Following Arat into the living room, she walked the elder woman out. Two other males approached them, offering to take over and walk her home. "Thank you."
"None needed." Arat smiled fondly at the woman, watching her walk back into the house. Waving her hand to the two males, they leaned down to her level. "She bares the alpha's mark."
Tony rolled her eyes at the woman's giggle. "She's a very attractive woman. For a human."
His brother nodded in agreement. "You think Alpha Barba will turn her?"
Arat smacked the boy over the shoulder. "Bite your tongue. That woman may be human, but she has more wolf than you two combined. Just you wait and see. Rafael could not have picked a more perfect mate."
"How is he?" Bao took a seat on the couch, glass of scotch in hand.
Olivia thought about ignoring him, but she also knew Barba was the one that called for him to be here. "Arat says the healing has kicked in. Nothing abnormal in his blood. Should be completely healed within a few hours."
"I am going to assume this was Stabler's doing." Bao took a sip of his drink, seeing the nod she gave him. "That pup has been nothing but trouble since he was turned. I knew he was brazen, but this was just plain stupidity."
"What was?"
"Going after Rafael." Bao made it sound as if that was the obvious reason. "First rule they teach you as a new pup, is never challenge the royals."
Olivia hadn't thought it be possible to be even more confused than she already was. Every day she was learning something new about Barba and his kind. "Royals?"
"Right, not of this world." Bao chuckled, placing the cup on the table. "Like every creature and creation, there has to be a first. In our case there are three first families. The Hotchners. The Barba's. And The Argents. The Argents were wiped out a few years ago. Hotchner used to be the last of his bloodline. That was until the birth of his sons."
"And Rafael?" Olivia asked.
"He's the last of his family." Bao muttered. "Well, the last one that can continue his bloodline. His mother does not count." He leaned forward with a raised brow. "You going to keep the line going?"
"Bao, stop talking." Barba stood at the entrance of his room. "I'm in enough pain as it is."
Olivia rushed over to him, placing a hand on his chest for support. "You should be in bed. Arat said it would take a few hours for you to heal."
"And leave you in the company of him?" He scoffed. "Besides, moving around will rush the process." Allowing her to lead him towards the couch, he took a seat across from his guest. "You're here early."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Bao grumbled.
Barba raised a brow. "It is. Free time on your hands is a dangerous thing."
"If you must know, I was simply passing by to let you know I was here. I was actually on my way to Rip's apartment." Bao said. "But to my surprise, you were a bloody mess."
"Old buddy of yours." Barba growled.
Olivia's phone vibrated at that moment. Pulling the interrupting device, she slid her hand down his arm and gestured towards the backyard. "It's Fin."
Bao's eyes followed the woman's retreat. "Stabler sure has balls I'll give him that."
"Should have neutered him when I had the chance." Grabbing the discarded scotch on the table, he shot it back. "I am hoping that after today he will have the brains to back off the pack and Olivia."
"So, Olivia." He leaned forward with a large grin. "She's human."
"She is."
"When do you plan on turning her?" Bao was surprised by the growl he received. "You're not?"
"No."
"Are you insane." Bao hissed lowly. "You can not have a human lead a pack. Marking her as a human is a problem in itself already, but we believed you would be turning her before mating."
"I am not turning her Bao." Barba was beginning to get tired of everyone having an opinion of his life. "And should anyone try to do so, I will not spare them." He was quick to add upon seeing the look on the younger man's face.
"Rafael you can't have a human living within the pack. Let alone lead and give you pups." Bao flinched back at the hand slamming on the table.
"Enough!" Barba roared. "Stop calling her a human. She is who I have chosen to be by my side. Lead my pack. The future mother of my children. If you are going to speak of her, it better damn well be with some respect."
Leaning back he gave the alpha an apologetic nod. "Forgive me. I was out of line." Pushing himself up off the couch, he grabbed his jacket. "I should get going. I will be back in a few days. Give us enough time to see if Stabler got the right message."
"Give Rip my love." Barba didn't bother in getting up or accompanying the man to the door. He shouldn't even be out of bed.
"Where did Bao go?" Olivia walked back in, shoving the phone into her pocket. Grabbing the bottle of scotch from the bar table, she handed it to Barba, taking a seat beside him.
"To see his partner." Pouring himself a drink, he leaned back against the couch. Rolling his head towards her. "What did you two talk about?"
"He gave me a history lesson on werewolves." Careful of his injuries, she curled up beside him. "So royalty?"
Barba snorted. "That's just what they call anyone with ties to the first families. Doesn't mean anything."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"There's nothing to tell." Seeing the curious look in her eyes, he huffed. "I am a descendent of the bloodline. It means nothing but the fact that my family was the first with the ability to turn back after shifting. So was Hotchner's family."
"Not talking about that." She said.
Barba frowned. "About what then?"
"Elliot." She sat sideways to face him. "Why didn't you tell me about him?"
Barba didn't have an answer for her. Why didn't he tell her? "I didn't-wasn't sure how. When I first crossed paths with him, was the first night I stayed at your place. He came looking for you. I didn't know who he was to you at first, not until Aaron did some digging."
"That was a year ago." Olivia said. "You had a year to tell me."
"You just learned about us a few days ago." Barba grumbled. "My priority at the moment was keeping him and his wolves away. It still is."
Olivia sighed, turning to sit forward. "What I don't understand is where did this fixation come from."
