Angel Blackwood (31 page)

I find Nixon standing
with a younger woman. He’s laughing at something she’s saying,
looking so happy. I can’t bring him into the middle of this. He’s
content in this pack, he’s finally found his happy place... a place
to call home.

I hang onto the fencing for a
few more moments watching him chat to the pretty lady in the
distance. He lifts his head a little and I watch the movement of
his nostrils as he smells the air. His smile is gone, I know he
senses my presence. I drop my hands from the fence and back away
before he has chance to see me.

I can’t go to the witch’s camp,
my father will know to look there and I don’t want to bring danger
upon them. I send Phoenix a message warning her about my father and
what just transpired. I switch my phone off when my mother starts
ringing me. When Alex starts trying to get through our pack link I
let her in.

“Angel! Come
home, let us talk to you. Explain everything
better
,” she says, sounding
worried.

“That place
doesn’t feel like a home anymore, Alex. What more is there left to
say? You want to ship me off to marry a man I have no desire to
marry, all because Johnny wants to make our territory
bigger?
” I say, heading back
into the woods.

“It’s not
about making the territory bigger. Caspian can protect you, your
human side is weak, Angel. You’re not healing like you should. Even
though your special and one of a kind, you don’t appreciate how
many people will use that weakness to take over your territory. You
need a strong Alpha, your human side just isn’t strong
enough,
” she says sadly.
“
Come home, Angel. This is
your home!”

“The Wicca
side of me is powerful. I don’t need any Alpha to protect
me,
” I say.

“What?”
She says, sounding
breathless.

“I know that
my grandmother was a witch. I know that if you hadn’t been changed
that you would have been a witch too.”
I move the branches out of my way as I make my way
through the forest.

“What? How?
Noelle
?”

“Yeah, she was
the one to give me the little history lesson that you should have.
You and Johnny say there are no lies between pack members. How many
lies have you kept from him?”
I question.

“Angel,
that’s the only thing I’ve kept from him, he wouldn’t understand.
Johnny hates witches. Why didn’t you say something at the
table?”

“Because I
didn’t wanna throw you under the bus. I wanted to hear your
explanation first.”

“Ohmigod, I
didn’t stick up for you. I’m so sorry, honey. Your father was
angry, he wasn’t thinking straight. Please come home. Please. I’ll
explain everything to him.”
She starts crying and it’s enough to bring tears to my
eyes.

“I can’t. I
have to do something. I need to do it alone. I’ve got to
go,”
I say, wiping away the
tears.

“No, come
home, Angel. Please come…”
I
close the connection and her words disappear.

****

I head for the woods not
knowing which direction to take or where to go. I eventually decide
to just walk until I end up somewhere. Walking through the dense
forest, I feel the moment I move out of my territory and onto the
Crystal Bay Pack’s land; Alpha Caspian’s territory.

I walk along the boundary
line in the deep woods, thinking about what happened this evening
and how my father spoke to me - the things he’s expecting of
me.

“Little she-wolf all alone in
the forest at this time of night? Lucky I found you before another
big bad wolf came across you.” I keep quiet when I hear his voice.
Sub-consciously, I knew this is where I had to go and what I had to
do here. I just didn’t expect him to find me so quickly.

“I knew the minute you decided
to cross onto my land, lucky for you I wasn’t too far away.”
Caspian closes in on me and I watch him make his way down the path
and come into the moonlight. It’s the first time I’ve seen him
without a suit on; he’s is a plain grey shirt and black gym pants.
He looks as if he’s been on a run.

I stand my ground as he stalks
up to me, his eyes never leaving mine.

“I’m not marrying you,” I spit
out, meeting his stare. He doesn’t even flinch.

He lifts his hand up and
brushes his thumb across my jawline. “I don’t think you have a say
in the matter. Your father didn’t have to tell me what I already
knew. It took me a while to research, to figure things out after I
saw that you weren’t healing, but you need me. I can protect you,”
he says, with the arrogance I have come to expect from him.

