Chapter Fifty Eigh

Liam

I knew Azalea was going to be nervous and frankly I was not too excited about this either. I had breakfast brought up to us, so she didn’t have to face anyone just yet. After we were finished getting ourselves ready in the bathroom, we sat on the couch in my room and ate our breakfast. I looked around the room while we ate. I realized that I desperately needed to do some remodeling to make this our space instead of just mine. I wanted her to feel comfortable here.

“Hey, Damien, are you busy?”

“Not super. What’s up?”

“Think you can help me with a project? Or maybe let Lily tackle it.”

“Depends, what is it?”

“Fixing up my room to make room for Azalea.”

“Awww. Going to get all mushy on us, now are you?” he joked. “But seriously, Lily will be all over it. I will have her head up there once you guys get down here. Are we still speaking before we bring in Isaac?”

“Yea, I need an update before we speak to him. Thanks man.” I cut the link and looked over to Azalea. She had an odd look on her face.

“What’s up baby?” I asked her.

“Were you talking to someone?” she asked back.

“Oh yea. Just linking Damien. He is going to meet us in my office in a few minutes before we meet your uncle.”

“Oh, okay.” she said. She sounded a little sad.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s nothing,” she said looking down into her lap.

I scooted closer to her and placed my finger under her chin. I lifted her eyes to mine. “It’s something. Just tell me, baby,” I said. I would fix anything that made her heart sad.

“Well, my wolf is gone but I was still sort of hoping that I would be able to link with you once I was marked…” she said. I could hear the disappointment in her voice.

“I am sorry, baby. Want me to ask my uncle, see if he knows something that could help?”

“Sure,” she said with a tight smile. “Should we go meet Damien?”

I looked into her gorgeous green eyes. This girl just amazes me. She is so quick to dismiss her own feelings to take care of others. She would be an incredible Luna but I knew I would need to make sure I looked after her, so she didn’t overdo herself looking after others. I sighed. “Yea, let’s go.” I stood up and held my hand out for her. She placed her hand in mine and let me lead her out of the room.

“Lily, room is all yours,” I linked her. All I got in response was a squeal. I smiled to myself. Hopefully, this would make Azalea feel more at home here.

We entered my office to find Damien already there sitting in one of the chairs. He looked over his shoulder at us as we entered. Putting his phone into his pocket, he said, “Finally. Good morning, Luna.” He shot a smile at Azalea. She gave him a pleasant smile back.

“Good morning, Damien. But please just call me Azalea. I am not Luna,” she said to him.

“Yet,” he said, chuckling and looking to her neck. Her cheeks immediately flamed. I smiled looking at the beautiful marks on her neck.

“Alright, enough teasing. What do we have?” I interrupted in an attempt to spare her embarrassment. I sat down in my chair and pulled Azalea onto my lap. I held her legs over mine and rubbed them lightly.

“Well, Alpha Isaac has begrudgingly been waiting the past couple days to meet with you again. He has had a lot of questions about your mate’s “illness” and I think he is getting suspicious. He has been caught trying to snoop around pack members. We think he is trying to seek out Azalea on his own. We also have not been given any evidence of his handling of the Kol situation. There has been no activity around Kol’s lands, and no messages have been sent since the supposed timeline he gave you ran out,” Damien prattled on.

“Well fortunately, my mates ‘illness’ is none of his business. We have no allegiance to his pack, and I owe him no explanations. I will say, it is bold of him as a guest of ours to be trying to seek out my pack members right under my nose,” I thought out loud.

“Yea, he was assigned an escort to keep an eye on him,” Damien said.

I nodded. “As for Kol, we need to find out what Isaac has to say about the situation. We need to be aware of the variables here as this concerns Azalea’s safety the most.”

“You do not think that Isaac will be able to figure out who Azalea is? Are you not concerned that he would try to take her?”

“Even if he does figure out who she is now that I am not trying to mask her scent as much, he would not be so shortsighted as to try to take away the mate of another Alpha.” Azalea’s hand clenched the bottom of my shirt. I knew this conversation was setting her nerves on edge. “Maybe we have the Delta or Gamma watch over her while we meet with Isaac,” I suggested sneaking a peak at her face. I could see worry written across her features.

Damien nodded. “Your uncle did want to see her now that she is awake. Maybe we can have them take her to the clinic.”

“That is a good idea,” I told him. I looked at Azalea. “Is that okay for you? Can Austin and Jacob take you to see my uncle while Damien and I handle Isaac?” She nodded hesitantly. I had a feeling she would rather Damien, Lily or I go with her, but Lily was busy and I wanted Damien in this meeting with me. “I would have Lily go with you, sweetheart, but she is occupied this afternoon,” I said, stroking her cheek.

She gave me a small. “It’s okay. I will be fine with whoever,” she said. At least she was not fighting me on giving her an escort. I made a mental note to talk with Damien about getting her a permanent guard for when I could not be with her.

Damien’s eyes glazed over momentarily, and I knew he was linking Austin and Jacob. They had been friends with Damien and I growing up, so they probably remembered who Azalea was. I sighed. I guess this would be the first real test as to whether we would be able to get pack members to accept her.

