Dang I didn't realize there were so many possible ships names for Jaxon and Ash. So I'm gonna call these the final two: Ashon (pronounced Ashen) or Jash? Tbh I like both so you guys need to pick.
Okay this is a really long chapter so it took me a little longer than usual to update (I apologize for that).
And since a lot of you guys have been requesting this forever, I'm going to do Lyza's POV next :)
*********
"Thanks for helping out dad," I say as I step into the kitchen. I pull off my apron and hang it by the door.
My father nods and smiles a little. "Did they like it?"
"They loved it. You should have seen them, they're so cute together," I gush.
He chuckles. "Alpha Dorian is a good guy, he'll make a perfect mate for Taylor."
I bite my cheek when I see his smile falter. His eyes are red and the dark circles under them confirm my thoughts. "Hey dad, why don't you try to get some sleep? I can take care of the pack today," I offer.
"That's very sweet of you Maia but I don't want to give you all that responsibility quite yet."
I shrug. "I'll get Mykael to help me, he enjoys my company anyway."
He snorts. "I'm sure he does. Alright well I guess you couldn't do too much damage in just one day. Thank you," he says, pulling me into a hug.
My stomach twists as I hug him back. His body feels so frail, like if I hug any tighter I might break it. I watch as he trudges down the hall, his shoulders hunched over in exhaustion.
*******
"Are you sure there isn't anything that can help?" I plead.
Mykael sighs, shaking his head. "Lyza has to come back, even if it's just for a few hours. Mates aren't supposed to be away from each other this long. She doesn't realize it though, in fact she hardly feels it at all since she's a dragon."
"Dragons have mates too."
"Yeah but they do a binding ceremony to connect them the way werewolf mates are connected. Your parents couldn't do it because apparently it's excruciatingly painful and wolves can't handle that kind of pain―or at least something to that effect I don't remember the reason exactly," he mumbles.
"Mykael he looks terrible. He hasn't been sleeping and he's going to get sick soon. It's taking longer than last time but I know he's going to get sick again."
"Well what do you want me to do about it?"
"Can you get a quick message to my mom and ask her to come back for a few hours or a day or something?"
"Well Maia you're the fastest runner in the pack but your parents would kill me if I let you go. And our second fastest is pregnant and all the other high ranking warriors are training right now before winter comes. But you can send one of the lower ranking warriors if you'd like," he shrugs.
Why is this so fucking difficult? I growl. "Oh come on there has to be a way other than sending a wolf across the mountains, that'll take weeks. How do you guys send messages when it's an emergency?"
"This isn't an emergency."
"Bullshit," I growl, "your alpha and friend is going to get very sick soon if I don't get a message to my mom, how is that not an emergency?"
He sighs heavily. "Alright fine, but don't you dare tell your dad I told you this. The last thing I need is for him to be pissed at me right now. You know the cabin in the woods where that lady lives? The one the pups are afraid of?"
"Yeah." I've only seen it once but it's a hard place to forget.
"She trains these birds to carry messages, it only takes about two or three days that way," he says.
"Thank you Mykael! I'll be back in a little while," I say, jumping up from the chair and jogging out of the office. Just a few feet outside the house I spot Taylor walking towards me.
"Hey where are you going?" she asks.
"The creepy cabin on the north side of the territory. Wanna come?" I snort.
"Yeah why not? Shawn had to go back to his pack so I've got nothing else to do," she sighs.
She starts walking with me through the forest and I nudge her with my elbow. "So how was your date?"
"It was amazing, thank you for helping out. I really appreciate it," she grins.
"Of course, my dad approves of Alpha Dorian by the way."
She laughs. "Well considering how he raised his sons I'd say that's quite a compliment to Shawn," she comments.
"Yeah," I sigh. "Damn I miss those two," I mutter under my breath.
"When are they supposed to be back?"
I sigh. "I honestly don't know. I hope they come back soon though. It's kinda quiet and lonely around here without them."
"Speaking of quiet and lonely, what the hell are we going to the cabin for?" Tay asks, glancing nervously at the forest. The trees grow denser here and block out the morning light.
"I need to send a message to my mom and tell her to come back. My dad is starting to get sick again. I honestly don't know how he can still function after this long without her, last time he got sick after just a couple of weeks," I murmur.
