This story contains m/m and m/f relationships and sex scenes.
Thanks once again for the votes and comments, it's always great to get feedback, and fun to see how you guys see the story and the characters, and particularly fun that I got to surprise you!
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4
When morning came the house was almost empty, but those present were on edge. Dill tried hard to keep Tilly calm, but she was almost more nervous than the rest of them and finding it hard to shut out the combination of excitement and unease that they all felt. None of them could be sure how this was going to go, and as much as Sam and Tilly wanted to see their brother, it had been a very long time and they could not be sure what he was like now, especially knowing that he was involved with Adam. Sam in particular wanted to know more about that because he couldn't understand how any Were could say a human was his mate.
It seemed to take forever for the clock to move round to midday, but almost as the chimes struck on the large clock in the hallway they heard the buzz of the gate, and Sam pressed the security switch to open the gate to let Jake in. They could see from the cameras that he was alone. The four of them filed out to the top of the steps, Tom and Dill hanging back a little as they were aware this was more about the family reunion for the moment.
Tilly thought that it seemed to take a long time for the car to actually arrive at the house. The driveway was long, but she wondered if Jake was taking his time since he would probably also be nervous of this meeting after so many years. As he finally pulled up she had to resist the urge to run up and hug him, knowing that Sam would disapprove. They waited and watched as Jake got out of his car and headed towards them. He looked so much more grown up than the last time she had seen him, and a wealth of feelings overcame her at the sight of her long lost sibling, who for a long time they had thought might not even still be alive. The thought of that had her running down the steps despite what Sam might think, and she threw her arms around Jake to hug him hard.
She was relieved when the hug was returned, although Jake seemed to try and disentangle himself quite quickly. The look on his face was amused when he managed to pry her off him a little and take a proper look at her.
"I need to breathe sister! It's good to see you too, but I would like to make it inside in one piece." He stood back and took in the sight of the house. "Strange to see this place again."
Jake then looked up at the three men stood at the top of the steps. He was glad Tilly had gone with the informal greeting because Sam didn't look quite so pleased to see him. The other two men were standing back from the action. He knew from seeing them outside the restaurant who they were, and had it confirmed that the man he had seen with the lions was Tilly's mate, although he didn't as yet know his name. He slowly climbed the steps, holding Tilly's hand as she seemed unwilling to let him go, and stood in front of Sam, bowing his head slightly to his Alpha.
Sam smiled a little at seeing the gesture of obedience from his younger brother. "Glad to see you remember how to greet your kind. Even if Tilly doesn't seem to."
"You are still my Alpha, Sam. I may not have chosen to stay with the pack, but I don't have another."
Sam growled slightly. "I thought your "mate" would be your Alpha now."
Jake knew that was a sore point even before he arrived, but the tone of Sam's comment made it very clear he was going to get given grief over that.
"It can't work like that and you should know that I have respect for our ways. If I'd mated with another Alpha it would be different, but he doesn't have any rank with our people so I'm still in this pack. Assuming you haven't disowned me."
Sam just stared at him, surprised that he was admitting to being part of his pack.
"We didn't know if you were still alive Jake, we didn't consider disowning you."
He left it unsaid, but that was crossing his mind now that he knew Jake was with Adam. Despite that, he was still happy to see Jake, and wanted him to know that before the difficult conversations that were to come.
"It is good to see you though brother. I just wish it wasn't under such circumstances. And you already know I really wish you hadn't decided to mate with a human, especially not Adam."
Jake couldn't resist a little dig. "I see you've mated with a cat brother. Seems you aren't quite so strict on yourself."
He knew he had gone a little far when he heard Sam growl again.
"He's Were. Species isn't important. And our sister is a cat too if you remember."
Jake looked upset. "Of course I remember."
Tilly decided to break the rising tension between the two brothers. "Jake, since Sam has omitted the introductions, this is his mate Tom." The two men nodded to each other in acknowledgement. "And this is my mate Dill." she continued, smiling broadly as she introduced him and Dill stepped forward to say hello.
