~Jaylen's POV~
I woke up the next morning after an extremely peaceful sleep to notice the space between Lon and I, previously occupied by our mate was now empty, I frowned a bit, sniffing to find her scent although strong since she lived here was a bit fainter than when she was actually present, that meant she wasn't home, my heart dropped as my thoughts took a scary turn.
"Had she left?" I pondered, hoping it wasn't so as I shook Lon awake, his eyes fluttered open, glaring at me, his glare converting into a frown as he noticed my expression, he raised an inquiring brow, his features turning worried and I stared pointedly at the empty space between us, his eyes widened in understanding and he shot off the bed, grabbing his pants and pulling them on quickly, I did same, not even bothering to grab my shirt, but unconsciously registering the neat pile mine and Lon's clothes had been folded in, I didn't have the time to ponder on that though, we needed to find Ana.
We both rushed down the stairs, running into the kitchen.
Luc and Sky who were both seated at the table, spoons in hand and mouth open, paused staring at us in shock and confusion.
"Did you both ever have a check up for the state of your mental health?, If no, you should consider it." Sky snapped angrily at us, probably annoyed at her breakfast being so rudely interrupted. I glared menacingly at her and Luc moved so his body was shielding her from our view, crouching in a protective stance, teeth bared.
I would've been offended considering she was the outsider here, but I couldn't be, she was carrying his pup, his first instinct would always be to protect her, once again I pondered the story behind their getting together in just two months, but then again they both lived with Ana, and there wasn't anything that girl couldn't do.
Rather than reacting to his disrespect, we both eased up a bit, taking a step back, showing him we meant no harm to his woman and their pup. He relaxed as well, but didn't move away from her, probably not wanting to take any chances with two extremely dangerous beasts who clearly and for good reasons did not like his woman, I had to give it to him, he was one smart wolf, but then again he was one of Lon's top warriors, smart was a definite.
"Where is our mate?" Lon asked still a bit harshly but it sounded better than how it would have if it came from me, he particularly highlighted the 'our mate' part, obviously for Sky's benefit and I didn't blame him, pregnant or not we both still saw her as a threat and we always would, shifters were very possessive and jealous creatures.
She rolled her eyes, obviously understanding Lon's message before replying.
"Oh you mean my Ana?" she asked innocently and I gritted my teeth in annoyance, effectively keeping back the fury bubbling up within me.
"No, I meant our mate." Lon deadpanned, giving her a warning look, Luc growled lowly but was cut short by a louder growl from Lon, he looked away, unable to stand up to his Alpha,at least not when we hadn't tried to cause any danger to his loved ones, in which case I knew him enough to know he'd fight us to the death if needed, which was why, he was one of the few I respected.
Sky sighed, not wanting to put Luc in a tougher spot, she replied.
"Did you really think she could leave medical school without carrying out the necessities for a transfer?, since your presence was unexpected and we'll be leaving soon she had to hurry to school to work out her transfer, so we could all leave on your schedule." She explained, I was a bit surprised at her warm tone but I brushed it aside as being my imagination, and nodded at her in understanding, releasing a sigh of relief, she didn't leave.
"But why didn't she even tell us, I could've gotten a heart attack." I grumbled begrudgingly and Sky laughed, once again surprising me.
"Shifters don't get heart attacks Jay, and she left really early in the morning, she probably didn't want to disturb your rest." She informed me and I frowned slightly at her use of my nick name but nodded in understanding at her words, Lon humming in approval, Sky's explanation wasn't surprising but caused a flutter in our hearts, to those she loved, our mate was caring like that, and the exact opposite to those who pissed her off, a perfect balance between compassionate and cold hearted, a perfect queen, I couldn't imagine letting someone else have her.
———————
I pushed open the door to the mansion, stepping aside to let my queen through, she walked in, and was immediately engulfed in a series of excited hugs, as mine and Lon's parents, as well as our friends had been eagerly awaiting her arrival.
I watched with a smile as she laughed at their excitement, even as they pulled her to the living room to fill them in on the past five months, Lon and I exchanged aggrieved looks as our mate's attention was stolen from us, however we knew she needed some time in the company of her friends, grabbing her luggages, I walked to the elevator, this time heading straight to my room and placing her stuff down, she'd be staying here with Lon and I now, Lon also dropped the luggages he was carrying before informing me that he had some business to take care of at the pack house and he I nodded, he gave me a kiss before leaving and I also headed to my office to make sure everything was in order with the pride.
After about two hours of working, I heard a commotion downstairs and I rushed down immediately, worried for my mate.
Getting to the living room, I saw a scene that made my blood boil, Claire stood before my sitting mate, yelling down at her at the top of her voice.
I growled lowly, stalking towards her but wasn't fast enough because Lon who just walked in had already grabbed Claire and flung her across the room, she crashed into the massive TV set, knocking it down and a loud bang sounded at the impact even as the TV crashed to the ground, smashing.
