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Like A Magnet

The question of what the fuck Eggsy was missing made lunch that much more awkward to get through. After Taron had tried and failed to smooth down all of Lauren's feathers as they escorted her out to her car Eggsy had asked Taron what the fuck all the weird looks he'd given him before were about. Taron had just looked at him for a long minute of silence and then stated that he'd explain after lunch. Said it while giving him a look that Eggsy had seen enough times in the mirror to know that he wasn't getting nothing out of his uncle until Taron was good and ready ta spill the beans.

So he'd been left wondering and when they'd got back into the house Uncle Addy had started to make some arsehole remark about it being a good thing Harry hadn't been around to see-that was when Taron had cut him off by telling Addison they had a serious problem they'd need to discuss after lunch. Until then Lauren was not to be discussed. Or else. And Uncle Taron had one hell of a 'or else' expression. He intended to study and emulate it. And of course that just wracked up Eggsy's curiosity to a fever pitch, especially since the look on his older brother's face convinced Addison to actually do as he was told without arguing. Which of course only made Eggsy want to learn the look more.

All that...and lunch with his mum and Rachel. His strung out, sulking, glaring at everyone mother. Who saved the worst of her looks for Rachel, who was full of smiles and tales of the delightful morning she and Daisy had spent together. Stories she told while pointedly ignoring Eggsy mother in a way that made it clear the two women had talked at some point. And really, really didn't like each other.

There was also the fact that normally his mum would have tried to charm Uncle Taron at the very least, especially since he looked so much like Eggsy and was the one who controlled the money as the patriarch of the family. The fact that she wasn't...well that said to Eggsy the two had talked at some point while he wasn't around. And that hadn't gone well either. Uncle Taron was polite and tried to include Eggsy's mum in the various conversations made over the table as they ate their lunch, but Eggsy got the vibe that had more to do with good breeding and manners than Uncle Taron actually having any interest in getting to know Eggsy's mum. Which also raised the question of whether either or both of his uncles had heard some of Eggsy and his mom's fights last night. Given their super wolf hearing the odds were high. As were the odds that the two now liked his mum about as much as Harry did. Which was not at all.

Man. Family holidays were going to be so much fun from now on.

Not that they'd ever really had the money to really celebrate any of them before this. Or been in the right frame of mind to celebrate the way happy families did anyway. But if his mum went into rehab and really tried...and if wishes were horses than beggars would ride.

And what the hell was up with that Lauren chick? Why the hell was she a 'big problem' according to Uncle Taron? She hadn't looked like one. A nymphomaniac, maybe, but Taron hadn't gotten the sense that she was a threat beyond potential molestation. And also what had been up with her reaction to him not being in to her? I mean yeah, she was pretty fine, but he'd seen better. In person. And while the world and women in particular liked to suggest men thought with their dicks ninety percent of the time Eggsy didn't get the sense that her confusion and disbelief was just because he hadn't been interested in getting naked with her. It had been more than that. He just didn't know what piece of the puzzle he was missing. Which irked the hell out of him.

On the A side...the food was good. Though his mum only picked at hers.

But finally the meal was winding down and Daisy started to fuss a little in the highchair that had mysteriously appeared for her use. In response Rachel immediately scooped her up and announced that she was going to go get Daisy a cold soother to suck on and rub some more ointment into her poor little gums. Eggsy's mum got up too, Eggsy watching her open her mouth to no doubt say something about Daisy being her daughter, not the healer's, but Rachel sent her a look that-yeah, you didn't argue with that level of 'Mum glare'. To do so was to take your life into your feeble hands.

No one was surprised when Eggsy's mum stated she was going back upstairs to lie down for a while. She had a headache.

And with the women out of the room and hearing range...

"So what the fuck were all those looks about, huh?"

"Outside."

Jerking his head to indicate that they were to follow him Taron pushed back his chair and then led the way through the house in silence until they were outside and nearly at the tree line.

"All right, Taron, what the hell? The Hobbes' are small time and even if the fucker sent the twit here to get in the boy's trousers that's not a big problem. Annoying as fuck, yeah, but not something you need to go all serious about. So what am I missing?"

"Eggsy didn't go stupid over her."

"Oi! I am datin Harry, remember? Sorta." They hadn't actually been on a date per say, but orgasms had been had and Eggsy was planning for more in the future. And dates too.

And the way Addison was staring at him really made Eggsy want to punch him, which was why he turned his attention to his older uncle to ask him 'what the fuck?'.

"Eggsy...the big problem is that you should have reacted a hell of a lot more strongly to a submissive almost in heat giving you 'I'm all yours' signals. Pretty much any-"

"In heat? Like in heat, in heat? Like in fanfiction?"

