Return Of The Lycans (The Realm Of Ashling #1)

Chapter 01

The women were dressed up like it was some royal ball.

Dresses graced the breakfast buffet of all colors.

He saw jewelry being worn that usually didn’t come out until there was some big event like the Winter Solstice Ball.

There, wolves wore their finest. How did wearing an expensive necklace make things better?

Unless, maybe it was a way to feel more confident?

When Jaxom stepped into the dining hall, his mom, Luna Ellen, his dad, Alpha Steven, and his best friend Asher Ellis, had already sat down to eat.

Across the dinning hall, he could tell they were really enjoying the scenery and his discomfort.

So, instead of eating with his family, he’d grabbed three biscuits, two apples, and a handful of bacon and ran.

The big bad alpha-to-be had fled his own birthday breakfast so people didn’t stare.

Jaxom felt the mild pressure of the mind-link being formed by his dad. Don’t run too far. Presents in the safety of my suite, son. The laughter his dad sent through the link made him feel better.

“So, the big, bad Alpha is hiding from all the hotties,” a girlish voice broke his peace and quiet.

“Hazel,” Jaxom groaned, “go away.”

He’d escaped the breakfast mayhem to get away from people staring at him. Hazel was the last pair of eyes he wanted on him right now. Hers were somehow so much worse than the women currently stalking his every move. Hazel’s gaze didn’t let you go until she was ready.

“But I have something I need to tell you.” The little, white haired witch stomped her foot impatiently.

She was only a few years younger than him.

They’d practically grown up together. The pranks she’d pulled were still talked about amongst their peers years after the fact.

Hazel was known for making wolves uneasy, and she did it on purpose.

“Oh, no. No. The last time you whammied me because you had ‘something to tell me’, I lost two hours and was late for training. So you got me in trouble and I had to clean toilets for a week. Stay away. It’s my birthday. That gives me a day off from you.”

Hazel jumped on top of a stump and caught his attention with her glowing green eyes. Jaxom couldn’t look away.

“I’m here because it’s your birthday. When you get your mates, and mark them, let them mark you, too. It’s the only way they’ll be safe.”

Jaxom blinked a few times, trying to clear the vision of her green, glowing eyes swimming in front of his own. The forest floor seemed like a good place to lay down. He sank to his knees as Hazel’s trance started to set in.

“Wolves only have one mate. And of course, I’ll let my Luna mark me, too.”

“Jaxom Steven Bane, you listen to me. The Moon Goddess said you are special. You’re special enough to have more than one mate. Don’t you dare ignore this.”

“No way! There haven't been multiple mates since the Lycans.”

“Nuh-uh! Read your history, stupid boy.”

“You just said I was special!” Jaxom could feel his body melting. Happened every time Hazel whammied him. It was the only he way he knew how to explain the way her glowing green eyes made him feel. It was like she physically knocked him over.

“Just because you’re special, doesn't mean you’re not stupid. You’re a boy. Both can be true.”

“Hazel,” Jaxom said as he braced himself upright against the ground, still enamored by her eyes.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you,” she promised.

Jaxom didn’t find that part reassuring as he wilted on the forest floor. Her piercing gaze holding him in it's grip.

It didn’t feel like he’d been out long as those green eyes finally left him alone. He slowly got up and brushed dead leaves and dirt off the side of his face. Hazel was still standing on the stump, laughing at him.

“It’s only been 15 minutes since you decided to take a nap on the forest floor. No one is missing the birthday boy. Although, your dad will be calling in 3… 2… 1…” How she knew that was a mystery. Hazel jumped off the stump and ran off to terrify someone else.

“I didn’t decide to take a nap,” Jaxom yelled at her retreating back.

Jaxom, his dad said through the mind-link, Think you can handle making it up to my suite?

Ha ha, dad, very funny. Got any chocolate?

Hazel?

Yeah. Chocolate helped the last vestiges of the trance wear off. Jaxom didn’t know why it worked but he was grateful he wouldn’t spend half the day peering at floating green eyes that didn’t want to leave him alone.

How long were you out this time? His dad was full on laughing now.

She said 15 minutes, Jaxom said, feeling a little less grumpy. His dad’s mirth was contagious.

She’s lucky she hasn’t tried that on me. With that, his dad cut the link.

