The defiant mate by Fennifer Francis novel Chapter 20

Nathan POV

His phone was ringing, he was aware that Jay-la was about to come face to face with his parents and his brother, he was hoping it went well, that there was no trouble, that Jay-la could handle it, knowing that this was not about her but Micheal and Rae-Rae and be able to differentiate between him sending people to corner her and the reason for the dinner. She being affiliated with Rae-Rae had come as a complete surprise to them all.

Rae-Rae had talked about her like a sister to Micheal, this dinner could go one of 2 ways, Jay-la would remain calm and let them work on their Bond, or she could turn it into a nightmare causing trouble for his brother and his mate. He was praying for the first, not just for her sake but for his brother and Rae-Rae too.

The time of the call was barely midnight so only 9ish over there. Father flashed on thephone’s screen, this was not going to be good, he thought, taking a deep breath before answering the call.

“Yes” he stated, leaving all pleasantries aside.
“Get on your plane and get over here no” his father stated, in that no-nonsense tone, meaning there was to be no arguing period.

Then he simply hung up.

Nathan was sitting in his office, patiently waiting a call on the outcome of the dinner. Clearly, it had not gone as planned. He called the family pilot and organised the plane be ready for take off within the next hour. Making sure they had a direct flight to a private air strip, he could not be detained by the human police for leaving his state and breaching the current human world court order.

Not if it truly was bad, it would only make things more difficult. He wondered just how bad it had gotten, Havoc was worried too, prowling around in his mind like he was stalking his favourite pray, his ears flat against his head and his tail swishing furiously, though he was quiet on the thought front, never good, the calm before the storm.

It was a 5 hour flight, there was a car waiting at the air-strip, it was just after 0130 in the morning when he arrived. He’d already had a bunch of messages, she was missing, no one seemed to know where she was, she had run from the restaurant and no one knew where to. His father had simply said it was bad.” and he had been able to hear his mother sobbing in the background.

Ethan was with him, he’d left Abbey in-charge of the Pack, for the first time ever. Wow, her head had nearly exploded with the power. Bloody she-wolf loved running things. She was a bossy b!tch at the best of times, hot-blooded and loved giving out orders, a typical alpha.

Ethan drove them straight to the hotel suite Jackson and Stephen were using to run things from. He was surprised to see them both sitting calmly on the couch, a drink in hand, apparently waiting for his arrival. They bloody well should be out there looking for her, He was about to let Havoc loose on them, the snarl that came from him as a warning shot them both to their feet.

Jackson quickly spoke “she’s at home.” He reigned in Havoc, and his beast went willingly knowing his Mate was safe. “what the hell happened?” he snapped.

“Your guess is as good as ours.” Stephen sighed, shaking his head. Apparently, they were also in the dark. Was it really that bad?

Mate needs us, we go now’ Havoc growled at him. He was determined to get to her and being this close was keeping him on the surface. The not knowing of what had gone down was keeping their adrenaline high, his wolf was feeding off of it, it seemed.

“So father hasn’t informed anyone of what happened then?”

They both shook their heads, sitting back down again. He watched Stephen drain his glass and frowned. The man liked to sip his bourbon, liked to savour the taste, unlike him to drain a glass like that, he didn’t like it, that meant he was stressed which likely meant so was his Mate.

‘Mate needs us’ Havoc reiterated.

Nathan pushed him away for now. He needed more information, ignoring his beast was not a good idea. But if he let him loose in a city, it would only be bad for everyone, humans and wolves alike.

Not to mention he would probably scare the living hell out of their pups and her too.

He called his father, he did not care what time it was.

Alpha Blaine picked up right away. “We’ll talk later, we have another problem to deal with”. “What the hell could be more important than my mate?” he practically roared down the line. His anger at his father ignited.

“Micheal’s human Mate’s fanmily yanked Rae-Rae from the restaurant the minute Jay-la ran and no calls are being picked up.

Not even Rae-Rae is taking Micheal’s calls. Micheal is at a loss. I’m sorry, son but you may have to handle Jay-la on your own for the moment”.

Nathan sighed. He couldn’t blame them. human Mate’s were hard to deal with, especially one as prominent as Rae-Rae, she was an heiress to the Hill Foundation and just couldn’t disappear without a trace. It would be noticed by a lot of people especially her family.

On the bright side, when Micheal did manage to bring her in, she would have Jay-la for comfort in her new environment and to help with the transition to being a ware-wolf.

