The Alpha's Feisty Mate

Ray (3)

Ray -3

I watched Jason as he paced back and forth, his eyes turning between his wolf and human side. I kept quiet, knowing that he needed to deal with this in his own way and no doubt feeling what I was feeling.

“Baby” Anna said, walking up to him

I wasn’t surprised that she finally approached him. When we got home over an hour ago and I had told Jason everything, he hadn’t stopped pacing and muttering. I watched Anna as she manoeuvred herself until she now stood in front of him and took his hand in hers before placing it on her rounded belly and just stood still. I watched in fascination as Jason seemed to come out of his crazed state.

I saw him blink before his hand moved over his mate’s pregnant stomach and he puffed out a breath. The feel of his pup somehow bringing him back from wherever he had gone. He smiled slowly and I felt envious. His eyes took on a soft look that I could never have associated with him and he first placed a kiss on her stomach before standing back up and kissing his mate; his gaze turning dark with lust as he looked at Anna.

I coughed, clearing my throat as I tried to warn him I was still in the room. Jason froze for a second before looking at me with a lopsided grin. Taking a deep breath, he gripped his mate’s hand and pulled her with him, placing her on his knee after he sat in the single chair.

“Ok, so let me get this straight” Jason started calmly

I nodded my head quietly

“You’re telling me that two years ago when you and Tara had a drunken night out in London after Anna and I left for our honeymoon, you bumped into an old associate from a pack who knew our pack and who recognised you. The rumour was that all our pack was dead including us but then his dad spoke to you the next day; only to tell you that it was a group of humans who were with a rogue pack - who attacked our pack; killing everyone?” Jason said, his voice rising as he spoke

“Yeah” I replied

“And you didn’t think that was something I should have known?” Jason asked with clenched teeth

“I found out while you guy's were on your honeymoon. After that, you and Anna had just settled into being a couple and with her being preg-” I stared

“Oh no sunshine” Anna laughed “don’t blame me”

“I wasn’t” I replied “I just meant….look…Jas, after everything, after so long….you finally got some peace. Tara and I along with Scott and Kels went on a binge drinking weekend. Honestly, I don’t even know how it started considering we were in Ireland and ended up in London. But the point is, I didn’t want to burden you with this”

“You should have told me!” Jason shouted “Even if you had said something almost a week after…a month…hell, a year later! But this is over two years on”

“And I didn’t want to see your face ever like that again” I said

“Like what?” Jason grumbled, throwing his hands up in the air

“Like you lost your whole world again and didn’t want to live” I replied

Silence

I may have gone too far

Jason started breathing deeply and Anna caressed his cheek lovingly. He blinked rapidly before hugging her to him

“After you got Anna back, I couldn’t see you in pain again and when I found out in London what I did. I couldn’t tear your short lived happiness away” I explained

“Instead, you tortured yourself and lived in misery for two years” Jason said, his voice wavering “I’ve been a shitty brother”

“You haven’t” I shook my head “it was my choice”

“Our choice Ray” Jason cut in

“How about you explain what happened” Anna interjected ”I’m confused as to how you went from that to Jas thinking about that land at all”

“Well I didn’t believe him obviously” I started to explain “Jas and I had done so much investigating after we discovered our pack had been murdered, but all we got was the same answer. It was an uncoordinated attack by rogues and the paperwork for the land must have been stolen. The houses had been ransacked and nothing left. We were kids and our emotions got the better of us. After a year of running up against red-tape, we finally accepted the answer because we never wanted to live there again. We left and never turned

back”

“I thought the council was meant to help in these type of situation?” Anna asked

“SO” Jason started “The council are a bunch of super old farts that are meant to be like one governing body who don’t interfere with day-to-day pack life but are there to make disputes easier”

“Then where the hell were they when all that bullshit with Celine was going on?” Anna asked in anger

“Exactly!” Jason said “In the last few years, they seemed to relish the power of the council more than actual governance. They pick and choose…conveniently…where they want to put their oar in but will still do enough to be deemed worthy enough to be kept around”

“So they can be overthrown?” Anna asked with a glint in her eyes

I raised my eyebrows at her look, chuckling as Jason went red in the face, his eyes bulging before he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and gently pulled her face close to his

“Don’t even f*****g think it! We are not starting new s**t, especially in this condition!” Jason said, looking at her stomach

“I’m just saying” Anna whispered to him

“You weren’t just saying” Grumbled Jason “You think I didn’t see the twinkle in your eyes?”

