A Secret Alpha Mate
Chapter 33

(Jackson)

Isla doesn't say anything for a minute straight. Normally, telling someone that their mate was an Alpha would be something that they would be thrilled about, I had the feeling that Isla wasn't that type of person that cared about rank.

I couldn't read her emotions but her face seemed to flash between shock, confusion, worry, and was that panic?

"Isla, sweetie, please say something."

"I-uh-um-Alpha?" Was all she could manage.

"I promise that you won't have to take over any responsibility until you're ready, I have been running this pack fine with Lucas and Cam. My mom will be here to help you every step of the way." "So Lucas and Cam?"

"My Beta and Gamma, yes." I nod.

I take her chin in my hand tilting her face up so she's looking at me, "We will do this at your pace, I promise. Nothing will change between us, it's just you and me, Isla. Titles don't matter, all that matters is us together." I see tears start to well up in her eyes, I hope they were happy and I didn't completely f**k that up. Romance was never my strong suit, but it seemed more natural with her.

"Thank you," She finally whispers, I wipe a tear that finally falls, "I'm just a bit overwhelmed. This past week has been a lot."

"I'll be here for you now until forever, you won't have to face anything alone ever again."

(Isla)

I felt so overwhelmed with emotion, mostly gratitude for this man in front of me. I wouldn't ever be alone again, well I was never really alone before, I had Abigail. Oh Abigail. "Jackson?"

"Yes?"

"I know it's a bit early to be making requests," I paused not sure how to go about this.

"Anything you want, I'll give it to you." I smile at that but this seems like a huge request.

"Um, do you think it might be okay if Abigail came here? She's a great worker and would be a huge asset." I pause, waiting for his reaction, hoping he wouldn't be mad.

"That's it?" He asks, "We already invited her before we found you." I looked up at him and c**k my head, I was really going to need his side of the story, I realized there were so many things I was missing out on. "She didn't officially accept, but I think that now she knows that you're okay and happy here, well I hope you're happy here?" He leaves the question open.

I smile at him, I genuinely have been happier here these past few days in the hospital than I have been my entire life. "Very happy." I agree.

"Great, well then we will extend the invitation again, Lucas will be thrilled, he developed a huge soft spot for her." I pictured them together and that warmed my heart. "I don't want to put too much on you yet, but if you would like to help choose a townhouse for her to live in, we can get it cleaned up and set up for her, you know her better than anyone."

"A townhouse?"

"Yes, most of our omega's live in their own cottages outside the packhouse, some of them live here in rooms on the first floor in the back of the packhouse, but after many of them replace their mates and settle down, they naturally want their own space. We have a few townhouses since our pack has grown, not really to my taste, but my mother insisted and thought they would make us more modern. They're near our little "downtown" area if you could call it that, it's very small, but it has a few shops and some places to eat. We wanted to be able to provide the pack members a way of making money outside of the packhouse and our companies, but still within the pack."

"How do they make money in the packhouse?"

"Just like you did, with your omega salary."

"What do you mean?"

"Salary, like your weekly paycheck, or maybe it was monthly."

"We didn't get paid, we were omegas." I explain again, not sure what part he wasn't getting.

He starts to shake under me and I can feel anger rolling off of him. He takes a few deep breaths and puts his arms around my burying his face in my hair and starts to calm down.

"Sorry about that," he says, forcing calm into his voice, "Well, omegas here get paid for their work, actually, in most civilized pack they do" Wow. That was nice.

"Outside of that we realized that some people wanted to set up shops and instead of taking them outside the pack, we thought we would give them the opportunity to set them up here. We have an amazing bakery, a florist run by our retired previous head omega, and all kinds of craft shops.

Bryce, Cam's second in command, actually is an amazing leatherworker and set up a little shop to sell his work on the side. I'll take you to the market on Saturday if you want, I think you'll love it. Around that are the townhouses, just a street or two of them, but they're bigger than the omega cottages, and I would like to give one to Abigail if you think she would like it."

"That is really generous of you, almost too generous, but like I said we don't have money."

"Isla, I would take care of it. She wouldn't need to pay for anything. If you think she would be more comfortable she could take a cottage or even stay here. We have rooms on the third floor for ranked members' families. My parents lived there until a few years ago while they helped me transition to this new role. Abigail is family after all." I cannot believe that I got so lucky, he is so amazing and the way that he looks out for his pack members is better than I could have ever hoped for. I can't stop the tears that are pooling from my eyes.

