Chapter 18: Chapter Eighteen

Axel

The ride to the pack house was nerve-wracking. Claire’s feet tapped against the floorboard of Axel’s truck, and her fingers tap danced along her things.

Axel could almost taste the nerves dripping from her and the anxious way she kept watching the turns he took. Almost as if she was memorizing it in case she needed to make a run for it. Not that she would make it far without being caught.

“Calm down,” Axel said. “I can smell your fear.”

“Spoken like a true animal,” she said with a chuckle. “I thought that was just horses and the dude from Jeepers Creepers.”

Axel put his head back and laughed. “Cute. I think I look better than the thousand-year-old fear sucker, but that’s just my opinion.”

She smirked and shrugged. “You don’t need an ego boost from me,” she said. “All the girls back in high school stroked it enough.”

Axel placed his palm on his chest as if he were hurt. “Ouch. You know, the more I get to know you, the more sassy I realize you are.”

Claire’s hazel gaze shifted toward his. “Oh, there is more of that where this came from."

Axel smiled and turned a sharp right, which made Claire’s adrenaline spike. “Are we close?” she asked. “I think I can smell wolves.”

Axel laughed. “Really funny. We’re here. Right at the end of this road. I want to warn you, because I’m afraid it may be overwhelming, my mom is going to freak because I’ve brought a girl here—”

“You don’t bring girls here?” she asked

He shook his head. “No.”

“I guess you’ve never had to become a bodyguard before, have you?”

Axel swallowed the truth and parked at the end of the dirt road, right at the entrance to the pack house. “No, I haven’t. The pack members are going to be excited. Some are young and overwhelming—”

Claire reached across and patted Axel’s thigh, sending heat up to his stomach. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “I think they are ready to see you. I don't want them to think we're talking about them, even though I'm pretty sure they could hear us if they wanted to."

Axel glanced at the huge wraparound porch to the sight of his mother standing eagerly on the top step, waiting on them.

It’d been her dream for him to find a mate and pass on the position of Luna to his other half. Axel got out and watched the excitement swell on his mother's face. He'd asked her not to scare off Claire before he had a chance to tell her the truth.

He wasn't sure if she listened or not.

“Could you walk any slower?” she asked, bouncing down the steps, her ringlet curls moving to the same rhythm.

Axel opened his arms for a hug, but she bypassed him to get to Claire.

Claire’s pretty eyes widened, but she hugged his mother, and something inside of Axel's chest tightened.

“I’m so glad to meet you, Claire. You can call me Sydney. It’s our first time meeting one of Axel's … friends.”

Claire smiled. “Thank you for having me. Axel and I have been through the ringer the last few days."

“It’s those damn lycans,” his dad said from the doorway. Axel watched his father smirk and walk down the steps, his graying black hair was longer than Axel remembered and his face more tired.

In three short years, Axel would take over his place as Alpha and relieve him from all of the stress that came along with it.

“This is Claire,” Axel said.

He could sense the thoughts running rampant in her mind and her imagining what they all looked like as wolves.

He reached down and brought her in for a hug, sizing her up when he pulled back. “It’s nice to have you, darling. I hear Axel saved you from a lycan. I’m sure that was a bit of a shock.”

Claire chuckled, and Axels’ wolf began to pace. Having her so close to the pack house made him happy.

“Since I had no idea either of you existed, yeah, it was a major shock. I kept contemplating ways to drop out of school and skip town without Axel knowing. You see where that got me?"

His mother laughed and wrapped her arm around Claire’s shoulder. “Come on in and I will show you around.”

Claire walked alongside his mother and into the pack house.

“She’s pretty, son,” his dad said, turning to face Axel. “You’re going to have to tell her soon. There are unmated werewolves around here, and you know how they are before they find their mates. Plus, she’s going to need to know about why your mother is fawning over her.”

Axel nodded and scratched the back of his neck. “I know, Dad.”

His dark eyes studied Axel’s, and he patted his shoulder. “If she’s forgiven you for how you treated her, and you are truly sorry, then everything will work out eventually. My advice is not to wait.”

Axel glanced at the front door of the house and then back at his dad. “When is the pack meeting?”

“Whenever I call everyone. We’ve been waiting on you.”

They both walked into the pack house, the smell of his mother's home cooking wafted from the opened swinging doors and into the entranceway.

Axel's stomach growled. “Did Momma make some barbecue? It smells so good.”

