"I was wondering if now that everything's sorted and you've agreed to be my mate, whether you would move in with me" I said quietly, praying with every fibre of my body that she would say yes.
She looked at me a little shocked, "Um, wow that was unexpected" she said looking uncomfortable.
Great, nice one Jay, she's not ready, way to go.
"It's ok, sorry I shouldn't have asked, it's too soon for you it's fine" I said trying to sound like it wasn't killing me inside thinking about not waking up with her everyday for the rest of my life.
"We'll wait as long as you want, I just though that" I started but she put her hand over my mouth to stop my rambling.
"I'd love to" she said smiling happily. She'd love to? Is that a yes? Hold crap she said yes!
"You would?" I asked rolling so I hovered above her being careful to keep all of my weight off of her.
She laughed, "Hell yeah I would" she said pulling me down to kiss her. As soon as my lips touched hers, her damn hormones attacked my nose making me instantly hard. Damn it, this being mated is like I'm stuck in some permanent horny wolf state, she was gonna kill me I swear.
Chapter 25
When I finally managed to prise myself off of her glorious body we went to the hospital to visit Scott. Beth stayed at mine to pack up her stuff as they had restrictions on the number of visitors at one time, she said she would go later instead. When we walked in he was sitting up in the bed chatting to Mel, I grinned, he looked so good.
"Well you look like crap Scott, maybe you should have stayed shifted" Brook teased as she hugged him tightly making him laugh.
"Thanks Brooklyn, nice to see you too" he said shaking his head amused, Brook went over to hug Mel so I sat on the edge of his bed.
"Hey man, how are you feeling?" I asked, he smiled and nodded.
"Yeah I'm good, they said I need to shift for an hour then come back then do another hour so I don't heal too fast or something, I don't know, but I feel good actually" he said shrugging.
"Scott, thank you so much for coming in like you did, if you hadn't shown up I would have been dead and Brook probably would too, I owe you, seriously anything I can ever do for you, let me know ok?" I said honestly.
He grinned, "You don't owe me anything Jay, if that was me you would have done the same thing right?" he said shrugging as if saving mine and my mates lives were nothing.
"Yeah of course I would have but still, thanks" I said honestly, I would never be able to repay him for saving Brook. If I'd died she would either be with Trey, dead or stuck shifted.
"So Brook shifted huh? She a pretty wolf?" he asked teasingly waggling his eyebrows.
I laughed "Damn fine" I said laughing he is just too funny.
"On a serious not though, my Dad said you're Alpha of the Tridents, what's going on with that? I mean you gonna have two packs or what?" he asked curiously, hell no I wasn't.
I shook my head "Nah, I can't have two, I'm gonna let them compete for it, there'll be some guys there that want it" I said shrugging, there was no way I was having that pack too.
He nodded "Yeah, probably for the best, I mean you'll have Willow Creak soon right?" he said laughing.
"Glad my life amuses you" I said sarcastically making him laugh harder.
My phone rang and I stood up grabbing it out of my pocket, it was my father, what the hell is he gonna want? "Hello?" I said not really wanting to deal with him right now.
"Hi Jayden, I spoke to Paul early this morning about what happened yesterday with Alpha Newton" he said.
"Yeah, it's all sorted now, I just need to sort out his pack" I said frowning.
"You mind if I come to the meeting with you? I mean it would be better if there was a representative from both of the other packs in the area" he asked, I closed my eyes. I really didn't want to spend anytime with him but I guess it was better to have a repetitive from each pack there at the meeting.
"Yeah sure, I'm going there for twelve, I'll pick you up at half past eleven then ok" I suggested.
"Great see you then" he replied, I sighed and snapped my phone shut watching Brook talk and laugh with Scott and Mel, God she was so damn beautiful.
After an hour I needed to go, "Shortie, I need to go, want me to drop you home or something?" I asked grinning at the word home meaning my house that she was soon to be living in. She smiled happily too so maybe she was having the same thought about living with me.
