My Runaway Mate

Chapter 18

I have to move fast. I lunge at him, and shove him out of the door. I can't shift because there are humans around,but i need to end this guy. This is bad. Really bad.

We are exchanging blows. Punching, shoving, knocking each other to the ground. This guy is good I have to admit. He's pretty strong.

I punch him in the jaw,and he returns the favor. I lunge at him again and knock him to his back. As I have him pinned, i raise my fist to punch him again, hoping I'll knock him out when I hear Bailey scream.

"STOP!!"

I pause mid punch to look at her. She's standing there watching us fight with tears and fear in her eyes. She's not scared for me is she? I mean, I'm winning.

"Jax, please, stop. That's Ben!!"

It takes me a minute to register what she's just said. Ben? Her brother?

I stand up and offer him my hand. He takes it.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know. I thought..." I started

"No sweat." Ben interrupted, wiping the blood off his lip with the back of his hand.

I feel guilty about that. Not to much though. He could of been a tracker for all I knew and I will keep Bailey safe, no matter what.

Bailey runs up and throws her arms around him in a big hug. He tightly hugs her back.

"Hey, Bay."

"Oh my gosh, Ben. I was so worried about you."

Then she smacks the back of his head.

"Ow, easy killer. I just got my ass kicked by your bodyguard over there." Ben told her

"Why didn't you call? Do you have any idea how worried I was? How scared that I thought Grayson dragged you to the stalls...Or even worse?" she smacks him again.

"Stop hitting me," he said "I know you were worried, I'm sorry. I couldn't contact you. Things have been...well...not good."

I notice that were drawn a crowd and that cellphones were coming out. We can't have our business going virtual, and I can't risk Bailey being in any videos for Grayson to see. I don't even know is he's a threat anymore.

"Why don't we head back home? We can talk about it there." I say, shielding Bailey from the cellphones.

"Good idea." Ben said as he's also noticed what was going on.

We get into the truck and head back to the pack house.

******************************************

We are sitting in my office with Kip, Nick, and my dad.Ben is telling us about what happened.

"So after I heard back from you, Bay, I took the scenic route to get back to Red River before the attack. When I got there, it was bad."

"How bad?" Bailey asked

"Well for starters, Grayson was gone" he said

"What do you mean gone?" I asked him.

"I meanhe packed up and left." Ben replied

"He left his own pack the fend for themselves?" Kip asked him shocked.

" Yep pretty much. He new the deadline was approaching and his trackers had not found Bailey yet. He knew the attack was inevitable. He pack his bags and he took off. No one has any idea where he's at."

"What a douchebag!" Nick said

"What about the pack?" Bailey asked "What happened to them? What happened to Mrs. Betty?"

"Mrs Betty left, from what I understood, when I left the look for you, but I don't know where she's at either" Ben replied.

"As far as the rest of the pack, it's bad."

"How bad?" Bailey asks, with the worry written all over her face.

"There's nothing left. Red River has been destroyed." Ben tells her.

Bailey's shoulders sink. Benreaches out and grabs her hand for comfort . After a minute she looks up at him.

"So then what? Am I safe now?"Bailey asked.

"Honestly, Bay I don't know" Ben said

I put my arm around Bailey. y

"You're safe here. Grayson ran like a coward. He'll never find you here and if he does,he's a dead man" I tell her.

"Well,"my dad spoke up "it sounds like everybody's had a very long day. I say we call it a night and get some rest. We'll look at this tomorrow with fresh eyes and a fresh mind and come up with a plan, in case these trackers are still out and still working with Grayson."

"I agree." I tell him.

Ben stands and looks at me with his hand extended "Jax," he says "I just want to thank you for protecting my sister. You were ready to kill me back at the diner. It's good to know she's safe with you."

I shake his hand and tell him I know he would have done the same.

With that, I say to him I'd like to extend an offer for you tojoin this pack. I could use another beta around here and how you held your own back at the diner, I think you're just the man for the job."

His eyes get big for a minute then says "I'm not looking to take somebody else's job. I'm just fine to be a regular member."

"It's a big pack," Kip chimes in, "I could definitely use the help around here."

"I don't know.." Ben says "you could promote one of your gammas to beta.I could take their spot as gamma"

"Ben, you're a beta by birth right. You outrank gammas." Bailey speaks up.

Pride wells up within me, as Bailey seems to be taking her place as Luna.

"Well look at you stepping into your Luna rolln" Ben tells her.

"You know I'm right." Bailey shoots back.

"With Red River being destroyed, that technically makes both of you Rogues." I tell him. "So.. I, Jaxson McKenna, am offering you, Benjamin Walker, to be a Second beta of the Blue Moon pack." I say with my hand extended.

Ben looks at me for a second then looks at Bailey thinking.

After a second, he takes my hand and says "I, Benjamin Walker, accept you, Jaxson McKenna, as my Alpha and Blue Moon as my pack"

"Awesome" Kip shouts slapping Ben on the back.

I look at Bailey who has a big smile on her face. I can tell she's very happy her brother is back and under the same roof as her again, but I realized Bailey is still not an official member of this pack yet. I have to fix that.

"Well I say this calls for a celebration." Kip says. "I say we close this night out with a bonfire and beers"

" I'm in" says Nick.

"Me too" says Bailey.

"Alright then, let's do it" I say.

"You guys go have fun. I'm calling it a night."my dad says.

"Let's get Maddie and Hannah to join us too" Nick says, and mind links Hannah.

As we are heading outside Ben suddenly stops.

"What is it, Ben?" Bailey asked him concerned.

Ben is looking all around."What is that smell?"

"What smell?" Kip asked him.

"It smells like lavender and chamomile" Ben says, frantically looking now.

Just then Maddie and Hannah are walking up to join us. Ben's eyes lock onto Maddie. Maddie sees Ben and stops to stare at him.

The next thing Ben says, has all of us stunned to silence.

"Mine."