As the Elders chatted away in the kitchen, Xael suddenly froze while at the sink. She had picked up on her Mate starting to panic. Linking her pups, they let her know that the wild ones were there. Not only the wild ones, but one large, menacing Alpha in particular.
"Shit!" Before anyone could notice, Xael was quickly marching towards the front door.
"Pup?" Her grams became concerned.
"Stay here!" Xael was out the door and running down the road towards the guys. She knew they weren't in any real danger, but if one of the other Wolfen were to shift, they might see it as an act of aggression. Plus there were the humans to consider. Skylar and Houser rushed outside to see if they could detect anything but picked up nothing.
Xael reached them in minutes as she ran down the dirt road. Seeing that none of the Wolfen had shifted, she relaxed but only for a little bit. "Guys, don't move." All the men turned their attention to her. Shado suddenly yelled at her.
"Xael, behind you!" She turned around to see the large pack Alpha coming towards her. Shado went to run to her but Max and Parker stopped him. Xael sensed her Mate again.
"It's okay! Stay there." The large Alpha stood next to her. Looking up at her it growled, but she simply smiled at him. Suddenly Xael and the monster sized Alpha were walking towards them. The two were joined by four more enormous sized wolves that took up positions behind them. The guys had been so focused on Xael and the Alpha that they hadn't noticed that more wolves had surrounded them from behind. The group was now completely encircled by wild wolves.
"Holy merciful shit..." Ted and James were both dumbstruck that the beautiful woman from earlier wasn't afraid of the wolves at all.
The other wolves, including Xael's pups all sat at attention, moving out of the way for the two of them to approach the guys. But Xael stopped, standing in the circle with the other wolves. The four large ones stood, it was as if they were guarding the group from intruders. She looked down at the Alpha as if the two were communicating. Xael nodded slightly and smiled again as she proceeded towards the men.
"It's okay guys. Just don't move. Adam?" She walked up to him and took his hand, leading him towards the large and intimidating group of wolves. He stopped, not sure it was a good idea.
"It's okay, they won't hurt you. Trust me, please." She gave him a smile to reassure him. Walking through the opening in the circle, Xael and Shado stood in front of the Alpha. He walked up to Shado and reared up on his hind legs, his fore paws landed hard on Shado's shoulders as the wolf stared him in the eyes. None of the Wolfen had seen wolves this big, they were supernatural in size.
Shado wasn't about to move as he was too terrified. Even though they were Wolfen Alphas, the wild wolves, particularly the pack Alpha, were very intimidating. The large Alpha threw his head back and let out a loud and commanding howl. The vibrations went down not only Shado's spine but the others as well.
The pack Alpha howled again. His howl carried through the entire forest. Those at the house even heard it. It sent shivers through all of them.
The Alpha got down and slowly walked behind Shado, it glanced briefly at the men behind him. Gunner and Moose moved and stood with the men. Moose leaned on Eli, almost pushing him over. With the large Alpha behind him, Shado felt himself being shoved over to Xael. The Alpha pushed him again towards her, causing him to bump into her.
She was trying not to laugh so she lowered her head. Shado was now next to her. The Alpha howled, this time all the others joined in, filling the forest with a wonderful and thunderous sound. Even Gunner and Moose joined the chorus, startling the humans and Alphas.
"Xael?" Shado whispered her name. She looked at him and smiled, bringing her finger to her lips to silence him.
Once the echoes of the howling had stopped. The wolves took off into the woods, but not before the Alpha looked at the Xael and Shado next to each other. His eyes flashed gold as it turned and walked off, disappearing into the woods. Her pups groaned loudly, upset that they couldn't follow the others.
She looked back to her Mate. Her eyes were filled with tears, but what he didn't know is that they were tears of happiness. "We should go."
Her pups were quickly by her side as she turned to head towards the house. The men behind her couldn't help but stay frozen to their spots. Not hearing footsteps behind her, she turned around.
