Grayson had been on his forth cup of coffee of the day, doing his best to concentrate on the task at hand. He had checked in with about a dozen of the closest packs to Gray Mountain, no one had any mysterious bodies found. None of the packs had any mutilated animals either, at least not ones that weren't the result of wolves huntingm The only issues any had with rogues were them getting a little too close to pack borders, but no attacks. Gray was glad his fellow Alphas were not have the same issues, but even more pissed off as it was obvious this was only because of his mate.
A knock at the door interrupted his train of thought, "Enter."
Cole entered the office with a tense look on this face, "Alpha, I may have found something at our neighboring pack Lake Valley." He walked over to the desk and gave Gray the small notebook he always had on him to take notes. "It could just be a coincidence or it could be related."
Grayson read through the notes, "so they have found some blood trails that are unexplained and strong scents from rogues on their southern border. Do you think the rogues are dumb enough to attack through the northern border? No one tries to attack us from the moutains."
"Personally I wouldn't do it, but if the rogues have enough reason to attack they will from whichever direction will work. I think it is time for us to include Lane, maybe send him to Lake Valley to see if there is anything they may have missed."
As much as Gray hated to admit it, Cole did have a point about including Lane. They would have to find a way to include Lane without exposing his relationship with JoLynn. "You are right, let's include Lane but limit his information some. Tell him about the mutilated goat and rogue body but nothing of the notes yet. No connections to JoLynn at all until I ask her if she is ready for him to know."
"Ok, I will withhold the threats from the official reports. Do you want me to continue guarding the Luna from a distance or closer now?"
"She doesn't know about the threats yet, so if you think you can protect her properly from a distance let's keep it that way."
"Understood Alpha."
Max started to jump around inside Grayson's head and her scent hit his nostrils right as the knocking started at his office door. His mate came to visit and it was time to have some fun with her. "Come in my love!"
JoLynn opened the door smiling which quickly faded when she made eye contact with Cole. Gray could see the panic enter his mates beautiful blue eyes, he was waiting for her to run from his office but she shifted gears into her sassy self as always.
"Ha! My love, funny Grayson...Oops, I mean Alpha." JoLynn added an extra sarcastic tone to her voice while saying Alpha. He could see she was still flustered, trying to cover it the best she could so Cole didn't figure anything out. She was trying to hide the fact she was fiddling with the hem of her shirt from Grayson and Cole. If it was anyone else besides them and her family, they would have no clue how anxious she was right then, but they both saw it.
"Come here Jojo," Grayson motioned for her to stand next to him, "I have something to tell you." Gray kissed her light and lovingly on her lips before slipping his arm around her waist and whispering in her ear, "Cole knows my love." He leaned his head down making contact with her lips, while sliding his hand behind her neck to deepen this kiss. Cole cleared his throat after a moment to remind Gray he was still in the room, ending their kiss.
"I am excited to serve as your protection Luna," Cole bowed his head to show respect. "On a more personal note, I am very happy for the two of you. You deserved a mate who will love you with every fiber of their being, Jojo. Gray is a very lucky man, who Lane and I will torture and kill if he hurts you."
Slowly a smile was spreading across JoLynn's face, "thank you Cole. I feel I am the lucky one personally." She turned and slipped her arms around Gray's mid-section, laying her head on his shoulder. "As for my protection, I am fine, no need to be my protection. I am not officially the Luna and it is silly to have you following me around for no reason. Also, no calling me Luna."
Grayson looked down at his mate, "we can argue about this later my love, but you are the future Luna and Cole is the Gamma. It is his job to protect our Luna, current or future, so he will be protecting you."
Jo let go of Grayson's body, turned towards him and crossed her arms in her anger. "I will decide what happens with myself, thank you! You may be my mate and Alpha, but I will not submit to whatever you want. I am not a weak little wolf anymore and I refuse to make everyone else take care of me. Do you UNDERSTAND!"
Cole tried his best to stiffle his laugh, "I'll see you later Gray, I fear she will turn on me next. Jojo, I will see you around the packhouse." He quickly scurried out of the office, not wanting to stick around. He almost wished he had stuck around, seeing JoLynn stick up for herself and putting Gray in his place would have been entertaining.
Grayson made eye contact with his mate, he could see Lyra was close to the surface and ready to fight. His little mate truly had grown up in her time away, her fiery side was showing more and more now. He loved to see her stand up for herself, hoping it meant she wasn't having the same issues in the pack she did before. "Ok my beautiful and sweet Luna, I know you can take care of yourself, but it is Cole's job as Gamma to protect you. You have been raised in a pack your whole life, as a ranked pack member I might add. Jojo, you know this is the way it is done."
She was grumbling under her breath, even with Grayson's enhanced hearing he couldn't make it out. "I know it is the way it is done, but I don't want everyone knowing yet. How weird would it look if Cole is just walking behind me everywhere I go? They would either think he is my protection and I am the Luna, or they will think I am Cole's mate!"
Grayson growled, doing his best to keep Max undercontrol, "do NOT joke like that JoLynn. You are MY mate and MY mate only. We can make sure everyone knows you are mine and not his. I have already mated with you multiple times, and can mark you right here and now by force to prove it!"
JoLynn's eyes grew in horror at the thought of being force marked by her mate. This was Grayson, her childhood friend and crush, her fated mate, surely he wouldn't force her. 'You know that is just Max speaking right? Gray, who you have known since birth, would never actually force us. Heck neither would Max for that matter.' Lyra linked.
He could see how scared she was now, turning to take a seat at his desk and provide her some distance. Gray looked up at her with sad eyes, "Jojo, I am so sorry I said that, I was having trouble keeping control on Max." She slowing sat down on the chairs that face his desk, chosing the one farthest away from him. "Baby I would never force mark you. I'm disgusted with myself I even said the words to you. I think Max is getting a little possessive after mating with you, but I will keep him in check. You know I would never hurt you, right?"
JoLynn had still not made eye contact with Grayson again, making him think she was still fearing him.
'I hope you know I love you more than anything else.' Grayson linked to her.
"I know you love me Grayson and I love you too. Sorry for the silence, I was having an internal debate with Lyra. She was reminding me its you and there was nothing to fear. Also, that Max was just being a possessive idiot wolf. I've just never heard you speak that way to me, or anyone really. You haven't ever lost control of Max or let your aura out so much, I think a part of me is still getting use to you being Alpha." Jo slowly raised her eyes to meet with Gray's and he could see she was still slightly guarded but no longer wanting to run from the room.
"I am really sorry my love." Grayson got up and walked back around his desk, took his mate's hand and pulled he over to the couch in his office. He sat down, pulling her into his lap and burying his face into the crook of his neck, hoping her scent would help calm Max the rest of the way. JoLynn relaxed fully into her mates arms, moaning lightly in contentment. Gray started to kiss along her neck and up to her ear lobe, "so now that you don't hate me, what did you come to my office for?"
She wiggled her bottom to get comfortable on his lap and tuck her head under his chin, "I just wanted to let you know that I talked to my mom about my wolf. Apparently my Grandpa Joe is the little brother of the Artic Pack's Alpha and I am a white wolf so...yeah, you're mated to a white wolf."
"You're my little white wolf," Gray said right before taking her lips passionately against his.
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A/N:Â Who else is excited Cole is fully in the loop like both moms?