His Redemption (Complete His Series)

MADDOX

The Sire must have been sure that he wouldn’t need help because I didn’t come across any resistance on the way to the car. I was prepared to deal with them, but given the shape that Langston was in, I was glad I didn’t have to put him down to fight anyone. He was dripping b***d from several wounds that weren’t healing as they should, and his back wasn’t mending. I’d heard of this happening before. I was pretty sure that he’d been hurt so badly, his body couldn’t keep up, and it was shutting down. So, at the brink of death, Langston wasn’t healing like a wolf.

As I reached our vehicle, my mind was spinning. Where could I take him that could actually help given his condition and what we are? Doctor Ron. I shifted Langston’s weight so I could reach down to grab my phone, and that’s when I realized. I didn’t have a pocket; my phone had been discarded in the woods where I shifted. It would be hours to get to Doctor Ron, but I didn’t remember any of the packs along the way having a genuinely competent doctor.

I didn’t have a choice. The best middle ground I could think of was to get him to Luna’s inn and stabilize him there in order to call our pack doctor. Looking down, I could tell Langston was going into shock. He was shivering in my arms, and he was still struggling to breathe. I could see a blue tinge starting to form in his lips, and that spurred me to go faster. He was going to die if I was indecisive.

I ripped the car door open, almost tearing it from the hinges before I realized I needed to calm down. Langston m****d at me, shifting his weight again, and as gently as I could, I slid him into the back seat. I tried to keep his spine as straight as possible, but with his height, it was difficult. He was too big to lay flat across, though, and there was only so much I could do. I bent his legs at the knees and grabbed towels from the trunk to roll at his sides to keep him as straight as possible. I’m not a doctor; it was the best I could do. His breathing was still labored, but he looked to be in less pain. Grabbing a blanket from our things, I threw it over him to try to keep him warm to stave off the effects of shock and the b***d loss causing it.

Without getting anything else, I threw myself in the front seat and peeled out towards home. I had an entire day’s journey ahead of me, and I planned to drive through the night. I didn’t know if I should let Langston sleep or not; I was scared that if I let him close his eyes, he’d never open them again. Still, with the severity of his injuries, I just had to hope that his wolf could at least keep him alive, even if he couldn’t be healed all the way.

–

Hours had gone by, and I strained my ears for the sounds of Langston’s breath. I’d resigned myself to letting him slip into unconsciousness because there was no way I was going to be able to yell and keep him awake with how long the journey back was.

I’d stopped for gas earlier, and that’s when I realized that in my adrenaline dump after the fight, I’d entirely forgotten that I’d shifted back and forth. I’d been driving with no clothes on. The human getting gas next to me looked up as I opened the door and got out of the driver’s seat, and his eyes got wide as dinner plates as he quickly turned and ripped the nozzle off out of his car before almost throwing it back at the pump to jump back in his car and tear out of the gas station.

I looked down and realized I was not only nude but covered from head to toe in b***d. It must have looked like something from a horror movie. I shrugged and opened the trunk to rummage around for clothes from my bag and pulled them on quickly while the gas was pumping, looking around to see if anyone else had caught what happened. Luckily, it was the middle of the night, and no one else was around. I grabbed a shirt out of my bag and drenched it with a water bottle to wipe the b***d from my face and arms so the cashier wouldn’t call the police when I walked in. Luckily, we had emergency cash, so I grabbed some and threw it on the counter before heading back to the car. Looking through the back window before climbing in the car, I didn’t know if Langston was going to make it through this.

AXEL

My stomach was growling, and I could smell food from the kitchen. Lemon was starting to chew on the end of her pen and sway in place as she worked on something the way she always does when she’s getting hungry, but she’s too focused elsewhere to notice. I smiled; the smallest things about this woman were my favorite to watch, the things no one else will ever get to enjoy witnessing. Lunch had started a while ago, and I wondered if I would have to distract her from work to get her to eat with me. I stood up to do just that, breathing in her scent and the comfort of her presence when I heard it. The sound of a car horn incessantly honking over and over.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEEP. BEEEEEP. BEEEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP

It was faint at first, but it kept repeating as it got louder. It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I felt stupid for not realizing it; it was an SOS call. I looked at Lemon, who was already moving towards the door but stopped, looking back at me with a puzzled expression.

“Stay here,” I pleaded, gently pushing her to the side and peeking out the window next to the door.

A black vehicle of some sort was barreling down the road towards the inn, blaring its horn as it came. I tore the door open, worried that this might be a ploy to attack the inn with us thinking that it was someone in distress. As I neared the edge of the porch, I contemplated the consequences of shifting with humans inside in broad daylight. Even if Liam understood, it would cause problems. If it were vampires, though, I’d have no choice. I wouldn’t let them hurt Lemon.

To my surprise, the car came to a hard stop on the lawn of the inn, ending in a continuous tone from the car horn.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

I ran over to the car; whether it was a ruse or not, it looked like someone needed help. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw when I got to the driver’s side; it was Maddox. He’d collapsed over the steering wheel, and he looked a mess. He was covered in b***d, dirt, and grime with mostly clean clothes pulled on over it, and it looked like he’d hastily wiped his face with something. It hadn’t done much to remove the b***d he was covered in. The smell was awful, vampire. Lemon had reached my side and looked down in horror as she realized who it was.

“Maddox!” she cried, leaning down to try to see if he was still breathing. “I need Missy. She needs to get here! We need a doctor!”

