Chapter Twenty-Six
Time passed slowly, summer turned to fall, then to winter. For Axel, each season was better than the last. He had Joe and they were happy. Sure, he missed his family, but the Cove were always glad to welcome him, so he had the company of wolves whenever he needed it. It wasn’t always easy, especially faced with a pack who could shift when he still stubbornly couldn’t. But he was reconciled to that. He had Joe and that was what mattered.
It had been days since Liam’s abduction and the whole den was still on edge. At least the danger gave Axel more purpose, doing frequent patrols of the den’s borders with one of the other alphas. If he’d been able to shift, he would have been of more use, but they were happy with the extra pair of hands regardless.
He was just finishing up a patrol with Hunter and wandering back home to have lunch with Joe when his phone rang. He did a double take when he glanced at it.
“Who is it?” Hunter asked.
Axel showed him the screen and Hunter gave a low whistle. “Shane, huh? Are you going to answer it?”
“Would you if you were me?”
“It might be an olive branch.”
He knew neither of them believed that but the hope was always there. So he answered. The next few minutes were the worst of his life, his hand clinging to the phone pressed tight to his ear as his father spoke.
Hunter stood nearby, watching silently as Axel struggled to process the words. Finally, he hung up, staring at his phone for the longest time.
“Dex is dead.”
He wanted to take the words back. They weren’t possible. Couldn’t be. A bad dream, it had to be.
“I’m so sorry,” Hunter offered. He was standing close enough that Axel knew he’d heard Shane tell him the news. Axel jumped when Hunter cursed and turned away. He, Axel, Seth, and Dex. They’d grown up together, been inseparable most of their lives. It was always the four of them. Until it wasn’t.
“How did it happen?” Hunter asked, turning back. Axel could see the other alpha was struggling to keep a handle on his emotions. Funny that Axel wasn’t having the same problem. He just felt numb.
“Their car was driven off the road, they were attacked. Dex was… they murdered him.”
“They?” Clearly, Hunter hadn’t overheard as much of the conversation as Axel had thought. Or maybe he just needed to hear it again.
“They’re not sure who. There were no survivors in the car. It was shifters, that much they’re sure of. They’re going to ask Seth to come, see if he can trace the scents. They don’t know if it was other wolves, maybe whatever’s left of Zane’s people, or someone else.”
He spun around, knowing he needed to do something but unsure what it was. “I… I need… I have to go home.”
“Axel.” Hunter’s voice was tightly controlled. “You need to tell Joe.”
With heavy footsteps, he walked back to their house. Hunter broke off to go and tell Cade and the others.
Shane’s words kept echoing in Axel’s head, getting louder and louder. “Your brother is dead. You need to come home where you belong.”
“There you are,” Joe exclaimed as Axel pushed open the door. “I was thinking grilled cheese for-”
He froze on catching sight of him. “Axel… what is it? What’s happened?”
“It’s uh-” Axel looked away, took a deep breath, and tried again. “My dad called. Something’s happened. Dex is… he’s dead.”
Telling Joe somehow made it more real, the mask of numbness cracking. He crashed to his knees, howling something incoherent. A second later, Joe’s arms wrapped tight around him and held on.
“My brother’s dead. He’s gone, Joe. He’s gone.”
Joe just held on as Axel yelled and cursed and called out for his brother, the beta murmuring words of comfort in his ear.
Axel managed to pull himself together enough to get out a sentence. “I have to go home.”
He lifted his head, meeting Joe’s eyes. “Will you come with me?”
Joe nodded without hesitation. “Of course.”
The beta packed bags for them while Axel went to see Hunter, letting the alpha know they were leaving immediately. Hunter offered to go with them, but Axel turned him down. “We don’t know who did this, or why. You need to be here, protecting the den.”
He went back to the house, collecting Joe and the bags. A small group gathered to see them off, somber faces wishing them well.
They climbed into the car, Axel behind the wheel knowing it would give him the distraction he needed for the journey. Before they left, he reached over, taking Joe’s hand in his.
“I’m glad you’re here with me. Nothing has changed.”
His father’s words echoed through his mind and he tried to shove them back.
“Your brother’s dead, Axel. Everything has changed.”
Joe had been to the Weir a handful of times as a kid and as a teenager. It wasn’t like he remembered but then he’d never seen a pack after their alpha heir had been killed. The air was heavy with grief, people openly crying. Even the kids knew something was wrong, they weren’t running or playing or shouting. In fact, every conversation seemed to happen in whispers.