Damien gave me a knowing look. “They will be here in a few minutes,” he said. “I also linked Isaac’s escort. He will bring him here in 20. That should give us enough time to have her away from here.”

“Although, her scent will still linger. It also clings to you,” he linked.

“I know. Again, I think he would be shortsighted to try and take her from me. Now that I marked her, I can feel a shift in my strength and power.”

I looked at my sweet mate in my lap. “Austin and Jacob will take you to see my uncle. When Damien and I are done with Isaac, I will come find you okay?” I said. She gave me a sweet smile.

“Of course,” she said. I leaned forward and planted a chaste kiss on her lips. There was a knock on the door. I shifted her off my lap and stood up with her next to me.

“Come in,” I said. Austin and Jacob entered the room.

Azalea

Austin and Jacob came into Liam’s office. I recognized them from growing up and they had not changed too much. The only thing I did notice was that the Delta, Austin, had mate markings on his neck while Jacob did not.

“You summoned us, Alpha?” Jacob said as they came in the door. He and Austin caught sight of me at the same time. Jacob stilled momentarily while Austin gave him a confused look.

“Yes,” said Liam, his voice all business now. “I would like you two to meet my mate, Azalea.” he said. He placed an arm around my waist possessively. Jacob had a look of shock on his face while Austin only confusion. “You two may or may not know who she is but that is of no importance. She is my mate and your future Luna. I need you two to escort her to the clinic today to see Doctor Ronald.”

They stared at him with disbelief. He sighed. “Yes, she is who you think she is. She used to be called ‘traitor girl’ as we grew up. But let me make this clear. Whatever you think you know about her or any preconceptions you have, you forget them here and now. She is my mate and that is all that matters now. You will protect her with your lives. You will respect her as your Luna.” Liam gave them a hard look. Jacob seemed to be having a hard time coming to terms with this. Austin shrugged.

“Cool,” said Austin. Looking at me, he said, “Hello, Luna. I am Delta Austin. I am happy to be your escort today.” He gave me a charming smile and bowed his head slightly. I nodded giving him a small smile. Jacob looked between Liam and me.

“Jacob?” Liam prompted.

“Uh, yea. Good morning, Luna,” he said flatly.

“Shall we go then?” Austin said in a cheery tone.

Liam turned to me. “Everything will be okay. I won’t be long,” he said stroking my cheek. I gave him a smile.

“I will be okay, Liam,” I told him.

“I love you,” he whispered and leaned down to give me a kiss.

“I love you, too,” I said as we broke apart.

“Go before I keep you here,” he said jokingly. I rolled my eyes. I stepped around the desk towards Austin and Jacob. Damien was giving Jacob a serious look.

“Shall we?” Austin said. I nodded at him. He turned around to lead the way out of the office. I followed him and Jacob followed me.

We left the office and Austin led us out of the packhouse and over towards the pack clinic. I walked slightly behind him. Halfway to the clinic, he turned to me slowing a couple paces so he was walking next to me.

“So, Azalea, right?” he said trying to start a conversation.

“Yea,” I said quietly.

“How did you find out the Alpha is your mate?” he asked. “If you don’t mind me asking,” he added quickly with a nervous look in his eyes.

“That is sort of a long story,” I said.

“No worries. Honestly, I am just glad he found you. You seem good for him. He is happier today than I have seen him in years,” he said.

“Really?”

“Oh yea. I have always lived in the packhouse, so Liam and I have been friends since we were young. Not as close as him and Damien though. Sometime after his 18th birthday I noticed he changed. He did not want to hang around as much, didn’t smile as much. He put up a good front, but I knew something else was going on,” he explained. “I guess I never thought he was that set on finding his mate. But you’re here now so that is great!” He gave me a big smile. Austin seemed warm and nice. He seemed like someone I could be friends with like Lily. I relaxed slightly.

“I am glad I make him happy,” I said with a smile.

“So, when are you going to officially become Luna?” he asked. “I can see he already marked you and you smell like him, so you are mated.”

“I am not sure. We haven’t really talked about it….”

“Hopefully soon. Now that this hunter business is over. Seems like it moved on. Although all the extra patrols around the lake house were sort of weird there for a minute.” Austin talked with very little filter.

“So, are you mated?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“Oh yes. Abigail. She is the most beautiful she-wolf I have ever laid eyes on,” he said with a dreamy look in his eyes. “No offense,” he added quickly.

I giggled. “None taken.”

“We are expecting our first pup in 2 months as well!” he said with excitement.

“That is so wonderful!” I said with a smile.

“I assume it won’t be long until we have some Alpha pups running around here as well?” he said wiggling his eyebrows.

My eyes widened. “Uh, yea, well… we haven’t talked about that....”

He laughed. “I am just joking. There is no rush. I am sure Liam wants you all to himself for a little while.”

We reached the clinic. Austin held the door open for me. I walked in the clinic not missing the aggravated look he shot at Jacob as he came in behind me. We went to the desk where the receptionist gave us a curious look.

“I have someone special to see Doctor Ronald,” he told her.

“And who is this person?” she said looking at me.

