Chapter Thirty-Four

ALPHA JOE POV

Stepping out the shower I wrap the towel around my waist and go to grab my clean clothes out of the bedroom, as I do I catch a glimpse of body in the mirror I am not surprised to see motley coloured bruising all over it, shaking my head I quickly get dressed and go back outside to check on the pups only to find Dean leaning against the porch post sipping a cold beer, it seems I wasn't the only one who decided to check up on them, following his gaze a chuckle escapes me as I realise that I really didn't need to worry about them.

It seems the whole pack has decided to camp out with them tonight and are surrounding them so no one can get to them. I feel pride radiate through my chest from my wolf at the thoughtfulness of our pack and how they have come together. Though the pack has always been a caring pack and showed how well they worked together they were never this put together, there would always be some slight conflict or problem, but it seems the pups have just made our pack closer and more knitted together.

"Everything ok out here?" I ask Dean as I turn to him and pinch his beer of him, he scowls at me but picks up another one from the table nearby.

"Yeah, everything is ok. Think the pack is already on protection mode for the pups without being asked." he nods towards the pack members snoozing in their human and wolf forms around the pups to emphasise his point before smirking "So how many bruises did the almighty alpha get from the paintball course?"

"Too damn many to count." I growl out playfully "I know the pups said about using other senses but who thinks about that when they're getting shot at?" I Exclaim shooting my hands up in the air in defeat "Was definitely an interesting course though."

"Apparently Jenni and the pups." Dean muses before looking at me seriously "Joe how the hell can the pup, well Jenni. She really isn't a pup." He rambles before getting back to the point "How the hell can she be so…so advanced?" his brows furrow before his gaze goes back over to the group where she is sleeping.

"I haven't got an idea. Everything she does surprises me even though I should know not to be surprised by anything anymore and expect the unexpected from her I still cannot help but be surprised." Taking a sip of my stolen beer I consider the she-wolf for a second "I think we need to sit her down and find out how in depth her knowledge is and not forgetting to find out just how advanced her fighting skills are. I swear I haven't seen anyone fight as well as her since the royal pack." Movement suddenly catches my attention and I amusingly watch as Jenni tries and successfully extracts herself from the pile she was in, standing tall she briefly checks something on her phone before snatching up some containers and elegantly manoeuvring herself through the sleeping forms around her before striding off towards the west side of the territory with quick strides as though she is on a mission "Where the hell is she going off to in such a rush?"

"Well from my sources-"

"Shit. Sarah did you need to creep up on me?" she smiles back at me as though she has won some kind of reward, growling at her playfully I pull her against me so her back is against my chest "if only we were alone" I whisper in her ear whilst slightly grinding myself against her, her cheeks redden as she blushes, pecking her on the cheek I hear Dean clear his throat knocking me out of all my of fantasies in how I want to punish my mate for her antics today. Looking up I can clearly see that he knows what I was thinking about with the grin on his face.

"Erm…do you want me to give you guys some privacy? I would advise getting a room, but I like my head where it is." His smile slowly turns into a smirk, resting my head on top of Sarah's I hold her tighter to my chest as her face turns even redder.

"Perhaps we should get a room my love" she elbows me in the stomach, and I let out a small 'oof' from the force of it. "Sorry my love. Go on. You were telling us something. Also, since when did you have sources?" I ask amusingly, as I think of her acting like a detective round the pack.

"Well, as I was saying. From what I have heard from my sources Jenni is probably going to visit Adam."

"Adam?" it takes me a few seconds for it to register which Adam she is talking about "Adam as in Adam who has isolated himself from the pack?" she nods vigorously, and I have to remove my head before she accidentally slams it against mine and breaks my nose "but no one has seen him in months." I even tried to see him on different occasions, to no prevail, we leave him food parcels outside his door, and we know he collects them and can hear him in the cabin, so we at least know he is ok. We finally decided that we should honour his wishes for now and give him the space he needed to deal with his mate's death.

"According to various pack members who I have heard from tonight, they have witnessed Jenni going to his cabin late at night." Pausing she thinks for a second and hums "Apparently, she has been a busy bee around our pack. No one knew not even me."

"Honey, you have completely lost me now."

"You and me both."

"Well, that doesn't take much now does it?" Chelsea chuckles as she joins us out on the porch.

"Where's Poppy?" Dean asks in a way of welcome to his mate as he narrows his eyes onto her arms, glaring back at him she places her hands on her hips and looks sternly back at him.

"Calm down before you have a stroke. Your princess is all settled down for the night and out for the count. I cannot believe how well she sleeps." Seeing him relax at her explanation she gives in and wraps herself around his waist to settle him and his wolf down further, who knew that my beta would become wrapped around a baby girls paw so quickly, he was never like this with his son.

"Ok, now that is settled. Spill it you two" they chuckle before grinning at each other.

"So, what we have heard is Jenni takes a meal over to Adam's cabin every night." Sarah starts before Chelsea takes over.

"She eats hers on the porch steps whilst Adam eats his inside the cabin."

"Whilst she eats, she talks to him."

"We don't think he talks back to her but pack members have seen the light on so believe that he is at least listening to her."

"Then we have various wolves whom have been thanking us or other pack members for doing stuff that we nor them know about."

"At the time we were baffled and couldn't work it out but tonight we managed to string it all together. Jenni has been fixing things around the territory."

