#8 The Archer and her Wolf

Thea

“Nice to see you, too, Thea.” Quinny sneered as she and Tate walked into the hallway.

Quinny was the only daughter of the Alpha of the Red River pack in Atlanta. They bordered our pack and, therefore, were our allies. When Tate was 20, he went to a social event at Red River and discovered that Quinny was his mate. Since the Alpha didn’t have any sons, he named Tate his successor and handed over the pack in less than a year.

Quinny was a plain girl with shoulder length brunette hair and boring brown eyes. Her face was caked with way too much makeup and she always dressed like she was ready for a party.

“Quinny.” I grumbled, not even bothering to hide the irritation in my voice.

“Can’t you two go five minutes before digging into each other?” Tate groaned, walking up to me and pulling me in for a hug. I tightly hugged him back.

“No, I cannot.” I said as Tate pulled away and shook his head.

“Care to introduce me to your mate?” Tate nodded his head towards Xaiver.

“He can speak.” I snapped and Tate rolled his eyes.

“I’m Xaiver.” He said, stepping up and offering Tate his hand. Tate shook it,

“Tate, Thea’s older brother and Alpha of Red River. This is my mate and Luna, Quinny.” Tate answered formally.

“Pleasure to meet you.” Xaiver replied before dropping his hand.

“Why are you here?” I asked.

“Mom mindlinked me the second he showed up.” Tate said, “Come on, she’s got lunch going.” He nodded his head towards the kitchen and walked out, with Quinny in tow.

“What is that about?” Xaiver leaned in to whisper in my ear.

“My brother’s mate and I don’t get along.” I grumbled.

“No kidding.” Xaiver snorted.

“She’s high maintenance and a spoiled brat. She’s never had to work for anything in her life and she refuses to do anything, even as the Luna. She spends all of my brother’s money on useless shit. The second I met her, she was trying to shove me out of Tate’s life because she was jealous. Jealous of his fucking sister, like, who does that?” My hands were curled into fists as the anger rose inside my chest.

Xaiver turned me in his arms so I was facing him, cupping my face in his hands. I had no idea why, but the instant his eyes were on me and his skin was against mine, I began to calm down; the anger slowly dissolved away.

“Better now?” His voice was so soft and gentle as he ran his thumbs over my cheeks. I sucked in a breath, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from gasping. I simply nodded, unable to speak.

“You don’t have to worry about any of that, now.” He said, dropping his hands from my face and entwining his fingers with one of mine. I resisted the urge to whine in the absence of his warm hands on my face.

I led him out of the hallway and into the kitchen. My mother squealed and ran over to us, giving me a huge hug before trapping Xaiver in her grasp.

“I’m so glad you’re staying.” She smiled, kissing Xaiver’s cheek. Papa stood and growled, but my mom just shooed him away.

“Enough of that, Archer.” She rolled her eyes and drug Xaiver towards the table. I sat in my usual spot with Xaiver to my left.

“What’s going on?” Dad asked.

“I have some personal time with the Archers, so I’ve decided to take it and spend a few weeks at Valor Moon.” I replied simply. Mom and Dad’s faces lit up while Papa continued to frown.

“Are you sure about this, Thea?” Papa asked, earning a slap on the arm from Mom.

“It’s my choice, Papa, not his. I’m just going to give us a chance to see if we can figure something out.” I shrugged. Papa relaxed then,

“Alright, baby girl, you know I just want what’s best for you.” He smiled at me and the entire room relaxed. Papa only called me that when he was trying to make nice.

“Xaiver,” I pulled his attention towards me, “These are my youngest siblings, Timbre and Talia.” I motioned towards the 13 and 7 year old sitting on the opposite side of the table.

“Nice to meet you both.” He smiled at them. Timbre ignored him and Talia giggled.

“You know everyone else.” I said just as Frannie, our head kitchen woman, started bringing out the food.

She barely looked older than 60, but I knew she was well over a hundred years old. Nobody asked how she did it, nobody really wanted to know, anyway. She was serving her famous lasagna, knowing that it was my absolute favorite meal in the world.

“Miss. Thea, it’s so good to see you again.” Frannie smiled, hugging me from the side.

“You too, Frannie. This is Xaiver, Alpha of Valor Moon.” I motioned towards the man beside me. Frannie bowed her head at the Alpha.

“No need for that, it’s just Xaiver. Nice to meet you, Frannie.” Xaiver offered her his hand and she shook it, blushing, “You’ll have to give me Thea’s favorite recipes so I can have my chief prepare them.” He whispered to Frannie, knowing damn well that we all could hear him.

