Chapter 12

[Chapter 12 - The Mute Alpha]

Song: Goodbye by Who is Fancy

•••

The salty air blew against my face in the breeze. Seagulls called out to each other as they flew above everyone, peeking down in search of food. The boiling sun beamed from above, casting bright light and heat.

"I'm not used to this weather," Autumn muttered as she brought her hand above her face, trying to shade her eyes from the sun. I chuckled as she grumbled to herself. She rolled up the sleeves of her shirt up to her shoulders.

"It's so hot! I might as well walk around in my undergarments." I rolled my eyes at her, but didn't bother hiding the smile. I'm used to the heat, so it doesn't really bother me. But I can't blame. She didn't pack the appropriate attire for this kind of weather, which is why we are going shopping.

At the moment she was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, which, by the way, was the color black, and a pair of black pants that went down to her knees. Her auburn hair was twisted up into a bun on her head, so I could see the beads of sweat forming on her forehead and the back of her neck.

I motioned her to follow me as we walked on the sidewalk, passing various stores and restaurants. The palm trees lined the sidewalk along with some brightly-colored flowers. Autumn walked underneath one of the palm trees and leaned against it, hiding under the shadow it created. "Can we just stay under here?" she asked, fanning her face with her hand. I continued walking and she grumbled again, probably a few curses, and followed me.

I stopped when we reached a store that had mannequins in the window, posing in dresses with hats, purses, and sunglasses. Autumn cringed when she caught sight of a girl leaving the store with shorts that were...let's just say very short.

"How can she wear that?" she cried out, "Her ass is practically hanging out!" She pursed her lips when other girls came walking out wearing bikinis and short skirts. One of them winked at me as she passed by.

"Bitch, keep your eyes to yourself," Autumn snapped as she glared at the girl with angry eyes. I smirked at her possessiveness and a look of satisfaction appeared on Autumn's face when the girl's mouth dropped as she gasped

I pulled the door open for her and she rushed inside, muttering a "thank you". She sighed when the cool air from the air conditioner was blasting on high. Music was quietly playing on the speakers, filling up the silence. Racks of clothes scattered around the room along with some mannequins.

"Hey, Alpha," a feminine voice from the counter spoke up. I looked up to see a girl with a large grin on her face. Her curly blonde hair bounced as she walked over to us. "What brings you here?"

I motioned to my mate. The blonde's hazel eyes moved over to Autumn, her grin widening. "Who are you?" she asked, "I can tell you're not from around here." Her eyes gave Autumn a once over.

Autumn shook her head, "I'm from up North. Jax is my mate." My mate.

The girl's mouth parted at Autumn's words, eyes widening. "What?" she gasped before turning to me, "You found your mate?! This is so exciting!" She squealed. Autumn covered her ears while I flinched at the startling noise. Other people in the store stopped what they were doing to see what the commotion was.

The cashier started jumping up and down before she quickly hugged me and then Autumn. "Finally! A Luna! It's about damn time." Again, she gripped Autumn's shoulders and pulled her in for a bear hug. "I'm Gracie," she told her.

"Autumn..." Autumn breathed out.

Once Gracie pulled away from her, she took a step back. "I'm guessing you are here for clothes that are appropriate for these temperatures?" she asked. Autumn looked at me and I nodded.

"Let's find you some clothes," Gracie suggested as she motioned Autumn to follow her. Autumn eyed the racks of extremely short shorts with a look of distaste. The blonde-haired girl pulled out a pair of light blue denim shorts. "These are so cute," she gushed.

Autumn cringed and looked away. "I prefer leggings."

Gracie frowned. "This is Florida. Not Alaska."

"I don't want my ass hanging out," my mate defended. My eyes involuntarily looked down and she noticed, covering up her butt with her hands.

Gracie continued to sort through the clothes. Autumn looked as well, pulling out a couple pair of shorts, one black and the other navy blue. "Do you happen to have any hoodies?" Autumn asked with hope, looking around the store. When she saw the look on Gracie's face, she rethought the question, "Hmm...maybe not. How about sweaters?"

Gracie shook her head with a laugh. "No but we do, have something even better!" She marched over to another group of racks and pulled out two shirts. "Tank tops and crop tops!" Autumn made a gagging noise, but grabbed them with a scowl. Autumn looked around and found the simplest and least revealing articles of clothing that the store had.

"You have a weird taste in clothing," Gracie commented, "Are you sure you don't want to show more skin? You have a lovely figure and I'm sure your mate wants to see it. Tease him." Autumn's face turned red as she quickly hid her face.

I coughed awkwardly as I rubbed the back of my neck. My heartbeat, however, quickened at the thought. Mainly because my wolf was very horny at the moment and he was putting explicit images in my head like always.