"Isla, baby, it's okay." He whispers and rubs the tears away. I was falling for this man, so fast it was scary. I take a deep breath and look at him getting closer than we've ever been, I feel his warm breath fan across my face and it gives me goosebumps. As if he knew what I wanted he looked me in the eyes questioning, and I gave him a nod, all of a sudden my mouth was enveloped by his.

The softest yet most passionate kiss, I had nothing to compare it to but I knew I would never get tired of kissing him. My body erupted in warmth and my stomach felt like it would explode with butterflies. I put my arms around his neck and responded to his warm, soft, lips.

He put one hand on my lower back pulling me closer and his other hand tangled in my hair. He licked my bottom lip softly with his tongue and I opened my mouth a bit giving him access.

His tongue ran against mine and I finally had to break away for some air. Gasping, my cheeks flushed and I looked into his eyes.

"Did I do that right?" I ask between breaths. His eyes light up and he laughs,

"That was the best kiss of my life." He says before placing a kiss on my forehead, both cheeks, and one soft lingering one on my lips. I sigh and melt into his chest. We sit there like that for a few minutes as I relax listening to the sound of his heart.

"As much as I would love to stay here all day kissing you, can I show you the pack gardens before it gets dark? The doctor wants you to stay moving, and we need to get some fluids into you too, I don't want you having to go back to the hospital" I reluctantly pull away and nod in agreement.

"You might want to grab a jacket, it's getting a bit cold out there" I head to the walk-in closet and I can't believe the size of it. This room alone was about four times the size of my room back home. There were racks of suits and men's clothes, an entire wall of shoes, and drawers that I'm sure were full of expensive watches and ties that I saw Alpha Benjamin always wear. I didn't see anything that could be girls' clothes though. "Uh, Jackson?" I call, in an instant, he's at the closet door.

"Oh yeah, I guess this is kind of confusing, he takes my hand and we walk through a small opening hidden behind a stand-alone mirror. "I never used this side so I moved a mirror in front of it. Here is your part, my mom expanded this closet when she was Luna, she went a bit overboard though." He warned me.

This closet, my closet, was double the size of Jackson's, with a massive table in the middle, I wasn't sure what that would be used for. On the far end was a floor-to-ceiling mirror, a sofa, two chairs, and a vanity all in sky blue that accented the light wood of the closet perfectly.

I wasn't sure what all the seating was for, was I going to be hosting parties in here? The floor was stone again which peeked out under a massive cream rug.

Both the walls were covered in open closet space, with some shelves and drawers in between. I noticed that one of the sides was already completely full. On the wall closest was a space that looked like it would be for shoes, bags, and accessories. There were already some expensive-looking bags on that wall and some heels that I knew would break my ankle trying to walk in. Jackson shakes his head.

"I think your mom left some of her things here," I say,

"No, this was completely empty, all of this stuff is for you." I look back and actually take that it all in, I notice a few floor-length garment bags, dresses that look like they were fit for fancy dinner parties hung next to them. I saw shelves of sweaters and comfortable- looking shirts, and I let out a sigh of relief when I opened a drawer and saw that it contained jeans and leggings.

"Okay, wow, this is so nice of her." I never owned a dress before, let alone a whole closet's worth, "Do you think you can help me replace a jacket?" I ask Jackson,

"I'm sorry, I honestly told her to get you the basics and let you choose the rest, I didn't realize that she thought you would be needing a ballgown in the next few days."

"I honestly love it, the sweaters and jeans and everything is just my style, I think." I realized I had never chosen my clothes before and just wore hand-me-downs. Jackson raises an eyebrow at this but doesn't ask.

He replaces a few jackets hanging up behind a long trench coat, "Honestly, I don't know what my mother was thinking." He laughs a bit. He helps me into a plain black jacket that is just my size and lined on the inside with something that was so warm.

"I've never felt anything like this," I run my hands on the inside of it.

"It's the fur of our enemies." He gives me a devious smile, I immediately freeze about to take it off. I guess he does have a reputation that I easily forgot about because he was so sweet. "I'm joking, I'm joking." He laughs and relief washes over me, back to being the Jackson that I knew, "You thought I was serious, didn't you?" He asks.

"Well, I have heard of you before," I hesitate, not wanting to offend him.

