And the stars blinked

as they watched her carefully,

jealous of the way she shone

~ATTICUS

The phone rang.

"Alpha Jay here."

"Hey Jay!" The voice of Mason greeted Jay's ears.

"Hello Mason," Jay said.

"We'll be there in maybe twenty minutes. Cool?"

"Alright," Jay said.

"See you then!" Mason hung up the phone with a laugh.

Jay dialed a number on his phone, pressing it to his ear, "Alpha," the voice greeted.

"Damion, Alpha Mason and his pack are twenty minutes away."

"Right."

Alpha Jay hung up then. Going downstairs he was greeted with an excited Jackie and the pack warriors who stayed at the pack house.

"When will Alpha Mason be here?" Tom, a warrior who stayed in the pack house, asked excitedly.

"It will be around twenty minutes."

The wolfs chattered excitedly to themselves with the news.

Daisy walked up to Jay, giving him a small kiss. "Morning," she said, grinning at him.

Jay smiled warily at Daisy. It had been a few days since their talk and Daisy wanted to punch herself for it. Just when Jay seemed to be opening up to her, he had quickly shut down. Scared away by the slight pressure she had applied when she opened up.

She knew that Jay would be watching her closely in case she tried to ask Mason or his mate. But Daisy didn't want that. She wanted to hear from Jay himself.

Jay sat at the head of the table with Daisy on his right and Jackson on his left. Jackson also stayed at the pack house and through the past few weeks, Daisy had been amused to see the strange friendship that was between the Alpha and one of his generals.

"Pass the eggs please Jackson," Jay asked, eyeing the huge pile of scramble eyes.

"Oh would you look at that, our Alpha said please for once in his life," Jackson said.

The others sniggered at the table, watching Jackson tease the Alpha without mercy.

Jay gave a rumbling playful growl deep within his chest.

"Eggs," was all he said.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, we have progressed into caveman dialect."

Some burst out laughing. Even Jay could not stop a small smile showing. But Jackson knew when to draw the line. And the others at the table knew that only Jackson could achieve such remarks without his tongue being pulled out.

Twenty some minutes later, a tall figure emerged from the door.

"Hello, hello hello!" Mason cried out.

Some of the pack warriors gasped and leaped forward to greet the Alpha that had just arrived. Closely following behind was his mate Shae and their small son, Charles.

Alpha Jay got up to greet his friend. He extended his hand, looking at Daisy. She smiled as she took his in hers.

They walked forward together. Mason and his mate smiled at the sight. Alpha and Luna greeting their guests.

"Jay," Mason said. Each of the males let go of their mates hands to embrace each other. Their females looked on, smiling at the display of friendship.

Daisy was just glad that Jay seemed to have a close friend other than Grace.

She couldn't believe her ears the first time she heard that Jay had a friend visiting the pack.

"Hello Daisy," Mason said smiling down at the female and laughing at her shirt that read, "I wish I wanted abs as much as I wanted French Fries."

"Mason, how are you?" Daisy asked, coming forward to reclaim Jay's hand.

"Perfect since you blessed our lives," he answered.

Daisy walked past the males to embrace Shae. She looked down at the little boy then, "oh Shae I'm so glad I finally get to see him!" Daisy leaned forward as the boy shyly hid behind his mother's skirts.

"Thank you Daisy," Shae said, bowing slightly towards the female.

They soon settled in at the table, chairs being pulled in and placed for them.

"Strange to not be sitting at the head," Mason said laughing.

"You are at my table now Mason," Jay said giving a small laugh.

"I don't think you told me of how you two grew to know each other," Daisy said.

Jay looked down at his mate's mischievous eyes. He knew what game she was playing. But she would find no answers from these wolves.

"Jay and I met when we were training to be Alphas," Mason said, laughing as he thought back to other times.

"I can tell you it was good instincts on my part to befriend him. No one challenged me when I had this glowering sour puss next to me," Mason laughed lightly pushing Jay's shoulder.

Jay smiled at Mason, laughter dancing in his eyes.

Shae looked at the two with happiness. Daisy could tell they were friends who cared for her mate, and truly wished for his happiness.

More stories were told and exchanged by the group of other times from the past. The wild adventures of Mason and how he always dragged Jay along. How Jay helped Mason plan his proposal to Shae, and how he had helped Mason when Shae rejected him over and over because she knew she would not be able to give him a pup.

"She couldn't resist this charm though," Mason said, smiling down at his mate.

Shae scrunched up her nose, "oh whatever," she said laughing.

The whole time Charles had remained silent while sitting on his mother's lap.

Soon though the group split. "Let's see how the packs doing," Mason said, slinging an arm around Jay as the two walked out.

Jay cast Daisy one last smile before the door closed. The rest of the table had been cleared, and everyone had dispersed to whatever activity they had planned on doing.

Sitting now at the table alone, Daisy and Shae each held a hot cup of tea. Charles played contently on the floor by himself with a few toys.