"Can't I come with you?" she asked wrapping her arms around my waist, I shook my head fiercely, I didn't know what would happen at this meeting, I didn't think there would be any trouble but just in case I needed to know she was safely away.
"No shortie, I need to do this on my own ok?" I said kissing her forehead, she sighed and pressed her face into my chest, I tangled my fingers into her silky hair and lent down to kiss her, ignoring the blast of desire that hit me as soon as my lips touched hers.
"Ok, I'll stay here then and you can pick me up on the way through or something" she suggested looking hopeful, I smiled and nodded, she'd like to stay here and gossip with Mel some more, Scott was due to shift again for another hour so Mel wouldn't have anyone to talk to otherwise.
"Ok shortie, I love you" I said honestly looking into her beautiful hazel eyes.
She smiled "I love you too Jayden" she said going up on tiptoes to kiss me, she still wasn't tall enough so I bent my head slightly and pressed my lips to hers again, moaning slightly as my wolf growled at me wanting her right now. Wow horny wolf state again, jeez give me a break! I pulled back before I wouldn't be able to and looked at Scott.
"I'll see you in a bit then, you should shift again Scott, Mel look after my girl" I said winking at her as I turned to leave.
"Good luck Jay" Scott called as I walked out of the room, yeah good luck I was probably going to need it, they weren't really going to like what I was going to say I could tell.
I drove to my fathers house and waited for him to come out, he would have heard the car pull up so I didn't bother getting out of the car. I watched him walk up to the car seeming a little hesitant, he got in and smiled looking at me but not quite meeting my eyes as a sign of respect, damn it I swear I'll never get used to this.
"Hi" I said nodding in greeting.
"Jayden, how are you and your mate?" he asked politely, I smiled thinking of Brook.
"We're good, she's a little sad, did you know that Dominic Logan died?" I asked frowning.
He nodded "Yeah, Paul told me, I'm sorry, he was a good guy" he said.
"Yeah he was" I said quietly. We drove the rest of the way in awkward silence stopping to pick up Christian on the way.
When we pulled up at the meeting site there were cars everywhere. Damn how big is this pack?
"Christian how many shifters in the Tridents?" I asked as we walked to the field.
He shrugged, "I would guess at a hundred" he said, Christ a hundred? Great this is just great, well I guess the competition will be fierce for Alpha with that many shifters there's bound to be a lot of males of age that want it.
I followed him to the top of the field to talk to the guy that was at Trey's yesterday the one that arranged the meeting. "Alpha Philips, it's good to see you, the whole pack is here" he said nodding respectfully.
I held out a hand for him to shake, "Thanks for arranging all of this, sorry I didn't ask your name yesterday" I said apologetically, I just had too much going to to worry about pleasantries when I spoke to him yesterday.
He shook my hand excitedly, "It's Alan" he said grinning.
I smiled "Well then Alan, let's get this show on the road shall we?" I asked nodding towards his pack who were watching my every move. He nodded and stepped back so I could step onto the little wooden box thing that they obviously used as a platform for meetings.
"Hi I'm Alpha Philips of Bane's Creak, as you're probably already aware your Alpha is dead as are most of your high rankers, as the rules state I killed Alpha Newton therefore I am the new Alpha of The Tride
nts" I said looking over the sea of faces. They all started cheering and dropped down onto one knee, I rolled my eyes. "It's fine you can stand, I need to talk through some things with you, you might want to get comfortable" I said sitting down on the wooden box. They all started whispering and sat down on the grass looking at me like I was slightly crazy.
"So I already have a pack that I have just taken over, running two packs isn't something that's going to work out for me" I said honestly. The whispering started again so I held up a hand to silence them, "What I'm suggesting I do is step down as Alpha and let you compete for it, those males that are of age who would like to compete for it would enter into a competition and the winner takes over as Alpha, obviously I'll stay on as Alpha long enough to oversee the competition so that the pack isn't left without a leader" I said looking round at the shocked and scared faces. Ok they don't look like they are going for this at all!
