His Redemption (Complete His Series)

Gwen

“Damy, when are you going to get me out of here?” I whined. My brother had come to see me yet again. He always brought some board game or a deck of cards along so he could spend time with me like he felt obligated to do but we wouldn’t have to talk much.

“You know that isn’t up to me, Gwen,” he said in his gruff voice.

“But you and Liam are best friends! Just tell him I am fine, and I will stay away from her. This place is torture,” I said.

He glared at me over his cards. “That is the point of prison, Gwen. We aren’t going through this again. When the therapist and Azalea feel you are no longer a threat to her and the pack, you will be granted freedom,” he said with finality.

“But you and mom are the ones that visit me. You two know best that I am not a threat! I just want out of here so I can live my life again,” I tried to persuade him.

“Gwen, drop it. You are lucky enough to have received this mercy. You tried to kill her at my wedding no less. Now, play the game or I am leaving. I have things to do,” he grumbled. I knew I couldn’t push him much farther. Damien was too much of a rule follower and he took his job as Beta very seriously. Growing up, he was fiercely protective of our human mother and I assume he felt protective over weak little Azalea who was basically a human as well.

I threw down my cards and crossed my arms. “Fine. Go,” I said, my irritation getting the better of me. “You clearly have more important things to do than play stupid games with me.”

Damien set his cards down and rubbed his hands over his face. “Peaceful rogues and now this,” he mumbled under his breath. My ears perked at that little tidbit. Peaceful rogues? “You clearly aren’t in the best mood today. Maybe you should write in your journal or something. Whatever your therapist says. I will try to come back in the next couple days,” he said as he stood to leave. My brother, the emotionally connected meat head. I didn’t respond so he simply turned and went to the cell door for the guard to let him out.

Azalea

I stood outside the front doors with Lily and one of the rogue women, Emily. We were waiting for the kids to come from the bus stop. Lily had the idea to let all the kids go swimming this afternoon to let them meet and mingle with the rogue children. We had a pleasant day so far and the group had been very polite. I could tell they had gotten accustomed to caring for each other as the older ones were always looking at the younger ones.

After Liam and I had discussed the situation with the group and their former pack, I had snuck into my office to check on a few things with the Inn. I was supposed to be going there over the weekend and wanted to take Missy along to get her away from the pack house and Vlad for a couple days. Usually, Liam will come with us and the boys will join if Liam’s parents cannot watch them. I had planned to call Lyssa today but now I was nervous with the new people in the pack house to leave at all. Liam and I hadn’t had a minute to talk since this morning; he even missed lunch today.

“So, when are you due, Luna?” Emily asked politely. My hands had a habit of mindlessly rubbing my small bump.

“Oh, uh not for a while still. I am only about 2 months along,” I said. Werewolf pregnancies were only 28 weeks gestation instead of the 40 weeks a human experiences. She-wolves were able to keep up with the rapid growth of the pup with our healing abilities, but I wasn’t as fortunate causing plenty of issues. My pregnancy with both boys had been about 30 weeks; Doctor Charles wanting to let them stay in as long as my body would allow it.

“You have two boys, correct? Are you hoping for a girl?” she asked.

I laughed. “I am just hoping for a healthy pup. But my mate very much would like a girl,” I replied.

“And if he is anything like his bear of a best friend, she will wrap him around her little finger and never let go,” Lily said rolling her eyes. We all laughed at this.

“Men can be very protective over their little girls,” Emily said. “Especially when they are the first-born pup. I saw it all the time.”

“You worked in your pack childcare, correct?” I asked.

“Yes, ma’am. Because our pack was so small, our school age children went to school over in the adjacent human town. But our little ones could spend time in our little daycare building so their parents could work during the day,” she explained.

“The closest human town actually holds some of our pack’s population,” I told her. “There are a few children that attend the school there as well. We are working closely with them to make sure they hide their wolf abilities from their classmates.”

“Oh yes, that was always something we watched carefully! One of our pack members was a teacher at the high school so he could keep an eye on our pups,” she said. Our conversation was interrupted by shouts from the children running towards us.

“It’s not a competition!” Lily yelled at the group, but they ignored her. Junior and Delilah were fiercely competitive, drawing in their younger siblings often. But they were the best of friends. When they all finally reached the steps of the packhouse, they fought over who had won and who had cheated. “It’s a tie! Now, we have guests and we thought you might like to take them swimming,” Lily said, trying to redirect their attention.

“Really mom?” Junior cheered.

“Yes, sweetheart. Why don’t we all go get in the pool and get to know our new friends?” I said with a smile. The kids jumped up and down excitedly. “Go get your bathing suits and meet us in the back. I already made you all some snacks,” I instructed. They all took off quickly up to their rooms. Emily laughed.

“You both have wonderful families,” she commented.

“Thank you,” I said. “Why don’t we go out back and wait for everyone? I am sure Austin found enough to accommodate your group.” I led Lily and Emily through the packhouse, and we sat outside in chairs next to the pool to wait for all the kids. To my surprise, the first person to emerge from the packhouse was my mother-in-law.

“Oh, Azalea, who is this?” she asked laying eyes on Emily.

“A guest. Good afternoon, Lyssa. How are you?” I asked. Liam had told his parents we were pregnant again a couple weeks ago and Lyssa had been overjoyed and stopping by constantly.

“I am great. How is my next grandpup doing?” she asked. I gave her a small smile.

“Coming along just fine, thank you. Your son has the latest ultrasound photo in his office if you would like to go see?’ I suggested hoping to distract.

“Oh, no. I will see it later. Robert wanted to speak with Liam. I wanted to see if you would be going to the Inn anytime soon? I would love to have the kids come stay with us,” she said.

“Oh, um,” I paused looking at Lily with wide eyes. She looked between Lyssa and Emily. “Well, Liam and I haven’t had a free minute to make any plans. Would it be alright if we called you later tonight? The kids will be down any minute to swim,” I tried pushing her off. I didn’t want to be rude to Emily or the others and tell them we weren’t sure about leaving the pack without its Alpha and Luna while we were still verifying the story they gave us. Although I hadn’t found any reason not to trust them, I still had a responsibility to my pack.

“Nonsense. It had been weeks since you two had any time alone! And your birthday just passed, nonetheless. I will get them after school tomorrow!” she said, ignoring me. She turned to Lily, “I am sure Declan and his mate would be happy to take Delilah and Lucas as well. You four can take the weekend. You girls let those boys work far too hard anyway.” Lily looked at me with ire in her eyes. She wasn’t very fond of my mother-in-law sometimes.

“Mother,” Liam’s voice carried across the back yard. We all turned to see Liam and his father coming towards us. Liam looked irritated as he usually did when his father found it necessary to come speak to him. “The kids can come over and visit whenever they like, and you know this. You do not need to try and run us out of our own pack house.”

I gave Liam a sympathetic look, not only for coming to my rescue but also for having to deal with Robert who I am sure was here about the rogues. His eyes connected with mine for a moment. “Come, Lyssa. We should leave them to their guests,” Robert said beckoning to his mate. A part of me always felt sad for them as Lyssa was not Robert’s fated mate. Their relationship clearly lacked for both of them, and Robert never understood Liam’s affection or devotion for me.

“Right. I’ll be ready for the kids tomorrow. Bring them by or I can come pick them up,” she said as she turned to join her mate. They both turned and went back into the packhouse, the atmosphere calming immediately. Liam approached my chair, stopping behind it. Before anyone could even begin to speak again, our children came barreling out of the packhouse, speeding towards the pool. Delilah got there first, jumping high in the air and landing hard in the water, splashing us all.