“Of course, Xaiver.” Frannie smiled, patting my head, “I guess I’ll be calling you Luna soon, Miss. Thea.”

“Over my dead body.” I grumbled and the entire table started laughing at me.

“You’re such a sourpuss, Thea.” Tigris laughed at me.

“Being Luna isn’t so bad, Thea, I’m sure you’ll be great at it.” Nora smiled softly at me.

“And how would you know? You’re not even a Luna.” Quinny scoffed from across the table.

Tate was frowning and everyone else was glaring at her. She thought she was invincible with my brother by her side, but boy was she wrong.

“Watch yourself, Quinny. Nora is our Luna.” Theo warned her.

“Don’t speak to her like that.” Tate snapped.

“Both of you shut up.” I snarled, earning a glare from Quinny, a defeated look from Tate, and a smug expression from Theo.

“Can’t we just have a nice meal together.” My mother sniffed from the head of the table.

My fathers started patting her soothingly and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I loved my parents, all of them, but sometimes their interactions made me nauseous.

“Yes, Mother.” Tigris, the oldest by just a few minutes, glared at the entire table and we all shut up.

“I wanted you all to know that any of you are welcome in our pack whenever you want to visit.” Xaiver broke the tension, taking my hand and squeezing it.

Something about the way he said our pack made me squirm in my seat.

“Thank you, Xaiver, that means a lot to us.” Dad smiled at him.

“Oh, I’m so excited. Valor Moon is the closest my daughter’s been to home in ten years.” Mom smiled widely.

“It’s just for now, Mom.” I burst her bubble. She frowned at me and so did my fathers.

“Well, you don’t know.” Mom replied stubbornly before going back to her lasagna.

I shook my head just as my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and recognized Effie’s number. I jumped up and left the table without so much as a word. Xaiver said my name but I ignored him. I heard Papa respond,

“It’s probably the Archers.” He said just as I moved out of ear shot.

“Hello?”

“The sky is blue.” The voice on the other end said.

“Today, it’s red.” I replied to the challenge code. There was the sound of the phone exchanging hands, and then Effie spoke.

“Crimson, we’ve got some news. Hugo identified Matt as the rogue pack’s Beta.” She said,

“The rogue pack?” I asked in surprise.

“Confirmed. He said he was following his Alpha’s orders. Whatever issue they have with Valor Moon, it’s personal. Hugo says that it’s personal to the Alpha and his son.” Effie explained.

“Listen, Effie, I’m going to stick around Alpha Xaiver for a while. I’ve earned some personal time, so maybe a month or two. But, if you hear anything, I expect to be updated and called in when you move.” I replied sternly.

“This is personal for you, too.” Effie said, it wasn’t a question.

“He’s my mate.” I confessed.

“Well, you know how I feel about the matebond so you’ll get no arguments from me.” Effie was very much pro matebond. She understood, even expected, Archers to leave the organization once meeting their mate.

“Keep me posted.” I said again.

“This is your mission, Crimson, of course I will.” She agreed before ending the call.

I sighed and walked back towards the kitchen. I cleared my throat and got Xaiver’s attention.

“Can you come here for a minute?” I said and he scurried across the room, looking worried.

“What’s wrong, Thea?” He had his hands on my arms and was looking around the room for a threat.

“I got a call from my boss. She was able to get some more information about the attacks on your son. Apparently, the orders are coming from a rogue pack’s Alpha.” I said and Xaiver’s eyes widened slightly.

“A rogue pack?” He asked with side eyes.

I understood his surprise. Rogue packs were not common. The very definition of a rogue meant that they didn’t do well in packs or follow an Alpha’s command.

“Yeah, the man who ordered Hugo to send those guys after your son, his name is Matt. He’s the pack’s Beta. Hugo says that whatever is going on is personal to not just your pack, but you and your son. Are you sure you don’t know anything named Matt?” I asked him again and he shook his head.

“No, and I don’t know who would have a personal vendetta with me or my son. My pack hasn’t gotten involved in anyone else’s business since my grandfather was the Alpha.” Xaiver replied thoughtfully.

“We’ll figure it out, Xaiver, I promise.” I said,

I wasn’t about to let any harm come to him or his son, or his entire pack for that matter. Protecting people was my job and I’ll be damned if I start failing now.

“I know you will.” Xaiver smiled at me, cupping my face again.

He leaned in close and waited for me to respond. I met him halfway and lightly pressed my lips to his.

“Come on, your family is waiting.” He smirked, pulling away and leading me back to the table.