Chapter 14

Four years later

Axel

"Happy anniversary, baby." I whispered, kissing my wife awake as my lips travelled along her throat. I took in a deep breath, letting all my senses fill with her scent. Lycaon, she smelled divine. Spencer curled her arms around my neck and pulled me flush against her.

It has been four years of utter bliss and I was so ready to start a family with her after we found out the truth. Like I thought, she was an amazing Luna and our people loved her. For every challenge or task, she handled it with grace. Idris was my Beta, but it was like he shifted his duty to her. But I didn't mind at all. As long as she was safe and happy, I was. A few months after we banished Marianne and Eveline, they crossed the seas and hadn't stepped back on US grounds since.

My finger brushed against the opal necklace on her neck. Idris, Spence and I asked subtly around about Eveline and my mother, not wanting my father to know. Not unless we knew for sure. I didn't want him to have his heart broken once again. We found out that Eveline was indeed jealous of my mother. For the fact she was loved by all, even before she became Luna. Jealous about her looks, and her popularity. It got worse when my father recognised my mother as his Mate. If you would count her jealousy and her crazy want for my father and power into consideration with the fact that my mother died unexpectedly, we knew something must have happened. But we couldn't find any more information on how or what happened. I never wanted to see Eveline again, but my insides gnawed at me, at it will probably keep gnawing at me until I found out the truth.

Spence cupped my cheek. "We will find out the truth, Ax. I promise." She said as if she could read my mind. "And I don't mind waiting."

I arched a brow, not quite following. She reached up and kissed me softly.

"I know you want to find out the truth about your mother first. Before – before we start a family."

I never voiced those words out loud but still, she knew. I kissed her, more deeply this time. "You know me too well," I whispered against her lips. "I just don't think I can be the father I want to be right now. One day maybe." Her eyes shifted away at the last word but said.

"I should hope so." She chuckled. "I am your wife."

I grinned. "I can't get enough of hearing that." And I truly couldn't. Even after four years, it still amazes me that she agreed to marry me. That I could wake up next to her every day. That I can claim her any moment of the day. We were as insatiable as the moment we Marked each other. It hadn't wavered a bit. "When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow." She answered. I let my head fall in the crook of her shoulder and groaned. She was going to London for a week to meet up with her old friends. She hasn't been there since after our wedding. And due to the surprise of my father, I got to join her back then. We made a honeymoon out of it. Now, she was going with Idris and Deacon. I wish I could join but lately, there had been tension between some of the nearby packs. And it would be foolish of me to leave right now. Her hand went through my hair. "Only five days. I'll be back before you know it."

"I'm going to be a mean grump for five days," I muttered. She laughed. "It's going to be the longest time we've been apart in four years."

"Are you going to miss me, my Alpha?"

"With everything in me, my Luna." I said as I started trailing kisses down her bare stomach. Ever since we Marked each other, we slept together every night and completely naked. Which makes the next part easier as I spread her legs and buried my head between them.

"Come in." I grunted, already grumpy and Spencer only left last night.

David walked in, one of the older wolves in our pack. My grumpiness changed into curiosity at the sight of him. He was not one to come knock on my door easily. I stood up and gestured to the chair in front of my desk.

"Please, sit down, David."

"Thank you, Alpha." He bowed a little before sitting down. "How are you fairing with our Luna away?"

"You know me." I said with a grin. "I'm hopeless without her." The older wolf chuckled. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about your mother." I stilled as I looked at him. "I know you had been asking questions a few years ago. Regarding her relationship with her." A look of disgust filled his face. Their names still weren't spoken out loud in the pack. "I only come to you now because I discovered something. It took me a while because I needed to reach out to old contacts of mine in other packs."

"What have you found out?" I said as collected as possible. As Alpha, I couldn't just lose it, not even regarding my mother's possible murder.

"My contacts found out who the man was that helped with the Belladonna. And found out he was an old lover of hers. They were in contact for about a year around your mother's death. Eight months before and four months after. That stopped until she planned everything with her niece."

"I want that man bound and brought to me."

"I have his name." He continued. "But whoever you send after him, you should tread carefully. The man is a master at poisons. Apparently, he has one that could kill you from the moment it touches your skin. It wouldn't be wise to go unprepared."

