Alpha's Boys [Sequel]

Twenty-Eight

Colten

It was strange. For the last 15 years or so since Raiven and I had found eachother again, I'd always felt like I didn't truly know her. Even though we got married and built a family together, there was still something that made me feel like I didn't know her. Sure, she was my mate and the mother of my children but watching her lunge at her children because of Kale was something I'd never seen her do.
As we walked through the woods, on our way back home, she was shivering under the jacket I'd wrapped around her. Normally, I would have pulled her close, cuddling her; but something about the way she reacted when she thought the boys had killed Kale was almost...unforgivable.

I pushed my hands into the front pockets of my trousers instead as we walked in silence. Her eyes were trained to the leafy floor, the only sound from miles around were our feet slushing against the wet leaves.
"You alright?" I asked after a while. Raiven ducked her head, as though she wanted to retreat into the jacket and disappear. She made a vague noise from the back of her throat and nodded.
"Okay," I said and we fell back into silence. I couldn't connect with her in that moment. Whatever it was that made mates 'mates' was missing as we walked.

We made it back to the house in absolute silence, which had never happened before. But seconds after we closed the door behind us, it burst open again.
Caden was stood at the door step, carrying a bundle in his arms. His hair was damp with sweat but he had the biggest grin on his face and it only got bigger when he saw us.
"Mom, Dad, look! I did it, I fixed it!" He thrust the bundle under our noses and sure enough there was Xavien, happy and healthy. Raiven and I both yelled out with joy.
"Oh, baby!" Raiven reached out and took him, cradling him. Then she pulled a face as she touched his cheeks.
"He's sticky,"
"Yeah and he smells suspiciously like mint chocolate," I turned to Caden with a raised eyebrow. "Please do not tell me, you rescued him then decided to get ice cream to celebrate,"

He lifted his palms up on defence. "Wasn't me, my good sir. Kale's minions had him in the basement of the ice-cream place,"
And the sound of his name, Raiven stiffened.
"How do you know it was him?" She asked. Caden's face fell.
"How do I know it was -?" He looked incredulous and motioned widely at the woods behind us. "Did you not see everything that just happened? With all due respect, Mama, but when all of that was happening - did you just choose to close your eyes?" He asked, aghast that she would even ask that.

Raiven looked at me instead. "Where is he?"
"Mom, who cares?" Caden butted in. "We got Xavien back. Now we have to wait for Corbin to get back so he can stop running down his war path,"
"I just want to know what you've done with him," she ignored Caden and kept her eyes on me.
"Ray, stop. Our main priority is Xavien right now." I said firmly.
Caden glanced at his mother worriedly.
"You can't keep defending him," he said to her "He got them to insert three doses in Xavien to turn him human,"

Raiven and I snapped our necks towards him.
"Yeah, I don't know how it's gonna affect the little guy but right now, he can turn human at will. It's pretty cool,"
"No it isn't, Caden!" I checked over my grandson, his eyes like little Earths. The area surrounding his small pupils were brown like Avri's then Corbin's cornflower blue seeped out from it in a strange array of greens and blues. Xavien blinked up at me, his long dark lashes batting away happily. I couldn't believe he was about to be taken away from us, and by Kale, no less.

"We still have to get him check out. By a proper Pack doctor this time," I glared at Caden.

When Corbin and Avri came back some time later, both of their faces were etched with fatigue and Avri's face wet with tears.
"We're never going to find him," she wailed as soon as they entered the door. I came down with Xavien and Caden after we'd scrubbed the ice cream off of Xavien. We'd dressed him in a little white onsie with a fake animal paw print motif on its front.