The Alpha and his Mate
Chapter 9

Annabelle’s POV

Jax took me into his living room and I couldn’t help but stare in awe at this room as well. Was his whole house this amazing?

There was a very soft colour scheme that seemed to run throughout this room, with creams and light browns covering everything, from the floors and walls to the soft furnishings. He had three huge sofas, each with a warm fluffy brown blanket that was neatly folded across the backs of the sofas. They sat in a U shape, all facing towards a huge tv that hung on the opposite wall with shelves framing the television, filled with more photos as they littered the surfaces.

On one side of the room, on the left-hand side, the whole wall was made of glass, allowing you to look out onto the forest that surrounded the modest back garden. On the opposite wall, on my right, a stone fireplace stood with two dark wooden bookshelves that were built into the walls, covered in books. The fire was on and gently flickering away, giving the whole place a warm and inviting atmosphere. I could definitely picture myself having a relaxing nap here.

I snuggled into the fluffy cushions as Jax gently placed me into the corner of one of the massive sofas as he went to sit in front of me on the coffee table. He sat with his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands, slightly tugging on his hair, looking more anxious than I had ever seen him. I frowned at his actions but otherwise didn’t say anything. I didn’t even know whether this was normal behaviour for him or not, seeing as I hadn’t known him for very long.

I hesitated in reaching my hand out to him, wondering how he would react if I disturbed him from his thoughts. The words he told me in the car, about him never hurting me, rang in my ears and I shook the slight fear away and reached over to take one of his hands out from his hair and into mine.

I jumped slightly when his eyes snapped up to mine and quickly went to retract my hand from his, but as I started to, he turned his hand around and interlocked his fingers with mine, effectively trapping my hand in his. I blushed as he brought my hand up to his lips and blushed further when I heard him sniff my wrist before placing a kiss where his nose once was. Well that was... normal.

I frowned as I continued to look him over, he had always been so calm and confident before, but right now he looked so lost, I just wanted to take him in my arms and comfort him. I had never had a feeling like that before but for some reason, looking at him, the thought of comforting him didn’t scare me in the slightest.

I looked at him in confusion as he stared at me, what was going through that head of his to make him look so stressed and frustrated? “Are...are you okay?” I whispered, wanting to know what was wrong with him so I could help in some way.

“Oh my beautiful little mate” Jax muttered, still not taking his eyes off of mine, “I don’t even know where to begin” he sighed.

“The beginning?” I offered with a shrug. It still felt weird, openly speaking to someone without being punished for it afterwards, but I was slowly getting used to it. The best way to get through a fear is to face it head on... right?

Jax chuckled but it lacked any humour “if only it were that easy” he sighed.

I just shrugged my shoulders again and leaned back into the cushions. It seemed like this was going to be a long conversation, whatever it was about, so I may as well get comfy. He stayed silent for a while and just as I was about to start drifting off to sleep, exhaustion creeping in on me, Jax started to speak.

“Are you religious Annabelle?” He suddenly asked out of the blue, startling me awake.

I frowned at him before shrugging, I had never really thought about it before if I was being completely honest.

He sighed before running his hands through his hair, was that the wrong answer?

“Do you know of the Goddess Selene...the Moon Goddess?” He asked, obviously trying a different approach but frowned again when I shook my head. “Well she is the daughter of the Titans, Hyperion and Theia, both Greek gods and Goddess. Selene controls the Luna cycles, as she oversaw the driving of the moon across the sky every night. One day, as the stories say, she got bored of always being out at night when everyone else was asleep and so the other gods gave her permission to create a creature of her own, a creature that she could look after so she wouldn’t be as lonely.”

I nodded my head, not understanding why he was telling me this story but interested in it nonetheless.

“After thinking long and hard about what type of creature she wanted to create she finally decided on merging two existing creatures together, the human and the wolf. Her thought process was that it would cause the line between light and darkness to blur, as the wolf often hunted at night, and so would cause other animals to become nocturnal which in turn would give her more beings to look after and give her existence purpose. She chose to blend the wolf and the human together in the hopes that she could create the strongest species on the planet, the mind and cunningness of a human with the strength, agility and loyalty of a wolf. She had created the first werewolf”.

He looked at me expectantly, as if that piece of information would mean something to me, but when I just nodded my head for him to continue, he sighed with a nod before carrying on with his story.