I stopped at his side, both of us glaring menacingly down at her as she struggled to rise to her feet, I turned to him with a raised brow and he frowned understanding the question in my eyes.
"Mom gave the order to free her, I'm not clear on the reason." He said and we both turned to Mira, before she could speak Ana was on her feet, striding past us and ignoring my disapproving look, she crouched down in front of a wheezing and whimpering Claire, the over dramatic bitch was acting like she would die anytime soon from the pain of the impact, when we all knew that wasn't happening, she was a shifter, impacts like that although painful would at most dislodge a few bones.
"Where did you learn to throw people around like that, it's not nice." Ana said, looking up at us, her words scolding but the look in her eyes revealed her amusement. Lon shrugged nonchalantly in response and she chuckled turning back to face Claire who was now glaring hatefully at her, I growled warningly at her, but Ana turned to me, shaking her head with a smile, her look telling me to stay out of it.
"How dare you show your face back here after what you did?!" Claire yelled at Ana, referring to the event with Sky, I scoffed but didn't say anything more.
"What can I say, I guess I'm getting as shameless and thick-skinned as you are, I'm still a far distance from your level of course." Ana replied nonchalantly, not the least bit affected by Claire's mention of that event.
"Listen Claire, I'm back now, and I'm back for good, so you can either suck it up or you can suck it up, because honestly, that's the only option you have right now, your petty tricks was fun for a while but I've lost interest now." Ana continued with a deathly cold tone, the look on her face screamed danger, Claire unconsciously shivered in fear and moved back a bit, distancing herself from the dangerous aura Ana was currently emitting. My heart swelled with pride even as I noticed she was oblivious to how much dominance she was currently exuding.
"But... I was intimate with Talon, he led me to his bed himself, taking me over and over again, crazy in his desire for me , how can you accept him back after that?, Are you really so desperate you're willing to overlook his infidelity?!" She asked and I saw red, infuriated by her words, I let out a loud growl, I was about moving past Ana to crush the offending jaws so she couldn't spew anymore nonsense and then snap her neck but Lon held me back, I glared at him and he motioned at Ana, reminding me Ana wanted to handle this herself, however his eyes were filled with shame and guilt at Claire's words and I frowned, grabbing him and pulling him closer to my side.
We watched with apprehension as Ana was quiet for a while and I could see Lon's fear, that she wouldn't want him anymore, I was just about interfering to break the uncomfortable silence, but was shocked when the silence was filled with the sound of Ana's melodious laughter, she laughed so hard she was clutching her stomach, we all exchanged puzzled glances.
"Damn Claire, and I'm the one who's desperate?, what reaction did you want to get out of me, perhaps you thought I'd go pack my bags and leave again?, Why would I do that?, did you think I suffered from memory loss before I came here?, I remember clearly what happened, using Lon's wrongs won't get you anywhere." She paused as her amused features turned cold again.
"He fucked you?, Oh well, I'll just do him better, so much better that once I'm done with him, he'll completely forget your existence.
Besides, between you and him, that's all it'll ever be, a simple, meaningless tumble beneath the sheets, while I'll be the one he makes love to every fucking day, the face he sees when he wakes up in the morning, the only woman who holds his heart and commands his love, the only woman who has the right to stand by his side as his Luna, I already own everything you wanted but will never have. I am everything you'll never, ever be Claire.
So listen closely, these two amazing and dripping in sexiness men are mine, we weren't together for a while?, they're still my mates.
We have our differences?, They're still my mates.
We don't agree all the time?, well they're still my mates.
He fucked you?, don't worry, he's still my mate.
They act badly to me?, Listen honey, they're still my mates.
They hurt me or break my heart?, well they're still my mates.
They ignore me?, that's their problem but they're still my mates.
The bottom line is they are mine!, And will remain mine till I choose to let them go.
So mind your own fucking business!" Ana finished with a harsh tone.
Lon and I stared at her with adoration before Lon spoke.
"Even in the case where you choose to let us go, we still remain yours." he told her in a firm tone and I hummed in agreement, she turned to us flashing us a cheeky grin.
"Hear that Claire darling?, Mine!, Now as much as I enjoyed our conversation, I'd like to continue the chat I was having with my friends before you walked in. Kay, do me a favour and take out the trash please?" Ana said standing up and Kay smirked, she moved up to Claire, grabbing a handful of her hair and dragged her out kicking and screaming.
Ana walked into the kitchen and Lon and I followed after, making a mental note to speak with Mira about Claire later, on my way to the kitchen, I overheard something from the Lions that had gathered at the commotion, the statement caused a silly grin to stretch across my face.
An amazed looking warrior, still staring in awe at the spot my mate had stood previously exclaimed.
"Damn now that's a queen!"