The Guardian Wolf And Her Alpha Mate
The Guardian Wolf and her Alpha Mate Chapter 12

Nova POV:

After dinner we all head down to the open training grounds where we wait for Jax to start the pack run. Seeing Flo walk towards me I hold my arms open ready for her hug.

"I'm sorry I missed dinner Nova, Andrew and I were on patrol" she explains. Gesturing to the large man behind her who is full of muscle and has a large tribal tattoo on his right bicep she smiles widely, "this is Andrew..my mate."

Reaching my hand out to shake his politely he waves my hand away and draws me in for a warm hug, "it's a pleasure to meet you Nova, I've heard all about you from Flo and Theo. If it hadn't of been for you I don't know when I would have been lucky enough to meet Flo, so thank you" he whispers quietly in my ear.

Stepping back I hold my hands over my heart, "that's really kind Andrew, it's so lovely to meet the man who's making Flo so happy" I express. "You're going to have to tell me all about when you first met you know" I say giving Flo a look.

"Gossip session" she smirks at me making Andrew look slightly worried, patting his arm she laughs "nothing to worry about babe" as she winks at me playfully.

Seeing Jax walking over he comes to stand beside me, "you ready Nova? I'd like to introduce you and Alice to the pack before we run" he says as Alice and Theo join us. "Ready" we both repeat enthusiastically clasping our hands together.

Walking towards the front with Jax I see more than a few curious looks our way however absolutely everyone smiled in greeting making me realise how welcoming this pack is.

"Good evening everyone!" Jax begins, his deep voice carrying over the crowd that's gathered, "as you are all aware tonight we are celebrating the first shift of our pack members Annabelle and Mathew" as a loud cheer went up in the air Jax motions them both to step forward. "I hope you enjoy this evenings run and your wolves embrace their freedom of this territory!"

"Thank you Alpha" they both say clearly with large grins on their faces.

"Secondly, you all have probably seen but we have two new pack members as of today. Please can everybody say a warm hello to Alice who has found her mate in our Gamma Theo, and Nova!" With that many greetings were shouted out from the crowd and we both waved back happily.

"Now, let's run!" Jax voice booms out, as he steps down.

Seeing him lift his tshirt over his broad shoulders readying to shift, it reveals his rippling abs and teasing v line as I blush and turn to face Alice who seems distracted by Theo's body. "Alice are you going to shift or stand ogling your new mate" I tease as I step out my clothes. Seeing her face blush a deep red I giggle and step back letting Kia move to the front and shift quickly.

Hearing gasps from the crowd Kia turns to face them her head tall whilst standing proud, "not every day they see a white wolf and definitely not as big as you Kia" I hear Theo link us, "you're just as gorgeous as we remember, but definitely bigger" I hear Flo add on. Stepping forward and giving Theo and Flo a soft nudge with her snout Kia purrs happily as she links them back "my family, we've missed you" love lacing her voice thickly.

As they step forward to give her a gentle hug as they used to when they were younger I suddenly am glad I'm not in my human form or I would be crying my eyes out. "Shift" Kia urges them.

Feeling a powerful presence behind us Kia turns to be face to face to a magnificent 9ft black wolf with glowing golden eyes, "Zeus" she breaths to me. All of a sudden the massive black wolf lowers himself smoothly into a bow all while holding Kia's eye contact showing his sign of respect for her but still his Alpha dominance. Turning to look at the rest of the crowd we see all other wolves bowed in-front of us. "That's never happened before.." Kia trailed off sounding unsure. Suddenly a quiet huff and and a nudge on her shoulder causes Kia to swing her head round, seeing it was Zeus she repeats the gesture before they howl simultaneously up towards the sky indicating the start of the run.

Shooting off Kia excels in the freedom she hasn't experienced for a few days, "ah I have missed this" she links me happily. "Have fun" I simply link back letting her relax and release some pent up emotions. Seeing Zeus running alongside her she cocks her head at him before pausing, once he had stopped and looked back she ran up to him yipping at him slightly before shooting off again starting a game of chase. They both ran for an hour before they reached the training grounds once again just as Zeus gently nudges her with his head indicating play time was over. Lying down she lets her tongue lol out as she looks around happily, "thank you Alpha Jax" she links him making Zeus swing his head round to gaze at her as he lays next to us, "please tell Zeus it was a pleasure to run with him" she says before suddenly relinquishing control back to me leaving me lying naked on the grass shrieking in surprise as I use my hands to attempt to cover my perky assets.

"Kia!" I shout out angrily as I scramble to get my clothes on as Zeus looks away. Once dressed I growl at her, "not funny" before i turn to face a now semi dressed Jax.

"Sorry about that Jax, Ki seemed to replace it amusing" I mumble in embarrassment.