Stop that!

Gracie laughed at the sexual tension in the air and changed the topic. "You would look cute in a casual dress." Again, Autumn didn't like that idea. "Come on, try it. I'm sure you'll find something that you'd like. Also, some of them are very comfortable and you can wear a pair of shorts underneath." Autumn muttered something under her breath as she followed behind Gracie.

•••

I sunk down onto one of the sofas by the dressing room, waiting for my mate to finish shopping with her new friend. I was going to help her, but Gracie seemed adamant on doing it herself. I, obviously, didn't argue with her. It's not like I could anyways.

I glanced at the two girls who were chatting and giggling as they kept grabbing more clothes.

"Your girl's shopping?" someone asked from next to me. I glanced to my left and saw a man looking at me as he sat down on the other chair.

I nodded my head and the guy released a chuckle as he stared at a dark-skinned girl who was with a group of other girls. "Why do girls like to shop for clothes? It's so boring."

"Bryan!" the girl called out to her boyfriend while searching around for him. The man stood up again even though he just sat down and sighed. "Well, looks like I gotta go." I gave him a curt nod. "I've got advice for you. Don't let your girl control you. Once you've fallen at her mercy, there is no escape. It's like a trap."

Too late.

His girlfriend called out to him once again and panic took over his face. He quickly walked away and wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's waist. He kissed her cheek and she smiled. Adoration filled his eyes as he saw the joy in his girlfriend's eyes.

Standing up, I decided to go find my mate. She was looking at a pair of sandals when I approached her. She smiled when she saw me. "Which is cuter?" she asked, holding up two pairs of sandals, one white and one brown. I pointed to the white ones and she nodded her head in agreement.

After about another 30 minutes, we left the store carrying bags. "Thank you so much!" Autumn gushed, "I've never had so much fun shopping." My lips tugged up, glad she had fun.

We walked down the street, passing a bunch of people. It was hotter than earlier and the sun was shining directly on our heads. My eyes caught sight of a familiar place and I gently took Autumn's hand in mine and pulled her into the building. The bell jingled as we entered and the sweet smell of sugar enveloped us.

Autumn sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, making an 'mmm' sound. "Ice cream!" She pumped her free hand in the air, rushed over to the front counter, and began ordering. She reached for her wallet to pay, but I quickly grabbed her wrist and shook my head. She pouted as I pulled mine out instead. I took out some money and handed it to the cashier after we ordered.

Once we got out ice cream, we walked over to one of the round tables and sat down on the white chairs, placing the bags on the floor.

Autumn dove into her Rocky Road ice cream, unknowingly getting chocolate fudge on her lips. I bit my tongue, fighting the urge to get it off. Instead, I took a bite of my mint ice cream, crunching on a piece of chocolate. My favorite.

After her next bite, Autumn licked her lips, taking off the chocolate and I couldn't help but stare at the action. Me and my horny self. What can I say? She is my mate.

It must be the mate bond, I thought to myself.

Her eyes caught mine and she rose an eyebrow. "What?" she asked and picked up her napkin, "Do I have something on my face?"

I shook my head head and continued eating my ice cream before it could melt, which, by the way, was a little too late because there was a little pool of mint ice cream at the bottom of my bowl.

After we finished our ice cream, we threw our trash in the trash can as we left. The heat embraced us as we entered the sun's line of vision and Autumn groaned.

We walked for 20 minutes to my house and Autumn complained the whole way. I would've driven here if I had know it'd take this long. My house is 2 minutes away without traffic and 10 minutes in walking distance. However, with someone who stops at every shadow for shade, it takes a while.

When we reached home, Theo was waiting outside my door, pacing. He rushed over to us when he saw me. "We've got some rogues on the northern border!" I frowned at him as he continued, "They've killed 10 of the men patrolling."

My fists clenched at the idea of my pack members being killed. 'We need to get over there. Now,' I mind-linked him.

"We've got to go," Theo told Autumn, "Stay inside and don't leave." Then he shifted into his wolf, staring back at us with his dark blue eyes.

I looked at Autumn as she frowned, but then she nodded reluctantly. I shifted into my wolf, allowing the fur to take over my body. My mate's eyes widened when she saw the massive beast in front of her. I winked at her and her face flushed. "Be careful..." she whispered.

Theo and I took off running in the opposite direction of my house, Autumn becoming smaller by the second. Our paws pounded against the hard ground and our surroundings passed by in a blur. We were far from the populated area and there weren't anymore houses. Just grass. Green Grass.

Growls echoed in the air and I could see bodies laying on the ground. Lifeless.

