A Mother Before A Mate
Chapter 37

Jack's Point of View

It's been a long day, and the last few weeks have been a little stressful being in limbo. Knowing war is probably coming, but not knowing when or how many people we'll be fighting against. I'm hoping Tim changes his mind. I've tried to reach out, but he isn't interested in speaking to me. A lot of people have approached me and suggested we attack them. Their pack alone only has 300 people, but I'm hoping we can avoid a fight altogether. Most of his pack are innocent people. If we attack him after killing his son, it only furthers the lie he's spreading about me. He wants people to fear me. Like I'm going to kill and attack anyone, for no reason. I understand that Derrick was his son, and he loves him regardless of how terrible he was, but how can he honestly fault me? How many men could see what I saw and not murder the bastard, let alone an Alpha? I have been calling some packs and tried to explain my side. There was a great deal of Alpha's who wouldn't even take my call. Some of them acted as if they hadn't heard anything about it. I have gotten through to a few though, and they not only said they wouldn't fight with Alpha Johnson, but they would fight alongside me if need be.

I'm also starting to wonder if he knew who is son was, too. Why did he have to replace a mate before becoming Alpha? Were they hoping it would make him better? Or maybe a Luna would be able to monitor him. Either way, he didn't replace his mate because he was mateless. There is no she-wolf out there for him. He wasn't destined to be with anyone.

When I open my front door, I'm hit with the smell of something delicious cooking. I enter the kitchen and see my girls are busy at the counter. "Daddee!" Molly squeals and I grab her, giving her a hug and then give Lexi a kiss.

"What are you working on?" I ask Molly.

"Dessewt,"

"Cool! What is this babe?" I ask, Lexi.

"It's brownie cherry cheesecake for dessert," she answers. I groan at just the thought of how delicious that is going to be.

"What's cooking? It smells so good?"

"Homemade dinner rolls, chili, and I'm going to make a salad too. I invited your parents over, they should be here in about a half-hour."

She seems to really get along with my parents. They're over for dinner a few times a week and Lexi and Molly go over to visit in the afternoon sometimes when I'm working. The girls seem to have brought out a softness in my mother that I've never seen before. Dinner was delicious, and now my parents and Lex and I are just having a drink and chatting when my phone starts ringing. "It's Jett, I should take it," I tell everyone.

Me: Hey Jett,

Jett: Hey Man, I got some news for you. Me: Shoot!

Jett: 2 days... They'll attack in 2 days, at dawn. They're hoping to overrun your warriors keeping guard, and then by the time the rest of your warriors wake up and make it out, they have you even more outnumbered. They have 2000 with my 600 warriors. So they actually have 1400 warriors. I'll be there with them, but as soon as the fight starts, we'll be fighting alongside you.

Me: Are you sure? I wasn't expecting you to actually fight with us.

Jett: Definitely. Lex is like a sister to Grace and I, and Molly literally calls us auntie and uncle. And I'm not making anyone go who doesn't want to.

Me: Well I appreciate it. I have a few packs I poached from him too. He doesn't know, but there are another 350 he thinks are his, but they are actually with me now.

Jett: That awesome. You have 800, you mentioned before that could fight. Plus my 600 and your 350. 1750 for us against 1050. Those are some nice odds. There's also one more thing...

Me: What?

Jett: He sent me a picture of Lexi, and he sent it to everyone who's fighting with him. He said there would be a 25,000$ reward for anyone who kills her.

Me: What!? How the hell did he get that?

Jett: I have no idea? The picture is a year or so old though. She has Molly in her arms and Molly is around 6 months in the picture.

Me: f**k! Well, I'm glad I know. Lexi won't be anywhere near the battle. Thanks for the information. We'll talk tomorrow and we'll get all the details locked down.

Jett: Sounds good.

As soon as I hang up, Lexi is looking at me disapprovingly, with one eyebrow raised. "What?" I ask.

"I won't be anywhere near the battle?" She asks, and I didn't miss the bite in her tone.

"No, you won't," I state.

"Yes, I will Jack!" She says trying to stay calm, but I can see the fire in her eyes.

"Why don't we talk about this after," I offer because I don't want to get into this in front of my parents. She reluctantly nods her head, and I'm grateful. "Does he know when?" She adds.

"2 days!"

My parents stayed for another half-hour, and the second the door closes, Lexi starts in on me. Letting me know that she will be fighting. "Who will watch Molly?" I ask.

"I'll leave her with the women who don't fight and watch the children, just like all the women warriors do," she rebuts, with a glare.

"You're also the Luna though..."

"And? Why did you even want a strong warrior Luna if you didn't want her to actually fight?" She asks and it's a logical question. It is, but I can't help how I feel.

"The concept seemed a lot better when I didn't know how much I would love you. I don't want you to get hurt. The thought of you getting hurt or worse. Lex... I can't live without you," I explain.

"I understand the fear because I have the same fear when it comes to you. I get it 100%. But guess what? My feelings don't trump the fact that you have a duty to this pack. Just like I do. Not to mention, I'm new to this pack, and this whole war has started because of a child I brought here. I train with these warriors. Don't you think it's hypocritical for me to sit this out?" she asks.

