The Prophecy Series: The Black Wolf

Addison is twenty-four and Jaxon is twenty-six years old.

ADDISON

I didn’t want to return to Wyoming, but I knew that it was time. I needed to see Uncle Braxton and I needed to train my wolf.

I was a late shifter and finally shifted at twenty-four. My mother was a wolf, but my father wasn’t; he was human. Most people believed that I didn’t have a wolf because of this, but I knew otherwise. Deep down, I knew she was there, she was just taking her time. I think it had more to do with the trauma of losing my parents so young. Uncle Braxton had wanted me to see a specialist, but I had refused. I was okay with being a freak.

So, when I shifted in Spain for the first time, I knew I was in deep shit. I quickly called Uncle Braxton and told him, and he agreed that the best thing I could do was return home. So, here I was with Tye, Taylor, by my side. If those people could only see me now. I was a strong wolf, larger than most according to Tye, and I couldn’t wait to return to prove them all wrong.

Tye and I had been traveling together for the past year. I was focused on my art and Tye was focused on hers. We were both artists, though I preferred a brush or a pencil while she preferred a lens.

She was a wolf…a lone wolf who decided to leave her pack after graduating college. She was handling the separation much better than I thought, but I figured that was because we were traveling so much.

Much like me, she enjoyed being alone so much so that she lived with me in an apartment off campus. I was surprised that her alpha agreed to it, and I was surprised that her alpha agreed to let her become a lone wolf…but I think it had to do with Braxton.

Tye grabbed my hand as the plane descended. Braxton had told me that we could take the pack jet, but I didn’t want Jaxon to find out about my return. He was one of the reasons I stayed away for the past six years.

Thinking about Jaxon made my chest ache. I wasn’t expecting to feel so strongly about him nearly six years later…but here I was. Tye’s grip got tighter, and I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. Even after a year of traveling, and flying, Tye was still nervous during take-off and landing.

Once we landed and docked, they allowed us to de-board. By this point, my nerves were through the roof. I had tried to keep it together during the flight, but it was becoming harder. I was trying to think about something else—anything else. I knew that I wasn’t the only one who was struggling right now. I knew that Tye was having a hard time with this as well, but she hadn’t said a thing.

“I know you are nervous,” Tye said, wrapping her arm around my shoulders as we walked through the airport to baggage claim.

I took a deep breath and nodded my head. “I don’t know if I can face him,” I said, shaking my head.

“Yeah, but Braxton said that he didn’t tell anyone, so you won’t have to see him just yet,” Tye reasoned.

Braxton had promised that my return would be a surprise and I could meet people at the pace I wanted. Somehow, he seemed to know that I didn’t want to see Jaxon—if at all. Though I had never told him what had happened, maybe Jaxon did? Braxton was Jaxon’s gamma now and they had always been close even before I had left.

“I know but I am still a mess,” I said, feeling tears threaten to fall.

She pulled me aside and hugged me. I cried. Over a man that I meant nothing to. Over a man that I gave myself to at seventeen. A man that left me to wake up alone in a barn after taking my virginity. A man that avoided me until I finally left for New York. A man that didn’t even say goodbye. I hadn’t cried over him in years but here I was crying over him. He wasn’t worth my tears but at the same time he was.

Was it my fault?

“Take a deep breath,” Tye said, rubbing my shoulders.

“Okay,” I said, wiping away my tears. I could do this…I didn’t have a choice otherwise.

We walked together to baggage claim and grabbed our bags. Both of us had a large aluminum suitcase because we both had many valuable items. Living out of a suitcase for the past year had been stressful. A part of me was glad to be home, to have a bed, and a dresser, and a closet.

As much as I loved traveling, I had missed having a place to call home. Hell, even if I didn’t want to be here…this was home. The only place I had ever felt safe and loved.

We walked out with our carry-on in one hand and our checked bag in the other. As soon as we walked toward the exit door, my uncle ran through the automatic doors straight toward me. Braxton picked me up in a hug and spun me around. I dropped my bags and hugged him back, letting out a laugh.

I hadn’t seen him since graduation a year ago. He looked the same as he did then.

“I missed you, Addison!” he said, placing me back on my feet.

“I missed you,” I said, giving him another hug. He was my only family, and I was so grateful to have him.

“Taylor, wonderful to see you again,” he said, giving Tye a curt nod. I had almost forgotten that she had been standing there. Tye avoided his eyes and placed an uncomfortable smile on her face.

Tye and Braxton were mates. They found out when they met at graduation, but Tye had avoided him ever since. I was surprised that she even came back with me. I think she was partly worried for me, and she knew that eventually she would have to face Braxton. We never talked about them being mates, but I knew that she would never reject him. I didn’t push her to talk about it, and I knew her well enough to know that when she was ready or wanted to talk about it, she would.

“I’ll take these,” Braxton said, grabbing our bags. I grabbed Tye’s hand and followed him out of the airport. It was certainly funny to watch him juggle four bags, but he made it look easy. Much like everything else he did. I shook my head and climbed into the back seat with Tye. I knew that I could have sat in the front, but I knew that Tye was already feeling uncomfortable being in the same car with her mate, and I wanted to ease her mind some.

“I can’t wait to see your wolf!” Braxton said once we were on the highway.

“She is beautiful,” Tye said, doting on me. I shook my head at the two of them.

“I know that you want to take things slow, so we will go straight home, and you both can get some much-needed rest in a decent bed. Tomorrow, you can tell me about all your adventures and when you are ready, you can shift, we can go for a run together,” Braxton rambled.

“It seems that you have this all planned,” I laughed.

“Addison, you have no idea how much I have missed you!” he said, shaking his head.

“I know you don’t want to see people yet, so we can deal with that as we go. I told Hale and Alaina that you were returning, I had to. But I haven’t said anything to anyone else. Alpha Jaxon is currently away with Beta Mason, so Hale has been taking care of things,” Braxton explained.

“I forgot he had even taken over the pack,” I said, looking down at my hands in my lap. I could feel Tye’s eyes on me, and I shook my head. She knew, but Braxton didn’t. At least, I hadn’t told him.

“Yeah, three years ago. A lot has changed in the pack,” Braxton said.

“But he won’t be back for another week, so you have nothing to worry about,” Braxton said, shaking his head.

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking at him as he drove. He sighed and shook his head. “How much do you know?” I asked.

“Addison, it doesn’t take an idiot to know that something happened between the two of you. You returned the next morning and didn’t say a word until graduation. And you left, and he didn’t even say goodbye. He is lucky that I didn’t kill him. Hell, Hale almost killed him,” Braxton said.

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” I said, defending him.

“It might have been consensual, but there are other things that you don’t know, and I didn’t even know until a year ago,” Braxton said.

“What does that mean?” I asked.