When The Moon Rises

Sienna’s POV.

As we walk back to the house, my rationality starts to come back to me, and I sneak a glance at my mate next to me.

What am I going to do?

Not only is my mate a member of the Black Mountain pack, but he’s also their Beta, which means he’s very close with the Alpha. I look over at the tattoos that cover the back of his right hand, up his arm and disappear under his t-shirt, peaking up from the collar on his neck. He has a few piercings in his ear.

If my mother sees him, she’ll pitch a fit.

Or faint.

Or both probably.

It will be interesting to see which one first.

My eyes drop down to his large hands and a shiver runs down my back at the thought that this man has more than likely killed someone.

What should I do? What if he rejects me?

My thoughts rush through my head, making it hard to focus. I’m relieved when we come to a large three storey house and Cade opens the door, leading my mate and I through the corridor to the open plan kitchen.

Luckily, the house appears to be empty. I stand a couple metres away from my mate, unsure how to act with him now that my common sense is coming back.

I always thought I’d meet my mate, he’d be somewhat normal, and it would all be easy from there. I did not expect this, and I certainly didn’t ask for it either.

What was the Moon Goddess thinking?

“So...you two are mates then?” Cade asks calmly, but his narrowed eyes and frown tell me that he is less than impressed.

“Yes, we are,” my mate replies, I still don’t know his name.

Cade looks at me for confirmation, and I nod before I can open my mouth and make more of a mess of this.

“Do you have any idea what this means for her? Have you thought about her at all?” Cade hisses through his teeth at my mate, I presume “her” must mean me.

“Of course, I have, but what do you expect me to do? What can I do?” He argues back.

I look at the both of them, I’m completely confused as to what’s going on here.

“You can let her go back to her pack, it’s better for her that she does!” Cade insists and my mate growls next to me.

“She is not leaving me!” He shouts and I flinch.

This situation needs to be sorted.

“She is right here!” I say loudly, causing them both to look at me. “What the hell are you guys talking about? I’m so confused.”

Both of them sigh in unison.

“He can explain it all to you, I need to go clear my head,” Cade muttered, starting to walk out the room. I rush over and grab his arm.

“Don’t leave me here, tell me what’s going on,” I ask, and Cade looks down at me, his eyes full of sympathy.

“I’ll be outside, come out when he’s done talking to you,” he says simply, he pulls himself out of my grip and walks out the room. A few moments later, the front door slams. I turn around to see my mate glaring at me.

Well, this is going to be fun.

“I don’t even know your name,” I tell him, and his eyes soften, making me relax.

“Jaxon, but everyone calls me Jax,” he says, and I nod.

Hmm, I like Jax.

“Care to explain what you two were talking about?” I ask, moving over to sit on one of the sofas.

My mate frowns and comes to sit down next to me. I tense up as his thigh brushes against me.

“My brother and I don’t exactly see eye to eye,” he begins but I cut him off by holding my hand up.

“Your brother?” I squeak in surprise.

Cade is his brother?

“Cade and I are brothers, yes,” Jax says, frowning at me.

“He never told me that,” I explain and Jax narrows his eyes at me.

“What exactly is your relationship with Cade? You two seem very comfortable with each other,” Jax accuses and it’s my turn to narrow my eyes at him.

“He’s a close friend, that’s all,” I defend myself and luckily, Jax seems to believe me.

“Anyway, my brother has a difficult time accepting our pack. My dad offered us both the position of Alpha, but Cade declined it, he’d much rather be the Pack Doctor than be a leader.”

“So right now, your dad is the Alpha?”

“Yes, I was meant to take over his position next month, but now that I’ve met my mate, he’ll bring the ceremony forward,” he explains and my stomach twists with dread.

“And what exactly do you expect of me?” I ask nervously.

He frowns at me, like he doesn’t understand the question, or rather, why I’m asking it.

“You will move here and become my Luna obviously,” he states simply, and I take a deep breath to calm myself.

“I’m not moving to your pack; I’ve only just met you!” I stand up and take a few steps back.

“You are my mate, of course you’re moving to my pack,” he growls, standing up from the sofa and closing the distance between us.

“No, I’m not! You don’t understand, my parents are not exactly accepting, this isn’t going to go well,” I try to explain, but he grabs me and pulls me against his hard chest.

“If you think I’m going to let your parent’s opinions stop me from being with you then you don’t know me very well.”

“You’re right, I don’t know you very well,” I retort.

Jax looks down at me, and I curse myself for melting under his intense gaze.

I’ve always felt too tall, my friends have always been shorter than me. Yet, with Jax, I’m having to look up because he can rest his chin on the top of my head.

“I care what they think,” I mutter quietly and Jax wraps his arms around me, squeezing me tight against his muscular chest.

If I were to die now, I’d die happy. Confused, but happy.

Before he can respond, my phone starts ringing inside my handbag.

Guess I’ve got my signal back.

“Excuse me,” I murmur. I sigh heavily as I see my mum’s face on my phone.

“Hi, Mum,” I answer brightly.

I glance over to see Jax watching me, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Hi, sweetie. Are you still with Cade? Where are you?” She asks and I check the time, it’s nearly three o’clock.

