The defiant mate by Fennifer Francis novel Chapter 10

Nathan POV

He had spent the past week having his men investigate her where about. She had not returned to her apartment, had been taken somewhere else and where he had yet to find out. He couldn’t actually blame her for that, she had run off back to the human world, probably right into Eric Stanton’s protection. She felt like she belonged there now he figured, because he had once ordered her to leave, and told her to never come back. She had no where else to go, so it was not surprising that she had made a life for herself there.

Nathan had wolves watching her apartment for her return, but 7 days and nothing.

The FEDs had come for him the following morning. After her escape, he had gone willingly, no point in arguing it, not when she had ran right into their arms in such a bloodied and wounded state, directly from his pack Jands. He had been hoping she would still be with them and he could come across her.

That way she could scent him out and Kora and she would identify them as their Mate, which could solve everything.

But she had not been anywhere near him, at hospital for treatment of her wounds, she couldn’t just heal herself overnight in the human world. That would be extremely odd, and draw her unwanted attention to herself, she was smart. How could she claim her wounds were real if all healed and then he could claim she had fabricated them if that was the case.

He had been slapped with a human world federal charge of kg and causing grievous bodily harm, due to taking her across several states against her will. It was a federal case. Although he had not actually laid a hand on her, the men who he’d sent for her had injured her, but so severely that the charge was laid against him, due to that they were under his orders. He’d shaken his head, bloody humans.

He had informed them he didn’t know the men, and they had bolted already. When in reality, he had sent them home to bury their son and brother, he had paid them more money due to the death of the man. He had not expected Jay-la to fight so hard, let alone kill a wolf in an attempt to get away. But he should have known it. She was a warrior’s daughter and had trained with him and his unit most of the time. The girl could take care of herself.

But he had also not known that she was desperately trying to get back to her 3 children, who he had not known about and separated her from. It was no wonder she fought so hard, killed in an attempt to get away, and refused to come home at all.

The FED’s had produced the video footage of her k!ll!ng, the photographic evidence of all her wounds once she had, when she’d gotten away from him and run straight into the arms of human law enforcement. She had been str!pped down to her und*rwear and he’d gotten to see the state of her right hip, bruised and ripped open and her chest covered in dark bruising and many scratches from where she had been unceremoniously tossed out of the van and onto the ground unable to protect herself from the sudden impact due to having her hands bound behind her.

He had found it extremely difficult and hard to keep Havoc’s growls and snarling at bay at those officers in-charge of questioning him, with the way they had worded everything, made everything sound as though he had injured her himself and on purpose at that.

Havoc had wanted to rip them apart for accusing him of hurting our Mate. Nathan’s legal department was on it, and though he had gotten bail in no time, he had spent the day behind human bars, he had to hand over his passport and agree not to leave the state, annoying since his Mate was now on the other side of the country. None of the humans in his shared cell had come near him.

His wolf had been so close to the surface the whole time that they feared him right away. Havoc was ready to rip through them all for the slightest bit of disrespect from them, it had only made Nathan smile to be honest, Humans were so afraid of him and all he had to do was glare at them.

Though the 2 officers questioning him had smelled of fear they had not shown it, he could see why they were good at their jobs, could portray confidence and authority even when scared of the man in front of them, a couple of times when he had really struggled to contain.

Havoc and his anger had shown on his face, he’d seen them both back into their chairs slightly and eye him wearily, the only reason they were alive was because they were in the human world, if this had happened on his territory he doubt Havoc would have allowed them to survive.

In his cell he had paced back and forth. Havoc did not like being caged in a cell at all, the 3 humans in the cell with him had stayed along the back wall well away from him, Havoc had turned and growled at them once, and they all had gone wide-eyed and bolted to the back and stayed there, fear flowed freely off of them the whole time he had been in the cell with them.

1 day behind bars was worth it, it would show Jay-la and Kora he was willing to take punishment for her treatment, even though at the time she had not known they were her Mate, he was Sorry for her treatment, the injuries sustained to her, and the separation from her pups.

Getting to her was the new problem. If he attempted to take her or her three pups how, the humans would be all over him again. Dear goddess, how was he going to handle that? Three pups… he had yet to lay eyes on them. Had no idea how old they were, whether they were boys or girls. Hell he didn’t even know if they were half-human or wolfen for that matter. If they were half human could he ever bring them in, what about their human father.’ f**k this is a nightmare’.

He did know she had had them in the human world, because she had certainly not come to the pack hospital to birth them on each occasion. She’d been all alone to deal with it.

When he had sent for her, he had not even thought about whether or not she had found a Mate, gotten married to a human or had had a family, children. He’d seen her on TV and Havoc had insisted on bringing her home, no if’s and’s or but’s. It was a must.