“It’s fine, sort out Micheal’s Mate. ‘ll sort out my mess…what’s wrong with mum?” he finally asked.

“She is distressed about everything, we’ll discuss it in the morning son” the line disconnected.

Nathan turned to Jackson and Stephen “How was she when she got home?” Not only did he want to know, he knew Havoc did to, his need to be with his Mate was boarding on obsessive. At some point there would be no stopping him and anyone who got in his way was going to be ripped to shreds in all likelihood. He sat himself down across from them, knew Havoc was watching assessing their every move, would be listening for every inflection in their tone of voice, he knew they knew Havoc was right there on the surface.

There was a slight roughness to his voice that implied they were both speaking at the same time, their thoughts aligned completely.

“Quiet” Stephen said.

Nathan raised an eyebrow. That meant absolutely nothing to him “normally quite chatty. Narky chatty…but nothing, she didn’t even look at us really, just a glanced at us, tossed our phones out the door and closed and lockedit. From what I heard, checked on the children, Nate was either still awake or woken. She had a quiet word with him, reassured him everything was fine, then went to bed.”

Jackson informed him calmly.

“Didn’t even wake the nanny to go home.” Stephen piped in.

Everyone was staring at Stephen now. Why mention that?

Nathan thought he didn’t care about the human nanny. None of them would, she was non essential. He’d vetted her nothing out of the ordinary, 24 had been a nanny since she was 20, normal human family.

Jackson, however turned, looked at Stephen with a sly smile Is that where you’ve been sneaking off to, to bang the nanny?”

“No” Stephen shot back, “just monitoring her to make sure she’s not being paid by another pack to spy on Jay-la and the pups is all.” he sounded quite defensive actually, like he didn’t like having to justify his actions where the human was concerned.

All of a sudden, Ethan jumped on him, knocking him off the couch and onto the ground, holding him down “you lie.” he was grinning at his friend liar liar: “Not lying” Stephen stated, trying to fight him off.

“You’re so doing the nanny.” Jackson burst out, leaned down and started shaking him “spill it” he was laughing at his friend they were playfully pummeling him, trying to get the truth out they knew a lie when they heard one.

Nathan watched on, his mood lifted a little, he knew his mate was safely tucked up in her apartment with their pups for the moment, and to be honest, he needed a break from all the stress, even Havoc chortled in his mind ‘he’s so mating the nanny.’

Nathan got up and jumped into the harassment of his friend, and suddenly Stephen was being rolled around and pummelled by all of them, his efforts to get away were futile. He spilled it, Suzzy was his human Mate and he was sneaking off to watch her. He’d scented her that first day they’d gone to Jay-la’s apartment. When she had Come out to go home Rafe had gone nuts Screaming Mate over and over in his mind.

So, yes, he’d been sneaking off to watch her each night. No actual contact yet, Stephen told Rafe she would have to wait. Jay-la their Luna would have to take priority. Rafe was annoyed but understood, it was his duty as much as Stephen’s to protect Jay-la.

So when Jay-la was safely tucked up for the night they’d sneak off to watch their mate for a few hours, it placated them both.

Jackson had laughed the most and punched him “No wonder you were instant on us baby sitting the, baby sitter while Jay-la was out for dinner. I did think it odd”

Stephen just smirked “What can I say,”

“Nothing” Ethan shoved him about “lucky bastard, when are you gonna mate and mark her. I bet you’re itching to.”

“Don’t know yet:” he shrugged ignoring the rest of the comment.

“Bring her back to the pack with Jay-la” Nathan offered up “‘ll give her a job. Heck, if she wants she can stay their nanny, that would be fine with Jay-la l imagine, and being the Gamma’s mate, it’s fine with me”, Thanks boss.’ Stephen nodded “l’d also be fine with her being their nanny too, but…”

They all laughed at him, knowing he was thinking about not just mating her but impregnating her as quickly as he could, and another round of pummelling started on him. They were all rough housing, teasing him, poor bastard was going to be tormented no end for trying to keep it a secret.

His father arrived at 7am. They were up, only managed a few hours’ sleep. Surprisingly, Nathan had gotten 3 and half hours sleep himself. The most he’d had in a row in weeks. He could occasionally nap on and off but actual decent sleep was nowa mystery to him. It was like he just didn’t know how anymore, he knew it was because he was worried about his Mate Bond and how to fix it, that she and his pups were out there in the human world in danger of being snatched, or harmed every second of the day and night.

