Chapter 23 - Hale

Having Jason back as me thrown for a loop. Feeling him come back was like awakening him all over again, and shifting hurt just as badly as it did when I was sixteen. But I suppose eighteen years of not shifting will do that. I couldn’t believe it. I’m still not sure I think this is real.

Not just that, Jason is back. But when the dust had settled, so to speak, I took that breath, and it was there. Rich and musky jasmine blended with warm honey, with a bright background of heady orange blossom, filled my senses, overpowering any others. The moment the scent hit me, I knew. Not just that it was Erin but what it meant.

Erin is my mate. Second chance mates are fairy tales in the werewolf community. They are rarer than having a human mate. Yet my second chance is a human. It defies logic. The chances of this happening are so slim it’s barely worth calculating. I’m not special. I’m just a nobody in our pack, white wolf or not, so how or rather why would the Goddess give me a second chance?

‘Oh, my fucking Goddess. I died, and you turned into some morose fuck. If I have to listen to more of your emo, whiny bitch bullshit, I will lose it.’ Jason groaned as we went back into Erin’s place.

‘I’m allowed to be confused and to question things. I’ve spent eighteen years without you. Then suddenly you’re back and tell Erin she’s our second chance mate and that the Goddess sent you back for her and her kids.’ I grumbled back.

‘You get out insane that sounds? In the history of werewolves, no wolf has ever come back. Stephen’s wolf didn’t die, so him coming around wasn’t abnormal. What makes us special? Or is it that the Goddess didn’t think I was enough? That I wouldn’t be enough for Erin or her kids? Kind of feels that way.’ I frowned.

“Hale? Are you alright?” Erin asked, lightly tugging at my hand as we entered the living room.

“He’s fine. I’m sure he and Jason have a lot to catch up on. But they can stow it until I’m done with them.” Alpha Logan scoffed, folding his arms, azure-cobalt blue eyes boring into me. It felt like he was seeing into my soul as the red of Jericho rimmed the edges of his iris.

“Yes, Alpha.” I bowed my head. “I’m fine, Erin. I was having a little discussion with Jason. When werewolves speak to our wolves, we tend to go into a daze, and our eyes glaze a little. I used to be better at hiding my internal conversations.” I explained.

“You’ll get back into practice, dad.” Austin smiled, his arm wrapped around Suzie as they shared the sofa with Erin’s kids.

“That was so cool! How you transformed. Way more dramatic and dynamic than watching Austin shift.” River exclaimed.

“How did you do that stuff with the ground? I was further back and felt the ground shake when your wolf landed. And that rock bullet move was straight out of a video game.” Sage was even getting excited.

“And the stone cage you put sperm donor in. You gotta teach us that.” River grinned. I’m terrified of what they would do if their wolf were to have a gift like Jason’s.

“Oh, you can get in line, kid. He needs to teach Jax that. I tried to do his legendary 360 offense-defensive move and lost a leg because I couldn’t pull it off.” Austin scoffed, tapping his prosthetic leg.

“Kids, we can discuss abilities and training later. I believe Alpha Logan has the floor, and we should all be respectful.” I calmly redirected them. I don’t want to scold them, I’m glad the kids are excited and have questions, and I’ll answer them all, but after Alpha Logan has said his peace. I could see Alpha Logan’s patience was wearing thin.

“Thank you. Now then, obviously, there are a lot of things that need to be discussed. Most of which can wait. So I’ll keep this brief.” Logan nodded.

“I will deal with Dane from this point forward. He can be sent home alive if he can agree to leave and not return. He will be sent home in a bodybag if he cannot.” Logan didn’t sugarcoat it, but I wouldn’t expect him to. It was never his style.

“We’ve already concluded that Erin is your second chance mate. With that in mind, you cannot mark her until the new moon at the end of the month.” Logan stated.

“Mark me? What? I feel like I’m missing something here.” Erin frowned.

“That may be a conversation Hale should have with you. But to simplify it, when a werewolf finds their mate, we don’t get married to solidify our bond and love. We mark each other.” Beta John explained, tugging his collar to show the unique mark his human mate left.

“Like you, my mate is human. We learned from an ancient tome of werewolf history that in the rare case of a werewolf and human mating, the pair must mark on the new moon when it is at its apex. If not, it can be fatal to the human. And in the cases of the marking happening outside with a ranked werewolf, the human may be gifted a new moon wolf.” John continued.

“Mom could get a wolf too!?” River and Sage exclaimed in unison.