Havoc had finally coughed up the truth to Nathah, that when they had seen her on TV, he had felt that he mised her, it had put an ache into his heart, and when he had heard her speak, her soft but confident tones a desperate need to be near her had fallen over him.

The desire to be with her filled him so quickly and deeply that he wanted to once again have her right next to him. A need that burned inside him so strongly he couldn’t ignore it. Not that he had told Nathan at the time, might have solved a few problems in the way he’d brought her in.

Nathan might have actually gone to her in person, might have, though it was likely not, he’d probably still have sent Jackson or Stephen maybe. He had hurt her that day and who was to say she would even see him.

He could have gone and apologised for what he had done to her 6 years ago, though now he knew that the minute he would have come face to face with her they would both have know what they were to each other and problem solved, or at least he liked to think so. His current daydream. Her currently being a single mum of three had shaken him, but he would have dealt with it.

It had been a week since this news had come to him, completely out of the blue, everyone in the room had been utterly shocked by her announcement, his dad, his Beta and he himself had all been completely unaware and her sudden begging and bringing them up had him feeling very guilty indeed.

He had not done a full investigation of her, prior to having her collected, he’d simply tracked her address from her company and that had been it, it hadn’t even crossed his mind that she wouldn’t be alone out there.

He was now a little concerned about Eric Stanton’s relationship with his Mate, what if that human was her man. He was feared and respected in the human world, someone who could not only look out for her and protect her, use all his human resources to get her back at all cost, which he had proved he was already willing to do, he had acted very quickly in her favour.

There was something going on there. If her children were his, there was going to be trouble, she would not likely leave them behind, and he couldn’t see Eric giving them up not to the man who had just kidnapped her and, in his opinion, brutalised her.

Nathan had already looked into the man himself. He was 45, fit for his age, did Tia Kwon Don and had a black belt, so he could put up a fight, though Nathan knew he would be no match for him or Havoc. The man was a well respected and a feared prosecutor, he was liked in the human society around him, was wealthy, and the CEO of a prestigious Law Firm.

He was no longer married, had once been, but divorced 10 years earlier. He was considered good looking, he had short blonde hair and grey eyes, with a square jaw line, his build was good, but only by human standards. Nathan was twice as fit and boasted way more muscle. But if he was Jay-la’s man he could see why. Power and protection were a must for a lone she-wolf. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

Who was to say they weren’t seeing each other and it just wasn’t public knowledge outside, it could be the reason she did her internships at his company and then started working for him right out of university after passing her Bar Exam.

Nathan couldn’t find anywhere that they had actually worked on any cases together. They did work from the same building and she would be attracted to him and his power. That thought elicited a low growl from Havoc’ Down boy’ Nathan smiled ‘once she scents us, it wil be all over for any man she is with, Kora won’t stand for others touching her once she knows, and you kkow it.

Another growl came from his beast, he did not like even thinking about another wolf or human touching what was his. But right now she was gone, had vanished for the past 7 days, she had gone somewhere and he didn’t think it would be a hotel, not when she had kids. Likely gone to the children’s fathers place of residence if they didn’t live together, hell this could have pushed them to move in together.

Though he had surveillance on Eric Stanton’s home, she was not there or if she was no-one had seen her and she was inside away from prying eyes. It was annoying and worrying to not know where she was.

Nathan’s legal team were pushing for him to do a press conference in order to help him out in the human world, and clear his name, he was actually standing in the middle of his office reading itor supposed to be, but his mind kept wandering, how could it not when he didn’t know where she was.

It wasn’t that bad a statement it would have him admit to sending men to collect her, but that he had not in way shape of form instructed them to hurt her. He was to formally apologise, not an issue he was willing to do that, and claim that he’d only wanted to talk to her, that he would like to have mediation with her regarding what had happened. His legal team had advised him that the quickest way to deal with the human charges against him was to get them dropped altogether. If he could convince Jay-la to agree to let them be dropped, that would be the end of it.

The question was. Could he get her into the same room as him for mediation, she would likely have to come this way due to the human world restrictions placed on him, not that he cared about those. If it came to it, he would ignore them altogether. His Mate was more important than some restrictions on his movement around the human world.

Jay-la was afraid of him, that much he knew, the words she’d heard him say over the phone would have her clearly believe he didn’t care about anything that happened to her, when in actual fact he did care, more than she could comprehend at this moment in time.

Just walking into a room with him would clarify a lot, but the way he had brought her in, the injuries she had sustained, was going to cause doubt even if she scented him. T hey would have to Work on trust, or he would, he loved her already, couldn’t wait to be her Mate. She had always been fun and playful with him during their love affair.

