Ash

I am walking through the woods to find Jax. Today is my 19th birthday and I had to leave the pack house before anyone else was awake. I was very happy to see the outfit Jax picked out for me to wear today and I must say I was pleasantly surprised.

I make it to the huge rock that Jax and I found on one of our runs through the territory. The rock is just outside of pack lines so we shouldn't have to worry about anyone interrupting us unless it is rogues. I see Jax on top of the huge boulder and I walk up to sit next to him. He continues looking over the cliff at the beautiful scenery ahead of him.

"Happy Birthday," he smiles.

"Thanks," I reply. "The outfit is great by the way, thank you."

"I'm glad you like it," he grins and then sighs, "It's so peaceful out here. I wish it could be like this all the time."

I nod my head in agreement, it is definitely easy to forget all our troubles out here.

"So, what the game plan for today?"

Jax chuckles, "Your talking about your birthday like you are about to head into battle."

"Yeah, I guess I am," I let out a short laugh.

"Well today, we are going to go see something really cool, then we have an invite to a small party. At the end of the day we are going to go back to the pack house for a get together to celebrate you being 20 and maybe find you Lamara," Jax wiggled his eyebrows at me.

I roll my eyes and smile. Sounds like a fun day, a really good day. A...too good to be true day... I glare suspiciously at Jax. Jax's eyes go wide and he holds his hands up in surrender.

"What? What did I do? Does that not sound like a fun birthday to you?" Jax says in a disappointed tone.

"No, no. It sounds amazing, a little too awesome. There has to be a catch. What are you not telling me?" I question.

"Hey! I am not holding anything back. Just trust me, you will have a blast. Now let's go, we don't want to me late to the first surprise."

I huff and follow him as he grabs ahold of my hand and drags me off the rock and through the forest. After a few minutes of running, I see that we have arrived nowhere in particular. All I can see is more woods for as far as the eye can see.

"What are we doing here?" I wonder aloud.

"Well...I thought you would like a place of your own to go to and be...you."

I give his a questioning look as if asking what the hell he means by that. He then gives me a push and I tumble forward. It feels weird. Almost as if I entered a pack territory line. I turn back around to face Jax and see that he seems to be looking everywhere but at me.

I go to ask him what's going on but he beats me to it, "I can't see or hear you right now. This is a protected part of the forest I got an old witch friend of mine to make this spot for you. Only you can let people in here otherwise they will only see forest for miles. If you would like to do me the honours of letting me in all you have to do is say my full name and give me permission to enter."

I nod and then smack myself in the forehead for being so stupid. He can't see me. "Ajax Fira, I give you permission to enter my secret, magical, antisocial abode," I chuckle at my silliness.

Jax looks at me and I can tell he is holding back a laugh. He steps across the boarder of my little safe area of the woods and his laugher finally escapes.

"You secret, magical, antisocial abode?" Jax bursts out laughing harder.

I roll my eyes at my goofy friend and think of what I will do first in my new found safe area.

"How about you stretch out those wings and try to fly?" Jax suggests.

A silly grin grows wide on my lips as I let my wings free. I can feel my eyes glow a bright orange before returning to their normal forest green. I give my wing a few strong flaps before I attempt to leave the ground and success...for about two inches before I fall back to my feet. Feeling slightly embarrassed I look to Jax, expecting him to be holding back a laugh but instead I see him staring at me intently. Curiosity and wonder swirls in his chocolate brown eyes.

"What?" I ask him, confused.

"It's just so amazing. You are so amazing."

"Jax, you know I don't like you like that," I joke.

He rolls his eyes, "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that this is amazing! I haven't really met any other supernaturals other than werewolves, witches, and vampires."

"Vampires? I haven't had a run in with them," I state. I know it's dumb but I didn't really think they were real.

"Oh they are very real alright. I met a hybrid that used to be part of the most feared coven in the world, the Sundusk Coven. They all have some sort of powers and they are almost impossible to kill."

"Really? How did you have such a peaceful run in with this guy then?" I wonder.

"He left the coven once he got the chance. He was taken as a child and was forced to stay there."

"How did he escape?" I question.

