My Eternal Mate

LYRA

"Lyra?" Jaxon's voice echoed, before he trudged through the door. "You in there?"

I had just changed in to a cleaner top when Zynthéa, Jaxon and Evan strutted through the bedroom door, all looking incredibly concerned.

"Oh, thank God," Zynthéa sighed, before she attacked me in her embrace. "Dy told us what happened. Where is Alexander?"

"In his office," I explained, hesitantly, eyeing the trio. "What are you all doing here?"

Jaxon narrowed his eyes at me. "You weren't going to tell us, were you?" he said, accusingly. "I get it, it's a personal matter but we deserve to know if it's going to affect us."

I bit my lower lip, not sure what he expected for me to tell him. Frankly, I hardly had a clue on what the hell was happening. We were still waiting for Adam to confirm if Aspen was even related to Alexander, and we had yet to discover how Kai fit in to the whole picture.

"Let's forget about that for now," Evan interjected, giving his mate a pointed a look as if to tell him not to pry any further, before he turned back to me and offered me a smile. "As long as you are okay, Luna."

I nodded at the trio. "Thanks, guys. Let me get you all a drink," I offered, before I started walking out of the room, with the trio following closely behind.

"If the wolf is the mysterious brother, what will happen?" Jaxon asked, narrowing his eyes, as he stole glances at Zynthéa.

The girl in question shifted uncomfortably, her teeth tugging at her lower lip, as she dumped herself on the sofa once we had reached downstairs.

"Another brother," she scoffed, her voice low as if she hadn't meant to say those words out loud. When she noticed our eyes on her, she shrugged and chuckled humourlessly. "I don't have a problem with it, though. It would have been nicer if it was a sister, I won't lie."

I offered her a weak smile, knowing it was affecting her more than she let on. Zynthéa bottled her emotions and didn't really talk about how she really felt, it made me sad most of the times, but I didn't push her.

If she felt it was necessary to, she would share her piece of mind with us. So we never pried further. She already had a lot to deal with, with her own family.

Alexander was in his office talking to Adam and Dyami, through the mind-link, I suppose, because the pair of men were still at the training grounds and I couldn't hear Alexander.

As the Luna, it didn't feel right to leave it all to my mate, so I asked the trio if they could accompany me to the orphanage. At first, the three glanced at me as if I had asked a stupid question, and I couldn’t even blame them.

“Dude, I really don’t think that’s the brightest idea,” Jaxon commented, his brows pulled together.

“I don’t think my brother will be too happy to know you’ve gone alone,” Zynthéa chimed in, a worried look on her face.

“Guys,” I intervened, groaning. “I just need to speak with him. Plus, that’s why I’m asking you three to come with me.”

“I’m down,” Jaxon almost immediately agreed, making me narrow my eyes at his sudden peak in interest. “Gives me the opportunity to kick some ass if I get lucky.”

“Babe,” I heard Evan mutter to Jaxon, shaking his head at his mate, disapprovingly.

I turned to Zynthéa, who frowned at me. “I’m sorry, Lyra. I can’t do it,” she told me, honestly. “I don’t want to meet Aspen, not until I know for sure if he’s my brother or not.”

“Of course,” I assured. “As you have every right. We’ll be back quickly.”

She held my gaze for a couple of seconds, almost as if she was questioning whether I was making the right decision. But she never pried, which was something I loved about her.

At last, Jaxon, Evan and I were headed towards the orphanage. Then it dawned on me what I was doing. I hadn’t even told Alexander, and the thought of worrying him on top of what was going on made me feel selfish. But I was the Luna, and I needed to do my part, which in that moment felt like would be speaking to Aspen.

Undoubtedly, the wolf in question was training his little pup when we arrived. Without acknowledging our presence, the man smirked. I frowned as I watched him instruct Kai on something before he dusted the dirt from his clothes.

“What a pleasant surprise,” Aspen beamed, finally lifting his head and glanced directly at me. “Any other Luna would refrain from attending to a ‘strange’ wolf, but you aren’t frightened in the slightest.”

Narrowing my eyes, I taunted, “Don’t see why I need to be. I can snap your head in half at your wish.”

I heard Jaxon mutter a ‘sheesh’ and whistle at my comeback, but I didn’t pay him any attention. Certainly not when Aspen’s laughter echoed in the woods.

“You make a good Luna,” he complimented, giving me what looked like a genuine smile. “Luckily for me, I can see that you aren’t here to rip my head off and it would be rude of me if I didn’t offer you a drink.”

“She doesn’t need your pity drink,” Jaxon snarled, taking a step in front of me as if to protect me.

Aspen arched a brow at my best friend, hardly paying him any attention before he completely ignored him and strutted towards the front door to the house.

Opening the door, he glanced back at me. “Please,” he urged, holding the door open for me.

I could feel Jaxon’s piercing gaze on me and I shook my head slightly at him before I attended to Aspen’s offer. I told Jaxon to remain outside with Evan, because I needed to speak with Aspen alone.

It took convincing and only at my Alpha tone did Jaxon end up listening to my order.

The house was empty, but I wasn’t surprised. Jenna was always travelling between this orphanage and the smaller one across the territory. It was still light outside, despite it being evening, so most of the wolves that lived here were outside.

I had just taken a seat on the sofa when Aspen returned with two cups. He placed one in front of me before he took a seat on the sofa opposite to the one I was sat on.

Nodding towards the cup, he teased, “Do I need to taste test it?”

“I’m not going to drink it either way,” I told him, sternly. “Thank you, though.”

Aspen shrugged. “Suit yourself but I do make a good cup of tea,” he informed me, grinning, making me frown at how much he resembled my mate in that moment. “So, how can I help you, Luna?”

“I want to know what you’re doing here,” I blurted. “What’s your motive behind all of this?”

Aspen inhaled sharply. “I don’t have a motive, other than wanting to live freely, to settle down,” he replied, a frown covering his face. “Perhaps, I should have returned sooner. I thought maybe it would be better to leave and erase this life, to never let Alexander know about my existence. But I couldn’t.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, debating whether he was telling the truth. My wolf was calm, not interested in the least. Frankly, she was bored and wanted to spend time with her mate. Aspen didn’t scare me at all, and he seemed quite calm.

“I don’t understand why Alexander wasn’t told about you. Does that make any sense? He’s twenty-three, for crying out loud,” I complained, throwing my hand in the air at the frustration coursing through me.

Aspen looked guilty, and he nodded in agreement. “He deserved to know, really, I completely agree. But if it had been that simple, I wouldn’t be here, getting trialed.”

He was right. Of course, he was. Although, I didn’t understand the reason behind his late turn up, I believed him. There was no bad aura or vibe to him, he genuinely looked exhausted and like he just needed to finally settle like he had said.

Before I could utter another word, Kai ran through the door. He gave me a big smile when he saw me and bowed his head in respect before he settled by his father’s side.

Nodding towards the pup, I asked, “The resemblance is uncanny. I was convinced Alexander had a pup. It’s not natural, is it?”

Aspen ruffled his pup’s hair before he turned to glance at me. Narrowing his eyes, he exhaled loudly.

“No, it’s not,” he agreed. “I can only apologise for whatever you may have dealt with in the hands of Jessica.”

“You know Jessica,” I stated in a matter-of-fact tone, already knowing the answer, considering she was Kai’s mother, but still sounded absurd saying it out loud.

“Sadly, yes.”