Stand Tall, Mate

SEVEN

Axel

It's been three years since I met her. Three long, God-awful years. I have exhausted all of my resources to try and find her, without hinting to the council that I had found her. I told them all that I had picked up her scent but could not track her down. Which was a half-truth. 

After the man I had sent after her had come back empty-handed, I went myself. Her last words to me still playing through my mind. I don't think she realised that I was semi-conscious when she spoke them to me. After I had fallen out of that tree from the tranquiliser, she fixed my dislocated shoulder and spoke to me. 

"I wish that I could give you the life that you want with me, but all I will bring you is pain and heartbreak." 

Since then, I have been working tirelessly for three years to track her down but it's as though she never existed. No more reports of her had been delivered to me, no more rogue attacks either. No one had seen her since that day and I had begun to think she might have been dead, had it not been for the mate bond. 

I sighed as I looked over the paperwork that had been thrown around my desk. My office was a mess, and I rarely left the room. My Beta, Neo, would come and check on me from time to time, making sure that I was eating and sleeping and to bring more paperwork for me to fill out. 

A year ago, Neo had slapped some sense into me. My pack was beginning to think that another should take my place as my absence had become known. Neo stormed into my office and demanded that I be the Alpha that the pack looked up to. I was blinded by anger at his disrespect that I had almost killed him, had it not of been for my younger sister's interference. When we lost our parents, I took her under my wing and raised her as my own. 

Daisy was my pride and joy, and I would protect her to the ends of the earth. She was nearly ten years younger than me and only a newborn when our parents passed. Murdered by a group of rogues. Our Uncle Franco took over the pack until I was of age to lead myself, which did not take too long. I was 15 when I stood up and began my reign as Alpha, still taking care of a five-year-old menace. 

Daisy had stood between Neo and I, almost harming herself in the process. I had immediately stopped my advance on Neo and glared down at Daisy, willing her to move out of my way. 

"Axel, this is not you. The man who raised me has never turned to violence so quickly." That was all she needed to say for me to pull my head out of my ass. I started to work on the pack more, making an appearance more often to show the pack that I was doing better. I started to slow down on trying to find Avery, and instead I picked up requests from my pack. Requests like; adding a few more floors to the pack house, new members joining due to discovered mates, etc. 

I had thrown myself into so much work that I almost completely forgot about Avery. Until today. 

One of my patrol officers had brought me news just over an hour ago. The young man had placed a white coloured envelope on my desk, before briskly walking out at my dismissal. My name had been printed in cursive on the front of the envelope and the faint smell of the council surrounded it. 

I cautiously opened the envelope, half expecting poison or powder to fall from the card. There was nothing though, just a folded card with enough words to make my heart stop. 

Alpha Axel, 

There is no need for you to continue your tracking of Miss Avery Jackson. We have found and collected her.

Kind Regards, 

The Council

My blood boiled as my heart froze. I reread the note over and over again, hoping that what I was reading was just a joke. The council seal that had been pressed into the bottom right corner of the note, was screaming at me saying otherwise. I yelled for my Beta and before long he had entered my office, panic evident on his face. 

"We are not done with Avery Jackson." I simply say as I stand and throw the note on my desk. 

"Not by a long shot." I look at Neo and watch as his mouth opens and closes in utter confusion. I walk around my mahogany desk and stand in front of my Beta, nodding for him to speak his mind. 

"Alpha, I thought we had finished our search for her." Neo whispered as he looked at my chin, not daring to disrespect me by making direct eye contact. I sigh and scratch the beard that had started grow again, although I only shave it once every few months when Daisy demands it. 

"It was, until I got a note from the council. I know exactly where she is now." A smile slowly makes its way onto my face as I begin to plot how I was to save her. Neo coughs, breaking my train of thought. 

"Alpha, why are we going to such lengths to find this girl? Wasn't the council after her anyway?" He questioned, not in disrespect, but morbid curiosity. I sigh and shake my head. I had not told my sister or my Beta why I was perilously searching for Avery. 

"I think it's about time I tell you and Daisy, I suppose." After finding out exactly who Avery was, I had tried to keep her a secret, but now I couldn't if I wanted to save her. I closed my eyes and searched quickly through my brain, finding the string that connected to my sister. I tapped it lightly and spoke down it when I found that there was no wall blocking me from speaking to her. 

Daisy, please come to my office. There's something that I need to speak to you about. I wait for her reply, but don't get one. Instead, she bursts through my office doors with such dramatic intent that I had to force a smile off my face. 

"Are you pregnant?" I stare at Daisy with so much shock that my mouth flies open. Neo, who is already sitting in a chair at my desk bursts into fits of laughter as Daisy makes her way to the other seat that was placed beside Neo. 

"Daisy, you do understand how that works right?" I cough as I turn to her and ask. At 16 years old, I expected her to know a lot more, especially in high school. Unless she was just messing with me. 

"Of course, I do, brother. You haven't called me to talk for a while so I had to make it dramatic." Daisy flopped into the chair as she giggled. I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

"You are going to be the death of me." I take my hand away from my head and walk behind my desk. Taking a seat, I take a deep breath in and look at my closest allies. 

"Avery is my mate, that's why I have been looking for her so tirelessly." I rush, hoping that they wouldn't be mad. I watch as no reaction comes from either of them and confusion starts to bubble in my chest. 

"Axel, we know. Why would you have looked so much if she wasn't of some importance to you? Before you left to meet with her after the rogue attack, you couldn't care less about her whereabouts, you just kept tabs on what she was up to. After you came back, you demanded so many things from so many people just for this one person." Neo spoke to me, laughing a little. I stared at him. Was I that obvious? I looked at Daisy for confirmation and she just nodded, smiling wide at me. I shook my head, readying myself for the real kicker. 

"There's another thing-" I pause and watch as they both lean forward, eager to hear what's on my mind. I sigh again before continuing. 

"She's the missing Lycan Princess."