His Retribution (Complete His Series) Chapter 40
Missy
An arm dropped over my shoulder as Sol and I walked into the packhouse for dinner. I followed it behind me to see Maddox smiling down at me. “Saw you guys watching training. You didn’t want to come join?” he joked. I ducked out from under his arm quickly.
“Yea. I am not the fighting type,” Sol said. I looked at her, and she was giving me a knowing smile.
“We’re werewolves. It is in our DNA, Sol. I bet you are pretty fast,” Maddox said.
“Yea, fast to fall on my face!” she said, exasperated. I laughed at her; she was pretty clumsy.
“You didn’t want to come test out your skills out on me?” Maddox turned to me.
“Uh, no. I’ll pass….” I said, diverting my gaze to the floor. We entered the dining room as Maddox continued.
“Well, then do you want to go for a run with me after dinner? I can’t do any extra training tonight, so I thought I would let my wolf out for a bit,” he asked.
“She’s busy,” V’s voice answered. My eyes snapped to him leaning against a table with his arms folded.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” I asked quickly. V’s gaze was still on Maddox right behind me.
“I wanted to take you out tonight, but you weren’t answering your phone,” he said as his eyes came back to me slowly.
“Oh, I left it upstairs, I think. Sorry, I told Sol I would hang out with her today,” I apologized. V reached forward and grabbed my hand, dragging me toward him.
“Let’s go. I have plans for us,” he said.
I bit my l*p and peaked at Sol. “I promised Sol we would have dinner tonight then watch movies,” I mumbled, giving him a weak excuse.
“She’ll survive,” he scowled.
“You can’t just walk in here and demand she leave with you. How about asking what she would like to do?” Maddox shot at Vlad. His eyes moved to Maddox in a rageful glare.
“I’m sorry, but I was talking to my girlfriend, not the rogue trash,” V gritted out.
My eyes went wide as I began to panic. I could tell Maddox was getting angry behind me while V looked like he was ready to rip out Maddox’s tongue. “Okay, let’s just go!” I said quickly. I turned to Sol. “Raincheck?” I asked quickly.
Her face was pitiful as she nodded. I grabbed V’s hand and pulled him with me from the dining room quickly, moving towards my room. “Just let me get ready really quick,” I said. V stopped, pulling me back to him before we started up the stairs. He wrapped his arms around me possessively, burying his face into my neck.
“I don’t like that guy,” he muttered. I stayed silent for a moment, just standing in his embrace. “He wants my mate, and I won’t have it.”
“V, you have to chill out. We are just friends. I have to get along with him as he lives here. And calling him rogue trash was mean,” I told him.
“I know. But I am not sorry. He needs to stay away from my girlfriend,” he said. I sighed.
“Let me go get ready so that we can go, okay?” He pulled away from me and gave me a soft k**s before letting me go. I dashed up the stairs, but he didn’t follow me. Goddess, don’t let him go pick a fight with Maddox.
Liam
“I was wondering when you would come to me,” my father said smugly as we sat down in his study.
“I need to get back to my mate, so let’s skip the pleasantries,” I droned. My father gave me a level look. “How long have you suspected it was a vampire?”
“Since I found out there was nothing in the surveillance. Those ticks have capabilities we are not aware of. Who is to say they can’t be invisible?” he answered.
“Well, we now believe it is one belonging to Clan Warwick,” I informed him. His expression grew hard.
“Impossible,” he stated.
“And why is that?”
“Because their Sire was killed during the war.”
“I have intelligence stating otherwise.” My father growled. I could see his anger building. “If there is nothing more you can tell me to help stop this threat….” I trailed off as I stood.
“If Warwick wasn’t eliminated during the war, then he is coming for revenge on our entire family. No one in the pack is safe.”
“Why now?” I asked. My father looked away contemplatively.
“I don’t know, but he has probably been planning this for a long time.” I nodded my head.
“Were rogues used on either side during the war?” I questioned. My father scrunched his eyebrows.
“No. As the conflict grew, rogues were scarce. The assumption was that the vampires either killed them or they moved elsewhere to avoid the conflict.”
“How do I kill him?”
“That’s not going to be easy.” My father’s voice was full of uncertainty at that answer. This man was never uncertain of anything. A cold chill ran down my spine; I nodded my head and turned to leave the room. Right now, I needed to have Azalea by my side and the kids in my sight.
–
I entered the dining room to find Azalea sitting at the table with Lily while Leo and Junior were talking with Maddox. “Where is Missy?” I linked my mate. Her eyes found me, a smile spreading across her face. She went to stand, so I rushed to her to stop her. Azalea rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat.
“She is out with Vlad,” she linked me back.
“We should have kept her grounded,” I grumbled.
“Good evening, sir,” Maddox greeted me. I turned to him, giving him a nod, getting the attention of my boys.