“Tell the doc the Alpha sent her over,” he said in a flat voice. She gave him a curt nod. She picked up her phone and dialed.

“So, what does the Doc want with you?” Austin said, distracting me.

“I am not sure, really,” I told him. Austin shrugged, turning his attention back to the receptionist. I peeked over at Jacob. He was standing a good 6ft away from us with a sour look on his face. His eyes were glued to me. He clearly did not like me.

“The Doctor can see her now,” said the receptionist standing up. She led us to an office door. Austin stopped and nodded to me to go in. I nodded back and entered the room. Doctor Ron was sitting at his desk. He looked up from the file he was reading when I entered.

“Ah, Azalea. My most interesting patient. Come in,” he said warmly. I sat at the chair in front of his desk. “And how are you feeling this morning? As I understand it, you woke up sometime last night?”

I nodded. “I did. And I feel great now,” I said with a smile.

“That is great to hear. No tiredness or weakness?”

“Nope. I actually feel pretty energized,” I told him.

“That is wonderful!” he said. He pulled out another file and jotted down a few notes.

“So, uh what did you want to talk to me about?” I asked as he wrote.

“Right, well as you know, you are not a normal case by any means. I was hoping you would share a little more with me about what happened after Liam marked you. Whatever you can remember would be very helpful,” he said.

“Uh sure. Well, when he marked me, it hurt a lot. Worse than anything I have ever felt.”

“Can you describe the pain?”

“It was searing pain. Like something hot was being stabbed into my skin,” I explained.

“And then you passed out?”

“Yes. I must have. Then next thing I remember was waking up in a very strange space. And then I met my wolf.” His eyes perked up at that.

“You met your wolf?”

I nodded. “Yes. At first, she was a voice. Then materialized in front of me. She was beautiful…” I said wistfully. He let me pause without saying anything. Then I continued, “She explained to me that my bloodline carries special abilities and that she granted me the first when she was first realized but because of that and my physical state, she was never strong enough to shift. So, she lay dormant all this time.”

“The first ability?”

“Yea, she said she granted me the gift of forgiveness and mercy. She said she gave me a great capacity for forgiveness and mercy towards others and Liam was an example of this.”

He nodded his head. “With all that boy’s foolishness, I have to say, I agree. By any accounts, you should have rejected him as soon as you saw him again.”

I looked down for a moment. “Doctor Ron, what if it's not true. What if me accepting Liam was just selfish?” I asked quietly.

“How do you mean?”

“When Liam left me at the Inn, it hurt. My whole body hurt for a long time. Then eventually it started to fade. But it never really went away. There were times where my chest hurt so bad, like there was this big hole in it. It felt like there was this piece of me missing. When he came back, that hole started to close, and that pain began to lift. I felt like it was easier to breathe and the more time we spent together, the less awful I felt. Part of me wanted to reject him and just be rid of him but I could not do it. I knew it would hurt and I just couldn’t face that pain again, even if it would have been better for both of us.” I said.

“Hmmm,” he said. “Do you still think that? That it would have been better to just reject him?” My eyes snapped up to his. “After everything you two have been through in the past couple weeks, do you still feel it would have been better for the both of you to break that bond completely and let him go?”

I thought for a moment. “No,” I almost whispered. “I don’t think so.”

“Then I do not believe your actions come from a selfish place. It is not selfish to desire to be loved and wanted, Azalea. It is not selfish to accept a gift given to you by the Moon Goddess,” he said. He gave me a warm smile.

“Okay,” I said. It felt a little better to know that someone did not think that I was being selfish.

“Back to your wolf. She told you of your first gift. Does that imply that there are others?”

“Um, yea. She said she was pushing Liam and Gavin to mate and mark me so that she could feel enough strength to grant me one more gift before she departed.”

“I see. And did she tell you what this gift is?”

“No, she didn’t. She just said that it would help in my duties as the Luna of our pack.”

“And she departed?”

“Yes, she said that she was using the last of her power to grant me my second gift and that she had to leave.”

“This is all very interesting…” he said. He wrote down a few more notes. “So, I must admit something, Azalea. I know of the incident that occurred between you and Liam’s wolf out at the Lakehouse.” My eyes widened. “I will not pry but I wanted to ask something. It seems that you and Liam have seemed to patch things up, or at least begin to. Especially seeing as you allowed him to mark you. My question is: have you spoken with Gavin since you have woken?”

I swallowed. I had not. I knew that I would need to speak with him to make everything right, but I was still scared to do so. I was scared what could happen if Liam did not have control. “No, not yet,” I admitted.

“I see. I cannot tell you what to do as my future Luna, but I would like to offer this advice. Speak with Gavin soon. Liam and Gavin being at odds will only make him weak. Him being at odds with his wolf is not good for the pack and may not be good for your relationship. I also think you should try to make room in your heart for Gavin. You are now both of their mates. Gavin does not have your wolf counterpart or the possibility of one. He will need you and I have a feeling you will need him.”

I nodded my head and gave him a small smile.

“Do you have any other questions for me?” I shook my head. “Well, if you need anything at all, please feel free to come see me any time,” he said standing up. “I believe there is a very tense Delta and Gamma waiting for you” in the hall.