Chapter 13

ALEXIS

"I didn't think I would get to see you," Monty grinned, his face lighting up like a Christmas tree.

Hudson let out a warning growl, which made me jump in surprise. I didn't even realize he was standing so close behind me until his chest vibrated against my back.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to," I muttered, crossing my arms.

After I had broken up with him, Monty seemed adamant to get us back together and tried every trick in the book to try to win me over. Of course, I had already decided that I was going to wait for my mate at the point, so he wasted a lot of time on me. It got to the point where my dad decided it was best to make him a tracker and send him off to travel the world so he could help our allies in need. He only returned a few times a year to see his family, and I made sure to stay out of his way so I wouldn't have to deal with his ass.

"Who's this?" Monty asked as he finally noticed Hudson standing behind me. I sensed a bit of anger and jealousy in his tone that made me want to roll my eyes. He stepped forward and put his hand out for Hudson to shake, "Montgomery, the ex-boyfriend."

Hudson stiffened some more if that was even possible and shook Monty's hand tightly. I saw Monty flinch from the tight grip Hudson had on his hand, making Hudson's lips twitch a little, "Alpha Hudson, the mate."

Now, I wanted to slap Hudson. Why was he claiming I was his mate now? It took him until my ex-boyfriend showed up to even say that. I decided to wait till Monty left to interrogate him about this. The last thing I needed was for Monty to try to use our tense relationship to his advantage.

Monty seemed surprised by this piece of information, "Mate, Alpha?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

I elbowed Hudson discreetly, but he didn't even flinch. The two of them just stared at each other until Monty averted his gaze once he realized that he was practically challenging an Alpha. That was a smart move on his part, considering the fact that I was pretty sure Hudson could make him into a nice purée if he felt like it.

"Not at all," he swallowed, "Congratulations."

"Thank you. We are very happy as well."

I stared at him in confusion and wondered if he had walked into a tree or something.

"Right," Monty cleared his throat awkwardly, "Well, I'll see you two later."

He walked away as if his ass was on fire without even waiting for a reply.

"Nice wolf," Hudson remarked sarcastically. I turned to glare at him, "What was that?"

"What was what?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Alpha Hudson, the mate," I mimicked with the deep voice and all.

"Oh, that."

"Yes, that."

"I never said you weren't my mate before. I just haven't formally claimed you."

"Then what do you call that? You just admitted to a pack member that I was your mate. No one knows your my mate here except for my family and Boston and Matthew."

"Look, my wolf was frantic."

"You can't blame your wolf for everything, Hudson! I'm pretty sure he doesn't control your every move"

"He's worried you'll make him live with the chipmunks!"

The glare on my face disappeared momentarily, "Chipmunks?"

"Squirrels," he corrected himself and rolled his eyes, "but same thing."

"It is not!" I exclaimed, "Chipmunks are smaller and have stripes!"

He seemed surprised by my outburst, "Who cares? The two still run around trees and collect acorns."

Before I could correct him again, a new voice interrupted our conversation.

"And here I was thinking you were having a serious conversation with your mate. Instead, I come out here to discover the two of you fighting over chipmunks. Since when did those furry creatures become more important than a pup ready to enter this world?"

I turned around and gave my mom a sheepish look, "Sorry mom. I'll be right there."

"I'll end this argument for you. Chipmunks like to mostly live on the ground, Hudson. Now come along Alexis, Nancy is getting a bit out of hand and the other midwives need help."

I nodded and glanced at Hudson, who had a surprised look on his face as he realized my mom had just corrected him for me.

"Please go find out about those witches. We can talk later," I muttered and followed my mom inside.

HUDSON

I was still in shock. This was our second argument and we ended up fighting over those fucking creatures that hogged all the acorns.

While I was a little pissed, my wolf was the total opposite. He wouldn't stop talking about how Alexis looked like an angry puppy. I wanted to face-palm at his thoughts.

She was cute, I will admit, but that wasn't important right now. We had more pressing matters to deal with.

Would you stop? We have to deal with more serious issues right now and our mate's cuteness isn't one of them.

He froze and shook his fur out as the seriousness of the situation hit him once again. I was lucky that my wolf knew when to stop acting like a pup and start acting like an alpha.

I took his silence as a good-to-go signal and headed towards the dungeons where Alpha Horris was dealing with the dead rogues.

"Alpha Horris," I said, my voice echoing against the stone walls. He walked out of one of the cells with an exasperated look on his face.

"Come with me. We'll talk in my office," he muttered. We quickly made our way to his office, where he sighed and plopped in his chair.

"What happened with the rogues?" I asked, leaning against the wall with my arms crossed.

"One of the pack doctors ran a test on their blood. It turns out they had quite a bit of griffin blood in them, which made their wolves weaker."

"So they were either injected with the blood or they somehow became part griffin."

"Maybe, but I was also thinking they could have exchanged a blood oath with the griffins to show their loyalty."

"I don't think a blood oath would be enough to give them a lot of griffin blood."

We stayed quiet for a few moments as we thought some more.

"Do you know any other witches that are close enough to visit in a few days?" I asked, "The one in the north is useless. I want to see if there is another witch that can give us answers even if it takes a day or two to reach her."

Alpha Horris scratched his chin, "How about that witch, Pasty?"

"You mean, Patsy?"

"Yes, whatever her name is. She lives in the east woods right? It would probably take you two days to get there if you move fast."

I sucked in a breath, "I don't know. That last time I visited her, she was a little too fond of me."

Alpha Horris gave me a dry smile, "I wonder why. You're not much to look at."

"To you, maybe. But from the way she kept touching me, it seemed as if she wanted to turn me into a statue and keep me with her forever," I said, nearly shuddering at the memory from a few years ago.

Patsy was a very....frisky witch.

"Well, she's the closest I can think of unless you want to travel to a different state."

I sighed, "No. She will have to do. I'm sure I can handle her for a few hours. I was thinking of leaving the day after tomorrow and I want to take Alexis with me."

"Why? She's already in danger, Hudson. I don't need her traveling around by herself," Alpha Horris frowned.

"I wasn't going to let her travel by herself," I said, "I'm going to bring some of my pack warriors with us. Patsy may want to see Alexis herself before giving us answers."

Alpha Horris pursed his lips, but reluctantly nodded, "Fine, but if I find out that a single hair on her head was harmed, I am coming for you."

I rolled my eyes and pushed off the wall.

"I mean it, Hudson."

"I heard you loud and clear, Alpha Horris," I said, turning to leave. However, the door slammed open and Beta Mitchell ran in frantically. He seemed shocked and scared at the same time.

"Mitchell, what's wrong?" Alpha Horris asked, standing up from his chair and walking over to the worried wolf. We exchanged a look as Beta Mitchell struggled to form words.

"M–my p–pup, h–he,"

"What about your pup, Mitchell? Is he okay?" Alpha Horris asked sternly.

"He has the Moon Goddess's blessing. Horris, he has golden blood."