Page 39 of Second Chance Mates

“Do you come here much?”

He shakes his head. “Not as much as I should. It’s good for finding your own peace of mind.”

“Yeah,” I exhale and swim a little further. Our hands leave each other, so I use my arms to keep myself afloat. It’s been a while since I last swam, but my muscles are crying at the privilege. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Yes.”

“About yourself.”

He smiles. “Yes.”

“How long have you been the Alpha of this pack?”

“Almost four years.”

My brows hit my hairline. “Four years?”

“Yeah, it’s flown by.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-six.”

My mouth falls open. “You became Alpha at twenty-two?”

“Yeah. I had to. It’s a long story. I won’t bore you with it.”

I blink and shake my head. “I want to know. This world interests me. I don’t really know much about it. I know barely anything.”

“Okay.” Jaxon nods. My feet continue to kick underneath the water, but I struggle to keep my chin above. “Take my hand.”

I watch as his hand raises to the surface. I take it, and he gently tugs me to where I can stand comfortably in the water. The last thing we need is for me to start drowning while he’s telling his story.

The corner of his lip twitches a second later. I tilt my head.

He didn’t hear that, did he? Maybe I said it out loud.

“Around six years ago, there was a disease that started infecting the werewolf species. Wolves were dropping dead left, right, and centre. People who were infected were highly dangerous, and it was a crisis amongst our districts for a while,” he explains, and I watch him intently. “My father was the Alpha of this pack, and my mother was by his side as our Luna. He was a powerful man, and you didn’t want to get on the wrong side of him. But the district loved him because he was loyal.”

I nod slowly and wait for him to continue. “The disease wasn’t going away, and people started to panic. Then rumours started to spread that my father was keeping wolves down in our warehouse basement to torture them. But he wasn’t; he was experimenting on the infected to try and find a cure. The district didn’t want to believe the truth after wolves started going missing and then ended up dead.”

“Oh my God,” I exhale shakily.

Jaxon nods. “Yeah. People even started to believe he was the one who created the disease. All he wanted to do was help. I understand that taking wolves and doing your own medical experiments isn’t seen as humane, but as a district, we were desperate. I didn’t know about the experiments, but I believed him when he told me.”

“But no one believed his true intentions?”

“No. Things got out of hand. They tried to push us out of the district. They wanted revenge. They wanted to hurt us.” Jaxon’s eyes harden. “My father tried to make a deal with the district, but they wanted him dead. They wanted his blood. We had no choice but to move the entire pack to a new district with vacant land before they slaughtered us for his revenge. It was a difficult time.”

My mouth parts. “What…you had to move?”

“Yes. But news travelled fast, and my father and mother were ordered to leave our new district to keep the peace. None of us wanted them to go, but they left to guarantee us our safety and security. My father handed down the title of Alpha to me and said to start a new life as best as we can. I haven’t seen them in years, and I have no idea if they’re alive,” he admits.

“I’m so sorry.” My lips part, and I shake my head. “What about your safety?”

“The past four years have been hard. We’ve had a few security scares, and we’ve been training non-stop. I know they can find us, but a part of me thinks they’re looking for my parents instead. They can kill us, but what’s that going to do? My father might not even be around to witness it.”

I tilt my head away from the sun. “And when your pack moved here, the district accepted you?”

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