Wounded

by Maggie Walsh

  “But it is your right, my son.”

  “As I said before, Father, I don’t want it. I never have. To be Alpha, I cannot be who I truly am.” Xander looked to one of the females and she walked to him carrying a sack. She handed it to Xander and he thanked her, while he dropped the sack to his feet, then looked back to his father.

  The alpha looked to him with confusion. “It’s time for me to go. I cannot stay here anymore. Once Alpha Stern realizes that Elvira isn’t bringing me to him, he will know something is wrong. He and his men may make a move on you. They know that all of you are in a weakened state and they may still try to take you all down, but he has given no thought to the females. You can come up with a plan of attack that will surprise him. Use the females’ power and strength. Let them help to defend their pack.”

  “But you don’t need to go, my son. You can still stay here. This is your home.”

  “No, Father. This hasn’t been my home in a very long time. There are too many bad memories for me now, and who knows what Alpha Stern will do to try to kill me so that I cannot take over the pack someday?” Xander explained.

  He placed a hand on his father's shoulder and gave him a smile. He dropped his hand and bent to retrieve the sack at his feet. As he straightened, he noticed the female wolves stepping out of the forest. He met their gazes and nodded his head low to them in gratitude. He looked back to his father.

  “Good-bye, Father. Maybe someday we’ll meet again.” Xander turned and walked away, disappearing into the forest.

  Now where was he to go? He’d tried to attack his Alpha mate and that was just unacceptable. Then he’d faced off against his Alpha. Micah would never forgive him.

  Xander crossed his room and opened the door. He needed to go talk to Micah and apologize. He would let his alpha know that he was leaving. Maybe he could be a trainer at the new facility. He could live there and work there. He could avoid his family as much as possible there. He had betrayed them all and wouldn’t be surprised if none of them wanted anything to do with him again.

  Xander made his way down the stairs and to the back hall. He stopped short when he came face-to-face with Jesse. They both just stood there staring at each other. Xander looked down at his feet as he rubbed the back of his neck. He swallowed hard and then looked back up to meet his Alpha mate’s gaze. “I’m sorry, Jesse. I never meant―”

  “It’s okay. I know you didn’t. Let’s just forget about it and move forward, okay?” Jesse said quickly and walked away him, disappearing around the corner. Xander stood there frozen to the spot. What had just happened? Jesse just blew him off as if it were no big deal. His little Alpha mate must be more upset than he thought.

  Xander shook the confusion from his head and continued to Micah’s office. He knocked and waited for permission to enter. Micah’s voice came to him from the intercom. Xander swallowed hard and squared his shoulders as he grabbed the knob and twisted it. He opened the door to find Micah sitting behind his desk and Raith standing next to it. They both looked up to see who had entered. Micah’s eyes flashed with not anger, but disappointment, and wasn’t that just worse than the anger? Raith gave him a small smile, but his eyes were full of pity.

  Xander closed the door behind him and stepped further into the room. He stopped in front of Micah’s desk and stood at attention with his fingers clasped behind his back, then raised his chin, exposing his throat. “I have come for my punishment, Alpha. Whatever it is that you see fit.”

  Micah remained quiet for a moment as he stared at Xander, studying him. After what felt like hours, but was only minutes, Micah spoke, “Stand down, enforcer.” Xander lowered his chin and relaxed his stance as he met Micah’s gaze. “What happened, Xander?” Xander looked at Micah with surprise. “I know you would never attack Jesse purposely. So what happened?”

  Xander’s shoulder slumped as he deflated. “I smelled my mate, Micah,” he explained in a whisper.

  “What?” Raith asked in surprise.

  “I smelled the most wonderful thing I had ever had the pleasure of scenting in my life. I looked around the room for the source of it and I saw the most amazingly beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on. He was lying there naked on the table. Suddenly, my wolf reared up and started to claw his way out. There were three men surrounding my mate and my wolf knew that they had hurt him. We needed to get them away from him.”

  “Shit,” Micah said softly, “and Jesse just happened to be one of those men?”