That she was right, he’d turned the spotlight onto them. It was his fault, they were in danger and his guilt, havoc’s guilt would eat at them when they tried to sleep. Only actual exhaustion of his body and mind allowed them to get a few hours sleep each night. The rest was just tossing and turning because their minds wouldn’t shut off.

His father looked tired, not something that you would normally see. He was strong and dependable, rational and currently so laid back nothing phased him. He must be utterly emotionally exhausted and worn out, Nathan knew it wasn’t because his mother had bedded him all night long, that gave his father a happy tired nature, a constant lazy smile on his face. This was something different.

He sank down onto the couch and accepted the cup of espresso “Jay-la and Kora…” he sighed “are not in a good state son… made your mother’s maternal instincts c***k to breaking point. Your Mate’s emotional state around you is dreadful to be honest.”

Nathan frowned “What do you mean exactly?” Havoc was up and intently listening ‘go to mate now’ just wait a bit hear father out’

“She actually believes you mean harm to her or that you are going to separate her from her pups. She and Kora’s distress levels during a conversation with your mother flowed out of her so much it physically affected your mother… brought her actual pain which in turn I felt, and got me out of my chair, damn fast. I thought she was injured that Jay-la had physically harmed her.

“Is mum alright?” Nathan now had something else to worry about, the worries were just piling up more and more.

To be honest.. No…she sobbed herself to sleep, I have never seen her do that in all the years I’ve known her:” he drained his espresso “sobbed something about Luna ability in overdrive. Jay-la can’t control it, so her distress flowed like the Luna Calm, but Luna Distress, it actually overpowered your mother altogether. She was hit with everything that girl feels, her anxiety, fear, distress, it’s all very nreal and deeply embedded into them.”

Nathan was leaning forward now. “How is it possible that Jay-la has Luna abilities, she doesn’t even knowl am her mate.”

“And in reverse, flowing distress” Stephen frowned.

“I don’t know.’ his father shook his head, “l’d suggest asking your mother, but I doubt you’d get a coherent answer out of her at the moment” he ran his hands through his hair, pulling on it as he did when frustrated “What I do know son, is why she is fighting so hard against you. So hard not to come home, why she is so very defiant.to protect her pups from your Luna”

“What?” Nathan’s frown deepened “Sophia has been gone along time.”

Yes son, you and I know that, but she didn’t know that. I informed her last night, I did it in the hope that it would calm her down and bring her stress levels under control a bit.”

“Did it work?”

“Not at all” he shook his head and sighed heavily “you want the kicker?”

“Probably not.but go ahead” both he and Havoc knew they were not going to like what was about to come out of his mouth.

“Kora… sized me up… I have not heard such a viscous threatening sound like that, she was ready to try and take me on, to be honest even Storm my wolf wasn’t sure he could take her, she sounded all primal and her demeanour. he shook his head I couldn’t understand it, we always got along, never had any issues no animosity between us, it was very concerning to say the least!

Nathan’s eyes were wide now. “In public?” he asked.

“Yes, Kora didn’t care at all, was definitely going to attack me. I think your mother understood, all l and Storm got was a s**t load of pure aggression radiating off of her and then my instincts kicked in, I was ready to shift in less than a second all my Alpha blood boiling and pumping through us ready to fight her.”

“She was challenging you?”

“I don’t know if it was a challenge, so to speak, but a fight it was going to be. I can only imagine a very bloody one and the outcome either you or your mother, would have been mate-less by the end of it.”

“Fuck” fear was creeping into him and Havoc.

“Indeed.”

“I’ll go talk to her.” Stephen was on his feet instantly.

“I’ll go with you.” Jackson piped up.

You two can’t even stand to be in the same room together at the moment” Stephen shot at him.

“I’m fine, trust me, she just knows how to push my buttons, I’ll be fine”.

Nathan let them go, but as they got to the door “wait, maybe she just needs some space…watch her but don’t get close, back all the wolves off to a safer distance, close enough to help if trouble arises but far enough away to give her breathing room.” he needed her to calm down.

‘Mate strong’

‘Appears so!

‘Good, I want a strong Mate.!

Nathan, however, was worried. If she truly wanted away from him at all cost, nothing was going to stop her, if Kora was willing to take on his father, would she do the same to them?

‘No, Mate will want us!

‘Mate appears terrified of us Havoc’

‘Mark and Mate’

You think that is the answer to everything’ Nathan frowned.