"A girl," Jax let's out a small chuckle, "She was one amazing werewolf, I will tell you that."

"Was?"

"Yes, she died in order to save a pack from the Sundusk Coven. She managed to kill every single last member of the Sundusk Coven. Minus Zane of course."

"Wow, she sounds amazing."

"She really does," Jax goes silent with a smile playing at his lips. He then claps loudly and tries to think of what to do next. "Oooo, I got an idea! Let's try out your pyrokinesis!"

I nod and close my eyes. This should be pretty easy, I have been using my fire power a lot longer than my wings. I cup my hands together, feeling the heat rise as a small fireball is created. Opening my eyes, I let my hands expand and with it, so does the fireball. I look to Jax with a mischievous look in my eye when the fireball was the size of a basketball. I can see the fear run through his body as I prepare to launch the ball of fire right at him. He dodged away from my attack and it hits the tree instead.

"What the hell Ash!?" Jax yells at me.

"Calm your tits, I made sure you had enough time to move."

Jax huffs, "It seems like you have enough experience in the whole fire thing. How about weapon conjuring?"

I shrug my shoulders and prepare myself. Jax shouts out long sword and picture it in my mind and soon feel the cool metal on my hands. I open my eyes and see a beautiful long sword in my hands. It looks like it had an orange hue to it, just like my wings.

"Wow, that's amazing," Jax breathes out, "Your own personal collection of weapons seem to be specifically for you. That's so interesting."

I let the sword disappear. Jax continues to bark out other weapons. I start wheezing. Bark out. I'm so clever.

"What are you laughing so hard at?" Jax scrunches his face up on confusion.

"Oh nothing Jaxy. What's next?" I ask.

He looks at his watch, "Oh, we better get going. We have to get to the party and at this rate we will be late."

I nod, "Where is this party?"

"Ah, ah, ah," he wiggles his finger at me, "I am not telling. It's supposed to be a surprise. I will tell you that it will be fun and there will be lots of food."

Aaaaaand that wins me over. Food is my weakness and Jax knows that. I retract my wings and we leave the secret area to head to the next destination. We are walking for a good two hours before I start to have an odd feeling. Like I was meant to be here, to get some answers. I look over to Jax with a questioning look. Jax just smirks and stop outside of the boarder of a pack. A boarder patrol wolf steps out from behind a tree.

"State your business rogue," the man demands.

"I am Ajax Fira and this is Ash Wilson. We have been invited to Queen Amara's Royal Party," Jax states and I just stare at him with wide eyes. This is the Royal pack?

The man's eyes glaze over as he mindlinks someone. A smile forms on his face as he looks back at us.

"Welcome Fire and Ash, it's good to meet you both. You are welcome to enter the territory. Walk North for about two miles and you will reach the castle."

Jax and I nod in appreciation as we cross over the territory lines and begin our walk. I have always wanted to see the Royal territory. We have never been invited before because they have some of the best warriors in the world. Soon we reach the front door to the castle and we walk inside. No one is there to greet us but we can hear the faint sound of soft music playing in the distance. We walk over towards the music as it grows louder. The guards open the grand doors for us that lead into the huge ballroom. As I look around i immediate see self conscious in my outfit. All of the girls are wearing big, grand dresses and the men are in tuxedos. Jax is wearing dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a black and white flannel. I glare at Jax for not preparing.

Jax shrugs his shoulders, "Oops."

"How didn't you know it was formal?!" I whisper shout at him.

"Sorry, I didn't read the instructions on the card."

"You didn't..." I take a deep calming breath.

Jax and I walk into the room and it goes silent as everyone turns to look at the rogue and human in the room. I can see some of the males in the room moving their mates behind them in case of an attack. Unsure of what to do, I just stand there still, making sure Jax doesn't do something stupid.

"Everyone calm down," I hear an angelic voice say from the balcony, "This is Fire and Ash. I invited them here for the party. Please go back to enjoying it."

Everyone returns to what they were doing, some still a bit on edge though. The girl from the balcony moves towards us with a guy beside her. Both of them have crowns on. I bow my head and I notice Jax isn't paying attention so I elbow him in the flank.