“I don’t need you!” My voice
rises.

His lips curl up and he leans
into me. I try taking a step back, but his grip holds me in place.
I feel his lips on my ear as he whispers huskily, “You do, Angel. I
know your secrets, I know all of them and I still want to keep you.
You should feel honoured.”

I push at his chest and he
moves away to give me a little space to look up at him.

“I don’t need you. I don’t need
any-”

“Oh, I think you do. You need
me and you know it. You don’t want to need me, but you do. What
will you father do to the twins once he finds out about what
they’ve been putting you through. What will he say about the first
mate that rejected you? You think your father is going to accept
that an inferior Alpha like Jackson rejected his daughter because
he thought she’d make a weak Luna? I don’t think your father will
take it lightly, this may start an entirely new war between the
packs.” His solemn voice has me frozen in place.

How does he know all about
this? He knows everything.

Only two people know this…

“No,” I whisper, when
realization hits.

“Yes, Axel spilt the beans. Not
like he had a choice in the matter though. He tried keeping me out
of his head, he tried really hard, but I’m stronger than him and he
wouldn’t dare disobey me, his Alpha.”

“Did you hurt him?” I blurt
out, more worried about Axel’s safety than the fact that he didn’t
keep his promise.

Caspian chuckles, his chest
vibrating under my hands. “Of course I didn’t harm him, he’s still
one of my closest friends. I understood why he kept your secret,
and he understood me when I told him that I’m the only one that
could keep you safe. It’s true, besides your father, I’m the
strongest most powerful pack leader. Should your secret ever come
out, Axel knows that I’ll be able to protect you no matter
what.”

“Why do you want to do that?
Why would you want to marry me and make me your Luna?” I don’t know
what to make of all of this.

“It’s simple. Your father and I
are the strongest leaders, I will never harm him to take his land.
So the next best thing is to merge our territories, and that leads
us to this conclusion. You marry me and we become the leaders of
the biggest most controlling territory in all the states. You being
a beautiful little trophy on my arm is just a bonus.” He brushes my
jawline again with his thumb.

“I’m not marrying you,” I grit
out, pushing against his chest once again.

“You will, Angel.”

I shake my head.

“Or your father and I
will have another discussion and I’ll tell him all that I know, all
that you have yet to tell him. Imagine all the people that will get
caught in the crossfire.” His voice turns low as he ends off with a
growl.

“You’re blackmailing me?” This
time I manage to shove against him hard enough that I’m able to get
space between us.

“I told you I
always get what I want. The twins don’t want you, but I do, Angel;
even with your
flaws
.” He looks my
body over.

Flaws…

I turn and start running just
as he shouts out.

“You will accept my proposal,
Angel!”

****

I don’t know for how long I
run, but the sun starts to rise and before I know it I’m standing
in front of Georgina’s trailer door. I’m surprised none of Jax’s
pack members have come to get me yet, Caspian said he knew it the
minute I entered his land; so maybe it’s a perk of being an
Alpha.

“This was a bad-bad idea,” I
mumble, turning to leave. As soon as I get to the last step the
door behind me opens.

“Lexi?” I turn around at the
sound of her voice.

“Georgina,” I say, giving her a
small smile. It’s enough to have her running up to me, and holding
me tightly against her.

“Jesus, I’ve missed you.” She
holds me close and I love every second of it.

“I’m so sorry for
everything I’ve done. Every single time I’ve hurt you. I’m sorry,
sweetie. So very sorry,” she mumbles against my shoulder as she
tries to move away.

I hold her tighter. “Can you
just hold me a little longer,” I say in a spluttering voice, trying
to keep the tears at bay.