He got a few odd looks but no one said anything. For that he was grateful. This wasn’t the time or place to start a scene.
Taking a seat on a stone wall, he waited outside the pack house while Axel went in to see Dex’s body. While he waited, he caught a glimpse of Dex’s mate through the window, sobbing while two women tried their best to console her. What consolation could they give now that her mate was dead?
Axel was pale when he returned, his eyes bloodshot.
“Come on, we’re staying next door.”
Joe got up and followed him. He felt a little lost for words. What could he say that would make this better or easier?
They ended up in a small bedroom at the back of the house, sitting side by side on the bed.
Sliding his hand into Axel’s, Joe did his best to support his alpha. “I’m here,” he whispered. “Whatever you need.”
Axel turned to him. “I don’t know what I need.”
Joe’s instinct on seeing someone he loved in distress was, as always, to comfort. They wound up lying on the bed in each other’s arms, talking in soft whispers.
“My mom is beside herself, I’ve never seen her like that. And my sisters…”
“They’re grieving. You’re all grieving.”
“It’s stupid but I thought, eventually, everything would be smoothed over. I’d patch things up with them and we’d come and live here. I thought Dex and I would be old men together and I’d teach his kids and his grandkids how to sketch.”
He sighed deeply.
“Kelly isn’t even pregnant. At least that’d be some consolation for everyone. They’ve been trying since they mated.”
Joe just hugged him tighter, vowing not to leave his side while they were there.
Sticking by Axel’s side was easier said than done when his family seemed determined to keep them apart. It wasn’t just the fact that they were housing them away from the pack house, an insult to the alpha’s only surviving son, but there was zero recognition that Joe was Axel’s mate. They were polite to him but nothing more. Joe couldn’t deny that it stung but at the same time, he couldn’t care all that much. Axel was his first priority, getting him through this and getting them both home.
When Axel’s younger sister stole him away to see their mother, Joe went for a walk, finding himself in the pack’s orchard. One of the things the Weir was known for was a fantastic homemade cider. There was nothing better on a summer’s day after a hard days’ work on the Cove’s farm.
But in the middle of winter, the orchard cut a beautiful, if stark, scene. He walked among the trees, watching as the low sun disappeared and reappeared in the distance.
The crack of a branch had him whirling around. Someone was watching him. The familiar and imposing figure of Shane, Axel’s father, was standing at the edge of the orchard. He started walking in Joe’s direction. There was no sign of anyone else with him. Joe’s instinct on seeing the alpha bearing down on him was to run. But if he kept running from his problems, he’d never get anywhere.
He stood his ground and waited for Shane to reach him. The alpha didn’t acknowledge him at first, moving to stand beside him.
“I think you and I need to talk.”
“If you say so,” Joe said.
“My son is dead. In a few years’ time, he would have taken over as alpha, as I took over from my father. And now…”
“I’m sorry for your loss.” He meant it. He couldn’t imagine the agony of losing a child.
“And now, all those hopes I had for Dexter fall on Axel’s shoulders. He is my only living alpha son. It falls to him to lead when I’m gone. It falls to him to carry the family line.”
Joe wasn’t sure what to say to that.
“Being alpha is more than just a role we play. It’s not just about leading. The alpha holds the pack together. Without an alpha, packs fracture, fall apart. And an alpha must have a mate, and an alpha must have alpha children, to take over when the time comes.”
Shane glanced at him and Joe looked away. The alpha kept talking.
“I know what I’m asking you to do isn’t fair. I know what two people in love look like. I felt that way myself once, a long time ago. But he was beta and I was alpha and my father wouldn’t have it. He told me what I’m telling you now; the pack must come first. Without an alpha to take over, the pack will fall.”
It took Joe two tries to speak.
“What are you asking me to do?”
“The right thing. Not just for Axel but for the Weir. I can see how infatuated Axel is. He’s not thinking straight. I need you to be the one with the cool head, the one with sense. You must see you and he can’t be. Not if the Weir is to survive.”
Joe stumbled backward.
“You want me to leave him?”
“I’m asking you to think of the pack. Please.” There was raw honesty on Shane’s face as he spoke.
“I… I need to go.” Joe turned and walked away, not looking back.