by Belle Harper
Jett’s character died, and he started eating popcorn. They were both facing the TV, and he was feeding Mekhi while he was still playing. It was cute, like they were an old married couple.
I was re-reading Cali Mann’s academy series, snuggled up with a cupcake that Grayson had brought over for me yesterday. He’d brought a whole heap, and I’d called dibs on them but totally ate too many. I had a belly ache, but I didn’t care… His cakes were the best.
“You gonna let me eat some?”
I looked up, and Jett was perched beside me, so I grabbed the cupcake and pulled it to my chest before he could grab it.
“Hell no. You’ll make it out like it was more than just cake to Ranger and fuck with his head. You know he doesn’t like you eating my cake.”
Mekhi laughed as he put the controller down.
“Can I have some cake?”
I sat up a little straighter. What the hell was happening? Did he know what he was asking, or did he just really want cake?
“Oh man, you so want some of Lexi’s cake. And tell Ranger how good it was,” Jett teased, my mouth dropped open.
“Jett, shut up. No cake. There is only cake for me,” I said. The two of them laughed as Jett threw popcorn at Mekhi and he caught it in his mouth.
“I’m just messing around,” Mekhi said. “I know what the cake thing is, and honestly, Ranger deserves it. You know he used to flirt non-stop with Clare? He was everywhere she was, and it drove us mad. So it’s fun to give it to him a little. Plus, he has almost no control over his wolf, so that’s just asking to be teased.”
I sucked in a breath.
“So he would flirt with her, and you just let him?” I asked.
Jett settled in beside me, his arm over the back of the chair. “Well, we didn’t let him. You know how hard it is to tell Ranger no. But after our mom died…I kinda took him under my wing. My father was not great at that time, and he already had enough on his plate. Maverick went the other way, he became quiet, reserved, didn’t want to talk about it. He spent more time with Lyell.”
This was the first time I was really hearing about their mom. There were photos, and I’d seen that she was beautiful, but no one ever mentioned her.
“Is it rude to ask how she died?” I wasn’t sure if Jett wanted to talk about it, but from what I’d gathered, it happened about five or six years ago. I was curious, but I didn’t want to push for the story.
Jett settled deeper into the chair beside me, his hand touching my shoulder just lightly. He cleared his throat, and said, “Father is in his office, so I can talk about it a bit. He won’t hear me. He doesn’t like anyone talking about it. Okay?” he said in warning. I nodded as I glanced at him, but his eyes were focused on the screen and I could tell he wasn’t really watching at it.
“I was thirteen, and the pack was having issues with some vampires. They weren’t good, not like Galen. They killed innocent people in and around Port Willow, and my father and the other alphas couldn’t stand for it. We value all lives, not just that of our pack. But pack comes first.
“There was a fight, and the packs killed one of them. What my father didn’t know was that one of them was a day walker, like Galen. When he was out with the other alphas and we were all at school, they broke in, attacked and killed my mother.” Jett took a deep breath, and I could tell it was hard to talk about. Hell, I didn’t even talk about my mom or the man I thought was my dad.
“Alaric painted the whole house white after that, so there were no dark corners to hide in.” Mekhi added.
My heart sank. That was why the house was so white, so clinical. So you would see a vampire standing there, ready to attack you. I reached over and hugged Jett. God, that was horrible. At least my mother had died quickly. I didn’t want to think of what his mom went through.
“My mom was killed too. I understand how hard that is, and I will always be here for you if you want to talk about it.”
He hugged me back, but the tension was still there. I wanted to lighten the mood a little after such a tragic story, so I asked them.
“Do you guys want a cupcake?”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Lexi
I tried out Fortnite one more time before Jett put some music on and we danced around the room. It was nice…freeing really. We laughed a lot, and pretended that everything was good and there weren’t a bunch of rogue shifters and vampires out for my blood.
I tried out the ants power on Jett, and it was the best five minutes, watching him dance around like they were tickling his skin. Mekhi and I just laughed and rolled around on the floor as we watched Jett, my stomach hurting from laughing so much. But as for my angel power, it kinda sucked. And we ate all the cupcakes.
Eventually, Galen came for me. He was going to take me back for lunch, but ended up staying with us. He tried a hand at Fortnite, and he was so much better at it than me. So Jett and Galen played a few rounds, while Mekhi and I watched and ate Doritos. Before I knew it, the guys were back, and it didn’t sound like it was good.
“We had word that there is a band of rogue shifters, along with Pack Russet and night vamps coming here. They have joined together as one group to attack us, and so we need to be prepared. They are coming to start a war, but we will end it,” Alaric said to the gathered crowd. Everyone was out on the front lawn of the Lovell’s. I noticed a lot of the guys I didn’t like from the other packs, like Parker Tolson. He was an asshole, and he was eying me in a way that made my skin crawl. Made me want to use my ant power on him, but I would have to touch him and I wasn’t going to do that.
“We will set the women and children up inside,” Alaric continued. “For the rest of you, we will prepare for a fight. It might come tonight, but there is a full moon tomorrow, and I believe they are waiting until then. Either way…we will be ready.”