"Now! Before they come back!" The men snapped out of it and rushed to follow. Xael reached for Shado's hand causing him to jump.
"Sorry, I'll explain things later." She squeezed his hand, Shado looked at her and gave a weak smile. He was still really shaken by everything that had just happened. Halfway to the house, 2 more wild wolves came running out of the woods. Xael stopped which caused the others to stop. The wild ones stood in front of her as her pups looked back at her, it was if they were asking permission to go with them. Xael smiled. "Go on!" The pups and wolves trotted off up ahead playing around as they headed back to the house.
Xael began walking again with the others right behind her. Ted was not the one to hold back so he had to ask the questions that was burning his tongue to be spoken. "Seriously? You just let your dogs play with wild wolves?"
"My pups aren't dogs, they play together all the time." Xael looked over to her Mate, he still wasn't talking. She thought of linking him for the first time but quickly cancelled that thought. It might be too much for the already stressed out Deputy.
Skylar and Houser grew worried and impatient waiting and headed down the road to see what was going on, especially after hearing all the howling. Before they met up with the others, they saw the two wild wolves with Xael's pups, both older Alphas immediately stopped.
Xael sensed them and let out a loud and sharp whistle, the wolves and her pups took off into the woods. The Alpha's looked at each but continued down the road once the way was clear.
"What the hell is going on out here? We heard all the howling!" Skylar was not happy and worried that someone had gotten hurt.
"Uhh...They ran into the wolves. No one got hurt." Xael tried to calm the situation and the other's nerves.
"Ran into? I thought we were gonners! I've never seen wolves that big!" Ted the human couldn't contain himself.
Xael shook her head. "They got really close to them."
"Close?! One of them jumped on Shado!" Xael couldn't hide the guilty look on her face as she looked away from the Elders. She knew she was in for a serious interrogation. Nearing the house, everyone had remained silent.
Skylar and Houser directed everyone inside as breakfast was ready. Xael, still holding Shado's hand, went towards the bedroom, shutting the door behind them.
"Are you okay Adam?" Xael had her hands on his waist as she stood in front of him, his shoulders relaxed. Shado brought their foreheads together.
"What the fuck was all that...and don't you dare tell me nothing."
After a few minutes, Xael raised her head to look at him. "That was my grandfather. He... he just gave us his blessing, and approves of you as my Mate."
"WHAT!?!" Xael jumped a little at her Mate's unexpected outburst. She knew the entire house heard him and that she was in deep shit with her Alpha.
"That pack Alpha is my dad's real dad. He must have seen us together at some point. He approves of you Adam."
"Oh really?! And how the hell do you know that?"
"Because you're still alive!" It was her turn to yell at him.
Adam let out a deep sigh and finally relaxed. His arms found their way around Xael's waist as he pulled her closer, wrapping her in a hug. "We so need to talk."
"I know, we will. After lodge."
"Deal." Shado brought her in for a long but tender kiss. As he pulled away, he had to chuckle and shake his head. "You, my beautiful Omega, are something else." He gave her another quick kiss. "Let's go eat."
"Mn."
Shado headed to the kitchen, Xael had to use the restroom and would join him in a few minutes.
Ms. Emma had the table ready with delicious steaming food in the middle. As Shado sat down, all eyes were on him.
"What?" Shado tried to get the attention off of him.
Skylar looked at him. "So what happened out there guys?"
Before anyone's brain could even formulate a syllable, Ted was already rattling off the events of the morning. The Elders looked on in disbelief.
"And then, she just pet's the monster wolf like it's her pet!"
Chris, Eli, Max and Parker were getting uncomfortable for some reason. Shado was just getting irritated.
"Calm down Ted." Shado tried to hide the irritation in his voice.
The Elders didn't say anything, especially Houser.
"The wolves picked up the human's scent and cornered us on the road." Shado just blurted out something that he thought was believable. Suddenly another loud and sharp whistle was heard followed by the sound of paws as they ran towards the kitchen. The pups came into the kitchen and sat by their food bowls. All the younger guys whipped their heads around thinking more wild wolves were present.
