61. Anna

61

Anna

Another night without Jax. I wasn't sleeping well, and as I trudged up to my room after a late night dinner in the mess hall, I considered calling Jenson and asking some more questions about the operations that were not day-to-day. Pulling out my phone, I remembered that he was planning to spend the night with Irene. So far, Maeve had not made another appearance, but I knew Irene was scared.

She needed Jenson more than I did.

Pocketing my phone, I turned down the hall and stopped short. There were noises coming from my bedroom.

Loud noises.

Squealing?

Laughter. It abated, and I opened the door cautiously. Amelia, Kenzi, Cindy, Janelle, and Ava had piled onto my bed. There was a huge spread of food on the table, and music playing from a speaker somewhere.

"Hi," I said dumbly. "What is happening here?"

"Girl's night!" Janelle called out. When I stared at her, she frowned. "You've never had a girl's night, have you?"

"Did Jenson put this together because he was tired of me calling him in the middle of the night?"

"Probably." Kenzi shrugged. "He said something to me, and then I found Amelia absolutely smashed. I figured after spending all that time with Finn's sisters that the last thing I wanted was to spend more time with a bunch of vaginas, but you're hardly a chick."

"Thanks," I said dryly.

Kenzi smiled mischievously. "That, and I just wanted to get in Jax's bed."

Rolling my eyes, closed the door behind me. "Amelia, are you all right?"

"Sure," she slurred. "I'm great. Why wouldn't I be?"

Wonderful. Apparently, we were all a fucking mess. I was about to order everyone out, and then I realized it wasn't like I had anything better to do. It wasn't like I was going to sleep.

"I've heard there are pillow fights, hair braiding, and sexual experimentation at these kinds of events," I said finally.

Kenzi snorted. "Only one of those things remotely interests me."

I raised my eyebrows, and she winked at me. "A little truth or dare, maybe some never have I ever, and I bet I could get into your pants."

"I'm not that lonely," I joked. "So, what is on the agenda?"

"First, we're going to have a dance party and get all hyped up. Then we're going to convince Ms. Bitchy Blues here to shift, purge all the alcohol, and we can go on a girls run. Then we're gonna play a marathon of monster movies until we fall asleep," Kenzi announced.

"Fuck off," Amelia grunted. "Just let me be drunk."

"Nope. So your boyfriend is an asshole. He's got a lot on his plate," Kenzi smacked her with a pillow. "You'd want some time alone too if you'd heard all the horrid things the good doctor said about your mother."

My heart went out to Amelia. Finn was hardly her boyfriend, but Kenzi was right. Finn was going through something right now. And from the way Kenzi's voice hitched just a little, I knew she'd been more affected by their journey than she was letting on.

"He's not my boyfriend," Amelia muttered. "And I'm trying not to be petty. I really am. That's why I'm drunk. Now go away."

"You're in my room," I pointed out.

"Oh." Blinking, she looked around. "So I am."

She crawled to the edge of the bed, but I sat down and blocked her way.

"Did the doctor said anything about Maeve that we didn't hear about?"

Kenzi's face hardened. "He took one look at Finn and said ‘No wonder your momma is so certain you will continue her legacy. Nothing but power in you, boy.'"

"Oh, God," Amelia whispered and closed her eyes. "Finn."

"Yeah." Shaking her head, Kenzi seemed to deflate a little. "My family was always loyal to Jax, but my mother raised me on stories of the powerful female alpha. The woman who made men quake at her feet, who ran her clan with an iron fist. I desperately wanted to be her when I grew up. So much so that I've been holding out hope that we were wrong about Maeve or that there was some reason for all of this. But she's just a monster."

"I don't know about that," I said quietly. "I keep running her history through my head over and over again. Can you imagine what it's been like for her? To have a prophecy whispered in your ear that you would be the most powerful being on the mountain? That you will bring wolves into a new age? Manipulation. Hell, I could go as far as even call it hypnotism. She tried to brush it off. She killed her daughters to make sure she could never sacrifice them, that she would never turn into a monster. And all it did was make her sink even lower.

"In Finn, she saw salvation. A boy. A child she could keep and love. Maybe that could save her. Then my mother comes and has me. Maeve had thought she'd escaped, but there I was, proof that she was still on the same road. The whispers take hold again, and this time, she's too far gone. She loses me. Kills her mate. Loses Finn." My heart hammered against my chest, and I closed my eyes. "I've known about my destiny to bring down a mountain for a few months. She's known about it for years."

"And yet she still showed a sane face to the world," Janelle pointed out. "She hid it all away."

Amelia hiccupped. "When we kill Maeve, and we will, Finn will take her place. He's known all along. I think he had hope that maybe one of his sisters would be stronger than her."

"Not even close," Kenzi said with a shake of her head. "Hell, Finn will even surpass Jax one day. He won't be able to stay here anyway. You could go with him."

"He'll never ask."

Her hard words settled on us for a moment before Kenzi snorted loudly. "So don't ask. It's your future just as much as it's his."

"That's the fucking problem with mates. The wolves choose, and they never have all the goddamn information. The alcohol isn't working. I need to run." Pushing herself off the bed, she climbed over me.

"Girl's night is taking a really dark turn," Janelle sighed. "All right, wolves. Go run. Us witches will just stay here and eat all the food."

"Oh, come on. Put that magic to good use. Give us something to chase," Kenzi said, mischief lighting up in her eyes. "Maybe you can give us a good image of a bear. God, I've always wanted to take down a bear. How came there are no bears on this mountain?"

"Because there are werewolves," I pointed out dryly. Chasing a bear did sound entertaining. I glanced at Janelle, who looked at Ava and shrugged.

Cool. We were going to chase a bear tonight. That would certainly take my mind off Jax. For a little bit at least.

I didn't need to worry. Lunessa would check in if they were in trouble. Unless she couldn't. Unless there was some kind of magic that she didn't foresee that would prevent her from checking in.

My mating bond was there and still strong. He was fine. I would know that if he wasn't.

Right?

"And then maybe we can see if there's any alcohol Amelia didn't drink," I muttered as I rolled off the bed and stretched. If we were going to chase a bear, even a fake one, I wanted to be limber. "I happen to know where Jax keeps the good stuff. Don't know why. He never touches alcohol."

"Girl, have you lost your mind? You can't drink." Kenzi laughed.

Janelle gave a little gasp, and the atmosphere in the room changed significantly. I gave them all puzzled looks. "What? Is there some unspoken rule that acting alpha can't drink? I've seen Jenson. I know that's not a thing."

"My god, is this what it's like growing up without a mother?" Kenzi sighed. "I mean, I thought it was common knowledge, but maybe health information like this doesn't reach in the middle of a serial killer lair."

"Kenzi," Amelia snapped. Suddenly, she seemed pretty sober too.

"What? We can't even joke about it anymore? Whatever." Kenzi rolled her eyes. "Anna, you can't drink in your condition. It's not healthy."

"What? Having magic?"

"No, you idiot. Being pregnant."

My heart stopped, and I stared at her. Everyone immediately averted their eyes.

"Pregnant?" I asked slowly as I placed my hand on my belly.

"What? Is it supposed to be a surprise? Sorry, honey, but everyone knows. It's all anyone can fucking whisper about since I got back," Kenzi said, and then she looked at me and her eyes widened. "Shit. Apparently, everyone knew but you."