Almost Certain

                                    

                                          
Cassidy's POV

                          
We'd been in Lupus for a few weeks now and I was seeing a side of Alex that I hadn't realised he had. It wasn't a bad thing; I thought it was rather cute actually. 
                          
We had yet to confirm whether King Olcan was really his father or not, but by now, both of us saw the sibling trio as his. It certainly looked like it when their features of the siblings carried similarities. 
                          
Alex was trying very hard to be a big brother to all of them. It was endearing. I tried my best to help too, but I had also grown up as an only child, so I don't think I was very helpful. Truthfully, I was mostly supervising his efforts and making sure he didn't go too far with his enthusiasm. Watching him was like watching an overgrown puppy who didn't know his own strength and would bowl people over in his eagerness. 
                          
So far, he had been spending lots of time with Colin under the guise of teaching him to shift at will. In reality, they were just roughhousing like puppies a lot. We also sometimes came across the youngest prince playing in the gardens under the watchful eyes of his caretakers. They didn't mind when we joined the child in his hunt for treasures. Alex took pride in finding the nicest rocks or shiniest beetles for Timmeu. In return, the baby would share some of his stash with Alex who appropriately 'oohed' and 'aahed' over every item he was presented. 
                          
I caught the caretakers hiding their grins at this hulking man crouched over to entertain a little boy. I wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment.
                          
The only one who Alex seemed to have trouble with was Princess Seffrin. She was perfectly polite and proper, as expected of a princess, of course. It was all very civil, but civil was not friendly and Seffrin was far from friendly. One could describe her demeanour as...cold. 
                          
Alex always mildly resembled a kicked puppy when his conversation starters crumbled to dust under her polite rejections. Unlike her brothers, Seffrin was purely human. Her tactile nature that she only displayed around her siblings and mother made it clear that she had grown up among werewolves. But the frequency with which she blocked her scent marked her as human. I couldn't tell, but Alex could, and he said that scent reading was pretty much mindreading for wolves.
                          
The strange part was that Seffrin didn't seem to mind my presence. She was almost friendly sometimes. Alex had taken to making sure I was present whenever he attempted to approach her. I thought she looked rather annoyed about it whenever that happened, and I'd suppress my frown. What was her problem?
                          
~
                          
Having stayed long enough to have a routine, it was easy for anyone who went looking for us, including members of the royal family. 
                          
Unlike Seffrin, the princes had taken to Alex and, by extension, me. Whenever Colin had time, he'd come looking for us in the library and he'd bring his friends who marvelled at Alex's height and built and general older brother-ness. On his part, Alex thoroughly enjoyed playing the part of the cool sibling with plenty of advice regarding werewolf courting. 
                          
He didn't actually know much and took pretty much all his advice from our own courting period. I didn't call him out, happy to watch him enjoy himself. He had the teenagers eating from the palm his hand. 
                          
Occasionally, Prince Timmeu's nannies would drop him off at the library and we'd babysit the little prince for the afternoon. On those days, we'd go to bed early for 'non-sleeping activities'. Those were good days. 
                          
On one particular day, however, I spoke to Princess Seffrin without my husband hovering and trying to be friendly too. It happened when I left the library to rustle up a quick snack from the kitchens. 
                          
I was preparing a plate of bread and some leftover soup that the cook was kind enough to let me have when Seffrin came in. She looked surprised to see me and then wary until she saw that Alex was nowhere in sight.