Part 76

(POV - Jaden)

It was getting cooler, the afternoon warmth giving way to the evening breeze that chased the sun from the sky.

And it was somehow colder atop the small hill near the pack cemetery.

But Jaden didn't mind, not when Marcus was finally at ease with visiting the graves of his dead mate and their son. He'd come to find Jaden earlier in the day, asking if he would accompany him on his visit, and Jaden had immediately agreed. There had been a number of things that needed to be attended to, things that Marc needed to be present for, and having him back at full capacity had changed everything.

It wasn't that Marc was underperforming as an Alpha. In fact, he was doing better than most Alphas at their prime. But Jaden knew his best friend well enough to know when he wasn't operating at a hundred percent. He had noticed the way Marcus would look fixedly at an empty spot in a room for far too long, or how his eyes would slide in and out of focus if anyone so much as mentioned Helena's name.

He knew his best friend had been hurting so much more than he ever let on, but there was only so much that Jaden could do about it. Apart from dragging him to sex clubs and following him around to make sure he didn't accidentally kill himself or anyone else, Jaden had felt helpless.

Useless.

It wasn't until Aria had shown up that Marcus started changing. He lifted his eyes from the ground, smiled and laughed more at the stupid shit Jaden said, or the way Mercucio teased him. He began responding when his pack members greeted him, slowly turning into the wolf he'd once been.

And Jaden couldn't be happier.

The entire pack could sense it, the general mood lifting, a collective sigh of relief passing through them all. He could tell that the wolves were happier because their Alpha was happier, and things ran smoothly with Marc leading again.

And he had Aria to thank for it. They all did.

She'd appeared in such an unprecedented way, surprising even him, and turned everything upside down within the span of a few days. She'd made such an impression on Marc that within a glimpse, he'd been ready to tear through an entire pack to get to her.

It was something that Jaden never thought he'd ever see in his best friend ever again.

He glanced over his shoulder then, looking toward the spot where Marc was kneeling, one of his hands resting on the gravestone that belonged to Helena. His head was bowed, but there was a very small smile playing about his lips. He'd never once smiled while paying his respects to his dead mate and son, and the sight made Jaden feel... emotional.

It had been something of a long, busy day, and both he and Marc had run themselves ragged trying to get things organized, planning meetings and patrol shifts, trying to make sure that the shift teams weren't being overburdened. They'd spent hours the day before plotting out larger pieces of land, Marc's ideas growing again now that he could finally think clearer.

They hadn't been gone long, not since Marc and Aria's little display in the kitchen, but Jaden felt like an entire day had passed. He was grateful that Marc was finally returning to his old self, but it was murder on Jaden's body.

He had so much on his mind, so many things that still needed to be dealt with. Some things that would only cause him pain no matter the solution.

A sudden, warm presence alerted him to Mercucio's arrival.

"How is our Alpha doing?" he asked quietly, nodding towards Marc's kneeling form, silhouetted black against the multi-colored sky. Jaden hummed.

"I think he's actually doing better," Jaden said, following Mercucio's line of sight. He caught Marcus talking a little animatedly, imagining he was telling Helena and their son about Aria. "I've never seen him this happy.

Even when Helena was still alive."

Mercucio was quiet for a while, and Jaden wondered if maybe he'd said something he shouldn't have. He turned back, ready to apologize, but Mercucio was smiling.

"I miss her," he said ruefully. "It was nice to have someone as quiet as me around, it made the silence a little less lonely. But, in many ways, you're right. He hasn't ever been this happy because he'd never lost a mate and found another. He's never had to find happiness in the midst of his own despair."

"How poetic of you," Jaden teased softly, trying to keep his voice low so that they didn't disturb Marc. "But I'm glad you agree."

"I'm glad that our new Luna was able to change his life for the better."

Mercucio said, looking back at Marcus. "I was... worried, for a long time, that he might never find his way out of the darkness. I was worried we might lose him to it."

Yeah, Jaden had felt the same way.

