Game On Alpha

Chapter 22: Making A Comeback

Alina's POV:

Last night was the most sleepless night I've experienced in a long while. The bed felt cold and empty without Xavier next to me. I tossed and turned all night, not getting more than an hour worth of sleep, giving up once I heard the chirping of birds outside the window and stared mindlessly at the ceiling.

I wonder if Colton is awake. He's usually charging into the room by now. A mischievous idea pops into my head. I mind-link Reece, who's up and about at this time, to check for me. He responds back telling me he's still in his room, out like a baby. He must have been really wiped out, the poor guy. I mind-link the rest of the pack and let them know training is canceled for the day and call for reinforcements.

Fifteen minutes later, what's left of 'The A Team' had assembled, along with Jace and Reece, our honorary members. I lay out the plan to them, gathering supplies and setting everything up.

I shuffle silently into Colton's room with a bucket of honey, being careful not to wake him. I start a mental countdown...5...4...3...2...the bucket goes toppling over and honey coats him in thick globs as I make a dash for the door. He jumps up startled, trying to figure out what just happened and takes a few seconds before chasing behind me. Phase one complete.

He screams out obscenities, skidding around the corner. As soon as he steps over the threshold of the kitchen everyone chucks handfuls of multi-coloured feathers and glitters all over him until he looks like a walking fashion house mannequin who has had one too many makeovers; definitely not the good kind.

The hallway goes completely silent except for Colton's harsh breathing.

A few seconds pass while Colton stands there with a murderous glare. He throws his fist into the air and starts screaming profanities but his voice comes out squeaky like the chipmunks from Alvin and The Chipmunks because of the helium we had filled his room with while he was sleeping.

We burst out into fits of laughter, unable to control ourselves any longer, until we were wheezing and gasping for breath. He lets out a scream of frustration and stomps back into his room like a diva with bucket-loads of sass.

"That's for waking us up at four in the morning yesterday! Payback is a bitch!" Jace chokes out, still guwaffing. And we hear him chuckling from within his room.

"And with that people, we have a beautiful start to a bright sunny day," I say to the rest of them. Alex moans in horror. "He's going to kill us in training tomorrow isn't he?"

"There's no doubt about it." I confirm with amusement.

The hallway fills with groans and curses at their impending doom that awaits them, come tomorrow morning. "Ah well, at least we had a memorable morning today." Aiden says. "That we did my friend. That we did." I give a mock sigh and wink.

The week passes by painstakingly slow and the end graces us with the return of our mates. I knew right then and there, by the grace of the Goddess, we would not be fighting this war alone.

Convoys upon convoys roll into the territory following behind the guys' SUVs. They stop right in front of the mansion and our mates exit their vehicles rushing to greet us in embraces. With Xavier in my arms once more I sigh a breath of relief that he had returned to me in one piece, unharmed. After our reunion we all turned back to the vehicles to see that our guests had also exited their vehicles and were ascending the staircase towards us.

A short, willowy brunette female with soft, kind features with what looked like vines wrapped around her arms as if growing right beneath her skin. An impeccably dressed tall, pale yet strikingly handsome male with deadly wicked incisors and cunning blood red eyes. A male and female with intense electric blue eyes, each carrying what I assume are familiars; the male a silvery black snake wrapped around his forearm and the female a raven. A lithe, platinum blonde male with beautifully mesmerizing features and slightly pointed ears.

I gaze upon them in awe, taking in every detail but keeping my face neutral as one does in this instance, after all, I am a queen in my own right.

I had come to the realization that my mate had done it. He had brought with him the fae queen, Willow; the vampire lord, Dimitri; the high witch and warlock, Gwendalow and Ezekiel; and the elf king Astraldow. All of them together in one place, which has never happened throughout history as we know it, bringing along with them their mightiest warriors. Never before had I seen any of them, only hearing of them through the legends and from the council.

My mate makes the formal introductions between us all and announces me as his mate, his Queen, with pride. They each bow in respect and thank us for hosting them as guests on our territory. I must say, they're not what I expected them to be, they didn't seem that hostile towards each other but I do sense a little tension. We lead them inside and show them and their warriors to their quarters. The fae queen, Willow and her troops preferring to make camp in the woods as that is what they are accustomed to, living amongst nature, we set them up in the clearing at the lake and they seemed happy with their accommodations.

We had agreed to hold the meeting tomorrow to discuss the reason we were all gathered together as everyone was exhausted from the traveling. By the time we all retire for the night I was dragging my weight around, absolutely spent.

Xavier holds me in his arms as we lay in bed, telling me how it is that they aren't trying to kill each other and how they came to be to resemble civility. When Gwendalow first set sight on Ezekiel after so many years, they had both leaped across the table at the chance to claw each other's face off, throwing themselves out of a third-story window - apparently this was due to a romantic feud between them that's been going on for centuries. The elf king Astraldow tried to lob the fae queens head off with his broadsword and she tried to suffocate him by letting loose the vines from her arms. Dimitri the vampire lord thought that leaning back and enjoying the scene of them trying to wipe each other off the face of the earth was the best damn thing in the world, so that's what he did - not wanting to ruin his impeccable three-piece tailored charcoal suit.

It took Xavier and the guys all week to reason with them, reminding them what was at stake, getting them to the point of tolerating each other's presence and not at each other's throats, working together and maintaining civility for the good of all our people. Xavier had to use his powers on them one too many times to restrict them to their chairs in order to have a conversation without bloodshed.

Apparently kings and queens of the supernatural world aren't above acting like five-year-old's either. They're just like the rest of us. Tomorrow should be interesting.