Mala chuckled when Netty sighed and rolled her eyes, but then giggled. She’d been getting mind-linked for the past five minutes nearly continuously “I’d better go, my Mate is hunting me.”
Mala knew what that meant, “He’s looking to have his way with you.”
Netty nodded “Yes, but when is he not?” shook her head and got up. Mala saw both of them to the door, they’d all been sitting and chatting and it was nearly midnight now.
Opened her suite door and Chase was standing right there, hunting my ass, she thought amusedly, as he grinned right at his Mate, then yanked her into his arms and growled “I’m lonely.” His voice was all deep and husky.
They all laughed, Mala stepped back inside her room after waving them off, and smiled to herself. It was good to see so many from the pack, mated off and fully happy in their new lives. After what they all had been through.
Sank down on her bed as she felt a mind-link connect to her from the night guard at the front gate, Tommy. ‘Mala, sorry to disturb you so late, there is a Beta, requesting to speak to you at the gate.’
She frowned, ‘A Beta? From which pack?’ knew Aston didn’t mind if she didn’t leave her room all night, so she didn’t have to go down there.
It took a moment for him to get back to her, must have had to ask the man ‘The Glimmering Moon Pack, Beta Jet, he stated, also told me to tell you, he’s here alone, would like to talk to you personally.’
‘Not dead then I see. Is there anyone else with him?’
‘Not that I can see, on both accounts there Mala.’ Tommy chuckled ‘Though, he still appears to be bandaged up, across his chest.’
She sighed, did she really want to go down to the front gate and talk with that man, hear whatever he had to say? Not really, sat there on her bed and thought about what to do.
‘Mala?’
‘I’m thinking about it, Tommy.’ She told him and heard him laugh now.
‘He just told me he’d wait.’
‘Good, then let’s, let him. Tell him I’ll come, don’t tell him when.’
‘Yes Mala.’ Heard full amusement now in Tommy’s voice.
Mala sat there for another few minutes before getting up and going to her closet to get dressed, pulled on Jeans and a tee-shirt, then picked up the plate Aston had brought to her with dinner on it, and strolled down the stairs to the pack house dining room to wash it up and put it away. She was in no rush to get to the front gate, would get there when she got there.
She saw Aston and Simon walking towards her as she leaned on the counter drinking a glass of juice, “I heard there is a request for you at the front gate, Mala.” Aston asked her.
“Mm, so did I.” she nodded. “Its Beta Jet, I believe.” It was now after midnight and the mating ball was all wrapped up, most had wandered off to bed, it seemed. Aston was one to shut a mating ball down at midnight if the moon set before then, he didn’t see a need for an all night long party.
Most if they scented out their Mates would pair up just after the moon set. Though one could still scent out their mate for around ten hours give or take after the moon set.
“Are you going to go down there, Mala?” Aston asked her, his eyes moved over her, looking at the fact that she was dressed and no longer in her pyjamas. Which is what she’d had on the last time he’d seen her.
“It’s just him, I clarified that with Tommy.”
“I’ll go with you, Mala.”
“Are you worried, I’ll lose it again, Alpha?” Mala asked him, it was likely going to be a full concern of his now, every time she came near one of them, she supposed.
“Not particularly Mala.” He frowned at her. “I don’t trust either of those men. Is all. He could well try to take you against your will, and I thought I’d asked you to call me Aston.”
“Likely die, if one of them tries to do that.” Her eyes moved to Simon, the pack Beta. She had used his title so as not to show disrespect around his Unit.
“Simon and my Unit are aware of the nature of our new relationship Mala. You can call my Aston around them as well.”
Simon had yet to say a word, did as most pack Beta’s did, trailed their Alpha’s and followed orders. Though she did know that Aston had hand picked his entire Alpha Unit, she also knew that Ben had declined the position as the pack Delta. Was it seemed happy as a warrior and pack trainer at the time, now ranked Elite Warrior and Trainer. Like she was.
The men around Aston actually respected him and he them, she nodded at him. Not much she could say to that, and the word, relationship? She didn’t even know what they were, casual sex was all she was expecting from her Alpha. She could not expect anything else from an Alpha Male if you weren’t their Mate, it would just be sex occasionally.
He would be wanting and waiting on another Goddess Gifted Mate. She knew that, he had been lucky enough to be granted a second chance Mate; Roberta. He might get a third chance, seeing as his first was such a cruel piece of work and killed his second. The Goddess might just see fit to bless him again in the hope he’d finally get the chance to be happy this time.
Mala was not expecting more than the occasional romp between the sheets with him. Not when she knew he thought Goddess Gifted Mates were a better option for a Luna, than a chosen one. Which she did know, he’d told her that once long ago.
She was not his Mate, and she knew he was a good man, surely the Goddess would gift him another, so he could be happy once more.
“Are you intending on going to speak with him, Mala?” Aston asked her again.
