then, refused saying that three was more than enough. My mother's schizophrenia wasn't too bad back so long ago and so she was more lucid most of the time then she was in later years. I remember that she would have these moments where she would just stare off into space for the longest time, before coming back to herself not realizing that any time had passed at all, but back then those episodes were few and far between. I didn't know back then that my mother was already on medication and she would've had to go off it in order to have more children, because taking the medicine she was on while she was pregnant would likely have had a detrimental effect on the fetuses. It wasn't a sure thing, but mom didn't want to take the risk. I suspect now that father had been urging mom for several years to have more children, but that she kept refusing."
"Probably," Hotch said after a minute. "Most of our kind whether male or female have this nearly irresistible urge to have as many pups as possible, some more and some less, of course. It seems to be a species imperative to reproduce, which seems to be much stronger then the human one. That was probably at least part of the reason that your father left, although it's not the whole cause as your mother's illness played a part in that as well."
"But where does that leave us?" asked Spencer. "I mean if the wolf imperative is to have as many pups as possible doesn't that mean that you should be unhappy with the fact that you can't have any at all with me?"
"Of course not," Hotch told Spencer quite sternly. "Sure, I would love to be able to reproduce with you, and sure I've never fathered any children of my own. However, my half siblings I am raising as my own has answered that particular biological imperative, even if I didn't father them. Besides, it is a way for us to reproduce you know although it's incredibly expensive."
"You're talking about the IVF process," Spencer said catching on immediately.
"Yes, I am and have been turning the idea over in my head for the last few months. Of course, if we decide to go that route the baby or babies will only have one of our DNA's or we could decide to both donate DNA and hopefully, we'd get at least half a dozen pups out of the process and I certainly have the money to afford it."
"Well, if I do agree to do it I only want to go through the process once as I hear it's long and complicated and we're going to have to find some female to carry the fetuses and I certainly am not close enough to any to even consider going that route, well except for JJ."
"Well, the reason I thought of it in the first place is I had a friend of mine who's married approach me with the idea and agreed to carry the fetus or fetuses. She's mated like we are and she and her husband agreed that if we wanted to go that route that she would be willing to be the carrier."
"Wow! That's very nice of your friends," Spencer said amazed at the couples generosity.
"Their names are Thierry and Anastasia Delacroix and you've met them a few times on full moons," Hotch said. "As for the reason they're willing to do this for us is because I kind of introduced them as Thierry was new to the area when we met. We became instant friends, and I'm the one that introduced him to Rolf as well as Anastasia. In any case, Anastasia was a longtime friend of mine and in fact she was one of those that chased me quite seriously at one point, but that immediately stopped when she laid eyes on Thierry for the first time."
"So they feel they owe you a favor for introducing them," Spencer said and Hotch nodded.
"That is one caveat however," Hotch said.
"What's that?" asked Spencer with a raised eyebrow.
"They both agreed that, though Anastasia is willing to carry the embryos for us we will have to get the eggs from somewhere else."
Spencer thought about that for a moment and then said, "That makes complete sense considering you told me awhile back that female werewolves like to know who their pups belong to for the most part, although you did say that there were exceptions."
"Also another caveat is that they are only willing to do this once and if we want more pups after this we'll have to find another surrogate."
"I think that's reasonable," Spencer said immediately. "Your two friends are willing to do us an incredible favor, by carrying multiple fetuses, which isn't for sissies so I can certainly understand their point of view. If we do decide to take them up on their offer I'm not sure how I'm ever going to be to thank them for it."
"You don't need to as they are already aware that I'm very grateful to them just for making the offer and they already know that you are as well, because I knew you'd want to thank them for the opportunity and you know if we want our pups to have both of our DNAs I can ask one of my sisters to donate and I'm sure one of them would be willing."
"Now that's an idea I hadn't thought of," Spencer said looking thoughtful. "I say that if one of your sisters is willing to donate a few eggs then go for it."
"If we do it that way we'll have to be very careful," Hotch said.
"What do you mean?" asked Spencer with a raised eyebrow.
"I just mean that we'll have to make sure the doctor doesn't extract more eggs from my sister then we're going to inject into Anastasia. We don't need one or more of my sisters eggs to end up in some egg bank, because she's not completely human and us werewolves never donate sperm or eggs to a bank like that since we can't allow humans to find out about us, well outside those that marry into the pack, of course. If we do it that way one of us needs to be present for that extraction and whatever doctor we choose we need to do a background check on to make sure they're completely honest with no criminal record, not that that's a guarantee of someone's honesty, but still it does reduce the risk."