Taron nodded. "It's one of the reasons our numbers are so low. It is possible for our women and maternal dominants to get pregnant when they aren't in heat, but the odds are extremely low. And no, it's not like fanfiction. We don't turn into mindless nymphomaniacs desperate to shag anyone. Our scents just kick up other wolves' sex drives and give us amazing recovery time. Even at my age. Just for a day or two unless we have a mate. Then it last about three to five days depending again on age."

"Ah...so do dominants have these heats to or..."

"Dominants go into heat only when their mates do. And since you brought up fanfiction-by mate I mean your wolf's mate. Not necessarily man you's. Your mother was your father's wife, not his mate. She had no wolf for his to bond with. Which is not to say he didn't love her, Eggsy. Just that it was different from what I'm talking about. When a wolf decides that another wolf is his or her mate it isn't love at first sight or soulmates. It's an instinctual thing that's..." Taron travelled off, brows knitted.

"A crap shot." Was Addison's opinion.

"It's complicated. And we'll come back to that. The point is that an unmated wolf your age should have been all over her. Your eyes should have dilated, your scent should have changed to indicate serious sexual interest, and your wolf should have been itching to get close to breathe in her scent and rub up against her. At the very least. But you...she got you a little riled, but no more than I would have expected-if you were an older, mated wolf."

"Shit." Addison drew his attention over to them, the grouch looking particularly annoyed as he rubbed a hand over his face. "When I was giving Hart a hard time about Eggsy following him around like a puppy he said something about Eggsy only being interested in him because he was the first person Eggsy's wolf liked too. Eggsy told him that his wolf had never been sexually attracted to anyone. The opposite, in fact."

"Wot? He said that?" They were going to have words when his sexy wolf got back.

Taron growled. "Dammit. This family really is cursed."

"We are not cursed."

"We are so fucking cursed, Addy. Only our fucked up family could-Jesus, he would have only been five at the oldest!"

"There's been younger documented. And Hart was an adult."

"OI! Wot the fuck are you two goin on about?"

The look his uncles gave him...

"Shit. Am I dyin or somethin?"

Moving in closer Taron put a hand on Eggsy's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "You're not dying, no. Or at least we're going to do everything in our power to make sure that you don't end up dead any time soon. The problem...well it's one our family seems to encounter with regularity. You, actually, might be the first in a while to even stand a-we have shit luck when it comes to mates. They either don't want us or not for long. Not for keeps."

"Wot's that got to do with..." Oh. He hadn't behaved the way his uncles and Lauren had thought he would when he'd met her. Uncle Taron had said he'd acted like a mated wolf. He was way into Harry even though they'd only just met...

"The fact that your wolf might think Harry's is its ideal mate is problematic on two levels. First there's the fact that our family has shit luck in that regard. The second is that...you have to court Harry now on top of everything else."

It took Eggsy's brain a few moments to comprehend. "I gotta what?"

"Dominant and submissive males always recognize it first. That their wolf thinks he's found their mate. But the maternal dominants and females tend to catch on pretty quickly. Wolves aren't subtle when they think they've found the one. If Harry figures it out before you start courting him he'll think your human side doesn't want him and-"

"Kiss whatever small chance you have buh bye." Addison interrupted.

"He has a chance. I've never seen Hart act the way he does around Eggsy!"

"You aren't around much."

"Shut it, Addy." Taron gave his brother an impressive death glare. "Just because Fate fucked us over doesn't mean it will him. Especially with me helping him."

"Keeping him alive is more important than playing cupid."

"True. But-"

Brain mostly on board now and very confused, Eggsy held up quelling hands in his uncles' directions before they could really get going. "Wait a minute. Hold the fucking phone. New wolf here. EXPLAIN!"

Naturally Addison wanted to know what he needed explained.

"EVERYTHING!" A moment of pause. "From Uncle Taron."

"That's wise." Taron agreed.

)

So it took nearly an hour but Eggsy got the just of the FUBAR situation he found himself in. Apparently while still a child his wolf had probably, despite being in a mostly dormant state, decided that Harry Hart should be his mate. That was why his wolf had always had such a problem with everyone Eggsy's human half had shown sexual interest in. Wolves mated for life and didn't screw around. This was also why Eggsy's wolf was so protective and sexually aggressive where Harry was concerned. Probably why he'd trusted Harry so quickly with Daisy and everything else too. Oh, and for some weird reason Eggsy's wolf's feelings were so strong for Harry that the stupid thing didn't consider Harry a good candidate for his mate. No, he saw him as HIS mate already. Which was a mindset that tended to piss maternal dominants off to a serious fucking degree because they were just as dominant and didn't like to be told what was right for them.