  “Yes, Alpha. He was the man standing between me and my mate. My wolf didn’t even recognize Jesse in that moment. He was focused on our mate and men surrounding him, hurting him. I am so sorry, Micah. I never meant to threaten Jesse, and I never meant to challenge you.”

  “I know that you would never purposely hurt Jesse, and I also know that you would never challenge me for Alpha. I know how you feel about it. I knew something was wrong with you, but I couldn’t let you hurt my mate, or threaten him. You know I needed to dominate you in that moment, right?”

  “Yes, Micah.”

  “I hate that I had to do that to you of all people, especially knowing your past, and I understand now why you did what you did.”

  Xander looked at Micah with caution. “So what will happen now? Whatever you deem as my punishment I will accept.”

  “I don’t think there should be any punishment,” Jesse said as he walked into the room. He strolled over to Micah and immediately sat on his lap, gave his mate a kiss, then looked to Xander with a big, friendly smile. Xander was even more confused now than he was before. Jesse had just blown him off in the hallway, and now he was standing up for him and giving him one of those loving smiles of his. “You thought we were hurting your mate. You were only trying to protect him. To save him. I don’t think you should be punished at all for that.”

  “But I threatened you, Jesse, and I squared off against my Alpha. I deserve to be punished for that. If you wish, I can move from the house. I can become a trainer at the facility, or leave the pack entirely.”

  Jesse jumped up from Micah’s lap and slapped his hands on the desk. “Hell no! This is your home. Your family. You’re not going anywhere.” Jesse swung around to give Micah an angry look. “Tell him, Micah. Tell him there is no way he is leaving. He belongs here.”

  “Jesse―”

  “No, Micah! He did nothing wrong. He was only trying to protect his mate. He did what any one of you would have done had it been your mate. Any one of you would have stood up against any force, no matter how big, to protect what is yours. If you punish him in any way for this then...then you better get used to sleeping alone, buddy, because you’ll be on the couch until his punishment is over. Maybe longer.” Jesse crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes boring into Micah as he threatened his mate.

  Xander and Raith both stood there with matching looks of shock on their faces. Both had eyebrows raised to their hairlines, eyes opened wide to the size of saucers, and their mouths hung open, but Micah was unfazed. He just sat there smiling at his little man with eyes full of love.

  “Baby, I was going to say that I agree with you,” Micah said, then chuckled when Jesse’s expression dropped and a blush rose over his cheeks. Micah reached out and wrapped his arms around Jesse’s waist, pulling him back down onto his lap and kissing him softly. He pulled back and looked into his mate's eyes. “Thank you for standing up for Xander so fiercely, baby, but it wasn’t called for. I agree. He was only doing exactly what he should have done and tried to protect his mate.”

  Jesse leaned into Micah and buried his face in Micah’s chest. “I’m sorry, love. I should have known you would understand. I just never saw any of the men challenge you before and I didn’t know how you would react.”

  “It’s okay, baby. You did what you do. You try to protect all of us from what you see as an injustice, and we all love you for it.” Micah kissed the top of Jesse’s head and then looked to Xander.

  “You heard your Alpha mate. There will be no punishme
nt and we do not want you to leave. This is your home, Xander. This is where you belong. Now that you’ve found your mate, you don’t want to just walk away from that. Have you spoken to Shelby yet?”

  Xander looked at Micah as if he’d just said the craziest thing in the world. “Shelby? The Shelby? The hot-as-hell dancer from the club, Shelby?”

  “Yes.” Jesse snickered. “Who the hell else did you think was laying there?”

  “But if Shelby is my mate, then how come I haven’t known until now? I mean, I have been at the club so many times and seen him dance. I also tried to meet him a few times but he always managed to disappear before I got to him.”

  “You probably didn’t get close enough to scent him, and with all those other smells in the club…” Raith offered.

  “Wow. Shelby is my mate,” Xander said in awe. He took a seat in one of the chairs in front of Micah’s desk as he let that information sink in. He snapped his head up and looked at Jesse. “What the hell was he doing in that room lying there naked?”