The mind-link was like someone was nudging him in the front of his brain, right behind the forehead.

It didn’t hurt, wasn’t intrusive, just an awareness, a waiting for him to acknowledge the link.

Everyone felt slightly different. Every pack member could mind-link other pack members.

Only members of a pack could mind-link each other.

The only exception was Alpha to Alpha. The ability for Alpha’s to talk while in wolf form had stopped many a battle.

Pups grew up feeling their parents through the mind-link.

First they learned how to accept it, how to respond, and how to cut it off.

By the time they were three years old, mind-linking was easy, like breathing.

Pups were taught courtesy and etiquette from the time they could start forming sentences.

Jaxom had learned early from his mother that if he needed help, he was to call her first. And if they were near each other, walking into the room she was in was the polite thing to do.

Dad was always second. If he was working, make sure the need was great.

Mind-linking because he dropped his ice cream on the ground was not an emergency.

In times of trouble, or great emotional distress, those emotions could leak out to the whole pack.

It was usually an alert that something had gone terrible wrong.

That wolf may need help. General protocol was enforced.

Family members were to reach out first to assess the situation.

That distress call came in handy when rogues unexpectedly attacked.

People said he looked like his mother. Tall, black hair and blue eyes were traits he’d inherited from her.

She said her line came from the Lycans. The pack library had a small museum attached.

It was filled with all kinds of artifacts, and family heirlooms, from the time of the Lycans.

She’d spent many hours with Jaxom in the museum teaching him the history of her family.

Jaxom knew he got his fighting and leading ability from his dad.

He had a good three inches of height on his dad, too.

He'd grown up watching his tall, brown haired, brown eyed dad stand on the side of the training grounds, watching his men.

He always stood, hands on hips and legs braced wide, like he was on the deck of a war boat ready to fight pirates.

His dad had visited the Blood Moon Pack on a family vacation.

He’d grown up on the western coast in the Sea Wolves Pack, also supposedly descended from the Lycans.

His family had earned the last name Bane for the terror they instilled on the sea.

They’d been the unofficial navy for the crown.

Growing up, he’d sung Jaxom to sleep to the sound of the sea shanties he’d learned at his own father’s knee.

For a period of time, Jaxom had wanted to move to the Sea Wolves’ Pack and fight pirates.

He could feel the call of the sea in his blood.

That trip to the Blood Moon Pack had changed Steven’s life.

He’d just turned 19. He’d met Ellen who was a year younger and just graduated high school.

As the only child of her Alpha parents, she was set to inherent the Blood Moon Pack as soon as she found her fated mate.

The whole pack had rejoiced. She’d been born late in her parent’s lives.

A surprise to everyone when she was finally born.

The addition of Steven Bane, known for his bravery on the high seas and his ability to lead men, had been the boon the Blood Moon Pack had prayed for.

They had a leader who knew how to fight and the Alpha line of the pack was still intact through Ellen.

When Jaxom had been born, the pack had rejoiced with his swift arrival.

He’d grown up in the pack house watching all the activity of his people.

Up until the age of 18, he’d lived in his parents suite.

As an underage wolf, he had to go through all the markers of growing up like all the other wolves.

He hadn’t been spoiled or made to feel he was special because he was born to Alpha parents.

He’d had to earn privileges. He’d had to earn the right to learn how to be a good Alpha.

His father, in particular, made sure he knew he’d never be an Alpha if he didn’t live up to high expectations.

He’d set the bar high and expected to see the results in Jaxom.

The expectations were far from being a hindrance.

Jaxom had enjoyed trying to show his father up. He loved the challenge.

The pack house had a number of wings where the higher ranked members of the pack lived.

Now that Jaxom had turned 18, he had his own suite in the packhouse.

His mom had helped him decorate the suite consisting of three bedrooms, a living room, bathroom, and small kitchen.

It was on the other side of the packhouse from his parents suite.

It gave enough distance so he didn’t feel like he was living under his parents nose.

Jaxom walked into his parent’s suite and was surprised to see it was bit of a party. Of course, his parents, his friends Asher Ellis, and Tarra Carter were there. The surprise was seeing the Alpha King Silas Bonham, his Luna Queen Leanne, and their 19 year old son Prince Renz.