Chapter 29: Twenty Six

Author's Note:

Hi friends, tis I.

Just a quick note. I've gotten some comments on the last chapter with some questions and I just want to clear some things up.

Tobias and Gill did indeed use protection. In choosing to not write a detailed sexytime scene, it seems I've also neglected to include that important bit of information.

While I do plan on Gill and Tobias to eventually try to have babies in the future, it will not be in this book, nor will it be while they are in high school. As far as an accidental pregnancy storyline goes, I do not intend to go in that direction with this book. Especially because we are (sadly) getting to the end in a couple more chapters. I do have a couple chapters of the next book written though, as well as a plan for book three. So fear not, you will see more from these characters, as well as some new faces.

Also, apologies for a few things. One, again, uploading is EXTREMELY slow. And two, some of the spacing between lines is a little weird because I wrote a lot of this chapter on my phone, and then wrote some on the computer and for some reason Wattpad on the computer puts bigger spaces between lines and idk how to fix it. And finally, three, there's a few pov swaps in this chapter. I know, it's annoying and confusing, but I really didn't want to make this chapter super short after making you all wait for it for so long, and there's a lot I tried to fit in here.

Gill

My eyes fluttered open and I let out a yawn. I looked up and saw that Toby was still asleep. I blushed when I realized we were both still naked, and our limbs were tangled together. I giggled and pressed a soft kiss to his jaw, and trailed them up his chin until I looked up and his sleepy eyes were staring back at me.

"Good morning!" He smiled and tightened his grip on my waist.

"Good morning, Love. How are you feeling?"

"Good! I'm a little sore, but I expected that. I'm just really really reeeeeally happy." I smiled and pecked his lips.

'You look so beautiful.' I jumped at the sound of his voice in my head, making me wince at the sharp pain in my rear end.

"Was that the..." I trailed off, my eyes wide.

'The mind link. Just concentrate on me and what you want to say.' I nodded.

'I love you.' Toby's smile widened and he laughed.

"I love you too." He pecked my lips lightly. "When you're ready to stop talking, you can close the link. Imagine the person you're talking to in front of you, and then envision a wall building up between you, blocking you from them." I nodded and tried it. I felt something in me shift, as if a barrier was built up inside my head.

"Ooh, wait. What was the other thing you said I could do after this?"

"There's the tingly pain thing." Toby pinched his wrist and I felt a small tingle in the same spot on my own wrist. That was freaky. "You can talk to Griffin with the link too, even when he's not in control. You can sense my emotions, as I can sense yours. And now there's also nothing stopping us from taking over as alphas. Are you ready for that?" I bit my lip as I thought it over.

"I'm ready." He smiled sweetly at me.

"I'll talk to my father about it later then. Right now, I think we should go take a shower." I blushed and hid my head in the crook of his neck.

"Together?"

"Why not? You know, water conservation and all that." I giggled and kissed his jaw.

"And that's the only reason?" I squealed as suddenly I was pulled up to straddle his hips. I blushed at the feeling of my bare thighs against his.

"Well, now that you mention it, I also just want to stare at you and touch you." His hands ran down my back and rested just above my ass, giving me chills. I rested my hands against his stomach and smiled at him.

"Well...what are we waiting for then?" I quickly climbed off his lap and out of bed, blushing darker at my exposed body. He just sat back for a moment, raking his eyes from the top of my head down to my toes.

"I'm so lucky." He whispered before getting up as well. I may have seen and touched all of him the night before, but somehow in the daylight, he looked even better. His hands soon found my hips as he pulled me roughly toward him, my hands instantly tangling in his hair as his lips descended on mine.

Tobias

I grinned to myself as I watched my mate dry his hair with a towel. I recalled how beautiful our night was. Of course, it had it's awkward moments, as everyone's first time does, but somehow, that made it even more special. I watched as Gill looked at himself in the mirror, not knowing I was staring. He lifted his hand and brushed his fingers against the mark I'd left on his neck, and he smiled.

"Are you guys wearing clothes?" I heard a sudden shout from the other side of the apartment. Gill's eyes widened as he scrambled for a shirt to put on. I chuckled and stepped out of the bedroom, already having gotten dressed.

"What do you want, Jax?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me suggestively.

"I recognize that grin, man, congrats!" I rolled my eyes but thanked him anyway. "How's Gill feeling? How are you feeling? But like...don't give me details." I laughed.

"He's good. We're both good. Amazing." I couldn't help but gush with a wide smile.

"That's awesome man, I'm happy for you."

"Hey Jax!" I heard my mate greet from behind me. I smiled as he gravitated toward me, falling into my embrace, as if we were magnets. I kissed the top of his head and wrapped an arm around him.