"So seen as we're all sitting down it'll be easy to see who would like to compete, so if you would like a shot at Alpha and are over 20 if you could stand up" I said. People started looking round at each other curious to see who stood up, but no one had moved. Shit! "If you want a shot at Alpha stand now so we can see how big the competition will be" I said sternly looking over at Alan, he was sitting on the floor next to the platform I was sat on. He shook his head firmly at me, I glanced at Christian to see him sitting down too, oh come on seriously?
"No one wants Alpha?" I asked shocked. There were murmurs of 'No' from the crowd. I glanced at my father who shrugged, damn it I don't want this pack! "Ok well as I'm stepping down as Alpha and no one wants to take over how about another suggestion, you have two pack representatives here, I'm here on behalf of my pack and my father's here on behalf of Willow Creak" I said waving a hand in my fathers direction.
"So if no one wants to take over the only suggestion I can make is that the pack splits to join the two neighbouring packs, we'll expand the territories to cover Trident territory too" I said shrugging.
There was no other option, there were cries of outrage and horror from the crowd.
"No we can't split the pack" people were begging, women started crying. Oh my God!
I held up a hand to stop the noise, "You don't want this pack to split, with a show of hands, who wants this pack to stay together?" I said looking over as almost every single hand shot into the air making my heart sink.
I groaned and looked at my father for help, he moved and sat on the platform next to me. "You really can't run this pack too?" he whispered.
I shook my head "I can't do that to Brook, she's still in school, I can't have two packs right now and then there's Willow Creak too" I said feeling sick. I turned back to the crowd, "Have any of you reconsidered now and would like to stand for Alpha?" I asked hopefully, my question was met with blank stares and no movement at all. "What would happen if the pack had no Alpha?" I asked my father quietly.
He shook his head, "This pack needs a leader, after Alpha Newton they need stability otherwise they're going to go off the rails" he whispered.
"Can I chose someone and make them do it?" I asked hopefully.
He shook his head, "No they have to be willing to take it" he said matter of factly. I groaned and closed my eyes, shit this was bad, I was gonna be stuck with this pack if no one stepped up.
Suddenly I had a thought, "But if they are willing to do it I can step down and appoint someone else?" I asked hope rising in my chest.
My father nodded, "As long as there are no objections from the pack" he said looking at me curiously. Oh God please let this work!
"Ok I have another suggestion, I know of someone who would make an excellent Alpha, he's a really great guy, he's not of age for another month, he was born to be my second but he is more than capable of running a pack, his name is Scott Porter" I said looking over them slowly as that sunk in.
"If I stepped down I could appoint him as Alpha if he was willing to take it provided there was no objections from the pack" I said hopefully. I think Scott would go for this, he never wanted Alpha before but I think he probably never thought about it as he was born to be a second, he would have never thought of challenging for it. "If Scott is willing to take Alpha, would there be any objections to my recommendation?" I asked standing up so I could see better.
I glanced over to Alan he looked pleased with the idea as did everyone else, I think they would take any solution that meant they got to stay together even if I suggested a freaking child run their pack.
They were all nodding enthusiastically, I grinned, shit I hope Scott went for this! "Ok by a show of hands then, all in favour of Scott Porter taking over as Alpha provided he accepts of course" I said a little sheepishly. Every single hand shot into the air, I laughed with relief.
"Ok well like I said Scott's not of age for another month so I'll remain as Alpha until that time then I'll step down, if Scott is unwilling to take Alpha then I really think we'll need to split the pack unless someone wants to step up" I said feeling better than I had felt all morning. "So I'll leave you my number and we'll meet again next week, I need to go and speak to Scott, he's actually in hospital recovering from a gun shot wound at the moment but when we meet next week I'll bring him to meet you all" I said grinning now.
"Alan do you think you could arrange another meeting for Saturday?" I asked.
He nodded "Absolutely Alpha Philips" he said happily.
