His Redemption (Complete His Series)

Azalea

Liam and I were on our way back to the packhouse. We had spent the rest of our night eating and relaxing. He watched TV while I read a book with my head in his lap. He was the perfect gentleman and did not tease me anymore. I did get a lot of sweet k****s throughout the night. It also did not go unnoticed that he always had a hand on me in some way, holding my hand, holding my waist, rubbing me. All our time together was clearly erasing all the stress and anxiety he felt after I left him at the lake house and got kidnapped.

Now we sat in his SUV on the long drive back to the pack. Our hands were interlaced, and he was absentmindedly running his thumb over my knuckles. We had been riding in comfortable silence for a little while, listening to the radio play some pop songs.

“Liam,” I started. I was a little hesitant about bursting our bubble after such a wonderful day and night.

“Yea?” he said.

“I have a question…”

“Anything,” he said, peaking at me.

I took a deep breath. “So, I think I should talk to Gavin,” I said.

He stilled immediately. He was quiet for a moment before saying, “Why, baby?”

I sighed. At least it was not an outright no. “Well, we know it wasn’t entirely his fault with what happened out at the Lake House. I think it is only fair to him that we clear the air. My wolf said the blame fell to her.” I paused. I was not sure how he was going to take the next part. “I also think that since I no longer have a wolf, he doesn’t really have his mate. So that sort of makes me his mate by default. And there is no way he can be strong when he is not connected to his mate.”

He was quiet for a minute, contemplating my words. He finally spoke, “My Little Luna, you are far smarter than I give you credit for.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Gavin has been out of sorts since I marked you. I never thought about him losing your wolf half. It did not seem to affect you much, so I have not thought much about it. But I guess Gavin would have felt your wolf come forward and then disappear and that has to be affecting him.” He paused for a moment. “I haven’t wanted to let him anywhere near you. I know you said you forgive me, but I wasn’t sure how you felt about him…”

“If I am being honest, I am not entirely unafraid. There is still a part of me afraid of what he could do given our last meeting. But I do trust what my wolf told me and want to try to forgive him.”

He brought my hand to his lips, kissing it sweetly. “If it will make you happy, then okay. I will make it happen,” he said with a small smile. I leaned over to rest my head on his shoulder.

“Thank you,” I said. Liam has quickly become the most understanding and thoughtful man I know. I was really proud to call him my mate.

–

When we arrived at the pack house, Lily was waiting outside for us. She seemed to be bouncing with a giddy look on her face. “What is that about?” I asked, giving Liam a look.

He chuckled. “Oh, that. Lily was helping me with a little surprise for you,” he said.

“What are you talking about?” I asked. He smiled as he put the car in park.

“Let’s go see!” he said, very excited. He hopped out of the car and ran around my side to open the door. He did not even wait and grabbed my waist to pick me up right out of the car. I could not help but giggle. He set me down and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the packhouse and a waiting Lily.

“What is going on, you two?” I asked as we reached the front door.

“Yay, you guys are finally back!” she said jumping up and down. Damien emerged from the front door as she spoke.

“Oh, thank god. She is annoying the c**p out of me,” he said in a bored tone. She turned around and smacked his arm. He rolled his eyes.

“Can I please take my mate inside guys?” Liam said impatiently. Lily and Damien let us pass. He held her back as we walked into the house, whispering something in her ear. I looked back at her sad face as Damien held her around her waist. Liam pulled me along to the stairs. “This will be faster if I do this,” he said.

Taking me by surprise, he scooped me up bridal style in his arms. I quickly grabbed onto his neck. He had a huge smile on his face. He walked quickly up the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom. I gave him a quizzical look.

“Lily helped me with this; I hope you like it,” he said opening the door. He carried me into the room, and I looked around. It looked completely different. The bed now had navy blue sheets and comforter with grey pillows adorned with purple and white flowers. There were night stands on either side. One had a small stack of books. There was a small chest at the end of the bed that looked a lot like my own in my apartment. The only difference was its color matched the other furniture in the room. In the corner were some floating bookshelves housing tons of titles. There was a long, chest dresser, bigger than the one that used to be here. It matched the nightstands stained in a medium grey wood. Across the room was still a sitting area. The couch had been updated to a navy piece that had a chaise on it. Much more comfortable for a couple to cuddle together on. The accent pillows on the couch were white with purple flowers to compliment the ones on the bed. The TV had been moved so it was less convenient to watch it from the bed but more from the couch area.

Liam let me slowly slide down to my feet as I looked around, taking in the room. I walked over to the floating shelves and read some of the book titles. These looked a lot like the books on my own shelf back at the Inn.

“Are these…” I started, turning to look at him. He nodded with a huge smile on his face.

“We had some of your things picked up from your apartment. The closet has some of your stuff in it as well. The bathroom, too,” he explained excitedly. “I wanted you to feel like this wasn’t just my place but our home.” He came closer to me. I wrapped my arms around his waist. One of his hands cupped my face while the other rested on my waist. “What do you think?”

“Liam, I love it. It is beautiful. You didn’t have to do all this,” I said, my eyes tearing up a bit.

“Of course, I did. You are making so many sacrifices for me, the least I can do is make this your home too.”

I lifted up on my tiptoes to k**s him. He kissed me back with enthusiasm. It was so adorable that he was nervous about all this. We broke away and I gave him a big smile. “So, you let Lily ransack my apartment?”

