The Oralei

Nine; Unexpected Visitor

*Alpha Jaxon’s POV*

I sit in the armchair of the room in darkness, watching Avianna peacefully in the throes of slumber. The urge to go to her, lay down beside her, and hold her is overwhelming, but I reign Hunter in from taking over and doing just that.

“Jax. Will you just get your arse over there! I’m having withdrawals from holding her already!”

You’re not the only one, I think to myself.

“I can hear you, you know, dummy. I am inside your mind too.” Hunters’ voice is dripping with sarcasm.

“Hunter, enough. We cannot push it with her, she has been through enough already and we haven’t even started on everything else she needs to be aware of yet. Give it a rest you big mutt.”

Honestly, stop acting like a five year old for just one day.

“I heard that too! She is strong you know, I can sense it. Stronger than you give her credit for. She will come round, I just know it.”

“I hope you’re right Hunter. I just want to be with her as mates should be and give her all of the love she deserves,” I sigh deeply. I pray to the Moon Goddess that Avianna is calmer when she wakes, and gives us the opportunity to get everything out into the open - as hard as it may be.

My thoughts are interrupted by Morgan trying to push through the mental block I have put up to mindlink me. I quickly drop the block to mindlink her first.

“Morgan, I’ve got a block up for a reason. I’m not leaving this room unt-,”

“Jax! Shut up and listen! This is important!”

Hunter growls internally at my sister’s interruption and disrespect, but I quickly shut him down.

“Nothing could be more important than us being here Jax, by Avianna’s side. We need to be here to ensure she is coping and to talk to her about everything thoroughly. She is, and always will be our first priority now, and we need to answer all of her questions to help her through all the adjustments she is going to have to make. We have to be here to reassure her that she’s not alone!” Hunter tries to reason in my mind, becoming agitated with the prospect of leaving our mate.

“I know Hunter, we’re not going anywhere,” I reassure my wolf.

I turn my attention back to Morgan and mindlink her quickly.

“What’s so important Morgan?! I need to be here when Avi wakes up.”

There is a long pause on the other end of the link, but I can feel her presence there, even through the silence.

“Morgan?!”

“…he’s here.”

*Morgan’s POV*

I was still a bit shaken up from the incident in the hospital room. I was also confused and full of questions. Something is not right with Avi and we all know it. Having no knowledge of our world considering who she is and who she was born to be. She must be powerful. Whatever we all witnessed back there was just the beginning, I am both excited and nervous about what’s to come. I have to keep reminding myself that Avi is my friend and she would never hurt me, or hurt any of us for that matter. She was just upset with what she said earlier, I’m sure of it. I feel so close to her already and I haven’t even gotten to know her properly.

“Hey sweetie!” I hear a voice call out from the doorway.

I turn my head and see my Mom, Sienna, standing there, looking the image of a Luna as always. Well, she’s the former Luna, but ‘you never stop carrying yourself as one,’ so she tells me.

Her auburn hair matches mine and her hazel eyes are eyeing me sceptically.

“Hey, Mom,” I force a smile back at her.

“What’s going on? I haven’t heard from nor seen you and Jaxon for a while now?”

I sigh, knowing we have a huge revelation for both her and Dad, but Jaxon needs to be present when we tell them.

“Nothing Mom, everything is fine!” I say as lightly as I can, giving her what I think is a convincing grin.

Her eyes narrow towards me. Damn. That woman knows me better than I know myself.

“Come on Morgan. You really think that is still going to wash with me after all these years?” Her tone is full of accusation and hearing it makes me want to start blurting everything out, as believe it or not, I am feeling quite overwhelmed by all of the recent events.

“I-I, well, you see…the thing is…” I am interrupted by someone rushing through the front doors of the packhouse.

We both spin around at the sudden intrusion. Our second in command guard, Patrick, is stood there with his eyes wide. Well, judging by the glances he keeps making towards the stairs leading up to the ranked members floors, it seems as if he is using all of his willpower not to move his feet and take off running up there. My mom and I look towards each other and then back at him expectantly.

