Chapter 14

HUDSON

I could practically hear crickets chirping after Beta Mitchell stuttered out his announcement and it wasn't even nighttime. We were that silent.

The look on Alpha Horris's was somewhere between shock and horrified. I couldn't blame him. Our problems just got worse. If the griffins were after Alexis, they might go after the newborn as well and that was a huge problem– Alexis could defend herself, but the newborn couldn't.

"On second thought, I think we'll leave today. The faster we get to the witches, the faster we can get our answers and plan ahead," I said, breaking the tense atmosphere. We couldn't wait around anymore, we needed to act quickly before the wrong people found about Beta Mitchell's boy.

Alpha Horris sighed and cracked his fingers, "I don't know. Alexis is still weak and I don't want to stress her out."

Beta Mitchell looked at Alpha Horris with a desperate look on his face, "Please, Horris. Alexis is a strong wolf, she can take care of herself. We need to get answers. My newborn son is in danger now."

Alpha Horris glared at the ground in deep thought for a few minutes, before he finally nodded, "Fine. I'll send Alexis."

I nodded and made a move to leave when Alpha Horris stopped me again, "Hudson, promise you'll take care of her. I don't care if you accept her or not right now, I just want her to come home safely."

My eyes narrowed, "I might not have accepted her, Alpha Horris. But I do care enough to make sure she's safe."

This made him nod in satisfaction before he went back to conversing with Beta Mitchell. Once I was in the hallway, I sped up and moved swiftly to the pack hospital, only nodding at some of the pack warriors that were on duty. On the way there, I mind-linked Boston and Matthew and told them to start packing their things and inform our pack warriors that we were leaving.

I yanked open the door to the hospital and the smell of hand sanitizer filled my nostrils almost immediately as I walked further inside. My eyes trailed over the numbered doors as I tried to figure out where Alexis was.

"Alpha Hudson," One of the nurses bowed her head, "How may we help you today?"

"Where's Alexis? She should be with Beta Mitchell's mate."

The nurse nodded, "Room number 17, Alpha."

"Thank you."

A few seconds later, I was knocking on the door impatiently. A nurse opened the door and stared at me confusedly, "Can I help you, Alpha?"

"Is Alexis here?" I snapped. I was getting annoyed with all the questions people were asking me. Why couldn't they just let me through?

She nodded and opened the door further. I stepped inside and saw a woman passed out in the hospital bed. Beside her, Alexis was staring at the baby, who was sleeping in his bassinet. She looked up and gave me a small smile, "I'm guessing you heard," she whispered.

I nodded and looked at the baby sleeping peacefully in the bassinet, unaware of the danger that he was going to face. I wouldn't say he looked cute, considering he was red and wrinkled, but there was something about him that made me want to smile.

Alexis sighed and ran a finger over the baby's hand, "Just when I thought our problems couldn't get any bigger. We have a vulnerable baby that is in danger as well."

"How did you find out about his blood?"

"They were taking a blood test," She explaining, showing me the baby's heel.

I frowned, "Already? I thought you were supposed to wait a few days."

"It's different for a werewolf baby."

I nodded and watched her tuck the thin blanket around the baby, her pink lips twitching as the baby crinkled his nose. From what I could tell, she seemed to adore children, especially babies, which was a good thing considering my pack had a lot of children.

This is good. Mate will want pups quickly then.

We have bigger things to worry about and all you care about is having pups?

Making pups is fun.

How would you know? We haven't even tried.

That shut him up real fast.

"Hudson," Alexis called, trying to get my attention, "Hudson!"

I blinked and stared at her, "Yes?"

"Why are you here? I know you didn't just come to see the baby."

"Oh right," I cleared my throat roughly, "I wanted to tell you to pack your things because we're going to go visit a witch. She lives pretty far so we'll have to spend at least two nights traveling."

She nodded, "Okay. When are we leaving?"

