Layla's Lovers

Chapter Three: To Mix or Not To Mix

It did not take long for Jaxon to get his pack back on the right path, with the help of Alpha Jamie and Julien, of course.

Roughly 200 members that Corey and Jax had helped escape over the years had returned and their numbers were growing more and more each year. 

The pack happily took on the expansion of Blackstone Security and were quickly taking jobs all over the world. Their terrain and weather provided excellent training grounds for the rapidly expanding security company, which allowed Jax to thus expand his pack’s facilities and borders.

With investments from Jamie and Julien to support the expansion efforts, Jaxon was easily able to provide for his pack in ways his father couldn’t have dreamed of, even if he had cared about the pack.

New housing, new training grounds, even a new packhouse once the old one proved to simply be too small for the pack. The old one became the omega’s quarters and a new packhouse near the size of Jamie’s was built in the center of the pack land. Big enough to house all the ranked members and their families, with plenty of rooms for visiting pack’s and other pack activities.

As soon as Jaxon had reopened his pack to the world, all of Jamie’s allies and friends came to pay respects and to welcome him into their inner circle.

Alpha Preston and Alpha Eric also took on expansions of Blackstone security, so they were especially involved with Jaxon and his pack as they all three expanded to meet the growing needs of the world.

With the return of magic came equal parts peace and chaos as the ramifications of freeing so many creatures at once took time to work through. Some countries took to the changes better than others and some creatures took to the idea of living in harmony with humans, worse than had been expected.

Small rebellions and battles were frequent in the immediate years following the release of magic, but they dwindled down quite a bit once the American President made it clear that the country would be open to all humans and creatures, and those who didn’t like it were welcome to leave.

This caused a bit of an uproar, but it had simmered down and now, most of their work was preventative. For the general wellbeing and piece of mind of the public. Jaxon’s teams had excelled at individual protective cases, so they managed most of those efforts as the company got hired to provide them. 

Anna, Jaxon’s mother, had given up her position as Gamma of the Blackpine Forest Pack and returned home to reign as Luna until Jaxon found a mate. He needed the help and they needed the time to make up for lost years. 

Plus, she obviously wanted to be in the same pack as her mate, Corey.

Corey admitted he knew the moment he broke his pack bond and submitted to Greyson, that Anna was his true mate. But as her mate, he had to do what was best for her and at that moment it was not to be with her- but to watch over her son.

Jaxon couldn’t have been more thrilled to have Corey as his step-father. He had been more of a father to Jaxon than anyone else, even with Greyson in the picture. Although, Jax still just called him Corey most days. Mr. Corey when he felt like being cheeky.

The two lived in the old Beta house where Anna grew up and shortly after their mating was complete, the couple welcomed two little girls, Shia and Silvia. 

It took all of one day with his little sisters and Jaxon was wrapped around their fingers.

He couldn’t believe this was his life now. His family. His pack. 

All the years of torture with Greyson had been worth it to get to this point. 

Now all he needed was a mate to make Luna and a litter of pups of his own.

He was in no rush, but as years went by and both his Beta Nikolai and his Gamma Theo, found their mates- he did start to wonder when his might show up.

He kept so busy with work and he loathed going to the mixer events where shewolves threw themselves at him, hoping to strike it lucky and become his Luna. 

“We should have a mixer for your birthday! No time like the present, you only turn 30 once!” Nikolai shouted as he burst through the door of Jaxon’s study.

Jax had tried to teach him to knock, the key word being tried, and obviously failed.

Nikolai was a cousin of his through some distant relationship, so they had been forced to attend many of the same awful pack gatherings together while Greyson was still Alpha. The two despised each other for the first 3 years Jaxon was there, until one day Nikolai was at a packhouse party with his parents. He was carrying a tray of drinks that Greyson had ordered him to fetch when Greyson drunkenly stumbled over and crashed into the young pup.

Of course, this was somehow Nikolai’s fault in Greyson’s eyes. His parents could do nothing as Greyson threw the pup across the room. He would have crashed into, and likely through, the wall if Jaxon hadn’t heard the commotion from upstairs and stepped up to catch him. 

Nikolai crashed down on Jaxon’s wolf, rather than going through sheet rock. He was bruised and embarrassed but not seriously hurt.

