Mated To The Alpha Of The North
Chapter 45

Jax

Asher was already there once I had arrived at Reese’s dwelling, though it appeared that he may have just arrived, seeing as he was still standing in the front hallway with Reese when I had walked through the door.

I was already on edge due to the distance between me and my unclaimed soulmate, so Asher’s next words seriously pushed the limits of my self-control. My wolf had allowed me to leave Willow’s side temporarily, appeased by her wolf’s show of possession this morning, but that would only last for so long.

Further, I could not keep my own tempestuous thoughts at bay, as I worried as I was with Willow being out of my field of vision and Zeke still on the loose, only compounding with my wolf’s own stormy blend of emotions. Needless to say, I was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, and Asher had been the one dumb enough to blow the fuse.

Asher’s voice grated on my last nerve as he greeted me by saying, “Hey, look there is the lucky bastard now. How was our gorgeous girl this morning? I heard she c…”

My wolf’s vicious snarl cut off whatever he had been about to say as I launched myself forward, my nails elongating into claws as I went due to my wolf surging to the forefront at Asher’s claiming of our mate.

Asher swiftly attempted to dodge the incoming attack, veering to the left as he raised his right arm in defense, but the limited space prevented him from darting completely out of range.

Consequently, my wolf and I felt an outpouring of vindication as our claws sank into the flesh of Asher’s arm, eliciting a howl of pain and a torrent of b***d that pleased us to no end. However, my sense of satisfaction was short-lived due to Reese’s hasty intervention.

In my blind rage, I had left my back open and Reese had then used my distraction to his distinct advantage, seizing me from behind and rapidly spinning me away from Asher’s retreating figure.

A trail of b***d followed his escape route down the hall, spurring my wolf’s instinct to chase, but I was quickly thwarted by Reese’s intercession, yet again to my mounting frustration.

“Jax, calm down. You know he was just trying to get under your skin. Let it go. We have more important things to focus on right now.” Reese interjected.

I could no longer see the other male, and Reese’s steady voice was slowly breaking through the haze in my mind. His reminder about why I was here helped to urge my wolf’s compliance for the time being, giving me enough leeway to gain control once more.

As I pulled myself out of my anger-fueled thoughts, I leisurely took several deep breaths in and out, trying to regain my bearings before I filled the other alphas in on why I was here.

Reese had been lucky that I was zoned in on Asher before. His risky move had paid off, but he just as easily could have found himself at the other end of my wolf’s deadly claws. I had painstakingly built my reputation throughout the wolves’ territories as one of the most fearsome alphas alive for a reason. No one was going to take me unaware like they had with my father.

My morbid thoughts and the coppery scent of b***d tainting the air made it difficult to focus at first, but I persevered, turning my mind down more pleasant avenues, knowing that I needed their help to make sure Willow was safe for good.

Reese had backed off, but I perceived that he still had one eye on me as I regulated my haywire reactions. After a few minutes passed, the sultry memories from early this morning was able to pacify the raging storm in my mind, though they did bring up another problem further south.

I resigned myself to feeling the discomfort while I was away from Willow, and I moved forward to join Reese at the end of the hallway, saying, “You are right, thanks man.”

I slugged him in the shoulder as I passed, ducking through the doorway into the kitchen where I could see Asher with his head stuck in the fridge, rummaging for food. Typical.

I paid him no mind as plopped down into one of the four matching spindle chairs that the room afforded and turned to where Reese had just entered the room, expounding, “Let’s get this over with and make a plan so that I can get back to Willow as soon as possible.”

Reese acquiesced without any further prompting, advancing forward and taking his own seat at the table, but Asher had ignored my announcement and continued to pilfer Reese’s food without responding.

I felt the fury rising up again at Asher’s impertinence, but Reese smoothly intervened before it could reach the boiling point, stating, “Asher, get your a*s over here and stop messing around. You had better thank Luna I did not let Jax f**k you up. You know better than to provoke a male whose true mate is still unclaimed, let alone Jax of all people.”

