A Mother Before A Mate
Chapter 13

Lexi's Point of View

I can't believe I just won. I can't believe it. I'm a mix of emotions. Shock, excitement and disbelief about the fight, and then also anger, and pain because of my mate. The mix of emotions made me lose control in front of everyone a minute ago. I said I needed a

shower because I didn't know if I could hold it in much longer.

I run home and rush upstairs to the washroom. I undress and hop into the shower. As soon as the water hits my skin, it's as if the dam breaks. I'm sitting in the shower, water spilling on me, sobbing into my hands. He was so close to the fight. I could smell him, and I know he was right there watching, but I couldn't look at him. It's so hard. I'm having chest pains, and all I want to do is get Molly, curl up on the couch and fill up on pizza and ice cream, but I know I need to get out there to support Lev in the Beta and Gamma fights. After 10 minutes of crying and losing control, I get up and wash my hair and body. After the fights, I'll take care of myself and Molly, and avoid the world. Right now, I need to get my s**t together. I get out of the shower, blow dry my hair, and wear it down, letting my natural loose curls hang. I put on some black skinny jeans, and a plain baggy v-neck white t-shirt, half tucked in.

My eyes are a little puffy, my nose is red, and my lips look swollen and red from the crying. I put on some mascara, a natural coloured lip stain, and some powder on my nose to hide the evidence of what happened in the shower. My lip and nose are already healed from the fight. It wasn't serious, and werewolf healing is great.

I pick up Molly, and stop at the snack tent and grab a frozen fruit smoothie, and a big chocolate chip cookie for Molly to tide her over until dinner. Then I head towards the fights with Molly on my hip.

Beta and Gamma fights have started. I see that Lev looks fine, so he must not have fought yet. I don't see my mate, thankfully. I soon see Marcus sitting on the bleacher, and he has a swollen eye and lip, but is in good spirits. I walked over, standing in front of him and asked, "How did it go?"

"I lost," he admits, sounding defeated.

"2nd place out of all these warriors is still really good," I try to cheer him up. He nods.

"First place is better. It must feel so good knowing that you beat all of those women? I'm so proud of you, Lex," he smiles.

"It does feel pretty good," I admit with a cheeky smile. I look at his swollen cheek, and I move my frozen smoothie to touch it.

"You should be icing this," I wince.

He stares at me and smiles. I've never noticed him look at me like this before. He is always very nice to me, though. He puts his hand on my arm without breaking eye contact. He's looking at me with what looks like adoration. Marcus is a good man, he's strong and attractive too. And even with Molly in my arms, he's looking at me like I'm something special. I know I should move on. He'd be a good father figure for Molly too. I don't think he's found his mate yet, and he's only 22. Maybe? I would have to talk to him about it in private, at some point. But I would need some time to process the loss of my mate. I'm pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of a loud growl.

I turn my head and see my mate enraged, as he marches towards me. I'm not sure what his problem is.

"Get your hand off of her NOW," he growls, with full Alpha authority. Marcus looks confused, and let's go of my arm.

"What is your problem?" I ask, thoroughly annoyed. He doesn't want me, but no one else can have me either?

"Can I talk to you?" He asks, now with a little calmer tone. He wants to talk to me now? "Please?" He adds, even softer. I hesitate, but then nod and he ushers me to go first.

"You don't have to go, Lex," Marcus says, maybe concerned, or jealous. I'm not sure.

"It's okay, Marcus," I assure him.

We walk to somewhere more private, while Molly is still in my arms. We are in a grassy spot away from everyone.

"What?" I ask bluntly.

"Can we sit?" He asks, and his eyes are pleading with me, and his tone is gentle, so I sit on the grass and sit Molly on my lap. I give her a piece of the cookie I grabbed for her and she's content with that. "Mmm, cookie," she keeps saying.

Her little voice loving on her cookie is so cute. I look at Jack, and he's smiling too. That stings. Seeing the man I want in every way possible, looking adoringly at the person I love and am most protective of. He looks so damn good too. His black t-shirt hugs his arms and chest tightly, and I can see his perfectly sculpted body. Focus Lexi, Focus.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" I ask a little softer than before.