  Jesse chuckled lightly, and then explained. “We were having our beauty day. A few of the technicians from that spa, Indulgence, came over to give us the full treatment. Mani-pedis, massages, facials, waxing, mud bath, haircuts, whatever. Shelby was ready for a full-body massage, but was waiting for the masseuse. In the meantime, he was having a facial. Claude, the wax specialist, came in and asked him if he wanted a complete wax before the massage, but poor Shelby was so relaxed from the facial that he was almost asleep, so he agreed. He didn’t realize what the full wax meant,” Jesse explained and then blushed again as he looked down at his lap.

  “What does a full wax mean?” Raith asked.

  Jesse looked up at Xander shyly. “It means all the hair on his um…” He cleared his throat and motioned toward his groin. “You know.”

  “No, what?”

  “His lower regions. All the hair on his…” Jesse huffed when all three of the big wolves still didn’t understand what he was getting at. “His groin and behind, you asses,” he said in annoyance and rolled his eyes. Micah, Raith, and Xander all hissed in a breath and drew back as if in pain.

  “Why the hell would anyone want to get waxed there?” Raith asked in horror.

  “Some people like it. They say it makes you feel more during sex,” Jesse explained with a shrug.

  “Really?” Raith asked with interest at the same time Xander asked, “And he wanted this?”

  “Yes, really,” Jesse answered Raith then looked to Xander. “And no. Shelby didn’t want this. As I said, he didn’t realize what he had agreed to. Then when the first strip was pulled off, he screamed bloody murder.”

  “I don’t blame him,” Xander mumbled.

  “Once Claude had started, Shelby wanted him to stop, but when we explained to him that he was half smooth, he decided to just go for it and have the rest done so that he matched. Taylor and I were holding his hands for moral support and Claude had just finished when you all came rushing in.”

  “Shit. I think I need to go talk to my mate and see if he’s okay, and also to apologize.” Xander stood up and headed for the door. He stopped and turned back, giving Jesse a smile. “Thanks for standing up for me, Jess. After our cold meeting in the hall, I thought you would just put up with me from now on if I stayed here.”

  “Our meeting in the hall?” Jesse asked in confusion.

  “Yeah, don’t you remember? You told me it was okay and we should just forget it and move on.”

  “I never spoke to you in the hall,” Jesse said as he stood up.

  Chapter 7

  “Come in,” Papa Angel called out when a knock came to his door. He turned in time to see his son-in-law Jesse step inside and close the door behind him.

  “Jesse, come in. What can I do for you, son?” Papa Angel placed the newspaper he was reading onto the table next to him.

  “Alpha Raphael, I need your help,” Jesse said frantically as he moved closer to the man.

  “Jesse, surely you can call me Dad, or at least Papa,” he offered with a warm smile.

  “Alpha Raphael, please listen. I need to get out of here.”

  Papa Angel sat up straight, his face changing to one of concern. “What is it, my boy?”

  “I’m not safe here and I need to go, but I’m not sure where. I need to change my identity,” Jesse pleaded.

  “Wait a minute, Jesse. Why are you here asking for my help? Why aren’t you with Micah trying to figure out how to take care of this, whatever it is?”

  Jesse began to shimmer and a bright light consumed him. The light faded and Shelby stood before Raphael. “Because it’s me, Alpha. I need to disappear again. You and King Marco were always able to help me before and I didn’t know who else to turn to.”

  “Shelby, my boy. You have my son’s whole pack here to guard you and keep you safe, as well as Alessandro's son Dante and his whole coven. What is it that you’re running from?”

  “I...I can't explain it to you. You’ll have to just trust me when I say I need to go.”

  The door opened and Micah stepped into the room. “Oh, I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

  “No it’s fine, son. Come in. What can I do for you?”

  “Did you find anything yet, Micah? We searched the rest of the floor,” Jesse said as he walked into the room.

  “No, nothing. I was just about to ask Dad if he had seen anything.”

  “What is it, boys?”