"Hey! What was that for?" Jax whines. He notices my bowed head and then looks to see the King and Queen in front of us. He then bows his head as well.

"Hello Ash and Fire, it is so good to finally meet you two. Thank you for helping out the packs with their training," Queen Amara greets.

"The pleasure is ours and please call me Jax," Jax insists.

"Of course. This is my mate King Asher but everyone calls him Ash," Queen Amara introduces.

King Ash holds out a hand and Jax shakes it. He holds out a hand to be and I take it.

"What's your name?" He asks me.

"My name is also Ash actually."

"Really? What a coincidence," he remarks and I nod in agreement.

"Please mingle and enjoy the party. The food will be served shortly," Queen Amara smiles before excusing herself and King Ash.

Jax and I walk through the crowd. Some heads turn our way before we recognize some Alphas and Lunas that we have helped out in the past. We have some short conversations until the food is finally served and I head straight to the table getting some oderves and other finger foods. I move into a corner while I eat. I have lost track of Jax in the crowd, hopefully he is having fun. I smile to myself as I eat. I take the last bite when I hear someone say my name.

"Ash?" A woman's voice calls out.

I look over to the direction of the voice and notice that it is Noctis, Braden's mom. I smile awkwardly at her. I haven't seen her since I found out they were wolves and I kinda went nuts.

"Hi Noctis."

"Ash dear, I am surprised to see you here. I didn't realize you were the Ash from Fire and Ash. You seem to be doing good."

"I am. I'm sorry about how I left things over a year ago. I was just really overwhelmed and freaked out."

"I understand. It's good to know that you are alright. I'm guessing you have see Braden and Cal at the White Stone Pack."

"Yes they are there. How much longer will they be there for? Do you know?" I try to ask nonchalantly.

"I think they will be there for a couple more days. Braden just called to ask for an extension on his stay. Something about the Saviour possibly being close-by."

I nod and try to keep my face expressionless, "I haven't noticed anything," I shrug my shoulders.

"Let's hope for the pack's sake that they are there because those rogues won't take no for an answer."

I sigh, I almost forgot about the rogues wanting them to hand me over.

"Are you okay Dear?" Noctis wonders.

"I am fine, I just need to find Jax, we are supposed to head over to the pack soon."

She nods and then points a finger beside me. I see Jax laughing with King Ash, a guy around Jax's age and an older guy across the room. I thank Noctis and walk over to them.

"Oh hey Ash, what's up?" Jax greets.

"Not much," I reply.

"This is the previous Alpha King Riggs Lockheart and this is Zane. The guy I was talking to you about. He knew Braelynn, the girl who died saving this pack."

"Wait, she saved the Royal pack?" I ask. Why would the Royal pack need saving?

"Yes she did. It was amazing. She is greatly missed," Riggs states and I see the three men's expressions sadden.

"Sorry to bring your moods down. I didn't mean to upset any of you," I apologize.

"No, no. It's good to talk about her every so often, it keeps her spirit alive," Zane smiles sadly.

I nod and turn to Jax, "What time do we need to leave at?"

Jax looks at his watch, "Soon, we don't want to be late for this one. Hopefully you will find your...um..." Jax cuts himself off due to the other presences in the room

The three guys turn to Jax with confused expressions. Jax smiles guiltily and looks to me for help. I just raise an eyebrow telling him to fix this.

"What we're you saying Jax?" King Ash questions.

"Oh um...nothing. I just meant that she will hopefully find her...present at the pack house."

"Oh, it's your birthday?" Zane asks and I nod, "Happy Birthday, how old are you turning?"

"Twenty." I reply.

I can see the gears turning in Zane's mind before his eyes widen in realization. His mouth opens to say something I know I don't want anyone else to hear. So I do the only thing I can think of. I clamp my hand over his mouth, having to stand in my tippy toes to do so because of his height.

The other two guys stare at me bewildered. Confused on why I did this. I have my mouth open, trying to think of what to say. Instead I slowly let my hand off Zane's mouth and take a step back, grabbing Jax's arm before dragging him out of the ballroom.