“Werewolves live in packs, with one Alpha male and one Alpha female to lead, guide and protect their fellow pack members, but the creatures weren’t doing so well. They started to turn aggressive towards each other and Selene’s parents threatened to destroy her creation if she could not get them under control, so she decided to give them all a mate. A soulmate. This soulmate would be the perfect match for the other, two halves of a whole, and it gave the werewolves something to fight for. On a person’s sixteenth birthday they would shift for the first time into their wolf form and they would be paired with someone by the Moon Goddess herself, someone who can calm their wolf down and give them a purpose in life.”

Jax stopped for a breath and I frowned at him confused, “why are you telling me this story?” I asked, desperately trying to understand him but failing in understanding the relevance of this story.

“Well...I Umm...” Jax stuttered as he ran his hand through his hair “the thing is...well...the story is...true” he explained, looking up at me expectantly.

I looked at him before laughing silently, is he really telling me that he thinks werewolves are real?

“I promise you that this story is true Annabelle” Jax stated and as I looked into his eyes and I could tell that he genuinely believed that this story was real. He was being deadly serious.

“How?” I questioned, curious about what proof he had.

“That’s the thing” he muttered “I have to show you, but I’m worried that if I do you’re going to get scared and run.”

I smiled at how caring he was being, I had only known him for just under a day, but I already felt so close to him. It was a weird feeling, trusting someone. I couldn’t remember the last time I had properly felt safe somewhere but, being here, I felt like I could be happy. I sighed as I suddenly realised that Jax probably won’t want me around for much longer, he’d figure out that I was just a burden to him and eventually kick me out and I’d be on my own again. Sooner rather than later now that he knew I had no serious injuries.

The voice in my head whimpered at my trail of thought and I shook my head to hopefully get rid of the image of him kicking my out of his house. My heart couldn’t live with that kind of rejection.

“Show me” I whispered and started to get up even with my aches and pains, but Jax quickly ushered me to sit back down.

“You don’t need to move; I promise just stay right there and I’ll show you. Just please promise me you won’t run away when you see okay?” He pleaded and I couldn’t help but stare at him and nod my understanding, why was he so worried about showing me something?

Without another word Jax pushed up off his knees so he was standing and went around the table so that he was in the large open area in front of the TV.

“Promise?” He asked me one more time and once I nodded my head, confirming I wouldn’t run from him, he started to take of his shirt. I blushed as his abs and chest were slowly revealed to me and the voice in my head made some weird noise, as if it was purring with happiness.

I looked down to quickly gather myself, but when I looked back up at him, I couldn’t help but blush and swiftly look back down at his sock covered feet. He was starting to undo his belt and jeans.

My body started to panic as I thought of all the reasons why he was taking his belt off but quickly calmed myself down as I reminded myself who was in front of me. This was Jax and he would never harm me. I had to chant that mantra in my head over and over again to stop the flood of memories that always seem to fill my brain when I thought back to that place and more specifically what they usually used a belt for.

I brought my gaze back up again when I noticed Jax had stopped moving and I found him staring at me intently with just a pair of tight fitted black boxers on. I blushed again and looked back down; I had never seen so much of one person before.

“I’m sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable little mate but just look at me for a second and I can explain everything” he said and as I looked at him, I suddenly noticed that his whole body had started to shake. What the...?

“Just keep looking” Jax pleaded but it came out more like a snarl with a weird lisp and that’s when I realised that his teeth had grown slightly and his jaw looked a little disfigured.

I couldn’t really tell you what happened next as I stared at Jax’s body change from a man into something else, but when he was finished Jax was gone and in his place stood a ginormous black wolf with golden eyes shining back at me. I stared at the creature in shock, not really knowing how to react to the fact that my saviour had just turned into a wolf, but as I open my mouth to ask a question an ear-splitting scream came out instead.

Suddenly my head felt like it was going to explode, like something was desperately banging on the inside of my skull trying to get out. I clutched the sides of my head in pain and put my head between my knees, what was happening to me.

I felt hands suddenly touching my back, but if anything it made the pain worse and I screamed again as the hands took me into their arms and ran me somewhere, but I was in too much pain to see where.

The last thing I remembered was being laid down on something comfy before blackness overtook me.