Chapter 48

The closer we got to Angel Falls, the more knots appeared in the pit of my stomach. I was nauseous, and every nerve in my body was screaming danger.

Nicholas and I swapped Matt’s GTR for an SUV so that Sensei Gideon could drive back with us. One of the warriors had offered to drive the GTR back for us. We were headed for Alpha Trent’s pack. He had called to say two things.

One, that Alpha Cowan’s pack was totally fine. He had sent some boys to check on them and found them all safe and well. Duke somehow faked the attack and made me believe he had killed them all.  As relieved as I was about that, it infuriated me that Duke was prepared to fake anything to get his way.

Two, that he had gotten everything ready as planned. They were all set to go, and were just waiting for us.

I hadn’t told Nicholas what the plan was, and he wasn’t impressed with me hiding that information from him.

To add to Nicholas’s irritation, during the drive back, Sensei Gideon and I sat in the back seat catching up on life. Nicholas was driving with his Delta Bruce in the passage seat.

Gideon told me stories about things that were happening at the school, and we talked more about the legend as well. It felt like old times when Gideon and I would sit at the temple just gossiping till the sun came up.

I honestly didn’t realize 6 hours had gone by until I heard howling from the now dark forest.

“My lady, you’re home” Nicholas looked at me through the rearview mirror.

We had crossed the border. Technically now it belonged to Nicholas as much as it belonged to me. I smiled at him and looked out, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. Wolves were running on the edge of the woods. The first pack after the border was Alpha Wilson’s Silverstone pack. They were all on high alert since Danton Pack went into lockdown. Alpha Trent had taken care of informing all the neighboring packs.

“Angel, which way to Alpha Trent’s?” Nicholas asked over his shoulder.”

“10 miles out of town, heading East.”

Nicholas nodded, and I knew he was mindlinking his warriors.

We had formed a convoy with our SUV being in the middle. Few warriors had left a little later than us so that we didn’t attract too much attention with so many cars.

“Alex, I need you to do something for me” Gideon’s soft voice had been turning towards him.

“Okay, what’s that?”

“If things go wrong, and for whatever reason, I get trapped. I want you to get out. Do not try to save me.” Gideon’s warm brown eyes stared into mine like he was telling not just me but Kona as well.

“That’s not happening. You are my responsibility. I will not let anything happen to you.”

“Listen to me, child. I’m 105. My life no longer has many purposes. I’ve lived a perfect life thanks to the school. You, on the other hand, have so much more to offer. So much more to achieve. Since Nicholas and you didn’t take my advice, I want you two to get a chance to mate and see how powerful you are together” he reached out and held my hand.

I hadn’t told Gideon that Nicholas and I had finished the mating. I didn’t want to risk anyone finding out.

But Gideon needed to know.

I looked up at Bruce. He had fallen asleep a while back, but I knew he could still hear us.

I put my index finger on my lips, signaling Gideon to stay quiet. He nodded, and I proceeded to pull the collar of my shirt aside to show him my mark. It had completely healed now, leaving behind two crescent-shaped moons with distinct puncture wounds.

Gideon’s face lit up with a smile. He leaned forward and tapped Nicholas on the shoulder.

“Well, I guess dreams do come true” Gideon grinned.

I straightened my collar and smiled at the old man. He was the reason I could easily hide Nicholas and my new scent, so no one knew.

“Let’s see if we can use this to our advantage.”

“You definitely will. But you still have to promise me you will save yourself,” Gideon insisted.

“I’m sorry, Gideon, but that’s not going to happen. I will not leave you to die.”

“We will see.”

The way Gideon said those words made me shiver a little. He would not make saving him easy if the need came. Hopefully, my plan worked out, and the need for someone to be saved wouldn’t come.

After that, silence clouded the rest of the drive. We all knew things were going to turn sour soon. I didn’t doubt our ability to take down Duke. However, we weren’t aware of what he was actually capable of. He had some powerful mages on his side with access to spell books that we had never seen. Duke’s proficiency was what scared me. What if our strength was not enough?

I closed my eyes and tried to relax. Kona howled, and my body heated up.

Within seconds the insides of my eyelids turned pitch black, and a white mist loomed in the darkness.

