Chapter 18

Octavia:

November ninth.

"Will you just eat the fucking salad?" Cipher growls out pushing the bowl of green lettuce and leafy things over to me. I stare at them dreading how it'll taste without any dressing.

"Give me the ranch and I'll eat it." I growled back and shoved the bowl over to her side of the table. I watch her intently, she was hiding the bottle of ranch dressing behind her back. He was just an innocent hostage waiting to be drizzled all over the leafy greens but unfortunately the taste police wouldn't allow the poor dressing to fulfill its life's purpose.

"No ranch." She responded and pushed the bowl over to me.

"Holy mac n cheese, can you stop sucking the fun out food and let me eat what I want?" I narrow my eyes at her and she rolls her eyes before calling me a drama queen.

Cipher and I decided to forget about the fight we had not too long ago about the mate thing considering that we could all be in grave danger in about a month from now. Ajax had informed all of the important people of the possible threat that is Jalex and planned to tell the rest of the pack soon.

He was debating telling the entire pack in fear that he might worry them for no reason. Ajax said there was no way to be sure that Siren was telling the truth other than my coincidental dreams. I convinced him that making them a little worried was better than leaving them in the dark. It's better to be prepared rather than sorry.

Siren strolled into the room, a sly smile on her face.

"What are you so happy about?" I question. I'll admit  I was growing a bit cranky since Cipher was draining the fun out of eating.

"There are so many hot men in this pack. Samuel and Weston especially." She says leaning up against the counter besides me.

"Ugh." Cipher rolls her eyes.

"What? You don't think they're hot?" Siren asks raising an eyebrow and jutting her hip out the way she normally does when she's channeling her sass.

"I think you're hot." Cipher winks at Siren.

"Barf." I say out loud pretending to vomit over my unappealing salad. There's not even any grilled chicken in it.

"Just eat your damn food." Cipher sighs.

"It looks bland." Siren says glancing over at the bowl. "Why don't you put some ranch on it?"

My eyes brighten up and I put on my fakest smile, just for Cipher. "What an amazing idea. Right Cipher?"

"I give up." She grumbles and places the bottle of ranch on the table and walks away.

I practically throw myself onto the table just to reach for the bottle and begin drizzling the delicious dressing all over my salad.

I finish my bowl of greens while listening to Siren drone on and on about how much she loves boys. Back home she was quite the player. She left all the boys heartbroken and wanting more. She once told me that mating right away is bore and that playing with boys was much more fun. Apparently she still feels that way.

I place my empty bowl into the sink and excuse myself from her presence. I had some Luna duties to attend to.

I make my way over to the pack house, which seemed extremely chaotic at the moment. Men were pacing back at forth with a look of concern and sometimes speaking loudly, while women and mothers tried to calm the crying or upset children.

"Luna, thank goddess you're here." An older woman named Mary says grasping onto my arm lightly.

"What's going on?" I glance around the room once more before my eyes trained back onto her.

"Someone started spreading a rumor that we would soon be under attack by another pack. It's causing mayhem, no one will relax and some are demanding to speak with Alpha Ajax." She says her voice shrilled and laced with concern. I could feel my heart sink, it's not their fault. They have every right to be upset and worried. They have families and children to take care of.

"People, quiet please!" I yell out trying to gain control over the angry crowd. They continued to argue and scream amongst each other. "Quiet!" I yell once more allowing my Alpha tone to peek through.

The crowd silenced and turn to face me. I instantly become nervous with the amount of eyes that were on me. I swallow the lump in my throat and put on my best reassuring smile.

"I know that there have been rumors circulating amongst you about an attack. Alpha Ajax, Beta Samuel and I are doing our best to determine whether or not the threat is real. Once we determine that you will be informed. Until then we are taking extreme measures to keep you safe and doubling territory patrol. You have nothing to be worried about."

"Do you know when they're coming?"

"How do we know they won't be here tomorrow?"

"What about our children?"

"How can you be sure of this?"

"How dare you tell us we have nothing to be worried about?!"

"Yeah!"

I could feel a heavy weight sit on my heart. They were all worried for good reason and there was nothing I could say to make them feel better. The comments suddenly stopped and all the eyes in the room shifted.

"If your Luna tells you that there is nothing to worry about and that you're safe then that means you are safe. You have nothing to worry about. So instead of questioning your Luna, I suggest you take your children to school and go about your normal day. At six am tomorrow there will be a pack training, everyone above the age ten is required to be there with the exception of those who care for the children and those who are too elderly to fight."

Ajax's voice was strong and bit cold. I turn to face him. His face was hard and he looked over the crowd that was assembled in front of us. The way they all hung onto his every last word was captivating.

"Now." He says and people immediately started shuffling about and grabbing their children before exiting the pack house.

"Thank you." I say moving to stand in front of Ajax. "I was starting to think that they were gunna eat me alive." I joke.

"Don't thank me, you did well. They're just scared." He shrugs and runs his fingers through his hair.

"I—" I begin to speak but I am rudely cut off by a gush of wind and auburn hair.

"Alpha, you were so amazing at calming that crowd. They were practically eating that small girl alive. Poor thing." Diana giggles flirtatiously as she grabs onto Ajax's arm and begins to caress him. I could feel a fire burning in my chest and the urge to pull on her stupid silky hair was growing by the second.

A look of annoyance and slight disgust takes its place on Ajax's face. He pulls his arm away and she pouts slightly.

"Respect your Luna." Was all he said before taking a step back. Wait? That's it? That's all he's going to say?

"But baby, she's so—"

"Alright, I've had enough of your bullshit and we've only had two encounters so that says a lot." I spit out in rage as I move to stand in front of her. "I am an Alpha and your Luna. If you disrespect me in any way again there will be consequences."

Her face immediately grows stern and she crosses her arms, pushing her breast up. She looks behind me at my mate expecting him to intervene, but I snap my fingers in front of her face grabbing her attention.

"Just to make myself perfectly clear, throwing yourself at my mate is disrespectful. Now get out."

She scoffs and turns around without another word or glance. She storms up the stairs and the few who lingered to watch dispersed.

I turn and walk out of the pack house quickly avoiding Ajax. I could feel his eyes on my back as he followed me back to the mansion. Thankfully he kept quiet. I was in absolutely no mood to speak to him after he let his whore run around trying to belittle me. Goddess knows what she says about me when neither of us are around.

"Octavia." His voice is sultry and deep. It stops my hand from landing upon the doorknob. The guards were on their break and another pair were probably on their way to take over.

"What?" I snap, spinning around to come face to face with him. More like face to chest. I hadn't even realized how close he was. I take a step back and look up at him. His eyes were a deep blue and filled with so much emotion, it shocked me.

But what he did next was even more shocking.

He kissed me.

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