“At my leisure.” Mala nodded “Jet does not concern me, in anyway.” And he didn’t.
“I’ll go with you, if you don’t mind.” Aston nodded. “Am curious as to what the man has to say, on his Alpha’s behalf. Am curious as to why he’s the one that always goes and speaks to you in the first place.”
Mala looked right at Aston “Because he should be the Alpha, has an actual back bone, has more common sense in his little pinky finger than Hudson does in his entire body. Or at least I always thought so.”
“Hmm, is that what you think?”
“It is.” She nodded.
“It’s not why I think he does it.”
“It’s not? What do you think?” She was curious herself now.
“I think, he thinks you are his Mate. That he has just not come across you on a full moon yet, is all. You didn’t say anything to me about him being there the day Hudson rejected you.”
“He wasn’t.”
“He’s unmarked as well, Mala.”
“Good, the Goddess spared some poor she-wolf having to go to that shitty pack, I’m not his Mate, was his Alpha’s.”
“You could have had two Mate’s.” Simon finally spoke up.
‘He would have known as much as Hudson did then.”
“Not necessarily, he may suspect, but not have scented you out.”
“Then why on earth would he have allowed Hudson to do that to me?”
“I don’t know, could be perhaps, you were supposed to be both their Mates” Aston shrugged. “could have null and voided his side by rejecting his Alpha. Some mates need to scent and accept their first Mate before the second will register you as their Mate. Usually it will be and Alpha Beta, and the Alpha would have to scent you first and accept you, then the Beta would scent you directly afterwards. Other than that usually a brother to brother, sharing a mate.”
“Or sisters with one Mate.” Simon commented. And that made her wonder about Netty, if her first Mate had accepted her, would he have also been Mated to her twin, moments later. Had he ruined his own Mate Bond by rejecting her and then choosing her twin a few days later. It was possible from what she was hearing.
Mala looked from one to the other and huffed “I don’t want either of them if that’s the case.”
“I’m aware of that Mala, if it turns out you’re also Mated to Jet, I’ll stand by your rejection of him. You’ll need a witness or I’m dead certain he won’t accept your rejection. They’ll go right to the council over it, want you in their pack. Likely want you Mated off to both of them.”
“I’m not going to that pack.” Mala snapped and she wouldn’t, not even Suki was liking what she was hearing right this minute. “I’ll come right back here and get right into your bed to make him regret it.”
“Come on then. Let’s go down there together.”
“He won’t fight me, to try and take me either, he is still injured from my understanding.”
Aston and Simon both smiled at her ‘We know,”
She sighed “Fine, I was going to make him wait hours, before going down there.”
Heard Aston laugh now “Well Mala. If you want to do that, I can think of something for us to do before we stroll down there. It could take several hours to do, in fact.”
Stared right at him, and saw Simon smirk “Should I leave Aston and wait on your word?” Simon asked, seemed fully amused.
Mala understood what Aston was implying as much as his own Beta did, was more than a little surprised that Simon, seemed amused and happy to go along with it. They’d all loved Roberta.
“That depends on Mala here, Simon.”
She found both of them looking at her now. “Perhaps I should just deal with Jet. You two are kind of weirding me out, to be honest.”
They both chuckled, “Alright Mala, you and I will have to talk afterwards is guess.” Aston nodded “Come on let’s get rid of that pack for good.”
“A proper discussion, Aston.” Simon commented.
Making Mala frown, but who knew what they were talking about in that office and today had been eventful to say the least. She could well imagine the Alpha to Alpha Unit conversation, around her after she’d gone to bed. The concerns about her towards the pack.
Especially after seeing Suki lose it as well this morning, they likely had to put in some sort of contingency plan in place. To keep the pack members safe from her and the blood lust. She had no idea, if once you’d gotten a taste of it, would it come back and rare its ugly head again.
Mala found Aston's hand once again on the small of her back as they walked, the three of them, she noticed, to the front gate. She saw Jet leaning on the hood of his Alpha’s pack car, so vain had his Alphas name as the number plate.
She automatically scanned the area looking for his Alpha, saw nothing in the car or the surrounding woods, knew what his wolf looked like. Was glad to be honest, didn’t want to come face to face with him again.
Jet pushed himself up off the hood and she saw him wince, the wounds he’d taken from her and Suki were not yet fully healed it seemed, and were still causing him and his wolf pain, she guessed. She could see his abdomen and chest were still bandaged under that tight fitting shirt he wore.
Watched as he walked to the gate, smelled nothing, thankfully, she was not his Mate, as Aston thought was possible. Saw him stop right at the gate, she stopped a good four or five meters back from it. “What do you want, Jet?”
She watched his eyes move from her to Aston to his hand on the small of her back, and then suddenly it was curled around her hip, and she was pulled into Aston's side. Jet frowned at the action but said nothing, moved his eyes to Simon and then sighed heavily, “I was hoping for a private conversation, Mala.”
At least he got her name right this time.