"Hey, Gilly. I hear you guys had a good night." I rolled my eyes, knowing Gill's face was most likely bright red.

"You told him?!" Gill looked up at me with wide eyes.

"No, love. I didn't have to. He basically figured it out on his own."

"Well really, I just guessed," Jax interrupted, "But you both confirmed it, so...congrats guys." I chuckled as Gill his his face in my chest.

'Is it really that obvious?' He asked me through our mate link.

'To other wolves, kinda. Our scents are different. It's meant as a way to show other wolves that we're mated and off limits. But that also means everyone knows when you do it for the first time...'  He groaned and pulled away, but still kept close to my side.

"So, what are you doing here anyway, Jax?" I asked.

"Oh, right! The council sent over that stuff you asked about. Also they wanted to speak with you apparently? Your dad told me to come get you because...well. You weren't answering him through the mind link...but now I can see why..." Gill hid his face again, making me laugh and kiss the top of his head again. "Me and Squirt here can go do something." He suggested. I looked down at my mate and he smiled back up at me.

"Alright, just be careful. We've taken care of dozens of hunter camps and rogue wolves already, but there's definitely more out there."

"We'll be careful. He can link you now, and I can link the rest of the pack if there's any trouble. We're not gonna leave pack territory either. Just gonna hang out." I squeezed Gill a bit tighter for a moment before letting him go.

"Okay, I'm going to go see what the council needs to speak to me about. Link me, okay? Even if it's just to say hello." Gill nodded and fell back into my embrace.

"I will. I love you." He looked up at me, his cheeks still covered in a faint peachy blush.

"I love you too." I bent my head to give him a lingering kiss on his lips before letting him go a second time. I reluctantly left him and Jax in the apartment as I travelled to my father's office.

"Come in." He greeted before I had even knocked. I entered the room and saw him sitting behind his desk, a stack of documents in front of him.

"Morning, Dad." He looked up and grinned widely.

"Well well well! Good morning, Tobias! I see you had a busy night." I rolled my eyes and sat in the chair across from his desk.

"Dad, you know normal parents would be weirded out at the thought of their teenager having sex." He shrugged.

"Of course it's weird, but it's part of being a wolf, son. And as weird as it is, that's how we grow our pack and pass on titles. Speaking of which, we can now plan the alpha ceremony. Are you ready?" I nodded. "And how is Gill handling all of this?" I smiled.

"He's doing really well with it all. Of course he's anxious, as any human would be in his position. He's also excited, though. He's going to be an amazing addition to the pack, and I'm not just saying that because he's my mate." My father laughed and nodded.

"That's good to hear. We can start the preparations after your meeting with the council. The packages they sent are just over there." He said, pointing to a small stack of boxes in the corner of the room.

"Thanks. Do you know what it is they want to discuss?" He sighed.

"They're concerned about the rogue pack situation. They've dealt with smaller packs of rogue wolves, and large clans of hunters, but to have such large groups of them both working together is not something that happens often." I nodded. He stood from his chair and set his stack of documents to the side. "They're awaiting your call. You can use my office. It is going to be yours soon after all." I chuckled.

"Yeah, it could look use a fresh coat of paint in here." He rolled his eyes but nodded in agreement.

"Maybe you could get Gill to paint something in here. A mural of sorts." I smiled.

"That's a good idea, actually. I'll have to talk to him about it later." My father gave me one last nod of approval before stepping out of the office, shutting the large oak door behind him.

Gill

"So, how are youuuu?" Jax asked in a teasing tone as soon as Toby left. I blushed and rolled my eyes.

"Sore." I answered honestly. "But also very happy."  He laughed.

"I'm happy for you, Gilly. Have you two talked about when you might want to do the alpha ceremony? Now that you two have mated, there's not really anything in the way." I nodded.

"We talked about it a little bit. He thinks I'm ready, but I'm still really nervous about it. I dunno, it's kinda dumb, but you guys have all grown up with all this wolf stuff. It's been a few months, but it's still relatively new to me. I'm supposed to be like a second alpha, but what does a human alpha even do? I can't shift and I'm so small, so I wouldn't be able to protect anyone."

"Maybe not in the physical sense, but people will look at you for leadership and guidance. You'll help make decisions and set boundaries and support the pack. Not to mention, you're not the only human here, yunnow. Having a human alpha would make sure everyone gets seen, not just the wolves." I smiled and thought about what he said for a moment. When he put it that way, it didn't seem as daunting as I'd thought. It actually seemed like something I might've been capable of.