I checked my watch and pursed my lips. It was already eleven o'clock and we needed time to get ready.

"Be ready by two," I muttered, turning to walk out. There was a lot to be done and I had no time to chit-chat.

***

ALEXIS

I glared at Hudson's back as he practically ran out of the room. It was as if he couldn't stand being close to me for more than five minutes, even though I knew that was a lie. My mind traveled back to the moment where he had hugged me, causing me to blush.

"Did Alpha Hudson say something dirty?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and gave my attention to Sasha, "No. Why?"

She grinned mischievously and nodded at my face, "You're blushing, chica. He must have said somethin' real dirty then."

I cursed myself as my cheeks felt warmer even though Hudson didn't even say anything relatively dirty.

"No. He told me to pack because we're going on a witch hunt," I said, rubbing my cheeks with an annoyed look on my face.

"Oh, so he's still being a hard ass."

"Unfortunately," I muttered, picking up my jacket from the corner, "Well, I'm heading out. Let me know if you need anything before I leave."

She nodded and smacked my ass as I was walked out, "Go get'em, babe. Make him beg for you."

I rolled my eyes in amusement, "Your mate won't appreciate you spanking people.

She snorted, "Antonio's just jealous that I don't do that to him. I always knew he had a kink for–"

"Sasha!"

She gave me a playful glare, "Well, you started it."

"And I'm ending it. Bye, Sasha," I said, shutting the door behind me.

The next three hours flew by as I spent my time shoving things into two backpacks that I thought I needed. While I was zipping up one of the backpacks, Hudson walked into the kitchen carrying a backpack on his shoulder. He looked at me and frowned, "We're going to be gone for less than a week. Why do you need so many clothes? That backpack is going to burst."

I followed his gaze to the other backpack that I had finished packing a few minutes ago. I chuckled and went back to wrestling with the zipper, "It's filled with food, not clothes."

His eyes widened, "What are you going to do with that much food?"

"Eat, and if you're lucky, I'll share."

He was quiet so I glanced up at him only to find that he looked very shocked. It was as if he couldn't believe I would eat that much food. Well, he was in for a surprise. I put all sorts of my favorite foods in there and they would be gone in a matter of seconds once I started chomping.

"Okay," he trailed off, "Are you ready?"

"Yes," I hissed as the zipper finally cooperated and let me close the backpack. I grabbed both of the backpacks and put one on either shoulder. He nodded and led the way to the front door where his pack warriors were standing along with my dad, Boston, and Matthew.

My dad gave me a worried look, "Sweetie, are you up for the travel?"

"I'll be fine, Dad. Look, I even have Neville's baseball bat," I said, pointing at the bat that I had stuffed into the water-bottle pocket.

He sighed pulled me in for a hug, "Be careful, okay? If you need help, mind-link me right away."

I nodded and pulled away, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, "Tell Mom and Neville I said bye."

He nodded, and I followed the men out of the door after they nodded at my dad. As we walked down the hill towards the pack border, Boston took the backpack full of food off my left shoulder, and I gave him a grateful smile.

"Okay," Hudson called, making everyone stop behind him, "I want two warriors to be running ahead of us to make sure the coast is clear. If you see anything suspicious, mind-link me and I'll take care of it. When we stop for the night, I will assign you to a shift and everyone will take turns staying guard. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, Alpha," One of the warriors called out. Hudson nodded in satisfaction and started trekking into the woods as if he was a taking a casual walk while two wolves ran forward to stay ahead.

"How far are we going today?" I asked Matthew quietly. I wasn't quite sure how far I could walk with my wolf still recovering. The doctor said she would be fine by tomorrow, but that didn't help for my situation now.

"Twenty-five miles," Hudson replied from in front of me before Matthew could open his mouth.

"Twenty-five miles?" I squeaked. Boston ruffled my hair, "What's wrong, shortie? You're a werewolf. Twenty-five miles is nothing."

"Not if my wolf is weak."