Havoc snorted ‘Mark and Mate.’ he repeated firmly.

It was impossible to Sway his wolf, Havoc wanted his Mate and would have her whether she liked it or not.

“perhaps after all this time on her own, she can’t handle all the wolf attention she is suddenly getting”

“Or perhaps she has lived in fear, for all these years, that it’s all she knows now.” his father replied, sadness etched into his words.

We did this to her. His chest ached with pain. He sighed he had really fucked things up “i need to get her on to pack territory where I can contain her.”

“Hmm could possibly help..though if I were you son, I’d be bring out the big guns.”

“What exactly are, the big guns father?” he was confused, “there isn’t anything more powerful than you or I?”

His father laughed at him, “still learning, I see. Oh yes there is son.” he let it hang in the aira full minute before realising Nathan had no idea what he was talking about and continued “aren’t you always aiming to please your mother on all accounts.”

“Mum’s already tried, got broken from my understanding” he frowned at his father.

“Not you’re mother son. Her mother…Children, no matter how old always want their mummy. Even you…”

Nathan snorted in disbelief.

“Come on son, I’ve seen that fear when she stalks into a room and you know your about to get it,” his father smirked at him “Even the mighty Alpha before me, backs down to his mummy.”

Ethan barked with laughter, but stopped dead when Nathan shot him a death glare. Unfortunately, they had all seen him raise his hands defensively and submit to his mother on occasion, not often but certainly where Jay-la was concerned.

“So you want me to bring Vera out here?”

“Couldn’t hurt son.”

“I’ll think on it.” he nodded, Vera and her Mate Jody and their son Bradley had not talked to him since he’d banished her. Jody had even stopped training the Alpha team. Stated point blankly to his face “Respect will be given when it is earned” and he had simply walked away from the unit, a unit he had been training all their lives.

The loss of his daughter had hurt him and he now only trained the junior wolves, and would not be swayed. Not even his father had been able to convince him. Nathan hadn’t been privy to the conversation between the two of them and his father had not relayed it ever.

Her brother Bradley, an excellent warrior, trained and in line to take over his father’s position had also walked away from the position when it was offered to him. Now he assisted his father with the juniors. Though that had worked out quite well for the pack as all the youngsters were well trained, hand to hand before they even got their wolves, made them better and more efficient fighters, his pack was actually stronger now than it had been 6 years ago.

Vera was still running the pack Creche but avoided him, even when his mother had asked him to pick up his baby sister Halley from the creche, Vera would see him coming and turn and walk away leaving one of the other she-wolves to get her. When usually the drop off and delivery was done by Vera herself as the lead wolf running the Creche, but not where he was concerned.

He was actually totally surprised they hadn’t defected back to her original pack. That thought brought his mind to his conversation with Jackson about Alpha Austin’s offer to join the Winter Moon Pack.

“Father, do you know of Alpha Austin?”

“From Winter Moon Pack?”

“Yes”

“Yes, why?”

“He’s personally offered Jay-la a place in his pack, and she is actually entertaining the idea, I believe”

That grabbed his father’s attention, a frown appeared on his face and he looked directly at his son ‘Hmm..why him?”

“Apparently her grandmother is from there” he elaborated,

“Oh..” he seemed to think about it for a long time, several minutes went by without a word “I wouldn’t allow it. Not that he
would harm her or your pups. Quite the opposite, I think. A good pack for her to go to, if you weren’t her Mate, that is.”

“then why not allow it?” He was very curious. If this pack could make her feel safe, then he should let her, perhaps good for them to calm down and feel safe. He could always call Alpha Austin and explain she was his Mate and get permission to visit, much better circumstances then now and it wasn’t that far from his pack just a 2 hour drive. She didn’t have to be told he was coming, just let her smell him and hunt out her Mate, that might actually solve the issue at hand. Havoc huffed. He was unhappy but it could work.

“The man is un-mated son. For nearly a century, he has women falling all over himself to be the future Luna of his pack. He’s considered one of the best looking wolves there is. He’s on the Alpha Council, is well respected and liked by most, not many enemies to be honest, and his pack is exceptionally strong. Everyone trains even the Omega’s rank up to warrior status if they so desire. He is fair and honest. Treat’s his pack with respect and they give it back in spades.”

“So?” Why should this bother him? If he was fair and honest, that meant hearing she was his Mate just meant that the man would allow hinm to come for her.