“I cannot say for certain. My mate received her wolf as I’m of Alpha blood. Erin could gain a wolf given that the Shelton family are a Beta bloodline historically.” John shrugged.

“That would be so cool.” Sage grinned.

“We’d all have wolves then. We can run around together.” River’s smile matched their twin.

“We can discuss and address all that later. As Alpha Logan said, the new moon isn’t until the end of the month. And marking is something that your mother and I have not discussed. Not to mention it isn’t a guarantee even under the right conditions, she would receive a wolf.” I attempted to quell their enthusiasm.

“Yeah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I don’t even know what I’m getting into here.” Erin sighed.

“With that mostly addressed. River, Sage.” Alpha Logan turned his attention to the twins. “Go pack an overnight bag. Probably pack for a few days.” He instructed.

“What? Why? Where do you think you’re taking my kids?” Erin demanded, starting to take a step forward. I quickly grabbed her hand to keep her back next to me.

“Would you rather they stick around while you and Hale fuck, probably loudly and in every room?” Logan cocked his head. “I mean, if you’re cool with traumatizing your teens, that’s on you. The walls here aren’t soundproof like they are at the pack house.”

Austin and the twins burst into laughter while Erin and I turned red. Leave it to my Alpha to embarrass me to such a degree. I forgot how easily his blunt manner could do that. I haven’t dealt with him as much since Jennifer died.

As the Beta’s daughter Logan and John both spent time around Jennifer growing up. And as the patrol chief, I answered directly to Alpha Logan. I guess it’s good to see he hasn’t lost his touch.

“EWWWW!” River and Sage exclaimed in unison. “We’re going with you!” They announced, jumping up from the sofa to race to their rooms.

“Nothing clears the room like talking about parents fucking.” Logan shrugged as John ran his hand over his exasperated face.

“Your children will be perfectly safe at the pack house, Miss Carlisle. And by spending the weekend there, they will get a chance to meet other youths in the pack and if they choose to join some training classes with others coming of age to awaken their wolves.” John assured her.

“Plus, Suzanne and I can check in on them.” Austin offered.

Suzie smiled, hurrying to her feet, offering her hand to Erin. “Right, we haven’t officially met. I’m Suzanne Walterson, Austin’s mate. It’s nice to meet you. You’ve got a great mate. Hale’s just the sweetest. If only his son were more like him.”

Erin chuckled softly as she shook her hand. “Um, nice to meet you.”

“You’re a rude little brat. I’ll make you pay for that comment when we get home.” Austin growled, wrapping his arms around Suzie and lifting her.

“Okay, that’s enough. Children, are you ready to go?” Logan shook his head, looking past us all.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw River and Sage with bags in hand. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand before mom blows Hale Daddy.” River smirked as Sage cringed.

“Let’s go before your mother throttles you.” Logan sighed, walking away and shooing the twins out the door.

“You can retrieve them at your leisure. If you don’t get them by Monday, we will ensure they arrive on time at their school.” John nodded as he nudged Austin and Suzie to the door.

“BYE, MOM! BYE, HALE DADDY!” Sage shouted.

“HAVE FUN BUT WEAR A CONDOM! YOU’RE TOO OLD TO HAVE MORE KIDS!” Sage shouted at their parting words before the door shut.

I groaned, running my hand over my face as I slumped down on the sofa. That was certainly a whirlwind. We haven’t had a proper date, and everyone is jumping to these conclusions. People are talking about mating, marking on the new moon to ensure Erin’s safety, and having sex.

‘We didn’t have a first date with Jen till after we were fucking, and she had our mark on her neck. I think the shooting star is going to look real good on Erin. And the new moon is weeks from now.’ Jason rationalized.

“Are you okay, Hale?” Erin asked, walking over to stand in front of me.

“I should be asking you that. You went from having a werewolf ex and hybrid twins to all this. Getting Jason back and finding out we’re mates changes a lot.” I sighed, taking her hands in mine.

“That’s true. A lot happened, but I’m not the only one hit with it all. And it might change some things, but I don’t think it changes anything badly. I still want to date you. You’ll have to explain the mark, but none of what happened tonight changes what I’ve felt about you.” Erin assured me as she climbed into my lap, straddling me.

“Your robe and shorts are wet.” I commented as her wet backside connected with my dry track pants.

‘Way to ruin the mood.’ Jason rolled his eyes.

“Then maybe you should help me take them off.” Erin suggested with a coy smile.

‘I swear to Goddess, if you say something stupid right now rather than ripping this woman’s clothes off, I’m disowning you as my human.’ Jason promised.