I felt my body go numb, and Kona howled louder. Beyond the mist, a figure emerged. She was walking on her tiptoes and had a long white material draped around her slim Goddess body.

“You’re very stressed.” She smiled at me.

“Yeah, having a family held hostage by a psycho looking for revenge from you does that,” sarcasm dripping from my words.

The Goddess tipped her head back and laughed.

“You have always been funny.”

“How is this situation funny? My family is being held, hostage. If I wouldn’t have shut off my emotions, Duke would still be toying with my feelings. Let’s not forget that if I hadn’t mated with Nicholas, Duke would be sacrificing me for this stupid spell.” I rolled my eyes—anger bubbling in me.

“I would never let that happen. I have blessed you. If I knew your life was in danger, I would have intervened.”

“Okay, so what now? Is this you intervening?” I couldn’t hide the bitterness in my voice.

“Not yet. You will know when I’m intervening. For now, remember, Nicholas is your strength. Keep him by your side. There is a reason I asked the Gods of Darkness to send him.” She twirled around, her hair swaying around in the mist.

“I understand. How do I stop Duke, though?”

“You’ve already stopped him. Without an unmated White Wolf, his plans are pointless. I made sure of that. There is one thing you will need to do, though.” She took a few steps closer and narrowed her eyes at me.

“Duke is pure rogue blood. Pure cursed rogue blood. Tim Johnson had taken power by force. He wasn’t born an Alpha. Before him, no one from the Johnson family had ever seen the inside of a packed house.”

“Hang on. Gideon was just talking about that. Pure cursed rogue blood. You can’t kill them. Their bloods are so venomous. The White Wolf at the time used a secret weapon to kill Tim Johnson. He didn’t want to cause any unbalance between rogues and us, so the weapon wasn’t revealed.” I thought back to the conversation Gideon, and I just had.

“A stake from a Maple Tree. I suggest you find one.” She twirled and started to walk away.

“That shouldn’t be hard to find. Anything else?” My uneasiness still hadn’t gone away.

“Yes. Be careful. Try not to get Nicholas and yourself killed.” The mist started to get denser, and the Goddess walked into it.

“Yeah, I can’t promise anything” I rolled my eyes.

“Remember, I’m always with you” she disappeared into the mist. The mist started to clear out.

My body started to get sensations back, and the heat shimmered down.

I opened my eyes and let them adjust to the darkness in the car. I looked towards Nicholas, and he had his eyes on me through the rearview mirror.

“You okay?” Nicholas noticed I was looking at him.

“Yeah. Just having a little chat with our maker. You okay?”

“I’m worried about you. You won’t say anything, and it’s making me feel helpless.” I could hear the concern in his voice.

“We’ll talk when we get to Trent’s.”

Nicholas nodded.

“We’re almost there.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Growing up, Alpha Trent was like a second father. He and Dad were really good friends and spent a lot of time together.

As Nicholas drove towards the Blue Lake Pack, I looked at the familiar surroundings. My mum had passed away when I was 5. Alpha Trent’s wife, Luna Leah, had helped dad look after Asher and me. I had spent so many days and nights at this pack. I knew the layout of the packhouse like my own. 

The convoy stopped in front of the packhouse, and I looked out the window to see Alpha Trent and Luna Leah come out of the main door.

Sensei Gideon started collecting his things.

“You can leave all your things at Alpha Trent’s. You won’t need anything once we head towards Danton Moon packhouse” I turned to grab my bag.

Nicholas walked around and opened my door, holding his hand out for me to take.

“Go help the old man out first. I can manage.”I laughed.

“Bruce is helping him.” Nicholas stayed close to my side. He could sense the danger.

I walked up to the main entrance. The couple looked at me with big smiles. I hadn’t seen them in a while.

“Queen Alex Danton. May the Goddess be with you” Alpha Trent’s voice boomed.

“Alpha Trent. May the Goddess be with you. You look well.”

I turned to the beautiful brown-haired female next to him. Leah looked stunning as ever.

“Luna Leah. May the Goddess be with you.”

Instead of replying, she pulled me into a tight hug.

“Oh, my sweet girl. My eyes have been aching to see you. I am so sorry this is happening. It will all get better.” She whispered, rubbing her hands up and down my back.

I hugged her back. Leah was the closest thing I had to a mother. Her hugs gave me comfort.

