Chapter 54

Jaxson

I don’t know if it’s the lack of mating link, or the strength my mate has shown in prevailing against her injuries, but I don’t have much fear when I leave our safehouse before dawn, taking a leisure stroll down the beach until I no longer see our little hut.

I’m not brave enough to go too far, just incase trouble is lurking nearby, but I do walk a considerable distance before I spot a familiar carriage and royal patiently waiting just outside of this little commoner village by the beach. He is uneasy, looking over his shoulder a few times, before he meets my eyes and seems to relax.

It’s the first time in awhile I’ve seen a royal pack member, ever since the day I realized I can’t change my father’s pack because he refuses to change as well. I digress, watching him bow his head slightly and wondering if it will be the last I will ever receive.

He opens the carriage door, wordless, and a little white cat pokes her head out of the door.

My heart is warm at the sight of my mate’s companion, so well versed in keeping her calm and collected while I know she was fearful in my palace. I won’t have to put her through that ever again. I grab Snowflake, watching her brush herself against my neck, while the royal shuts the carriage door and bows his head a second time.

“Sire,” he hums, his voice low, like we’re being watched by commoners who I can tell are still blithely asleep, never cautious that danger is looming nearby. “I need to ask if you’re planning on returning back to the pack soon. Alpha Kennedy has put out word that he wants you to come home immediately and we are to tell him your whereabouts if we find out. I am concerned, Sire. What if he knows I came to meet you here?”

“He won’t,” I say, struggling to keep Snowflake from squirming while she picks up the scent of Aurora plastered all over my chest. “Just don’t act out of the ordinary, Julius. You won’t be in any trouble if he doesn’t suspect a thing.”

He nods, but still apprehensive, adds, “Are you ever returning home to the pack?”

I look at him, then to the kitten in my hands, so furiously ready to break free and roam without restraint; without unnecessary harm and judgement.

“No,” I say simply, uncaring.

He nods as if he already knew the answer but wanted to know for sure.

“This stays between us,” I hum, handing him a pouch of gold pieces that I’ve had stowed away in my pocket and he takes it enthusiastically. I watch the royal pack carriage take off, out of this sleepy village, and I don’t feel relaxed until it is far out of sight.

Snowflake struggles and coos in my face, hissing a little noise as she wants to be put down. I turn back toward the cottage, my heart racing when I step onto the cold, sandy porch and spot my mate curled up on the couch in the living room. I wanted to place her in bed after out prior night but every time my hands sparked against her skin, she would panic.

I sneak into the out new little hut, the ocean steady for now as the moon perches over the horizon, the sun threatening to spill over the vantage point ahead but for now I let Snowflake free.

The kitten immediately finds her owner, pressing her little head against the nape of Aurora’s neck, rubbing all over her scent. My mate whimpers slightly, blinking awake with a noticeable flinch but I don’t mention it, watching Aurora turn to see the white kitten of her first days in the palace a little taller, more sturdy in her balance, and she gasps alive.

Snowflake promptly jumps into Aurora’s lap and the grin on my mates face says it all. From everything she told me about Xander, and the things I know she is holding back from bringing up, but for now she is blissfully pleased with being reunited with her little companion.

She holds Snowflake like she refuses to let her go, meeting my eyes at last. I see a flicker of color, a hint of blue, and it makes my heart swell. It’s a chance, a possibility, and it is enough to make me release the breath I’ve been holding.

“Thank you,” she gusts, petting Snowflake who is exceptionally receptive of the attention. “I can’t believe she’s here.”

My wolf is purring like a little pup in my head.

We are all finally here together. I just wish it would stay like this.

“Aurora,” I hum, hoping this kitten has softened her enough to trust me more than she has been. “If you want me to go after Luke, then I need to know where I’m going and what I am working with. I need to see it for myself.”

She looks aside, her hands trembling before she rests them in her lap. Snowflake presses to her side, curiously saddened as if she had prompted the ceasing of the attention from my mate. Aurora is lost in her own mind, her eyes glassy and colorless again.

“You need to mark me again?” she asks, as if upset.

I hesitate, almost feeling guilty for wanting to mark my mate. “It would help me know where to go and what has happened to you, Aurora.”

It’s hard to ignore her disappointed features.

“Or,” I say, a little bit insulted but knowing it’s better if I let her find me in her own pace, “we could sit down and you can try to draw me a map and walk me through the layout of this packhouse. The faster I get to Luke, the faster I can get him out.”

She perks up and nods hastily. “Yes, that one please.”

I know she doesn’t feel the mating pull for over half a year, and I shouldn’t expect her to fall in love with me right after my own half-brother had put her through hell, but I can’t help but want my mate to want me back. It’s simple for me and a huge risk to her. Once I save her little friend, and I reject the royal pack, we will both be simple wolves in a village on the shore.

It will give me plenty of time and opportunity to show her just how much I love her.

I try to scurry through the hut, finding a notepad and pen, handing it to her as she tries her best to not meet my gaze. Snowflake curls into her lap, lazy and useless to the world, while Aurora works hard to recall the pack house and avoid letting me inside her mind.

She works to explain the halls, where she was kept and where Luke was when they had escaped. She cringes at the memory, biting her lower lip until I can smell blood. She holds her hand to her face in a thoughtful fist, all the while hiding the cut she has made on her lip while considering the horrific memories and torment she faced against Xander.

I wait for her to settle, her fingers trembling with the weight of the pen, as she struggles in her precious, wounded mind. Normally I would step in, want to smother her with my admiration, but I know she doesn’t need that right now. She needs space.

Her eyes spark a little life. “The kitchen,” she murmurs, flipping to a blank page and haphazardly drawing an outline and circling a spot against the back wall of what looks like a small, simple kitchen. “There’s a door back there, bolted shut,” she says. “I think it leads outside, making an exit into the back of the packhouse, but I don’t know for sure. I never tried it.”

I nod, wondering if I have a shot of making it through this mission alone. Without my father’s pack, I will be outnumbered, but I am the strongest warrior possible to overcome that many wolves at once. Still, I consider needing a distraction.

“He wanted to use me to get you to reject the pack, or to kill you,” she mumbles, staring at her freehand drawing of a map. “Will he give up Luke if you tell him you’ll reject the royal pack?”

I admire her nativity. “If he offered to give you back in return for my rejection of the royal pack, do you honestly think he would give you up?”

She shakes her head at once, seeming deflated in hope. “You’re right. I just don’t want you to get hurt. Xander is probably going to kill Luke if this doesn’t work. I want him out of there. He can go hide with Mary and live his life freely, not having to deal with my trouble.”

“You are no trouble,” I hum, knowing damn well I am the reason this is happening. “Write down everything you recall. I will fix this. Xander won’t be our problem for long, sweetheart.”

She seems delighted for once, her hand steadying as she tries to write down everything she can as far as locations, surrounding locations, and other simple memories from her time held by my horrendous half-brother.

I will need help, though, and thankfully I know just where to find it.