  “There’s someone in the house,” Micah began to explain.

  Shelby’s eyes went wide in fear as Papa Angel’s brows drew down into a frown. “Do you know who it is? What the threat is?” he asked and headed across the room.

  “No. All we know is it’s someone who can change their appearance to look like Jesse.”

  Papa Angel stopped and turned to look at Shelby. He raised a brow at him. Shelby met the man's gaze and dropped his eyes to look down. “Shelby?”

  “No one is in the house, Alpha Micah. I was the one who shifted into Jesse so that I could come down here to talk with Alpha Raphael and no one would know. I’m sorry if I got you and everyone else in a panic,” Shelby confessed.

  “No one would have stopped you from coming to see Papa Angel, Shelby. Unless...unless it was a certain someone you didn’t want to stop you,” Jesse concluded.

  * * * *

  “My useless sons failed to get Vasily, my Lord. He was not with Dante at his coven. We are searching everywhere for him now as we speak,” Vladimir explained.

  “How was he able to escape from your home to begin with, Vladimir?” the man asked angrily.

  “We’re not sure, My Lord. I have checked the video a hundred times. One minute he was there, strapped to the bed where I left him, and the next he was gone. It was as if he disseminated, but I know he could not with the spells you cast around my dwelling.”

  “Then he has more gifts than you know, Vladimir. We need to figure out just how many and what they are. We need him to locate these mates for us,” the man stated as he walked around the boulder before him.

  “I understand, My Lord. We are trying everything to find him. I have soldiers searching all the old places he used to live to see if he has returned to any of them.”

  “Well, your men need to do better,” the man sneered. “If Vasily finds his way to the Angel Pack and he joins his forces with theirs, then they will be stronger than me, and that is unacceptable, Vladimir.”

  “Of course, My Lord. I will have my men search harder. Is it possible to have a few of the Nephilim help in their search?” Vladimir asked nervously.

  “No. The Nephilim are busy with my other plans. They are getting very close to breaching the surface,” the man said happily as he strolled across the cavern they stood in.

  Vladimir’s brows rose in surprise. “Then I take it that means the tunnels are almost complete, Lord Minos?”

  “Yes. A few more days tops, and I will give the Prime and the Heart the surprise of their lives. Th
ey have relaxed their guard since our last meeting a few months ago. One of my sentries reported seeing the beta and his mate, the witch, leave the Angel Pack grounds recently. Once my Nephilim breach the surface, my rogues will swarm them like roaches. They will be so busy fighting those disgusting beasts to even notice my Nephilim snatch the doctor and his witch mate.”

  “Maybe they should grab the omega as well, My Lord. He is said to be very powerful.”

  “Yes. He is on the list. All their mates are. They are the wolves’ weakness, but the focus is on the doctor and the witch. If they have the opportunity to grab the others then so be it.”

  “I understand why you want the doctor so much, Lord Minos, but why the witch?”

  “He is to be my leverage against the good doctor. The cat will do whatever I wish to save his mate, and the witch’s powers grow every day. He is about to come into his full power. He has been working with the Nephilim Demetrius. To save his mate he will do what I wish as well.”

  “And may I ask what that is, My Lord?” Vladimir asked nervously.

  Minos turned to face Vladimir, a wicked smile on his face. “I cannot return to the Underworld now that Phenex and his Legion know that I was Malachi’s partner. I was unable to release the demons before I fled, but once the witch has all his powers, he can cast the spell I give him, allowing the gates of hell to open, and flood this planet with evil. What is left of this pathetic council after our attack will not be able to control the chaos the demons will cause to this world. Dante will fall, as well as Ryland and the cat alpha. Without the Prime, Heart, and Guardian, they are all sitting ducks. Then he will finally be mine, and this world as well.”

  “Who, My Lord?”

  “Who what?”

  “You said he will be yours. I was wondering who?”

  “That is of no concern to you. Once we defeat this council, you will be the high ruler of all the vampires,” Minos said in a conspiratorial voice as he gave Vladimir a smile.