Jaxon growled low and deep as the adults in the room scrambled to help Nikolai up. 

It was too late for them to suddenly care about Nikolai or Jaxon. 

Jax nudged him to get up and follow him out of the den and up to Jaxon’s room, where Mr. Corey looked him over and gave him something for his bruises.

Lucky for Jax, Greyson had been too wasted out of his mind to really remember that night at all and no one dared remind him of it either.

From that day on, Jax and Nikolai were thick as thieves. Where one went, the other followed. It didn’t take much longer for Jax to know that Nikolai would be his Beta. The two just clicked.

“Jax hates mixers and you know that, Nik!” Theo said as he trailed in behind Nikolai.

Theo was an addition to the pack while Jax and Nik were in college.

Alpha Jamie and his mother made him swear to get his degree as part of the deal for his pack to go into business with Blackstone Security. Jaxon had never thought school would be an option for him after his rough childhood, but with some help from his mother, he was able to start at the state school only 3 hours away. He and Nik shared a small house near campus Monday-Thursday, then went home to the pack Friday-Sunday, every week, for three years. 

They had a spare room, and after one particularly drunken night after a football game, they ended up with Theo as a roommate after he saved them both from killing a group of frat boys. Nik and Jax showed up wasted to find the frat boys had cornered two witches in the alley behind the bar and, well, you can imagine how that went over.

If Theo hadn’t been there to break up the fight, Jax might have actually killed the stupid humans.

Theo was the son of a former pack member, so it was an easy transition back into the pack once he decided he liked Jax and Nik. Living together cemented it all in place and by the time they graduated, Theo was in as Gamma. 

Jaxon shut down his computer and surrendered himself to whatever scheme Nik was about to unravel. 

“Yeah, but its not for Jaxon realllllly, it’s for all the other single and ready to mingle, wolves in this pack who need some new faces around here! Jax is just the excuse and the leverage to get him to agree,” Nik said with his usually stupid grin plastered on his face.

Jax ran his hands up into his dirty blonde hair and sighed, “I hateeeee mixers,”

“He does have a point though, Jax. As Alpha, you get to mingle more than most, a mixer is a good way to build allies and keep the pack happy. Plus, there is no way your mother lets you get out of having some sort of party for your big three-O. Might as well give in,” Theo said.

“My mother put you up to this, didn’t she?” Jaxon said, eyeing his friends carefully- looking for any visible indication they were lying, as they both replied in unison, “NO!”

“Bull s**t! She asked me a few weeks ago and I said no flat out. Even Shia and Silvia couldn’t get me to say yes! No way you two idiots came up with this idea- you both are happily mated and I'm more than happy to stay exactly as I am- single,”

“Yeah, okay, fair enough, Luna did ask us to get you to agree, BUT we do agree. This will be good. The omegas will freak out about getting to plan it, the warriors will be jazzed to have some new wolves to hit on- its a big win/win!” Nikolai said, still grinning like a fool.

Jax groaned and slid further down in his chair.

“I’m not gonna get out of this, am I?”

“NOPE!” Nikolai shouted as he hopped up and opened the study door again, “Girls, he said yes! Go tell your mom!” 

Jax then heard the sound of two giggling little shewolves scampering down the main staircase. His sisters, no doubt. Now he was roped into it, just as Nik had obviously planned. He knew Jax wouldn’t be able to tell them no now.

“You are a prick, you know that?” Jax said, throwing a football at Nikolai’s head.

Nik caught it just in time and ran out the door and down the hall,

“First one to get this ball from me gets a plate of cookies from my mate!” Nik shouted as he ran down the stairs three at a time.

Jax and Theo needed no additional motivation.

Gabriel, Nik’s mate, was a French baker who somehow ended up in Chikatow, the little town outside the packlands. His father was a French business man and his mother was a nymph. They had to flee France when new laws came out forbidding mixing of species.

Somehow, by pure luck, they ended up in Chikatow. 

Gabriel had just graduated from culinary school and he and his father opened up a bakery in the town as it was slowly starting to get back up on its feet. It had a reputation for being welcoming to all kinds and with Jaxon’s pack protecting it once again, more and more businesses were coming back to the area and settling in the town.

Jaxon and Theo bolted down the hall, down the stairs, and out into the open field where Nikolai was sprinting full speed ahead.