"We won't be," I said. "I will wait until Spencer and Idris are back, so we can form a safe plan." I leaned forward, extending my hand. "Thank you, David. Truly, this means a lot."

"It was my pleasure. Your mother was always very kind to me. She always visited me after my Mate died."

I didn't know that. But I hid the surprise from my face and offered him a smile. David stood up and shook my hand. When the door closed behind him, I opened my hand to see a small piece of paper. Only a name was written on it. Steven Pan.

Spencer

Something was different when Idris and I walked back into the house. We left London a day earlier due to a storm that was coming in and planes wouldn't be leaving the ground for two days.

"Alpha?" Idris called out, confused by the air too.

Axel? I asked through the mind link. Kai was nervously pacing inside my head. Where are you, love?

You're back? I swear I could hear Astrix howl inside his head. Did you miss me that much?

With everything in me.

A chuckle echoed through my head. I'm in the library.

"He's up in the library," I said to Idris. He nodded and followed behind me up the stairs. Normally, he wouldn't stay. Knowing we would jump each other's bones the moment we saw each other. But the air in the house was charged, something was off. He couldn't know, could he? I only found out the day before yesterday. I bit my lip nervously as I climbed the stairs.

The door of the library was open, and Axel was seated on the floor, open books sprawled around him.

"What's all this?" I asked.

He looked up and stared at me. A chill shot through me, not heated like I usually got from him. Then he was up and in front of me and kissed me deeply. I could feel something course through him, fear and anger. What if he knew...

"I know who the man was that helped them with the Belladonna." He said and started telling me and Idris what David had informed him. "I've been researching poisons and cures for them. We can't go there charging in."

"I never knew you could say something that smart," Idris said, crouching as he picked up a book.

Axel narrowed his eyes and threw another book at his Beta, who ducked it with a laugh. The three of us sat down on the ground. Axel wrapped an arm around me and tugged me close.

"I've found poison-resistant salves for the common ones we could use. But for the others..." He bit his bottom lip.

"Hey," I intertwined our fingers together. "We're in this together alright. You don't have to do this alone."

"She's right, you know." Idris chimed in.

"I know." A smile tugged on the corners of his mouth. "When isn't she?"

Both wolves chuckled and picked up a book. We sat in the library for hours. Going over every book we had on poisons. I tried an online search of the man, but nothing could be found. Then I searched the web for poisons we hadn't discovered in the books and wrote them down.

"How many men should I gather?" Idris asked when the sun was almost gone, dropping a book on the floor.

"We don't want to drag attention. Four or five should be enough. You and me, and three others."

"You can't go." Idris said. "You're the Alpha. What if something happens?"

"You have your Luna to lead you."

My head snapped to him. To my Mate and husband. I glared at him. "If you think for one second, I'm going to let go there without me, you are sorely mistaken."

"You're the Luna -"

"And you're the Alpha." I countered. "I rather die with you than live without you. I will not lose you again." I kissed him firmly, shutting down his objections. "Besides I'm faster than either of you."

"She's right, you know," Idris repeated. But when I looked at him, he didn't look convinced to let me come either. "I rather neither of you came, but I know I won't be able to stop him." He nudged his head to the Alpha. "And if he goes, you go."

"Alright, now that that's settled," I said, picking up another book.

"Nothing is settled. You are not going." Axel gritted his teeth.

I jumped up and stepped away from him. "Excuse me?" I shouted. "I've been with you through it all, searching and helping to try to find out the truth. And now that we are close you want me to sit at home while you go hunt the man that is possibly responsible for your mother's death?!"

"I can't risk losing you."

"And I can't lose you. Our best chance is to be together. Together we are at our strongest."

"No, you'll distract me." He said standing up, he took a step closer. "I would worry too much about you."

"I can take care of myself!" Anger was coursing through me. I never had been so angry in my life. Never at him.

"I am your Alpha! And you will obey my order!"

Scratch that, I never felt so angry as I did after that sentence. Not only anger but disappointment and hurt. Idris knew he had fucked up because he shook his head at his Alpha.

