Chapter 21: Chapter Twenty-One

Sienna’s POV.

Unsurprisingly, the day continues on a much happier note. When we leave, Kayla chooses to travel home with Colton on the back of his motorbike instead of in the car with Jaxon and I.

“I’m so glad they worked that out, I couldn’t imagine Colton cheating on her,” I say to Jax as I recline into my seat.

“I know, he may have made some mistakes, but he’s not a cheater.”

When we get back to his house, it’s the middle of the afternoon and Jax tells me he has to go over to his office in the pack house to go over some things for the day.

I lay down on the sofa and flip through the channels, trying to find something to watch to pass the time. Finding nothing that holds my interest, I turn off the TV and lie back against the cushions.

My mind starts to wander, and I think of Colton and Kayla; marked, mated and happy.

Kayla has yet to tell her parents, but I’ve known them since I was a child, and they will be happy for her, no matter what pack her mate is a member of.

My parents, however, are a completely different story. My father will probably have a coronary and my mother will say I’ve crushed her dreams for me, I can just see it now.

And as for Jax’s parents. Well...

His father’s a raging psychopath with ridiculous rules on arresting and killing trespassers on sight, slaughtering neighbouring packs for extra territory, to name a few. And his mother hates me. Literally, despises me and makes no attempt at hiding her contempt for me.

In her eyes, Sophia will always be the ideal match for her son, I will never make the cut. Hopefully, over time she will come to accept me. His father and I don’t need to see eye to eye, but life would be easier if his parents were slightly different.

Also, Cade is scared of telling his parents how he really feels. Any parents who aren’t supportive of their child’s sexual orientation, are not good parents in my opinion.

How do I hide from Jax that I don’t like his parents?

How does Jax deal with the fact my parents won’t like him?

Why can’t we all just be a happy family?

I’m still lost in thought when Jax enters the house a couple of hours later.

I jump as the door slams, and I look over to see him walk in. I can see from his face how stressed he is. He scowls and runs a hand through his dark hair.

“What’s wrong?” I call, but he ignores me and storms upstairs. I frown to myself and wonder what on earth has happened.

I stand up when I hear him coming back down the stairs, Jax walks straight past the living room and into the kitchen. A second later, the back door slams shut.

What the fuck?

I run to the window and see Jax disappearing into the trees...with a tail.

Something bad must have happened for him to need to go run it off, but hopefully he will talk to me about it when he is back.

I’m not particularly hungry, but I know I should eat. I make some extra dinner in case he is hungry when he gets back.

By 10 o’clock, he has still not returned, and I get ready for bed.

I’m almost asleep in our bed when the back door bangs and I feel a flood of relief that he is home.

Jax showers and then slides into bed next to me. I roll over and once he sees that I’m awake, he pulls me into his arms.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” he apologises and kisses my forehead.

“Don’t worry about it,” I reply. “Is everything alright?”

He sighs heavily. “It’s my father.”

“Although he has technically given the pack over to me, he is involved with everything, he’s overbearing and questions anything I do. In his mind, it’s still his pack and I don’t know how to tell him to back off, he will see it as a challenge, you know how aggressive he is.”

I chew my bottom lip, unsure how to answer.

“I can understand why that might be frustrating, but he’s run this pack for years, it must difficult for him to hand it over,” I say and Jax grunts.

“Are his suggestions not useful? Surely you value his opinion.”

“They are, but he’s determined to keep the Black Mountain Pack a feared name. I was never fully on board with his ruthless tactics, but even more so now I have met you, I want to try and improve our relationships with other packs and mend our reputation.”

He sits up in bed and leans back on me as I gently massage his shoulders.

“Of course I want our pack to be known and respected, but I also want to have allies, not enemies. I want people to respect us, not fear us.”

“Spoken like a true Alpha,” I whisper and kiss his shoulder.

At breakfast the next morning, I receive a text from my mum and realise it has been too long since I last saw her.

On the drive over to the house, I decide to tell her about Jax and I.

No time like the present.

I’ve barely parked my car before mum opens the door and ushers me inside.

“You haven’t been home in weeks,” Mum says dramatically, and I roll my eyes.

“It hasn’t been that long, Mum.”

“It has! Sit down and tell me everything,” she gestures to the sofa.

Everything? Perhaps I’ll skip the part about being kidnapped.

Here goes nothing...

“I met my mate,” I say and watch her carefully to try and gauge her reaction.

She blinks twice and then her face breaks out into a grin.

“Ah!” She squeals and throws her hands in the air, “This is amazing! Tell me all about him!”

“His name is Jaxon, he’s twenty-five and he’s an Alpha,” I reply, and she squeals again.

“An Alpha! Oh, how perfect! I knew you had great things ahead of you, my daughter, a Luna! Oh my gosh wait till I tell your father; he’s going to be over the moon!” She gushes and I frown.

I don’t think she knows dad at all, he will definitely not be over the moon.

“Mum, there’s just one more thing,” I tell her, but she bustles past me and into the kitchen.

“Is it too early for champagne? Oh, what the hell, we’re celebrating! Now, where did I put those glasses?” She mumbles to herself as she digs out a huge bottle of champagne from the back of the fridge.

“Mum, seriously listen to me,” I try again but she’s clinking about with champagne flutes.

“We’ve been saving this for a special occasion, and this is the perfect occasion,” she glances at the clock and shrugs. “Oh well, we can add some orange juice to make it more appropriate!”

“Mum!” I yell and she stops moving to look at me.

“What is it, darling? There’s no need to shout.”

“Mum, he’s Alpha of the Black Mountain Pack,” I force the words out.

My heart sinks as the smile drops from her face and she suddenly looks ashen.

“Pardon?” She whispers and I nod, confirming her fear that she heard me correctly.

With shaking hands, she reaches for one of the bar stools and slowly sits down.

“Black Mountain,” she mumbles to herself.

“Mum, it’s really not that bad. He’s changing it, he’s going to build all the bridges they’ve burned,” I attempt to reassure her, but a look of anger comes over her pale face.

“Bridges they’ve burned? Sienna, they’ve burned a lot more than bridges I can tell you that! That pack is cruel, barbaric and oh Goddess, this can’t be happening,” she groans and presses her palm to her forehead.

“Listen to me, he’s a great guy, he treats me well and he loves his pack. He’ll change things, you’ll see.” I take her hands in mine and squeeze them.

She looks up at me with worried eyes.

“Promise me he’s treating you well,” she asks, and I smile.

“Of course he is, I was taught by a very strong woman to leave if they don’t treat you well,” I reply, and she gives me a weak smile.

“It’s honestly okay, Mum. I promise.” I pull her in for a hug and she sighs.

“I’m not sure how I’m going to tell your father, but I think it best you not be here when I do,” she suggests, and I don’t need to be told twice.

I leave her to the wrath of my dad because Goddess knows if anyone can calm him down, she can.