---Nathan's POV---

The village was bustling with excitement after Rebecca and Danny both came rushing down the mountain, eager to inform everyone that there were newcomers heading our way.

I glanced around, mildly amused as I spotted a small group of vampires mixing with the humans who offered themselves up as mates or the werewolves and Lycans trying to find something to do, trying to settle their inner animal down.

The vampires' eyes flashed to the trail coming out of the dense woods every now and then before glancing around with sharp eyes. One of them, Drake, caught my eye and winked with a smirk curling on his lips as he shot a pointed look from the rather large crowd of supernatural creatures and the mates who were curious to meet their competition.

I shook my head at the amusement dancing in his eyes and glanced at the winding trail myself before tilting my head the slightest bit to acknowledge the vampire as he appeared beside me.

"Who exactly did Danny tell about the newcomers?" I asked, wondering why the boy had even started over three young and, according to his words, deliciously fine specimen of males were heading into town.

Drake smirked, fixing the leather strap in his burgundy hair before rolling his eyes slightly. "You mean Rebecca, obviously. Danny didn't tell anyone safe for his closest friends but Rebecca went to the packhouse and dropped the bomb there. Naturally, every werewolf knows about it, and they informed our kin as well."

He looked back at the streets and shook his head before flitting away to mingle with the crowd here and there. I shook my head and smirked as the wolves seemed stunned and embarrassed when Drake used his sharp and witty tongue to let them know they weren't exactly being inconspicuous about wanting to see the new arrivals.

"As if you aren't curious yourself." My Lycan scoffed softly, voice tinged with amusement as I chuckled to myself and walked away, turning my back on the disbanding wolves and turned my focus back on the job beforehand.

Swinging the axe through the air, I continued to bring the large tree down for the sawmill further up. Being a Lycan came with added strength and though we lived in a modernized world thanks to the humans, our kin preferred to keep things more natural.

"Nathan." I turned my head and spotted my brother coming my way, shaking his head slightly as he rubbed a hand through his dark brown hair before letting it drop to trace the edge of his trimmed mustache and goatee.

"Trouble?" the word slipped from my lips with a low growl, my hands unconsciously releasing the handle of the axe as I focused on my older brother, another Lycan just like me.

We were all surprised when both me and Bruce turned out to be Lycans, as the chances were rather rare. The Lycan gene was recessive, meaning that both our father and mother had to pass it through to us. It wasn't until at the age of sixteen that we knew what we were.

During our first shift, we changed like all the others in our wolves. The shift was painful at first, bones popping and shifting under the skin while hair had to force itself out of our skin. When we thought it was over and prepared to go on our very first hunt, things began to change.

A hand landing on my shoulder startled me slightly and I looked up in the lopsided smirk on Bruce's face. "You're thinking of our first shift, right?" He asked, more like stated and I nodded as he chuckled deeply and patted my shoulder.

"Still remember the look on father's face when you suddenly started shifting again and walked on your hind legs. The chances of us two being Lycans were non-existent, or so they thought, since only granddad was one." I laughed with him and growled when he playfully started to wrestle with me.

Our Lycans growled at each other, nipping at the other through our mental bond while at the same time showing that they meant no harm; they recognized one another as brother by blood and pack.

"They're here! They're coming down!" the hushed whispers spread throughout the community as everyone stood on edge to meet the strangers. Bruce straightened himself beside me, standing taller than me as he stared at the forest's edge.

"Odd, finding three young males so far from civilization on foot." He commented and I nodded though kept my eyes on the woods. Sean and Cody appeared soon, laughing and exchanging playful banter with the guys coming behind them. Cody nearly tripped but laughed and turned around just as the first one appeared from the woods.

"They'll sure pull a lot of attention to themselves." My Lycan purred as all three men walked out of the woods, the eldest up first whilst scanning the village with his golden-brown eyes. I heard several appreciative growls coming from the wolves and vampires because the man up front was a picture perfect example of a healthy and well-build man in the prime of his life.

The one behind him looked quite similar to the first with the same blond brown locks scattered messily in the wind. His greenish blue eyes were bright, filled with amusement and showed a glimpse of brotherhood as they lid up the boyish features of his face when he stared back at the youngest member of their little group.

"You're staring Nathan." My brother chuckled warmly, making me snap out of my thoughts. I snorted and shook my head but didn't say anything because I knew he was right. I was staring, just like almost every unmated wolf, Lycan and vampire that had gathered here.