“Okay, baby,” she
whispers, holding me close to her. I breathe in her familiar scent,
allowing it to calm me. Fair enough, we’ve had our ups and downs.
We’ve both been to hell and back, but for most of my childhood she
was a great mother. With my now sharp sense of smell, I take in the
scent that belongs to Jax’s pack. I’ve never smelt it before, but
now it’s almost overpowering. Faith’s harsh words make it
unbearable for me to focus, but I try my best to push her concerns
aside and enjoy the moment.

I pull away from her and she
pulls me inside the front door, shutting it quickly behind us.

“You look
exhausted. L
et me get you
something to drink.” I sit on the chair in the living room and she
brings me a glass of cold water which I chug down in one
go.

I place the glass on the table
alongside the chair. I find Georgina standing in the same position
looking me over.

“What?” I say, looking down to
see if I spilt water on my top, which I haven’t.

“You’re a wolf. You survived
the change,” she says, looking proud.

“Yeah I did. At the time,
I didn’t think I would, but everything was okay.” I give her a
small smile.

“You’re a strong wolf too. I
didn’t see it when I found you on my front step, I was too wrapped
up in having you here, but I see it so clearly now.”

“I don’t feel very strong,” I
sigh, looking down at my hands.

She sits down on the sofa next
to me, taking my hand in hers.

“But you are, sweetie
pie. I’m so proud of you. You’ve grown up into a beautiful, strong,
young woman.” She smiles brightly trying to cover up the shame that
still lingers on her face.

“I don’t know why I did
the things I did, Lexi. I was on some pretty heavy stuff at the
time. Losing your mate is so hard. Sometimes my heart still hurts
when I think of your fath- I mean, when I think of James. I can
still feel him, it’s as if his wolf is still out there somewhere,
and I just can’t get to him. I miss him so much, my heart hurts
every day. Even though you weren’t his daughter, you were still his
blood, you look so much like him and the small things you did kept
reminding me of him. I’m so sorry for taking out all my anger and
frustration on you, I never should have done all those terrible
things. I should have cherished you and made you feel loved and
wanted. I love you, Lexi. I’ll always love you, even if I didn’t
give birth to you, baby.” She wipes away her tears and wraps her
arm over my shoulders. I lean back into her wrapping an arm around
her waist. I think about her words and how to respond, but I don’t
know how to, so all I say is, “I love you too.”

That seems to be enough for her
because she lets out a deep breath and holds me close, kissing the
top of my head.

“I missed this,” I whisper.

“I missed this too,
honey. More than you’ll ever know,” she whispers back, running her
hands through my hair as I rest my head on her shoulder.

We sit quietly for a
little while enjoying one another’s familiar company. We don’t need
to say anything, just being in each other’s arms is enough to
remind me of when I was a child. A time when she was my favourite
person in the world, my go-to person. Whenever I had a problem or
even when I just wanted a cuddle, her arms would be open for me.
It’s a place in time when a little snuggle with your favourite
person would make everything better. It’s funny how things change
as you get older and wiser, cuddling someone certainly doesn’t fix
problems like it used to. As an adult we require words, apologies
and someone to blame.

But all I need right now is
this fucking cuddle.

That’s enough for me.

She hums a tune and I’m close
to falling asleep when she suddenly stops and her arms tighten. I
feel her looking at me and I open my eyes to see a frown.

“Have you spoken to Alpha
Jax about entering his land? Lexi you do know you’re supposed to
get permission?” She asks cautiously, when I don’t respond she
stands up quickly.

“You have to go Lexi! Go before
they find you!” She sounds panicked.

She swings the door open and I
find a very livid looking Jax standing there.

“Shit!” I stand up quickly. I
knew what I was doing when I crossed into his territory, but coming
face to face with the consequences of my actions has me scared
shitless.

I make a beeline for the
back door and thank God, it’s open. I don’t hear his footsteps
behind me so I look back to see if he’s chasing me, but he’s not
there. I make it to the back porch stairs, but before my foot even
gets to touch the grass, Jax is there, knocking me right off my
feet and tackling me to the ground. He knocks the air right out of
me.