“Thank you. Goddess, I hope it all goes well.”

I felt another big warm hand on my shoulder.

“It will be Alex. It will be.” Alpha Trent whispered.

I took a deep breath in and pulled away from the hug.

“Okay, no, my hugging and sadness. I’m not the only one here. Give a little respect to the King over there” I turned towards Nicholas.

He stood a little distance away quietly with Gideon next to him. They both had a slight smile on their faces.

“My apologies King Parker, Sensei Gideon. May the Goddess be with you” Trent walked over to them and bowed a little.

“May the Goddess be with you too, Alpha Trent. How have you all been?” Nicholas shook Trent’s hand and bowed towards Leah.

“Under the circumstances, I’m good. Thank you so much for coming to help Alex out. We will need the manpower.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure. Happy to help. So what now?” Nicholas looked at me and winked. That was normal behavior for him.

“Alex, did you want to get a move on now or wait till the morning?”

“It’s midnight. Let’s wait till the morning. In the meantime, shall we just go over the plans and get ourselves prepared?” I looked over at Sensei.

“Gideon needs some food and rest. It’s been a long drive.”

“Yes, of course. Come on in. Let’s get you all comfortable. Refreshen up and fill up your tummies. We can get started after that.” Trent stepped aside and motioned for us to enter.

All the packhouses were standard-sized. 3-4 floors with anywhere from 40-60 rooms. They usually had the floor or wing dedicated to just the Alpha and his family and visitors.

As we walked in, a deep voice called greeted us.

“Queen Danton....”

I turned to find a tall, handsome guy standing to our left.

“Jake?”

The guy smiled and nodded. He closed the few steps behind us.

“I’m glad you remember.” He still had a charming smile.

Jake was Alpha Trent’s son. Next in line to rule the Blue Lake Pack. He was the same age as Ash and me. Jake had gone to Tribeca a few months after I got back. His wolf was very feral after his first shift. I hadn’t seen him in maybe four years. 

“How can I forget? You and Ash use to make my life hell. Of course, I remember.” I laughed.

Jake pulled me into a hug, squishing me.

****See, now I know how you felt about Tammy and Josie.**** Nicholas’s voice echoed in my head.

I rolled my eyes and pulled away from Jake.

“Why are all of you so fucking tall?! I feel like a minion!”

Jake laughed and patted my head.

“There there, little girl. No need to be sad” I swatted his hand away and laughed.

Jake was always sweet on me. But then what guy wasn’t.

****Okay, now I’m telling you. Step away from the boy**** Nicholas growled this time.

****Will you cut it out? Unlike you, I don’t have a sexual relationship with every guy in my life. You will not have a line of guys fighting you for my attention. Chill!**** I barked back, and Nicholas whimpered.

“Alex, did you hear what I said?”

*Shit!*

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was having a conversation in my head. What did you say?” I looked up at the excited boy.

“I said I’ll put your room next to mine. I want to hear all about your life as Queen. We have so much to catch up on.”

****Yeah, not happening, Alexandria!**** Nicholas growled loudly through the mind link.

“Jake, I’ll come back another day for us to catch up, okay. Right now, I just need a shower before your dad, and I get a start on the current problem.” That wasn’t a lie. I wasn’t interested in chit-chat right now. Plus, a furious mate wasn’t a good idea either.

“Oh right! Sorry. Yes, maybe another day. Come, I’ll show you to your rooms.” Jake looked sad.

Alpha Trent patted his son on the shoulder.

“I’ll get food sorted in the conference room. We will be able to eat and discuss at the same time.”

“Can I have a room where I don’t have to climb stairs?” Gideon scrunched his face.

We all laughed.

“Yes, of course, Gideon. Right, this way.” Alpha Trent motioned towards the back of the house.

I watched as they disappeared behind the stairs.

“Come on, Alex. This way,” Jake called from the first landing of the stairs.

“He's very considerate,” Nicholas muttered under his breathe.

“He is, isn’t he. He's always been sweet.”

Nicholas growled.

“I can not wait for all this to be over! People need to fucking know to stay away from what’s mine!” Nicholas’s eyes went dark.

“Yeah yeah, calm down” I rolled my eyes. Why was I rolling my eyes so much?