“Well, Patrick?! What is the cause for this interruption?!” My mom asks impatiently.

He shifts his gaze to the floor and lowers his head down in respect.

“I sincerely apologise for the intrusion, Luna,” he starts, seemingly unsure of what he should say next.

He raises his head and glances towards me quickly before lowering it back down and mindlinking me discreetly.

“Morgan, we have a problem at the front gates. There is someone here who we never expected to see now, or ever for that matter. It’s to do with the Luna.”

He doesn’t hide the fact that he is undeniably worried via mindlink, and that leads me to believe that this could only be one person if Avianna is involved. We all know the story and what happened all those years ago. I find myself becoming increasingly worried.

“I can’t seem to get hold of the Alpha via mindlink, it seems he has a mental block currently in place,” Patrick continues, concern lacing his voice.

“Don’t worry,” I quickly mindlink back to him, “I’ll get hold of him right now. Make up something to voice in front of my Mom and then go wait outside for him to come out,” I tell him.

“Umm, I apologise again, Luna…” but my Mom cuts him off mid sentence.

“How many times Patrick, I am just Sienna, no more ‘Luna’ formalities. We have a new Luna now!” She exclaims, hands waving around expressively.

“Oh, oh yes, sorry Sienna - I was just looking for the Alpha as we have a matter with the guards that needs immediate attention,” he replies quickly. “I’ll just go and wait outside for him when he’s ready.”

“Oh, ok Patrick. I’m sure he will be there momentarily,” my Mom smiles back at him.

With a curt nod and a pointed glance towards me, he retreats back out of the front door, sharply closing it behind him.

“Umm, Mom I’m just going to use the restroom. Are you doing anything now?” I ask her innocently.

“I was just going to the kitchen to make a cup of tea - would you like one honey?” She asks me with a smile.

“That would be great, thanks Mom. Back in 5!” I hurry from the room and attempt to mindlink Jax on the way. I try and try but he does have a stupid block up still. I try to push my way through it - being an Alpha’s daughter does have its perks.

Jax must sense me trying to break through as his voice enters my head sternly, starting to tell me why he has a block up in the first place. We don’t have time to listen to any of this so I interrupt him and tell him to shut up as it’s important.

“That probably didn’t go down too well,” my wolf, Jada, snickers in my mind.

“Oh well, he’ll have to deal. This is important,” I shoot back at her. “Anyway, where the hell have you been?! I’ve hardly heard from you for hours!” I scold her.

“Sorry chick, I was resting after we got attacked by glass, but yeah I’m ok though, thanks for asking!”

I roll my eyes at her sarcasm, but she was the best friend I had ever had.

Finally, Jax’s voice resonates within my mind once more, asking me what is so important. I take a few seconds to prepare myself to tell him what’s going on. His impatient tone comes steaming through the link as he shouts my name. I take a deep breath, heart beating loudly in my chest and just come out with it.

“…he’s here.”

There is silence on the other end of the link. I know he will definitely know who I’m talking about. I can almost hear the cogs in his brain turning, figuring out his response to my revelation. I feel him close the link, and a few seconds later I hear footsteps echoing down the landing and then down the stairs. The front door opens and closes and I know he will have gone outside where Patrick is waiting for him.

‘Please Moon Goddess, don’t let anything bad happen, not today.’

*Alpha Jaxon’s POV*

I was sat reeling at the short conversation with Morgan. She could only be talking about one person. I quickly rose to my feet, glancing at Avianna simultaneously to check she was still fast asleep. Her light snores and steady breathing answered my inner question. I quietly, but rapidly rushed to the door, and opened and closed it as silently as possible. I made my way down the stairs, out the front door and was met by my head guard, Patrick, standing outside.

“Alpha,” he states, bowing his head. “I apologise for the untimely state of this interruption with your Luna, but I thought this a matter of the utmost importance, considering who we are dealing with here.”

“No need to apologise for doing your duty,” I respond, “let’s go see what this f**ker wants.”

