Mated To The Alpha Of The North
Chapter 70

Jax

I had followed Willow’s lead, shifting back into human form and blindly advancing towards the kitchen with my eyes glued to her naked a*s. I pulled on some pants, content to follow my mate’s lead, but I realized how stupid the action was when I discarded them a few minutes later so that I could check the house’s security one last time.

I was shocked when my wolf was hesitant to leave, but after another careful assessment of the area with my enhanced senses turning up nothing unusual, I pushed aside his worry and set off at a fast clip so that I could return to my mate sooner.

I had traveled a few miles, my wolf fighting me the entire way, when the influx of warnings swamped my mind. The border was under attack, and it was by none other than the bear shifters that we had been keeping an eye on.

I did not understand how they could have launched an assault with my males being ignorant before it even began, but that was an issue to figure out later. Right now, I had to safeguard the territory and drive back the persistent invaders.

Yet, my wolf ground to a screeching halt as my mind flew to Willow, immediately scared for her well-being.

Initially, I felt only the weariness, which she had been experiencing prior to my run, through our bond, slightly reconciling my wolf.

I was worrying about her overdoing it today as I continued on with my duty, but then her sheer terror spiked through me like a bolt of lightning cracking across the sky in a burst of light, obliterating every other thought as a terrifying growl erupted from somewhere deep inside of me.

I did not vacillate, rapidly doing a one eighty and rushing back to my mate in a furious rage. I sent out a distress call to Ryker, praying that he was not too far away by now to help the others secure the boundary because I sure as hell was not going to.

I knew that it was my job as alpha to drive back the threat at our borders, but my mate came before everything else. That was one thing that my father had stressed to me, and I was going to follow his superb example.

I also felt deep in my soul that Zeke was responsible, just like Willow had tried to warn me. This distraction method was not a new one, and I was kicking myself for being the fool to leave Willow’s side.

It did not take me long to get back to the pack house at the breakneck speed that I had compelled myself to rise to, but I was not expecting the pair of bear shifters that came crashing out from around the side of the house, aiming straight for me as a wave of déjà vu rolled over me.

My wolf was pissed at the obstacles standing between him and our mate, and he lunged forward outside of my permission, slashing his claws across the underbelly of one bear, before charging after the other while his first target was down.

I unleashed all control in that moment, allowing my wolf to shred the obstacles to pieces without reserve, not feeling their retaliating strikes as he demolished the opponents faster than I would have previously thought possible, and then I was hurtling through the remaining shards of the door that had managed to survive the battle, barreling through the house to where I knew my mate needed me.

I remained in the backseat as my wolf bolted into the room and smashed into Zeke, knocking him away from Willow’s general vicinity.

Cabinets crashed around us, but I vaguely noticed Willow dash out of the way of the brawling that ensued as Zeke conclusively received the violent end that he so fittingly deserved.

He had taken a lot of damage from the first hit, still in his human form when my wolf had tackled him, but he had been able to shift while I had been briefly preoccupied with Willow’s whereabouts.

It did not stop my wolf from pouncing forward in a flash and clamping down on Zeke’s flank before he could scamper away like he always did when challenged head on. I felt a vicious sense of pleasure at the loud yowl that he elicited in response.

I released my hold, dodging his pathetic attempt at a blow and darted in for the kill. My wolf’s incisors cutting deeply into the sinew and muscle, and b***d spurted out as Zeke violently thrashed with the killing strike.

His defense was weak and easy to shield against, the last breath leaving his body without much effort truly expended on my part. My wolf subsequently unlocked his teeth from around the neck of the carcass when it became obvious that Zeke was dead.

I struggled to regain control now that the carnage was over, but my wolf was reluctant with the adrenaline still lingering in my b***d.

Yet, Willow’s soft hands delved into the fur of my gray coat, ignoring the gore that had to be present and coaxing my wolf to relinquish his hold. It was enough for me to retake the reins, and I forced myself to shift back with the opportunity that she presented, collapsing to the floor in a heap as I did so.

I felt gratified as she followed me to the ground, wrapping her arms around me where we remained for a solid five minutes, just breathing each other in. I had been petrified that I would be too late, but I seemed to have arrived in the nick of time.

Nevertheless, my wolf would not fully settle until I had asked my next question, “Are you hurt anywhere? Did he touch you?”

“No, no. I am fine baby. You got here at the perfect time actually. I used one of the kickass self-defense moves that you taught me, and then you busted in here as your wolf and slaughtered him before anything else could happen.”

Relief and a sense of pride flooded through me at my mate’s bravery and resiliency, but the pain from my plentiful injuries also came floating in with the tide as the adrenaline finally fled my system.

I also realized that I had no idea how my males had fared with the infiltration at the border, prompting me to contact my beta for an update.

I had not been sure that he had received my SOS until the moment that he responded through our connection, giving me the all-clear that he had been able to successfully repel the bears while I took care of the danger here.

However, I did not allow myself to rejoice yet.

Instead, I called upon my reserves of strength to haul myself up to a standing position. I appreciated that Willow tried to help as much as she could, but I felt the ache pervading her muscles through our bond, in spite of her best effort to hide it, so I refused to lean on her.

We somehow managed to make it to the living room, but we both melted down onto the sofa after taking one look at the stairs, silently agreeing that we had moved far enough away from the wreckage covering the kitchen for the time being.

“I am so f*****g sorry sweetheart. I do not know how we did not detect anything before it all went to shit, and I do not understand how no one picked up on his scent or any of the bears before they made it as close as they did. There was nothing. All I can do is apologize for falling short.”

I did not think that I could be any more surprised after everything that had happened, but my mate’s next words accomplished just that as she said, “I might be able to clear a few things up in that regard, but it definitely was not your fault baby.”

We were both sprawled on the sofa, with Willow mostly on top of me, as she gave me the highlights of the information that she had ingeniously extracted from Zeke before he had met his untimely demise at the end of my wolf’s sharp teeth.

Although we must have fallen asleep somewhere along the way because my sister’s voice was the first thing that registered as I shot up with Willow still snug in my arms while Ronnie’s shrill voice assaulted my eardrums.