Help Me, Alpha Book 2

HAYLEY

The pack meeting wrapped up about an hour ago. Jax went off to ring Dimitri while I took a moment to freshen up. Despite the miles between them, those two have managed to stay tight. I can always hear their conversations from my office.

Jax had a wall taken out in his office, and that space became my office. The entrance is a vintage door, and it’s comforting to know that Jax is just next door if I ever need him.

Dimitri decided to change his pack’s name from Bloodnight Pack to The Pure Pack. He wanted to erase the brutal past my dad had brought to my old pack.

I haven’t been able to bring myself to visit my old pack yet. Too many painful memories that shattered me. But my new pack is my present and future. It’s shaped me into the luna I am today.

After slipping into one of Jax’s t-shirts and my jeans, I head to Lily’s bedroom. I gently push the door open and find her sitting up in bed, already awake.

“You’re late,” she declares. “You usually wake me up at ten, but it’s almost eleven,” she says, glancing at her yellow alarm clock.

“Sorry, sweetie, something came up that I had to handle. But look at you, getting better at telling time.”

Axton has been teaching Lily how to tell time, and, secretly, me too, since I’m still not the best at it.

I walk over to Lily and sit on the edge of her bed.

“Scoot over. Let’s lie down for a little bit longer.” Lily moves to the edge of her single bed and I crawl under the covers, wrapping her in my arms.

“Are you okay, Mummy?”

“I am now, sweetie,” I whisper, planting a kiss on top of her head.

With Jax, I can never fully relax, because I can read his thoughts and emotions. So when he’s thinking about the hunters, that’s all I can think about.

But when I’m with Lily, there’s nothing but silence. Comforting silence.

I pull Lily closer, rubbing her belly in soothing circles. Lily’s birthday is in a few days and this will be the first time she’ll be able to celebrate it properly.

Her birth parents died when she was just a newborn pup, so she never had a party. That’s why I want to make this one extra special for her. I’m not sure what I’ll do yet, but I’ll talk to Jax about it later.

***

After about thirty minutes, Lily and I get up. I dress Lily and we head to her dad’s office. Axton is currently training the teen pups, but when he’s done, he’ll look after Lily while I get some work done.

I hate having to leave Lily—I’m her mom, I should be with her, making memories. But being a luna is demanding, and my priority right now is to keep everyone, including my daughter, safe.

So for now, I have to sacrifice our time together until the threat is dealt with.

I knock on the closed door before we enter the room and I close the door behind us, allowing for a private family moment.

“Lily!” Jax cheers when he lifts his head. “Come here, darling.” Jax beckons her.

Lily skips over to her dad, and when she reaches him, she waits for him to pick her up and sit her on his lap like always.

Lily is sitting on Jax’s lap playing on his computer, but all I can do is watch my mate. I love the way he smiles down at her, like his whole world revolves around her.

But it gets even better when he turns to look at me with the same adoration in his eyes.

One of Jax’s hands leaves Lily’s body and he uses his pointed finger to beckon me over. I make my way over and perch myself against Jax’s desk to watch the two people I love most in this world.

Jax places his hand on my knee, leaving it to rest for a few seconds, but then it starts to wander.

His fingers gently graze up my thigh and over the sensitive area of skin that I have—the place Jax knows but still likes to tease me about.

He knows how pleasurable it is, and the goosebumps that have now covered my body are evidence of that.

He has a smirk etched on his face, but I push his hand off, not wanting Lily to see what her dad is doing.

It’s nice to see this side of Jax. I haven’t seen it in a long time. Lately, he has been so stressed and busy that I nearly forgot what it was like to see him happy.

I place my hand on Jax’s shoulder and give it a light squeeze. A small groan escapes his lips that only I would be able to hear—Lily’s hearing hasn’t yet developed to be as strong as that of a full-grown werewolf.

Sensing that Jax needs a little bit of loving, I move behind his chair and give him a shoulder massage, trying to melt away at least a tiny bit of his stress and pressure.

He leans his head back and closes his eyes, savoring the moment.

After a while, my fingers start to ache and I have to stop.

“Would you mind looking after Lily till Axton finishes training? I have a few things to do.” I can’t leave Lily with Jax for the whole day as he has meetings and pack business to attend to.

“Of course. Don’t wander out of the grounds,” Jax warns, suddenly all serious—his forgetting about the threat was short-lived.

“I won’t,” I say as I kiss my mate and my daughter.

“Bye, Mummy!”

“Bye, baby,” I reply, not being able to stop the growing smile caused by my daughter.

As I open the door to leave, Jax stops me.

“Hayley.”

When I look back at my mate, he says, “I love you.”

I love when he says those words. His eyes always sparkle when he says them, and it feels like he is saying them for the very first time all over again.

I pray to the Moon Goddess that the giddiness my mate causes in me never stops.

“I love you too…”