Chapter 184 Tonight, we Protect the Heart of Blackwood
The warmth of him was a direct contrast to the cold dread settling in Leela's chest. Fennigan moved like a shadow, silent and heavy, until he was a solid wall of muscle at her back. He wrapped his massive arms around all three of them—a protective circle that encompassed his entire world.
He pressed his face into the crook of her neck, inhaling the scent of her skin that always acted as his North Star. For a long moment, he didn't speak; he just let the steady heartbeat of his family pulse against him.
"I’m sorry, Sparky," he murmured, his voice muffled against her skin but vibrating with a fierce, low frequency. "But I don't want to leave any stone unturned. Not one. If there’s a map to the people who want to hurt us—or a list of people in our own home who can’t be trusted—I have to find it."
He tightened his grip slightly, his chin resting on her shoulder so he could look out at the same forest she was watching.
"This isn't just about survival anymore," he continued, his tone turning reflective. "The High Council has spent centuries keeping us divided, keeping us small. We don’t need them. We need packs that actually look out for each other. We need a future where Caspian and Briar don't have to worry about bunkers in the woods or shadows in the hallways. I have to do this so they can inherit a world that’s whole."
Leela closed her eyes, leaning back into his strength. The twins were starting to relax, their little hands fisting in her shirt as the familiar scent of their father calmed their nerves. She knew he was right. That was the most frustrating part of being an Alpha's mate—knowing that the risks he took were the very things that kept them safe.
She turned her head just enough to press her cheek against his temple. "I know," she whispered, her voice finally softening. "I hate it, but I know. Just... don't be a hero, Fennigan. Be a father. Fathers come home."
She felt him nod against her. "Always," he promised.
Behind them in the hallway, Jax and Damon exchanged a look. The mission was set. The dusk was coming, and with it, a journey into the lawless silence of the Neutral Territory.
On the other side of the Great Room, Jax and Ginny found their own corner of shadows. The air between them was always different—less like the heavy mantle of the Alpha and more like the sharp, electric tension of two people who had spent their lives looking over their shoulders.
Jax took her hands, his thumbs tracing the line of her knuckles. He was the pack’s shadow, the one who stepped into the dark places so others could stay in the light. He had spent years as a rogue, navigating the treacherous underbelly of the wolf world, but Ginny knew the Neutral Territory was a different kind of beast. It was a graveyard for the careless and a playground for the desperate.
"You be careful, Jax," Ginny whispered, her voice uncharacteristically small. "This isn't just another scout mission. You’re going into a place where the sun doesn't shine and nobody has a name. Iggy and I need you."
She took his hand—the hand that knew how to handle a blade and a keyboard with equal lethality—and pressed it firmly against the high swell of her belly.
"He’ll be here soon," she said, her eyes locking onto his with a fierce, maternal demand. "Very soon. And he and I... we need you to come back whole. Do you hear me? No 'heroic' detours. Just get the Weaver, get the codes, and get home."
Jax felt a sudden, sharp kick against his palm—a tiny, rhythmic thud of a new life already asserting its presence. It hit him harder than any physical blow ever could. His jaw tightened, and he pulled Ginny into him, burying his face in her hair.
"I hear you, Gin," he rasped, his voice thick with a promise that went deeper than pack loyalty. "I’m not leaving my son without a father, and I'm sure as hell not leaving you to handle him alone. I’ll be back before the coffee’s cold tomorrow morning."
He pulled back just enough to kiss her forehead, his eyes dark with a protective fire. "Iggy’s going to have a lot of stories to hear when he gets out here. I plan on being the one to tell them to him."
The sun began to dip below the jagged teeth of the western mountains, casting long, bruised-purple shadows across the Blackwood valley. It was time.
Fennigan and Jax met by the black SUV parked behind the stables, away from prying eyes. They were dressed in dark, tactical gear—no pack insignias, no silver ornaments. Just two men heading into the void.
The heavy rumble of the SUV’s engine faded into the distance, leaving a silence in the pack house that felt unnaturally loud. Leela and Ginny stood together on the porch for a long time, watching the tail lights vanish into the ink-colored trees.
Despite the exhaustion tugging at their bones—the kind of deep, aching fatigue that comes from a night of dancing followed by a day of high-stakes tension—both women knew that sleep was a foreign country they wouldn't be visiting tonight. The "Double-Alpha" pregnancies made their bodies heavy, but their minds were wired, tethered to the two men driving toward the lawless edge of the world.
They retreated to the Great Room, where a fire was already crackling in the hearth, though it did little to chase away the metaphorical chill. They had just settled onto the overstuffed sofas, surrounded by soft blankets and the quiet breathing of the twins in their playpen, when the front door opened.
Toby and Sarah walked in, still dressed in their wedding finery from the day before, though their clothes were a bit rumpled and their hair windblown. But it was the look on Sarah’s face that caught Leela’s attention. The nervous, trembling girl from the ceremony was gone. In her place stood a woman with a new, sharp spark in her eye—the unmistakable glow of a wolf who had fully embraced her bond.
"We heard the trucks," Toby said, his voice dropping as he saw the somber mood. He walked over to the fire, looking older, his shoulders broader than they had been twenty-four hours ago.
Sarah sat down beside Leela, taking her hand. The "spark" wasn't just joy; it was a newfound ferocity. "We aren't going back to our cottage tonight," Sarah declared, her voice ringing with a sudden, quiet authority. "The Alpha and Jax are out. That means the pack house needs its eyes open. Toby is going to run the inner perimeter with the sentries, and I'm staying here with you.".
"You should be resting, Sarah," Leela murmured, though she squeezed the girl's hand in gratitude. "It's your first night as a mated pair."
"There will be plenty of nights for that," Sarah countered, her gaze moving toward the dark window. "Tonight, we protect the heart of Blackwood."