Betrayed from Birth – Alpha’s Unvalued Daughter
Betrayed from Birth – Alpha’s Unvalued Daughter Chapter 98

Justin's POV

I can't say that I enjoyed seeing my little Jules be assisted so much on the course. I thought that it was just our family who thought that she had hung the moon. Turns out this little guy thinks that she hung it too. I can see it. The care and concern he has for her. Before either of us could step in to help her, Alex was there. I remember that feeling. He really might be her mate. I do not know how he could tell at such a young age, so I will be keeping a special eye on him from now on. If they are mates, I will let it go with my blessing, after all, she is about a month older than him, so she might sense it first. But if they are not mates, he can hang it up. I want all of our children to find and love their true, Goddess-given mates. There is nothing better than having your true mate by your side.

I was talking with my dad, but with Lorne's excellent hearing, I heard what Brandon said to her about Alex. His teasing her about the course was funny to me. He is in his office most of the time, and he never sees her training, if he does, it is rare, and usually at a distance. Raven doesn't play, I train her, and I am with her most of the time. I will give you two reasons why she doesn't play with her training. Her mates, and her children. She will never let any of us get hurt if she has a chance at all at stopping it from happening. I will tell you that she is very serious, and she always goes the extra mile to stay at the head of any of the classes that she is in. I guess Brandon is going to be getting a surprise today too, as she and Stella are not to be messed with. I am not going to be running it full tilt with them. I am content to stay back and watch the show. Maybe help the kids with the obstacles that they cannot reach, if they are willing to try to do it, I already know that Jax will want to run it, I saw him come over here to look at it after we arrived here before he went to check out the children's course.

Brandon had been right in what he had said to Raven though. I had told him a few years before, about the fact that I could sense a pull toward Raven. It started around when I was 10 and she was 9. I just thought it was because I thought she was so cute, not because I was going to be her mate. I had never even thought of that as a possibility. Mostly because she was not someone that was acceptable to claim at Silver Blade. Despite her being the daughter of the Alpha, it would have been so hard to get people there to leave her alone, even as my mate. I would have had to leave the pack with her to get her safe. I already know that Graham would have Alpha commanded me to either reject her or for me physically hurt her, or both. Those options were totally unacceptable to me. I still can't believe that I got her back, and I thank the Goddess again for giving us back our bond. She gave me my life back when she gave Raven back to me again. I didn't want to go on without her, and I couldn't be happier right now.

We all strolled over toward the adult course, and the group grew as we walked over to it. Apparently, everyone who heard the challenge that Carter gave Raven and Stella, was drawing a lot of attention. The information was flying through the pack, and if I were to bet, I would put my money on Raven and Stella. They remembered the last time a challenge was made when Stella beat Joshua up. That was the only way to bring both of them down a peg from all the stories about it that I have heard. I loved how Joshua was so arrogant and invited everyone to come and see him teach her a lesson. I have to say that I have known both Joshua and Carter for a minute. Joshua and I are the same age, and we have trained together before. Joshua was a good fighter, but he was not as good a fighter as he thought he was. I again wish that I had jumped onto Blood Walker packland right behind Raven, and begged her to take me back. If I did, I might have seen that fight happen. But with what had happened that night, and how angry she was at me, I do not know what would have happened to me if I would have tried it. She hated me, and I bet Alpha Cole would have forced me to accept her rejection and then kicked me out of his pack. Maybe things had worked out for the best with what had ended up happening to us that night.

By the time we arrived at the adult course, there were about 150 people there. Our children had come with us, as they wanted to support us. I can already see Jax eyeing this course. We have let him try our adult course with us at Black Adder before. He loved it and did very well on it. There were just two obstacles there that he was not tall enough for, just yet. He avoids them, and he has run it with me at least 100 times now. He loves to try new things, and he likes to test his abilities. He likes to push himself to do more, to be stronger than his fellow children in the pack. He doesn't brag about what he can do, he is very humble and just wants to be the best Jaxon that he can be. Named after his grandfather, Jackson, who had been a very respected Alpha for the Black Adder pack. He already had big shoes to fill, even before we knew of an attack. I am glad that the Goddess is helping him become the person that he was always supposed to be.

I knew what to do, "Carter, do any of the younger kids try to run the adult course too?" I asked Carter.

"Yes, Lucas and Griffin have both run it before, there are three obstacles that are too high for them to jump up to be able to reach the bars. So they have just been skipping those for now, until they get taller" Carter told me and Joshua nodded in agreement, as they knew what I was going to ask next.

