Her Alpha Mate 30

It was so quiet that Zack could hear the squirrels digging holes and storing their acorns.

Or maybe it was the chipmunks.

He'd've to ask Freya about that later, since she seemed to be an expert on them.

When no one said anything, Gigi looked up at Juilet, who Zack assumed was her sister, with a puzzled look, "Juilet, what's a mate?"

Juilet bit her lip, her gaze never once straying from Reece, "It's a soulmate, Gi."

"So you're his soulmate?" asked Gigi, pointing curiously at Reece. Juilet nodded and Gigi shrugged before moving closer to Reece. Everyone held their breath as they watched the two.

If the situation wasn't so serious, Zack would probably laugh at Reece's expression. He didn't know what to do when Gigi indicated that he should kneel down, but he did anyway.

Gigi watched his face for a few moments before turning to Juilet, "He's cute. I like him."

Zack nearly choked on his spit as Gigi patted Reece's nose and skipped back to her sister. Zack turned his attention to Freya, who gave him a "what the hell is going to happen now" look. For the first time in a long time, Zack felt helpless.

Zack didn't know if they could trust Juilet and Gigi, but at the same time he didn't want to take his mate away from Reece. That wouldn't be fair at all.

When Freya noticed Zack's hesitation, she nodded and slowly straightened up. She turned her gaze to the two sisters and smiled kindly, "How about we talk over a cup of coffee? It's still too early in the morning for me to process all this."

Juilet finally turned to Freya and swallowed hard, seemingly nervous, "I'm not sure. I don't want to impose."

"Nonsense. You're Reece's mate. Now come on, how do you like your coffee? Gigi, what do you want to drink?" asked Freya, her voice softening as she pulled Juilet and Gigi further away from them.

Zack looked at two of his best pack warriors, "Keep an eye on them. I'll be right behind. If either girl does anything suspicious, let me know immediately."

They nodded and ran after the three.

Zack walked over to Reece, who was staring longingly at the fading figure of Juilet. It hurt to see his face, because the last time Zack had seen him so worried had been five years ago, during the fight with the villains.

"Reece, it's going to be all right. Don't worry about it. The moon goddess knows what she's doing. She wouldn't put you with Juilet if she didn't think it was right," Zack said gently, and he tried to reassure Reece.

Zack gave Chance a pointed look, and he seemed to be looking for an answer, "Zack's right. She does things for a reason. Besides, a werewolf with eagle wings or an eagle head is pretty cool."

Zack pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head as Reece finally realized what Chance meant. Reece cleared his throat and nodded slowly, "Thanks. I'm just going to go now. I... need a coffee too."

They watched him turn and walk in the direction the ladies were going. When he was out of earshot, Zack slapped Chance on the back of the head, "What the hell? The first thing you think of is his puppies? Are you kidding me?"

Chance winced and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "Okay, maybe that was a bad idea, but it's better than telling him his partner might leave him."

"We don't know that for sure," Zack shook his head, "For all we know, she could be a good griffin. We'll just have to wait and see."

He shrugged, "Well, let's go find out. I don't want to miss Freya's coffee."

Zack rolled his eyes and they headed back to Zack's house.





***




"How many sugar cubes do you want?" asked Freya to Juilet gently, noticing that she was very tense around them.

She cleared her throat and nervously bobbed her leg, "Two, please."

Freya smiled at her and dropped the two cubes into the cup before giving the liquid a quick stir and handing it to her.

"Thank you," she said, accepting it with shaky hands.

"Anytime. Gigi, would you like milk or hot chocolate?"

The adorable little girl pursed her lips and thought about it as if it were the most important decision she'd ever make,
"Hot chocolate, please."

"Good choice," Freya winked and got out the kettle to heat the water.

It was quiet while Juilet quietly sipped her coffee and Gigi played with her teddy bear. Freya had so many questions she wanted to ask, but she didn't want to scare Juilet. It was best to let Juilet get comfortable first.

As strange as it might sound, Freya trusted the two of them. There was just something about Juilet that let her know they wouldn't betray her. Her wolf wasn't even restless in her presence, so that counted for something.

"Uh, Luna," Juilet began, "why are you being so nice?"

Freya plopped down on the barstool next to her and shook her head, "You can call me Freya. And why should I be rude? You haven't done anything to me."

She pursed her lips, "Well, griffins and werewolves don't exactly get along, you know. Griffins are cruel creatures."

"Maybe, but just because a few griffins are cruel doesn't mean all griffins are cruel. I've a feeling you're just the opposite."

Juilet chuckled humorlessly, "Trust me,
I'm probably the only sane one of the lot. They're all crazy."

"Juilet, excuse my frankness, but are you running away from them?"

Her head lifted again, and Freya gave her an embarrassed smile.

From what Juilet had said, Freya assumed she didn't like it there and was leaving to find a better life for herself and Gigi. If Freya was right, hopefully she'd stay, because Reece needed his mate. The moon
Goddess knew the man needed to smile more.

