Gage supplied, “Plus, Dalton and Dakota could, and would, bury them for this. Melanie is their pack member, and they have no idea she’s been so damn close to home this whole time.” Oden grumbled, “Close yet so far.”
I replied, “We don’t know that they don’t know.” Phil snorted, “We do. Besides, the Supernatural Council can’t just recruit teenagers to go undercover. Is this why Ashley holds Alpha Theo at arm’s length? I have so many questions, and I have no answers. I HAVE to tell you both how much my Beta brain HATES this entire thing.”
Gage chimed in, “My Gamma brain isn’t thrilled either.” Phil muttered, “I hate it from the depths of my being. I think my brain is actually itching from the lack of information I have. The questions just grow more complex. Because my buddy Beta T will FLIP SHIT if his baby sister is in The Resistance.”
Gage agreed, “His head might actually explode from anger.” Phils snorted, “Not to mention his poor head or heart if the Lead Female, formerly wolf less, Warrior from Nashville is his sister. Drake McAlister will actually lose his mind. I can see it now. Just…” He clicked his tongue made a mind blown gestured with his hand, “right out of his head.”
I closed my eyes. Gage said, “Just ask them.” Phil scoffed, “And have them run away from us? Have you met us? That would go poorly, and we’d hunt them down then mark them.” I agreed with Phil, “We can’t force them to tell us. All we can do is make them feel safe until they have to go back. We can get them to open up. If we push them, they could take off like Phil predicts.” I growled that part. Oden snarled, “MINE!” I knew that.
Phil muttered, “Then we’d have to march on down to Nashville because that has to be where they’d run. I don’t know what those guys are doing, but I KNOW it’s bad. I also know that I don’t want my mate, or my Luna anywhere near them. NOWHERE Alexander.”
I growled, “Do you think I like this? Or that I want them near those people my dad has ALWAYS thought are shady pieces of shit?” Gage replied, “I do not.” Our mates ran by us with clothes in their hands to the dressing rooms.
Phil snorted, “I actually think you want to go to nearest gym and beat someone to bloody pulp.” I inclined my head indicating he was right. That’s exactly what I wanted to do. I had to prioritize my wants here though.
I declared, “Melanie is my priority. She wants to spend this time before my mission just with us. She’s reeling. I can’t imagine being a Beta’s pup and finding out I didn't have a wolf.” Phil winced. I continued, “Only to find out at twenty years old you DO have a wolf.”
Phil sighed, “Ok, I’ll give you that, but it’s not really fair when you think about it. You have Alpha blood. You’re all about getting the answers, but you don’t have the urgency I do. I NEED answers. I have to know all the things.” Gage assured him, “I’ll be finding out what I can, Phil.”
We could hear our mates laughing. I looked at Phil practically pleading, “I need her, man. I need her not to disappear. She has a knack for being invisible and not around. I can’t lose her now that I have her. No, that’s not the right word. I WON’T lose her now that I have her. She’s mine.”
Phil teased, “And you’re her Xander. It’s adorable.” I glared at him saying, “Only Melanie can call me that.” Gage gasped, “She actually called him that to his face?” Phil answered, “Mmmhmmm.” He grumbled, “And I missed it.”
Phil rolled his eyes at me complaining, “I’m only your cousin and Beta but sure the Luna is the only one who gets special nickname privileges. I see how it is. Also, for the record, I said Ashley was meant to be my bestie. I’m obviously right, since she’s my Luna.”
I agreed, “Yes, ok fine. If it makes you feel better for us to acknowledge that you were right, that’s easily done. She is going to be your friend because she’s your Luna.” Phil smiled, “It’s so nice to hear you say that. I do so love being right. It’s very fun for me.” I rolled my eyes muttering, “Whatever.”
Sierra came out with her arms crossed. Phil said, “Gotta go, Gage. My mate is annoyed.” He snorted, “I’ll look into some stuff.” We hung up. I made the space heard before Sierra got to us. She looked a little suspicious but to my surprise she didn’t address Phil.