"Jessica's porch had been damaged in the last storm and Jerry promised he would fix it but before he managed to get there it was already fixed and there have been other instances."

"Not only that she has been helping out in the kitchen and with the cleaning-"

"basically everything. Our workload has halved since she has been here. Well, I think it has actually been more than halved."

"How is she finding the time to do everything? Is she even doing her online courses?"

"She never seems tired." Dean looks off in to the direction she went and I find my gaze doing the same.

"Not sure about anything else apart from the things we believe she has been doing from what we've heard tonight."

"Think we need to put someone on our payroll. And fast."

"Wait what?! You haven't done that yet." She exapsertaly exclaims at me as though I have just shot her long lost puppy "I can understand all the stuff you didn't know about but what about all the training she has been doing for the pack since she got here?"

"You know I didn't know about that until yesterday."

"But you told me when she got here. You told me you gave her a time slot."

"I thought, well it doesn't matter what I thought now. I've been so busy in the study I didn't even realise what was going on in my own pack, I am the god damn alpha of this pack for cry's sake and I am clueless. It seems I have missed a lot going on with the crafty she-wolf being here including what she has been up to. Did you know about the obstacle course out the back? I am presuming she made that too." How could I have missed so much going on in my own damn pack.

"I had no idea until she asked for my help today."

"I think I might follow the little sneak and see what she gets up to tonight. I doubt she will tell us anything that will make her look good." Agreeing with me Sarah kisses me on the cheek before wrapping her arm around Chelsea's and heading back inside, I hear them muttering something about food and wine, but my thoughts are on the Jenni.

"Want company? Seems I have lost my mate to yours."

"Yeah, why not." I sigh, he slams his hand on my shoulder in solidarity.

"Two sets of eyes are better than one."

Crossing the yard, we head to the west side of the territory towards Adam's cabin and just as the girls told us we find Jenni but what shocks the shit out of us is that Adam is actually sitting down next to her on the porch. Both of them eating we decide to give them a bit of privacy and decide to do a lap around the borders to check on the patrol.

Arriving back to our hiding spot near Adam's we are just in time to see her step out of the forest with a light brown wolf, Aspen. We had thought his wolf had died with his mate, no one was able to sense his wolf but somehow Jenni has managed to get his wolf back for him. Watching from our spot we see her open the cabin door for him "Night Adam, Aspen. Oh, and if you feel up to it why don't you come for breakfast. I'm making pastries and they taste better warm. You don't have to talk to anyone, and you can sit with me and my siblings so you will have company. Anyway, just think about it." She tells him "See you tomorrow night if not beforehand."

Keeping our distance, we follow her into the forest but by keeping our distance we lose her quickly, drawing on our wolf's ability to pick up scents, we soon become confused when don't find any, how can this happen again? Why can't we seem to pick up her scent, thinking about it I don't even know what her scent is, growling in frustration Dean suddenly shoots his arm out and claps his hand over my mouth and points to his ear then to the east of where we are standing with his other hand. Then I hear it too an unusual sound, following the sound we come across Jenni setting something up in Francesca's yard.

Observing I finally see what she is doing and am stunned when I see the beautifully crafted items she is placing out, the rocking chair the most exquisite of them all.

"Did she?"

"Yep, I think she did Dean. Ok first thing tomorrow morning I want her in my office. We are going to sit her down and find out what she has been up to, If anyone interrupts us so help them-" I don't get to finish my threat though as Godric takes partial control and launches us towards Jenni when we see her body suddenly falter, my arms snap around her just in time as her body goes limp, swinging her into our arms her head slumps against my chest.

"Jenni?" my voice comes out rough where Godric is pushing forward.

"She has just passed out" Dean supplies, Godric starts to panic in my mind and starts trying to take control "Godric she is ok" Dean tells my wolf trying to calm him down, realising that I am struggling, a low growl emanates from my chest as he pushes forward more, unhappy that the pup is unconscious in my arms "She is just exhausted. You heard our mates. She has been working too much."

"She shouldn't be working" Godric growls out sending my consciousness floating to the back of our mind as he takes control.

"I know and we are going to talk to her about it tomorrow. Tonight we need to let her sleep. Let's get her back to the pups."

"Yes. She sleep. We watch to make sure." Godric snaps not able to form complete sentences with the amount of anger coursing through our veins.

"We okay" Jenni's quiet voice breaks through the tension in the air "She just needs rest, she works too hard to escape her nightmares" then I realise it isn't Jenni it's her wolf "We sleep now, so tired." She curls up in my arms as I hear her faint whisper of request "Shadow please."

"Looks like she wants us to take her back to the wolf."

Coming up to the wolf she was laying with earlier I hear a threatening growl as his head snaps up, his eyes narrowing in on Jenni in my arms. "She collapsed from exhaustion. We are bringing her back to you." he lets me approach as Godric steps back slightly to let me take control, laying her gently down against him, I hear a purr sound from him as she stirs sending her back to sleep, nodding his head at me he curls his body around hers, keeping her warm and safe.

Moving away from them I am took by surprise as Godric takes back control and shifts into our wolf form, shredding our clothes in the process.

'Some warning would have been nice' I groan.

'We are standing guard tonight' Godric tells me in response before laying down nearby and resting his head on his paws.