Demonic Regime

Chapter 7: Soft

The solid black pup who was fast asleep in my mate's arm was a welcome addition to our little family. Rudy was practically climbing my leg, so he could see his new brother.

"Up, up." He lifted his arms.

I picked up my son and showed him the tiny pup.

"This is Drake, Rudy," said Marcy.

Rudy giggled and crawled across my mate's legs. "Cute." He grinned at her. "I hold." The nearly two-year-old held out his arms.

I moved Rudy next to his mother, so he could have his turn holding his brother. He laughed and laid his head against Drake. "Soft, Mommy." He petted the baby's arm.

We both chuckled.

"Yes, babies have really soft fur."

Rudy touched his hair. "I soft."

Marcy smiled and nuzzled the boy's head. "Yes, you have soft fur, too."

The boy giggled and hugged his brothers. "So cute."

"That is his new favorite word," I laughed.

Marcy sighed. "When my family came, they kept saying Rudy is so cute." She bumped the boy with her nose. "And you are—my two cute boys."

"It mine, Mommy?" He looked at Marcy.

"He's your brother. Drake, that's his name."

Rudy laughed. "My baby."

"Yes, your baby."

I smiled at the boys. "He's taking this better than I thought. Most pups freak out when they get a sibling."

"I think it helps that Drake is so soft." She brushed her finger along the pup's head fur. "We'll have to make sure he doesn't treat the baby like one of his stuffed animals."

Rudy wiggled in right next to his mother, looking rather content.

"Can I hold him?" I asked.

Rudy pushed my hands away. "No, mine."

I scoffed at the remarking, pretending to be hurt. "You won't share with me?"

"No." Rudy shook his head. "My baby."

Marcy hugged the boys and swayed from side to side. "You're going to have to wait your turn, dear."

"Can't even hold my own pup." I dropped into the chair next to the bed with a sigh. "I have such a stingy son." I grabbed his foot and gave it a squeeze.

Rudy kicked his legs.

"Fallon," said Marcy as Drake whined.

"No, Daddy," said Rudy. "My baby." He pretended to hush the pup with his mother. "So cute."

They were both very cute. I smiled to myself. I was kind of glad that Rudy got a little brother that would be highly ranked. The older Rudy got, the more I worried that the other pups were going to start noticing that he was different. Drake would be a good support if his older brother didn't smother him first.

***

"Let me see the little dominant." Andreas held out his arms to Marcy. "This one seems a bit too furry."

"Ha. Ha." I glared at him.

The new alpha chuckled. "He's going to be a tough pup. Look at his fur."

Drake yawned and fell back asleep.

"My baby," stated Rudy. "Mine."

"Is this your brother?"

"No, mine!" said Rudy. "Alpha, give me." He held out his arms.

Rolling my eyes, I picked up my son. "He's a bit obsessed. I barely get to hold Drake with Rudy around."

"He's just protecting his baby," laughed Andreas. "He's perfect, Marcy. You make adorable pups." He handed the baby back to my mate. "Sunny is in the parlor. I told her I'd send you back once you got here."

"Thank you, Andreas." She nodded and turned to me. "Don't drink too much."

"What? I don't."

"You get carried away when you're celebrating something with Andreas. Wait until after dinner, at least." She hurried off.

"No!" Rudy fought to be put down. "No, Mommy! My baby."

"We'll take care of Rudy," I said after her. "So, Sunny actually gets to hold Drake."

Rudy started screaming as we took him into the den. Andreas went to the bar while I wrestled Rudy to keep him from running away.

"He really is obsessed with the pup," the alpha chuckled.

"He's going through a phase with soft things." I put Rudy on my lap and held up a finger. "Stay."

Groaning, he melted across my legs.

"Drake is the softest thing in the house at the moment."

Rudy climbed up and stood at my side. "Mommy took baby."

"I know, Rudy. Mommy will bring him back, and you can hold him again."

He screamed with delight, startling me, until I noticed Andreas was holding out a piece of candy. Rudy grabbed it and plopped down on the couch. I took the glasses from the alpha and had a sip. It burned.

"Wow, that's strong."

"Marcy said not to drink too much, so I upped the percentage," he laughed. "So, how's the new baby doing?"

I shrugged. "As expected. Little sleep and double the work." I glanced at Rudy. "Hector finally stopped hovering."

Andreas scoffed. "They went on a trip. He'll be back. My mom informed me he wasn't planning on going far for at least another year. He's too worried I'll fuck the whole pack up. I've been alpha for almost a year, so I think I've figured it out by now."

"He's mad about you repealing the law."

"Yeah, and because of him, no one is taking it up. Expand your horizon, for god sake. We have thousands of solid humans to choose from. It pisses me off." He shook his head and finished off his glass. "I can't take the pack to new levels if we don't liven up the gene pool. We took humans as mates for thousands of years. If we weren't meant to, humans would stay as human after we mark them."

I nodded, letting out a deep breath. "Give it time."

Andreas looked thoroughly annoyed. "Wolfsbane has this big production when humans experience their first moon. We used to do it, too. I had them do maintenance on the skylight in the grand foyer. My father had them weld the damn thing shut." Standing, he went to refill his glass. "Maybe I should build some damn auditorium like Wolfsbane and make a spectacle of it. We practically had to cut a section out of the roof because of him."

"Don't provoke Hector," I replied, rubbing my brow. "The pack still values his opinion. Give it time, and things will change. Who knows, maybe Max will take a human. The alpha line needs fresh blood, so we're not so worried about successors."

Andreas nodded. "You'd think my father would understand that. Sunny and I can't have pups. My sister was extremely lucky to get Max and nearly lost him several times. We breed for power to the point our bodies can't handle having a weakness." He slumped into the couch. "I think I found the next beta, thank god. That line is also having problems." He picked at his fur. "We can't continue like this."

Letting out a deep breath, I nodded. "I agree, but I'm also half-human."

"And you have two strong boys to show for it."

Rudy climbed off the couch and hurried over to the alpha. He rubbed his face in the alpha's fur. "So soft."

Andreas's mouth fell open. "What?"

The boy laughed and hugged the alpha. "Soft, like baby."

I tried to hold in my laughter and failed.

"Soft?" Andreas's ear tipped to the side. "Well, that's new."