“So after birth?” Anna asked hopefully

Jason pulled her in for a kiss and honestly, I felt like I was watching porn. I almost got up to leave when he broke the kiss off and Anna

sighed

“Fine…maybe…later”Anna whispered

“Later?” Jason asked in confusion

“Hmmm….ye…sorry, what were we talking about again?” Anna blushed “Pregnancy brain”

“Or maybe it was the kiss” Jason whispered to her, chuckling

“Or that” Anna agreed “Oh! Right, the council!”

“The council” Jason agreed

“So I understand why you both didn’t want to live there, but why didn’t you try to find the paperwork for the land?” Anna asked

“To be honest, we simply wanted to forget. We were dumb kids. Being alpha doesn’t automatically mean we are smart” I said

“Right” Jason agreed. “When we hit redtape, the council said it could take years for the land papers to be found but that no-one until then could use it in any way. We didn’t just lose our pack….we lost our parents. We lost…”

Jason cut off. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I knew what he was going to say. I felt moisture begin in my eyes and I willed them down.

I couldn’t cry for f***s sake! What kind of alpha am I if I cried over this?

I cleared my throat

“We never looked back, instead travelling the world and I guess trying to find our place. Most packs are wary of young alpha males joining their pack due to possible challenges or attitude issues” Jason continued “It was only when we met Scott at Simon and Sophie’s place that we had been in the Uk longer than two weeks”

“So” I said “I spoke to someone from the council. I had to prove who I was obviously by providing a blood sample. Once the council were sure it was us, they were shocked. Apparently, our case files were sealed….with a statement saying we were ALL dead”

“s**t!” Jason cursed

“Yeah” I nodded “I had to seek out councilman Rashid”

“Councilman Rashid is still alive?” Jason asked in shock

“I know, right?” I chuckled dryly

“Who’s he?” Anna asked, looking between us

“Our dad’s old best friend. But when dad met him, he was already over a hundred even though he only looked about thirty. He must be

well over a couple of hundred years ” Jason explained

“It turned out that he looked and looked for us after we disappeared. He didn’t believe that we were dead. After all, others claimed they saw us alive and we were questioning the paperwork. But the story was that we had gone Rogue after the death of the pack and gotten into a turf war that ended in our deaths. That two week I spent in London wasn’t about partying….I tried to find all the right people to talk to. I got passed pillar to post and honestly, I think if Magnus hadn’t helped find a link, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere” I said

“Uncle Magnus?” Anna asked with surprise “You went to him for help?”

“Actually, his beta was in London following a lead” I said

“He’s still trying to find whatever he saw or smelled at the house where Celine was?” Anna asked in surprise

“Ye” I said, shaking my head “Magnus was in Manchester but his beta was in London following a different lead. When we bumped into each other, I explained what I found out and the red tape issue and he phoned Magnus to tell him and got a workaround within that call”

“And you didn’t think to mention this to me at that point?” Jason asked, c*****g his left eyebrow “Magnus came to the twins birth and their first birthday party for f***s sake”

“Language” Anna whispered

“Really?” Jason said, looking at her in a cocky way

I wanted to laugh but knew when to keep quiet

“Anyways, I didn’t want to say because I wasn’t sure of anything until I spoke to Rashid which took me months to be able to track him down and finally get to him. He took one look at me and knew it was me but he still had to follow protocol and do a blood test. Only then was I able to speak to him properly. When I did, I still didn’t want to say because I didn’t want you to worry. Anna was due to give birth any day, things were finally settling in and Kai was being a cryptic little s**t” I said with humour

"kai" Jason said, grinding his teeth

“That reminds me” Anna said “Sophie said they will be coming on the eighteenth of next month”

“Why not this month?” Jason asked with a frown

“Jeez bro!” I said “Have a heart. I bet Soph lot are having a hard enough time trying to explain all this to him”

“He’s the supreme” Jason scoffed “it should be natural to him”

“He’s a pup” Anna said, rolling her eyes

“A man of a hundred in a pup’s body……which technically makes him a freaking paedophile” Jason growled

“Jason!” Anna gasped, smacking his arm

Jason grabbed her hand and immediately started rubbing it, growling at her for hurting herself even as she rolled her eyes and told him he was being too much.

