I opened my eyes on the couch in my house. I stretched out calling, “Melanie?” Elise came around the corner in a white robe with her makeup and hair done. I grumbled, “Oh for the love of god!” Elise was definitely not pregnant here.
Elise laughed, “Are you having dreams about Melanie, Alexander? How interesting.” I retorted, “No, I wanted to see my wife and mate. How old am I here?” Elise gasped, “You’re….” She trailed off then recovered, “You and Melanie are in the Ribbon? She’s really yours?”
I confirmed, “Yes.” Elise replied, “Well, Ladybug should be here soon. Drake and the McAlister boys just got here, and Sam and Melanie left the pack after them. Melanie had to have her hair picture perfect.” My eyes widened knowing Sam and Melanie were about to get in a car crash.
I nodded saying, “Good to know. Go get ready with my mom and yours. You look as beautiful as you did the day of your mating ceremony in my reality.” Elise laughed and skipped off looking lighter, knowing I was really Melanie’s mate.
I popped to EJ who spilled his whiskey. My big brother was with this reality me, dad, and uncles. I announced, “We need to go right now.” The other me asked, “Who is our mate?” I sighed, “You know who it is. Robert is about to run Sam and Melanie off the road so our mate can’t meet you.” Everyone snarled.
I grabbed the other me and popped to where I knew the accident was. We got there right after it happened. I popped and grabbed Robert by his neck. The dolt screamed in terror and pain. I heard more pops as I dragged him over to the group andthrew him down at Wesley’s feet. Someone had brought Drake, Tristan, and Jason.
The other me was healing Melanie while mom was healing Sam. I touched my watch. Thankfully, Melanie had added multiple ports to my watch. I handed it to my dad ordering, “Someone take Melanie to Faerie. She can see books in the library that no one else can that have a lot of necessary information about the promised siblings. Uncle Arion can take form for an hour in our realm if he practices, should he be dead here. Mom was really happy about that.”
Everyone gaped at me, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I opened them in my room. Melanie jumped on the bed. I asked, “Are you my Melanie?” Melanie answered, “Yes.” I tested her by asking, “When did we meet?”
Melanie laughed, “In Louisiana… after a Rebel concert, because of Angela.” I said, “Good.” Then I pulled her down on top of me and rolled us over. I cupped her face with my hand saying, “You amaze me. All this work and research you’re doing to help my family. I truly can’t thank you enough. What you found means so much to mom.”
Melanie blushed, “Well…. I feel bad. I found that earlier…. I was just going to get that information to them. All this stuff is scattered throughout… a lot of different books. Arion is probably just around looking through all my notes.”
“Which is weird, but cool. Someone could be over my shoulder…. at all times. It’s a little strange, but he’s your uncle…. and not a bad guy. I was just trying to gather all the information I found. What I found today was something everyone needed to know and…” I kissed her to cut her off.
I told my mate, “I love you.” My wife smiled saying, “I love you too.” I warned, “I know you have some plan to keep me safe. Just know that I want to keep you safe too. The Ring doesn’tknow you’re the White Wolf, but they know you can give birth to more Enforcers.”
“That’s why they wanted you with Trevor. I’m sure in their deluded mind you could give them Enforcers with him. Or something equally delusional. I would never have let him touch you, and he will pay for what he’s done. The Ring had to know that.”
Melanie snorted, “I seriously hope the Ring…. didn’t think that… Trevor…. could produce an Enforcer. He’s not good at fighting. He might have been if he’d trained, but…. he never did. He thought he could get by on his Gamma and Alpha blood. Which for a lot…. he could, but not against someone who actually knew how to fight.”
I said, “I understand that, but you are a good fighter. I’m sure they wanted to keep you from me but possibly get Enforcers in the Ring. It was a win all around for them if they succeeded. They just didn’t count on the factor of you being who you are.”
Melanie said, “I mean… I suppose…. but they failed in spectacular fashion.” I laughed, “So they did. The Ring gave you everything you needed to start an opposition against them. I think you would’ve started it anyway.”
Melanie shrugged, “If we worked together… I’m not sure. I would have suggested it… for sure… because…. The Hood and the Hackura are successful… in the shadows.” I wasn’t sure Melanie would have made the suggestion because we wouldn’t have let her into the inner workings at fourteen. I’m pretty sure it would’ve pissed her off.
We talked for a bit more before we went to sleep. I woke up in bed alone, sighed, and got up. I went outside to see my brothers. They all gaped at me. I asked, “What?” EJ pointed at my neck saying, “You’re marked.”
I frowned, asking, “Did you hit your head? You knew I was marked. Oh, son of a bitch! Another Ribbon strand?! Let’s getinside. We need to coordinate and I need to know how old this me is.” We walked inside.
The other me walked in and instantly looked at my neck then smiled. He said, “Everyone will be here in a minute.” I nodded. I asked, “How old are you?” He answered, “Nineteen.” Damn it. I was hoping to get here before Melanie was taken.
I looked down then right back up, startled to hear a squeal, “XANDER!” I watched in surprise as Melanie jumped into his arms. He chuckled and hugged her back greeting, “Hi, Melanie. I missed you.” I questioned, “Ok, what the hell am I doing here? You’ve met and Melanie wasn’t kidnapped. How did that not happen here?”
The other me snarled and put her behind his back in a protective move. The McAlister’s growled. Tristan asked, “Who is trying to get her? There have been some attempts to kidnap my little sister. Her guard that your dad has on her has stopped them and so have our Warriors.”
I answered, “The Ring. Alpha Ezra is trying to get back at Drake, and we just found out they are after her because she’s mine. It has to do with the Enforcer’s and our mates.” I touched my watch and smiled. Melanie must have added more of her little strips to my watch while I was sleeping.
I handed one to my dad. I said, “You can touch it and use your hand to fast forward and rewind it.” Dad laughed, “I know. Melanie made this here in our lab.” I touched it and fast forwarded to the end. Melanie had added everything she’d just learned.
Dad said, “Your mom will be really happy about your uncle. She’s in her own Ribbon strand right now. Have you all figured out who runs that Blue Circle Group?” My jaw dropped because I had literally just been wondering about this.
I knew without a doubt Melanie hadn’t put the Resistance in the watch information where just anyone would be able to accessit. Dad reassured me, “It’s ok if you haven’t.” I simply nodded, which made him raise his eyebrow.
We talked about a few other things while Melanie was picking at her sleeves. The other me was staring at her curiously. I explained what happened to her in our reality. The other me was snarling. EJ said, “Alexander and I decided to surprise Elise when we got back early from our first mission. I knew she was worried. Ladybug was with her when we got back.”
I clarified, “So Mel was eight years old?” EJ nodded. I reasoned, “Well you need to take over Black Path and Paige needs to be found too.” Drake said, “Melanie met Paige recently. Dalton is quite taken with her. He has a serious crush on the girl.”
I explained, “They are mates. How did Melanie meet Paige?” Melanie flushed. The other me growled. I laughed, “This certainly sounds like an interesting story.” Melanie excused herself and got up. I said, “I’ll just go talk to the younger version of my mate.” They all nodded.
Dad’s eyes narrowed. I walked behind Melanie, grabbed her wrist, and popped us to one of the other me’s treehouses. My younger mate nervously said, “Umm hi… other Xander.” I smiled, “All versions of you nervously ramble. Why doesn’t the larger group know you started the Resistance?”