His dad chuckled and grabbed the back of Axel's neck, hauling him toward the conference room. “That’s for after the meeting. Let’s go. I’ll call everyone.”

***

Wolves and shewolves from the pack began to trickle in one by one. Axel grew up with them and spent most of his life playing in the woods with their children.

His father's Beta, Kerry, walked over and put Axel into a chokehold, where Axel easily maneuvered out of his grip. His surfer boy hair was tied back into a low ponytail, his picturesque smile glistened in the low lighting. “See you brought a girl. You settling down with a girl that’s not your mate? Ballsy, man …”

“She’s not your concern,” Axel snapped, feeing irritated that he would bring her up so quickly. “I saved her from a lycan, which seems to be terrorizing the campus.”

Kerry smirked. “Okay, Mr. Sensitive. I won’t talk about your hot little girlfriend—”

Axel took a step toward him, but his dad stopped him. “Both of you drop it. God, it’s as if you two are brothers. Leave it alone.”

Kerry chuckled and walked toward his seat next to Axel's dad at the table. Axel took a seat on the other side as everyone quieted down. “As you all know, Axel has come in contact with a rogue lycan at the campus downtown. He’s fought him twice, both times protecting a girl who is with him today. She is human but knows now of our existence.”

“Did you recognize the lycan? His smell?” Kerry asked.

Axel shook his head. “It’s a new smell. I’ve never encountered him. It’s definitely a male. He targeted Claire and seems to follow her. I’m not sure why. Maybe because she got away the first time. Or maybe because he knows I’m protecting her—”

“Why are you protecting her?” One of the shewolves said. “She isn’t your mate, is she? Do you know her?”

Axel fought the urge to roll his eyes. “I know her from high school. Anyway …”

“Why is she here?” one of the shewolves asked.

Axel ground his teeth together, not wanting Clair to overhear or one of the wolves let it slip if he told them the truth. “So I can protect her.”

She dropped her gaze when Axel tossed her a death glare. “The better question is why a lycan would attack a college campus, and what does he want with his victims. I know he’s hurt one person and killed another. I haven’t heard anything about the party from last night. I’m not sure if someone was taken or bit. We'll probably hear more about it when we get back. But I would like to have some people patrolling the woods at night. At least until he leaves or is caught.”

His dad stepped up. “I’m going to get a schedule passed around of the wolves I want rotating the campus. Until then, no one goes to the campus alone. In fact, I would like Axel and Claire both to commute back and forth from the campus until he is caught.”

Yes, his wolf chuckled. We’ll have Claire all to ourselves.

Axel swallowed the lump in his throat and slid his tongue across his teeth. He wanted to spend more time with Claire, and he may be able to tell her the truth.

Tell her just how much she actually meant to him. Show her the house he spent the last four years helping his father build for his future Luna.

"Axel," his dad said.

He glanced over, staring out at all of the wolves waiting for his reply. "Sounds good. We can be dismissed."

The room emptied quickly, leaving his dad and Axel together. "You look nervous. I know it's not about the patrolling. What's got you scared?"

Axel sild his large palm down his face. "I'm just … I'm afraid she's going to reject me after how I treated her growing up. I never knew why I treated her the way I did, until now. I was jealous that she was with another guy, and it spiraled out of control from there. Every time I saw her smile, her laugh, the way that guys looked at her, I hated it. Now, I'm reaping what I sowed because of my shitty attitude. I'm afraid even if she did forgive me, that she won't like me in that way. I'm afraid that I've ruined my chances."

His dad looked at him as if he understood, but Axel knew he didn't. How could he? He grew up with his mother and recognized immediately at eighteen they were meant to be together. There was no bullying or hard feelings.

"Like I said … everything is going to work itself out, Axel. Go save her from your mother. She's probably picking out baby names, and woo her, son. Show he what's it's like to be mated to an alpha. Show her that it's not just her being protected … but taken care of."

Axel wasn't even sure he knew how to express those feelings, but he would try.

He cleared his throat and marched up to the pack house, seeing Kerry standing next to Claire in the kitchen, leaning against his elbow and smiling at her.

Axel's wolf growled lowly and began pacing back and forth in anger.

Axel cursed beneath his breath and walked inside through the kitchen door, slamming it harder than he imagined. Kerry's smile widened.

"Look who made it. Mr. Sunshine.”

Oh, I'll show him sunshine, his wolf whispered.