Jaguar Moon ; Redemption

Own It

Layla let out a sigh as she climbed out of bed on a particularly chilly fall morning. It had been a rather long week, and she dreaded getting up. Her Aztec blood definitely preferred the warm sunny summer weather. 

Oh well, this would give her a chance to wear some of her new winter outfits Axel had so generously sent her shopping for. She was slowly getting used to wearing something other than black leggings all the time. 

  This particular morning, she decided on dressing into a purple plaid miniskirt, with a cream colored knit top, and cream colored tights, along with her new pair of white knee high boots with a three inch block heel.

Axel wasn’t going to the law office today, so she didn’t have to worry about going into the city, but she was supposed to meet Jax later, to watch the wolves work out and give them pointers on how the kitten  would handle certain situations.

  Chalci, as usual, lay at the foot of the bed, giving herself her morning tongue bath.

“Morning, human,” she purred

“Morning Chalci. “

“What’s on the agenda for today?” her big jaguar asked, “Do we get to scare the wolves?” she licked her lips with her long tongue, her jet black fur glinting in the sunlight streaming through the window.

“No!” Layla yelled, “Well, maybe a little, but don’t forget, Armour will probably be there, so you don’t want to embarrass him too badly.”

“Ha, my wolf is a big puppy,” Chalci slowly got up, and rubbed herself along Layla’s legs as she let out a little growl. “I have him right where I want him, which is the opposite of you and your prince. You need to put your foot down and show him who the boss is !”

“Chalci!” Layla squeaked, her face flushing red with embarrassment, “He is our mate! Besides, he saved both of us on more than one occasion, as well as giving us a home. I’m very grateful to him, not to mention that I love him. The least you can do is show him some respect!”

“He can do the same for you then! There’s no need in him being so damn jealous, or worrying about you like he does! You are Princess Laylani, you harness the power of the Goddess! It is about time you start acting like it! “

“But Chalci, I am just a girl…”

“Not a girl, a woman,” Chalci growled. ”A woman who can teleport from one palace to another. One with the strength of twenty men, who can blow things up with a flip of her finger, who can change her clothes with a flick of  your wrist! You ride dragons and use stealth to take down men three times your size! Don’t tell me you’re just a girl, you know that’s not true. You need to stop acting like a scared little child and be the woman you are! Own that s**t!”

“Wow!” Layla gave her jaguar a knowing look, her golden eyes glowing. Her big cat was right, but why did she feel so inadequate? The truth is, she never thought about anything but revenge before she met Axel, then her whole world had been turned upside down. Learning that her mother and sister never loved her, that they'd betrayed her in the worst kind of way had sent a big blow to what little self esteem she had. 

Her whole world, for two years, was based solely on that lie, and the fact that the man who had killed her mother was actually her half-brother, and he didn’t kill her? Then to find out he was also Axel’s half brother, but they weren’t related, thankfully, was nearly too much for the young woman to handle.

In the weeks since she and Axel came back from their so-called honeymoon, she hadn’t found the time to process this information and there was no one she felt she could confide in. Axel was too busy with pack matters, and worrying about where she was all the time to try and talk to him. His brow was constantly furrowed these days, with work picking up at the law firm, and his pack members always needing him to settle small disputes.

Layla, as their fela, sat in on these discussions, but she still felt like an outsider, and rarely gave her opinion on how to deal with the matters. Besides, the members of the pack, happy as they were to have her, were not too keen on having an eighteen year old girl suggesting anything to them, jaguar princess or no.

So, Layla, being the cat she was, stayed in the shadows, only coming out if she really had to, which was about a fourth of the time. The rest of the time, she kept to herself, and buried her emotions down deep somewhere in the depths of her soul. But feelings can’t stay buried forever, and Layla was becoming more introverted every day.

“You’re right, Chals.” Layla squared her shoulders as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She had put on minimal makeup, with a little black eyeliner and a dab of purple lip gloss. ”I do need to own it!”

The two sauntered out of their room and down the stairs to where the older she wolves were making breakfast for everyone who lived in the pack house. It was time to eat and get ready for the day.