He shrugs casually, "didn't complain did I? Don't worry I didn't see..much" he adds on before winking and turning but not before I see him slightly readjust his shorts. "He's definitely attracted to us" I hear Kia exclaim gleefully to me, "shushh" I scald her quietly. "I'm going for a coffee, do you fancy joining me!" Jax asks quietly as he holds his hand out to me. Looking at it briefly before I place my own in his gently, feeling another jolt between us i murmur, "I'd love to."

"Kia is a stunning wolf you know, I've never seen a wolf so gorgeous actually, cheeky too" he admires as he moves his arm so it's casually around my shoulders tucking me into his side earning a few surprised looks from people arriving back at the pack house. Feeling cosy I snuggle in closer without thinking, "the mind-linking me surprised me though" he laughs.

"Aha yes she can mind link anyone actually, we both can. But it's not something we go around sharing, it's a benefit of being who we are. You should be happy actually, she doesn't normally link anyone" I say quietly.

I look up to see him grinning happily at my words, suddenly realising how close I am to his impeccably toned chest and feeling a familiar heat start to pool down below I step to one side extracting myself as I open the pack house door for us. "I enjoyed the run" he said looking at my eyes before walking past me into the house.

"Me too" I murmur to him quietly knowing he can still hear. Sitting down at the breakfast bar i watch as he potters about the kitchen before he sits and pushes a large cup towards me.

Taking a deep breath he looks at me before speaking, "I don't want to scare you or put pressure on you but I thought I'd maybe explain why I was speaking about mating bonds with Laurence earlier" he says clasping his hands together in-front of him. "Yeah?" I ask him nervously fearing my voice might squeak if I speak anymore.

"Yeah. You feel the shock whenever we touch?" He asks as I nod in response not trusting my voice.

"Well he said that between him and Naomi they had intense sparks when they first met and I've heard that many times before from newly mated pairs. But I've also noticed how your scent is growing stronger to myself, you smell of raspberry and mint" he mentions with a quirk of his mouth, "my favourite summer smell."

Gasping I cover my mouth as I realise he's right, "you smell of pine trees and berries, and it does seem to be getting more intense than it was this morning when we left." I agree.

"Laurence believes it's because your mark was still healing however since leaving their pack grounds your mark has gone down considerably. I know you said you can't detect your mate until you turn 25 but have you ever experienced this before?" He asks nervously glancing at me.

"No I haven't" I shook my head. "Have you?"

"No" he says shaking his head before looking at his coffee whilst he stirs it deep in thought.

"Nova..I'm not sure if it means the beginning of a mate bond forming or not but what I do know is we won't know until your birthday for certain. I really enjoy spending time with you, trust me when I say it's refreshing and I feel more like myself than I have in a long time. But I also know it's not fair for me to pursue something if you have the chance of replaceing your true mate on your birthday. I guess what I'm trying to say is I hope we can spend some time together over the coming days, but until you're 25 and we know for sure I'll try my best as to not over step that boundary" he assures me.

Reaching my hand out across the bar to hold one of his lightly, "thank you Jax. Kia and I did speak about it earlier actually, and we agree that there is a strong chance it could be a mate bond. But you're right, until we know for certain it's not fair to either or us..if we have waited almost 25 years, I can wait a few more days. I will say however, Ki has never felt this comfortable around another wolf who wasn't family, she was very keen to meet Zeus and she has a tremendous amount of respect for you. She doesn't normally shift and leave me naked in front of just anyone" I giggle laughing as she laughs in my head.

Seeing Jaxs eyes light up he cheekily remarks, "well if that happens everytime we will be going for a lot more runs."

"Behave..Alpha. She's a naughty one" I whisper cheekily back to him. Seeing his eyes darken at my flirting I stop myself by biting my lips, "sorry I'm not helping there. But I am looking forward to spending time with you and Zeus. It's been a lovely welcome into the pack."

"Stop biting your lip" he whispers hoarsely looking away from me as he shifts in his seat slightly making me realise the effect I'm having on him.

After a minute more of comfortable silence I withdraw my hand before standing and gesturing upstairs as I put my cup in the dishwasher, "I'm going to head for a bath and then bed. I'll see you in the morning?"

He stands quickly and does the same with his cup, putting his hand on the small of my back he murmurs, "I'll walk you to your room."

Walking upstairs he doesn't remove his hand until we reach my door and I collect my key card from my pocket, "where is the gym again? I normally squeeze a workout in in the morning as I'm an early riser" i ask. "There is one down the stairs by the kitchen, there is also a swimming pool. I work out at 5:30/6 every day so I might see you there" he says softly.

"Most likely" I murmur back, "good night Jax..Zeus."

Leaning down and placing a soft kiss on my cheek he whispers huskily in my ear "good night Nova..Kia" making me shiver.

"Ki" I hear her whisper to me.

"Ki" I correct him softly smiling as I let myself into my suite but not before I see his smile stretch across his handsome face and his green eyes brighten as he turns to walk towards his suite.