She hugs me and rubs my arm. "He'll be okay," she says.
After a few minutes the cabin appears. It sits in the very middle of an area we used to call the haunted forest. There were dozens of myths telling what kind of monsters lurked in the shadows at night.
I feel my skin crawl as I walk up the creaking steps and knock on the rotting wooden door. A few minutes pass with no answer. "Maybe the old witch isn't home?" Tay mumbles.
"Damn it," I growl. I knock again, much harder this time.
I hear a latch come undone and the door swings open. My eyes widen at the young woman that appears. "Maia, what can I do for you?"
"Uh, wha―how do you know my name?"
"Who do you think delivered you and your brothers?" She smirks, holding the door open and gesturing for us to enter.
"I thought the pack doctor―" I start but I am cut off by her laugh.
"Niko has plenty of medical training and he is a great pack doctor but he has no clue how to deliver a dragon's offspring. It is a dangerous event for anyone nearby."
"Wait do you deliver the other dragons too then?"
"I travel to the Devil's Circle only to deliver dragon offspring. There are certain tricks that make the mother much more likely to survive. You should thank me, without my help your mother likely would have had many more children to help repopulate. But lucky for you I helped many other dragons survive birth so there are many more dragons now than there were a few decades ago."
"Well how is it my mom survived three kids if it's so dangerous?"
"Her dragon is a spirit and she went through an Awakening, it will take quite a bit to kill her. Though I'm sure you could easily annoy her to death if you really tried," she says as she closes the door behind us and walks into another room.
"I really don't like her," I mutter under my breath to Taylor who chuckles.
"Believe me I am not a big fan of you either Maia," the woman calls from the other room.
I glance at Tay with wide eyes. "What the fuck?" I mouth.
She just shrugs, her eyes as wide as mine.
"Now what do you want? I am sure you did not come here solely for the purpose of disrupting my lovely morning," the woman says, sauntering back into the room carrying a tea tray. She sits down on an old futon, placing the tray on a water-stained table.
I walk over and reluctantly sit down on the floor, grimacing at the animal skin rug beneath me. Taylor sits down next to me. "Uh I wanted to ask if you could send my mother a message?" I ask.
The woman frowns. "Now why would you want to do that?"
"My dad's going to start getting sick again, they've been away from each other for too long but she's a dragon so she won't really realize it until it's too late," I try to explain.
"Aw how sweet of you, looking after your parents like that," she grins.
I glance sideways at Tay. I can't tell if she's being sarcastic or not, I say.
I honestly have no clue either.
"Girls it's rude to converse about someone when you are still in their presence. At least wait until you leave," the woman sighs.
"Okay how the fuck are you doing that?" I growl in both frustration and confusion.
She chuckles. "You have no idea what a mystic is, do you?" she asks, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Uh well I know a little―okay fine, no. I have no idea what a mystic is," I sigh when she starts making faces at me.
"Well we are very intuitive creatures, similar to witches but less skilled in the art of magic. We're very good with animals though," she says before whistling a short tune.
A massive red hawk suddenly flies in through the open window with a harsh screech. It lands on the table in front of us and I jump backwards, my heart pounding.
"There is parchment on the shelf behind you, write your message quickly please, I have things I would like to do today," the woman sighs.
I turn and find a roll of what I'm guessing is parchment. It feels like paper but is much thicker and more stiff. She hands me a pen and I start writing. "Why can't I just use regular paper?" I ask as I write the letter to my mother.
"Paper is easy to tear and burn, parchment survives the journey much better," she explains.
I quickly finish the message and roll it up. She takes it from me and seals it with wax from a candle. "Devil's Circle," she says to the bird. It spreads its wings and leaps off the table, snatching the message out of her hand and gliding out the window.
"There you go, if I get a message back I will have it sent to you. Now please get out of my house so I can get back to writing my book in peace," she tells us.
"Thank you uh―what's your name?" I ask, standing up and pulling Tay to her feet as well.
"Tikana, now are you going to leave or do I need to drag you out the door?" she huffs.
Tay and I hurry outside. The door slams shut behind us and we both burst out laughing. "Okay let's not go in there again, I think she might be a little crazy," Taylor mumbles.
"Yeah that's probably a good idea," I chuckle. I jog down the steps, noticing it is much warmer outside than it was in Tikana's house.