Asher grumbled incoherently under his breath, but he did push the door to the fridge shut after a moment and join us at the table. Thankfully, he remained quiet, stuffing his face with Reese’s food as I started going over the information Willow had shared.

I made sure to gloss over the portions that I was not comfortable sharing with them, but, needless to say, they were both appalled to hear about the extent of Zeke’s manipulative dealings with the members of his pack, as well as his twisted dealings with the elders while we had been staving off the bear invasion for the past two years.

Willow had not had too many details in this regard due to her wolf’s hearing being severely stunted by the regular doses of wolfsbane that Zeke had administered, but she had been able to overhear enough in her time within the same household to safely say that he had held some sort of sway over the elder’s decrees, which in turn had caused him to use this leverage to force others to do his bidding.

Both males listened intently, not daring to interrupt as I had talked, but Reese broke in now that I had paused in my soliloquy, “Well damn, it sounds like you did the right thing in removing the elders from power, Asher. I think that is a first for you.”

Reese’s words sliced through the tension that this new information had evoked, the implications weighing heavy on all our minds in the silence until he had broken the spell by aggravating Asher.

However, Asher had only half-heartedly risen to the occasion, responding, “Whatever, man. You are just jealous you did not think of it first.”

Neither male seemed interested in continuing the line of conversation, so I chose that moment to share the last bit of info that I had been keeping to myself up until now, “Here is the thing that concerns me the most, Willow informed me that she had already met Zeke a few months before she had arrived here two years ago, in the Northern Province, nonetheless.”

Reese and Asher both spoke then, competing with one another in a bid to express their confusion and apprehension, but Asher’s loud voice droned out whatever Reese had said so I only caught the tail end of it.

All I heard was Asher asking, “Why the hell would he have been all the way up there?”

Reese repeated himself, and this time, I registered his words now that Asher was not also speaking, “What the f**k? There was no reason for any of the alphas to have been traveling to other provinces when the elders had been the ones in charge.”

I had not understood Zeke’s prior presence in my home territory any more than the others, but that did not change the fact that we still needed to find him as soon as possible.

With that in mind, I responded to both alphas, “I cannot fathom a legitimate reason as to why he might have been there, but it does not change the circumstances. We need to find him.”

Reese spoke up without any further delay, his mind focusing in on the problem as he spoke aloud while he thought, “The elders were a dead end, but based on what you communicated with us, Zeke may be even more intertwined with them than we had previously suspected. You left your beta, Ryker, in charge back home, right?”

I had turned my attention towards the window as Reese theorized, noticing that the sun had gradually risen to its summit in the sky while we had been discussing Zeke’s treacherous ways, but I glanced in his direction at his question.

My wolf was becoming progressively more onerous to deal with as each moment ticked by, beyond ready to be by our mate’s side again, so my tone was a little sharper than I had intended when I answered, “Yes, I wanted to talk to you both before I asked him to do any digging, but after our conversation, I think that would be the best starting point. There is obviously some connection that we are missing.”

Reese took everything in stride, and he did not outwardly react to my irritable attitude, though he did steer the discussion in Asher’s direction, to my relief.

I used the transitory lull at my end to mind link with Ronnie and check in on my mate, worried that I had not heard anything all day. Ronnie quickly reassured me that everything was fine, but she did mention that she had noticed Willow’s growing anxiety as our time apart amplified.

I tuned back into Asher and Reese’s chat then, pleased that they both seemed to have come up with some promising ideas while I was sidetracked. We talked for a couple more minutes, and it was decided that I would reach out to Ryker to see what he could uncover while the others utilized their own contacts.

In a few days’ time, we would meet again to discuss any developments or further action needed. However, for now, my wolf and I were past done with the conversation, and I hastily made my excuses to depart, more than eager to be by my mate’s side yet again.