Chapter 76

Alpha Jaxon.

"It’s been over twelve hours, Astra; why isn’t she waking up?" I looked at Scarlett sleeping, starting from her chapped lips, swollen eyelids, and tangled hair.

"I told you, alpha, she used a lot of energy. More than she has ever used. In all honesty, I still can’t believe she did all that by herself," Astra responded, staring into space.

"It still sounds surreal; I wish I saw it all." I hang my head, chastising my wolf for allowing the psychotic woman to affect him. A thick silence stretched between us in mine and Scarlett’s bedroom as I massaged her head slowly. I laid her head on my lap, wanting to keep her as close as I could.

"You should have seen that woman; she looked like a deer caught in headlights. Don’t even get me started on Silas and Thiery." Astra excitedly narrated for the tenth time since she came into the room to visit Scarlett. I had ordered everyone to stay away and give Scar time, except Astra.

"Can we not talk about that now?" I sighed.

"Baby, please wake up,” I whispered, allowing my wolf to whimper on the inside. We could feel hers, but she was unresponsive. I shut my eyes, praying to the moon goddess to keep her safe.

"Are you crying?" Her weak voice filled my ears, even though it was barely audible.

“Scarlett!" I shouted with all smiles and relief, pulling her gently to embrace her. I hummed as I squeezed her, while my wolf leapt on the inside.

"Why are you crying?" she repeated, pulling away from the embrace to wipe a lone tear that I hadn’t even noticed had escaped.

"You weren’t waking up, love." I wasn’t ashamed of her seeing me at my weakest. We had been through a lot to care about my image in front of my own mate.

"Are you two pretending that I am not here?" Astra pouted, standing up from the sofa to hug Scar too.

"Honestly, I didn’t see you there,” Scar whispered. Her voice was rough and low as she spoke.

"Here, drink this. It will soothe your throat." Astra handed her a bottle of water from my mini-fridge after kissing her forehead. After taking two full gulps of the cold, clear liquid, Scarlett abruptly shot up, hitting my nose with her elbow in the process.

"Where is she?" She wobbled, looking frantically around the room. I stood up while rubbing my nose, shooting a glare at Astra when she laughed at me.

"Relax, babe, your mother is locked up in the dungeons along with Silas and Thiery." I held her, allowing her head to rest on my chest as I rubbed her back.

"How?" she whispered after a while, a smile spreading across her face when she felt my wolf.

"I thought she managed to break our bond. I thought I was too late, that your wolf didn’t ma..." She stopped talking, letting out a series of coughs.

“The bond remained intact when your magic put your wolf to sleep and raised a barrier. You both collapsed after the whole ordeal, but you were not the only ones." Scarlett stepped back, brows furrowed.

"My sister followed soon after, then Thiery and Silas," Astra expounded, motioning for me to help Scar sit.

"I don’t get it." I tucked a few tangled strands behind her right ear as she got submerged in the conversation.

“Turns out that when you conjured the green roots, they weren’t just roots; they were a representation of your magic. As they swallowed the red tendrils, they sucked in the power in those tendrils." I listened closely, even though Astra had already explained.

"Can you first eat something? Then Astra will narrate everything while your stomach is full," I suggested it, but I was met with a glare that had me backing off.

“So you’re saying those tendrils carried my mother’s power, and now I have it in me?" Scarlett sounded horrified.

"No, your magic destroyed hers. As for the tendrils, they were her source of magic. I don’t know how she ended up losing her natural magic, but I suspect dark magic. So she found something to link her powers to, and in this case, it was the tendrils. According to Silas, the ring was supposed to unlock her full potential, but Jaxon’s mother pulled it out during the attack. She knew she was going to die, but she wanted her killer to be found."

I had to swallow a gulp of saliva to cool down my burning throat. The mere imagination of my mother suffering at the hands of a warlock and hired rogues messed me up. “If those red ringlets were her source of power, it means she was draining Jaxon’s alpha powers as she performed magic." Scarlett had a distant look as she whispered.

“True, that is why at some point she kind of overpowered you. But when Jax was set free and I took her ring, she was able to talk again despite your spell. Then she started screaming and cursing, saying that you had just stripped her powers off her. That is when the warriors ran and captured her,” Astra explained.

"But the barrier..."

"It was also broken; your magic overrode all her spells. Including the one she had over Thiery. Just like you did on that chain I gave you." That meant that I had to rethink punishing Thiery by execution. It was clear that he was a victim of spells.

"I can’t believe this. I had no idea what I was doing. My warlock side took over, and I just went with the flow. But what about Silas’s pack, why weren’t there?"

“It turned out Rebecca had also raised a barrier surrounding the Crane Power Pack so no one could leave. She was planning to kill Silas after she killed us both and take over both packs. So she made sure Silas wouldn’t get any help from his pack," I explained what my father had told me when I woke up.

“So she was going to stab him in the back," Scarlett hummed.

“Typical," she added, shrugging her shoulders.

"How does the pack feel knowing that I am a hybrid?" she asked.

"You are bound to them; you have a channel through which you can hear their whispers; open it,” Astra urged Scarlett. It wasn’t long before she was sobbing her heart out. Everyone was worried about her, so they gathered for a common prayer to the moon goddess to wake Scarlett.

"Can I eat now?" She laughed in between tears as I mind-linked one of the pack women to bring in food.

“The food is on the way," I answered.

“Then I want to go see my powerless mother and her companions. Has their trial been set up?" I didn’t understand how she could switch from being emotional to being an alpha female, the luna.

"Not yet. We were waiting for you to wake up,” Astra answered with a bow.

"Jax, do you think the elders can schedule that now after I’m well fed and bathed?" She turned to me just as Lillian entered with a tray full of different dishes.

"Astra, can it be arranged?" I turned to her.

"On it." Then she was on her way out with Lillian after the food was served.

"I want you to eat to your satisfaction because I need to eat too,” I whispered as I guided her to the bedside table and sofa.

"You don’t have to wait for me to eat first. Come on." She waved me off, picking a second plate from the tray for me.

"Oh no, babe, I have no desire for this food." I stressed the word “this" wiggling my eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh goddess, Jax. You are a pervert." She laughed out loud as she scooped a spoonful of mashed potatoes dipped in beef stew.

"Well, I miss eating you."

"Jeez, you can”d must iy lk thad,” she spoke with her mouth full of food, but I still understood what she said.

"Would you rather I said..." I pretended to scratch my chin.

“That I want to devour you?" I finished.

“That’s even worse!" she shouted, shaking her head.

"But you love it," I responded.

"No, I don’t." She took another spoonful, chewing quickly.

“Then why are your nipples pressing your dress?" I winked victoriously when she shooed me.

"Okay, I’m going to draw a bath for you." I excused myself, but not before Scarlett stopped me right in my tracks.

"It’s high time I sat on that cock in the tub." Just like that, my dick hardened under my slacks. Oh, how I was going to show her how much I missed her.