"I have made a huge mistake. I followed you to the hospital last night, and I thought you, Lev and Molly were a family. I thought Lev and you were together, and that you just had a moment of weakness with me."

"What? Me with Lev? He's my brother." I say with disgust.

He smiles, "Yeah, Lev told me."

"You talked to Lev?"

"Yeah, he also told me that you thought I left because you have a kid," he confesses, and his green eyes look at me as if he feels my pain. I nod, trying to hold back the tears.

"You're completely single?" he asks and I nod again.

"Thank Moon Goddess!" He says with a sigh of relief. I can't help but smile a little.

"So you don't mind that I'm a mom?" I verify, not letting myself get my hopes up.

"If I'm being honest, it hurts that you've experienced so much with another man. Creating a child... It hurts because I feel like she should be ours, not yours and someone else's. It hurts, but I don't want to lose you," his confession has me tearing up. Hearing him say he doesn't want to lose me makes my heart feel like it's going to burst - in a good way. Not the way it has been feeling all day.

"I don't want to lose you either," I admit. He grabs my hand quickly and kisses it. I feel the sparks from the contact and it feels so good.

"I didn't have those moments with another man. You need to know this, but it isn't something that I want to be public knowledge. I'm not Molly's biological mother."

"W-what does that.. How? I'm confused," he mutters, his eyebrows furrow.

"I found her as a newborn in the forest in a cardboard box. Soaking wet in sweat, hungry and dehydrated. I felt an immediate connection to her. Alpha wanted to drop her off at the fire station. He assumed she was either a human or an Omega and would be fine living as a human either way. I knew I couldn't let her go. It's hard to explain, but I felt like she was my destiny. Alpha said I could keep her here until she was a year old. If she was a wolf I could stay, but if she was a human, I agreed to move out and raise her among humans."

His eyebrows raise, it must be hard for him to imagine me giving up my pack. "I don't want people knowing that she isn't biologically mine. I don't want her to ever feel like she's not mine, or that she doesn't belong. She is mine. I'd kill for her, I'd die for her. She's mine." I explain.

He nods while giving my hand a squeeze. The sparks coming from his calloused hands feel amazing. He smiles, and pulls my hand up to his lips and kisses it again. Just holding his hand and smelling his delicious scent has me wanting to jump him. If Molly wasn't here, I wouldn't be able to control myself.

"I think you're amazing. Molly is lucky to have you, and I hope I'm lucky enough to have you both in my life," he tells me.

I look into his deep green eyes, and all I see is love. My heart feels so full. I can't even help that I'm smiling from ear to ear. Molly stands up and makes her way to Jack. I'm a little nervous. Jack is so large and muscular and has a real hardness about him. It's hard to picture him being tender with kids. As much as I want him, it suddenly dawns on me, what if he isn't good with her? I feel my heart rate quicken. I watch as she walks up to him.

"Hi, Molly!" He greets her gently.

"Bite. Bite. Cookie!" She says to him while raising her cookie for him to have a bite. He smiles and obliges her and takes a bite. "Mmm, thank you," he tells her with a big smile.

She sits on his leg and leans her head into his chest. She's not usually so good with new men, so it surprises me to see that she's so comfortable with him. He wraps his strong muscular arms around her in a hug. Oh, my friggin' ovaries. I didn't think he could get any sexier, but seeing Molly feel so comfortable with him, and him physically embracing her makes me happier than I ever could have imagined.

"She looks so tiny in your arms," I say because I know I'm smiling so hard, and I don't want him to know I'm totally fangirling over him. I can't stop thinking about how much I want to touch him. He's sitting across from me, with Molly still in his arms. I crawl over to them and sit beside him and cuddle into him. He groans and plants a kiss on my forehead, "You smell so good," he whispers to me.

I chuckle and lift my head and look him in the eyes. I move in and plant a little kiss on his lips. He leans his head against mine. "I'm sorry," he whispers. I smile, "Me too. We both made conclusions that hurt us both," I admit. We enjoy a quiet moment, leaned into each other.