Barba tossed his head back against the couch. "That may have been my fault." He flinched the moment her eyes landed on him. "That night he came to your apartment, I was unable to control myself. When he said he was interested in you I made my claim. And he's been fighting against it since. Those wolves that broke into your apartment were his. The ones in the garage were his."
"What the hell did he think would happen if he managed to take me?" Olivia scoffed.
"I would have never let that happen." Raising his hand and sliding his finger into her hair, he felt her lean against him. Breaking their eye contact, he grabbed her by the waist and hauled her over his lap. "I will never let another man touch you." Pushing her hair away from her face, he cupped her jaw and pulled her in close. His mouth was just inches away from hers. "You're mine." He kissed her with the purpose of showing her just that.
"Ahem."
Breaking the kiss with an annoyed growl, Olivia looked over to find Aaron by the door. "Bad timing."
"Did you just growl at me?" Hotch scoffed a smile fighting to be let out. "I expect that from Rafael, he's an asshole, but you? I'm hurt, Benson."
Rolling her eyes, she climbed off Barba's lap. "Have you seen Noah?"
Aaron nodded. "He's in the front with the other pups."
"I'm going to go find him." Giving Barba a quick kiss on the lips and Hotch one on the cheek, she went in search of her wild pup.
Hotch took a seat across from Barba, looking over to ensure she was out of the room. "How did Bao react?"
"To what?"
"You not turning Olivia."
Barba looked at him through half-closed eyelids. He was tired of speaking over the same subject. "As you would have expected. He's just more animated about it."
"You have to understand them, Rafa. We have never allowed a human into our packs without the intention of turning them." Hotch said. "Much less as an alpha."
"Had this been anyone else I would have turned them, but not Olivia. Turning her would be nothing short of a mistake." Barba wasn't sure how to explain. He knew the moment he did, they would both regret it.
Hotch exhaled deeply. "This is going to bring many problems. Starting with Alex."
"He has no say in what I do. The only reason he is even allowed to be in the city is because we allowed him to."
"If you're going to keep going down this road, you will have to mate her soon. The quicker you do, the better."
Stepping out of the house, she instantly spotted Noah with a group of four boys and two girls around his age. They were sitting around a put-out fire pit. Walking over to them she picked up part of their conversation.
"Are you going to ask him?" A girl asked.
Noah shrugged. "I don't know. I would have to ask my mom first."
"It's not that bad." The boy next to him grinned, pulling his arm up to show him a bite. "Alpha Barba did this a month ago. The bite hurt, yeah, but only for like a second."
"Have you changed into a wolf yet?" Noah grabbed the boy's arm gently, examining the bite with wide eyes. "What did it feel like?"
"I had my first change yesterday." He answered. "I'm not going to lie it hurt. Alpha Barba was there the whole time talking me through it. He explained that the first two or three times I shift will hurt. My body needs to get used to changing."
Letting the boy's arm go, he glanced down at his own arm. Noah imagined the bite on his arm, wondering what it would look like. "How does it feel to be a wolf?"
"It's amazing!" The kid grinned. "It's something I have always wanted. My father is a wolf, but my mother was human when she was pregnant. Alpha Barba turned her before I was born. I came out human."
"Are there no humans in the pack?" Noah asked.
All the kids shook their heads. The oldest-looking one smiled. "It appears alpha Benson would be the first to join."
"Alpha Benson?" Noah was confused as to why they were calling her mother like that.
"Noah!" Olivia was quick to interrupt before they could say more.
The children jumped at the loud voice. Upon seeing the woman walking towards them, they fell to one knee. The boys tilted their heads to the side. As for the girls, they grabbed their hair to one side and bared their necks. Noah was confused by their actions, but then again a lot of it still confuses him.
"Mom!" Running over to her, he was pulled into a hug. "I thought you'd be at work?"
"I still am." She kissed him over the head. "Had to drop Rafael off and check on you."
"I'm fine mom." Pulling away from her, he took her hand and led her to the group of kids. They had taken their seats once more. "That's Rick." He pointed to the curly black-haired boy with green eyes. "The twin's Matt and May." Both had blonde hair with blue eyes. "Tony and his brother James." He gestured to the two brown-haired and brown-eyed boys. "And this is Dani, she's Angelous's daughter."
The girl looked up at her with the bright blue eyes Olivia had ever seen. "Hello."
"Hi, sweetie." Looking over at Tony, she spotted the bite on the boy's arm. "Rafael did that?"
"Yes alpha." He quickly lowered his sleeve.
Olivia smiled softly, kneeling beside him. "Can I see your arm?" With some hesitation, he raised his arm to her. Olivia grabbed the edge and rolled his sleeve back up. "If this is something you are proud of, never hide it from anyone."
A bright smile appeared on his lips. "Thank you alpha."
"Now, I have to get back to work." Kissing her son on the cheek, she stood up. "Noah, behave yourself until I come back."
"Yes, mom."
Walking away from her son, she went over the conversation she heard. Olivia was certain she did not want to be turned. As amazing as it sounded, it was not something she wanted. She wanted Rafael and she wanted to live in both his and her world. But as herself.
Stupidity she hadn't thought of her son's opinion. She didn't think about what her son might want to choose. She never even thought Noah was considering being turned. Hell, she didn't think he was aware of what was going on. Noah was 12 at the moment. Was that old enough to make a decision this size?