Anger surged through my body as I slowed down, looking around at my guards. Blood covered their bodies like blankets and I could see the terror on their faces.

"Shit..." Theo muttered next to me. His voice trembled slightly with fear as he eyed a body.

More growls erupted from the small forest in front of us. I motioned Theo to follow me as I made a move to enter. I could hear growls and whimpers and the smell of something rotten danced around my nose.

Rogues.

Bodies of fur moved around in blurs, making it difficult to see what was happening. The rogues looked wild as they bared their blood-dripping teeth, pieces of flesh sticking to them. Some more of my men battled them. However, from here, I could tell they weren't winning.

I didn't bother holding back the loud growl that erupted from my throat. Taking one of the rogues by surprise, I pounced at him, digging my long nails into his flesh. He snarled at me as he fell to the ground. Theo followed my action, attacking one of the other rogues.

The rogue under me thrashed around as he attempted nipping at me. He swiped at my face, dragging his nails across my cheek. I bared my sharp teeth at him and allowed them to puncture his neck. He cried out in pain right before I snapped his neck, killing him immediately.

Not wasting another second, I jumped off of him and leaped at another rogue who was attacking another one of my men. His dusty fur was coated in blood and he was limping away. I became angrier by the second and I allowed that anger to take over my body as I ripped the heart out of the rogue. He fell to the ground as blood pooled around him.

I looked over at Theo as he kicked a rogue, who was much larger than him, with his legs. The rogue's big, hairy form slammed against the tree and I heard the sound of bones cracking.

We fought for a while, killing every rogue we came across. Soon there was only one left. I stood in front of him, breathing heavily. He was doing the same. His icy eyes stared back at me. He looked way bigger than the average wolf, which makes sense since he's a rogue. They tend to be larger. But rogues aren't typically this massive. His black fur stuck out and looked untamed. He reeked and he had this crazed look on his face.

I growled at him and he did the same. He charged towards me and leaped. I dodged his attack by jumping out of the way and I used that opportunity to bite his leg. He groaned and jumped at me, effectively knocking me down. He attempted to bite my neck but I kicked him in the stomach with my back legs. He collided with a tree and sunk to the hard ground. His shifted back into his human form and tried standing up.

I ran up to him and shifted as well and pinned him against the tree, allowing my nails to elongate into his arms to keep him placed.

"What do you want?" Theo interrogated from behind me. He, too, had shifted.

The grey eyes of the man in front of me shifted over to Theo before they went back to me. A humorless laughed escaped him. He leaned his head back against the tree and said nothing. Angrily, I slammed my fist into his nose. A stream of blood dribbled from his nose and he just laughed again when he saw that I was angry.

"Answer the damn question!" Theo shouted.

The rogue, once again, said nothing.

"Jax..." Theo warned when he saw my jaw tic and.

"What's wrong Jaxton?" the rogue mocked, "Need your little Beta to do all the talking for ya?"

I ignored his mocks as I just glared at him, wishing lasers would shoot out of my eyes and drill holes in his head. Since I couldn't kill him with my laser vision, I decided to dig my nails farther into his skin. The rogue grunted but didn't flinch. He just looked smug because he knew he was getting under my skin.

That's the problem when you have trouble with keeping your temper.

"Hey, didn't you find your mate?" he asked, smirking when he saw me tense up. "Is she hot?" When I didn't respond he continued, "My mate wasn't hot and she was worthless to me, so I sold her for a few thousand bucks." My eyebrows shot up in shock.

Is he serious? Just the idea of my mate being with another male infuriates me.

"You're sick," Theo spat in disgust.

The rogue laughed at Theo. "It was worth it, though. She was tying me down. Always wanting things and she was very obsessed with me. The sex wasn't great either. If anything, it was terrible."

"Is this guy for real?" I heard Theo mutter.

"Have you had sex with your mate?" The rogue directed his question towards me. I stared at him blankly, feeling disgusted. "I wonder why that is..." he thought to himself, "Is she not letting you do it with her? Is there something holding you back? A certain someone? "

A low growl rumbled in my chest, all of that anger building up inside of me. My breaths became heavy as I tried to control my anger just like my therapist had showed me.

"Or are you afraid she's going to abandon you just like your parents did?"

That did it.

It felt like something inside of me had snapped and the next thing I knew, the rogue had fallen to the ground unconscious. I stared at the ground for a few seconds before looking at my bloodied knuckles.

'Come on,' I said to Theo, 'Let's take him to the cellars.'

Theo stayed quiet as the both of us bent down and lifted the man up.

"Ew!" Theo shrieked as he jumped back, making the guy fall back on the ground and hit his head on a rock, "His dick touched my leg!"