Due to the anger and aggression that had been pouring out of Havoc at the sight of her injuries and her dishevelled state she could only have mistaken his anger for what she probably thought it was, her refusal to come home and her utter defiance at all his requests.

Alpha’s orders wele law and no one was supposed to igrore them, and she had defied him at every turn. Stubborn she-wolf, he smiled to himself.

He also didn’t know if Jay-la knew his previous Mate-bond was Over, done and dusted and that he was glad it was. If she didn’t then stepping into a room with him was going to cause quite a shock to her and Kora. Nathan also believed right at this moment, the only thing he had going for him was their past relationship. Before Sophia. And he would use it if he had too, anything to gain her trust, He was hoping that Kora would be able to sway Jay-la. He’d already dealt with Jay-la without Kora. She was scared of him.

Kora’s bond with Havoc he was certain would be instant and strong. They had known each other a long time. Kora was a cheeky wolf and Havoc had enjoyed hunting her and tracking her when she was hiding from him and the boys to tease them. He had also enjoyed pouncing on her, not that he and Kora had ever done anything, wolves stayed out of human Counterpart relationships unless it was their fated mate. But they had gotten along and been playful with each other. She was a pretty wolf to. He’d never seen anything like her wolf.

Havoc purred at the thought of Kora now, her shinny silver/white coat, the pretty grey of her snout and feet, she wasn’t a large wolf or hadn’t been average size, but she had been amazingly fast and he had like being the only one who could catch her, she always got Havoc to really push himself and put everything into the chase. Not something he had to do often.

Chasing her around their pack was going to be good fun, only pouncing on her would mean something different altogether now.

His attention was dragged away from internal thoughts by Jackson as he got off the phone with a sigh that sounded part annoyed part worried. He’d yet to question Jackson about if he had feelings for Jay-la, though he was certain he did, he knew that Jackson would never betray him.

“A boy and twin girls it looks like, about a year apart from Pete’s judgement, he just laid eyes on her. No photo, just a quick glance in the car as she drove into the secured car park of her building. The 3 in the back seat”

Havoc whined in his mind, ‘someone gave her pups, that was our job, someone beat us to it.’

Nathan sighed, he too felt a little lost at the news she had used the word family, but none of them had found a human marriage license or certificate with her name on it, so it didn’t appear she was married.

“Did she Come home alone?” he asked, not really wanting to know the answer in truth if it was a no.

“Yes boss, just her and the 3 pups.”

“Are hey púps? Or are they human?” he mused Out loud. No-one in the room even attempted to answer him. Jackson knew him better than anyone, and would have picked up on his tone. Stephen, his Gamma, sat silently staring at a computer screen. He’d barely said a single word in a week.

Once he had informed his most trusted, Jackson, Stephen and Ethan. His Gamma Stephen, the one he’d entrust her safety too when he wasn’t around, had stared at him for a full minute, then had just turned around and walked away and as of yet, no one knew the man’s thoughts. He would talk when he was
ready. He had been chasing her with Jackson to try and stop her from leaving the pack territory but had failed. It was possible he had guilt over her getting away, Considering as the Gamma it was ingrained into his every fibre to protect the Luna with his life.

Ethan, his Delta had simply sighed and shook his head, then said “Well, what are we doing about getting her back then?”

To his dislike, his father had informed his mother and siblings. His mother had stomped into his office very angrily, glaring right at him and he knew instantly he was in trouble, nothing like a mother’s displeasure at something her child had done wrong, the child could always tell, this moment had been just like that for him. He had raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and he’d state “I know,I did wrong. but that had not stopped her from storming across the room and starting to slap him about anywhere she could, while he tried to block the hits.

Havoc had stayed out of it, she was the only woman in his world who could get away with hitting him, well probably 1 of 2 now. His father had pulled her away and calmed her down. He’d Simply apologized to which she’d stated flatly “it’s not me you need to apologise to son.” At his agreed response, she had stormed off out of his oftice, and his father had followed. Nathan knew his father was trying to calm her down further.

Later on he okayed the press conference and allowed it to be set up with human reporters. He designated the spot as to the front of the packs Architecture Firm, just 45min from pack borders, then set about adjusting then wording and response of his official statement to the press. He would be taking minimal questions and he would stay on topic only.

It was the next day that he received the shock of his life. His father walked into his office and dropped a photograph on his desk right in front of him. “The boy is definitely yours,” he had stated, sounding very annoyed, jabbing a finger at the boy in the photograph.

It was a picture of 3 children, a boy and twin girls, looked to be about 4 and 3 respectively. The date on the bottom of the photograrh showed it had been taken a year ago. His heart ached terribly at the sight of them, they looked so happy all playing at the beach laughing up at the camera, probably Jay-la taking the photo.