Just then Xael came into the kitchen, she avoided everyone's gaze and quickly found her mate. Sitting next to him she hid her face behind his shoulder. The Alphas just looked at her, as her behavior was common with Omegas, and there was no way she was an Omega, not after what happened on the road.
Houser was paying close attention to her.
"You want me to fix you a plate?" Shado spoke to her softly as Xael shook her head, but kept her face hidden.
"You okay Pupkins?" Skylar and Emma were looking at her. Again another head shake.
Shado sat a plate in front of her. Xael began shoveling food into her mouth like she hadn't eaten in days. She ignored all the looks she was getting and continued to eat. Her plate was cleared in minutes. She raised and noticed everyone looking at her. She scrunched her face.
"What?"
Chris and Eli tried to hide their chuckling. They knew she always wolfed her food down when nervous. Xael flung a biscuit, hitting Chris square in the head. Moose was there in a flash to grab it and ran off to his bowl to eat it.
"Ow!"
He threw one back at her but she caught it in mid-air, sticking her tongue out at him. The other's laughed at the two of them.
"Okay children!" Ms. Emma scolded them.
"She's dangerous!" Ted thought he'd whispered it but again failed, turning red out of embarrassment. The atmosphere lightened and the guys began chatting. Xael tossed Gunner the biscuit and he joined his brother in the corner. Shado rubbed her leg. She looked at him and smiled, letting him know she was okay.
"So Xael, where'd you get your hybrids from?" Chief Houser had relaxed again, but he was still very wary of her. Knowing what he knew now, her grey eyes made perfect sense to him.
"Someone dumped them when they were puppies."
"Why would someone do that?" Ted the walking human question machine had to ask.
"Because wolf hybrids are illegal in the city."
"Ohh. Why didn't those wolves out there attack you?" Ted was not subtle at all.
"Because they're used to me, I grew up around them."
"You train your pups yourself?"
"Yes Sir." Xael turned to Houser and smiled.
Breakfast done, Skylar let the guys know what was going on for the rest of the day. They would split up to do some work around the house. With lodge, they would have a light lunch, the ladies would call them when it was ready. He reminded them to stay hydrated during the day. After things were done, they would meet out on the back deck for a sweat lodge explanation. Then they would meet in the living room to do prayer ties before they headed out back.
The men headed out as Xael and her Grams cleaned up. The guys would just have sandwiches and chips, they would start making sandwiches in a bit. Xael filled two large drink coolers with gatorade that she made from a drink mix and added ice. She sat one cooler on the front porch and one on the back for the guys along with jugs of water and cups. Now the women could take a break.
"So hun, what happened this morning?" Ms. Emma wasted no time in finding out what really happened out on the road.
"Oh Grams!" Xael moved swiftly to sit next to her. "Adam met my other Grandad!"
"WHAT!!!" Ms. Emma couldn't contain the loud yell. Both of them knew it was heard outside and sure enough, in came Skylar.
"Em? You two okay?"
"Yes dear. Now back outside with you." Ms. Emma blew him a kiss and out he went.
The morning was evidently meant for a lot of yelling, all aimed at Xael.
"My grandad! The pack Alpha... he gave Adam the once over, to make sure he was a worthy Mate, at least, I think that's what he told me."
"Holy shit!"
"I know!" Xael told her grandma all the things that happened out on there and how it seemed that her Alpha Granddad had just held a marriage ceremony. "It was bizzare Grams, bananas bizzare! Adam is still freaked about the whole thing, he said we needed to talk."
"I see. Does Adam know who he is?"
"Yes...I had to tell him."
"Oh shit."
"Grams...I'm gonna have to tell Adam everything. Ugghhh! Why is my life like some twisted Grim fairytale?"
"I know dear. But Xael, honey, Adam's your Mate. You need to be able to trust him. Evidently your other Grandfather does!"