“Anyways” I said “Rashid and I worked together for a year, coming up against various blocks until we decided to take a trip out there one day"

"You went there?" Jason asked gruffly, cutting in "You went to Mull?"

"We did. Why we didn’t think of it sooner, I don’t know. But when we got there, at first glance you can see most of the pack members homes had been flattened and taken down and a lot of forestry grown over it” I told him

"How was it?....Mull" Jason asked, looking anywhere but at me

"Different" I said gruffly

“The pack house?” Jason asked

“Gone” I said sadly “But then the further back you went, you could see a couple of houses and the lodge still standing”

“What was the lodge?” Anna asked

“Like a mess hall. Where the pack would have gathered for drinks, a few pool tables and rooms for teens to hang out in” I explained

“But when we looked around, we were approached by security. Human’s…. but they told us there was a facility further back that couldn’t be approached because they created virus and vaccines there”

“What the f**k? How were they able to build when they don’t own the land?” Jason growled out

“Exactly what Rashid asked” I agreed “But we were told they had the paperwork for it. For almost six months after that, we have been having back and forth conversations and trying to get permission to go see inside but nothing”

“It’s f*****g wrong that's why” Jason shouted “They don’t have any right over that land. It’s ours!”

I nodded even as Anna tried to calm Jason down. His anger letting little sparks off in the air as lights flickered in the living room. After a good ten minutes, Jason finally learned to control his anger and magick as Anna guided him; her gentle voice like a soothing balm over the atmosphere. When I saw his eyes turn back to normal and his body relax once again, I continued

“I contacted Magnus who already knew Rashid and when those two spoke, they found a few common links and we realised a couple of things. One, this company had indeed got the paperwork for the land….but it was a fake. A great one…but a fake and two, something smelled fishy. They were on a land that wasn’t there’s nor had permission to be on and finally Rashid was able to get me a meeting with a pack who had been there to witness a signing of paperwork”

“I don’t understand” Anna frowned “The council signed the paperwork over to these humans?”

“No” Jason shook his head “ If, like this situation, there is no-one left or say...a pack is going to give up pack lands for whatever reasons - the transfer of the land has to be witnessed by two unassociated pack parties to prove no coercion happened. If a council person can’t be there to witness something, they send a representative from the council…so even a clerk could do it. They witness the handover or whatever decision it is and report back after signing their name to it”

“That’s what apparently happened. So that’s when I told you, just not everything” I said

“You told me nothing!” Jason snorted “You said that some paperwork had been found about our land and you needed to check it out. Had I known what it actually was, I would have gone with you”

“Exactly” I said “And your family needed you here”

“Your my family too Ray” Jason said quietly

“Ray” Anna said, getting up slowly and walking toward me “You are our family too. I hate that you feel like you are not. But you are!”

I swallowed the lump in my throat

“The kids rave about you and honestly, I think they may even like you more than their own dad at times” Anna admitted

“Hey!” Jason exclaimed, getting up

“This pack and coven can’t do without you. Tara and DeeDee love you and Sophie’s pack are always asking you to visit. Your the heart that keeps ticking for everyone” Anna sniffed as tears welled up in her eyes

“Anna” I said gruffly “Don’t cry”

“I can’t help it. I hate that you think you are not enough…that you don’t deserve happiness”

“I never said that” I said quietly

“But you think it. I can tell” Anna sniffed again “And your the best uncle and brother…not just to Ray or the kids…but to me too and I am so…so grateful to the powers that gave me you”

Well s**t! I felt my eyes brim and I cleared my throat before hugging her to my side. From the corner of my eyes I could see Jason turn his head and look up, clearly blinking back his own tears

“You need to start letting us in…letting us help” Jason said gruffly “And I know I’m a fine one to talk after I went off the rails for three years before finding Anna; but it doesn’t mean you do this on your own”

I nodded, letting Anna move away as she pulled out a tissue from her dress pocket and blew her nose. I looked at her in surprise

“Pregnancy hormones” Anna blushed “I keep these babies everywhere” She waved the tissue in the air.

