A Mother Before A Mate
Chapter 36

I spent the last few hours with Zac and Kyle, going over security, possible counterattacks, and discussing when to inform the pack. I have called an emergency meeting for tomorrow morning. Regardless of how this pans out, I don't want my pack hearing from someone else what had happened. When I get back to the packhouse, to the suite we're staying in, Lexi and Molly are sitting in bed eating pizza and watching a kids' movie. I join them, and when we're all done eating, we cuddle up in bed until Molly falls asleep.

Lexi moves her to the other bedroom in this suite, and then we lay in bed, and I tell Lexi about everything going on. Once she hears about a possible war, she seems pretty concerned. "Do you regret it?" She frowns.

"Nope!" I admit, while popping the p. "Not at all. The world is a better place without him in it. I don't even want to think about the damage he could have done or the harm he may have already done to other children. His pack might attack me, but they should be thanking me," I explain.

She nods in agreement. "Absolutely. I don't care what anyone says, I think you're a damn hero, and I am proud of you," she says with conviction. My woman can be so tender, loving and gentle, but then she can whoop a*s like a boss and is strong and hard when it comes to doing what needs to be done.

"You're perfect," I smile. She pops an eyebrow.

"That was so random?!" She chuckles.

"It wasn't random, I was just thinking about how you're tough and hard in the ways that I like, and then also soft and tender in ways that I like. I just think you're perfect."

She gets on top of me, so she's straddling me, "I love how you're soft and tender with Mol and I," she hums on my lips, as she bends down to kiss me. "And I love that you're strong and protective," she adds as she kisses me again. "And I love that you're also hard in ways I want you to be too," she adds with as mischievous smile, as she starts grinding into me.

"You're so bad," I chuckle.

"You just risked so much to protect our child. Did you expect me not to jump you the second I had the opportunity?"

"I honestly didn't. A lot of women don't replace murder sexy."

"You were protecting our child, and lots of other children too. Seeing that you love her so much and that you would go to such depths to protect her. Our family. It only makes me love you more if that's even possible. It definitely makes me want to climb on top of you and ride yo-"

*Ring Ring *

I groan at the interruption. f**k!

"s**t, I'm going to get it so it doesn't wake Molly," she says as she jumps up to answer. She looks at the caller ID.

Lexi: Hey Grace, it's not a good time. Can I call you tomorrow?

[pause]

Lexi: Okay, what is it?

[pause]

Lexi presses the speakerphone button.

Lexi: Okay, Grace, Jett, we're both here, what is it?

Jett: I got a call from Alpha Tim Johnson, saying that Jack killed his son today?

Jack: [I huff] I did.

Jett: What the hell happened?

Jack: We had a meeting, and he saw Molly in her bathing suit, and his eyes were black with [**t.

Jett: Molly or Lexi? [He must think I made a mistake]

Jack: Molly!

Jett: Are you sure it was for Molly and not Lexi?

Jack: Molly ran into my office without Lex. He's a pedophile. Or was. I killed him.

Jett: s**t. He called me asking me to join his army. He's telling a different story, of course. Does he know what happened?

Jack: Yeah, I called him and told him about it right after. What is he saying?

Jett: That you attacked his son and killed him over a small disagreement. That no one can feel safe with a tyrant like you on the loose.

Jack: Wow! Definitely a lie.

Grace: I'm proud of you, Jack!

Lexi: I know. Me too.

Jack: Thanks. Let's hope my pack feels the same way as you both do when I tell them tomorrow. So what did he say about attacking? Did he give a day or a plan?

Jett: He didn't. He said he's going to recruit, and when he has enough, he'll attack.

Jack: He's probably trying pretty hard to get you. Your pack has what? 1000 people? How many can fight? And what did you tell him?

Jett: 600-650 could fight, I told him I wasn't interested, obviously.

Jack: Would you be willing to change your stance on that?

Jett: On helping Red River?

Jack: Yeah. If you told him you were helping them, they would stop recruiting a lot sooner than if you said no, and you'd have the details of what they were planning, and when. Jett: What do I say? Why did I change my mind all of a sudden?

Jack: Say I led your sister on, or any other lie you can think of. I don't care.