Jake was pleased that Dill also seemed to be friendly, as Tom was clearly taking Sam's side in this dispute and was polite but unsmiling when he was introduced. He understood them being wary of him, but it was hard to see how little Sam trusted him. They had never got on incredibly well, but he did respect his brother and wanted him to approve of what Jake did, even though it was clear that his choice of mate was not going to get approval, at least not yet. He really hoped he could persuade them to believe him, and soon, because it was going to be hard being away from Adam while this visit went on.
Tilly took charge and lead the way into the house. She could sense that Dill was tired, needing a lot more sleep than usual while he was still in the recovery stage. She smiled at him and let go of Jake's hand for the first time since he had got there to go to her mate.
"Do you want to have a nap babe? I'll fill you in later."
Dill just nodded, and then kissed her lightly before heading up the stairs. The others watched him leave, Tilly's face showing her concern for her mate. When she turned back to the others, it was Jake's face that drew her in first. Sam and Tom knew why Dill was heading off, but Jake shouldn't. His expression and emotion were slightly confused, but he seemed to know something. He looked at her and decided to brave the question on his mind.
"Was it him that Simon attacked?" Jake didn't need to hear an answer when he saw the look on Tilly's face, the horror and fear at the remembrance of that moment showing clearly. "Sorry Tilly. I don't want to upset you, but I did wonder what had made you react like that. I could hardly believe it was you in that film, but it makes sense if you were protecting your mate."
Tilly looked close to tears, and Sam wanted to stop this line of questioning, knowing it was upsetting her. "It was Dill, but we would prefer not to talk about that. There are other things to discuss that are more important. Shall we head to my office?"
Jake just nodded at Sam, but moved to put an arm around Tilly to reassure her. "Sorry." he said quietly. He needed to keep her on side, because she was his best hope of getting anywhere with Sam. He knew she could feel his emotions too, and it would help his case if they knew he was being honest about him and Adam.
The four of them headed down the corridor in silence and filed into the office. Jake remembered the room well from his youth, when their father had spent much of his time in here. He took a deep breath to scent the leather bound books and it brought back so many memories, particularly of sitting on his father's lap as a pup, and latterly his fights with Sam when he didn't want to carry on in the family business. That part of the memories he needed to keep under control, because this was going to take a lot of talking, and he would do better not getting annoyed about anything.
The four of them sat in Sam's office. It was already slightly uncomfortable with tensions between them, particularly between the men. Tilly wished yet again that she didn't have to keep putting up shields to protect herself from the emotions that floated around. It was even harder knowing that her brothers did not trust each other and were each wary of the others' motives. On the other hand, she understood the distrust because it was down to Adam. If he hadn't been involved with the facility that kidnapped and experimented on Weres then Sam still probably wouldn't be happy about Jake's choice, but with that taken into account even she felt uncertain about why Jake wanted to be with them again.
Jake started the conversation. "I know this isn't going to be easy, but we really need to start talking about things so hopefully you will start to trust Adam and I. And as much as I am glad to see you, I want to be able to get back to my mate."
Sam stiffened at the word mate, and Jake saw it. "You may not like it Sam, but he really is. I heard of the connection that you feel to a mate, and I never expected to find it in a human or because I knew I was looking for a man, but it's there. And imagine how you would feel if someone told you to separate from Tom for a week or more. I suppose I should be grateful you let us have one last night together." Jake drifted off, thinking about what they had done that night.
Tilly felt the emotions coming from Jake when he stopped talking. His feelings for Adam were certainly strong, and last night must have been eventful. She decided to interrupt since Sam was just looking at him puzzled.
"Jake, you're broadcasting." she said, letting him know she could sense what he was thinking.
Jake looked surprised for a moment then grinned at her. "I forget about your abilities sister. Since you're getting the gist anyway, why don't I show you something?" He put an image into her head before she had time to object.
Tilly jumped out of her seat. "Holy shit!" was her reaction to the image she saw.
It was a still from the night before of Jake's view of Adam, tied to their bed naked and gagged, his eyes showing his desire for Jake and his want for whatever was about to happen. Tilly didn't really need any clues about what happened next. She calmed herself and sat back down, giving Jake a dirty look.
"Don't do that again. There is such a thing as too much information, you know."
Jake just laughed. Sam and Tom sat looking puzzled, only knowing that whatever Jake had shown her was bound to be sexual in nature, but wondering what could shock Tilly. Sam was particularly keen to know.