I shift and start to head down towards the front gates at speed, Patrick following suit and close behind me. I was eager to wrap this up now and tell him where to go. He couldn’t have known that she was here. She had only been in the country for a few days now, maybe he was just trying his luck.

As I near the gates, I spot around ten of my guards stood in a line on our side, all in defensive stances. At around 100 metres away, I shift back and Patrick quickly hands me some shorts to put on, although as this point I couldn’t care less if I was in my birthday suit.

I make my way further down and my line of guards part in the middle to let me through. On the other side of our gates, there must be around 30 warriors, all stood there with stony expressions. A few seconds later, the guards in the middle separate and move off to the side slightly, as if allowing someone to pass through. Next thing I know, I’m looking into the eyes of the last person I ever wanted to see now that I had found my Avianna.

Our unexpected visitor comes to a stop a few metres from the other side of the gate, his eyes blank and his face expressionless. He gives me the once over and furrows his brows slightly, clearing his throat as if about to speak, and he does just that.

“Who are you? Where is the Alpha?” He demands.

I roll my eyes internally and stand with my arms crossed in front of my chest, not giving anything away.

“You’re looking at him,” I reply sharply. “Who were you expecting?”

A look of confusion crosses his features but he composes himself quickly.

“You’re the Alpha? Where is Alpha Roman?!” He barks out. I was beginning to get impatient with his questions.

“Obviously he is no longer the Alpha. I am his son, Alpha Jaxon. To what do we owe this unexpected arrival of yours, accompanied with this number of guards?” I need to get to the point of why he is here, and fast.

With my words, a sadistic smile spreads across his lips, eyes glinting with, what looks like hope.

“I have come for what is rightfully mine of course, and you have her here. Just hand her over and we will be on our way. No harm done,” he states, as if this is a business proposal and I just need to sign on the dotted line. I decide to act dumb instead though, and furrow my brows in what I hope looks like confusion.

“I’m sorry? Who is rightfully yours and is here? Everyone here is a member of my pack and has been for many years now. I believe you are mistaken,” I reply.

With that, he throws his head back dramatically and laughs out loud.

“Don’t play stupid with me boy, hand her over and nobody gets hurt. I know she is here, my source is never wrong!” He growls, attempting to sound intimidating, but I know better than to be unprepared. Unbeknownst to him, I had already told Patrick on the way here to let the other guards know we were down here and to hide out of sight until my signal. I’ll be damned if we were going to be caught off guard, as who knows what this maniac might try. I remain stood there with a confused expression on my face.

“You’ve lost me,” I state coldly, “nobody who is rightfully yours, is on my pack lands. So please, turn around, return to your territory and do not come here again.”

He does not move and continues to try and stare me down, obviously thinking I was going to just roll over and hand over Avianna to him like she was some pet. After a minute or so of his ‘intimidating’ gaze, he lets out a deep sigh and glances at the guards on either side of him.

“Well, if this is the way you’d like it to be, then let’s do this. Thirty one of us against twelve of you is a no brainer in my eyes. Let’s get this show on the road and I will retrieve who I came for, mark my words,” he hisses.

Now it is my turn to burst into laughter. I throw my head back and let out an exaggerative, sarcastic filled laugh. I sharply jolt my head back down and meet his gaze with as much malice as I can muster in that moment.

“Noted. However, you must take me for not only a ‘boy’ as you so kindly put it, but also a fool!”

I snap my fingers and instantly one hundred of my guards emerge from the shadows and form a protective semi-circle around Patrick and I.

“Not so confident now eh?” I state with a chuckle, as I spot the panic fleet quickly across his face.

In the next moment, he looks like he may combust and if steam could come out of someone’s ears…his would be like a kettle over-boiling on a stove.

“Fine!” He growls viciously, “have it your way, but next time…next time boy, you won’t be so lucky. I will get Avianna and nobody, not even you, is going to stand in my way! Until next time.”

…

“Goodbye, Alpha William.”