There was a fallen log just beside the ground and he settled down on it, making sure that Jaxon was comfortable.
He watched the Warriors file away after Leon and wasn't surprised to hear the sounds of them shifting not long after, he could already tell that the Warriors from Midnight Pack already underestimated him, even their Head Warrior.
Darian wasn't surprised, he had fallen prey to that as well. He learnt the truth, in a really nasty way.
It was easy to write off Leon, maybe it was his nonchalant attitude that made him seem non lethal, today should be fun.
It didn't take long for Jaxon to fall fast asleep, maybe it was the cool, morning air, or maybe it was Darian's warm hold.
The sun slowly rose, brightening up the place even further, not that they needed it, the sun brought warmth with it though.
Jaxon sleeping in his arms in the woods brought back memories of their picnic together, Jaxie sleeping was dangerously cute, if he wasn't already in love, he'd have fallen for the soft looking, fiery headed insomniac.
In the quiet that followed the Warriors leaving, thoughts scrambled unbidden into his mind.
Things were beyond complicated between the three of them.
Obviously, the only complication was between him and Leon, he couldn't ask because he didn't know yet how things would work out between the both of them but it was pretty obvious that Jaxon wouldn't mind being with the both of them.
If this was going to work, he and Leon would have to figure something out instead of ignoring it like it didn't exist.
He was also guilty of pretending to not see the elephant in the room but it was just so complex, it was ridiculous how neither of them ever saw things going this way.
It just went to show how self centered they were when it came to each other, they had settled into the mold of being each other's nemesis and now had to figure out a whole ass relationship between them.
To be honest, he totally understood why Leo would pretend not to see it, he was doing the same.
If they couldn't fix things between them before this mission was over, it was highly unlikely that they would ever work out.
That would be devastating, they might both have to give up Jaxie then.
At that point Jaxon mumbled softly, almost like he could tell that Darian was troubled, snuggling closer.
Darian's hand just went naturally for his wild curls, his hand softly offering comfort.
He looked around a bit, he hadn't been paying attention so he had no idea how long the length of their run would be but unless they planned to run out of Cone, Leon should be showing up pretty soon.
Rustling leaves caught his attention and he instantly went alert at this, his head whipping in the direction of the sound.
He barely held back his sound of irritation when he saw Chase strut his way over, a small group of what seemed to be his followers walking behind him.
So there was a whole ass division in the Pack's defense, it made a lot of sense now why their Alpha went so far to fix things.
He did not want to have to deal with this mule head though, not while Jaxon was peacefully sleeping.
His anger meter was pretty high but if Jaxon's nap got ruined, people would be ruined too.
"So this is what Alpha Noah kissed your Alpha's ass for huh? To cuddle with your boyfriend?" Chase walked right up with misplaced confidence.
Darian looked right through him, occasionally checking up on his 'boyfriend' to make sure that his nap wasn't disturbed.
"Yo, I'm talking to you…" He started to growl through gritted teeth, incredibly upset that all Darian had ever done was ignore him.
"Oi! Loudmouth! You're late for training." Leon walked into the open space from the cover of the trees, wearing just sweatpants.
His upper body was bare, full sleeve and the occasional body tattoo out on full display on his toned body.
Darian tried really hard to not be smug at how cool he looked, he might have failed.
"And you need to stop talking to me without being addressed." Chase bit out at him.
Leon merely looked amused, walking over only to head straight for Jaxon, stars in his eyes as he checked on him and found him sleeping.
"That's it, D, tomorrow you're taking charge." He complained, his hand heading straight for Jaxon's curls.
Darian smacked his hand away. "Don't wake him up, plus you're the Head Warrior, Leo, not me." He reminded, looking immensely pleased with himself.
Leon eyed him up for a shroud, reaching for Jaxon's hair again, with gentler motions, Darian let him this time.
"Fine, we'll rock, paper, scissors for it." He suggested, shoulders lifting slightly in pride when a sleeping Jaxon leaned into his touch.
Darian looked unimpressed. "You always cheat…"
Chase stepped even closer, looking furious. "Is this some sort of fucking joke…"
He didn't get all of his words out because Leon and Darian shushed him violently, looking murderous.
Theo made his way to the clearing at this point, visibly out of breath. "You call that pacing so we can keep up?!" He called out to Leon only to freeze up and stiffen when he caught sight of Chase. "Fucking bastard." He muttered darkly, this wouldn't end well.
Leon might be quick on his feet but he doubted even that would be enough to take Chase down, the Were was stupid strong and if he wasn't the irresponsible asshole he was, he might have been the Head Warrior instead of him.
The person who looked like they stood a chance was Darian but it was evident that the big Warrior wasn't going to do anything.
"Take this shit somewhere else." Darian shooed them, clutching Jaxon closer like he wanted to protect him from the noise.
That was hardly necessary though, Jaxon was out cold.
"Fine, let's settle this." Leon agreed, stretching lazily before walking towards Theo. "We have a lot to cover and I like to know the people I'm handling." He said good naturedly which was a bright red flag, as a matter of fact, it went right into flashing neon, alarm blaring kind of red.
Chase too looked done with him. "Good, you never shut the fuck up, seems I'll have to do it for you."
Darian ignored the nervous looks Theo threw his way, impatient for the reaction to come.
The rest of the Warriors were just stumbling back, most falling right on the ground or bending over in exhaustion.
What exactly had Leon done with them?