"Wow! That sounds complicated," Spencer said looking thoughtful, "It'll be worth it though to have a few pups with both our DNAs."
"It will," Hotch immediately agreed smiling at the thought.
"So how many fetuses has your friend Anastasia agreed to carry?" asked Spencer.
"Up to six, which is normally the maximum number that any werewolf female can have at one time with a few rare exceptions, like my mother."
"Wow!" Spencer whistled appreciatively. "Those are some friends you have."
"Well, Anastasia and Thierry are younger than I am, although they're older than you as both are around 27 or 28 and so she is still young and healthy and should be able to go through a pregnancy without any problems."
"Well, you're right then they're not that much older than I am, only three or four years. I would think though that they would not want to do this and just have pups of their own."
"Oh, they already have a few," Hotch said with a grin, "as they met about five years ago and I know they're planning on having a few more after this, so they are just in-between having pups right now that's all."
"So how many do they have?" asked Spencer
"Five," Hotch answered immediately. "They had triplets first, two girls and a boy which happened soon after they had met and gotten married, within just a month or so if I'm remembering correctly, and then they had twin boys just two years ago now. I know they were discussing about having more when I happened to mention to them that we both thought it was a shame that we couldn't have pups of our own naturally and until then I hadn't even thought about the fact that we could use IVF. I'd heard of IVF of course, but it never occurred to me that that could be our solution."
"Well, I'm willing if you really want to go through with it," Spencer said. "If we can't get one of your sisters to donate the eggs required then we'll just do it the normal way and go to an egg bank, although that's not my favorite option because we have no idea what kind of problems might pop up from using some strange woman's eggs instead of someone you know. Yes, the doctors do a thorough medical examination and ask numerous questions, but that doesn't mean they don't miss things."
"You're forgetting that a werewolf can't get a lot of human diseases mostly because of our higher body temperature," Hotch said. "Our species averages at least 2 to 3° higher than a human, and you know that if a human had a temperature of a 101 or 102, well, he would be very sick, but for our kind it's perfectly normal."
"Well, yes, my body temperature is always about 101 and yet I've never been sick a day in my life at least not that I can remember," Spencer admitted. "I've never even had a cold or the flu and neither have my brothers and you would think we have have at least once as children considering that we didn't eat properly from the time we were seven."
"A temperature of 101 is perfectly normal for werewolf pups," Hotch assured him. "We tend to be extremely healthy individuals, even as pups, not that there are not exceptions to every rule, but for the most part..."
"We're just extremely healthy from the moment we are born," Spencer said and Hotch nodded.
"It's been theorized for centuries that the reason our body heat is so high is to allow for the transformation and is also what keeps us so healthy and from catching most diseases, the ones that have to do with the body anyway. Of course, it's just a theory as we haven't exactly done a lot of scientific testing since we must keep our species a secret from most of the human race."
"I hadn't thought that far ahead yet, but it's a relief to know that my werewolf DNA should protect whatever children we have from most diseases, if we have to use some strange woman's eggs from a bank instead of one or your sisters."
"I don't think getting one of my sisters to contribute will be a problem," Hotch said. "There are a couple that are mated just like we are, but the others should be willing. Normally, no werewolf would agree to donate the eggs to someone else so they could have pups, but since they are my sisters and we want our pups to be related to both of us I believe that they will see the wisdom in it."
"We can make whoever donates the eggs the godmother," Spencer suggested, "which means that whichever of your sisters does it will have a major part in whatever children we have lives."
"That's a very good suggestion and it might just get one of them to agree that much quicker," said Hotch kissing his mate on the lips. "I believe those that we can shelf the rest of this discussion for later as I want you! Now!"
At Hotch's command, Spencer shot up off the couch making sure to put his laptop on the coffee table and then shot upstairs like a bullet, which made Hotch smirk in satisfaction for apparently his, Spencer wanted him just as much as he did his mate.
Of course, to be technical he never stopped wanting his mate at all he was just able to control it, when he had to, but there was no need to control himself now as they didn't have to go to work until Monday and so he and Spencer could make love for the next day and a half if they so desired.
Hotch smirked again and strolled confidently up the stairs heading to the master bedroom where he knew Spencer would be waiting eagerly, already buck naked, laying spreadeagled on the bed and he had no intention of making his mate wait for him any longer.
~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~
