Chapter 28

Jax

Dimitri and I meet up at the packhouse entrance, exchanging our usual pleasantries.

We often find it more refreshing to discuss pack matters while strolling through the woods, rather than being cooped up in my office. We usually do this at night when there are fewer pack members around.

“So, what’s the news?” I ask, relishing the cool evening breeze.

“Well, when we first started tracking with a handful of our pack’s trackers, we’d reach a certain point, a few miles south of our territory, and then the trail would just disappear. We couldn’t figure out which direction they’d gone.

“They’d zigzagged through the trees to throw us off their scent, and it worked.

“Eventually, I called in a favor from a cousin of mine from another pack. He’s a damn good tracker. With his help, we found another lead.” I turn to Dimitri, surprised.

Tracking rogues is nearly impossible.

“He found a tiny splatter of blood a couple of miles further east from where we’d lost the trail.

“We think it’s from one of the rogues, and with that, we managed to track them down to a small campsite hidden deep in the woods, about twenty-five miles southeast from our pack,” he says, his wolf’s pride shining through, waiting for my approval.

“Holy shit,” I whisper, stopping in my tracks to take in the good news. We found them. You always hope you will, but it rarely happens. “That’s incredible, Dimitri.

“That’s why you’re my Beta. You never let me down,” I tell him.

Dimitri’s wolf shines even brighter, and a low growl of pride rumbles from his chest. They’re clearly pleased to have impressed their Alpha.

“Moving forward, I want those rogues under constant surveillance. I want to know about any unusual activity.

“I don’t want anyone getting hurt during this watch, so if any of our members spot the rogues and they seem hostile, they should abort and return to the pack immediately. I want this started as soon as possible.”

“Understood, Alpha. I’m on it.”

We’ll keep an eye on the rogues, but I can’t send my men to watch the Bloodnight Pack. That would be a disaster.

Rogues don’t care if other wolves from packs are nearby, because they know they’re more likely to die in a fight. They’re so disconnected from their wolf, they can’t control themselves—it’s both a strength and a weakness.

But if my men were to go watch the Bloodnight Pack, they’d likely end up dead. The Bloodnight Pack would see it as a declaration of war.

I wouldn’t mind going to war with that bastard, but I can’t risk the lives of my warriors. I just have to hope that Alpha Mason doesn’t have any tricks up his sleeve.

As we head back to the packhouse, I decide to ask Dimitri about something that’s been nagging at me. “Did you recognize the scent of the rogues?

“It seemed... familiar,” I say. Aaron and I have been trying to place it, but we can’t figure out where we’ve smelled it before.

“My wolf noticed it too, but I can’t remember where I’ve smelled it before.”

“Hmm, maybe it’ll come to me eventually.”

Hayley

After Jax leaves to take care of some late-night business, Axton tells me he has a surprise for us. He leads me into the living room and pulls out a disc, but I can’t see what it is.

Is it a movie?

He pops it into some sort of device, and a few seconds later the TV screen lights up with the words ‘Just Dance 3’.

“You’re going to love this,” Ax says, grinning proudly.

“What is it?”

“It’s a dance game. There will be dancers on the screen showing you what to do. All you have to do is follow along.” Sounds simple enough.

“Don’t be fooled, though. The dancers make it look easy, but you’ll be huffing and puffing in no time.” I laugh at his odd comment, but he looks serious.

“Do you want to go first?” he asks.

“No, you go first. I’ll watch.”

“Oh, I see. You want to learn from the expert,” he teases. Axton scrolls through a list of songs until he stops on ‘That’s not my name’ by The Ting Tings.

I can’t stop laughing as Axton starts dancing with complete confidence. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life—I’m almost in tears.

After Axton’s turn and I’ve managed to catch my breath, I choose ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears. I’m a little embarrassed by some of the... suggestive moves, but I start to get the hang of it and my confidence grows.

We both end up not taking ourselves too seriously, and that’s what makes it so much fun.

We take turns dancing and catching our breath, choosing songs like ‘It’s raining men’ and ‘Proud Mary’. We even do a duet to ‘Hot Stuff’, which has me in stitches—Axton is hilarious!

After my fifth song, I say, “I need to sit down!” I’m exhausted. Axton wasn’t kidding—I’m out of breath. But Axton keeps dancing, his werewolf stamina giving him the edge.

***

I must have dozed off while Axton was still dancing, because I hear Jax and Axton whispering near the door, followed by footsteps coming my way.

“Let’s get you to bed,” Jax says as Axton leaves the packhouse, probably to find his mate. I notice a movie playing softly on the TV. How long was I asleep?

Jax scoops me up, and I wrap myself around him like a koala. My legs are looped around his waist and my arms drape around his neck. He carries me to our bedroom.

Once we're inside, he sets me down in our shared bathroom, in front of the mirror. We brush our teeth together.