"Obey your order?" I chuckled dryly, ice filling my voice. "So, all that talk about us being equals was a downright lie? You see me just as another subject of yours?" I was screaming at him. And I knew when those words registered with him. His eyes widened. "Go fuck yourself, -" I bowed mockingly. "My Alpha." I turned into Kai and leapt out of the room, out of the house and out of the closed-off community. I knew they never would be able to catch me, but I kept running and running. And I knew exactly where I was running to.

Axel

"Oh, you messed up." Idris said, wiping his hands on his pants as he stood up. Disappointment laced his voice.

"Believe me, I know." I ran a hand through my hair. Fuck! "She has never yelled at me like that."

"You never said something so stupid like that to her." Again, he was right.

I glanced out the window, towards the forest behind the house. Guilt coursed through me so violently that it made me tremble. Astrix was growling in anger at me before he retreated in my mind, refusing to speak to me.

"I'll let her cool off for a few hours. After she runs off her anger and frustration towards me, she'll come home, and I can talk to her."

Idris frowned. "Maybe I should stay, be the referee when she gets back. To make sure you don't say anything stupid and make it worse."

I dropped on the settee as I twirled the wedding band around my finger. "It's the first time we've fought. In four years of marriage."

"It's the first real fight you had since you were kids," Idris said, sitting on the armchair across from me. "The way you two know each other, complement each other, is something I haven't seen before. You never fought because you always were on the same lines. Even without speaking, you were one. And that was all before the mating bond. Looking back, it's stupid none of us realized it. I mean we had an inkling around the time we were seventeen, but we should have known well before then." He sighed. I looked at him, he had never talked about this. "I feel like part of it was my fault. The moment I saw how unhappy you were, what kind of person she was, I should have known. I should have pushed you to call Spencer. I should have gagged and bound you and put you on the first plane to London. But I didn't." His brows pulled together. "Part of it was the fact that I was still mad at you. You are my Alpha, my best friend, Axel. But I never truly forgave you for what you did. For how you handled the situation with her. Part of it was because I didn't want Spencer to get hurt again." His eyes flicked up to me. "By you."

I let out a shuddering breath. Because it hurt what he said. Not because of his words, but because of the truth that lay in it. I rubbed my hand over my face, my heart constricted. "Why do I keep fucking things up?" I groaned.

"Because you are an idiot." He simply stated.

I pursed my lips at him. "I can lock you up for that, you know."

He grinned. "I know, but someone has to tell you the truth."

I barked out a short laugh, but my eyes drifted back to the window. Astrix howled in the back of my mind. In pain of missing her. Idris took out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses from the liquor cabinet and poured us some. We sat in silence for a while. Not speaking of Spencer or Steven Pan, or my mother.

After two hours, Astrix started pacing in my head. Too long. She had been gone for too long.

I looked out the window, the moon high, casting our village in a soft glow. "How long has she gone?"

Idris looked at his watch and suddenly he looked nervous. "Over two hours."

"That's long, even for her." I stood up and started pacing.

"I'll go look for her. She might not be ready to talk to you just yet." Idris stood up swiftly. I hated that he was right. That my own wife was so angry she didn't want to talk to me. It broke something in me. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. He turned into Malakai in front of me, he looked over his shoulder at me once before he darted out of the room. A few seconds later, I saw him in the garden as he ran into the forest.

I walked downstairs not knowing what to do with myself. Once in the living room, I started pacing.

"What's wrong?"

I turned to see my brother there. He looked worried.

"Spence and I had a fight. She left to cool off."

Benjamin scowled. "You never fight."

"I've fucked up." I said, running a hand through my hair and paced again. "Idris is out to bring her back."

"Bring her back? How long has she been gone?"

"Over two hours."

He pressed his lips in a thin line but didn't say anything. He walked to the kitchen without another word. A few minutes later, he came back with two plates of spaghetti and meatballs. "Sit, you need to eat." He pushed me down on the couch and sat down next to me.

It was hard with my stomach in knots, but I ate. We ate in silence for a while, then he asked. "What was the fight about?"

"It was just me being a dumb, arrogant asshole."

"Well yeah, I figured as much." He joked. I let out a soft chuckle, nudging his shoulder. "But really..."

"I-"

The door burst open, and Malakai ran in. He changed in seconds and the look on Idris's face said enough. "It can't find her." He said between deep breaths. "I searched everywhere. Axel, her scent... it went out of the community. She's gone."