His lips parted in understanding, "Do you want to me to give you a piggy-back ride? I'm sure you're not that heavy."

I was about to reply when I walked right into Hudson's back. He had randomly stopped in his tracks and I glared at him, "What the fuck, Hudson? I almost broke my nose."

He turned around and snapped at one of the pack warriors I recognized as Devin, "Take her bag."

Devin took my backpack before I could protest, and I gave Hudson confused look, "Um, so what do I carry?"

He rolled his eyes and turned back around, "Get on."

I stared at his slightly bent form in shock, and the rest of his warriors looked just as stunned.

"I said get on," he said in a rough voice. Boston gave me an amused look and nodded at Hudson's back, giving me an encouraging pat on the back. I stepped forward hesitantly and gripped Hudson's shoulders, making him relax a little. I lunged forward and straddled his back, just as he straightened. He gripped my thighs and I wrapped my arms around his neck, ignoring the tingles I got from his tight grip.

Boston wolf-whistled making me move my head to glare at him. He saw me blush and looked slightly confused, "I had a few questions about your blood, Alexis."

He sped up to walk beside Hudson and Matthew so I could see him better.

"So, if your blood is gold, how do you blush?"

"I don't really know. It might be because I have pale skin, but I'm not sure why my cheeks turn pink."

"How about your period? Do you lose gold blood?"

"Boston!" Hudson and Matthew both snapped, giving him glares. I was pretty sure they didn't want to know the answer to that question.

"Um, yes?"

The look on Boston's face was comical.

"I–I, so if I stole one of your pads, could I use that blood to heal injuries?"

"First of all, that's disgusting. Second of all, it's not only my blood. Haven't you learned about the menstrual cy–"

"Okay!" Hudson said loudly, cutting me off, "That's enough."

I shrugged and leaned over slowly to reach for the food backpack on Boston's shoulder, "Boston, come closer. I want to grab some food."

He moved a little closer and I struggled to grab the zipper as Hudson continued to walk at his fast pace. Thankfully, I was able to get the backpack open and still keep a good grip around Hudson's neck with my arm without strangling him.

"Okay, who wants Lays? The barbecue kind?" I called to the pack warriors. Most of them raised their hands, so I started tossing the bags of potato chips behind me, "How about sour cream?"

A minute later, all of the pack warriors were eating their snacks quietly and I turned to Boston and Matthew, "What would you two like? I have potato chips, onion rings, cookies, brownies, chocolate truffles, Chocorooms, and carrots."

"Carrots?" Matthew asked, raising an eyebrow.

I smiled sheepishly and held up the Ziploc, "I love carrots."

He rolled his eyes, "Give me the onion rings."

I nodded and tossed him the bag, before looking at Boston expectantly. He scratched his chin in thought, "I want.....cookies."

I handed it to him before I finally stared at the back of Hudson's head. His black hair was very shiny in the sunlight, and I couldn't help but sniff his hair inconspicuously– it smelled like coconuts.

"What do you want to eat, Hudson?" I asked softly. He let out a breath, "I'll have the truffles, but you're going to have to feed me since my hands are full."

Thankfully, I wanted the truffles too, so I grabbed the box of chocolate truffles and zipped the backpack up again. After ripping the box open, I grabbed a truffle and put it near Hudson's mouth. His warm lips tickled my fingers as he slowly took the truffle from my hand. I ignored the shivers that shot down my spine as he licked my fingers to get the remaining chocolate off of them.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Boston and Matthew exchange looks as they noticed me feeding Hudson. Hudson didn't say a word and kept eating quietly, and I couldn't help but smile.

His ears would go up and down with the movement of his jaw, and it just looked adorable to me.

"Hey, Luna!" Devin called from behind me, "Can you feed me once you're done with feeding Alpha?"

Hudson growled loudly, making Boston and Matthew snicker. I rolled my eyes and popped a truffle in my mouth.

It was obvious that this trip was going to be a long one.