"There's something I want," Jack's deep voice cuts through the silence.

"What?"

"Once I mark you, I want her to be ours, not just yours. I want us to be a family, and I want to be her Dad." I look into his eyes and I see so much tenderness.

He's everything I could have ever hoped for, ever dreamt of, and ever wanted and needed. "Nothing would make me happier," I confess.

He sighs in relief. He moves into me and gives me a small kiss. "I always felt like Molly was my destiny, and it's crazy because she is great with Lev and Jett, because she's so used to them, but other than that she has stranger danger with men. She took to you so quickly, it makes me feel like she wasn't just my destiny, but our destiny." He smiles and kisses the top of her head.

"All gone. Mo cookie? Peas Mama?" Molly asks and I smile.

"How do you say no to that?" Jack asks with a chuckle. I lean over and grab another piece.

"Tank you, Mama."

"You're welcome, hunny."

Molly takes her cookie and makes her way to some wildflowers about 10 feet away. I look up at Jack and he's staring at me and smiling.

"What?" I ask.

"You're just everything," he says while snaking his arm around my waist and pulling me on top of his lap. I'm sitting sideways on him, and he holds me tight, breathing me in. I do the same, and I feel such a sense of calm and ease. I think we both needed this. After a minute, he reminds me, "We should head back. I requested that Alpha fight earlier, it's not going to look good if I'm a no-show," he chuckles. I groan and stand up. "Come on Miss Molly!" I call her while holding out my hand. She runs over and holds my hand.

"Do you want a shoulder ride, Molly?" Jack asks her. He scoops her up and sets her on his shoulders while holding her legs. She's laughing and pointing at all the things she can see from his shoulders. She's so happy.

"Seriously, my ovaries," I groan, and he flashes me a megawatt smile. His perfect smile makes me want to jump him. Everything he does seems to have that effect on me.

When we get to the bleachers, the final Gamma / Beta fight is starting. Jack takes Molly off his shoulders. I offer to take her but he refuses and holds her in his arms. I see Lev is up against Jack's Beta, Zac. I can't believe Lev beat out so many Beta's, including Cold

moons.

Usually, the Beta is stronger than the Gamma. I'm in shock and run to Lev. "I missed everything. You made it to the final. I am so proud of you," I tell him. He smiles, and I can tell he is so happy and proud too. There are a bunch of our friends around him. The ref is calling them in and I haul off and slap Lev as hard as I can on his bareback. "You got this!" I yell! He nods and heads into the ring. I make it back to where Jack and Molly are.

"We're rooting for opposing teams," I smirk and he nods.

"What's with the slaps?" Jack asks.

"What? You don't do that?" I ask, surprised. He smirks and shakes his head.

"Weird. Well, a hard slap on the bare skin stings." I admit.

"Yeah... I know! So why do it?" He seems confused.

"To piss him off. Now he can take all that anger out on Zac-y boy over there," I smile and he does too, but shakes his head.

"I wanted to kill your brother earlier for slapping you. I kept looking at his handprint on your back for the entire fight," he admits with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't realize you were watching me so intently," I smirk.

He moves closer to whisper in my ear, "I couldn't take my eyes off of you all day."

His warm breath tickled my neck. I replace myself breathing heavier. I look him in the eyes, and I can see flecks of black in his once green orbs. That's arousal. He must have sensed the effect he had on me. I lick my lips, and he's looking at them with hunger. Oh no, I need to get this situation under control. People are everywhere, and I'm supposed to be cheering my brother on. I think of something to say to lighten the mood. "That's... Creepy," I smile. He chuckles and suddenly his eyes are green again.

The fight between Zac and Lev was a decent fight. I'm impressed with Lev. During the second round, Zac ended up getting Lev to tap out, or his elbow would have been dislocated. Now that Lev's done fighting, it's as if everyone realizes I'm standing with Jack, and he's holding a content Molly. I introduce him to everyone and I replace out that Jack attacked Lev earlier, and most of my friends already knew about Jack's mix-up because they witnessed his and Lev's altercation.