"Thanks, Jax." He just chuckled and nudged me with his elbow.

"So what do you want to do? We could grab something to eat? See a movie? Shopping? Whatever you want, within pack territory."

"Food sounds good. I haven't eaten breakfast yet."

"Gill, it's lunchtime."

"Well, I was preoccupied and wasn't able to eat earlier, alright?" I blushed and walked toward the door, slipping on a pair of boots and grabbing one of Toby's hoodies from the closet, tugging it over my head.

"I'm sure you were." I rolled my eyes and pushed the door open, waiting for Jax to walk out before locking it behind me.

"How's Kayla?" I asked when we reached the elevator.

"Amazing as ever." He beamed.

"You said she's joining our pack, right?" He nodded.

"She's taking a couple classes at the community college in her pack's territory, so probably not until the semester is over, that way she can transfer to something closer and finish her degree."

"Oh, I had no idea she was in college! What's she studying?" The door to the elevator chimed and we stepped out onto the main floor. I smiled at some of the pack members that were hanging around, though it was significantly less than usual since the hunter problem. A lot of the younger unmated wolves moved back with their families temporarily to keep them safe, and the ones who did stay, were either training, or patrolling the land.

"Right now she's only taking her prerequisite classes, but she wants to get a degree in the medical field, as well as veterinary science. She's been studying with their pack doctor for a while, and she wants to be one someday too. " I smiled.

"That's awesome! So, I assume she's a couple years older than us?" He nodded.

"Yeah, she'll be nineteen this summer." The rest of the walk to Ajax's Jeep was silent, only the sound of the few pack members training in the yard. I couldn't help but wonder who they were. I assumed I'd know everyones names eventually, but there were so many of them, I felt like it would take a very long time.

"Hey, Jax? Who are they?" I asked as I climbed into the passenger seat. He turned his head to see who it was that I was looking at. There were five people, two that seemed to be our age that were in the middle of training, an older man, a little girl, and a teenage boy.

"So the one on the left is Christopher, and he's training with Holden. Holden's little girl Riley is the cutie in the pigtails, and next to her, the angsty looking teen is Kyle, and his father next to him, Jonathan." I nodded, trying to commit the list of names to my memory. Jax looked over at me and laughed.

"Don't worry, I know it's a lot of people, and it's okay if you can't remember every single one. It really does get easy after a while though. Like I said,"

"You've grown up with these people though, I can't even remember where I put my glasses like five seconds after I take them off." He rolled his eyes and started the car, and we were on our way.

"I have grown up with some of them, but with mates and babies being made and people moving from other packs, new people join all the time." I nodded.  "Speaking of babies being made..." My eyes widened.

"Jax!" He laughed.

"What? Just looking out for you!" I smacked my hands onto my warm cheeks.

"We were...prepared...Okay? No teen pregnancies here."

"Damn, I would've been a cool uncle." I rolled my eyes.

"You'll be a cool uncle in a few years, don't worry."

"How many years though?" I shrugged.

"I'm not sure. Definitely not while we're in high school. Tell you what, whenever I do get pregnant, you'll be the first person I tell. Other than Toby obviously." He grinned with pride.

"Hell yeah!" I turned my head back toward the road just in time to see a large white wolf sprint across the pavement.

"Jax!" He slammed the brakes, the tires screeching as the Jeep slid forward. "Did you see that?" His eyes glazed over for a moment.

"Shit, that's not anyone from our pack, and I smell more. A lot more. Link Toby, I'm getting us out of here." He put the vehicle in reverse just as several more wolves emerged from the trees surrounding us.

"Toby! We're surrounded by a bunch of wolves, Jax says they aren't from our pack!"

"Where are you? I'm on my way."  My heart ached at the panic in his voice.

"Dammit! Where the fuck are the warriors!" Jax cursed as seven more wolves sprinted toward us. We were completely surrounded.

"I don't know. We haven't been driving very long, but all I see is trees! There's so many of them, please hurry!"

"I am, just keep driving if you can."

"Keep driving, Jax. Run them over if you have to." He slammed his foot on the gas, jolting us backward. I felt the entire car shake and a loud thump echoed from the roof.

"They jumped onto the car! Toby!"  Tears ran down my cheeks. There were at least fifty of them now.

"Do you recognize any of them?" Jax shook his head. A fist appeared beside me, outside the window, punching at the glass. Another appeared on Jax's side doing the same. I heard the glass begin to crack, until eventually, I felt the shards slicing my skin. I screamed as the hand grabbed me by the throat, and eventually...I couldn't see or feel a thing.

hi...sorry don't hate meeeee

also new cover...thoughts?