I started climbing the stairs with Nicholas on my heels.

Jake took us up to the 4th floor. He pointed to a door on the left and said Nicholas could have it. Few doors down, he pointed to a door on the right.

“You can have that one, Alex. It’s next to mine. The view is incredible.”

“Sounds good. Thank you, Jake” I started walking towards the door.

Nicholas whimpered in my head.

“Nick, when you're done, can you please come to see me? I’ll show you those blueprints” I turned and winked at Nicholas.

****I want to see you naked!**** he growled.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Yeah, sure thing. Give me 10 minutes. I’ll be over to see your blueprints.” Nicholas said out loud.

I raised my brow.

“I mean the blueprints” he cleared his throat and pressed his lips together.

“Okay then. See you guys downstairs when you’re done.” Jake laughed at the awkwardness.

“Thank you, Jake” I watched as he walked away and turned the corner to walk down the stairs.

When we were sure he was gone, Nicholas opened the door Jake had pointed out for him and nodded for me to go in. I smiled and eagerly bolted into the room.

I hadn’t touched Nicholas in over 11 hours. Even though he was right in front of me, we had to keep our distance. We were both restless now and needed release.

I tossed my bag on the floor as Nicholas slammed the door shut and pulled me into his arms.

“Angel, I can’t keep doing this. It’s killing me to be so close yet be so far” Nicholas leaned down and pressed his forehead into the crook of my neck. He took a deep breath in sniffing me.

I hugged his back tightly and buried my face into his neck. My lungs filled up with his scent, and I felt my whole body relax.

“I know, baby. Just a few more hours. Let’s go rip apart Duke, and then we don’t have to hide.”

“Hmmm.... right now, I want to rip your clothes apart and sink into you” Nicholas’s words send a quiver through my body, making my lady bits throb.

Something clicked in my head.

“You do realize you have to wrap it up now,” I muttered against his neck.

“What?! Why?!” Nicholas jerked back. He looked like I had slapped him.

“Really?! We’ve completed the process. We’re both fertile now. I don’t want kids anytime soon! Nah ah!”

“Oh, fuck. I honestly didn’t even realize that. I didn’t bring any condoms! fuck! Now what?” Nicholas looked around, panicking.

“Well, it’s either no sex, or we can see how good your pull-out game is until I see Leo.” I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Yeah, I like that second option.” Nicholas leaned forward and hovered his lips over mine, gently brushing them against my lips.

“Hmm, me too” I closed the distance and slammed my lips into his.

Nicholas growled and started to move his lips against mine. He tightened his arms around me and crushed me into his chest.

At that moment, all the stress and anxiety I had washed away. It was just Nicholas and me. I melted into his arms and let his sweet taste caress my mouth.

Somewhere in the darkness of my mind, there was a faint buzzing. I pushed it back and let myself focus on Nicholas.

****Ale-..... ex-.....**** a faint voice buzzed in my mindlink.

I quickly pulled away from the kiss.

“What?” Nicholas pouted.

“Someone’s trying to mindlink me” I shook my head and pulled away from Nicholas.

“Maybe it’s someone from inside the packhouse? Can you make out who it is?”

I closed my eyes and focused on that voice.

****Hello?****

****Al-.... Alex**** the voice buzzed again.

The voice was scratchy.

****I’m sorry I can’t hear you clearly. Who is this?**** I tried harder to recognize the voice.

****It’s Mat-..... Matt.****

****Matt! Oh my god! Are you okay? What’s going on?**** I started to panic.

****We’re..... We are okay.. Duke.... has.... Alpha**** Matt’s link kept breaking.

****I know, Matt. I know. I’m coming. I’ll get you guys out****

****He..... trap..... hurry.....**** Matt’s voice faded and then completely disappeared.

I looked up at Nicholas. He was listening to the conversation.

Dread filled me again. What did Matt mean by trap? Who was trapped? Was there a trap for me?!

“Angel, calm down. I know it’s easier said than done, but we have to tread carefully.” Nicholas rubbed my arms.

He was right. We had to be careful.

“We don’t have time to relax. Can we please get started now? I don’t want to wait any longer.” I could hear the desperation in my voice.

Nicholas nodded and stepped aside, “Let’s go rip that son of a bîtch apart”..