My Eternal Mate
Chapter Nine

"He has a brother?"

"What the fuck," Jaxon chimed in after Ava's outburst and turned to me, accusingly. "Did you know about this?"

My eyes remained on the pup. He was Alexander's nephew, Aspen's son. The resemblance, honestly, frightened me. Let's say Alexander did have a brother, was it a twin brother for the pup to resemble my mate so much?

Aspen Rathborne, whoever he was. The name rang in my ears, but made no sense. My brows furrowed as the words kept replaying in my head.

I shook my head in response to Jaxon's question, but found myself unable to speak.

"What is happening? I am so confused," Ava groaned, unsettled by the silence.

I finally glanced at the pair, to replace them just as shocked as I was.

"Where is this asshole?" Jaxon snarled. "How can he hide something like this from you?"

Narrowing my eyes, I watched as Ava and Jaxon started throwing random words and accusations in the air. My mind was boggled, and seemed to be all over the place.

I was honestly shook.

Alexander and I had already dealt with too much in the short space of time that we had been together, and I had learned the hard way to accuse him right away.

"Guys," I whined when both of my best friends got angrier, my voice low. "Not here."

My words caused for the pair to silence. They realised the pups and Jenna were eavesdropping and could hear their outbursts. A look of regret and embarrassment covered their faces before they both bowed their heads ever so slightly.

"I think it's for the best to speak to your mate about this," Ava commented, lifting her head and eyed me warily.

I nodded in agreement. "And I will," I added, before I turned to Jenna. "No one will know about this, not even Aspen. Do you understand?"

Jenna frowned but immediately nodded. "Absolutely, Luna."

With that I bid my farewell and told her I would visit in a couple of days. Mostly, because I needed to clear my head. I was trying to remain calm so the trauma from the past didn't consume me.

Ava and Jaxon kept bickering amongst themselves, but I was honestly tuned out. It wasn't until Jaxon stopped in his tracks and turned to me, holding his hand on my arm firmly to bring me to a halt.

"Can I help you?" I asked rudely, with no intentions to.

My wolf was frustrated and I was angry. Not at Jaxon, but at the situation. I hated that none of it made sense, and I hated even more at the possibility of Alexander lying to me about his past. Why hadn't he told me that he had a brother? Why didn't Zynthéa?

"Lyr," Jaxon said, softly. "I know this is hard on you, but you have to remain calm."

"Don't worry," Ava chimed in. "We will get him back for hiding this from you."

I shook my head at the pair. "I am calm. I just need to speak with him. Try not to worry yourselves. I'm sure he has a good reason."

I never wanted my best friends to hate Alexander, and so even if the wolf in me was furious, I had to remain calm on the outside.

"Fine," Jaxon interjected. "But where does Aspen fit in to the story that the witch told us?"

I frowned and turned to glance at Jaxon, not appreciating the nickname he had for Jenna. "Jaxon," I said, warningly.

His brows knitted together. "Okay, fine. I will stop calling her that," he assured but the annoyed look on his face convinced me otherwise. "But I won't deny, what she said back there made me think more of her as one."

"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled.

Jaxon shrugged. "She said the Alexander pup-"

"Seriously?" I groaned, cutting him off, not enjoying that he called the pup my mate's.

"Until I see this Aspen kid with my own eyes, I will believe that pup is your mate's. I don't make the rules."

Ava must have noticed the frown on my face because in that exact moment she placed an arm around me, bringing my focus on her.

"What he means is that, we will allow you to figure this out on your own," she told me, giving Jaxon a glare.

"No, I never said that," Jaxon retorted. "The witc— Jenna, said the pup was found. Where does this Aspen wolf fit in to the picture?"

The words that I had ignored suddenly surfaced on my mind and I frowned. Jaxon was right. Jenna had claimed that Kai was found, abandoned, yet told me that Aspen had dropped him off. I hadn't made note of this earlier because of the mention of the new wolf, and only now was it having an impact.

"I will deal with it," I told him, hoping he wouldn't pry any further.

To my luck, Jaxon nodded respectfully before we continued on our way. A dreadful feeling coursed through me, and I frowned all the way back to the pack house.

I was supposed to spend the day with Ava, but after my mood had been dampened, I decided to send both her and Jaxon off home, before I headed for the training grounds where I knew my mate would be.

My two best friends were reluctant to leave, talking about how I had already dealt with too much and how they were not going to stand around to watch me suffer any longer.

I admired their loyalty to me, but I knew the problems between Alexander and I were temporary and fixable. I didn't want to ruin their relationship permanently over a temporary problem.

I ran towards the training grounds, greeting members in the pack on the way. Once I arrived, I crossed my arms and waited in the distance when I caught my mate giving a briefing to the twenty or so men ahead of him.

'You're here. Is everything alright?' My mate mind-linked me, without turning around to face me.

'I need to speak to you,' I responded.

A couple of the men from the pack noticed me and bowed their head in respect. I tried to smile at them as much as my facial muscles would allow. I vividly saw Alexander's back muscles tense as he registered my words.

"You are all dismissed for a break," Alexander told the men, loudly, his voice filled authority. "Training will commence again in fifteen minutes."

In that exact moment, Dyami appeared by my side, with an arched brow on his face. "What's he doing? Training hardly began an hour ago," he complained.

I shrugged, knowing damn well Alexander dismissed his men and their training because he knew something was not right. There weren't many times when I turned up, unannounced.

As expected, Alexander strutted towards us, concern in his eyes. His eyes caused for me to squirm under his intense gaze, but I stood my ground.

When near me, my mate snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me to him flush. His head nestled in my neck and he inhaled a couple of times.

Alexander pulled back enough to glance down at me, his brows twitching. "Dyami," he spoke, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Alpha," the beta, responded, confused.

"I have fifteen minutes to replace out what my Luna is doing here when she is supposed to be spending the day with her friends," my mate stated, his jaw tensed. "If I do not return after fifteen minutes, you will lead their training and update me."

My brows furrowed at his words and the tone he used to speak. It was almost as if he had anticipated this moment and knew why I had approached him now.

Dyami glanced at Alexander with a frown on his face before he briefly eyed me. With his brows knitted together, the beta attended back to the fighters that were currently talking amongst themselves, probably just as confused.

"What's wrong?" Alexander asked when Dyami was no longer around us.

"I saw something," I told him, cutting straight to the point, my voice holding an edge to it. "The pup."

My mate's blue eyes narrowed as they searched mine for a clear explanation. "Lyra, what are you saying?"

Sighing, I replied, "I saw Jessica's pup."

Alexander's eyes darkened at once at the mention of her. "I thought we had closed that chapter," he almost snarled, his voice hard. "Baby, what is going on?"

"I thought so too," I cried, placing my hand on his chest to create a little bit distance. "Until I saw that pup with my eyes today."

"And?"

"He looks exactly like you," I responded, my voice hardly a whisper.

Alexander glanced down at me as if I had just spoken the most unbelievable words to him, before pulled away completely at my words and paced around a little, his hand running over his face in utter disturbance.

Once he seemed more collected, he turned back to me, his eyes dark. "You still believe that the pup is mine," he snapped. "What do I need to do for you to believe me? I promise, I have never even seen the pup."

"It's not that, Alexander."

He stalked back towards me, his gaze hard and confused. He placed his fingers on my chin to make me look up at him. "Then what is it? Because frankly, I am getting bored of this. I want to move past this without having to worry about the mention of her and anything related to her again."

"Aspen," I blurted, cutting him off, causing for him to silence as I held his gaze.