HSDWM, a fanfiction

Chapter 20

We all looked at Markus with varying degrees of confusion and surprise, and Alpha Xavier set the pitcher down a little harder than necessary.

"Oh, don't act so shocked," he reached out to begin handing out the glasses of tea. "You don't get to be my age without learning a thing or two. So come on, who's her mate?"

"I am," Alpha Xavier answered as he sat beside me.

"I'm her second chance," Raven said.

"Oh, I see." Markus nodded. "And who is this lovely young lady?" He nodded at Jenna, who was idly stroking a lock of hair.

"I'm Jenna."

"My mate," Raven said.

"And my second chance," Alpha Xavier said, his eyes cast downward.

"Well, then. Anyone care to tell me how miss Ash lost her wolf?"

I nearly swallowed my sip of tea down my wind pipe and set my glass down as I hit my chest with my fist and coughed.

Raven was looking at me sadly and Jenna was glaring at me.

Alpha Xavier's eyes widened and he slowly turned his head to look at me. "You lost your wolf? When?"

I couldn't bring myself to look at anyone, so I looked at my hands in my lap. "I stopped being able to feel her right after my birthday."

"Right after..."

I could feel Alpha Xavier's eyes trail down to my neck where his mark remained.

"Right after my wolf marked you," he finished with a whisper. "That was months ago. Oh, Ash."

I felt a tear trail down my cheek and quickly wiped it away.

"Your wolf marked her," Markus said. "Now, why would your wolf mark her and not you? And why isn't miss Jenna marked by you, Raven?"

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the porch. Markus shifted his gaze onto each of his visitors with the relaxed patience of one who already knew the answers to his questions and had all the time in the world.

"Jenna and I were planning to mark each other," Alpha Xavier broke the silence.

"Well, that'll do it," Markus took a sip of his tea. "Some wolves can bypass the primary bond, especially if presented with the secondary bond before or around the same time, but not the hybrid line. No matter what the human desires the hybrid wolf insists on the primary mate. That's why your wolf acted as he did. But that's only part of the story that led you here. Please continue."

"After my wolf marked Ash, we decided to try to bond with our true mates, so Ash moved back in with me and Jenna moved in with Raven."

"Ash moved back in with you? So where had she been living up to that point? And where was Jenna living before she moved in with Raven?"

"I was living with my mom until we learned Alpha Xavier and I were mates. He made me move in with him even though he and Jenna were dating and learned they were second chance mates. Then when Raven and Jenna learned they were mates Alpha Xavier and Jenna made up a story that involved rogues somehow, and said I had to live with Raven and she moved in with Alpha Xavier, and that's when we learned Raven and I are second chance mates."

It was like peeling off a bandaid quickly. It still hurt with a vengeance, but the pain didn't linger.

Markus blinked at me then burst out laughing. "Well, that sheds quite a light on the whole matter. So tell me, miss Ash, how long were you living at Raven's house?"

I glanced at Raven. "About six months."

"And you've been living with Xavier for how long?"

"Two, almost three months."

"I see, and in the time you were living with either male did you and he have sexual relations?"

My eyes popped wide open. "NO! Goddess no. I haven't had sex with any-"

Jenna scoffed and flipped her hair behind her shoulder, muttering, "Who'd want to?"

Alpha Xavier looked down and Raven grumbled nervously. I felt the blood rush to my face.

"Mhmm, and do you know if either of them has been having sex with miss Jenna while she was living with them?"

I immediately looked down at my hands again, but I nodded.

"And you've felt it," Markus assessed, "which means miss Jenna and Xavier were sexually active and judging by the looks on both of these boys' faces I'd say she's currently sexually active with Raven now she's living with him."

Xavier coolly studied Jenna and Raven. Raven appeared bashful while Jenna was defiant.

Jenna leaned forward and spat out, "I felt him," she gestured toward Raven, "touching other girls, touching her!" Jenna pointed at me, "while I was living with Xave! How was I supposed to know it wasn't sex? Why wouldn't I seek the comfort of my chosen mates?"

My eyes widened and I looked up at Raven, who was actively avoiding my gaze. I knew he'd joked about it, but I thought that's all it was, just him joking. I wondered what else he'd been confessing to under the guise of joking.

Markus crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in his chair, propping his head up with his fingers. "I know you know Xavier would have felt it if she were. Now why would you be having sex with your mate but not let him mark you, miss Jenna?"

"Ask him! He imprinted on her and doesn't want me any more! He even says her name in his sleep," she sneered.

"Ah," Markus nodded sagely.

Jenna stood and snarled, "I deserve to be Xavier's mate! I've put in the time! I love him and he loves me. I deserve his mark, not her! He'll never want her! He hates her! He wants me! Let Raven have Ash. He imprinted on her, he can have her!"

Markus calmly stated, "She's already marked."

"Undo the mark! Then Raven can mark her and Xavier will be free to mark me like we'd planned," Jenna demanded.

"Undoing a mark without killing the one marked is quite a bit more complicated than reversing an imprint, and even if we did manage to remove it, the hybrid wolf won't allow Xavier to choose a mate other than his primary unless his primary dies. No one can do anything about that," Markus turned to address Xavier, "now son, the sooner you accept miss Ash the sooner she can get her wolf back and the happier both your wolves will be." He turned back to Raven and Jenna, "An imprint can be reversed-"

The world suddenly turned upside down as everything happened all at once.

Jenna growled and lunged for me with her claws out and murder in her blackened eyes.

Raven leaped out of his seat to stop her, his leg knocking against the table in front of him as he caught her by the shoulders, causing the tray and pitcher toppling to the porch floor and cracking.

At the same time, Alpha Xavier pushed me backwards on the love seat as he stood and stepped over my legs to catch her by her wrists, and he and Raven wrestled her off the porch.

I rolled off the loveseat and scrambled to my feet to stand behind Markus, who calmly watched the entire thing unfold.