CHAPTER 4

The next morning, the Jennings household was a hive of activity. Elle had woken up at seven o'clock to make breakfast and had also woken Max and Jaxon up not long after. Max was the first up, running downstairs to pull his shoes on, the young boy had shouted to Jaxon before exiting the house quickly.

The Alpha and Beta houses were in the centre of the pack, so nobody worried about Max running home since it was quite literally next door. Robert was next to appear, tucking his shirt in as he entered the kitchen. He greeted his mate with a kiss on the cheek, thanking her for the food before sitting at the table to tuck into his breakfast.

By half-past seven, Jaxon had still not appeared for his breakfast. Elle debated calling up the stairs to her son but she didn't want to disturb Ivy, so she rose from the table and headed for the stairs.

Elle soon realised that it was going to be a battle to get her son to go to school. Jaxon was refusing to leave Ivy alone whilst he went out. He was shocked when his mum barrelled in through the door that morning to wake him and Max, he thought she would have known he wasn't going anywhere.

'Jax, you need to go to school, you can't just stay here,' Elle insisted but she could see, clearly, her words were not making a difference.

Jaxon was still laying in bed, Max had flown out the door as soon as Elle appeared but Jax hadn't moved. Ivy was still lay beside him, much like last night. She'd shifted closer during the night, her face pressed into the side of her son's neck and Jaxon still held one of her hands between them.

'I won't leave her, she was scared yesterday. She needs me,' he said, holding his ground. Jaxon shifted his legs closer to Ivy, their feet touching slightly. A small smile gracing his lips as he looked down at her sock covered feet. She had said last night that her feet were cold, so he had grabbed his favourite pair of socks, soft blue socks with black stripes.

Jaxon looked up as his dad joined his mum in the doorway, the arm around Ivy instantly pulling her closer to him. He didn't know why but he knew that his dad scared Ivy and he would protect her at all costs. Something inside of him told him it was his job, his duty, to look after her and he would.

'Why aren't you leaving for school already Jaxon?' His dad asked, pulling his own jacket on as he prepared to head off to do pack work.

'I'm not leaving her,' Jaxon repeated, he just wished they'd understand.

'You can't stay here all day Jaxon, you'll be apart sometimes,' Robert said to his son, firmly.

'No, we won't, I won't leave her. Either she comes with me or I'm staying here.'

Jaxon looked down as Ivy began to fidget beside him. Her eyes blinked open quickly before opening fully to look up at him.

'Jack?' She whispered, holding tightly to his hand when she noticed the people in the doorway.

'Yeah? You hungry, I was waiting for you so we could have breakfast together?' Jaxon responded quietly, a big grin taking over his face.

Elle sighed, she could see quite clearly that her son's attention had been captured once again by his little mate. Wolves are supposed to find their mates at sixteen when they had had their first shift. At sixteen, the young wolf would have learnt all about mates and how important the bond was but Elle could see that Jaxon finding his mate, though young, the bond was still there.

An innocent kind of bond, one filled with the need to protect, the need for closeness.

Jaxon untangled himself from his sheets, pushing himself out of bed and holding his hands out to grasp Ivy's. Elle watched her son closely, he held both of Ivy's hands as she got down off the bed, before letting one go but continuing to hold her left one in his own. He turned towards the door as led Ivy passed his parents, down towards the kitchen.

Elle looked at her mate, stunned. Robert just shook his head, smiling to himself. Jaxon was already smitten with the young girl and had once again been so focused on her that he had completely ignored his parents.

-

Jaxon helped himself to the breakfast items on the side, piling food onto a plate for himself and Ivy to share. He placed the plate down on the table, before pouring some of the orange juice out into glasses. He liked that he could do this for her, that he could bring her food and drinks, that he could look after her.

He especially liked how Ivy began to separate all the food on the plate, pushing half of everything to one side so they both had the same, except for the scrambled eggs, all of that was on Jaxon's side of the plate.

By the time Robert left and Elle returned to the kitchen, the plate of breakfast had been finished off between the two of them.

'I've spoken to Dr Henry and he will be here to do your check-up in a few minutes.' Elle informed Ivy softly before turning to address her son. 'I've also spoken with Mrs Allen, she has agreed that you can stay here until Ivy has had her check-up, then you both can go to the hall.'

Jaxon grinned across at his mum, she did understand, he thought to himself. He would get to stay with Ivy, then she would come with him to the hall. He couldn't wait to introduce her to all his friends.

'What check-up?' Ivy asked quietly, shocking Elle slightly who had only ever heard her address her son.

'He's just gonna make sure you're properly okay then we can go, I have school but you can come to. You probably won't understand everything since you aren't in my year but I'll help you, promise.' Jaxon rambled before his mum could answer.

Ivy gave Jaxon a small smile just before the front door opened.

'Hello, good morning,' Dr Henry greeted as he appeared by the kitchen door. 'How are we all?'

'Everything is fine thanks, Dr Henry, if you could hurry and tell Ivy she's okay, she's coming with me to school today. I'm gonna help her, I am.' Jaxon said excitedly, jumping down from his seat at the table.

'That's great Jaxon, I'll just do some tests then you're free to take her wherever.' Dr Henry smiled down at him gently.

He ran the basic tests, blood pressure, heart sounds, temperature. As soon as Ivy got the all-clear, Jaxon took her with him upstairs so they could change for the day.

'Mum said there are clothes for you in the cupboard, I'm gonna go change but I'll be back in a minute.' Jaxon said as he led Ivy to her room, before rushing off towards his own. He put on his favourite pair of jeans, and his favourite shirt, after all, he wanted to look his best when he introduced Ivy to everyone.

He ran back to Ivy's room, just as she peeled her head through the door. 'You look very pretty,' Jaxon said, nodding along with his own words.

'Thank you,' Ivy whispered, a small smile peeking through before she looked down.

'Okay, let's go then. It's not boring like most schools it's actually really fun. Mrs Allen is great too, you'll like her.' Jaxon grinned excitedly, grasping onto Ivy's hand as he made his way back through the house.

-

Elle walked them both to the hall, explained to Mrs Allen that Ivy was to stay with Jax. Not that she thought anyone would be able to separate them, she knew Jaxon would throw a right tantrum if somebody even thought about it.

Even now as she looked over, she could see her son talking to Johnson behind the refreshment table. He took a plastic cup from Johnson and handed it to Ivy, then lead her over to where Max and his other friends were, his hand still holding onto one of hers.

Elle knew it was going to be extremely difficult for anyone who tries to befriend Ivy, that much was clear. Jaxon wasn't letting anybody near her, moving himself to stand between her and the group of other young kids standing a couple of feet away from them. Ivy still had one hand in Jaxon's, the other holding the small plastic cup and as Elle looked around the room, she could see it was clear to all the adults that even now their future leading couple would not be separated.