Chapter 30

ALEXIS

"So, how long do heat cycles last for werewolves?" Lacey asked, helping me fluff some pillows. I sighed in exhaustion, "Three days. I'm on my second day."

"Is it bad?" She asked worriedly, probably wondering how she was going to manage. After all, she was supposed to start her cycle tomorrow.

"It's just tiring. As long as you're with your mate, you should be fine. And stay away from unmated males."

"Duly noted."

After we finished, I collapsed onto the sofa with a groan and glared at the clock. Hudson had left a few minutes ago to welcome Alpha Breydon to the pack, and I was already feeling the effects of the heat cycle. My stomach was feeling uneasy and my abdomen was starting to hurt from the cramps. There was even a light layer of sweat on my forehead and neck.

I made up my mind that before my next heat cycle, I would make Hudson mark me. There was no way in hell that I was going to go through another cycle. It took up so much energy even if I didn't do anything but lay around.

Besides, I think we were ready for the next stage....sort of.

I knew Hudson was still keen on making it up to me, but he could make it up to me by marking me so I wouldn't go through this torture again.

"So how are you and Matthew doing?" I asked Lacey, who sat on the recliner seat across from me. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she picked at her chipping nail polish, "This whole mate thing is surreal. Griffins don't have mates, they pick whoever they want to be with like regular humans. The only issue is that most have an issue with commitment."

Before I could ask what she meant, she let out a quiet sigh and glared at the carpet, "My dad had four mistresses."

My mouth fell open, "Four mistresses? What about your mom?"

She snorted, "She had two of her own affairs before she died. My parents loved each other, but obviously not enough to be loyal to one another. The only time I've seen them act like a couple was after Brielle was born. She brought them together in a way."

My heart hurt for Lacey. I couldn't imagine growing up in a family where the parents had affairs with several other people. It must have been traumatizing. I was lucky that werewolves had mates so the likeliness of someone cheating was extremely low.

"Does Brielle remember them?" I asked quietly. She shook her head, "They died in a car accident right after she turned two. I told her that they went to heaven and were watching over her from there."

I nodded and bit my lip, "Lacey, I don't know what to say. I just–"

"It's fine, you don't need to say anything." she cut me off gently, "It just feels good to talk to someone about my life. Part of the reason I ran away was because there was no one there for me to talk to. I was pretty lonely. I just wanted a fresh start where I could meet someone and fall in love knowing that they were going to be loyal to me and committed to our relationship."

"Looks like you've finally found that someone," I grinned, running my fingers through my hair. She closed her eyes and let out a dreamy sigh, "And he's incredibly sweet. I don't give a fuck if I met him just yesterday, it feels like I've known him my whole life."

Suddenly, the front door opened and Hudson stormed into the living room angrily, "That fucking egotistic bastard. I'm going to kill him before the day is even over."

Well then, the welcome parade had obviously not gone well.

"What did he say?" I asked, sitting up so Hudson could sit next to me.

"I told him that I had to get back to you since you're in your heat and that we could talk later, and that idiot said 'if you need any tips on how to satisfy your mate, I'm your guy.'"

I looked at Lacey and rolled my eyes amusedly. The way Hudson made it sound, it was like Alpha Breydon offered to satisfy me for him, which was a lot worse than the tips comment. That was one thing about male-wolves though, they hated being told that they weren't doing a good job with pleasing their mates.

It was like telling them that their dick was too small.

"I'm guessing you don't want me to meet him," I muttered, letting him pull me closer to his body and kiss the top of my head.

Thankfully, the cramps and uneasiness faded away as he stayed close to me.

Hudson played with the ends of my hair,"Once your heat is over, you can meet him. I don't want his wolf to get any ideas. I can't believe he hasn't found his mate yet."

I yawned and laid my head on his shoulder, "Sure."

***

"She slept through the whole day. I thought her heat cycle wouldn't be that bad this time," Hudson's voice echoed in the hallway.

I heard Lucy's soft voice reply, "She's probably drained anyway. It's not like her body stops her craving for mating when she's around you. I'm sure she'll wake up soon. She's fine, Hudson."

At this, I sat up and look at the clock.

I slept for fourteen hours.

How was that even possible? I was pretty sure that was called passing out, not sleeping.

The door opened and Hudson walked in with a concerned look on his face. When he saw me sitting there, the look was replaced with one of relief, "Oh, you're awake. I was so fucking worried that you would have to go to the hospital like last time."

I yawned and stretched my stiff muscles out, "I'm fine. I think I just needed the sleep."

"Is your wolf tired?" He asked, sitting beside me on the bed.

My wolf was stretching herself out as well and shaking her fur out.

"She's fine."

Hudson nodded, "Then, let's get some food into you. We have a long day ahead of us, and I need you beside me to keep me sane."

"Alpha Breydon driving you nuts already?"

"Thankfully, no. I haven't seen him since I made him and his warriors settle down in their cabins."

"Well then, let's get moving."

I quickly got out of bed and ignored my freezing feet as I scrambled to the bathroom. One of the things I hated about winter was that the floors were always cold. I needed to get a pair of house slippers or fuzzy socks.

When I was downstairs, Hudson, Matthew, and Lucy were making breakfast and coffee.

"Where's Lacey?" I asked, sitting down at one of the barstools. Hudson handed me a cup of coffee, which I accepted gratefully, before he said, "She's helping Brielle with her bath. Apparently, Boston scared her yesterday with some stupid story about a bathtub monster and now she's refusing to be alone while she takes a bath."

