Chapter 17

Dylan

D ylan and Jackson spent the rest of the evening in the giant bathtub until Dylan felt back to normal before spending more time together throughout the rest of the suite. Once two werewolves mated, it was difficult for them not to spend much time touching each other, amongst other things. Dylan barely wanted to leave the suite since Hunter wasn't far away from her any time she did, watching her like a hawk. It seemed to Dylan that he was keeping track of her movements, and he knew her schedule since he was where she planned on being every single time. Jackson would snarl and ensure he didn't touch Dylan when he was around, but Dylan knew it was a temporary fix. The full moon was coming, and many werewolves liked to spread out to find something in the woods to hunt, kill, and eat.

"I'm not going to leave your side during the full moon run. I know the trails by heart, and there isn't a single crevice of those woods that I don't know about."

Dylan lifted her eyebrow at him. "Snuck all your girlfriends out in the middle of the woods to have some fun?"

A knock at their door made a perfect exit as Jackson lunged to tackle her onto the bed. He missed as Dylan spun away and ran to the door. She invited Serafine up so they could spend some time together. It was Saturday afternoon, and she needed her best friend. After learning that Shadowborn magic could be turned into something more lethal in battle with being able to go astral in human form and teleporting, she needed to share it with more than her mate. She wanted to keep this information close to her chest, but she knew Serafine wouldn't tell a soul.

Dylan opened the door before Jackson could get to her, and with a bright-eyed and full smile, Serafine was holding up a cup of coffee. Dylan relaxed, threw her head back, and moaned when the scent of caramel coffee hit her nostrils. The smell reminded her of Jackson, which didn't help Dylan in the slightest with not wanting to shove Serafine out of the room and tackle her mate onto the bed. Once the warm liquid coated her tongue, sending her all the right sweet flavors of vanilla, caramel, and slight bitterness of the coffee, she moaned and held herself up with her arm against the door.

"Damn, baby. We have company. Don't do that to me." Jackson called out as he opened the refrigerator.

Serafine chuckled. "I can come back."

"Well-"

"NO! I have things to tell you. Get your ass in here."

Serafine laughed and stepped into the room. She sat on the chair on the right side of the bed. Dylan walked over to the bed and took another sip of the bean juice that filled her soul with happiness as she tried to focus on what she wanted to tell Serafine. With not being able to say no to Jackson, it was a long night and morning, so the coffee was much appreciated. When half the cup was empty, Dylan stopped to savor the flavor and looked at her best friend. Jackson was putting together sandwiches in the kitchen because of the smell of cold cuts and freshly made bread. He already knew the details, so she didn't have to wait for him.

"Lupe is a Shadowborn."

Serafine's jaw popped open. She closed it quickly, opened her mouth again as if she had something to say, but then closed it again. Dylan waited another minute as Serafine processed that small piece of information. If this is how she responded to just that, Dylan couldn't wait to dive further into her day with Lupe. Finally, Serafine's eyes widened again before she yelled.

"LUPE IS A WHAT NOW?"

"Shadowborn. She showed me yesterday. That's why she is my mentor. She was the only one at the school who could teach me everything I needed to know to help me with my abilities."

Serafine had a confused look on her face. "Abilities? As in more than one? I thought you Shadowborns only had one. Going astral."

Dylan gave her a wicked grin. "Me too. Until yesterday."

"Girl! Spill!" Serafine looked over at Jackson and noticed he was still in the kitchen and not paying attention to them. This was a little out of character since he was always involved in their conversations. "Wait, does Jackson know already?"

"She told me yesterday."

"Bitch, why didn't you tell me! This is the downside when your friends get mated. The mates know everything before the best friend!"

"I was so damn tired from the sparring I couldn't move! Jackson had to come pick me up, literally, and carry me back here. She ran me ragged!"

Serafine made a face. "What the hell did you two do during your sparring? Did you have actual combat?"

Dylan made a face. "Well, actually, pretty much. First, I was in my human form, and her combat skills, damn. Did you know she was mated by Teowulf?"

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah."

Jackson laughed. "How did you two not know that? He is all over her whenever they are in the room together."

Dylan spun on the bed to glare at her mate. In sync, she and Serafine yelled, "We've never seen them together!"

Jackson turned, gave them a look, and shrugged. "No wonder why you didn't know then. Teowulf is all over her any time they are in the same room. Those two are mates. It's been awesome, though. Teowulf is a dominant-as-hell wolf. Seeing that he can keep his shit together while his mate is around a bunch of unmated males kind of gives me hope that I can grow up and be that way too."

Dylan rolled her eyes. "You have trauma around your mate. I'd be the same way if I went through what you did."

Jackson walked over with a double-decker ham, turkey, and Swiss sandwich with lettuce and tomato. As he handed her one of the plates, he gave her a smile. "Still, it lets me see someone with as much power and dominance as I can be, even if I am tempered; that means I can be. I don't like being all tense and shit around this school now. It sucks. But I at least know that I can get over it someday."