The last man that stalked out of the tree line could only be described as mouthwatering. His nearly pure white hair flashed golden in the sunlight as he avoided his middle brother's teasing jab and elegantly spun out of his reach, shooting him a teasing smirk, eyes twinkling with barely hidden challenge.

Sunlight bounced off his pale and perfect skin as the group of teen wolves came to a halt in front of me and my brother, the three brothers settling in front of us, though I spotted the elder two leaning closer to their younger brother.

"Protective. Good." The Lycan purred, confusing me slightly before he snorted at me, sending me a mix of feelings and images. We didn't communicate much and most of the times we did, he used his way of communication, the wolf and Lycan way of sending images, scents and sensations in an overwhelming mix.

When he stared at the two elder brothers, his emotions were a mix of interested-curious-wary along with the scent of warm earth, spices and heath flooding my nostrils. I was curious as much as my Lycan to why the three were here, without any means of transportation, spare clothes or any other luxury.

That all faded away when I glanced down and into a pair of silver-blue eyes, which captured my attention instantly. The owner of those eyes looked up at me with curiosity sparking in their blue depths as well as a teasing undertone.

I slowly smiled back, inhaling deeply to pinpoint his exact scent. An interesting mix of the two other brothers masked his own, unique scent but when I figured it out, my Lycan was purring deeply in his throat as the earthy and warm scent both calmed and ignited us both in ways I didn't know was possible.

That, along with the happy-warm-possessive-needy emotions that flooded the link between my inner animal and me instantly clued me in to the fact that my Lycan already knew who this gorgeous young man was, even if he didn't realize it himself.

Ours.

"I heard that you're interested in the cabin in the woods?" Bruce's voice shocked me out of my stupor, making me blink and look at the others only to realize that they had already introduced themselves and were talking about why they were here.

Meanwhile, the delicious young man in front of me merely tilted his lip in a maddening smirk, showing that he knew what kind of effect he had on me, and most of all, that he liked his influence over me. My eyebrows raised slightly at the hidden challenge hidden beneath the boy's playful aura before I smirked, watching his eyes widen before his own lips spread out further.

"Think you can fix that cabin up for these boys, Nathan?" My brother asked amused, dark brown eyes flashing as if waiting for me to stumble over my words but I heard his questions and my Lycan gladly helped me, making sure I didn't fumble in front of the man I wanted to impress, to own and have as my own as much as I was his.

"Of course I'll help you out, though I'll need to go up and look at the Harris' cabin to see what damage I have to repair. Other than that, it'll be my pleasure." My eyes, which had been looking from one brother to another, glanced back at the youngest when I spoke those last words and I felt a spark of delight when he swallowed before chuckling softly at himself.

He glanced up at his brothers and they shared a look I couldn't place before they glanced back at me. "Can you estimate how long it'll take after you've taken a look? We have nowhere else to stay, so..."

I played with the handle of the axe while thinking, all the while conscious of a pair of eyes scanning my body, though every time I looked, the younger brother managed to avert his eyes before I could catch him in the act.

"Depending on the damage to the house....I could be able to make one of the rooms already livable if there isn't too much damage. But don't worry if there's more damage, I'm sure we can give you guys a home before nightfall."

My lycan growled at that, liking the idea of having to entertain the blonde beauty before the oldest brother, I believed was Marcus, nodded his head and smiled gratefully. "I appreciate the offer but-"

He was interrupted, probably wanting to decline before the youngest amused me by standing in front of his brothers with a huff. "Come on Marcus, let's just see what happens. Either we have a home tonight or we have to wait a few days but don't tell them it isn't needed. Its refreshing to come to a town where the wolves are friendly and not want to mount us on the nearest wall." He sassed, staring pointedly at Marcus while the middle one managed to cover his laugh with a cough.

"Now there's an idea." I shook my head at the mental image conjured up by my lycan before I watched as Marcus sighed and engulfed his brother in a warm hug, rubbing his chin over the top of the blond hair. "Fine Alec, have it your way."

Liam, the middle one, snickered and added, "Yep, though I have some issues with that 'mounting against the wall' thing Alec. I mean, I've seen some pretty lecherous looks already." He teased, huffing when Alec answered the teasing by jumping on Liam's back and clamped his lean yet slightly muscled arms around the man's throat.