The boy had his arms around the girls, he could see the boys’ fingers were digging into their sides, he was tickling them and they were all laughing. All three of them had her jewel green eyes and were shiny with joy and happiness, but all of them had his blonde hair. Goddess the boy looked just like him when he was that age.

Havoc was growling in his mind, racing around like he was ready to rip out of him ‘Ours. he snarled at him. Nathan felt the drawing to them, and couldn’t tear his eyes from them.

“They are all mine,” Nathan replied without hesitation, he trusted Havoc’s opinion 100%, he felt drawn to the 2 girls in the photo as much as he did the boy. His heart ached so badly and when he touched his fingers to the photo pain seared through him. f**k what had he done.

Did she know that day? She had been begging him for just 2 minutes of his time, but he and Havoc had just found their fated mate and he’d not cared about anything else at all, hadn’t wanted her touching him at all to be honest, recalled glaring at her touch, something he had enjoyed not more than 3 days earlier, the day before he had met his fated mate actually.

Had she been trying to tell him? f**k.

Had Kora only responded the way she had in order to protect her pups, his pups. f**k. And he’d sent her away, pushed his Alpha order at her without a single thought about the Consequences, due to his mate’s injury. ‘This is a Nightmare’.

‘We have to fix it’ Havoc whimpered at him, guilt, regret and sadness washing over him, he’d been just as responsible for what happened to her that day, he’d been present to assist in giving the order, He’d lost so much that day and didn’t even know it, shunned her and never thought about her again if he was completely honest with himself, neither of them had until the day they’d seen her on the TV, so full of life and confidence.

“All of them son?” his father questioned him, his tone very quiet.

“Yes. Havoc is of the same opinion. Triplets.”

“You, have really messed up. You know that right.”

“Yes.” he sighed “I’llfind a way to fix it, we’ll get her back, and she’ll know what we are to her.”

“Not going to be easy son.” his father stated flatly, then left the room closing the door behind him. he was about to get the biggest beating of his life and he was going to have to take it, they were her grand babies, and she’d not gotten to see them born, never gotten to hold them, spoil them or watch them grow up.

All the things she would have wanted, all the things he wanted, and he’d royally screwed up. Gut-wrenching guilt was eating away at him. Goddess help me to not die when she comes for me.

His most trusted friends were all in his office. They had been sitting around discussing protection detail for her, who was going and what to set up officially in the human world. None of them said anything, they were all just staring at him. He could feel their eyes on him yet he couldn’t even look at them in return. Too much guilt for sending her away and in such a delicate condition. A condition she’d had to deal with on her own.

She had been friends with all of them all their lives, a year younger than him and Jackson but the same age as Stephen and Ethan. She had trained with them due to her father’s rank as top warrior and he was the one training them too. Then when Kora had come along so darn fast mo one could keep up with her, she’d fit into their group without issue even though she was a girl she had never had a problem, rough housing with therm or teasing and playing with them.

She was just one of the group. Made them all laugh many times, now it was all very wrong. He’d done this, split her apart from the group, from all of them, sent her away and they’d all lost a friend that day due to his actions and thoughtlessness, and now the utter devastation of his decision was finally revealed to him.

He had lost his childhood friend, his one-time love interest and his children, who had not even been known to him. He doubted very much they knew who he was. Did she even tell them what they were? Growing up in the human world, it could be that she had never mentioned wolfen society to them, it was a secret to be kept from humans, was she raising them human? Probably due to his order to never come back.

He saw movement in the corner of his eye and finally looked at Jackson, Stephen and Ethan. They were all walking towards him, he Wondered how Havoc would handle them trying to beat the life out of him. Havoc was quiet. Probably wouldn’t interfere, they did deserve it, though being the Alpha was unlikely to happen, he guessed, even if they were his childhood friends, respect must be given or punishnment would be dealt out.

They all walked behind his desk and looked at the photo in his hand. He had yet to put it down, a part of him couldn’t. His children, his heir’s to the Pack. Out there for all this time completely cut off from the pack and its protection, unprotected and he solely responsible for it. How could he blame her for any of this, goddess he was going to have to beg for forgiveness at some point, she would never forget what he had done or how she had to be on her own with them all this time, how he had been the one to cause her to leave.

“Cute pups.” Jackson stated calmly.

“Must be a handful, 3 alpha pups all at once.” Ethan mused aloud with a half laugh.

Stephen said nothing at all, still silent on the subject of Jay-la being his Alpha’s mate and now mother to his Alpha’s pups. Still no one knew what was going on inside his head. Rafe had yet to emerge either.