And now that his 'human' side was aware of his wolf's intentions where Harry was concerned Eggsy now had to 'court' both Harry's wolf and human side. Proving to both sides of Harry that he was worthy of him. This involved gifts, romantic gestures, and demonstrations of his ability to provide, protect, and procreate. Also bonus, now that Eggsy's human side was aware of the situation his wolf's behavior, physical cues, and scent would quickly make his intentions known. And if Harry realized Eggsy's wolf wanted to mate with him before Eggsy made his interest known this could be seen as extremely insulting. Like he didn't think Harry was worthy of him or some such shite. And the longer he waited to start courting the quicker he'd get his arse handed to him.

Oh, and apparently his family had terrible fucking luck when it came to their love lives AND Harry had been unsuccessfully 'courted' thirty-eight times in the past that his uncles knew about. Twenty-two of them claiming their wolf felt the 'mate bond' between them. Because feeling the bond didn't mean they were soulmates or meant for each other either. If both wolves felt it then yeah, you were usually golden with your human halves falling into line too. But if only you felt it and the other didn't...well then you were fucking screwed. Especially in Eggsy's case since his wolf seemed to be of the mind that only Harry would do.

All that on top of the fact that his evil great uncle might soon try and have him killed while he had to learn how to fight and function within a pack.

And get his mum into rehab.

And...and he was so fucking screwed.

)

It had been far too long since Harry had read 'The Paper Bag Princess'. Or any of Robert Munsch's works for that matter. A mistake he was pleased to remedy as he delighted his rapt audience with the tale of Princess Elizabeth as she sought to rescue her fiancé Prince Ronald from a dragon. A task made that much worse by the fact that she had to do it while wearing a paper bag thanks to the dragon's decision to destroy not just her castle, but her wardrobe as well. A deed that added quite the insult to considerable injury in Harry's books. If he'd been Elizabeth Harry would have killed the dragon for the loss of clothing alone. Not to mention finding a paper bag big enough to cover someone his size, even when he'd been a child himself...

But thankfully he didn't have to look for alternative clothing at the moment. Though that might change in the near future since one's clothes did tend to get messy or stained when one was dealing with small children. He would have dressed down if he'd known, but originally he'd been called in by Merlin to discuss Kingsman business. It was only as he'd been leaving that he happened to pass by the pack's daycare, catching sight of the chaos within in the process. A toy thrown through a window during a temper tantrum had resulted in broken glass and three children requiring medical attention. Minor injuries, thankfully, but between that and having to clean up the resulting mess the staff had been in desperate need of some help.

Naturally he'd agreed to help out, shepherding the uninjured children off to the reading nook to distract them with their favorite books. Thankfully the majority of them had excellent taste in children's literature.

This was the fourth book they'd read and Harry had just reached the part where Elizabeth was yelling in the exhausted dragon's ear when inside his mind his wolf pricked up its ears, telling him before Eggsy's scent reached his nose moments later that the other man was nearby. The question of why that was flittered across Harry's mind, but mostly it was occupied with wondering just how the hell his wolf had become so in tune with Eggsy's already.

Reading on autopilot Harry forced himself to keep his attention on the pages until Elizabeth happily danced off into the sunset without her bum of a fiancé, showing all the children the picture in question before announcing that that was the end. Only then did he allow himself to look off to the side where Eggsy stood watching them, leaning up against a wall with a soft expression on his face. The look doing something to Harry's insides that had butterflies erupting in his stomach and made his wolf wiggle in...anticipation?

And picking up on the fact that they no longer had his full attention the six children he was supposed to be entertaining all turned their heads to study the stranger in their midst.

"He looks like Mr. Taron." Four-year-old Clarissa stated with interest.

"He's pretty." Lily 'whispered'. Which, given that she was toddler, meant they all heard her easily.

Smiling at everyone Eggsy strolled over with his hands in his pockets. "Hello, Sprogs. I'm Eggsy. Would ya mind if I joined ya in listenin ta Harry's stories?"

"We're not frogs." Three-year-old Richard looked indignant. "We're wolves!"

"He said sprogs. It's slang for children." Clarissa smugly informed the younger boy, looking down her nose at him. Then she aimed a beaming smile at Eggsy. "I'm Clarissa Bolton Finch. You can sit beside me."

The little girl gave the toddler sitting next to her a look that told him to move. Now.

Eyes dancing with amusement Eggsy thanked her and came over to pick up the toddler who'd begun shuffling over to make room, settling the little boy into his lap as he sat down on the carpet. The little boy, a submissive, most likely, immediately snuggled in against Eggsy chest, burying his face there. Possibly so he wouldn't have to meet Clarissa's jealous stare.

Eggsy mouthed a 'Hi' in Harry's direction, giving him a cheeky wink.

Up close Harry could see the hint of bruising on the left side of Eggsy's jaw and had no doubt there were plenty of other bruises hidden by the boy's clothing. But he hadn't moved like he' been injured badly enough for Taron to call off the afternoon's training, so just what was he doing here?

"It's my turn now." Richard reminded him, pointing at the book he'd picked out.

"Of course."

Questioning Eggsy would have to wait.