Another Half

Rex remained in his office for a while after their meeting. While Sergio had gone off to locate the refugees from Cobalt Lake and report on their status, Ax and Blade went to assess the status of elite warriors. Apparently, many warriors did not show up for their five in the morning mandatory training run with Blade.

“I would have preferred to have stayed in bed, too! But I left my recently Marked mate in bed alone to go run with these assholes! I better not hear any fucking, dumb-ass excuses or so help me—!”

Ax had howled with laughter.

As punishment, she planned to make no-show elites run ten miles. In the sun. And, as angry as she was, she would set the pace. Ax loved it and Rex was glad someone was going to pay dearly for his waking up alone. He was going to love hearing Ax’s colorful reports on his mate’s activities. He had no doubt she would run and train elite warriors hard, and that could only make their pack stronger. And he realized that maybe he didn’t mind his Luna doubling as the Training Master after all.

Rex was reading the distillery’s production reports and quarterly profit reports when an urgent knock interrupted his thoughts on how to expand the distillery. Without waiting for his reply, a tearful Julia walked in and shut the door behind her. She leaned heavily against the door before approaching his desk.

Rex had never seen Julia cry. He didn’t think it was possible.

“What happened?”

“She’s just awful to me! She hates me as no one has ever hated me in my life!” She bawled, and it made Rex cringe. “And for no good reason, too!”

Although her tears seemed to be real, Rex felt more confused than sorry for her.

“Who, Julia?”

“That new Training Master, the one everyone keeps saying she’s your mate just because you bit her to make her heel during that fight.” She continued to sob bitterly.

Rex raised his eyebrows. Was his mate callous enough to make a she-wolf cry with so much sorrow?

Our loving mate probably isn’t, but our hard-ass Training Master is, Nakon said. I wonder if she sees herself as two different people in that regard.

“What did she do?”

“Can you believe that evil she-wolf had the nerve to say that I’m too weak to be an elite warrior? Feliciana, though, that bitch who can’t even fight me, she made the cut! What the fuck, Rex!”

“Blade opened the elite warrior ranks to she-wolves?” Rex wondered what she had been thinking. True, Blade had overpowered every male in the pack except him, but she was more the exception to female strength than its rule.

“Yes, and she said I’m not good enough!” Julia said. “ME! The she-wolf you once said was the best female warrior in all four packs!”

Rex frowned at this. He had seen Julia in several fights, most of which she had won. She was very capable, and the fact that she was the last female warrior that Blade had defeated before moving on to all-male opponents during the Tournament said something about Julia’s strength and capabilities.

Mind popping into my office for a second? I have a complaint against you, and I need to hear your side of the story.

Wow. Whoever it is didn’t waste time, Blade said. I’ll be right there, but be warned, whoever it is, I stand by my decision.

Fair enough, but I still need to figure out why she’s saying what she’s saying.

Julia’s tears became tears of anger. “You know what it is? I think she’s just jealous of me. She’s jealous that I’m prettier than her, that you and me have been in a relationship for so long, and that you put her in her place at the end of the fight. I mean, that bite was fierce! I can see the hatred and jealousy in her eyes, and she’s just evil—”

“Blade has no reason to hate you, Julia,” Rex said. Blade was many things, but evil was not one of them. “And she is my mate. That wasn’t just a bite. I Marked her then and there. And you and I do not have a relationship, so stop saying that, especially to Blade.”

Fuck. Rex had no idea how Blade would react to Julia’s statements, but he didn’t imagine it would go down well. Rex and Blade hadn’t discussed people other than their would-have-been-mates, but it now made him wonder if she had had any boyfriends or lovers along the way. She must have if Andy wasn’t Nick’s son, and it seemed that Nick hadn’t wanted Blade enough to father a pup with her. The thought of his mate getting impregnated by anyone but Rex was enough to make him ill.

Presently, Julia gaped at him in disbelief. “So the rumors are true? You actually chose her? HER?!” she said in a harsh whisper. “She’s the new Luna and the Training Master?”

Nakon laughed in Rex’s mind space. She’s going to be the best Luna ever.

“There is nothing I can do about that,” Rex said, flatly. “You were there. She became the indisputable Training Master before she and I met. She’s the Luna because she’s my Fated Mate.”

