Chapter 41

ALEXIS

Hudson curled his lip into his mouth as he thought over my proposition. I mentally crossed my fingers and prayed that he would agree.

"I don't know, Alexis. You might get hurt," he said quietly, giving me a worried look. I gave him a small smile and stepped forward so I could wrap my arms around him.

"Do you trust me, Hudson?" I whispered into his ear as he buried his face in my hair.

He groaned, "You know that's not my issue. My issue is that the griffins are coming here for you and you want to be the decoy."

I pulled back and felt my heart warm at the concern on his face.

No one could ever get tired of knowing that someone cared about them so much.

I got on my tiptoes and pecked his lips, making his face soften, "I'm a Luna, Hudson. The pack comes–"

His lips landed on mine before I could even finish my sentence. He laced his fingers into my hair and yanked me closer so my chest was crushed against his. He kissed me with an intensity I hadn't felt before. I was overwhelmed with the emotions that traveled through the mate bond and sent my heart into overdrive.

I clutched his shoulders as I tried to hold back a moan. The way he was practically devouring my lips was so....intoxicating.

I nearly forgot where we were but quickly reminded myself that this was not the time to turn into an overly excited female. There was plenty of time for that after this.

Hudson released me for a second and eyed my swollen lips with dark eyes, leaving me gasping for breath. I barely had time to inhale before he claimed my lips again.

"Mine," he growled, not slowing the pace of his lips once.

My wolf nearly fell over when she heard that statement, and needless to say, I was just as shocked. He had never exactly proclaimed his possessiveness so bluntly before since he knew I didn't really like that.

But I knew that what he was feeling right now wasn't the kill-every-male-wolf-in-vicinity possessiveness. It was more of the protect-my-mate-at-all-costs possessiveness.

I felt light-headed as he pulled back and looked at me with a much more tender look on his face as we both tried to steady our breathing.

He leaned his forehead against mine and shut his eyes tightly, "I was hairist."

I nearly choked on my saliva at his statement. What the hell was that supposed to mean? He didn't like my hair before?

He chuckled and stared at me with a look that made my heart ache, "I said I wanted a mate who had a good heart with only the pack's interest at heart. She had to be strong and be able to fight on her own."

I slowly caught onto what he was getting to and felt my lips curve into a smile. His eyes gleamed with an emotion that I saw everytime my dad looked at my mom.

"Dear Moon Goddess," he whispered, "I have to apologize. You gave a wolf who sat on a horse as tall as Mount Everest a mate with a heart of gold."

He bumped his nose against mine, "No pun intended."

I rolled my eyes playfully and felt his lips curl into a smile on my cheek as he continued speaking, "I should be thanking you for eternity, but I can't. Not when I worship her more than you."

I was part in awe and part expecting lightning to flash from the sky and burn him to ashes.

He just had such a way with words that made people want to love and curse him at the same time.

"Alexis," he said, moving back so he could see me better, "I probably sound very dramatic right now, but if there was one thing I learned from my dad, it would be to never walk into a situation like this without telling a person you love how you feel."

He swallowed hard, "Life is unpredictable. I want you to promise me that if something happens out there.... you will come back to me. I don't care if I die the next moment, I just want to see you ."

"Hudson,–"

"Promise me, Alexis. I don't want to hear anything else."

His face became blurry as my eyes welled with tears, "I promise."

He kissed my forehead, "Go. Distract some griffins up for me."

I stepped back slowly and gave him bittersweet smile.

We may not have said the three special words, but at that moment I knew we didn't have to. The look in his stormy gray eyes gave it all away.

My heart skipped a beat as several emotions rushed through my body.

The most prominent one being love.

And it wasn't just my love for Hudson, it was his love for me.

The one he conveyed through the mate bond with wave after wave.

I turned around and closed my eyes, sending my own feelings through the bond and letting him know that it wasn't just him.

I loved him too.

***

"Fireworks?"

"Check."

"Lighter?"

"Check."

"Masks?"

"Check."

"Underwear?"

I stopped adjusting my helmet and gave Sasha a pointed look, "Underwear?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Considering the fact that Alpha Hudson decided to half-ravish you in the middle of the field, I had to make sure he didn't blow your underwear off."

"And you!" She directed her attention to poor Lacey who was slowly starting to blush, "You disappeared into the house with Beta Matthew and came out with a mark on your neck. Who knows what else happened in there?"

Lacey tied her hair into a ponytail and proudly displayed her mark, "Nothing. We had no time because Boston came and banged on the door."