He'd watched Marc closely for months leading up to his fateful meeting with Aria, noticing how his dissociative episodes increased in frequency. Jaden knew that it meant Marc was seeing figments of Helena, hallucinating whole conversations with her when he thought Jaden wouldn't notice.

It seemed that Mercucio had noticed too, although that wasn't saying much. Mercucio was the head of their intelligence and recon squads for a reason. Hell, Jaden was sure that Mercucio knew more about all of them than they would ever know about him.

And it wasn't for a lack of trying.

"Yeah, I was scared of that too,"

Jaden agreed, movement catching his eye and prompting him to turn. From his vantage point, he had a clear line of sight to Jonah's rooms, where he spotted Inara and Aria exiting.

Inara caught sight of Jaden and Mercucio and waved wildly, excitedly pointing towards Aria's stomach, patting it gently. Jaden's brows bunched in confusion, but he saw the way Aria lay both her hands over her lower stomach almost shyly, looking a little uncomfortable and maybe worried, but happy.

"No way."

Mercucio hummed, turning to Jaden curiously. "What was that?"

Jaden laughed, a full-bellied, hearty laugh and nodded at Inara and Aria's small figures below.

"Things are about to get very interesting for our little Alpha," Jaden muttered, shaking his head.

Mercucio squinted down at Inara and Aria, watching Inara pat Aria's stomach yet again, ignoring the flush sitting high on Aria's cheeks. His eyes widened.

"It can't be," he breathed.

"Oh, it definitely is," Jaden said, a laugh bubbling in his chest. "Our new Luna just keeps throwing us curve balls. I'm kind of into it. It's hot."

Mercucio pulled a face and frowned at him, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"You're incorrigible," he scolded. "If Marc hears you say shit like that, I won't stop him from ripping you to ribbons, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah," Jaden teased, shrugging Mercucio's empty threat off easily. "Don't pretend like you aren't thinking the exact same thing, man."

Mercucio scoffed, shoving at Jaden's shoulder.

"You're going to get us both killed someday, I hope you know that," Mercucio chuckled. "And then you'll have no one to blame but yourself when I don't attend your funeral."

"What?" Jaden said, feigning shock. "We're going to have a double funeral, thank you. We'll get one of those big ass caskets that are made for two considering Marc won't be a part of our little pact anymore."

"A double casket?" Mercucio choked. "Are you insane? Where the hell did you even get that idea?"

"I don't know," Jaden defended. "You can't blame me for being proactive. Maybe I researched it."

"That's adorable," Mercucio teased, bent over with a burst of laughter. "Please tell me you didn't search up coffins that could fit three full-sized wolves."

Jaden huffed, feeling his neck warm up. "No, what? I'm not a sap."

"Oh yeah, sure," Mercucio nodded. "And you definitely haven't thought about how exciting it'll be to finally be an uncle in the last few minutes either, have you?"

He had. And of course, Mercucio would know it, there was no point hiding anything from the Delta.

"Come on, Mercucio," he whined, caving immediately. "You can't tell me it wouldn't be the greatest thing ever to have a little pup running around, calling you Uncle Cucio? Moon above, I can't wait to spoil them senseless!"

Mercucio was quiet again, but Jaden knew he was just as excited.

"How do you think he'll take the news?" Mercucio asked, nodding at Marcus, who was still kneeling at the headstone.

"I'm actually not sure," Jaden murmured. "He might be just as excited as us, maybe even more so, because he was 'born' to be a dad. But then... we both know what happened last time. He might be too scared that Aria will follow Helena, and end up the same way she did. I wouldn't blame him; a part of me is scared too."

"Pups are such fragile things," Mercucio muttered. "I watched my mom lose her mind over her failed pregnancies, and my dad could do nothing to console her. I know it's different, but losing a pup takes its toll no matter what."

"It does," Jaden agreed. "And it would destroy Marc. But Aria isn't Helena. She's strong, and so is her wolf. And we'll be better prepared this time around."

Mercucio nodded again, taking a deep breath.

"We will be."

"So let's make sure this lumbering idiot doesn't lose his mind over anything else," Jaden said with a heaved sigh. "And we can be the doting uncles we were always meant to be."