He chuckled. “Just a little. But she got some of the important stuff. She even brought all your quilts,” he said pointing to the chest at the end of the bed. That made me smile. “Although, if you’re cold, I hope you just let me warm you up.” he said.

“I would like that very much,” I said. I kissed him again, trying to pour all my appreciation into it. After a moment, he deepened the k**s. He reached down, grabbing me by my thighs and hoisted me up to him. I grabbed his face in my hands and kissed him harder.

There was a knock at the door, interrupting our fun. Lily walked in about two seconds later, not even waiting for the okay. “Glad I got here when I did,” she said. “Another 30 seconds and this would have been awkward.” She had a knowing smile on her lips. “So! What do you think?” she asked excitedly.

Liam let me slide down his body. I walked over to Lily and pulled her into a big hug. “Thank you,” I whispered in her ear. “I love it so much.” She hugged me back, squeezing the air out of me.

“Okay, now. Don’t strangle my mate,” Liam said. We broke apart with a laugh.

“So, does this mean we can announce you to the pack and start planning your Luna ceremony?” she asked hopefully. I looked between her and Liam. She had an eager look in her eyes while Liam’s expression was a little apprehensive.

I smiled and nodded. “Sure,” I said. “We have to do it sometime. Better sooner I suppose.”

Liam

I think my heart just stopped. I do not think I heard that correctly. Azalea is ready for me to announce her as my mate and Luna to the pack? I stood there stunned as Lily squealed and crushed her into a hug once more. Azalea turned to me with her large, doe eyes. I broke out of my stoic state and scooped her up, burying my nose in her neck and spinning her around. I was absolutely elated.

“You really mean it? You want to be announced to the pack, baby?” I said, with a little disbelief. She nodded timidly at me and I spun her once again.

“I’ll leave you two be,” I heard Lily say. I was focused on the beautiful woman in my arms. I smashed my lips to hers. Her mouth opened a little, letting me slip my tongue and taste every crevice of her mouth. I did not pull away until we were both desperate for air. Her lips were swollen as she gasped for air.

“When?” I asked.

“Um, I don’t know. What do you think?”

“Mmmm… How about tomorrow?”

Her eyes got worried for a second. “Okay,” she said softly.

I buried my nose in her neck, inhaling her scent. “Thank you so much, baby,” I said.

–

Azalea and I had gone to my Office not long after she agreed to be announced as my mate. I still had work to do as Alpha. Azalea hung out on the couch with a book while I poured over paperwork at my desk. We had lunch together in my office but not even halfway through, Lily came in to drag Azalea away. She also took my credit card, telling me she needed the perfect dress for tomorrow.

Azalea begrudgingly agreed to go with Lily. I could tell she and Lily would always be close. I decided to take our time apart to talk to Gavin.

“Azalea wants to talk to you. She made a compelling argument,” I said to him.

“And what was that?” I knew he had been pretty checked out since she woke up.

“Her wolf is gone. So, she feels that you and her need to connect as she is the only mate you have now,” I explained.

“I thought I would feel her wolf once she was marked…”

“I know. I am sorry and I suspect she feels bad too. She is willing to forgive you.”

“Are you?”

I paused for a moment. “If she is willing to forgive you and try to move past it, then I will as well. I will do whatever is necessary to make her happy.”

“You will let me speak to mate alone?”

“Can you control yourself?”

“Yes.” He was resolute in his answer. I didn’t feel like I needed to worry about him, but I was still worried about how Azalea would be feeling.

“Okay. If she is comfortable with it, I will let you spend some time with her. She is right; when we aren’t working together, we are weaker.” I could feel his spirit lift. If Azalea accepted both of us, Gavin and I would be much stronger.

–

It was getting late. Lily had texted me earlier not to wait up for them for dinner. I was sitting in our bedroom on the couch, the TV providing some background noise while I scanned over patrol reports.

The door opened and Azalea came in holding a couple shopping bags. I set my file down and smiled at her. “Hey, sweetheart. How was shopping?”

She set the bags down by the dresser and came over to me. I set my files on the table so she could climb in my lap. “Long,” she said. “Lily made me try on about a thousand different things. She said everything had to be more than perfect.”

I laughed. “Yea, that is Lily. But it comes from a good place. At least you didn’t have grumbly Beta all mad that his mate was gone all day.”

“Aww, poor Damien.” She said.

“He’ll be okay. Told me he is locking her in tonight so she can’t busy herself with anything,” I laughed again.

“How was your day?” she asked.

“Long,” I said, giving her a smile. She rolled her eyes. I pulled her close, burying my nose in her hair. Her soft ginger locks tickled my face. “I missed you,” I said, inhaling deeply.

“I missed you, too,” she said. “What’s wrong?”

I sighed. “You can’t even read my thoughts and you know. You are amazing.”

“Liam, what’s wrong?” she asked again.

I inhaled deeply again, letting her scent wrap around me, calming me. “I talked to Gavin about what you asked.”

She was quiet for a moment. “He doesn’t want to talk to me, does he?”

“No, no. Nothing like that. He was just hesitant. And I cannot help but be nervous. I put you in danger before and if he ever hurt you again…”

Her head tilted up and she looked into my eyes. Her eyes were so clear and bright. “He won’t. I know he won’t,” she said gently. She rested her head back on my chest. “Whenever you two are ready. I can wait.”

“I am ready,” Gavin said. “Let me out.”