She shook her head and took the plate from him. "I'm still going with you aren't as bad as you think."

"Okay, love birds. There is still information I am missing here. What abilities does a Shadowborn have? Or should I say, what abilities does Lupe have?"

"Okay, so while I was sparring with her, she could go astral in her human form." Serafine gasped. "That's not all. She can teleport." Serafine's jaw dropped open. "Yeah. She was in her human form the entire time. I couldn't beat her. Yeah, I had moments where I got her on the mat and all, but it took so much for me to be able to do that. She is incredibly strong and knows ways to use the Shadowborn magic in ways I've never seen before."

"No wonder the school brought her here. Shadowborns are probably sent here often. In doing so, Lupe will take them as mentees and teach them these abilities, so when they return home, that person can teach their pack."

Dylan frowned. "There aren't too many of us left. Most of my pack found their mate within our pack. My friend and I were the only two unmated females from our pack who went to the gathering to find their mates. I'm still confused about that whole thing. I was picked, as well as my friend, to go to that party to meet mates. The Alphas that were in charge of this knew I was a Shadowborn. Yet Silas was so angry when he found out I was a-" Jackson's snarl filled the room. Dylan stopped talking and looked over at her mate, who was back in the kitchen, hunched over the counter, with his fist clenched until his knuckles were white. "Jackson? Are you okay?"

Silas is not who I want. He doesn't want me either. She told him through their bond.

I know. I'm just struggling to control my wolf. He hates hearing his name and how he hurt you.

Dylan took a moment to push through their bond and pour all her love for Jackson and his wolf. She wasn't sure it would work, but she needed to reach his wolf. Through the bond, she imagined wrapping her arms around him from behind, moving her hands under his shirt so she could touch his skin. She heard Jackson sigh, and she could see his muscles loosening. He turned to look at her, and his eyes were glowing. Dylan patted the spot next to her on the bed, and Jackson made his way over. Once he sat beside her, he tucked her close to his body and buried his nose in her neck.

Thank you.

Any time.

"Anyway. I don't think a lot of Shadowborns have passed through here. Lupe might just be here in case one is or because she and Teowulf are dominant enough to control any Alpha that came through here."

Serafine shrugged. "I guess we will never find that one. So does this mean Lupe will teach you everything she knows during your mentoring class?"

"I don't know. I couldn't hold my astral form for the whole class, so I think she wants to fix that first."

Serafine leaned her head to the side. Dylan noticed she had a moment of "Oh, I shouldn't do that" and snapped her head back to normal and plastered a smile on her face. Dylan held in her chuckle. Serafine was still trying to look like she was the most positive person in history. Sometimes, Dylan thought it was okay not to be happy and thought the world was awesome every second of the day. But right now, she could use some positivity.

After experiencing the things a Shadowborn could do, Dylan began to wonder if her pack had been lying to her throughout her life. Her pack was the strongest pack of Shadowborns in their world. That made her parents the strongest of their kind. The Monarch was the strongest Werewolf, but she felt as though her father would be a close second if they ever had the chance to settle that question. Yet, they didn't know how to go astral in their human forms or teleport using their magic? Something wasn't adding up for Dylan.

"I hate to put a damper on things, but how does one fix that kind of issue? Does anyone else in your pack have trouble staying astral?"

Dylan shook her head. "I'm the only one. My parents believed it was a 'mental' thing. I was too erratic, and that made my wolf harder to control. They thought if I found a mate, that would settle me down some, and then my wolf wouldn't be so hard to control." She looked at Jackson and smiled. "Clearly, they were wrong on that front."

"I could tire you out more in some amazing ways. Maybe that will calm your wolf." Jackson said with a wink.

"You think sexual satisfaction is the answer to my problems?"

Jackson gave her a wicked grin. He leaned into her and put his nose in the crook of her neck. "We can find out." His voice was sultry, almost making her forget they had company over.

Dylan pushed him away and giggled. "Not while company is over! Besides, I don't think that is how that works."

Jackson looked at Serafine. "You should check out our enormous jacuzzi tub."

"I am not leaving the room just so you can have sex, Jackson," Serafine said between laughs.

"I'm not seeing anyone else throwing out ideas! I think I came up with a good one."

Dylan shook her head and looked at her friend. "Maybe pray to the Great Moon you won't find another mate, and the one who sent you here doesn't want to mend things. Having a mate isn't what it is cracked up to be."

"What!? You love me. Don't act like you don't just because we have company."

Serafine ignored Jackson. "But, for real, how does one fix that issue? I feel like Lupe will do some weird Shadowborn mojo on you now. I mean, she showed off some major magic to you yesterday. I don't think anyone in this school who has run into Lupe would guess she can do stuff like that."

