36 Aksel’s agenda

As the rimac nivera made its way down the road, a black shadow darted through the trees, keeping the same pace. It kept just a little bit of distance and it's reflection failed to register on the sleek car's glossy paint.

It acted like nothing but a phantom.

Then, without warning, a deer hurtled out of the woods—not running, but launched as if thrown by an unseen force. It smashed into the windshield with violent precision.

The car spun wildly. metal screeched, twisted, and buckled under the impact.

Then Sirius's instincts roared to life. His beast erupted from within.

Claws ripped through his boots. His feet slammed into the pavement, anchoring him.

With a slash of his claws, he cut Saoirse's seatbelt and caught her in his arms.

He encircled her protectively with his wings as the car folded around them like paper in a storm.

The car was torn off of the couple as Sirius' claws cut the metal. It was as if they had teleported out of the car, and the vehicle continued now in two mangled pieces until it veered into the ravine.

They were left untouched on the road, only with a bit of deer blood splatter and debris.

The the deer, which now lay in the road, the only evidence of their crash; its scent filled Sirius' nose. Burning rubber from him hitting on the breaks lingered in the air as he turned to scan the treeline, searching for the one who had thrown the animal.

But the woods stood eerily still, empty of movement. No footsteps. No presence. Only the faint rustling of leaves as some storm clouds gathered above.

His beast growled low in his chest, a warning to the unseen force that had dared to threaten his mate and their unborn young.

But no one appeared.

——————-

Aksel had taken a seat in the Alpha's office and spread out the papers on the table to work on the tasks Saoirse had given him. His eye was swollen a bit from his fight during pool, but had already started to heal. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw through the window a black flying creature suddenly make an erratic touchdown onto the driveway outside. Saoirse on his back. They both looked very upset and disheveled but thankfully unharmed.

Aksel had blacked out earlier, and he had been haunted by the uncertainty of what he might have done in his unconscious state. 

Though the weight of the unknown lingered, he felt a grim sense of relief that the unborn of his friends had emerged unharmed—for now.

He rushed out to meet them. 

Sirius reverted back to his human form, holding his head in his hands, while pacing around in a circle.

Struggling to calm himself, the blight continued to fester. Spreading into his hair, it swallowed his left ear, and crept across his cheek.

Saoirse attempted to calm him down, but her mere touch was making it worse. 

"What happened?!" Aksel exclaimed a bit shaken. He noticed the pain Sirius was in, but like himself he tried to deal with it by making light of the situation.

"Did you guys try to make out while driving or something?" He joked, not knowing what to say. 

"I….crashed….my car…." Sirius gasped in pain, "I got hurt….. pretty bad… and now Maeve is freaking out….and I can't calm down…." Then he looked at Saoirse. "I hope we didn't crack the egg."He breathed worriedly.

His emotions were all over the place, he burst out in distress, "How will we get back to Loki's house now?! I can't go there without my car!"

Saoirse reached out for him but he gasped for air in pain as she touched his hand and the blight got larger. 

"Ok guys calm down…" Aksel said waving his arms about in a gesture to calm their nerves, "So Saoirse can't touch him or Maeve gets jealous, um Sirius how would you normally calm Maeve down?" 

Sirius fell to the ground and scratched at his face, trying to rip the blight off. Blood fell out of the wound. Aksel ripped his hand away. 

"Don't do that man! That's gross!" Aksel exclaimed. "Think man! What does Maeve like?" 

"She likes flowers." He said breathing hard. All he cared about was Saoirse. "Maeve needs to calm down! She's not the most important one in the situation here. Ah!!!" He cried as the blight spread to his chest and limited his breathing.

"Well do you have anything more useful? She will calm if you calm man." Aksel insisted though he wasn't sure. 

His voice was irritating Sirius though he tried to view him kindly right now, he was still the traitor in his life, a blight in of itsself.

"She… likes…Luan Dark…from a…Japanese show… She thinks he's cute." Sirius attempted.

Aksel scratched the back of his head. "Ok what does she like about this Luan guy? You can send her feelings right? What feelings does this Luan guy give her?" 

"How should I know? I'm a guy how is this related!!!" He exclaimed in frustration.

Saoirse understood the direction Aksel was going with this and suddenly piped up, "Anime boys are all dreamy and reassuring, you can send her feelings of love and comfort, like picture giving her a hug. Saving her from sadness and loneliness. Maybe she is feeling lonely right now."

Sirius furrowed his brows. "but I can't give her a hug. I just get all savage and I almost end up biting her." 

Aksel raised his eyebrow, "You're a real pervert man." 

"Shut up." Sirius snapped, "It's a bond magic thing, it's messed up because I gave her some of my blood. I never actually mated with her."

Aksel didn't understand but he nodded, "alright, well have you ever seen her upset? What did you do then?" Saoirse asked. 

"I did give her a hug once when your bond was hurting me." He said to Saoirse "And it calmed her down. I just ignored how it made me feel and focused on my love for her as a person."

Sirius began to feel his chest loosen, his hand no longer clenched at his heart, and his dragon claws retracted as the pain lessened.

"She's a very smart, kind girl and I enjoy seeing her happy when she is meditating and caring for her plants. She sits and talks to them and they bloom more and it's really very magical."

He sat down on the ground in a meditating position as Aksel and Saoirse watched and pictured Luan dark giving Maeve a hug and tried to send her his love and comfort as best as he could. 

He pictured Maeve's happy plants and sent her feelings about that too. Slowly, the blight on his neck began to shrink back down again and the pain subsided completely. 

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at this and Aksel found the opportunity to joke about it, "Well it seems like Saoirse's got fierce competition. This Maeve girl seems feisty, I like her! And she managed to beat up player boy over here, so that makes me feel better too."

Saoirse smacked him in the back of the head. 

"Ouch! What was that for? I just saved your boyfriend, you should be grateful!" 

"Husband, and Aksel did you work on the paperwork I asked you to?" She asked annoyed at him but now she wasn't angry. 

"As a matter of fact, I did get started on it!" 

Sirius sighed, "You're ok Saoirse?"

She nodded.

His worry pent up now released in a sigh as he stood back up. "Loki lives in the void of Ginnungagap. We need to find someone who knows how to get there." 

Aksel raised his hand. "I might know someone."