My lips twitched as I rolled my eyes at him. 'Help me,' I ordered him. Hesitantly, from a distance, Theo helped me lift him up once more and his arms draped on our shoulders.

"That was beyond disgusting," Theo muttered as he looked away, "I'm definitely taking a shower after this."

'Calm down. You're being overdramatic,' I teased him.

"Shut up! I'm not being dramatic. How would you feel if I touched you with my dick?"

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. 'Dude! That's disgusting! Why would you do that?'

Theo's eyes widened in horror. "T-That came out wrong...I didn't mean it like that. I'm not gay," he protested.

'Sure you aren't.' Theo shot me a glare and punched my shoulder.

We started walking in the direction we came, ignoring our lack of clothing. That is the least of our worries at the moment. When I saw the dead bodies around us, I couldn't help but feel guilt and sorrow. I'm going to send some men for the bodies. But right now, I want to take this asshole to where he belongs and then I'm going home.

I winced a little when the breeze blew against the cuts on my body, causing them to sting. "Are you okay?" Theo asked after a moment of silence. I wasn't sure if he was asking me because of the cuts and bruises on my body or if it was because of what the rogue said.

I shrugged my shoulders, not bothering to lie since Theo knows me too well and he can tell when I'm not telling the truth.

It took us a while to reach the civilized area and when we did, people stared at us with curiosity and worry. Their eyes lingered on the unconscious rogue we were carrying, hatred sparking in their eyes when they realized it was a rogue.

"Those damn rogues," someone muttered as we passed them.

We made our way to the cellars. It was underground, so there were no windows inside. It's better that way because it would be harder to find a way to escape if they did somehow manage to get out of their cell–not that it has happened before–and so no one can see them. Above the cellars is a small building where guards stand to make sure they see who goes in and out and there are a few guards surrounding the place.

They bowed their heads when they saw me and I acknowledged them with a nod of my head.

Like every other cellar, it was dark, cold, and smelled like shit. As we passed the other cells, hands stuck out and tried to grab us, shouting curses at us. Theo and I walked by with impassive expressions, ignoring them until we reached an empty cell. We laid the rogue on the hard, cement floor and left, locking the door behind us.

When we exited, we both picked up a pair of sweatpants and put them on. 'We'll interrogate him when he wakes up,' I told Theo as we stepped back outside. The sun was beginning to set, so the sky was beginning to turn pink, orange, and purple. 'Have the guards notify me when that is.'

Once we reached my house, we entered and heard the sound of the television. We saw Autumn sitting on the couch with a blanket covering her.

"I'm gonna go..." Theo whispered before leaving.

At the sound of a door closing, Autumn's head snapped up in my direction. At first she smiled when she saw me, but then her smiled faded when she noticed the cuts on my face and body. She shot up from the couch and rushed over to me.

She cupped my cheeks. "What happened?" she asked as she inspected the long cut on my cheek. "Are you okay?" I nodded my head, not really feeling much pain besides the slight stinging. It's not even that bad. I've been through much worse than this. Once I was in terrible condition and I was at the brink death. But that is another story for another time.

She grabbed my hand and led me into the bathroom. I sat down on the toilet as Autumn began searching through the cabinets. She grabbed a rag and soaked it with water. Then she turned to me and came over to place it on my cheek.

"Was it a rogue?" she asked me. I nodded my head in response and she muttered, "What a bastard. He deserves to get his dick cut off and shoved up his ass." I chuckled and leaned forward to place a kiss on her cheek.

I allowed my lips to linger on her warm skin before pulling away. My lips tingled and I smirked when I saw her in a daze.

She quietly finished cleaning the cuts on my face before her eyes moved down to my chest. I couldn't help but notice how her eyes lingered on my muscles. Gently, I took her hand and placed it on my chest. Her hand felt warm and soft against my bare skin and there was a tingling sensation where she touched. Her fingers drew  light lines across my muscles.

My body shivered, something else yearning for her touch. Autumn glanced down at me and her eyes darkened when she saw a not-so-little me trying to make an appearance. Her lustful gaze met mine and she smirked. "Your heart is beating very fast," she commented.

What did I do to deserve such a perfect mate? I stared at her with an emotion I couldn't quite figure out. That feeling made me really happy and terrified. I knew that that feeling wouldn't be going away any time soon.

It was a feeling I never thought I'd feel towards anyone.

•••

Hey!!! It's been so long. And I am really sorry. Again...School has been very stressful this year, so I haven't had a whole lot of time to myself. So I really want to apologize. Also, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you thought about it!

Thank you so much for reading <3

Instagram: Cheezlver

~Jordan