“So” Jason said, clearing his throat “You went to check out the paperwork”

“Yes” I said “Almost eighteen months of investigating and red tape led us to the pack that represented the sign over. Which brings us to last week and what we discovered”

Jason stood still, his body tense and as he nodded for me to continue

“Rashid discovered, by accident, that the attack was no random attack on our pack. It had been preset” I explained

“What the f**k do you mean preset?” Jason growled, his eyes darkening once again “They were rogues. Nothing else could have decimated a strong pack like that”

“No” I replied “It wasn’t. At least not just rogues. Humans were involved”

“That doesn’t f*****g make sense, Ray. Why the f**k would they be involved? How would they be involved?. They don’t even know we exist!” Jason growled

“That’s the thing Jas. We don’t know the why and how…but there is one thing we do know” I said with a hard voice “Rashid finally found the original pack land paperwork. When looking through the closed file, he came across a serial number scribbled at the bottom of a page. Rashid knew what it was because he had previously used it before”

“What was it?” Anna asked

“A safety deposit box. An exclusive, need-to-know-basis safety deposit box” I explained “One that isn’t readily available nor cheap. After three days, Rashid got to where the box was and with his connections, obtained it”

“And?” Jason asked, his fits clenched

“And inside was the ORIGINAL paperwork…along with a signed document to start building that current facility where they are working on virus and vaccines, which I think is bullshit” I said slowly “Signed, a year before the dates of the attack”

“What?” Anna said, her eyes wide

“That means…” Jason broke off, anger choking him

“That we were attacked for that land” I confirmed, nodding my head “Someone decimated an entire pack, worked with Rogue's and humans to wipe us out….to build for goddess knows what real reason”

“f**k!” Jason shouted

“But that’s not all. Rashid found a sign off. A document only stating that they approved of not just the casualties…..but the approval of test objects” I said, my eyes now darkening in anger “Testing objects like ones from Russia, Azerbaijan and Korea and a few other places”

“You’re telling me that this has happened before? That this facility has worked with someone in order to kill packs and ….what?” Jason asked “Steal or kidnap pack members? But how is that possible when all bodies were accounted for?

“I don’t know. That’s what we need to find out” I said

“Who are these fuckers?” Jason growled

“Again, I don’t know” I sighed in frustration “But I’m going to find out. I’m going to visit Simon and with Scott’s help, visit neighbouring packs to get some help…but Jas….That’s not even the worst of it”

“What else is there?” Jason growled in anger

Anna stood and walked to her mate, hugging him as she put her head against his chest. A pang hit my heart, wishing that I had a mate who would do the same for me. Not to calm me down but to give me her support. Her heat and warmth. I saw Jason relax even though his body was still tense and saw him look down at Anna, his eyes changing to love when he saw her face. She gripped his hand in hers and i continued on…knowing the final blow would be the most shocking

“There were several pages missing from this document….but the last page…had a partial sentence…saying that the approval for the attack and the chosen pack to be killed had been signed off by the order” I said in a hard voice

“What!” Jason said, his face pale “Someone betrayed us and ousted the shifter world”

“There were signatures at the bottom. Four of them. But not ones that Rashid or we knew” I said, my body tense

Jason shook his head in denial even as I could see his body accept what I was saying

“You know what that means?” I asked him

After a lengthy pause, Anna’s eyes wide while Jason’s body vibrated with anger and shock; he finally spoke slowly

“Someone in the council signed it off” Jason said, his eyes darkening and a howl of pain, anguish and anger let rip from his throat; deafening those around him