My Say

28

The last few weeks had been busy. After the Alpha Females left the work for the Mate Meeting began. We had 4 weeks to prepare to host several hundred unmated wolves for 4 nights/3 days if there was no snow. If we got snowed in then we'd have guests indefinitely.

Another project I was working on was locating Jax and my family. I'd had the guys tag the trees with notes. Asking for Jax or any of the guys to contact me, just leave another note, sign their name, or their favorite tree. Anything as a sign of life. Several notes had been left all over the forest, no one had responded until today.

My head burst with a scream down the link. "Alpha we got a message back! It was on the huge oak near the overfall. I can't believe after all the notes we left, we finally got a reply."

I could do without the screaming, "Calm down and tone it down. What does the note say?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. Just so excited to get a reply I haven't read it yet."

I waited a few beats in the hopes he would take the hint and read it but no, "Read the damn note, Rhet."

"Oh yeah. Roses are Red. Violets are Blue. How do I know it's really you?" He read it twice. "Huh Alpha, what does this mean?"

"Do you have a pen or something to write with?"

"Yep"

"Write this on the message and pin it back where you found it. Roses have thorn. Violets stink. You know it's me because your toes are pink."

"Are you sure that's what you want to say?" The doubt and more than a little of scepticism weigh him down.

"Trust me on this. Pin it and go. I guarantee there will be a message there tomorrow."

And so it went, for the next 5 days we swapped stupid rhymes. On the morning of the 6th day I sent the note to meet me there the next morning. It was a cold clear morning, it had been more than a year since I had stood here. The small animals skittered about preparing for winter as the birds who stayed twittered about seeking anything to help fatten them up for the winter to come. I had begun to wonder if I'd miss judged the notes when the scent of mint wafted into my nose. Tears sprang to my eyes but I refused to allow them to flow. "What did you have?"

"A boy."

"Healthy?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything, losing Nick, not coming back, failing my mission, for making you worry." The tears had failed to listen and were flowing freely down my face. "I caused you pain and I"

Monica slammed into me with the velocity of a freight train. We held each other and cried. Mark came more slowly as did Craig and another familiar face, Jax. Upon seeing him whole and healthy I collapsed. He rushed to my side.

"Alpha are you alright?"

"Thank the Goddess, God, and anyone else who listened to my prayers." I grab him in a long hard hug.

"Uh, Rom you might want to let him go before Nan sees you. She's pretty jelly about her man." D is there, only he's grown.

"Who poured the miracle grow on you? Damn D. His 'aw shucks' grin has gotten more powerful.

"Want to come up? So much has changed." As we head up they tell me about finding Jax and helping him and how he and Nan were mates. How he helped to educate them about wolves and supernaturals. How they had begun to help others like Jax. That they had two wolves who they thought I would really like. Jax cut his eyes at me as if to gage my reaction. It spooked me a little but I trusted him and all of them with my life.