“Dad!” Junior called happily. They both launched themselves at me, and I was able to catch them both.
“Did you guys have fun swimming today?” I asked, holding them both up. They both nodded enthusiastically.
“Delilah got Mommy and Aunt Lily all wet!” Leo tattled.
“She did? She tell Mommy and Aunt Lily sorry?” I asked.
“No. She cried when Aunt Lily yelled at her then went to look for Uncle D,” Leo said. Junior just nodded. I chuckled at that, being able to picture what happened very clearly.
“Let’s sit down and eat, shall we?” I said, setting them on their feet. They moved over to the table, taking their seats.
“How was your meeting?” Azalea asked, not being obvious.
“Fine,” I said in a level tone. She gave me a discerning look. “Let’s just enjoy our night.” She nodded her head slowly, and I tried to push the vampire situation out of my mind.
Azalea
The boys begged Liam to take them outside to play soccer, so I sat on the sidelines while Liam and Damien played with a group of kids. Maddox, Sol, and Sulien joined in as well. I laughed as Liam picked up Leo, stealing the ball from him, and dribbled it across the field with a struggling Leo in his arms.
I felt movement in my belly, catching me off guard. Liam stopped in his tracks, his eyes on me. I looked down at my stomach, rubbing my hand over the place I felt the movement. Liam dashed over to me, crouching down. “Did she kick?” he asked quickly, his eyes filled with excitement.
“Maybe,” I said. He rested his hand over my belly, smiling.
“Come on, little pup, kick for Daddy,” he said softly. His wish was granted as our baby kicked right where his hand was lying. Liam’s face lit up even brighter; he looked up at me with pride swelling in his eyes. “She’s strong just like her Mama.”
I rolled my eyes lovingly at him, but Lily was the one to speak, “You know this is your third one, right?”
“And I am just as excited as the first one,” he said with a silly smile. Butterflies blossomed in my stomach, and I knew it wasn’t the baby moving around. I leaned forward just enough to k**s him.
“Go finish that soccer game so we can go be excited in our bed,” I whispered into his lips.
“Yes, Little Luna,” he whispered back. He bent down, placing a soft k**s on my stomach before hopping up and running back to the game.
“You two are so cute; you make me want to puke sometimes,” Lily said as he rushed away.
“Damien was the same way with Delilah and Lucas,” I pointed out.
“Love-sick fool,” she said, smiling at her mate dribbling the ball across the grass.
“He seems to be better,” I said.
“Yea,” she said, thinking for a moment. “I think he is finally accepting it. Having a lead on her killer helped, I think. I just hope we don’t slide backward….” I reached over and grabbed Lily’s hand. She turned her head and gave me a tight smile.
–
“Little Luna, where are you?” Liam linked me. I was currently standing on the top of the first flight of stairs, wondering why we needed so many floors and why our rooms had to be at the top.
“Coming in a second, My Alpha,” I linked him so he wouldn’t worry.
“I just finished tucking the kids in bed, and Missy is in her room,” he said.
“I’ll be right up,” I replied. I gave another scornful look at the stairs. I was quickly approaching the point in my pregnancy where Liam realizes I struggle to get up and down the stairs. Each time, he made sure to thoroughly embarrass me and not allow me to walk up or down the steps. Being picked up and carried up and down the stairs by my personal bodyguard was maddening, to say the least.
I made it halfway up the next flight of stairs before Liam was trotting down them. He stopped giving me a knowing look. “Taking your time tonight?” he asked.
“I’m fine. We just have a lot of stairs,” I said stubbornly.
“Why don’t you let me help you up all these stairs?” he asked.
“Or you could do something about all the stairs,” I suggested. Liam laughed.
“Alright. I am not sure, even as Alpha, I can manage that tonight. So why don’t you grab onto my arm, and we will conquer these obnoxious stairs together.”
“Fine,” I said. Liam held out his arm, and I grabbed onto him, secretly thankful for his help. We moved up the stairs slowly.
When we were close to the top floor, he said, “Why don’t we get you into bed, and I can rub those feet? You’ve been running around with those kids all day.”
I stopped us at the top of the stairs, needing just a moment after all that. “That sounds nice,” I said, wrapping my arms around his waist. Liam smiled down at me for a moment, then his face dropped. “Liam…” I said as distress came over him.
“s**t,” he said.
“Liam, what is it?” I asked quickly. Liam’s hands came to either side of my face.
“There is a large group of rogues trying to cross the border. I need to go help handle this. I don’t want you to worry, okay? I can’t focus if you are too worried. I want you to go to our room, close yourself inside, and lay down with a book, okay? I will be back before you know it.” I nodded my head, trying to stay calm.
“How many?” I asked quietly.
“About twenty. Damien is on his way too. Just go stay in our room, so I know you are safe.”
“Alright,” I said, taking a steadying breath.