After I rinse, Jax steps out of the bathroom, only to return with one of his shirts for me to change into. I thank him, and he leaves me to change.

He knows how much I love being enveloped in his scent.

When I walk into the bedroom, I find Jax sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing only his boxers, his muscular chest on display. “Come here, Sunshine,” he says, his arms outstretched, waiting for me.

I shuffle over to him, and he wraps his arms around my waist, resting his cheek against my stomach.

“Did everything go okay?” I ask. He hums in response, not really wanting to talk about it. I close my eyes, surrendering to the peaceful moment.

Just as I start to doze off standing up, Jax gently lifts me and tucks me into bed. He climbs in on his side, spooning me.

He pulls me closer, burying his face in my neck. I barely hear him whisper, “I love you,” as I drift off into a deep sleep, held tightly in his arms.

***

I wake up to sunlight streaming onto my face and, surprisingly, Jax is still in bed. Usually, he's in his office by now. Maybe he overslept.

We must have moved in our sleep because my head is now resting on Jax’s chest, his soft chest hair tickling my cheek.

I lift my head and poke Jax’s cheek to wake him. He groans and opens his eyes to look down at me. “Go back to sleep,” he mumbles.

“Don’t you have work?” I ask, confused.

“I cancelled my morning meetings so I could stay in bed with you a little longer,” he says, his eyes already closing again. I bite my lip to hide my smile at his sweetness.

I give him a quick kiss on the lips before I lay my head back down and snuggle into Jax’s warmth. I notice the two pigeons that I see every morning are cuddled together on a branch.

It seems we’re not the only ones who decided to sleep in.

***

I must have fallen back asleep because when I wake up, I’m alone in bed with a note on my pillow.

‘I’m sorry I had to leave you, Sunshine, but I had to meet with some pack members and sort some things out. Axton is already on duty, waiting outside the bedroom door. Be good. I love you - Jax.’

Smiling, I stretch out my stiff muscles and get ready so Axton doesn’t have to wait any longer than he already has. I glance at the alarm clock and see that it’s 12:23.

I really slept in.

As I'm getting dressed, I notice some blood on my panties. Why am I bleeding? I don't remember injuring myself down there. Maybe I should ask Jax.

I've become quite dependent on him, more than I'd like to admit. I decide to push it to the back of my mind and worry about it later.

“Morning, lazy bones,” Ax says as I open the door. I burst out laughing, remembering his dance moves from last night and the image of him shaking his butt. “What's so funny?”

I shake my head and head downstairs to the kitchen.

I don't have to wonder whether Axton is following me or not anymore, as he always is. It's surprisingly become normal to always have a shadow.

I rummage through the cupboards, looking for something to snack on. Since leaving my birth pack, I've developed quite an appetite.

I still can't eat a full meal, but I manage to eat most of what's on my plate. I'm also off bland food.

This means I can have things like burgers and pizzas, and basically every food I've never tried before, or can't remember what they taste like. They're all so delicious.

I decide on a cheese toastie, which I've learned to make on my own thanks to Axton. Once I've made one for both me and Ax, we head to the living room to continue our usual routine.

Watching Riverdale. Axton keeps sniffing the air and looking me over. I wonder what's bothering him.

Jax

As Rose leaves my office, Dimitri walks in and closes the door behind him. “Afternoon, Alpha,” he says as he sits in front of me.

“Afternoon, Dimitri. Any update?” I don't need to explain what I'm asking about; he already knows.

“No update, all the rogues seem normal, completely crazed. I'll keep you up to date. However, there is something else we need to discuss.”

“Go ahead.”

“The females are going to be in heat within the upcoming weeks.” I almost forgot. “We need to devise a plan to ensure the males don't do anything without consent.”

The heat is so intense for every male wolf, it's impossible to resist. However, some wolves can. If you're a higher rank, you can control it a bit more.

The scent of a female's heat is so sweet that a male simply can't leave without being satisfied, whether he has to force himself on her or not.

There were many cases a few years ago where it was getting out of control and men were attacking women, and the females couldn't stop them.

Because of this, I built an underground bunker for unmated males to stay in, and sometimes even mated males. There's no way out except for using a passcode, which only Dimitri and I know.

They can throw themselves at the wall as many times as they want; it will just throw them right back.

“Same plan as usual. Any sign of a male losing control, they go straight to the bunker until every female's heat has passed.

“Of course, mated couples don't go to the bunker, unless the female wants him to. We don't ask any questions if a mated she-wolf asks for this; it's not our business. We take no risks.

“She-wolves are vulnerable during these times; it's our job to protect them.”

So that’s why Samantha is so hell-bent on us getting together. She’s looking for a seasonal fling, seeing as she hasn’t found her mate yet.

Well, I’ve already found mine, so she better keep her hands to herself.

Hayley’s wolf is dormant, which means she doesn’t go into heat. But if her wolf ever wakes up, I’m not sure I’d be able to keep myself in check...