Chapter 81 Forbidden Love
1439words
No one dared to speak as Alpha Christian, Beta Don, and I entered the pack house and made our way to my office, though I could feel the two of them shooting daggers at each other behind me. I was still struggling with the fact that I had lost my mother—an avoidable death if I had just listened to my mate and my sister. I remembered all those times she warned me about her meetings with the Moon Goddess, and I thought she had just hit the brink of insanity. Instead, there was more magic to being a red wolf than I had realized. I wondered if my mate would endure similar experiences being a red wolf herself. The pack had overall received Adeline well as their soon-to-be Luna. Many were eager to come over and meet her, to get to know her. The mating ceremony was set for tomorrow; there was no doubt that she would have to expose her red wolf to the entire pack. Adeline was certainly starting to accept her destiny as Luna. The old Adeline would have shuddered at the idea of burning a shifter—now she welcomed it. I knew her intent wasn't malicious; it was necessary.
I turned the doorknob to my office and immediately headed for the bar cart to pour myself a drink—anything to take the edge off. I pulled out three crystal tumblers from the bottom and filled them with the amber liquid, carefully passing them to both Alpha Christian and Beta Don. Alpha Christian glared at me intently, his eyes narrowing at me for not throwing him up against the wall. The room was silent as all three of us lifted our glasses and enjoyed the whiskey flavor tingling our senses. I placed my glass down, waiting for Alpha Christian to speak. When he continued to say nothing, I released a low growl from my chest. His eyes widened; I could feel that he was uneasy about something.
"I'll give you five seconds to tell me why I shouldn't rip your throat out and take your pack from right under you after you had the balls to show up to my territory unannounced after you tried to take my mate from me," I finally spat out, feeling my anger boil in waves while trying to push it all down. Conceal your emotions, I told myself. Did he come back to piss me off and then hit on my mate again? I wouldn't put it past him.
Alpha Christian gripped the bridge of his nose between his fingers. Something was definitely bothering him. I had never seen him so uncomposed with his emotions so out of whack. "I fucked up, I get it. I didn't actually think Adeline was your fated mate. I thought you were trying to keep her to yourself. I can see now that she indeed is your mate, and I'm sorry, I understand it all now," he said, releasing an irritated sigh. "When I heard about what happened to your mother, I couldn't imagine not coming for the burial. She did so much for me as a pup when we were growing up. She was the only motherly figure I had, Jaxon. I'm also sorry if my presence here bothers you. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if I didn't come to pay my respects to Luna Fraya. If I'd called in advance, I knew there was no chance you would have allowed me to enter pack territory."
I nodded, studying his features carefully. There was no question he was telling the truth—I knew Alpha Christian like the back of my hand. I could see from the corner of my eye that Beta Don was still very uncomfortable, rolling his eyes as Alpha Christian confessed his intentions. I shot a look his way. "Do we have a problem, except that you can't seem to keep your hands off my sister?" I asked and pushed back into my desk chair.
Beta Don clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth like a child throwing a tantrum. "Indeed we do, Alpha. Why don't you ask Alpha Christian? It's his to tell after all, isn't it, sir?"
I reverted my gaze back to Alpha Christian, now annoyed that these two were holding something back from me. He was my fucking Beta, after all. I should have been the first to be notified. I shook my head, reminding myself I would have to remind Beta Don that this behavior was not acceptable as my second in command. Alpha Christian shifted uncomfortably in his chair and bit down on his bottom lip as if searching for the words to break this issue to me.
"Speak. I have a mating ceremony tomorrow. I don't have time for this bullshit right now, Christian," I said to him.
He heaved out another sigh, this one sounding much more remorseful. Something was clearly upsetting him that he was struggling with so much. "The good news or the bad news?" he finally asked. There was a glint of accomplishment in his eyes.
"This isn't a game. I want both. I don't care which comes first," I scolded, feeling my jaw tighten at the fact that he was wasting time beating around the bush.
He pressed his lips into a tight line. "You're going to want another drink for this, but here goes nothing. As a way to reconcile the allegiance between the packs, I couldn't come empty-handed to beg for your mercy. My security teams have found out that the rogue attack was orchestrated. The rogue that attacked your mate was paid off for her head." I nodded; suddenly it made more sense. No rogue would ever dare to pull an attack on Midnight Moon; it was clear that it was a suicide mission only to scare me.
"Alpha Blake. He's preparing an uprising from Europe, determined to become the first Alpha King. He saw the mess between you not announcing Adeline as your Luna right away as weakness and took his chance, Jax."
My fist pounded hard against my office desk; the crystal glasses that sat on it even tumbled over. Alpha Blake was indeed a cocky son of a bitch. He was never satisfied with what he had, constantly overreaching for more. "I want his fucking head," I sneered to Beta Don, who was pale and frantic. Alpha Christian knew he had leverage when he decided to pop up in Midnight Moon territory.
"My pack will stand by your side. Without a doubt, he'll slowly start to pick off each pack in the western hemisphere one by one. I'll be the target soon after if this isn't shut down quickly. We have proof that he was the one behind the attack. I suggest calling for an Alpha's meeting later this month to get the other packs up to speed and strategize how it should be handled," Alpha Christian said, concern bolstering all over his face.
"And what else would you like to share, Alpha Christian? Is there anything else that Alpha Jaxon should know about? Maybe about something he cares about?" Beta Don piped up. I could see his body trembling with fury as he gripped the armrest of the chair he was sitting on, his knuckles turning white from the force.
"Yup," Alpha Christian said, popping the "p" like a schoolgirl about to tell a secret.
This was about to be rich. I could hear my sister's tender voice through the mind link, "Jax, we're done. I hope that stupid bitch you were going to mate rots in hell. Adeline's running a fever. I'm going to take her to the pack doctor." My wolf started to panic as soon as he heard that our mate wasn't feeling well. He fought for control to go and find Adeline right then.
"I'm on my way," I replied through the mind link.
"No. No. It's fine. Finish up your meeting. It's just a fever. She's probably just under the weather because it was chilly tonight. I'll stay with her until you're done," Sophia answered promptly in a relaxed tone, which eased my fears a little. I still needed to wrap this up; I couldn't leave my mate like this the night before our mating ceremony.
"Very well. Mind link me if anything happens and keep the enforcers with you," I replied. A giggle came over the mind link, "Yes, Alpha."
I burned my glare into Alpha Christian's. The unnecessary suspense was aggravating.
Alpha Christian buried his head in his hands before looking up and carefully stringing out his words. "Jax... Sophia is my mate."