“Might be an ulterior motive in there somewhere. He is very strategic. Jay-la is very easy on the eye, her wolf is stunning and fierce. It’ll undoubtedly attract him to her and she has 3 pups already. So fertile. He has no heirs that l am aware of. If he takes them in, he might decide to choose her as his chosen mate, and if she says yes for whatever reason ‘protection most likely’;, he’ll likely bleed your pups into his line and BAM he has a male heir instantly and one with Alpha blood. You’ll have no claim to them at all after that.”

“ll call him first and make sure he knows I’m her mate.”

“He might not care, son. if he’s offering a place he has likely seen the battle going on and is on her side. It will appear to the council you harmed her and if they find out you harmed your Mate they may take her side…you never know with them and he’s on the council.”

No-one takes our pups, Havoc snarled

I know buddy’ Nathan tried to placate him ‘l agree
“I don’t think Jay-la would accept a chosen Mate. She was always a big believer in Fated Mate’s. It’s one of the reasons when I met Sophia, she stepped back and didn’t even get mad.”

“Mm, a good wolf she is,” his father agreed, “just something else that will attract an Alpha male in search of a good Mate.”

“Could you call him them?” “Yes son, I will give him a call and alert him to the nightmare that is your Mating Bond. See what he says. Perhaps he’ll bring her in and you can go there to find her!”

“That’s my thoughts exactly. If she needs time to calm down and feel safe, then I owe it to her to give it to her”

‘Mate needs us’ Havoc sighed. He saw the logic but didn’t like it.

‘I know but..’

‘Distress and fear overwhelms our Mate, Kora needs me! Havoc grumbled.

Just wait, I promise just one week and we’ll go and get her ourselves.

What if not there? he huffed.

It’s likely she will go there, her grandmother is there.!’

He could feel Havoc’s resistance to the idea, he was not patient in the least and he was doing his best to be at the moment, something Nathan really appreciated. Especially with them being so close to their Mate, maybe 35 to 40 minutes away. But from what his father had told them today, it might not go down so well. His mum was broken by her distress.

If her distress poured out in front of Havoc, it could set him off into a raging uncontrollable beast here in the human world and neither of them needed that. Nor did HavoC need for Kora or the pups to see how uncontrollable his anger could get, might just frighten her even further, even if they recognised them as their Mate she might reject him on the spot.

“I’ll go and call him..I should get back to your mother…whose in charge back home if we are all here?”

“Abbey.”

“Goddess help us alL” he half laughed ” Hopefully it’s still your, Pack son, when you get home.”

“it will be, I threatened her mate if she so much as thought about trying to take over while I’m away.”

“Did you now?”

“Nathan waved his hand dismissively and leaned back in his chair. It’s fine.”

He watched his father leave.

Ethan was staring at him You did make her believe you though right? “Of course I did” Nathan laughed. Everyone was terrified something would happen to him and she was going to take over. He rubbed a hand over his face, he was feeling tired again, needed a proper sleep, but doubted he would get it, just one more possible issue piling up on him and his Mate Bond. Would he ever be able to Sort it out.

“We need to research anything on Luna powers that could indicate a reason why they would be in reverse.”

“Yeah and how she got them in the first place… you know she was such a happy wolf, so full of life and playful all the time, how did it come to this? Has she been so full of fear all these years that she can’t comprehend anything else?”

“I don’t know Ethan, I hope not” What if the pups are also affected just like that? He didn’t want to think about it to be honest.

Neither did Havoc. Nathan felt him suddenly recede to the back recesses of his mind. Nota good thing, not when he did it willingly, he was probably planning his own agenda back there, and when he enacted it Nathan just knew he was not going to be able to stop him.

“So much pain and distress it broke mum, that can’t be a good thing at all”

“How are we going to bring her in?”

“Carefully, perhaps let her go for now altogether.” he didn’t like it but it might be the only option.

“What? Havoc will never agree to that.”

“Havoc will understand, her mental state needs to come first.”

We know she thinks I want to punish her for that hit to Sophia.

We know she thinks or blames me for her injuries that day.

We know she felt all our anger and fury and couldn’t scent us because of the drugged state she was in.

She just found out last night that Sophia and l are no longer Mates, and so maybe some of that fear will go away, worrying that your Luna would hurt your pups, a legitimate fear, would have always been a constant fear for her. That can go now. He thought to himself, perhaps things might start to get better now We need to wait and see what will happen over the next day or 2, give her room to breath and calm down”

“lets start researching then Boss.”