There were a lot of fists pumping in the air, and cheers, growls and a few howls. They knew what they were doing, but I felt like a total asshole for bringing this to them. I didn’t ask to be born a half angel, or however much I had in me. I didn’t mean to heal Galen, I didn’t want Callum biting me, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be kidnapped by a bunch of scary wolves, panthers, bears, and whatever else was out there. They told me a was a mix of shifters.
I couldn’t even be happy with death, because I knew they wouldn’t kill me. They needed me alive to get what they wanted over and over. I was glad in that moment that I didn’t have any family left outside these gates that they could use against me. Grayson and Jack were here with the boys. They were safe—
“Ada,” I gasped. She wasn’t here. She needed to be here, safe in the walls with the pack’s protection. Ranger pulled me closer to his side as Maverick smoothed my hair and kissed the top of my head.
“She’ll be fine,” Ranger said. “Don’t worry about her. They’re only after you, Lex.”
Raff moved forward and right into my face. He didn’t blink, he just stared, his blue eyes swirling. “No, Lexi is right,” he said. “Ada is too important to her for them not to use her. We need to get her parents somewhere safe too. They’ll be coming for her. Lexi wouldn’t let anything happen to them, and they know that. She needs to be here.”
Galen cupped Raff’s shoulder before he said, “I’m on it.” Then he ran off towards Alaric.
I felt safe with my mates’ arms around me. I saw some of the women with their mates and felt as if they were all staring at me. I was the reason this was happening. But when kind eyes landed on me, I knew I had to speak to her. Her long blonde hair was in a messy bun on top of her head, and she had two of her big mates standing beside her while the other two were standing further back, talking to some other men.
“I just need to talk to someone. Can you wait here?” I asked as I pulled away, but Maverick surprised me when he didn’t let go. He was a little clingier today, and I understood his fear, but I just needed a few minutes.
“I’ll be fine. I’m just going over there.” I gestured to where Noah’
s mom was, still watching me. I just…I needed to rip off this band-aid. I wanted to apologize for coming in and turning their life upside down. Maverick quickly hugged me, then turned and walked away towards Saint.
I took a deep breath and made my way over. I noticed the tall guys both wore similar expressions. Were they brothers too? The smiled down at me. They were a big as Noah, and I had to assume one of them was his biological father. I wondered if they knew who the biological father was when there were so many mates. Oh too many thoughts.
“Hello, Alexis. I’m Zara.” She had blue eyes, and you could tell she was just one of those really nice moms, the type who would cut the crusts off your sandwiches and make funny faces out of pancakes.
“I…I wanted to say that I’m sorry for everything that’s happened. I never meant for any of this, or what happened with Callum. I just…” I could feel the tears coming. Her son was gone because of me, and she wouldn’t see or hear from him again…maybe ever. She gave me a sad smile and embraced me. She was soft and warm, and it was easy to hug her back. She smelled so nice, and she stroked my hair and told me it was okay, that I shouldn’t be sorry.
“I’m so glad you came over. I’ve wanted to meet you for such a long time,” she said, and I was surprised. I didn’t think she would want to meet me, and she must’ve been able to tell I was thinking that.
“You’re the young woman that sent a bunch of teenage boys crazy. I wanted to meet you and help you learn how to handle more than one mate, but I can see that you’re doing just fine with the Lovell twins, that red wolf and Galen. You surprised even me when you picked the vampire, which meant I wanted to meet you even more. You must be a strong woman,” Zara said as she held my hands in hers. Why was she being so nice? She wasn’t even mad at me.
“I’m sorry that my son hurt you. What he did, I could never forgive, but he’s always been a hot head. My Noah, he thinks the world of you, and he is smitten with your friend, Ada. It’s is all we hear about. I think his fathers are about to tape his mouth shut if he doesn’t stop, and even Elijah has been avoiding coming home.”
I bit my lip, trying to hide my smile. I didn’t think Noah would like me knowing this, but then, it was really cute when she said he was smitten. Ada would freak if she heard this, but I kinda wanted her and Noah to get together too. Of course I was shipping them, he was smitten.
“But we have lots of time to get to know each other. If you have any questions about having four mates, I’m happy to help. It can be challenging at times, and I was once like you. Until I met four handsome men who swept me off my feet.”
Big hands wrapped around her and lifted her in the air. “Did I just hear you have a handsome mate? You better be talking about me.” Her laugh was infectious, and I laughed too. He kissed her, then planted her feet back on the ground.
“Hi, Alexis. I’m James. The boys have told me so much about you. Welcome to the pack, darling.” His hand stretched out for me to shake, so I smiled and took it. This wasn’t what I was expecting. I’d thought they were going to yell at me, tell me it was all my fault for not picking Callum as a mate. I hadn’t understood the whole dynamic before, but I did now. Packmate bonds were really strong, and I’d messed that up, took that away from Callum, and caused all of this.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Maverick
The wind swirl around me as I stood watch. It was dark out and had started to rain a little, but I could see for miles and didn’t care about getting wet, this was important. All that mattered was protecting my mate, my pack. Saint was with me, and all of us went out in groups of two. I was going to ask for Ranger and Raff to be with me, but Father said it would be best to separate us, only because we were so strongly bound to Lexi that we might not wait for back-up.