"Pretty much," Juilet said softly, making sure Gigi couldn't hear her as she talked to her teddy bear. "They mistreated the women, especially the ones they thought were the outsiders. They didn't hurt Gigi, but I was afraid they'd hurt her too if we stayed any longer."

"But they did hurt you," Freya stated seriously.

It was terrible to know that people still treated women badly. Just when we thought the world had changed, it was as if we'd taken two steps back. Freya was lucky that the werewolves she dealt with didn't consider women property and treated them with respect.

Juilet winced a little and looked away. Freya decided not to push her to talk and changed the subject, "And how old are you?"

"Twenty-three. Gigi is four."

"That's quite an age difference."

Juilet laughed and nodded her head, "I know. A lot of people think she's my daughter when they first see us."

"How ab-?"

Zack's voice interrupted Freya's question as he walked toward the kitchen, "Sweet Pea?"

Freya rolled her eyes at her nickname and gave Juilet a questioning look as she smiled at her in amusement.

"Yes?" exclaimed Freya.

He entered the kitchen with Reece and Chance in tow. Reece's eyes were immediately drawn to Juilet, and he eyed her up and down. Freya felt his wolf lunge at his mate, pining for her.

Freya suppressed a grin when she noticed Juilet blushing, and gave him a small smile. He returned it with a faint smile, but it was so obvious that the man was smitten at first sight. His eyes almost shone with admiration.

Freya felt like a proud mother, even though that probably sounded very strange.

A pair of lips nibbled at Freya's temple, and a hand wrapped around her waist so that she looked up at Zack. He grinned and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

"Okay, I don't like the squishy Zack, can we've the badass Zack back?" joked Chance, patting him on the back.

Zack sparkled at him briefly and then turned to Juilet, "We've a few things to talk about. Is it okay with you if Chance takes care of Gigi for a while?"

When her name rang out, Gigi raised her head and nodded, "Can we play tea party?"

Chance looked like he was going to regret it, the way his eyes widened, but he took little Gigi's hand anyway, "Sure, princess."

They waited until they were out of the kitchen before Zack and Reece sat down.

"Juilet," Zack began, "as you probably know, we've been having some trouble with the Griffins lately. They want us to give up a very special person, and we're not quite ready to do that."

"I know. They've been talking to us about it. They said we'd become immortal if we got blood from the Blessed One."

Zack pursed his lips, and Freya sensed that he was a little suspicious of Juilet.

But Juilet seemed to know that too, because the next thing she said shocked them, "I can make the Blood Oath with you, so trust me. I don't give a shit about the rest of the Griffins. I want nothing to do with them. What they're doing isn't fair to you, and if I can help you, I'll do it any way I can."

The way the blood oath worked was that the person who broke the oath would die almost instantly in the most brutal way. The person wouldn't even die honorably because breaking a blood oath was despised.

It was cruel, and the person who took the oath obviously had trust issues, but it was the fastest way to gain people's trust.

Before any of them could say a word, Juilet stood up, walked over to the knife on the counter, and cut her palm. She held out her bloody palm to Zack and said, "I, Juilet Linger, daughter of Drake and Susan Linger, declare my allegiance to you, knowing that death will be my punishment if I break my oath."

A friendly smile formed on Zack's face as he cut his palm as well, "I, Zack Steward, Alpha of the Wind Winder pack, son of Kennedy and Georgina Steward, accept your oath. Welcome to the pack, Juilet."

Freya quickly pulled her into a hug and grinned widely, "Finally, some more company."

Zack gave Freya a mocking look, "Are you saying I'm not enough, Sweet Pea?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Kit Kat."

Suddenly, Reece stood up and interrupted their banter. He walked around the island, and Zack and Freya waited anxiously to see what he'd do.

Freya expected him to pull her into an embrace or even give her a kiss, but he did none of these things.

The young man just stood there and said, "Hi."

Freya stared at him in shock, daring him to hug her or something, but he just stared at her with wide eyes and rosy cheeks.

Juilet blushed, "Hi, I'm Juilet."

"Reece," he smiled and awkwardly rocked back and forth on his heels.

Freya had to admit that their awkwardness was endearing - they'd definitely be the super cute, shy couple that everyone loved.

"How about we leave them and do our own thing?" whispered Zack in Freya's ear, kissing her on the back. Reece smiled, turned around, and signalled Zack for them to leave quietly so they wouldn't disturb Juilet and Reece's gaze.

Once they were outside, Zack took Freya's hand and pulled her into his office.

"Until your heat cycle starts, we should make some plans. We should figure out how to maybe avoid a war, or win one if there's one."

"Sounds good."

"And after that, I'm all yours. Dirty or clean."

"You know, those squirrels seem to like your company, Zack."

"Shut up, Sweet Pea."

"No way, Kit Kat."