"Ok guys, well I'll pass my number to Alan and we'll meet again on Saturday, I'll go and speak to Scott right now" I said heading over to Alan and giving him my number. "Thanks for arranging this for me, I appreciate it, I'll be sure to pass my recommendations onto Scott, he'll obviously need some high rankers" I said.
He grinned and nodded "Thank you Alpha Philips" he said proudly, I slapped him on the shoulder and went back to my father and Christian who were talking off to one side.
"This is ok right? Christian you don't want to compete?" I asked curiously.
He shook his head, "I'm not cut out for Alpha" he said sternly.
"Ok well I guess I had better go speak to my best friend and see if he's willing to dig me out of a pile of shit" I said laughing.
I dropped Christian back at his and drove to my fathers house, when I pulled up he didn't get out, he turned to me "Jayden, I know we've never been close and that it's my fault but I just want to go on record and say that I don't think you would have any problems running three packs, I think you'll make an excellent Alpha and any pack would be lucky to have you" he said looking uncomfortable, I sat there in shock.
This was the longest conversation we'd probably had without it being him lecturing me or anything.
I had no idea what to say so I just sat there looking at him, "I'm proud of you son" he said squeezing my shoulder before getting out of the car and walking off quickly. What the hell was that? I shook my head a little dazed and pulled out to go to the hospital praying with every bone in my body that Scott would say yes.
When I walked in he was in human form again which was awesome, Brook jumped on me as soon as I walked through the door, her damn hormones attacking me immediately as she crashed her perfect mouth to mine. I gripped her ass tightly fighting with my wolf, we would have plenty of time for that later I needed to sort out this damn pack situation. I pulled out of the kiss reluctantly making her whimper slightly, "Hey shortie" I said breathlessly, shit I needed her right now!
I pulled her tighter against me just breathing in her scent that was like nothing else in the world,
"Hi, I missed you" she whispered as I nuzzled against her neck kissing around the edges of my mark teasingly being sure to not touch it. She gripped her hands in my hair, "Stop teasing me Jay, It's not fair" she mumbled, I chuckled and pulled away from her before I took her to the nearest empty hospital bed and had my way with her.
"Shortie, Mel, I need to speak to Scott, any chance we could have a couple of minutes?" I asked hopefully, I actually wanted Brook to stay but I didn't want to put any extra pres
sure on Scott to say yes if he didn't want to. Brook nodded and kissed me again softly before heading to the door with Mel following behind her, I waited until the door shut before sitting in the chair next to Scott.
He was watching me curiously, he was looking tense ready to shift to help me if I was in danger by the look of his hands clenched tight. "Scott, I need to talk to you about something" I said unsure how to start.
He nodded "What do you need Jay?" he asked.
I forced a smile "Well I couldn't step down as Alpha of the Tridents as no one wanted to take over, they don't want the pack to split and join mine or my fathers packs, they want to stay together" I said running a hand through my hair nervously.
He nodded looking thoughtful, "I guess they wouldn't want to split, I can understand that, if someone asked for Willow Creak to split we wouldn't want to either" he said shrugging.
"Yeah I know, I understand but no one wanted to step up for the Alpha position, I spoke to my Father and apparently if I suggest someone to take over and the pack doesn't object then they can take Alpha without competing if they want to" I said skirting around the issue.
He nodded looking thoughtful again, "What about Pete from Bane's Creak? Or my father, he'd be a great Alpha" he said proudly.
I nodded "Yeah he would, but I already had someone in mind actually, I'm just not sure how he's gonna feel about it" I said watching his face.
He laughed "Well why the hell wouldn't he want Alpha, it's a great honour, who was you thinking of someone from Bane's Creak?" he asked curiously.
I laughed and shook my head, "No I was thinking of you actually" I said watching his face change to shock and astonishment. He didn't say anything, "Well what do you think?" I asked after a minute of him just staring at me with wide eyes.
He gulped, "Me? Seriously? But I'm not even of age" he said shaking his head frowning.
"I'll wait for you to be of age if you want it" I said trying to read his face.