"At this point, the only thing I can hope for is that she knows exactly what the problem is and can fix it. I can't go home without this issue getting resolved. I am a potential risk in any battle if I don't know how to control my wolf. One moment, it's just the astral issue; the next can be I don't have control over her at all. Have you ever met a mated wolf who has gone feral? I know I haven't. I don't want to be the first one either."

"I don't think you have to worry about that, Dylan. I haven't seen you spar too much yet, but maybe it has something to do with confidence."

Jackson practically cackled. "I don't think it's a lack of confidence. She definitely knew what she was doing when we sparred."

"Maybe it's too much. Like you are thinking too much during the fight and not just allowing you and your wolf to lean on each other."

Dylan thought about it, but she wasn't sure if that was her problem. "Can you elaborate?"

"Imagine this: you're in a fight, whether it's training or a real battle. You're watching your opponent's move, ready to block or counter to gain the upper hand. Minutes pass, and you've dodged every punch and countered every move, landing blows that count. You're in the zone, confident, and in sync with your wolf. Then, you shift, and so does your wolf. You tap into your wolf's abilities, even though you don't have Lupe's expertise. You go astral, knowing your opponent can't touch you. You're so sure of your success that you effortlessly switch between astral and solid forms. But suddenly, you can't go astral anymore. Your confidence wavers, and you start second-guessing yourself. Your abilities falter because you react instead of relying on your skills and knowledge. Your overconfidence becomes your downfall."

Dylan was left with her mouth agape. Not once did overconfidence come to mind when thinking about her fighting style. It always seemed like she just kept her focus on the match and did what she could to win. Overconfidence could be her problem. While inside the match, the only thing she cared about was winning. She did watch her opponent and did her best to look for patterns or a way to win. That could cause her to feel like she knew the person enough to win and then they made a move that made her lose that focus. That would make her fear she would lose and then use her abilities to win instead of trusting herself to make decisions that could lead to a win.

"You're a genius. That could be an issue and why I can't control my ability. I am too focused on winning and telling myself how I need to win using my abilities, and then they fail because I am too focused on that instead of listening to my other senses. Maybe that is what Lupe saw today and why she showed me how to use abilities to her advantage instead of solely to win. She tired me out to the point I could barely keep up."

"Exactly. I can't wait to hear how your next session goes and if she tells you what she thinks is wrong. I'm sure that insight will be such a relief. I mean, I know it would be for me. I just know that someone was able to pinpoint a problem I have and can teach me how to fix it. That's why I am enjoying my classes! I had no idea how to do all those etiquette things. Pack magic, especially. Like I know, alphas can manipulate the bonds to help, but we need to be able to do things like draw on them to make us look more like dogs to humans or even make us all run silently throughout a hunt. That shit is so cool! I can't believe I didn't know that. Did you?"

Dylan nodded her head. "I'm the Alpha's daughter, remember? I'm being taught all these things because I will most likely be Luna of a pack someday." She glanced at Jackson and gave him an apologetic smile. "If I do have another mate, and it isn't an Alpha, that means you'll be an Alpha to a Shadowborn pack. I'm the only heir, and I know for a fact that there isn't someone more dominant than me."

Jackson shrugged. "I hope they are okay with not being led by someone who isn't a Shadowborn. I wish you could give me some of your power. That would be sweet. Just by being mated to you, I can go all spirit and walk through walls. Can you imagine that? Like hearing someone talk shit on you in your own pack behind a wall, and you just go through it and rip them a new one. Seriously, how do you Shadowborns get anything done in a day? That power is so cool to have. I'd be trying to use it for so many things."

Dylan pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "I feel I need to teach you some things about my culture before we go home. That is not something we do!"

Jackson laughed. "You really think I don't know that? I'm just messing around. But that would be cool. I do think you'll have to give me some pointers, though. I haven't been around Shadowborns enough to know if they do anything different from us normies."

"Normies?"

"Well, I could call us the Bland Wolves since we have nothing awesome about us other than the fact we can turn into a damn wolf whenever we damn well please. I always wanted to know what it was like to be a Shadowborn when I heard about them."

"Well, you are mated to one now. So, you'll get to see how we all operate soon enough."

"Dyl? Are you feeling any better?" Serafine asked her in a soft tone.

Dylan didn't realize she must have been coming off as stressed out or worse. Serafine was good at picking up on those kinds of things and usually asked enough questions to make Dylan feel better about the situation after talking it out. At that moment, she didn't know she needed that.

"Yeah. I am. You're an awesome friend, Sera. Thank you."

"Not a problem. I think I'm gonna go for a run. You two care to join?"

Jackson bumped her shoulder with his. "I think that sounds like a plan. We've been cooped up for too long. You agree?"

Dylan nodded. "Yeah. I definitely need a run. Hopefully, we will be the only ones on the trails. I don't want to deal with anyone right now."

Serafine agreed. "With it so close to being a full moon, I definitely don't want other people on the trails. People are too charged up right now."

The last thing I need is for someone like Hunter to be on the damn trail and pissing off Jackson this close to the full moon.