“But you and I are dating! And I will have you know, Alpha, that she’ll make a horrible Luna. It’s not too late for you to choose someone else to be your Luna—someone who hasn’t borne a pup for someone else. Even if it’s not me, please consider one of many she-wolves in our pack who are truly worthy, who are willing and begging to do your bidding,” she said, drawing closer to Rex and kneeling next to his chair. She looked up at him from where she knelt and batted her eyelashes prettily.

Rex sighed at Julia’s blatant offer.

Once Fated Mates Marked each other, they could not be cast aside; they were Marked for life. The same was not true of Chosen Mates. Rex knew of Chosen Mates throughout their history that dumped each other aside for various reasons and chose someone else. But, as Rex’s father had often warned him, for an Alpha a Chosen match could never compete with a Fated match. It had not much to do with ideals as much as practicality. Chosen mates could never feel each other’s emotions nor could they read each other’s thoughts, a vital necessity for any alpha and luna if they were to rule together in harmony. But to Rex, a Chosen Mate also lacked that special bond he now shared with Blade, the one thing he had mourned as he had watched with envy his best friends enjoy with their mates.

“Julia, I am not interested in changing my Fated Mate for you or anyone else.”

“But why her?” Julia whined. “Rex, we were working on establishing a relationship. You and me.”

With a sinking feeling, Rex realized that it didn’t matter what he said, Julia refused to believe Blade was his Fated Mate.

Before he could respond, her voice dropped to an urgent whisper. “You obviously don’t know this, but she loves to go out drinking with Gamma Ax, a properly mated male leader! She’s after power, and I saw them together! What decent luna does that?” She put her hand on his thigh. “I could be very good for you and the pack if you but finally give me the fair chance to prove it to you.”

Rex shivered as he felt a wave of cold rage crash on him, and he suddenly looked up to find a livid Blade staring at him.

“Well, if you two are finished playing at whatever the fuck it is you’re playing at, I’d like to get on with this already useless meeting. I actually have important things to attend to.”

Underneath Blade’s indifferent voice Rex could detect nothing but a violent rage the depth of which he had never encountered before, not even in the heat of battle. And fuck all if he was going to get in the way of that.

“You're interrupting us. Don’t you at least know how to knock?” Julia asked as she stood.

“I don’t have to knock,” Blade said with a calm disdain that belied her fury. She closed the door behind her. “From what Rex explained to me this morning, this is now my house and this is my mate’s office. So, get your fucking paw off of him before I relieve you of both hands.” She glanced at Rex, challenging him with a stare that would have made anyone recoil with fear.

You have to choose between your mate and your fucking girlfriend, Rex. I’m not putting up with this shit again.

She’s not my girlfriend nor was she ever, Rex relayed quickly. I’ve never been in a relationship of any kind, including her.

To Rex’s satisfaction, Blade’s irate expression turned to one of shock.

I am Marked by you as my Fated Mate and I have no desire for anyone else. You know this to be true. But do with her as you please. She was disrespectful to you even after I informed her that you are my Mate and Luna.

Rex heard Blade’s thoughts stutter and come to a halt as she took a seat at one of the sofas where she waited for them to join her. He got up from his desk and headed to the bar. Fuck, he had never needed a drink as much as he did right then. This was already one fucking shitshow, and he had no idea how he was going to keep them from killing each other.

“Mate?”

“The same.”

He sighed deeply with relief and gratitude by Blade’s choice and what it meant, although Rex was disappointed that she had thought him capable of what Nick did to her. Still, he was glad he wouldn’t be commissioning Julia’s funeral pyre before officially introducing Blade as his Mate and Luna.

“Julia?”

“You know what I like, baby,” she said as she made her way to the sofa opposite his mate.

To his relief, Blade didn’t rise to Julia’s bait. She just looked at her through narrowed eyes.

“I am your alpha, Julia,” he said sternly and with authority. “From this moment forward you will address me with respect.”

Julia sat up, but in the process looked at Blade as if she would like nothing more than to skewer her. “Yes, Alpha.”

Rex gave Julia a vodka and tonic and then handed Blade one of the two bourbon neat he had in his hands. He sat on the side chair between the sofas with the she-wolves, hoping that he at least didn’t look like he had no idea what he was doing.

He felt an infusion of encouragement, and he glanced toward Blade, whose face gave away nothing of what she was communicating to Rex. He sensed as she cleared her mind of her thoughts and feelings.

Just breathe, she whispered in his mind.

He took a deep breath and looked toward her.