"He's a good boy," Daisy said looking at the child.

Shae looked down at her son with pride in her eyes, "he's the best."

They talked idle talk among themselves, about the pack, how Grace was doing until they reached the topic of their mates.

"I'm so glad Jay has someone now," Shae said sighing to herself.

Daisy smiled at the female, "a mate is a blessing."

"How is he?" Shae asked, curious to know.

"Jay? He's good."

"I hope he's not putting himself under too much stress. I heard that John is doing some of his duties but it's still a lot for Jay to do by himself. Mason told me some of the other Alphas have called asking if he needed their support."

Daisy looked at Shae with surprise. She knew Jay was having a hard time, but had no idea other packs had noticed and had volunteered to help. She didn't know if it was shown as an insult to Jay's leadership or if the Alpha's truly cared about Jay and the well-being of his pack. She would have to have another talk with John. She couldn't understand why Jay had chosen him as Beta in the first place.

The females continued talking, Shae telling Daisy stories of the past about Jay while Daisy told her stories of the present and adventures Jay and she had created together.

Meanwhile, Jay and Mason had walked around the pack. Jay showed Mason his warriors and their training routine, earning an impressed look and "wow" from Mason.

They made their way to Grace's house. Grace had visited Jay when he had been training for his position as Alpha. During that time Mason had gotten to know and befriend her.

"Mason?" Grace asked stunned at the figure in front of her.

"Hey Gracie!" Mason said laughing. Grace smiled at her old nickname before getting off the chair she had been rocking on her front porch. The two embraced while Jay watched smiling.

They settled back on the front porch. "Where's John?" Jay asked. It was an unusual sight to see Grace without her mate.

"He's just upstairs taking a small nap," Grace said. She turned to the two males then and smiled, "What brings you here Mason?"

Mason smiled at Grace, "I wanted to see how you and your lovely pups are doing of course."

Grace laughed at him, swatting his shoulder, "growing and growing would be the answer."

The two males looked at the already big stomach that Grace was constantly rubbing.

"Twins will do that I hear," Mason said, "But I also came to check out this new mate Jay can't stop talking about."

"She is something else," Grace said, a faraway look in her eyes.

They continued their talk, mostly Mason and Grace reliving the good times.

Until they were interrupted. "What the hell is this," an irritated voice said from the doorway.

Both males turned to see a bleary eyed John, glaring out at the two of them.

"John! It's so good to see you again," Mason said, smiling to try to relieve the sudden tension.

"Get away from my mate. Out." John took a few threatening steps forward.

"John really don't do-,"

Grace couldn't finish her sentence though before John leapt forward, shifting in his wolf. However mid shift something happened.

Quicker than anyone could react or the eye could detect, Jay lunged forward grabbing John midair by the scruff of the neck.

"Stop."

That one word made John go limp.

"Shift."

Without question John sifted back. He had not even been able to fully shift into his wolf before Jay had stopped him.

"Sit."

With that one word John sat down in a chair on the other side of the porch.

Getting up Mason bent down to kiss Grace's cheeks.

"It was lovely to see you again Grace."

Grace's face was crumbled with disappointment and exhaustion, "I'm sorry," she said to the two males.

"No need to apologize, the fault was entirely ours," Mason said with an easy smile, walking off the porch and waiting there for Jay.

Jay looked down at Grace, "Will you be okay?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry Jay it's just-" Jay held up his hand stopping her.

"I understand. It's an understandable reaction to wake up and find your mate who is heavily pregnant talking to two males. We should have known better and for that we apologize."

Grace looked like she was about to shed tears but kept them inside, knowing they made Jay uncomfortable. "Thank you," was all she said.

"I'll have Daisy check on you later today. Bye." Jay walked off the porch, but not before letting some of his power show as his glared at John. He wanted the wolf to know that if he so much as yelled at Grace he would have him to answer for. John gave an audible gulp, quickly nodding to his Alpha before looking away.

Jay and Mason started their walk back to the pack house.

"Well Jay, like always you gave me an adventure," he said, slinging his shoulders over Jay and smiling up at him.

"No problem Mason," Jay said, trying hard to not laugh.

"Let's do this again soon another time," at that remark Jay couldn't hold back the small chuckle. Mason looked up, proud that he had made his friend laugh.

Waving goodbye to the family as they drove off, Daisy looked up at Jay. He looked heartbroken. As if his brother had left him. Daisy grabbed Jay's hand, wanting to, in some way, relieve the pain he was feeling. Her touch did the trick. Jay looked down with a smile, intertwining their fingers more as they walked inside the pack house. Daisy had gotten to see another glimpse of her mates past. How even back then during his Alpha training he had been silent and in the back ground.

Curiosity pounded into her hard. But she held her tongue.

Not tonight when he already felt so broken after saying goodbye to his friend.

I'm tired and going to bed, so I hope all you lovely readers enjoyed the update (*blows kisses*)

Loves,

/////WORLD_JOY_/////