She looked at me saying, “I told Ashley that you don't care what we buy. In fact, I made her try on a lot of stuff. She looks great in it.” I glanced at Phil who shrugged. I admitted, “I don’t see the problem.” She threw her hands in the air shouting, “She just wants to get a coat!”
Oden growled, “We can afford more than a coat.” I knew that. I told Sierra, “That won’t work. She’ll need a swimsuit and snowsuit. We have a hot tub and a pool inside the house, and I want to take her snowboarding.” Sierra nodded, “I got her all that and then some. Yet she insists she only needs the coat.” I winked at her.
Melanie ran out of the dressing room with eyes wide. She stammered, “Umm it all just… it’s gone. I didn't do anything, and it all just disappeared! I was putting everything back on hangers then it was gone like magic… oh my gosh!” She glanced at me.
She whisper yelled, “SAMANTHA! You told Xander to conjure the stuff back to the house! I told you I didn’t need all that.” I kissed her stopping her rant. Oden said, “This is themost brilliant plan you’ve ever come up with. Kiss her to stop the ranting.” It was because according to her family she did this a lot. Which means I’d be kissing her all the time. Darn the luck.
Oden grumbled, “Until she got that etiquette coach.” Except she clearly didn’t have that coach or stop talking the way they missed with each breath they took. Maybe the Supernatural Council had someone else writing their texts and emails and gave Melanie a script for their calls. They probably had her keep them brief because she couldn’t lie well.
Sierra snorted, “So all we’ve needed this WHOLE time was him? We normally just let her rant.” Oden purred, “We are exactly what mate needs.” I ignored him enjoying the feel of her lips on mine. He said, “Freya said she also enjoys kissing us.” Good.
Phil snorted, “How long could a rant actually last?” Sierra laughed “It depends but it could be a few minutes… or hours. If she gets on a tangent, or she’s nervous, excited, angry, etcetera, it just goes on and on. There is no end in sight.”
I pulled back and looked into Melanie’s eyes. I told her, “I’ll buy and give you whatever you want. I want to take you to do some things while we are here. I left the coats here because I want to show you around the town.” She slowly nodded.
I grabbed her hand, and we walked out. Everyone we walked by was nodding to us. We’d been here enough our whole lives, they knew Phil and me. I caught a flash of someone familiar. I pointed at something for our group to look at, then I looked the other way.
I spotted my Uncle Bjourn in the crowd. I smiled broadly at him and winked. Melanie was excitedly chattering about everything around us. Uncle Bjourn raised an eyebrow then nodded to Melanie. I nodded back.
He linked me, “Is that who I think it is?” I answered, “Yes, it is and she’s mine.” He smiled and faded into the background. Hesent me how happy he was for me in the bond. He knew the fact she was mine settled that piece of me that had been worried I was a possessive jerk.
I turned back around just as Melanie turned to look at me. She whispered, “This is so amazing, Xander.” I said, “I’m glad you like it. It’s just a walk though. I plan to dazzle you.” She flushed, “I don’t need to be dazzled. I just want to spend time with you.”
I teased, “Aren’t you sweet?” Melanie laughed, “Sometimes... I mean... well… some people would definitely not say that... some people really don’t like me. I mean... they aren’t… well they suck. I mean... I think they do. I’m nice to my friends…. Well, I used to be nice to more people… I’d never be mean to you… other people though… other people suck when you really think about it...”
I tilted her head up saying, “Anyone who says you aren’t nice will not like the version of me they meet. No one will say an unkind word about you ever again if they know what’s good for them.” I kissed her again. I could admit I was addicted.
Hell, I was a lost cause. She’d owned me since I was fourteen years old, but now with her in arms reach, it was undeniable. Oden said, “Yes, well she could’ve been in reach longer if you’d listened to me about her being ours.” I apologized, “I really am sorry, Oden.” Especially since he’d felt pain since her sixteenth birthday.
