ALPHA(40)

“Hmmm, I can’t decide which one I find more fun.”

“I think I can help you decide a bit later.” He winked at me and kissed me again, before holding my hand as we walked towards Blake and Annabelle, who had been joined by Noah and Jasmine.

“Laura!” Annabelle shouted, jumping down from Blake’s arm and running in to mine. I picked her up and was surprised by how heavy she was for such a dainty little thing. Or maybe I was just extremely weak. Yeah, that’s probably it. I’d been curious as to if shifter children turned in to small wolves, and had asked Jasmine one night about how it all worked. She’d told me that all shifter children aged normally until they turned 18, when they would experience their first shift, and the aging process would automatically begin to slow. I was pleased that Annabelle would get to experience a normal childhood just like anyone else before dealing with the dramas that came with being part animal.

“Will you come on the bouncy castle?! Blake’s not allowed on it anymore because he’s too big!” I laughed as I saw Blake’s disgruntled face, and he quickly tickled Annabelle causing her to squeal, before striding over to the food table.

I let Annabelle down and she ran straight for the castle, screaming the whole way.

“I’m loving this party. She’s so excited she’ll be asleep soon, which means I might actually get a few chapters of my book read tonight,” smiled Jasmine, laughing when Noah yanked her in to his body.

“If Annabelle goes to bed early, there’s no way I’m letting you read your book.”

Jasmine blushed a deep red, before giving Noah a peck on the cheek, and wandered off to make sure Annabelle hadn’t been causing too much trouble.

“Any problems?” Jackson asked, and I felt sad to see his serious face back on. I lived for those moments where he let himself go even if just for a minute, and relaxed with everyone else. The situation at the moment though was dangerous, so I did understand his constant need to be on alert at all times.

Noah’s eyes narrowed as he focused his gaze on his mate and daughter.

“Everything is quiet so far, but that worries me even more.”

“I feel the same way. They have the perfect opportunity to strike at us when we are all together, and they don’t have to split up their own forces to do it.”

I went to walk away, feeling that this was a business conversation they wouldn’t want me privy to, but Jackson just put his arm over my shoulder, and held me firm against his side. The gesture made me confident enough to join in with the conversation, and reassured me that Jackson saw me as his equal in all things.

“Maybe they are put off by the amount of your guys everywhere. They know the people are protected here.”

“I guess,” Noah said. “I’ve got a feeling though that something’s going to happen. I’m not letting my girls out of my sight and as soon as Annabelle calms down and tires out, I’m wrapping up this party.”

“That’s cool,” Jackson replied. “My men are keeping an eye on everything, you just try and enjoy yourself and let me know when you’re heading out.”

“Sure.” They did that brotherly, man-hug that seemed to be so popular around here, before Noah strode with purpose towards his family. It was just Annabelle and Jasmine on the bouncy castle, and their joyous laughter carried across the street. A pang hit my chest as I realised that that was exactly what I wanted. A family as close as that, with beautiful children who light up your day just by being there. Shifter children were rare and it was even more difficult between a shifter and a human. Would I ever have any of my own? I knew I should be freaking out about even thinking of having children when my relationship with Jackson was so new, but it didn’t scare me as much as it should have. It felt right, and I prayed that one day we would have what Noah and his family had. Annabelle looked up and noticed me, shouting for me to join her, so I shelved my contemplation of wanting Jackson forever and walked in her direction.



****

“I want these fuckers dealt with!” I heard Jackson shout from inside the living room as I walked down from the bedroom. He had been struggling to sleep lately, and I knew it was because he was worried about where this rival pack would strike next. It was a thought that was on all of our minds. This pack had no problems with breaking every rule that had ever been created in the shifter world. Although packs usually had to look after themselves, it was an unspoken rule that you did not harm those from other packs; else you could risk war between the shifters and the destruction of the entire race. Most shifters agreed that keeping themselves a secret, was pivotal to their survival, but recently Jackson had heard murmurings through the grapevine that various packs were unsettled. If enough of them decided to ally with each other and go up against the humans, the consequences would be disastrous. It didn’t even bear thinking about. I walked in to the living room, and saw Jackson look at me at the same time as ending his conversation and hanging up the phone.