Jett: Hmm... that could work. That's a good idea. I'll call him back and keep you posted.

Jack: Thank you.

Lexi: Yeah guys, thank you!

"Well, that could be really helpful and valuable," I muse.

"Absolutely. Now, where were we?" She asks as her tongue wets her lips.

"Something about riding me?"

***

"Thank you all for joining me this morning. I'm sure you all suspect this is serious because I have never called an emergency meeting," I start. Lexi is by my side, and Molly is in daycare. I tell my pack the details of what happened yesterday, trying to stay as calm as possible, but given the topic, that's impossible. I hear a few proud cheers when they hear I killed him, but I'm not sure if that's the overall consensus. For the most part, a lot of people are quiet. I'm not sure how to read them. Then I tell them about Jett's phone call last night.

"Does anyone have any questions?" No one asks anything, and there's a moment of silence before Lexi starts talking.

"I'm not sure how you all feel about this. I know, I, for one, am extremely proud of our Alpha. I keep thinking of the ways this man could have abused his power, and gotten away with abusing children for years and years if he became Alpha. For all we know, there may already be victims. Molly isn't even 2; I can't even wrap my head around that... I do know that evil has to be stopped. Regardless of what pack a child is in, a child is a child, and we owe it to all children to protect them from evil," she says, and I see everyone nodding in agreement.

If they were on the fence about how they were feeling before, Lex pushed them over the edge into my favour. Having a supportive Luna by my side really is great. "If there's no question, let's get to training. We need to be sharp."

We're starting with a men's and women's class. We both use half the gym. I love watching Lexi train the other women. My guys are paired up sparing right now, and I see all the women are in a circle, and I want to see what's going on inside that circle. I hear Lexi talking: she's teaching them something. I move into the circle, and she has Star and Laurel doing a move that's impossible to recover from.

"There's no way to get out of this," Star says, and Lex agrees.

"You're right, but you shouldn't have let her get you here in the first place. You need to be watching her body and anticipating what she's going to do next. Run it again," she orders, and they start again.

"Okay, now pause for a second. Star, from here, there are three possible things she's going to do with you in this position. Two of which would result in you getting really hurt if you grabbed her leg and completely twisted your body," and Star agrees. "Instead of guessing, or trying to watch her whole body to decide what she's going to do, watch that left foot. If you see it point in, that's your sign. If you see that, you grab and twist your body as fast as you can. Run it again." They do it again, and Star manages to get out.

"Good. I want you to be faster though. I want all of you to pair up. Take turns, and I want you to run all three moves, so you each don't know what's coming. I want you to be fast. The faster you are, the better your counterattack is going to be," she says with authority. "You can beat people physically stronger than you by anticipating their next move," she adds. I can't help but smile at my mate. My warriors are in good hands with Lexi. I'm watching as the women start putting their new lessons into practice. "Shouldn't you be training your warriors, Alpha?" She raises her eyebrows with a smirk and walks over.

"I just wanted to see what was going on," I smile.

She gives me a quick kiss, "Get to work," she chuckles.

"Run that move with me? I want to see if your little trick works with me," I'm curious if I'm fast enough and strong enough to ruin her trick.

"Okay, but mix it up, so I don't know what to expect," she smiles.

Everyone ends up abandoning their training to watch us, but I can't blame them. We ran through all three moves twice, and she was able to get out of the wrestling move for all of them. She's really quick. Everyone is really proud of her right now, especially me. Next is the advanced class for men and women. The class consists of about 30 people. A lot smaller than the last class, which had about 500 people between the men and women. This has been my favourite class since Lexi got here. I love working closely with her. She works really hard, and never slacks off. There's never any ego from her, and she's hungry to learn. I love that about her. She's like a sponge too, she soaks up everything I throw at her.

She has learned even more since she got here, and she is always impressing me.

She thought beating Laurel was a fluke, but it wasn't. She's faster, and she has better instincts. I love that she's so strong and such a good fighter, but I hate the idea of her actually having to use it. For this battle, she isn't fighting. She doesn't know it yet, but there's no way I'll allow it. She might be angry, but I don't care. If something happened to her, I would die. I can't live without her.