Taming Her Beastly Mate

Alexis woke up feeling well-rested. It was one of the best nights of sleep she remembers getting. She guessed it was because she slept with Aken’s shirt. She breathed in and furrowed her brows. The scent on the shirt wasn’t as weak as she remembered. In fact, it was stronger. She opened her eyes to see two shirts in her hands. A lighter t-shirt, the one she went to bed with, and a darker t-shirt. This was not the same color shirt she had gone to bed with yet it smelled like Aken. She shot up quickly, clenching the shirt in her hands.

“He was here! Aken was here!?” Alexis gasped out, looking at an annoyed-looking Micah.

“Now you wake up early. Any other day you are sleeping in.” Micah growled and pulled his blanket up.

“Micah! Aken was in this room. Some protector you are. He came in and you never noticed.” Alexis watched Micah’s lips twitch upwards.

“Actually, my princess, I had a conversation with him last night.” Micah watched as Alexis’ eyes bulged open. He couldn’t help the grin that continued to play on his lips. He knew she would react like that.

“You talked to him? You knew he was here? Why didn’t you wake me up?!”

“You didn’t even wake up when he kissed you. I figured you were too tired and needed your sleep.” Micah teased.

Oh gosh, he kissed her. She felt her cheeks heat up as her heart began racing. He came to see her again. She smiled and squeezed his shirt tighter to her chest. Oh, gods… he saw her cuddling up with his old shirt. She felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her. What did he think of it? Like she was an obsessive child clinging to a teddy bear. No, Lex, the bear was on the other side of the room. I was clinging to the shirt my mate left with my cousin. I am like an obsessive stalker collecting items the person throws out in the trash.

“Why didn’t he wake me?” She finally whispered out.

“He said that he wouldn’t be able to leave you if you were awake.” Micah sat up and held his hand out towards Alexis. “He left this for you. He said that if there is an emergency to break it and he will come to you.”

Alexis stared at Micah’s hand for a moment before she swung her feet off her bed. She walked over towards him and opened her hand. Micah dropped a golden chain with a gem attached to it. The gem emitted a gentle warmth that her body recognized immediately. It was familiar and warm. She felt a sense of familiarity to it. It was Aken. Not him exactly, but it was his essence.

Alexis stared at the beautiful pendant and chain in her palm, lifting it higher. There was a gem in the center in the shape of a heart. She felt her own heart skip a beat as she noticed the writing that was on the chain, “You’ve always had it” She raised her hand up to her mouth as she felt the burning sensation in her nose. Water built up in her eyes then slowly fell down her cheek. She always had his heart. He was letting her know that he had always loved her.

Micah got up out of bed and wrapped his arms around Alexis. He leaned his head on top of hers and smiled. “He will be back Lex. He promised to come back as soon as he can, even if he hasn’t killed Erebus yet. I put a bug in his ear that he could at least stay with you secretly at night. You can be mates at night like your parents did.”

“Be mates at night and pretend mates in public with Brian. Someone has a sick and twisted sense of humor.” Alexis leaned her head against Micah’s chest. This was the same thing her mother had to do. The same exact thing. But she would do whatever she had to. All she wanted was to have Aken. Even if she could only spend her nights with him for years it would be better than nothing. “That was a nice suggestion. Thank you for thinking of me.”

“Anything so that I don’t have to sleep in the same room with you and listen to your snoring. Plus, this gets me out of babysitting at night.” He chuckled and stepped back from her to see her roll her eyes at him.

“I don’t snore.”

“Sure you don’t princess,” Micah smirked and headed towards the door. “Get changed… Oh and Alexis.” He watched her raise her eyes up towards him. “I got to see Aken without a shirt on.” He winked at her and walked out of the room.

Alexis snorted and then looked down at the gem. She wanted to give Aken something too the next time she saw him. And somebody had better wake her up next time or she will go on a sleep strike. That is a thing, right? When she would refuse to sleep. She walked up to the mirror and clasped her necklace around her neck. The warmth of the gem rested on her skin. It felt nice. It was like having a piece of Aken with her.

_

“I understand the situation.” Titus’ lips pulled down as he let out a sigh. “I just don’t know how to explain this to Brian.” The sound of laughter filled the room as Brian walked in from the doorway.

“Dad, you don’t have to act like I would be heartbroken hearing this. I hate to tell you two this…” Brian looked between Levi and Titus. “But Alexis and I were only pretending anyways. We were never going to go through with the marking. The moment my lips touched her neck, Micah was going to create a diversion. So that I would never end up marking her.”

“Brian!”

