Jaxon woke up miserable.
Well, 'woke up' was a bold word, you couldn't wake up if you hadn't even fallen asleep in the first place.
He finally crawled out of bed, the only reason he remained there was because there was nothing else to do.
He couldn't work at night anymore and he didn't particularly feel like doing anything anyway.
He had a lousy day before, it was only natural that his night would be similar.
Well, at least his insomnia was back, something was going back to normal.
After cooking, he had eaten all alone, drifting back to his office.
The dark cloud that hung over his head had been so obvious that even Virgil who gave off unaware vibes noticed and told him to clock out early. Alpha's orders.
Virgil rarely used that against him and he might have not minded in any other situation but not when he desperately needed a distraction.
As he trudged all alone to his office, his mind wandered, whose turn was it to walk him to his office today? Darian?
It didn't matter now, did it? How long was this going to go on for?
Dear Goddess, here he was acting like some lonely, soldier's wife. What happened to the plan of pretending everything never happened?
It had been long thrown out the window because he wouldn't make any promises about not hugging them if they showed up.
The hickies on his neck were almost invisible now and he was back to wearing his wide necked, knitted sweaters, if anyone noticed, they didn't say a word.
"Good thing I ran into you, Jaxie, Virgil wanted to see you." Ian said to him when he got to the last corner that led to his office.
Jaxon furrowed his brow at this, it was odd for Virgil to request to see him because he always went to see the Alpha at the start of each day. "Sure, I'll be right there."
He didn't bother going to his office again, curious, whatever it was Virgil had to say must be important for him to call for Jaxon.
Thankfully, it took his thoughts from two certain werewolves as he pondered just what could be going on.
He knocked lightly before pushing open the door to Virgil's office, he looked up as he got in, regretting instantly and tripping so hard he nearly fell on his face.
Darian and Leon.
Leon was lounging on a chair in his predatory, big cat nature while Darian stood against a wall, his expression impassive.
"Morning, Jax." Virgil looked up when he came in, a frown settling on his striking features. "Are you good?" He asked with concern, noting the visible dark circles under his Head Beta's eyes, his dark red hair like wildfire.
"Yeah." Jaxon muttered vaguely, waving Virgil's concern away. "Just found it a little hard to fall asleep." well if that wasn't the understatement of the century.
"What's going on though?" He asked, settling on a chair as well. "Ian said you wanted to see me."
It seemed that the grounding was over, he wasn't going to be the first to comment on it though, with the way it looked, it seemed like he had been the only one gravely affected.
"Yeah…" Virgil glanced at his laptop getting down to business. "The Pack in Cone requested that we send our Head Warrior down to train their budding Warriors for a couple weeks, it seems like a harmless enough favor, plus we'll have them owing us which could come in handy eventually."
Jaxon's features hardened at this, an expressive frown on his face. "I guess we can't say no." He replied through gritted teeth simply because Virgil required his input.
If it were left to him, he would have gotten the fuck up and left… Now that wasn't a normal reaction…
Why was he getting so possessive over them? They weren't his to keep or order around.
Leon and Darian shared a look, remaining quiet, they had already discussed with Virgil beforehand so there was no need to say anything now.
Plus it was much better to spend their time drinking in Jaxon, a day without him was like losing oxygen, it was a surprise they were both still alive.
Virgil kept a blank face, he would have been surprised if Jaxon hadn't reacted the way he did. "Yeah, so it was simply making a decision of who would be going." He said casually, his sharp, striking blue eyes fixed on Jaxon's face.
Jaxon's eyes widened, disgust expressive on his face. "I see." He muttered, his unhappiness increasing.
"I'm still thinking it over," Virgil glanced down at his screen. "Maybe you could pick who would…" He glanced up at this point, the scent of burning witch-hazel grabbing his attention.
He backtracked on that, fast. "Or maybe not." Virgil was quick to say, he had never seen Jax in a mood this foul before.
"Well, someone has to go, Leon is well… I'm not sending Leon all the way to another Pack unsupervised so it'll probably be the both of them, it's much better that way." He concluded in a small voice, clearing his throat.
Wilting orchids added to the scent of burning witch-hazel, it wasn't a fun combination.
Still, Leon and Darian remained quiet, knowing that Virgil's word was still final and if they fucked up they would have to spend literal weeks away from Jaxon.
They had all already discussed it over before Jaxon showed up and the agreement was for both of them to go so naturally, they asked for Jaxon.
Virgil's reply had been an instant no but after a couple back and forths, he decided to consider it but only if it was certain that Jaxon wanted to come along too.
Well, it wasn't getting any clearer than this, Jaxon was literally drooping in his seat.
"But, everyone knows that no one can control them, even I have them on a thin leash, no one but you so I know this is a little impromptu but do you mind tagging along to keep an eye on them?' Virgil finally got out with, hopefully with Jaxon's presence they wouldn't drive the other Alpha to madness.
Jaxon immediately perked up at this, his eyes bright. "Sure! You should have started with that, I don't mind." He responded immediately, not even realising what was going on.
Virgil just sighed, this was a hopeless situation.