A gurgle escaped Liam while Alec laughed and rested his head beside his elder brother. "I'm sure you'll be doing all the mounting then, since you've been eying all these wolves since we got here." He teased, his words shooting a bright flush over Liam's face, who struggled to get him off his back as their cheeks rubbed together before Alec's eyes landed on me.

He shot me a smile and winked before jumping off his brother's back and ran off, being chased by his brother while laughter filled the air, causing several wolves to perk up at the sound.

"You better run Alec, I'm gonna get you soon enough!" Liam barked before we heard Alec respond, "Not interested brother dearest but I'm sure some of these wolves wouldn't mind if you got them." I laughed as they disappeared in the forest, followed by a amused yet tired sigh coming from Marcus as he shook his head.

"Brothers, right?" Bruce asked amused, lip twitching as he glanced at me before adding, "You love them to bits but gods, sometimes you wish you could give them a swift kick in their hind quarters." I rolled my eyes and playfully shoved him away before I stepped away from the tree I had been cutting and gestured one of the wolves closer.

"Tell Tommy he'll get his tree later on the week, I'm giving this all my attention and focus." The young were nodded and darted away while the rest of the town soon buzzed with excitement, several of them already walking up to Marcus in an attempt to talk with him.

With a shake from my head, I turned around and headed to my house to pick up some tools before I was going up the mountain. My lycan growled and purred, wanting to see Alec again, acting differently from his usual quiet self.

He hummed, jittery under the surface of my skin and pushing me to run faster, to simply forget the stuff we needed from my house and run of to the woods. I rolled my eyes at him. "If we don't get our utility belt how can we measure how much wood and material we need?" I asked him, making him quiet down before he huffed in defeat.

My emotions were a jumbled mess, a combination of my lycan's explosive, needy feelings with his need to keep eyes on Alec and my own, more cautious feelings of curiosity, mixed with interest, lust and more emotions I couldn't identify right now.

----

I walked around in the cabin and assessed the damage. My lycan had almost forced me to shift in his need to get here faster but I had managed control myself and simply sprinted up the woods in human form. I didn't need to scare the men away.

Now they were following me curiously, Marcus lingering against the wall as I let my hand roam over the worn wooden panels, fingers lingering on places where the cooler air from outside slipped through or where the wood had rotten through and through.

Liam was on the outside of the house, as he had volunteered to check the roof for any holes. I had doubts and feared for his safety but when he showed me how quickly and skillfully he managed to climb a tree, I had nodded, though still feeling wary.

My senses were highly aware of the presence behind me as Alec walked around the room on his own, stopping here and there to look around the house before he gingerly touched the cobblestone wall on the other side.

"So, what do you think?" he asked whilst looking up to the high ceiling and the cracked window above his head before looking at me over his shoulder. I rubbed a hand over the back of my head and sighed.

"Well, several rooms are good enough to live in but it'll be chilly to say the least, with all these cracked windows. If Liam doesn't find any holes in the roof, I can let you stay here with a clean conscious." I said, looking at the broken glass above Alec's head with a scowl.

"I'll fix the windows today though, or at least barricade them until we have replacements." I growled out, angry that I didn't have those in stock. I glanced at the brothers currently present and sighed. "You can stay here for the night or you could give our town something to do and let us renovate this home for you. A welcoming gift, if you like."

Marcus' eyes got a far away look as he thought about it while Alec on the other hand couldn't hide his happiness, nibbling his lip to keep himself from grinning widely before he shot me a look and rolled his eyes slightly.

"Marcus..." he sighed, nearly whined while eying his brothers with a pout before Marcus rolled his own eyes, making me smile at the similar way they did it. "Yes, yes fine. Normally the older brother bosses the younger ones around Alec." He scolded lightly, though the happiness in his eyes belayed his words.

Alec grinned broadly while he prowled towards his brother and me. "Not in this house." He smirked, winking again at me and making me laugh before he walked past me, rubbing his arm slightly against me in the process.  My nostrils flared instantly while growls filled my head but I didn't pay any attention to it.

I would slip them the news in a few days, after I gave them some time to settle down, as well as giving me some time to wriggle my way into Alec's heart. First of all, I needed to know as much of him as I could while at the same time,  I wondered if he was a human mate, since he knew of our existence before the teens told him.

My eyes followed the brothers as we all walked outside and prepared to go back to the village. Alec was an interesting puzzle, a puzzle I intended to solve and enjoy every second of doing so.