He was worried we would get ourselves killed and that we would understand when the time came. The need to protect one’s mate was the strongest feeling in the world, and our wolf would do anything for Lexi.
So the two of us sat there, side by side, listening…waiting and watching for the threats. I would wait here every night for the rest of my life if it meant Lexi was safe.
I had been thinking a lot about a commitment ceremony, our way of getting married. It usually involved the female being bitten and turned into a shifter. That wasn’t going to happen with Lexi, and I was so grateful, but I still wanted that—the vows, declaring ourselves in front of the whole pack.
It would tie me to Galen even more so, and after that kiss… I couldn’t believe I was the one to make that move, it was like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I hadn’t told Ranger, something I’d have thought I would’ve done. But I think he knew for the looks on our faces.
I mostly kept it to myself, but I did tell one person who I knew wouldn’t judge me—Saint. He’d slapped my back and said, “Finally. I knew you had a huge crush on him. Good for you.” That was all I’d needed to end the torment within myself. I had a beautiful mate, and I’d kissed the guy I had been crushing on for as long as I could remember. I was the black sheep of my family…well, it was either me or Lyell, but having a crush on your male, vampire history teacher set the bar pretty high for things my father wouldn’t like. And the only thing my father would have had a problem with was the vampire part. If Galen was human he wouldn’t have cared, he would have encouraged it in fact.
If it wasn’t for Lexi, I would never have told him. I’d still be stuck in limbo, not knowing who I was or where I was going. I was so glad that she didn’t listen to me when I told her to leave Kiba, that she dug her heels in and basically told me to fuck myself.
Fuck, Lexi really was one of a kind. I hoped Saint got to experience that one day.
The rain picked up, making it harder to see, and it was messing with my hearing. I made a low whining sound, letting Saint know I was struggling with this change of weather. He made a few low growls in agreement. That was when I heard the first warning howl, and it was chilling. I felt it through my bones. Then the sounds of loud growls and injured wolves, but I didn’t know if it was theirs or ours. We heard the howling call for back-up. Saint and I were straight to our feet, racing along the trail to where the fight was taking place. The ground slipping beneath us, rain making the dirt turn to mud, making it harder to get to them.
The scene in front of me started to become clear. A large grey wolf was on the ground, his body twisted in a heap, red blood pouring from a wound on his neck. He would heal, I didn’t know who he was, but he would heal, he was a shifter. He wasn’t a Kiba wolf but he was on our side. The larger wolf was trying to hold back three red wolves and a vampire. Fuck. He had a lot of damage already to his flank and he was favoring his front left paw.
My wolf’s vision narrowed, and I felt almost disconnected from body as pure instinct took over. I lunged at the nearest wolf, his reaction slow as I bit into his flesh, ripping at his throat, the taste of tainted blood on my tongue. They were on drugs, which seemed their reaction time was a little slower. The vamp though, he wasn’t. I dodged his mouth as he tried to sink his teeth into me. Fuck, I have never been in this situation before, but was glad for all the times I messed with my brothers and avoiding their teeth.
I’d never used my venom before, but it was now dripping from my fangs. I could taste it, and it stirred an even deeper feeling in me. I bared my teeth, warning them to leave. But I wanted them to fight me, so I could have the chance to kill these shifters. I wanted to make them pay for all they did to Rafferty, my packmate. They never deserved Raff, and he was mine now. He was my family.
I bit into the wolf again this time letting my venom enter his system, but he twisted and I lost my hold on him as he caught my hind leg between his teeth. Crunching down hard, I felt his venom running through the wound. I poured everything I had into fighting him off and twisted beneath him. He wasn’t anticipating the move and let go as I sank my teeth into his belly. He howled out in pain as I pulled and ripped until I was covered in his blood and the others were retreat
ing, tails between their legs, their vampire friend long gone. Their loyalty was nothing like that oh a real pack.
I heard the whimper from Saint, and it drew my vision back to the scene in front of me. I couldn’t stop my body from trembling as the cold rain, the loss of blood, the venom hitting me all at once. I saw the wolf was still there, lying on his side, unmoving.
“Shit, I think he’s dying. Help me, please,” a dark figure said from beside him, his hands running through the wolf’s blood-soaked fur. It was Caleb, he was a few years older than me from Pack Kenneally.
Saint shifted back and said, “Fuck, how come he isn’t healing?”
Where was everyone? Why didn’t anyone else come to help? I let out a long painful howl, but it went unanswered.
“Run back, tell them we’re coming. We’ll carry him.” Saint called over to me.
My leg protested a little, as it hadn’t finished healing from the break, but I didn’t slow down. I pushed harder, letting out warning howl that we were on our way. It was answered by a female wolf from the house. Where was everyone else?
When I arrived, there was two female wolves standing by the door to the kitchen. I shifted, “We need help. They’re bringing one of our wolves back, but he isn’t healing.” It was then I saw Lexi, standing just off to the side with Ada, her eyes wide and glassy. Ada let out a small gasp. I didn’t want her to see this, I wanted to shield her from it all.