Alex's POV
I woke up later than I usually do to notice two things seemed off: One, Jacke wasn't in my bed, and Two, It was peaceful and quiet. With everything that was going on something smelled fishy, so I got up, got dressed, and left our room to head downstairs. Pete was in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee, so I grabbed one myself before taking a seat next to him.
"Morning, Alex, what's going on with you?"
"Have you seen Jacke? He wasn't in bed when I woke up," I asked before taking a sip of my coffee and trying to not let my nerves get the best of me.
"Jacke? Yeah, we had a conversation earlier about the speech before he left to go find Mason, I presume to have the same kind of conversation."
"Fucking hell, have mercy on me I just woke up. Did the conversation at least go well with the two of you?"
"Oh yeah, I think it went phenomenally. He got straight to the point and was very kind, all-be-it concerned about having to give a speech to the pack as a whole. He told me about how you two had talked last night about not having to do the speech at all, and just talk to me and your Beta, and I couldn't agree more. I'd rather not have your mate have an anxiety attack while simply trying to get the message across that he's here to stay."
"So, there weren't any issues or arguing?"
"Heavens no, he was quite thorough though when it came to answering my question about you two and your 'War'. He said there was much more than he let on, but that he'd be willing to explain more in the future if I asked him to."
"Where did he go?"
"He left out the front door not half an hour ago, he was trying to find Mason, but seeing as he has no idea who he is nor what he looks like. I'd presume that he's more or less wandering around aimlessly, you might want to go give him a hand," He said before chuckling and taking another sip of his coffee.
"Thank you, Uncle," I said before finishing my mug and heading out the front door to go and find the goofball. As soon as I got outside, I saw that everyone was more or less working together, boxes of people's belongings being moved into their homes; Gardening equipment and boxes with different plant labels being moved into a greenhouse, and overall, everything was rather harmonious. This came as a bit of a shock to me, I was honestly expecting there to be some kind of clash or arguing of some kind, but there was nothing. People were laughing and smiling with each other as they worked on moving stuff in, and I saw Derick hauling a big duffle bag full of stuff with his husband just behind him carrying a small box. I walked over to meet them at their place as they made their way inside, I held the door and joined them as they set their things down.
"How's it going, Alex? I take it you're looking for Jacke?" Derick asked as he set his duffle bag down on a coffee table in their living room.
"I am, so far I've got to say I'm a little shocked there hasn't been any arguing or fighting going on between y'all and my family. It would seem that I jumped to too many conclusions when I first woke up today."
"Maybe just a bit, Hun," Johnny said as he took a seat on the couch, "The last time either of us saw Jacke he was looking for your Beta, and more or less just walking around helping people out and asking if they knew where he could find the guy."
"You know, if he had just stayed in bed with me this morning, I would've joined him for his talk with Pete and then helped him find Mason. He's not hard to find, he's just a bit of a loner," I said chuckling as Derick was unpacking some of their things, and when Johnny tried to stand up to help him, Derick pushed him back onto the couch.
"I got this, Bun, you just sit there and look pretty for me," He said erupting a vibrant blush on Johnny's face, getting a laugh from me.
"You two are a cute couple, but I've gotta go find my goofball before he burns himself out," I said before standing up and heading for the door, "You two have a nice rest of your day, and don't work yourself too hard, Derick. Then how would you have the energy to spoil Johnny?"
"Fair enough, Alex, good luck finding Jacke, he's been all over the place today."
"Thanks, guys," I said before leaving their house and heading back out to find where Jacke had run off to. I walked around the area, asking some of my family if they'd seen him, only for about the same answer that Derick had given me. Before I knew it, Mason walked up and tapped me on the shoulder, my Beta was nothing if not inconspicuous.
"Your mate has been looking for me, while I've been trying to find you, and now you're trying to find him. I feel like there's a reference that I should be getting here, but it's gone way over my head," He said, chuckling as we made our way back up to the packhouse, "I have a hunch he's made his way back up here."
"Alex!"
"Speak of the devil," Mason said as Jacke made his way back up the steps to us.
"I take it this is the guy?"
"Yes, Love, this is my Beta. You do realize that I would've helped you find him if you'd just waited in bed, right?"
"I wanted to let you sleep in, and I was hungry so I got up early to make some food," He said as he stood next to me.
"Mason, this mess is Jacke, my mate. Jacke, this is Mason, my Beta. Now that introductions are out of the way, Mason, Jacke wanted to talk to you about the speech."
"I talked to Pete earlier when I got up this morning, for the most part, he filled me in. Jacke, you seem to be a good leader for your people, but I hope you know that I don't answer to you, I answer to Alex," He said as I glared at him, Jacke just laughed at the statement.
"Bold of you to presume that I would have you answer to me, Mason, if I need something done I rely on my people. Not yours," Jacke said earning a chuckle from me and a look of disbelief from Mason.
"I think he'll fit in just fine here, Alex, he's all yours though. Keep that in mind, won't you?"
"I wouldn't have him any other way, buddy, now if you please, I'd like to pick up where he left off in helping out around the pack. This time, you aren't leaving my side, Pup, got it?"
"Yes Ma'am," Jacke said quickly, it was good to know that he didn't have any issues staying by my side anymore. We left Mason to go about his business and made our way down towards the buildings to help out where we could. We stopped by Nicki and Jade's place as they were moving boxes into their new home, and Jacke gave them a hand in carrying them in.
"It's good to have a new place to live, Eh Jacke?"
"Oh yeah, while I'm not going to help you guys out with your decorating, I know Nicki would kick my ass, do y'all need any more help with the boxes or is this everything?" Jacke asked as he set the two boxes he was carrying down on the floor by their living room.
"I think that's all of it actually, there wasn't much left over after the fire, but we ordered replacements for the furniture and new decorations for us to hang up, so I think we're good. Thanks for the help, dude," Jade said before they high-fived each other, and Jacke hugged Nicki. It was nice seeing this side of Jacke, knowing that even if he was a walking war machine, he had a soft spot for his family. It gave me confidence that our relationship would last for years to come, if not an eternity.
We left their house and back out to see more and more people moving their things into their rebuilt homes, and it gave me a sense of pride in my own family. We were a group of misfits to be sure, but our sense of community had stood the tests of time, and now our family had essentially doubled. Jacke squeezed my hand before nodding his head to a couple that was having some trouble with their things, and he led me forward to lend them a hand. This went on for a few hours as we helped families with unloading their belongings from the trucks, and at the end of the day the trucks that were empty left, and a couple of new ones took their place: Jacke didn't know this, but one of them had my things, along with some stuff I had ordered for him.
"What's in this one?" He asked, pointing to the very truck that had my stuff in it, as he walked up to it.
"That's the truck with my stuff, Love, don't open it. I don't want to spoil the surprise in there!"
"A surprise?! You're evil! You know I'm impatient as all hell."
"I do, but you've got to wait for what's inside, I'm having some of my friends unpack that one. Let's go for a walk while they work on it, maybe go pay Mallow and his dragon friend a visit."
"Fine, you win this round," He said as I took his hand and led him out the front gate. I didn't want him to know what was inside since I didn't know what his birthday was, or if he even had one, I bought some gifts for him to make our room a bit more 'homely' for him.
'Heaven forbid he has a shred of patience' Alexis said as we made our way out of the gate and onto the trail that led outside.