She was starting to become hysterical, and it wasn’t like her. She was usually calm and collected running things here, but this was violent, and it was her friend’s mate. Before I tried calming her, I noticed what was in the back seat. I couldn’t let her see that just yet.

Grabbing Lemon by the shoulders, I stood her up and dropped to her eye level to talk to her, “Lemon, I know you’re scared right now, but I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”

She nodded, tears forming in her eyes as she tried to calm down.

“Good,” I said, breathing a small sigh of relief. “I know you want to tell Missy, but I need you not to do that right now. First, I need you to call Azalea. Tell her to get Liam and tell her Maddox and the Alpha with him are hurt.”

Her eyes darted around me, trying to get a look at what she’d missed.

“No,” I told her. “Eyes on me. Tell them to bring Doctor Ron and any serious medical supplies he possesses. Have them bring Missy with them. Last, I need you to bring me as much clean linen as you can, along with every ounce of medical supplies or kits you have. Can you do that?”

She nodded vigorously, wiping the corners of her eyes and replacing her look of terror with one of determination to get the job done. There’s my girl.

“Bring it where?” she asked.

“Azalea’s apartment. I’m going to try to patch them up the best I can away from the human guests until Doctor Ron gets here. Tell them to hurry. I don’t know if the Alpha is okay.”

With that, I pulled Maddox from the driver’s seat, walked him over to the passenger seat, and placed him there gently. As I leaned into the door with him in my arms, I realized that he was snoring lightly. Thank the Goddess; he’d just passed out. As I stood, I saw Lemon disappearing through the door of the inn, her phone already to her ear and talking animatedly. Goddess, couldn’t you just give us the bond?

I jumped into the driver’s seat and carefully pulled off of the lawn, trying to be as quiet as possible after the explosion of noise Maddox had caused on his way in. I quickly drove around to Luna’s apartment and forced the door open.

MADDOX

I’d woken up in a chair and forgotten where I was for a moment. I broke it on accident when I immediately jumped up, thinking I’d been captured. Axel grabbed me and assured me I was fine, that I was safe at the inn. I’d done my job and gotten Langston here. Doctor Ron was on the way. Langston was much cleaner now, as was I. He’d been laid on the bed, and it looked like Axel had done a makeshift job of stabilizing his spine with blankets rolled at his sides and head, similar to what I’d done with towels. Langston still wasn’t awake, but the color in his face looked a little better.

There was nothing more I could do to help Langston now. Axel suggested I give him and Lemon some space until help arrived.

Tom was a tornado in my mind. We were so close to our mate, but I needed to make sure Langston would be okay. I couldn’t just leave after what we had gone through. I knew Alpha would come with the pack doctor, but I wasn’t sure if Missy would be with them.

I paced outside the little cottage behind the inn, willing them to get here so I could get to my mate. If they came by car, it would be around an hour. If they came in wolf form, it could be less. Every molecule in my body wanted to shift and take off to the pack. We made it out of there alive, I had just slaughtered a Sire, and now I needed my girl.

“Maddox!” I heard her voice in my head. I stopped, alert now. “Maddox!” she chanted again.

“Missy?” I said back. She was close; I knew it.

There was movement along the treeline on the far side of the property. I held my breath waiting. Was that her? I had no idea how long it had been since they called the pack for help. My body gave up as soon as I stopped the car in front of the inn. The movement increased until the trees parted way. First, one wolf jumped out, bounding impossibly fast towards me. Two more were right on its tail.

I would recognize that pale silver coat anywhere. Missy was making a straight line for me. A smile stretched across my face as Tom howled happily in my head. She lept through the air, shifting as she did. I ran forward with my arms open, catching her before she could hit the ground. She wrapped around me like a vice, legs around my waist and arms around my neck. I closed my arms around her, squeezing her so tightly there was no space between our bodies.

“Maddox!” she sobbed.

“I’m back,” I told her. “Don’t cry. I’m here.”

“Maddox!” she continued to sob into my neck. She was a storm of emotions, the predominant one being relief.

I paid no mind to the movement around us; I just held her close. All that mattered was being back with her. I accomplished what I was sent to do and got back to Missy as I promised.

“I thought you were hurt! I could feel something was wrong!” Missy was almost inconsolable in my arms.

“I’m sorry. We ran into a little snag. But I am here. I’m okay. You don’t need to cry,” I told her. I basked in her strawberry scent; I ached for it all this time.

Someone cleared their throat behind us. Missy kept her head firmly buried in my neck. I turned, clutching her to me. Lemon was standing there with a blanket in her arms.

She reached forward and draped it over Missy with a wink before she turned and headed toward the inn. I let out a small laugh. “Is it safe to guess that you didn’t take a moment to grab your clothes?” I asked her. She squirmed over me.

“No,” she said into my skin. I turned and kissed the side of her head with a smile.

“Maybe we should find you something,” I suggested. “Is there anything here?”

“Can we just go home?” she asked, finally pulling herself away enough to look me in the eyes. Her cheeks glistened from her tears, but her eyes were clear and happy.

“Whatever you want. I won’t be leaving your side for a very long time,” I assured her. “Should we say something to your dad?”

She let out a little laugh. “I don’t care much about him right now,” she said with an adorable smile.

I couldn’t wait any longer. I crashed my lips to hers, basking in the sparks of our bond. Tom was over the moon. Missy kissed me back with just as much enthusiasm. My legs moved, taking us to the trees and back home.