"No, I don't. Lex, you can't go." I reaffirm. Logic be damned, the answer is no.

"Yes, I can, and I will," she demands firmly. I groan. Why can't she just listen to me about this?

"I'm a part of this pack, and we fight together. The other women warriors are going to be fighting, regardless of how their mates feel, and regardless of the fact that they have children," she adds. I close my eyes and rub my temples. This is giving me a headache. Her points are valid but she's not fighting. I open my eyes and she's staring at me with her eyebrows raised waiting for a rebuttal. Why is she so f*****g stubborn?

"Name it. I'll do anything if you agree to this," I basically beg. I see the hardness in her eyes soften, and she moves into me, wrapping her arms around my waist to hug me.

"Babe, just like you can't sit this one out, neither can I," she says softly. I didn't want to tell her that there is a hit out for her, because I didn't want to scare her, but it seems I have no choice. "There's a 25,000$ reward for anyone that kills you," I admit and her eyes widen.

"What?"

"I didn't want to freak you out, and I was hoping I could avoid telling you, but you are not making it easy."

"Well, how do they even know what I look like? I could be any she-wolf."

"They have a picture of you that they are passing around."

"How did they get a picture of me?" she gasps.

"I have no idea, but they have one."

"Well if I show up in my wolf form-"

I cut her off, "Are you serious?" What the f**k?

"Yes... realistically do they know what my wolf looks like? They don't know me," she tries to reassure me, but I just feel my patience wearing.

"You are going to be the death of me, woman," I groan. "Let's talk about this tomorrow, I'm seriously getting a headache," I admit while rubbing my temples.

"Of course, but you're not getting away from this," she adds and I groan.

Now I'm starting to wish she couldn't fight. Warrior Luna's are a good idea in theory, and when you're not in love with them. I'll have to think of something. She not fighting in this battle, even if that means I literally have to lock her up. She'll be mad at me, but she'll be safe.

***

"Thank you for joining me this morning everyone. I have gotten word that tomorrow at dawn, Alpha Johnson and his warriors will be attacking."

I explain how many warriors we each have, and how many warriors he thinks he has. Everyone seems pleased. Lexi is standing beside me, and she's probably not going to like what I say next, but she'll survive it.

"He also has a reward in place. 25,000$ to anyone who kills our Luna."

Everyone is wide-eyed and you could hear a pin drop. They're shocked. "The best way to hurt me is to hurt her. I'd like everyone's opinion because your Luna and I disagree. She thinks she should be out there fighting, even though a photo of her has been circulating with a reward. I think risking her, especially when she is being targeted is reckless," I say with authority. When our eyes meet, hers are icy cold. If looks could kill, I'd be f*****g dead.

"I want a show of hands; who think Luna should NOT be fighting tomorrow," I ask and I don't waiver in my tone. I want everyone to know where I stand on this.

"Hold on! They have no idea what I look like in my wolf form, and this all happened because of a child who is also mine. I should be fighting too," she rebuts.

"But they'll be able to figure it out pretty easily. They'd just look for a she-wolf close to Alpha. I'm sure his eyes will be glued to you constantly. It will be pretty obvious," Laurel points out.

"Well I won't fight near Jack, then," Lexi is grasping at straws.

"Show of hands. Who thinks she should fight?" I ask.

I look around, and I don't see any hands. How can she argue with this? I'm so happy right now I can't even contain my smile. When I look at Lexi though, I'm suddenly scared to continue smiling, and I swiftly wipe it off my face. "Thank you, everyone," I add.

"Well... Maybe Luna can join the group of warriors who will guard the packhouse, protecting the woman, seniors, and children from anyone that gets past the front lines," Jos says.

Jos is one of Lexi's best friends, so of course, she's looking for a way to please her. Lexi jumps at the opportunity, realizing her plans of fighting on the front lines are being squashed.

"I'll be away from Jack, and I'll be in my wolf form, so no one will recognize me. They wouldn't expect me to be guarding the packhouse. Show of hands. Who thinks I could guard the packhouse," she asks, and she's basically pleading with them. Now, it's split down the middle.

"Good enough for me," Lexi quickly says. "Thank you all for your input," she adds.

We're both walking away feeling disappointed, even though we both had a little bit of a win. I guess that's compromise. I'm not thrilled about her guarding the packhouse, but we do have them outnumbered by a lot. I don't think we'll have many slipping past our front lines. I'm going to make sure I have some strong warriors with her just in case.

Everyone is starting to get ready for the training class, and Lexi walks up to me, "Not cool," she snaps as she glares at me.

"I agree. Not cool. Every single person in here agreed with me that it wasn't safe. You weren't hearing me. I had to do something!" I reason, but she just rolls her eyes and walks away. I guess this is our first fight.

During the week, we usually do our training, and then we get cleaned up, grab something to eat in the cafeteria, and Lex comes to help me for an hour in my office because she wants to be informed on all things pack-related since she became Luna. She usually helps me with whatever I'm working on too, which I thoroughly enjoy. Today, for the first time, though, she's eager to leave. I can tell she's upset with me. I hate it but it was worth it if it means she isn't fighting on the front lines with me.