"Would it be OK if Jax tried it with us today?" I asked him.

Carter said, "Sure, they can run if they want to." I see that Liam, Chase, and Dex were all standing there right behind Jax and looking at me, to see if it was OK. I had assumed that it might be the case, but I didn't want to speak for them. "So, I guess you guys would like to run it too, with us?" I asked the group.

"Yes, we all want to try it. If there is something we can't do, we can just skip it" Liam said as he stepped forward to take charge for now. They all nodded in agreement. I looked at Brandon and Raven for approval from them. They both nodded their approval. I guess they are all four going to run it, and I am excited to see them in motion doing it. I am so proud of all of our children, and I cannot express what I am feeling. I have pride in them, and respect for them trying to do something that is beyond their skill set, at least for the moment. Jax is already comfortable with being a leader. He encourages his brothers to follow him, and they have complete faith and trust in him. He leads by example, and he never leaves them behind, no matter how many children passed them on the course as he helps them get past the obstacle. He stays with them, and he tells them how to do it for themselves. I can see his Goddess-given strength, and I know that Raven was right when she pointed that out when he was 2 years old. He was the oldest, so at first, we didn't realize how very special she was. At first, we all thought that it was because he was an Alpha born, but that wasn't it. Liam and Chase are great kids too, smart, and as different as night and day from each other. Because Liam got his father's kind of explosive patience, and Chase is as laid back as I am. But after Dex got to be about 1 year old, we all realized how different he was from his brothers. Dex is a bit more of a firecracker than my other children, but he is also kind, smart, and a good friend. His sense of humor draws in a lot of kids wanting to be friends with him, he is never alone.

I spend a lot of time with Jax, as I help to train him daily. He listens so well to instructions. He is patient and willing to try again, and again, to learn something new. He realizes that with each failure, he gets closer to what it is supposed to be. I have never seen a child that was so focused before in my life. I know when I was 10 years old, I was nowhere near where Jax is. He is special, he is favored by the Goddess, and I believe that she will keep him safe in whatever is going to happen. I pray all the time that we find out who is behind this. So we can come in and cut them off at the knees. I don't want to lose my parents here at Blood Walker, or any of the pack members at Black Adder.

Things have been very good for us for the last 4 years at Black Adder. Everyone has finally accepted that Raven did indeed get two mates, and was blessed by the Goddess now. I think for years even after the incident in the dining room with Justine and Katheryn, some still had the opinion that Raven was just being greedy. That she hadn't been gifted by the Goddess, to have two mates. They still believed that she just wanted to be with both of us, was the popular opinion. I don't know why they would even think that, as she caught a lot of grief from the pack over it. We even caught some flak ourselves from the older more judgmental members of the pack. If I hadn't been her mate, she would have just kept me on the side, unknown to all of them. She would not have claimed me in front of the whole pack and told them that both Brandon and I belonged to her. She would have just been the Luna, and would have just met me behind closed doors. But that was not the case. Yes, we really got off to a rocky start. I agree, Reagan really f****d us up a lot. We had a very jacked-up beginning. But I think that from that experience, we became stronger for going through it together.

I stood behind them with the boys, as Cole walked over to us. He looked right at Carter, Joshua, and Brandon and said, "Good luck, boys" and then laughed at their confused looks. Cole then motioned to all of us to see if we were ready to go. We all gave him a nod and he blew the whistle. They all took over quickly, and at first, the guys were running at full speed. They seemed like they were going to beat the pants off the women. I took off with the boys and only had to help them with two of the obstacles. Jax was able to make a running leap on the third one to get a hold of the hand grips, and the other boys quickly followed his lead. He is smoking through this course, and I can tell that he is trying to catch up with his mom. That makes me smile, we very well might catch back up to her, and these boys are giving it their all to move through it.

They had listened to my instructions before starting, and I called out to them what they would be needing to do with each obstacle that we approached. They listened and we moved through them right behind the other group. They were like 100 feet in front of us, which is not bad considering that only Jax had gotten to double digits. On the running between obstacles, he went all out, as he tried to catch up with the group in front of us. They wanted to see how well their mom was going to do against one of their dads. They have seen her train, they know that she pulls no punches when she is in a challenge, no matter what it is. They move across the balance beam like it was nothing and that brings them closer to their mom. There are as light-footed as mountain goats as they run at full tilt across the 30-foot beam. They are doing so well, and I hope that someone got a video of this, as I am so proud of them. I am sure that Brandon and Raven will want to see this too.