“Master Blade Essa,” Rex started, “Julia Oakentree has formally filed a complaint against you. She claims you have unfairly and without cause hindered her rise to the ranks of elite warriors. Is this what you meant to say earlier, or did I misunderstand?”

Rex glanced at Julia. She seemed surprised by his approach.

“Yes, Alpha. That is what I meant to say. I fought in the Saxe Oaks battle from which I emerged victorious with all the other warriors, and I have sparred in countless encounters which you have witnessed, Alpha, and you’ve watched as I triumphed in each one. There is no excuse to deny me the ascension to an elite warrior. She just hates me that’s why denies me what is rightfully mine.”

Rex perceived a sudden spike of exasperation and anger in his mate, but she soon quelled it.

“Blade, please explain why you decided as you did.”

“My decision has little to do with her abilities, which her performance during the Tournament showed me need a lot of work—”

“What?!” Julia said, indignant. “How dare you–”

Rex raised his hand, silencing Julia immediately.

“She is a predictable and overemotional fighter, both of which are highly undesirable traits in an elite warrior,” Blade said without missing a beat. “And the only thing worse than Julia’s inability to control her emotions during a fight is her inexplicable belief that instructions do not apply to her, that she’s entitled to special treatment by her superiors. I have Julia’s file in my office with Master Davis’s notes on her many accounts of insubordination that date back to December,” she said. “Anyway, I made it perfectly clear the day the tournament ended that morning runs are mandatory for all elites and for anyone interested in becoming an elite, but optional for lower-level warriors,” Blade said. She shrugged. “Julia chose to follow the instructions for lower-level warriors, so I assumed that’s where she preferred to stay. Furthermore, she seems to think that punctuality to workouts is optional, and showed disrespect towards me and her fellow warriors when she was not allowed to spar. I expect punctuality, consistency, and dedication but, more importantly, I do not tolerate insubordination in any rank of this pack’s army.”

Rex nodded. “Julia?”

Julia had turned red in the face with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. “Feliciana is a worse warrior than me and you ascended her, even though she’s a beta.”

“Quite true,” Blade said in a crisp voice. “Feliciana does not have the strength that your alpha bloodline gives you, but she is disciplined and teachable. She is also respectful, her humility will help her become the best elite warrior she’s capable of becoming. That is all anyone can ask of an elite warrior.”

“You’re allowing she-wolves to become elite warriors then?” Rex said. He’s never heard of such a thing, and he’d have to discuss it with her further later.

“Alpha, I’m allowing omegas that fulfill the elite requirements and expectations to ascend to elite status. But they have to earn it like everyone else.”

“You know what? I don’t want to become an elite warrior if even omegas can become elites!” Julia’s disgust was more than evident.

Blade shrugged. “Good because elite warriors are the best warriors in the army, regardless of bloodline.” She turned to Rex. “If you strengthen and train omegas to fight as you do other ranked pack members, your army will not rely so heavily on warriors of ranked blood to win battles and you will significantly reduce all your losses. Less bloodshed means fewer widowed mothers and fewer orphaned pups to care for later. But that’s part of a strategy Gamma Ax and I will propose to you soon.”

Rex nodded. “Julia, is there anything you’d like to add to your case?”

Julia looked angrily at him, as if she wanted to say something scathing, but ultimately opted to shake her head.

“Then I have no choice but to support Master Blade’s assessment. You are a skilled fighter, and I am sure you will make the necessary changes you need to rise among the elite ranks if you so choose.”

Wordless, Julia left soon after. Rex remained in his spot on the sofa, but he put his arms around Blade when she joined him. While there was no doubt he had been falling hard for her since the previous day, his respect for her as leader had increased significantly in the past half hour.

“Who taught you to handle things like that?” Rex asked. “Wait, let me guess. Your grandfather.”

Blade nodded. “He used to say that my being female was no excuse for me to not contribute to my pack more than a few pups. He trained me just as much and just as hard as he trained my brother,” she whispered, “and he always expected from me just as much as Joaquin. Sometimes more.”

“You still miss him.”

Blade tightened her arms around him and nodded. “Every day.”

“It feels like I haven’t seen you all day,” he whispered in her ear. He nuzzled the side of her neck.

She looked at him and put her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

I’ve missed you so much, she whispered in his mind.

When they broke apart, she rested her forehead on his while she buried her fingers in his hair and gently scratched his scalp. Rex was certain that if he were a cat he would have started to purr.