“What did you expect, dad. You were asking me to mate with my sister. We aren’t b***d but I can’t change how I see and feel about her. Not even over time. My problem isn’t her problem. I’ll figure it out.” Brian turned and looked at Levi. “I have no problems continuing to pretend to be Alexis’ chosen mate. This will give me an excuse to stay closer to her so I can protect her. I can’t believe that bastard was here. Do you want me to keep Alexis with me at night?”

“Micah moved a bed into Alexis’ room. Much to her chagrin. Brian, I appreciate this. You are a good man.” Levi looked up at Titus and could see he still looked concerned over his son’s future. “I promise once I don’t have to worry about Erebus, I will concentrate all my time on a solution.”

“Maybe Aken might know of something. He may even know of a way to get to Shiva, right?” Brian shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t stress about this dad. I’m going to go see my sleeping beauty. Let her know it’s time for some practice drills.”

__

“Oh, Lex the necklace is beautiful. Simply breathtaking. And what a sweet gesture.” Rhea could see her daughter was glowing over it. “I like that emergency feature. I wonder if your father can give you something similar as well.” She looked down at the ground as she took in a slow breath. “I wonder if Erebus has similar crystals to what Aken has.”

“Don’t worry. Even if he does, I can sense him. I was able to sense Aken. I can always sleep in the same bed with her if that would make you feel better,” Micah suggested innocently.

“You aren’t sleeping with my mock mate. What would the neighbors say?” Brian grinned as he came up from the stairs.

“Brian.” Alexis smiled brightly up at him as he walked over to take a seat on the sofa across from Cody and Kelsie.

“I wasn’t able to sense him at all.” Cody frowned and rubbed his chin.

“That’s because you are getting too old.” Micah teased and listened to him snort.

“Micah’s skills and strength have always been a bit different from the rest of the guardians we have known.” Rhea would have to discuss this more with Lee. She wondered if there was a way to get around the crystals. Even if it was just Lee. Someone else besides Micah who could sense an intruder.

“I told your father I didn’t mind continuing to be your mate. Well, pretend mate. So like it or not I’ll be stuck to you like glue.” Brian watched Alexis play with a chain around her neck. One he hadn’t seen before. “What is that?”

“Lover boy left it when he visited last night.” Micah said with a cheeky tone.

“Oh, my love rival? Let’s see it.” Brain hopped up and walked up to Alexis. He grabbed the chain delicately so he could study it. He noticed the light flushed cheeks from Alexis when he began to read the words and see the shape inside. “Oh, my heart. That boy is good. Well, that’s a knock-out punch for me.”

“Stop teasing me.” Alexis shoved Brian away as she held the necklace preciously against her skin.

“Does your daddy know you have strange men popping into your room throughout the night?” Brian teased as Levi appeared in front of them.

“Strange men?” Levi turned and arched his brow up at Alexis for answers.

“Aken stopped by to check on our daughter last night. He was using some sort of masking crystals.” Rhea walked over and placed her hand around Lee’s waist. “Could Erebus have something like this as well?”

“I could feel a presence from Erebus. But this isn’t to say he can’t obtain something similar.” Lee g*****d and rubbed his chin.

“Micah was still able to detect Aken.” Rhea added and watched Lee nod his head.

“If Aken is closer to me I can also detect him. But I’m going to need to think about this some.” Lee knew of the rare crystals Aken had. The problem was there were more of those. And if Erebus obtained them as well, this could present trouble. It could also explain how he was able to hide so well.

“Lee, Aken gave Lex a necklace. He told her to break it if there is an emergency and he will come to her.” Rhea watched his head turn and look at their daughter. “Can you do something similar?”

“Yes and no. I have connected with you Rhea. I gave you the gift of connection as your summon. I can come to you just by you calling my name. Aken can also give this gift to Alexis. That necklace is different. I am not sure how he was able to have that connection made. Aken knows a lot of things. This was probably something he picked up. But he connected his gift as a summon to that gem. It gives it a one time use if it is shattered. It is clever. It is a way you can come to someone’s aid once but without being committed to them.” Lee looked over to see Rhea frowning. “Once he gifts his mate the gift of his summon it will break the curse. This is something he can’t do now because of Erebus being a threat.”

The voices began to fade out for Alexis. Darkness encompassed her and then it was white. She was surrounded by white snowy mountains with the bluest sky she had ever seen.

Something was bounding towards her. It soared through the air then bounced through the snow. A blinding flash of the sun reflected off of it making Alexis lose sight of it. Then the next second it was right there… in front of her.