The Beast Code: Be Still My Beastly Heart

Chapter 15: I Need A Damn Tracker

Song: Howling By Nathan Ball

"Well, I think I've rested enough for today. I should probably head back home just to get a fresh change of clothing." I muttered to myself as I finished eating breakfast. Zachariah had to go back to do his duties as an alpha and a business man, which meant I had to find someone to escort me back home. Great. 

I threw all of my things in my gym bag and opened the door, only to drop it. I was face to with the ballsy idiot who woke me up the other day. 

"Jaxon." I grit out and I could feel my eyes narrow in a death glare. Blondie immediately backed up and surrendered. 

"Whoa, hold up. I come in peace!"

"Nothing about you is peaceful." I shot out. 

"Got me there but seriously, I'm here to escort you to wherever you need to go. Alpha's orders." I looked him over a few times for I nodded. He slowly put his hands down.

"Okay, so let's try this again. Hi, I'm Jaxon."

"I know. I make it my business to learn the names of the people I want on my kill list."

"You're joking right?"

I shrugged. "You know how I'm trained right?" his face paled. Zach had mentioned to me that once I had gone missing that he and Sean had prepped whoever was looking for me with whatever training I had so that if they had to improvise something on the rescue mission they knew what I could and could not handle. I didn't see Jaxon but he was involved.

"Yeah..."

"Don't irritate me like last time and we'll be good." I was serious about that.

"Thing is...I'm known to be quite irritating." he said cautiously and I kept my face straight. My teeth ground though. 

"All mosquitoes get killed eventually. Just don't annoy me too much." I had no choice since he was ordered.

"I can do that."

"Good. Then I'm Ara." I said and held out my hand. Smiling he shook it and came to stand at my side. 

"Hi, Ara. Where would you like to go?"

"I'd like to go back home. You know where Nicholas lives, right?"

"Yup. Sure do. Hop in." He pointed to a car in the driveway and I grabbed by bag and proceeded. 

On the way to my house I decided to get to know Jaxon a bit. 

"So what exactly do you do here?"

He flashed me a smile. "I'm the Beta of the pack."

My jaw dropped. "You're joking right? Tell me you're joking." when he didn't answer I turned in my seat to face him more. "You?" my brain couldn't compute with that fact.

Jaxon laughed at my dumbfounded look. "Look, okay, I know I come across as some irritating moron who probably doesn't offer much to the pack but that's because I need to be approachable to the younger pack members. Zachariah isn't exactly one to look friendly when he's in alpha mode."

I snorted. "Really?"

"Yip," he nodded, "he has to be. As an alpha he has a lot of responsibilities and to handle them you have to act  a certain way.  When he took over at eighteen the pack was a strong pack but we were still being targeted. Knowing his role as alpha he began earning his reputation as someone not to mess with. Unfortunately, it involved a lot of the darker things of life. It had an effect on him and he went into a dark place and stayed there. Now at 26 he's gotten better at communicating with his pack but he doesn't get attached. We all know that he's remaining strong for us and we respect him for it but he needs to connect with them. The people want to be able to form a connection with their alpha. It's just the way it should be."

"And that's when you stepped in."

"Exactly. I wasn't always the joker but a lot of the things I do is to buffer the bluntness of his words and actions.  That's why when I had a chance to meet you I took it. Sorry for the way it happened though." he winced.

I chuckled softly. "Sorry I attacked you."

He laughed. "Don't sweat it. I deserved that. But I knew my hunch about you was right."

"What do you mean?"

"You and  Zach are a lot alike. You've both had life hit you with the 'I'm gonna screw your life up' stick a bunch of times and so you guys have darker sides to you. But I saw the way he was when you were kidnapped. It was even more scary than him in his darkest of times. The pack saw it too. That's why when you were rescued all the wolves were there to protect you."

"Isn't that what wolves do for their luna?"

"Not the way it happened for you. Usually as soon as the alpha's mate is secured everyone scatters. But as soon as you were safe every wolf who could stuck around just to see how you affected Zach. To say we were shocked to see he had a soft side is an understatement. But it's because you brought that side out of the alpha that the pack is already excited to officially meet you."

I swallowed. I didn't know that I had such an effect on Zach. The memory of the guys who hijacked my car flashed. They were deathly afraid of him. And so was I when I met him. I remember the presence he exuded before my hormones kicked in. I remember thinking that he was not someone that people wanted to mess with. 

"I never knew..." 

"Well, of course not. You're new to the pack and you're his mate. The last thing he wanted was for you to completely reject him. He was protecting you."

"But I'm going to have to see it at some point, aren't I? I mean as Luna I'm expected to perform duties with him."

Jaxon nodded. "True but we are hoping that you would be his better half. Someone who balances him. Aaand maybe mellow him out a bit."

We laughed.

"Well, I'll see what I can do."

"Piece of advice, Ara?" he asked and I nodded for him to continue. "When the darker side of him comes out, and it will, don't reject him. No matter how scary it may be. Because you know deep down that in the end he would never do anything to hurt you if he had the choice. He would rather die."

The seriousness in his tone made me stop and think about it.

"I never could. If Zachariah could be there to help me clear out some of the negativity and darkness that has been with me for a long time; I could never and will never abandon him." and I knew deep within my soul that what I had said was true. 

"Good. Now, onto lighter topics. Did you know that Zach has a thing for black lace?"

My eyes widened. "Oh my word, Jaxon, NO!"

Soon we arrived at my house and we were crying with laughter. Jaxon had been entertaining me with stories from his childhood. A few of them were just about him but a lot were about how he gave Zachariah a run for his money. 

"You are... I have no words."

"Wow, finally!" I smacked his arm and got out of the car. 

"Hey! That hurt!"

"I know. It's called a smack, you dumb ass."

I laughed as I walked up the steps. I had just unlocked the door when Jaxon shouted, "Ara, run!" dropping my bag I began to spin around but arms locked onto me. Before I could attack to get free the familiar smell of chlorophyll jammed my senses and my vision went black.

"She's out! Drop the guard and let's get the hell out of here before they pick up our scents."

"I really need to get a tracker." was my last thought before darkness consumed me.