“You supported me,” she murmured.

“Why wouldn’t I? You were in the right.”

“And you dated her?”

“If going to dinner with her twice counts as dating, I guess I did. But I didn’t fuck her. Hell, I didn’t even want to, so I have no idea why she feels so entitled. She called me after you beat her during the tournament and asked me if her loss changed how I felt about her. Fuck, I didn’t even know what the hell she was talking about, so I said no.” Rex shifted in his seat. “You really do hate her, though, don’t you?”

“Yep.”

“Is it because of me?”

“It doesn't help.”

“You can’t hate her just because she went out with me a couple of times, Blade. You can't go around hating people.”

“I don’t hate people. Just her.”

"She never meant anything to me. It was over months ago before it even went anywhere." He hoped that this would allay the jealousy she felt, not that he judged her for it. She was probably handling this situation a lot better than he would have.

“And you,” he asked, “did you, uh, date anyone after, uh, him?”

“No, I would have never left Andy with anyone I didn’t trust, especially not to go off with some male.”

To his surprise, Blade quickly sat up straight next to him. She smoothed back her hair and clothes. He frowned. Rex had the unmistakable impression that she was hiding something.

Annoyed, Rex was about to ask her who the hell was the father of her son when the door to his office flew open.

“Happy Birthday!”

Sergio, Ax, and their mates with the babies came in with a cake, ice cream, and balloons while they sang to him.

Blade glanced at him and giggled as realization dawned on him.

You knew!

She shrugged. Why didn’t you tell me today was your birthday?

It never came up.

She rolled her eyes at him.

They all ate cake and ice cream and talked for a while, and Rex felt happy. It didn’t even bother him when Ax sat next to him holding a young toddler he had never seen before but whom he recognized nonetheless.

Andy.

“Ax, come get your ice cream, will you?” Rachel held out a bowl from where they had set up at his desk.

“Here, hold this,” Ax said, dumping Andy on Rex’s lap. Ax got up and left before Rex could say anything, and instead looked down at the little boy whose uncanny resemblance to his mother unnerved him while it also filled him with jealousy. It was Blade's son with Rex that should have looked like her...

He wasn’t surprised that Andy’s wavy black hair was as long as his own; Blade seemed to have a predilection for long hair on males. Andy had Blade’s brown eyes, too, but whereas Blade had tiny violet specks in her eyes, Andy had deep purple furrows that irradiated from his pupils. Andy reached up and grabbed Rex’s nose.

Something was seriously off about this kid. Rex frowned and inhaled the boy’s scent. For one thing, Andy was definitely not the son of a beta, which meant he was not Nick’s. In fact, not only were both of Andy’s parents of alpha blood, Andy himself was an Alpha, which meant—

“Blade, who the fuck are Andy’s real parents?”

The room fell silent.

“That’s Blade’s son,” Crystal said nervously, signaling Sergio to take Andy away from Rex.

Rex snorted. “The only way this kid is Blade's is if she’s his father, and I know for a fact that my mate is not male.” He scanned the room looking for Blade. She was in a corner with Crystal, looking rather pale. “He’s definitely the son and grandson of an Alpha from your line, though.”

Blade widened her eyes. “What?”

“Out! Everyone out!” Rex said.

Now that he knew Andy was not Blade’s son, Rex rather liked the boy and he shook his head when Sergio tried to take him away.

Rex’s office was soon empty of their guests, and Blade slowly approached the sofa where Rex sat with Andy. The toddler started to pull Rex’s hair, and Rex smiled at him.

“Looks like my hair is popular with Andy, too.”

He glanced at Blade, and the look in her eyes confirmed the apprehension and sadness he knew she was feeling.

“Sit with me,” he said. “Where are Andy’s parents?”

“Dead,” Blade whispered, her eyes glassy. She sat next to Rex, but on the edge of the sofa. “All of them—my grandfather, my grandmother, my mother, my twin, his mate, my aunt and uncle, my cousins and their mates and their pups–my entire family. Dead. Andrés and I are the last of our line.”

“Your twin brother. He was Andy’s father, wasn’t he?” Rex asked gently, putting his hand over her folded hands on her lap. “That’s why Andy smells like he’s your son.”

Slowly, Blade nodded, and Rex felt the pain and sorrow that inundated his mate’s life when it came to her family. Death and loss were her constant companions, too.

“Andy is all I have left of my twin. All I have left of my family."