“This is as private as it will get Beta.” Simon stated flatly, Beta to Beta, she realised as she looked over at Simon and saw him, felt him go from all casual to Beta mode.
“She is not your Alpha’s Mate, you don’t need to be here.” Jet snapped right back.
“Not yet.” Simon snarled right at him.
Mala blinked at that and turned her eyes to Aston, he smiled at her and then mind-link to her ‘let them argue it out.’ He shrugged.
“Not ever, she is Hudson’s Goddess Gifted Mate, always will be.”
“Um, Rejected and accepted.” Simon snorted, “From what I saw today, will never accept your Alpha again. Though is clearly very happy in my Alpha’s bed.”
Got snarled at by Jet “For now.” Then his eyes turned back to Mala. “You and I need to talk Mala alone, your bond can be regrown, one kiss will start it.”
Stared right at the man, “No!” she and Suki grated out together, not even her wolf wanted that it was never going to happen, she was not going to allow that man to kiss her, “and we don’t have anything to talk about Jet, I told you I would never go back, I meant every word I said.”
“Mala, even your family wants you to come home. Your mother and father, they have been pleading for years with your Alpha to let them come and see you. He’s denied you this. Did you even know he was rejecting letters to visit the pack, by your family?”
“No, I told him to reject any and all calls or attempts to contact me from your Alpha, from your pack, from those people.” They were not her family anymore. "Not to tell me even, I don't care."
“Mala, even your brothers and sisters want to see you, they miss you.”
“Really? That’s not what I recall. Dain was the last of those people I saw, and he didn’t care about me. They all shunned me, just like you did, he did, like the entire pack did for that matter. I doubt very much those people miss me at all.”
“Mala please, it wasn’t their fault. It was the Luna, who made them do that to you. Made the whole pack be like that with you. Your parents, they were threatened with banishment along with all your brothers and sisters, de-ranking and tarnishing of the family name. If they didn’t shun you.”
“Wow…I see…I guess that shitty pack of yours and their name meant more to them, than their eldest daughter did. The strongest of all the Lucas bloodlines at that. Just shows me Jet, how much they truly didn’t care about me, that I was worthless to them. A Lucas without a wolf, a full shame on their bloodline…any truly loving parent would have taken their wolf-less child and their family and left, found somewhere that would accept them.”
“You’re not wolf-less Mala.” He sighed.
“And that’s all that matters now, isn’t it. That I have her and she’s beautiful. Did you see her today, Jet? See how magnificent she is?”
“Yes Mala. But I always knew if you had a wolf, she’d be one to be reckoned with. Your strength and determination, skills without her, meant that if you got a wolf, she would be powerful.”
“And she is Jet, she is also never for your pack. I’ll never even say her name around any of you. None of you deserve that, to know her, to say her name. She felt everything I felt. The whole time I was there, every hit from you, from him, from the whole unit you belong to, every cruel comment, every time your Luna hit me with her car and laughed about it. Every ounce of pain he did to me, every scratch and bite every time he hurt me, on purpose, she felt it, she was hurt by him too.”
Saw him sigh heavily ‘I understand that now Mala, but still, he is not the same person he was back then. He has many regrets about the way he treated you. The way the pack treated you. Has accepted his punishment by the council, was stripped of his title and sent to the slaughter for you Mala. To try and show you, he understands his actions were wrong.”
“I don’t care, neither does my wolf.”
“Mala please. Sit down with him. Let he himself explain to you.”
There it was again, the word explain, “Explain? Oh, I know why he did those things Jet. He hated me, just like you did. I don’t want to hear his pathetic excuses, or his reasonings as to why, he believes his actions were acceptable in his eyes. I already heard them, the day he rejected me. Wolf-less and useless to him. He has not changed Jet. Only wants me now because of my wolf, if I didn’t have her would you be standing here right now. No, you would not.” She answered for him, didn’t even give him the chance to; she knew the answer. “My wolf is no more interested in one so cruel and shallow as that man, than I am.”
“Mala please.”
“No! not once have I even heard the word or that you or he have so much as implied, you’ll say sorry to me. For what happened. No, he just wants to explain his reasons, still thinks he can do what he wants, have what he wants because he’s an Alpha. Well Jet, the answer is NO. It will always be no, never in this lifetime will I ever entertain the idea. I’d rather kill myself all over again, than let that man touch me even just once.”
Saw Jet stare at her for a long time, wondered if he was trying to decide if she meant it or not. She had done it once before, he should know and understand that she would “He’ll never give up Mala.”
“Well, good for him.” She stated flatly “No one can make me accept him. And I never will.” She told him once more “If he’s miserable and alone for the rest of his pathetic life, so be it. Deserves it in my eyes. I would not wish him on any she-wolf, ever.” Turned and walked away from him, then stopped “Oh and Jet, don’t bother coming back here ever again, there is no point to it. Never will be a point to it.” then she stalked away up the pack road away from him.