"And?" I hesitate for a second but decide to be honest,

"And," I play with the hem of my jacket, "I've heard that you were ruthless, vicious, and cold, all things I know not to be true now." He nods but doesn't say anything so I continue,

"I heard you took over smaller packs and attacked them or something," I say waving it off showing how little stock I put into the rumors.

"Well," He pauses, "That is true." Oh.

"I only took over packs when their leadership was bad enough that the pack members were suffering. I gave them a choice to join or to reform their pack under new leadership. Everyone that I gave that choice decided to join."

"Oh well, that makes sense then." A sense of relief washes over me but I don't want him to see that.

"Yes," he muses, "But I do see how those rumors get started, especially because there are a few people that were close to the Alpha's packs I took over that would paint me as the bad guy. These were packs that were only run for the Alpha's benefit, one of them had their entire pack of almost one hundred, woman, children, and the elderly included, fight other packs. When I got to them, before I even challenged their Alpha, they all wanted to join us." "Wow, that's rough, I thought Alpha Benjamin was bad." I mused,

"Alpha Benjamin is bad, especially for an established pack. But to be fair, I have seen worse." I nodded thinking, there was a lot that I didn't know about our world, "Shall we?" He put his arm out towards mine and I take it.

(Isla)

We walked out the back door and I gasped out loud. We were so much closer to the mountains than I thought, they looked almost purple up close and I could see some snow at the top of their peaks. A cold fresh wind blew against my face and I instinctively moved closer to Jackson who put his arm around me.

"Do you like it?" He asks,

"That is an understatement, I don't think I'll ever get used to this view." He beams at me and turns me around.

"See there?" He asks pointing to a large balcony near the top of the packhouse, "That is our balcony, you'll never be far away from all of this." He gestures around him. I still feel like I'm in shock, a gorgeous mate, a breathtaking new pack, oh and I guess I'm going to be the Luna of it all?

I honestly, would have settled for a room with my mate but all of this was so much, too much for anyone, I don't feel like I deserve it.

You do deserve it, Isla

I hope so, I want to be a strong Luna for him and his pack but I don't even know what that means

We will figure it out together, plus we won't be alone, we have him and his family, and Abigail will be here hopefully You're right, it's just a lot

It is, I won't deny that. Omega to Luna in less than a week and throw in a few near-death and traumatic experiences.

I laugh out loud and see Jackson look at me

I'm glad I have you

I'm always here, baby girl, if you survived last week, hell, if you survived your first 18 years, being Luna will be a walk in the park

I hope you're right

I can't remember a time I was wrong

"Everything okay?" Jackson asks me, taking my hand leading me towards a hedge maze to the side of the packhouse. This really was my own fairytale. "Yeah," I sigh, "I was just talking with my wolf, she's trying to convince me I deserve this all," I wave to the gardens and the packhouse and then him.

"You deserve this and more, you are the most selfless person and I am going to give you the world." He takes my face in his and gives me a long kiss. Butterflies erupt in my stomach and my legs feel like jelly, he pulls me close to him so I don't have to worry about trying to stand and just focus on him. How his muscles feel under his shirt when I run my hands up his chest, how his large hands encircle my body, the sparks erupting from my lips.

I hear a soft cough in the distance and Jackson reluctantly pulls away, I sigh and he helps me stand next to him.

(Jackson)

As luck would have it, or as my mother says, there is no such thing as luck only hard work and perseverance, my parents round the corner coming out of the maze. I wouldn't be surprised if my mother "persevered" her way into meeting Isla. "Great," I mutter under my breath. Isla looks to my parents and back at me with a confused look. No use trying to run now, they've seen me.

"Hello, Mother, Father," I say nodding to them when they're close enough. Isla grasps my hand and her eyes go wide, "I don't think you've had the pleasure of meeting my mate yet." My voice dripping with sarcasm, if my mother notices my sarcasm she doesn't say anything.

"Oh, no we haven't had the absolute pleasure," She says taking one of Isla's hands in her cashmere glove-covered one, "It is so nice to meet you, we've been waiting for ages for this."

"That's what everyone keeps saying." Isla laughs a bit, visibly loosening up, "Thank you so much for all the clothes, I can't even imagine the effort that you went through for me." She says genuinely.

"Oh, it was no trouble at all. I insist you let me take you out sometime soon to fill the rest of your closet." I give my mom a stern look, "Jackson you promised." She retorts and I can just sigh. I mouth 'I'm sorry' to Isla and she just shakes her head and gives me a smile.