The last 200 meters back to the end of the course were running. I am sure that they were trying to even the playing field and let people that may be worse at the obstacles have a slight chance to catch up. So these last 600 feet, were going to tell the tale for everyone. They were in a dead heat running to the finish line. Someone had even found some caution tape and it was being held at the end of the course, like a finish line. I already know that Stella and Raven will stop toying with them now. I knew that they had been throughout the course. I knew it because they are two of the best at going through our own course, and this one was really similar to it. I guess they wanted the guys to think that they had a chance. The thought makes me chuckle. I see Truett and Austin holding the finish line, and grinning their heads off at being there to see the girls beat them.

Carter, Brandon, and Joshua were all about 20 feet in front of them and halfway back to the finish line when the girls finally made their move. They passed the guys at about 100 feet from the finish and then left them in the dust. The guys tried to speed back up to pass them, but they had gone out full tilt from the start and didn't conserve anything for the end of the race, the course took 10 minutes to get through. It was a rookie mistake, and I was trying not to laugh at them as the boys and I followed along behind them. I watch as Raven and Stella finish the race holding hands and side by side, as they broke through the tape. I already know that Carter and Joshua are going to be complaining about losing. But Brandon seems proud of Raven as he crosses the finish line and then walks over to give Raven a kiss.

"When will you two learn to stop challenging people to stuff? I mean I know it was Carter this time, Joshua, but it seems like you two needed another slice of humble pie. Maybe next time you two will win, but I wouldn't bet on it" Stella said and then started cracking up with laughter. That started some good-natured joking for all of them as we crossed the finish line ourselves. I could see that Carter was both proud of his sister, but a little embarrassed at challenging her now. There had to be over 200 people here now, and this is going to spread like wildfire through the pack.

Truett hugged Stella from behind and then gave her a kiss on her mark. Their children were all around them, and they were super proud of their mom. I was proud of our boys. They really pushed there at the end to finish and were only like 50 seconds behind their mom, who had won the race. Not too shabby for our kids. I was glad to see Olivia had her phone up and recording us when we finished. I wanted Raven and Brandon to see how great our kids did. Raven had seen them finish and was on her knees trying to hug all of them at once. They were also proud of her for winning the race. They saw her when she passed Brandon, and they were all cheering her on as we ran to the finish line ourselves behind them.

They knew their dad had been trying to beat her. None of us just give up, no matter what it is. We have told the kids that from when they were babies. That no matter where they finished in their race, if they did their best, that was all we needed from them. They all knew it, with the exception of our youngest, who I suspect was milking it in her race earlier. At least I think so because maybe she liked Alex taking care of her on the course. But she is still young, plus she has my easygoing mentality. She is happy for James to do better than her, and she is a peacemaker. She just wants to be happy, and for her family to be happy. I know that she probably won't be fighting when it comes down to it. But she will still have to train and do her best in the meantime. We need her to be able to properly protect herself if we are not there to do it for her.

I won't give her a hard time of it, but I think we need to tell her that even if she doesn't love training, she still needs to apply her all to it. Knowing how to defend herself can save her life, and that is invaluable to me. I would do anything to protect my children and my mate. It is the reason that I do what I do. I don't like leaving them to go take specific training in the city for the martial arts that they like to learn. I am just trying to make sure that we are as equipped as we can be to be able to attack in both our wolf and human forms. I want our children to be deadly, in either form, as well. I know what the warning was when the Goddess gave us a heads-up on what was coming. I know that the Goddess was completely serious about it. There was a reason that she gave Raven back to me. One that was bigger than all of us. One that could cost us some of our precious children and I didn't want that to happen. I know that what we are facing is life-changing, and could change all of our lives for the worst. I know that even if we make it fun to learn, and they learn everything, they could still be injured, or even killed. I cannot allow that to happen, whatever I need to do to protect the children, the pack, and my mate is what I am willing to do.

Because at the end of the day, I know exactly what Reagan is capable of doing. She is willing to use absolutely anyone to get what she wants. She has hurt so many people, especially Raven and me. Her uncaring attitude about others, and wanting what she wants, when she wants it, has not left her with any friends. She is a real piece of work and if I had to do it all over again when she came to my hotel and knocked on the door, I would have slammed it closed in her face. I swear to the Goddess that I will not fail Raven again. I will protect my mate and my children from whoever is coming for them. I will never allow Reagan to take me away from Raven ever again.