“I’m still with Cade, we just went for coffee, but I think we might go for a run. I won’t be home till later,” I tell her, frowning when a low growl erupts from Jax’s chest.

“Okay, dinners at seven.”

“That’s fine, I’ll be home by then.”

“Great, see you later, sweetie.”

“Bye, Mum.” I hang up and slide the phone back into my bag.

“I need to go, I need to talk to Cade,” I tell Jax, and he glares at me.

“You’re not going anywhere, you’re not leaving, you’re part of my pack now,” he tells me and it’s my turn to glare at him.

“Excuse me, I am not part of your pack and yes, I am leaving!” I reply angrily, trying to march past him but he grabs me by my forearms, holding me in place.

“Princess, I have a reputation to maintain, if my pack finds out that I’ve met my mate and let her wander off my territory unmarked, it’s not going to look good,” he warns me, and I narrow my eyes at him.

“I don’t care about your reputation, you are not marking me,” I hiss, trying to squirm out of his grip.

“Why not? You’re mine,” he argues, but he seems much calmer than me.

“No, I’m not!” I disagree with him and pull myself out of his grip.

I instantly regret my words as I see the furious look on his beautiful face.

“You are mine, whether you like it or not,” he tells me, and I take a few deep breaths.

“Look, you don’t understand, this has completely thrown me. I never expected my mate to be the future Alpha of the Black Mountain pack. It seems there’s a lot going on in your life, this just....it isn’t going to work,” I say quietly, and I try not to let tears form in my eyes.

“You are not rejecting me,” he growls and pulls me back into his arms.

“No, I’m not, but I just think you should realise that this isn’t going to be easy, and you can’t just snap your fingers and expect me to move to your pack. What am I supposed to tell my parents?”

“Tell them you’ve met your mate,” he says, as if it’s that simple and obvious.

“Let me go talk to Cade, I promise I won’t leave without telling you,” I acquiesce, Jax reluctantly lets me go.

I find Cade sat on the grass in front of the house, he doesn’t say anything as I come and sit next to him.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was your brother? Or that your Dad is the Alpha?” I ask, letting him see how annoyed I am he kept that from me. He sighs and turns to face me.

“I told you; I don’t get on with my Dad. He’s the one who gives the Black Mountain pack such a bad name,” he replies.

I sit back and listen to him explain.

“When he offered Jax and I to be Alpha, I declined straight away. Not only do I not want to be Alpha, if I’d have said yes, Dad would have expected Jax and I to fight for the position. As much as I don’t like my brother, I don’t want to fight him. Besides, he’ll make a much better Alpha than me,” Cade admits to me, and I lean over to squeeze his hand, hoping I’m providing some comfort.

“I never meant to bring you in to this. I’m so sorry I was late meeting you, I got caught up with my parents. I had no idea you’d been reported on our territory. You’re lovely, Sienna, and my brother, well, I think you deserve more than him. There’s a lot of tension in my family, and if you stay here, you’re going to get wrapped up in it, and I don’t want that. That’s why I have a problem with Jax, it’s not fair to you and he knows it.”

I sit quietly beside him, taking in everything he says.

I wonder what he means by tension. How am I going to get involved in it?

“It’s okay, Cade. I’m just glad I’ve got you to talk to.”

Jax comes out of the house a few minutes later and comes over to us, I stand up and pick up my bag.

“I need to get back to my house before my parent’s start worrying,” I tell him.

I really need some time to think. I can see Jax is about to disagree so I cut in before he can.

“Look, let me go home tonight. I’ll tell my parents I’m staying at my friend’s house or something and I’ll come back tomorrow, okay?” I offer, Jax considers it for a moment before nodding reluctantly.

“I know we’ve got a lot to talk about, but just give me some time to get my head around it,” I say to him and open up my arms for a hug.

He pulls me against his warm, solid chest for what must be like the tenth time today. But I’m still not bored of it, I revel in the feel of my mate’s arms around me before pulling away.

“I’ll walk you to the border,” Cade suggests and Jax growls in warning.

“I’m your brother for fucks sake. Besides, you best go explain this to Dad,” Cade argues, and I can see Jax knows he’s right.

“Fine, but don’t you dare touch her,” Jax warns him.

Cade rolls his eyes in response. Jax leans over and presses a kiss to my forehead before heading back inside the house. I freeze as the tingles spread throughout my body.

“Oh, snap out of it,” Cade mutters teasingly. I nudge him and we walk back towards the tree line.

“So, today’s been weird,” Cade says casually, and I roll my eyes.

“You think? Goddess, I was not expecting this today.”

I can’t wait to get home and get in bed.

“Jax is actually alright, he’s just been through a lot,” Cade tells me, and I just nod, knowing if I ask, he won’t expand on his comment.

Soon enough, we come out of the trees, and I see my car. It seems like days ago that I parked it there. Little did I know when I was entering the woods, I was about to find my mate.

“I’ll come pick you up tomorrow,” Cade says, hugging me.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” We say goodbye and I slide into the car; I start the engine and drive away.

My mind replays today’s events and I sigh heavily, hopefully I’ll feel better about everything tomorrow.