The Guardian Wolf And Her Alpha Mate
The Blessed Ones – A Blessing Or A Curse? Chapter 18

Nova POV:

"Love its time to wake up" I hear Jaxs husky morning voice say as he gently brushes the hair from my face. "We have twenty minutes to get ready." "Ahhh" I groan, my body feeling heavy with sleep.

"I've got you coffee" he says with a dep chuckle as the delicious aroma reaches my nose. With a sleepy smile, I rub my eyes and force myself to sit up, shooting Jax a grateful smile. "You were out like a light, you need to make sure you're getting enough rest."

"I know" I yawn. "It's just been hectic hasn't it. And today..." I trail off as my worry for Mila hits my like a train. Grimacing as the memory of wats happened makes me feel nauseous, I put the coffee down and make myself get up out of bed. Walking to the bathroom quickly, I ignore the confused look Jax is giving me and take some deep breaths before splashing some cold water on my face. Brushing my teeth and hair, I glance in the mirror and frown as I see the dark circles under my eyes.

"I look awful" I moan to Jax as I walk back through, picking me coffee up and taking a sip. "I really do look done in at the moment."

"You've had a lot on your plate Nova, and things aren't getting easier are they. But you look gorgeous, as always" he says quietly giving me a comforting hug.

"Ki? You ok this morning?" I ask her as she stretches slowly in my head.

"Hmm" she grunts. "Tired" is all she tells me before retreating back in my mind.

Frowning once more as I feel a bit taken aback by her bluntness, I see some clothes laid out and quickly pull them on. "These are Alice's" I state as I look at them on me, apart from being a little tight they fit me well. "Luca brought them" Jax shrugs.

"I didn't even hear him" I chuckle as I see Jax is also sporting one of Lucas tops.

"Like I said, you were out of it" he smirks as he heads into the bathroom. Sitting down on the bed, I busy myself by pulling my trainers on and doing the laces up quickly.

Sitting there, I realise Ki has been suspiciously quiet on me the last few days. Since meeting Jax she has been content to sit and listen to our conversations, happy to say her piece when she wants but also busying herself with talking to Zeus. But the last few days she has felt more withdrawn.

"Ki are you alright? You've gone quiet on me" I frown as I put my hair in a loose braid.

"I'm fine Nova, don't worry. You just have a lot to think about with Mila. But don't worry, I'm always here" she replies, her voice soothing me as I relax slightly at her words.

"You can have a run with Zeus later, hows that?" I ask her with a smile.

"You know I'll never say no to that wolf" she purrs back at me making me giggle aloud.

"Ready?" Jax asks as he appears from the bathroom. With a small nod, I take his out stretched hand and we begin our walk down to the waiting car.

"What is the Deep Forest Pack like?" I ask him as we wait for the others to join us.

"About as different from our pack as it can be" he frowns. "They are surrounded by the deep forest hence the name of the pack. Only men train, I know women are expected to keep the house running etc, something Mila didn't agree with and voiced it very early on. Bruno said it was just the way the pack has always been and it was effective. I also know that in that pack, your position or rank matters, if you're an omega then you're looked down on and so on. As for the actual pack grounds, its very impressive but also quite intimidating. Everything is guarded, you literally cant go anywhere without having eyes on you. You'll see what I mean when we get there."

"Mila wouldn't fit in there" I comment quietly.

"Not one bit" he agrees immediately. "She had a few days with Bruno before they went to his pack, as soon as they arrived she said that's when he began to change. He didn't like it when she mentioned making changes, no matter how big or small. Then of course, Rebecca was introduced to her and things changed dramatically."

Feeling tears form in my eyes, I bite my lip and look tothe sky hoping they don't fall.

"Sorry" I whisper as I catch Jax's concerned gaze. "Its hard to think of what Mila went through, I'm sorry to say when she told me I felt bad but I didn't ask further as I was unsure if she would be happy discussing it. Then I thought she would tell me when she was ready and when she had no ties to him."

"She would have told you, but it's like you said. She didn't like to focus too much on what took place, my sister is all for thinking of the future" he says with a small smile.

Nodding I shake my head to rid myself of these tears. "So emotional" I chuckle. "Lack of sleep for you.'

Hearing my phone ring, I jump in surprise before fishing it out of my leggings pocket. "Laurence?" I ask anxiously as I answer.

"Good morning Luna" his cheery voice rings in my ear making me groan. "I thought you were a morning person..or was that just a ruse to meet our Alpha in the gym?" He teases as Jax throws me a wide smirk. "I'm blaming my lack of sleep" I grumble to our Beta as I narrow my eyes at Jax. "Why are you calling so early?"

"Sorry, Alpha said you would be up at this time. I wanted to run an idea past you, I've been to see Lizzie multiple times since you've been gone, but I've so far gone alone. She's been perfectly fine with me, but I think she might benefit from someone else coming along, it might make her feel a little more relaxed despite her circumstances. I was wondering if I could take Naomi with me this morning? Perhaps seeing my pregnant mate may bring her some joy, natural instincts kind of thing."

Smiling at his thoughtfulness I quickly agree, "I love that idea Laurence. Perhaps also take Flo with you. She has some stories of me from when I was younger."

"I'll take Naomi with me, and run the idea past your mum about Florence joining us. I wouldn't want to overwhelm her. But I think she will be open to the idea, she expressed an interest in knowing more about you, she definitely wasn't told what Charles knew about you over the years" he says quietly at the end.

Blowing out a long breath, I sit down pn the edge of a nearby wall. "What has she said to you?" I ask him nervously.

"Not too much, I haven't wanted to push her in your absence and I got the feeling once she knew you had to leave that her nerves increased somewhat. Ive just been checking in and keeping her company, trying to make her feel like she is welcome here. I can tell she thinks shes partially to blame" he trails off.

"She stills puts herself at fault despite not being in control of her own mind. Do you think she expects there to be consequences?" I ask him as Jax sits next to ne listening quietly.

"I think so yes" Laurence admits.

"Then we need to change that way of thinking" Jax says firmly as he takes the phone and puts it on speaker. "Hey Laurence." "Alpha" Laurence replies politely.

"I'm going to speak to Elder Martin when we get back later. "But I'm quite certain Lizzie hasn't caused any harm when in her own mind. I have an idea of what we can do, but I'm not going to speak to Lizzie about it until we have discussed it thoroughly. Just keep her relaxed and be there for her, Naomi will be great with her. Flo will also if Lizzie is comfortable. What has the doctor said?"

"The broken mate bond has hurt her, she's feeling the loss of her mate hard. But I know she is strong enough to get through it despite being human. As horrible as it is, the fact she was apart from Kingsley for so long is to thank for that. She will be ok, I have managed to get her to eat more, I've found small bites more frequently is better than large meals. All of yesterday I made sure to sit and eat with her" Laurence tells him proudly.

"You're a good man Laurence" I tell him softly.

"Thank you Luna" he replies happily. "I'll be in touch throughout the day, I'll be ready with the morning report from 12pm Alpha."

"Cheers mate" Jax says in relief, "speak soon."

Hanging up the phone he passes it wordlessly back to me as I look at him curiously.

"Your idea..?" I prompt him.

"There are a few methods to make her remember, its to decide which is most suitable for her mind right now" he explains as we see the others arrive.

"What do you think is best?" I ask him as we stand.

"I think you already know" he says giving me a look.

"Repressed memory therapy" I murmur softly.

"Or as I like to say" he says with a chuckle, "hypnosis."