Not your normal wolf

Staying

Jackson POV

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I felt utterly lost without Cathy. Onyx would barely communicate with me. Only coming out at times of true rage. One night I drank myself into a near coma. I heard my door open and the next thing I knew I was waking up to Jessica. Onyx was livid and tore the entire room apart. After that he alpha ordered her to never come near us again. I wasn’t truly that upset, I was depressed I even made such a mistake. Onyx however panicked when he could no longer feel his mate. He feared she died. I could still feel a sliver of a connection to Cathy. I did worry that her wolf did truly die. We both fell into sorrow after that and it was only when my father suggested taking the pack back that we pulled it together.

A whole year seemed to pass by in the flash of a eye. We kept looking for Cathy but under the guise of doing work. I knew she kept that damn amulet and probably masked her scent. I was determined to find her however.

I decided to take the long drive to the other side of the pack lands. On the outskirts was a hunters den. We rarely made contact and I doubted Cathy would be dumb enough to try to approach hunters but I did have business with them.

‘This is a waste or time. We should be out searching. Not wasting time with hunters’ I sighed. We had already gone over this a hundred times ‘How do you think Cathy will feel if we go to bring her home to a pack that has been reduced to rubble?’ He dramatically pouted at that and shut me out. He knew I was right.

The ride was smooth and soon enough my driver announced we were there. My beta had come along but I left my delta to protect the pact. Hudson had proved himself to be a strong beta. He had an omega mate and was the only one I confided in about Cindy. He never cared of what his mates status or appearance was. He just loved her. Jenny was very pleasant to be around although she kept mostly to herself.

“We’re here following a meeting requested” I saw the gate guard eye us warily but send us through: I couldn’t blame him. Hunters were always very suspicious of supes.

“Do we really have to do this, Jackson? Getting the hunters help is truly like rock bottom” Hudson was practically as bad as Onyx

“Yeah because when things do hit rock bottom I want to count on them” I sighed. No one understood my intentions here and it was exhausting.

We walked through the main foyer and up to the head hunters office. I let Hudson go in first to scope out potential attacks and followed after he gave an all clear. I went to take in my surroundings as well. Titan was an elderly man who looked barely capable of holding a weapon anymore. His son stood by the door. He was a force to be reckoned with however. Nearly matching my height and muscle and he wasn’t even a supe. But I completely disregarded both of them when I landed my eyes on her. She was tall and had a familiar face. Pretty but not overly. Did I know her? I hadn’t felt so interested in a woman in a long time. Why did she draw me in?

I realized after Hudson elbowed me that Titan had spoken.

“Uh sorry… could you repeat that” I stuttered looking like a complete i***t. This woman wasn’t Cathy and there’s no reason for her to call to me. Onyx seemed slightly interested in her as well but not nearly as much as Cathy.

“I was just asking what brought you here today although you do seem distracted” he eyed the girl in the corner warily but she just shrugged and went back into staring off into space.

“Right. My territory is being attacked by lots of rogues. I fear that they might try to break through the barrier and I request some hunters to help protect my land and have your support if it does happen” I felt slightly embarrassed asking for a hunters help but I could tell by the look in his eye he also didn’t want to lose any supe support he had.

“How many warriors do you need? We are in the midst of training and I only have so many who would be equipped to deal with such matters”

“If they’re skilled I will only need a couple. We’re strong we just need some to help with guarding and training the new recruits to fight hand to hand.” He let out a laugh at that. I was momentarily stunned but I watched as he raised his hand at the girl. She walked to his side and stood. Her face was a blank mask but she seemed maybe nervous?

“Good news is I have the strongest teacher right here. She’s surpassed most of my elder hunters.” He paused “She could travel back with you along with a couple of others…”

“Father if I may interrupt- Anna and I come as a package. We only fight together” so her name was Anna… such an interesting girl.

Titan seemed at a loss for a second probably not wanting to give up his own son a potential enemy. However I saw the recognition in his eye when he knew his son wouldn’t back down.

“Fine both of you will travel with Jackson then. I won’t be able to lend you any more help considering I’m giving you two of my best warriors already” he sighed

“They seem plenty talented and I’m sure they can help plenty with training.” I nodded. I didn’t like the idea of Alaric tagging along. He rubbed be the wrong way and his overinterest in Anna also made me incredibly agitated. I couldn’t help but notice him brush his shoulder against hers when he went to stand next to her.

“Alright then it’s settled. Anna, Alaric- go pack your things. I imagine Jackson is ready to travel back home as soon as possible. I could read through the lines- he wanted us out as soon as possible.

“It was a pleasure, Titan. Thank you for your cooperation and know it will go both ways when this is cleared up”

“Just make sure you bring both of them home. They belong here with us” he seemed to be eyeing Anna specifically but she seemed lost in her own world. I nodded and turned on my heel with Hudson following behind.

“That seemed to go well. Looks like we have some help although ones a human girl” Hudson was nice to women but I knew he thought they needed to be protected and treasured. It wasn’t a surprise considering his mate was meek.

“I wouldn’t count her out yet, Hudson. She seems interesting and definitely capable of taking care of herself” I murmured. I didn’t know why I was so quick to defend a human girl I hadn’t had contact with before but I was. She seemed different: Hudson luckily read nothing into the comment and strolled out to wait in the car by himself.

I stood reading some documents til I saw them making their way down the stairs. Alaric seemed to be adamant about carrying Anna’s bags. She seemed adamant that he did not. They acted like brother and sister but I saw a weird hunger in his eyes for her. It made me uneasy.

“Are we ready to go?” I asked them. They both shrugged and went to throw their stuff in the trunk. Alaric pestered Anna into the car first and as I went to also get in I felt his hand go to my shoulder.

My immediate reaction was to rip it off. As was onyx’s but we were outnumbered here and I’d be slaughtered in seconds. So I bit my growl back and stared at his hand.

“Is there something I can help you with?’ I asked genuinely curious why he was touching me.

“Look I just want to make something clear. Anna is mine. Only mine. I won’t tolerate mutts looking at her and unless you want all of them to end up dead I suggest you let your pups know this before training” I thought he was kidding momentarily. Some of the young recruits were as young as 14. It only took a second of looking into his eyes that I realized he was truly serious. This man was borderline psychotic.

“I’ll try to keep the children from eyeing her.” I emphasized children and he seemed to momentarily back off but then squeeze my shoulder and whispered in my ear

“Yeah I don’t want anyone looking at Anna” he then let go of me and slammed the door shut.

He didn’t know I have a mate. It’s no surprise he would be territorial. But I don’t want Anna. I want Cathy…right?