I chuckled and took the plate of bacon and scrambled eggs from Lucy's hands, "So are we talking battle plans today?"

"I think so," Lucy muttered, "At least if none of us decide to kill Alpha Breydon before the meeting is over."

I raised an eyebrow over the rim of my cup, "Did he say something to you too?"

She snorted, "I haven't seen him yet. The last time I saw him, he tried a few pickup lines on me so I decided to avoid him at all costs this time."

"He sounds like quite the character," I mumbled, savoring the taste of the bacon. There was nothing better in this world than bacon and cookies. Those were my two favorite foods.

"Oh, believe me, he's charming at first but once he opens his mouth, it all goes downhill."

I chewed quietly and wondered how bad this Alpha could be. It was clear that I should keep my guard up around him until I thought he was trustworthy. My dad never said anything about Alpha Breydon being annoying, so maybe he was nicer around my dad. That could be a good sign– he respected his elders. Then again, he probably didn't want my dad on his bad side and finds Hudson's reactions funny.

"If it's anything to judge by, one of his pickup lines was 'Babe, you're so hot, my zipper is falling for you.'"

I nearly choked on my bacon as I tried to contain my laughter. Hudson, on the other hand, managed to rip the dish towel in half from anger.

"I swear, if he tries to hit on either of you, I'm going to rip his pretty little head off," Hudson muttered, tossing the ripped dish towel and grabbing a new one from the linen closet.

Suddenly, all three of them froze in their places. I watched them carefully, my concern growing with every passing second.

"What's wrong?" I asked gravelly.

If it was another intruder, I didn't know what to think. Too many things have been happening lately and I didn't like it one bit. It was like the griffins were testing the waters for something.

Hudson swallowed hard and dropped everything he was doing, as did Lucy and Matthew.

His words nearly made my heart stop,

"They found a dead wolf at the border."

***

A dead wolf.

The worst news an Alpha and Luna could ever get.

A pack bond that was torn from everyone's hearts.

No matter how many people there were in the pack, the pain was the same.

And as an Alpha, there were a lot more emotions involved.

Guilt. Anger. Sadness. Helplessness.

I didn't feel as many emotions since I wasn't connected to the pack yet, but I felt the sadness and the guilt.

Sadness that a young life was lost and the wolf was not able to live it out to the fullest. Guilt that this was all because of me.

It were moments like these that made me wonder if I should just give myself up to the griffins. I didn't want to cause people pain and grief. I wasn't worth the many lives that were bound to be lost in this war.

As we made our way down to the border, I squeezed Hudson's hand, trying to send as much comfort as I could through the mate bond. He gave me a faint smile and shook his head, "I don't want you to blame yourself for this. I know that those thoughts are running through your head. You're not leaving me Alexis, not now, not ever. If anything happens to you, I won't be able to survive without you."

I swallowed hard and gave Lucy a sad smile when she grabbed my other hand, "It really isn't your fault. You didn't ask those cruel griffins to come after you and kill innocent people. You're just as innocent as the wolf who lost his life."

I let out a quiet sigh and nodded slowly as the crowd of wolves came into view. We moved to the front of the group where there was a mass of brown fur laying on the ground.

"Alpha," a pack warrior stepped towards Hudson, "There was note attached to the wolf."

Hudson took the wrinkled slip of paper from the wolf and read aloud just so that Lucy and I could hear it, "Pull my heart."

I looked at Lucy, who seemed just as confused as me. I stared at the dead wolf before I realized that the note meant to pull the heart out of the dead wolf.

With shaky hands, I moved towards the dead wolf and crouched besides him. There was a large hole in his chest, and I carefully reached forward and dug my claws into the hole, feeling for his heart. After a few seconds, I pulled his bloody heart out and resisted the urge to gag at the smell.

There was a note pinned to the heart as well, but it was placed in a plastic cover so the blood didn't stain the paper.

I looked up at Hudson, who looked sick to his stomach by the sight. He crouched down beside me and pulled the note out.

It read:

Don't grieve over the little wolf. He was a traitor after all! You should thank us for killing him. He was going to kill the Blessed One for us and bring us the body. But since he was unable to follow orders, he had to face a little punishment.

If you choose to surrender the Blessed One, bring her to the mountains on the second full moon from this day. If not, there will be war.

Ta-ta!

"He was a traitor," Hudson muttered, before turning to one of the pack warriors, "Do we know his identity?"

"Yes, Alpha. James Miller."

He pursed his lips, "I should have guessed. He was the one who was against you the most."

"So he's not innocent," Lucy breathed.

I stared at the dead body and shook my head, "I guess not."

"Alpha Hudson."

Hudson and I stood up to face a tall, muscular man, who had a grim look on his face. He had large, chocolate brown eyes that seemed to take in every detail around him with careful precision. His hair made it look like he just got out of bed.

And from the power that radiated from him, I knew that this was Alpha Breydon.

Hudson stood up and moved closer to him so they could talk without anyone overhearing. I knew for a fact that even if Hudson got annoyed with Alpha Breydon a lot, all insults and teasing aside, the two of them just cared about keeping their pack members safe.

Suddenly, Lucy let out a gasp which caught the attention of the two Alphas and all the pack warriors. I turned my head to see what had made her gasp, only to find that she was looking at Alpha Breydon.

Her eyes became the size of golf balls as the two of them just stared at each other like deers in the headlight. It took me a second to catch on to why the two of them were staring the way they were.

And my first thought about this new discovery:

Shit was about to go down.