I smirked and stuck the key into the ignition of the motorcycle, "Come on, Sash. We can discuss this later."

She started saying something else, but a mind-link diverted my attention.

Luna, the griffins are now in sight. They are marching about twenty miles away from us towards the east and west border.

I pursed my lips and mind-linked Hudson, my dad, Matthew, and Boston.

We're about to head out. Everyone's clear on the plan right? Sasha, Lacey, and I will force the griffins to the north border so the rest of the pack can leave.

There was a murmur of agreement through the mind-link before I nodded at the girls, "It's time."

Sasha got on the other motorcycle and started the engine, "Get on Lacey. You've got a lot of bombs to throw."

I eyed Sasha's bump worriedly, "Are you sure about this?"

She rolled her eyes, "Babe, my mama made this bump armor. If someone tried to punch my womb, they would break their fucking hand."

I nodded in approval and put my mask on, "We're taking the trail on the right when we reach the split in the road, alright?"

Sasha nodded and revved her engine excitedly, "Time to spill some of those griffins' blood and guts."

"You worry me sometimes," I muttered, hearing her laughter as I sped down the path.

Before I knew it, we were past the border and speeding towards the distant group of griffins. They hadn't noticed us yet, but that was probably because we were making sure to stay behind the line of trees. As we got closer, I signaled Sasha to slow so we could time this correctly and stopped behind a large pile of logs.

I watched the griffins move closer and closer, my eyes narrowing each time they took a step.

Now!

Sasha sped out from behind the tree and zipped back the griffins, who seemed startled by the intrusion. She crossed the trail before they could blink and disappeared behind the line of trees again.

"What was that?" One of the griffins snapped, looking back and forth in confusion.

The griffin in front, who I assumed was Xavier, sniffed the air, "Werewolves. We must be close to the border."

Lacey had mentioned that the griffins were busy getting drunk the evening before, and since it was early morning now, they were all hungover and couldn't fly.

From what I could tell, they were still a little hazy because they couldn't even smell the faint scent of griffin on Lacey. All they smelled was Matthew's scent on her.

I slowly moved out from behind the pile of logs and glared at all of their backs as they stared in the direction Sasha had left.

I gripped the handlebar tightly and felt my heart pound against my ribcage.

It was now or never.

I revved my engine.

It was almost comical to watch all of their heads turn to me so quickly.

I smirked a little and took their moment of shock as a chance to move forward and circle around the group at a speed that would make police officers faint.

There was a yell behind me, "After him!"

He just assumed my gender. How nice.

I heard their footsteps behind me and looked back to see some of them shifting into their griffin form.

I slowed down just to amuse them and waited till they were a little closer before speeding off again.

Soon enough, we were gaining on Sasha and Lacey.

I'm behind you. Increase your speed.

You got it.

Sasha increased their momentum just as I was a few feet behind them.

"Now!" I yelled, hoping Lacey understood me over all the racket the griffins and these motorcycles were making.

Thankfully, she did and lit the first Judas's belt she had in her bag. As soon as the end caught on fire, she threw it behind her as far as she could.

I winced as the line of fireworks started to go off.

I was going to go deaf by the end of this.

The fireworks weren't just to slow the griffins down. They were a signal for everyone to know that we were getting closer to the north border.

After a few more miles, Lacey lit the next belt and tossed it behind her as the griffins scrambled to get away from the sparks.

I started to recognize the area more and smiled when I realized that we were heading straight for the border.

Lacey threw one last belt behind her and set the griffins into a frenzy just as we led them through the border and into our trap.

I didn't even get a chance to look behind me as orders were being called from all directions for the pack warriors to attack.

Hudson, I'm going to lead the rest of the pack out now.

There are a few pack warriors waiting to follow you at the border when you cross. Be safe, Alexis. Please.

I sent a wave of reassurance through the bond and raced through the pack to where the group of werewolves waiting to be evacuated stood.

I stopped my motorcycle and called to them, "Follow me! Your destination is about an hour's run from here so we have to be quick."

I waited a few minutes for all of them to shift and followed the same trail as I did before. When we reached the border, a few wolves joined the group to make sure there were no other signs of danger as we went to a neighboring pack.

We were getting close when all of a sudden the air around us became foggy.

I slowed down and frowned as the fog became thicker. I looked behind me and realized that I could hardly see the wolves behind me.

What the hell was going on?

I felt my breathing slow and my eyes become heavy.

What happened to the group? Was this a trap?

And then everything went black.