"Did you hear that?" Tay suddenly asks.
"Hear what?" I listen but I hear nothing but birds chirping and the rustle of leaves in the wind.
"I don't know what it is," she mutters.
A faint cry meets my ears, shrill and short. "Okay I heard that. I bet it's a bunch of kids screwing around trying to scare each other," I snort.
"We should go check just in case, it sounds like it's coming from over there," she says, pointing into the trees.
I sigh. "Alright fine."
I follow her through the trees, my concern growing as the sound starts to resemble a person's voice. After a few minutes I can hear shouting too. Then laughter fills my ears and I grit my teeth. "Damn it, I bet it's that fucker Peter terrorizing some of the younger pups, he's such an asshole," I growl.
"Maia I really don't want to get in a fight with him again, let's just go tell Mykael or someone and they'll take care of it," Taylor pleads, grabbing my arm and making me stop.
"Tay you can go if you want to but I've had it with this dick," I spit when I hear a couple of kids squealing. It couldn't have been more than a few meters away. I storm into the clearing with a growl, Taylor chasing after me.
I see Peter with two of his friends laughing at a group of young boys who can't be older than 14. The boys look scared shitless―a few of them have bleeding cuts on their faces and arms.
"Peter that's enough!" I growl.
He shakes his head with a low chuckle. "Hey boys can you go take care of this alpha bitch?" he asks his two friends as he turns back to the boys.
"Maia let's just go!" Taylor hisses, tugging on my arm.
"Go get Logan," I tell her as the two guys start stalking towards me.
"What? No! I'm not gonna leave you here!"
"Tay I'll be fine I can deal with these shits, now go get Logan so he can put them in the pack prison and terminate their training, these cowards don't deserve to be warriors," I growl.
She nods and takes off running between the trees.
I don't remember either of Peter's friends' names but they're even bigger assholes than he is. They stalk towards me with nasty smirks on their face and it just makes me roll my eyes.
"Stand down boys, it's too early in the morning for me to kick your asses," I snort.
They laugh. "You really think you're gonna win this fight Miss-I'd-rather-get-a-manicure-than-do-warrior-training?" one scoffs.
"Oh you know what? You're right," I sigh. "I went to the spa yesterday and you two shits aren't worth a broken nail."
They look at each other, completely confused for a moment. Then they look back at me. "So run along to your alpha then, go tell on us to daddy," one sneers.
I smirk. "You know there's one thing you guys are forgetting, I'm an alpha too bitch," I growl in Lilith's voice. "Now sit your asses down and shut up."
I watch with amusement as they plop down on the grass, eyes wide with confusion that quickly turns to rage. "Good puppies," I sneer, stepping around them.
My jaw drops in horror when I see Peter throw a knife at one of the boys. It skims across his cheek, cutting open the skin before burying itself in a tree.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I yell.
"Teaching these little boys how to be brave," he snorts, throwing another one.
"You're using them for target practice!"
He chuckles. "Maia do you actually care about these pathetic shits or are you just trying to pick a fight again so you can prove to the world that even pretentious little princesses can learn to defend themselves?"
A low growl escapes my mouth and I storm over, shoving his shoulders hard. "You motherfucker! Of course I care! You touch these boys or anyone ever again and I'm going to tear you to shreds you piece of shit!" I snarl, looming over him.
He stares up at me with shock in his eyes and something else. That's when it hits me. The word Lilith keeps saying over and over again in my head. Mate.
"Oh fuck no," I stammer, my hands starting to shake.
His lips curl into a smirk and he slowly picks himself up. "Well would you look at that. Hey boys, guess who's going to be the next werewolf king?" he growls, stalking closer as I stumble back.
"That's never going to happen Peter," I snap. Oh gods this is my worst nightmare.
"Oh really?"
"Yeah because I reject you as my mate," I spit. "You are a worthless piece of garbage that deserves to rot in hell. The last thing you will ever be is an alpha!"
His face falls and his eyes swirl black with a raging fury. "How dare you reject me?" He growls and all I see is a flash of silver before white hot pain blinds me.
I collapse onto the ground, gasping for air that doesn't come. Agony pulses through my body and a stinging pain sears through my neck and into my skull.
Then it all goes cold.