"I hope my son has been treating you with respect?" She looks at me instead of Isla with an accusatory stare.

"Oh he has been the perfect gentleman, he made me the best-grilled cheese I ever had." My mom laughs and pats Isla's hand, "Is that lasagna really your recipe? It was the best thing I've ever tasted." Isla looks at me apologetically, "Well, besides your grilled cheese" She adds.

"I'm not offended, my mom's lasagna is the best in the world."

"I'll teach you to make it if you'd like." My mom says to Isla and she nods enthusiastically. My dad coughs, "Oh yes, this is my husband, my mate, my world, Jackson's father." She looks lovingly at him and he comes to put an arm around her shoulder. "It's great to meet you, I can already tell you will be a huge asset to this pack. Just what Jackson, and this pack, needs." He says honestly.

"Thank you." Isla whispers, "I will need as much guidance as I can get, I'm not sure what Jackson has told you about me, or honestly how he knows so much about me, but I don't have parents anymore, and I've never even dreamed of being a Luna so I am at a bit of a loss." She trails off seeming embarrassed.

"Oh, sweetie, that is what we're here for, you won't be alone in this, even for a second." Isla smiles at my mom.

"That's what Jackson said." My mom spares me a smile and then turns back to Isla leading her towards the gardens, my dad and I follow.

"Well, it was nice having her to myself for almost twenty-four hours." I sigh as my dad claps me on the back.

"She's finally getting a daughter figure that she never had, someone to dress up, someone to teach. I'm sure you'll be seeing much more of us." He states, "To be honest, even meeting her for a few minutes there, I think she will make the perfect Luna." I agree," We walk behind our girls for a few minutes in comfortable silence, "Dad?"

"|

"Yes, son?"

"Do you mind if I talk to you about something?"

"This isn't where babies come from is it?" He stops and gives me a mischievous smile.

"Don't start," I laugh, "This is serious though." I pause and let my mom and Isla get a few more steps ahead of us before we continue behind them.

"I wanted to fill you in on another pack's," I pause for the right word, "Wrongdoings." I finally settle on, "I've never had to deal with anything like this and I'm not sure what the best way to go about this is if there even is the best way."

I tell him everything I told Cam and Lucas. Everything that I saw for myself in the cramped attic bedroom, what Abigail mentioned, and what Isla let slip that she thought was normal. My dad is shaking with rage when I finish.

"Those aren't omegas there, they are slaves." He looks back to Isla, "I can't imagine anyone treating that sweet girl like that." He sighs, saddened by this. It makes me happy that he already feels protective over her, but this situation isn't ideal and I hate thinking that my mate grew up in such a place and thought it was normal. "I wonder how long this has been going on for," my dad stops to think, "I dealt with Alpha Benjamin and his predecessor previously, but I can't seem to recall his name."

"I can see what I can get out of Isla, but she has lived like this since she got there when she was four, so it must have been going on before then." I say, "I just don't want her to relive any of that yet that she just left behind."

"I know, son. I'll ask around and see if anyone knows anything. Us, previous, or should I say old, Alpha's." He laughs, "As I'm sure I am to you, still have a good relationship. I'll see if they've noticed anything and try to piece a timeline together. Maybe Alpha Benjamin has inherited his pack like this and thinks that's how omegas should be treated. I just can't imagine anyone treating another person like that and thinking it was normal." He shakes his head.

My mom and Isla turn back and walk towards us. "It's getting a little chilly, I think we should get Isla inside." My mom says protectively.

When we get back to the packhouse my mom finally lets go of Isla and gives her back to me. I instinctively put my arm around her, missing her there already.

"We will have dinner soon, won't we?" She addresses Isla, knowing what I'll say about letting her ease into it.

"I would love that." Isla agrees enthusiastically, I see that she is genuinely excited. My mom claps her hands together and then whispers to her.

"And I'll see if the big bad Alpha will let us out for a girls trip if he's not being too protective." She eyes me and Isla laughs.

"Thank you so much for everything."

"Gianna." My mom says, "My family came from a long line of Italian's, the Lasagna recipe has been in the family for centuries, and I'll give it to you to pass down to your pups." I see Isla blush. "Mom, please."

"And this is William." My mom says ignoring me, "We are so happy to have you as part of our family. We will see you soon." She says directing the last part at me with a knowing look.