16. Dad?

Alex's POV

There's a prophecy about me and no one thought to tell me about it!? I had woken up again in the middle of the night when I looked next to me and saw Ash's eyes glued open in mortification.

I shook him roughly, feeling the fear from before returning, when the only effect it had was bringing tears to his eyes. I panicked and shook him harder, causing him to shoot upwards and away from me. I outstretched my hand to brush the freshly falling tears, but he jerked away roughly. Damn, that hurt.

"Y-you were having a nightmare with your eyes open, so I woke you up," I whispered sadly, putting my hand down. He was so tense, so I had to wonder what had gone on in his dream.

"It's alright, love. You should go to sleep, we have school tomorrow."

I was finding it difficult to fall asleep again. This is too much for me to handle without a pack beside me. Maybe if I just disappear, his life would become better?

I stood up and left him short note, telling him where I had gone and that I would miss him. I then picked up my one belonging, his hoodie, and ran away very swiftly. I would miss him and never forget him, but he would live a fuller life without me in the way. Luckily for me, it was raining and no one noticed me exit silently. I would be long gone before he even woke up. By the time the sun rose, I had changed into a wolf and made it to a sign that said 'South Carolina state line.'

As soon as I crossed over, a large pack of wolves had surrounded me.

"Shift," one of the wolves, who I assumed to be the Alpha, demanded. I shifted to my human form and applied clothes to it.

"Pack and position," he demanded.

"Packless rogue," I responded, which was true since I was exiled.

"Why are you packless?" he asked the inevitable question.

"My father kicked me out of my original pack for being gay.''

"Really? In this pack we don't discriminate against homosexual wolves, so you could live here."

"That would be nice, but I actually have a mate back home. I may have run away from him, so he's probably scared."

"You could probably bring him here."

"Eh, he has his own coven. Probably won't care that I'm gone. In fact, it will probably be better for him if I just disappear."

"Coven? You're mated to a vampire?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?"

"Of course not! We're peaceful towards the vampires in this area. We got a huge group of them 12 years ago from the direction you came from. Said they bamboozled a group of hostile werewolves called the Half Moon Pack to think they were all dead then ran. The leaders seemed distraught over something, but we didn't want to ask them and get in their business."

"Oh shit... Uh, do you think I can meet them?" I asked hopefully.

"I guess. Follow me."

I trailed after him, following into the forest. After what felt like years, we emerged into a clearing. A few older people, which I assumed were vampires, came out of the other side.

"State your business, wolves," one stated, looking annoyed at his job.

"A new member of my pack wishes to meet you all."

"Come."

We walked again until we arrived in a little village like area with a ton of vampires walking around mournfully.

"Why does everyone look so sad?" I wondered aloud.

"Every year we have a week long festival for the boy we lost about twelve years ago. He was a good kid, so kind and fair, but we lost him. He was our leader's son, our future leader, yet those damn wolves took him from us too soon. His parents would give anything to see him again. We still have no clue where he is. You see, we were expecting their attacks, so we all took temporary immortality potions so they couldn't kill us, but he was being difficult and refused to drink it. We were going to protect him, but he had other plans and tried to protect us. We weren't even able to recover his body," he responded sadly. "Anyway, we're here."

They lead me into a large house, moving through hallways until I was completely lost and confused. Then, we stepped into a room with two vampires sitting in chairs. The other people that were with me bowed, and I followed suit.

"So who's this new member you have there, Clayton," the male asked, his voice radiating authority.

"What's your name kid?" Clayton whispered to me quietly.

"Alex," I responded.

"This is Alex. He crossed my borders from Georgia, sir."

"Alex, please step forward."

I walked forward at his words, feeling his watchful eyes on me. I kept my eyes on the ground to show my submissiveness since I didn't want to upset a coven of vampires.

"You come from Georgia, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Have you heard of the Half Moon Pack?"

"Yes, I have."

I left out how well I knew them, which was all too well.

"Do you know how much they hate vampires?"

"Unfortunately, yes," I responded, making a pitiful face. I had always hated that about them.

"Honey, stop with all of the useless questions. I'm Heria and my very rude husband is Jackson. We're the leaders of this coven."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all ours, Alex. Enjoy your time with your new pack," she concluded her introduction with a smile.

***

It had been three days since I ran away and I can feel Ash's hurt through the bond. I was patrolling the border when I felt a body slam into me. I was concerned it was dangerous and got into position to fight, but what I saw shocked me.

He looked so disheveled, his black hair a mess and his blue eyes full of sadness. His eyes met mine and they changed to anger.

"You little shit! I told you to just talk to me instead of running away from your damn problems!"

"You're better off without me. You could be happy if I wasn't there to mess it up for you, Ashton!"

"I-I could never be happy without you there. You're my soulmate, how would I be happier without you? You keep me sane, Alex, just accept it."

He kissed me roughly just as the rest of the patrol emerged from the bushes.

"Is this your mate, Alex?" Clayton asked me.

"Yeah. This is Ash."

"I smell something familiar," Ash told me, his voice concerned yet excited at the same time.

"We should take him to meet them," Clayton suggested, looking at me meaningfully.

"That would be a good idea," I responded.

"Who's them?" Ash questioned.

"Follow me to find out," I said, grabbing his hand and walking through the forest behind Clayton.

They let us in to the village again, and Ash was so overwhelmed that he grabbed onto my shirt and hid behind my taller form.

"Why are you back with this kid, Clay," Jackson asked, his voice seriously.

"Well, we found his mate on our border and thought it a good idea to introduce him to you guys as well since he'll be staying in the area as well."

"Well, send him out."

I leaned towards Ash and whispered quietly, "you got this, go get 'em."

He stepped into the room and everything was silent. Then, his voice spoke a quiet, "Dad?"