LIAM
Maddox seemed to be just fine, and I knew that he and Missy would need some time together before I could discuss what happened with him.
Axel briefed me on what happened once Langston and Maddox arrived at the inn. Looking over at Langston as my uncle went about waking him and checking him over, I was worried. His injuries sounded severe, and our expedited healing capabilities couldn’t fix everything; some injuries were just too extreme.
About 30 minutes later, my uncle came over to me. “He’s as comfortable as we can get him here,” he said. “I will be back with supplies to move him.”
“How’s it look?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I need to get some images to be sure, but I am not confident he will regain function of his legs,” he said quietly. I nodded my head; I never wanted this to happen.
My uncle left the cottage, giving me privacy with Langston.
“Don’t start with the blame game,” Langston said from the bed. I moved over to him, taking a seat next to him.
“I’m really sorry this happened,” I told him.
“You shouldn’t be. I may be hurt, but Maddox and I are both alive. If it wasn’t for that boy, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.
I bit my tongue for a moment, debating the thought in my head. “Langston, I could call Azalea….” I started.
He let out a weak chuckle. “No, that isn’t necessary,” he said. “I appreciate the sentiment, and I know your mate would drop everything and come running. I think this is just the Moon Goddess telling me I am past my prime, that it is time to pick a successor.”
“You could just let her try,” I reasoned. “Emma will be so upset when she sees you.”
“Emma and I will be just fine,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of years together, and thanks to Maddox, we will still have more. I might just be a little slower now.”
“So you found it then?” I asked.
“Yes, we did,” he answered. There was a grimace on his face.
“Was this Warwick’s doing or one of his clan?” I asked.
“Neither,” he said, surprising me. “We were found by another Sire. Bygrave, I think it was.”
“Another clan is working with Warwick?” I clarified.
“I can only assume there were more than one by the way Bygrave spoke. Although the location we were at held very little evidence of other vampires,” he explained. “Maddox was able to confirm that Warwick was there, though.”
“So, now we have multiple Sires to deal with. This is quickly beginning to mirror the first war,” I grumbled, dropping my head into my hands. We now had multiple clans to deal with, and my most loyal and trusted ally on our side was disabled. There was no way he could fight in his condition.Belongs to © n0velDrama.Org.
“One less now,” Langston said. I looked up at him, confused.
“What do you mean?” I questioned.
“Maddox killed Bygrave. Brutally if I am being honest,” he said. “I didn’t think we could kill him ourselves. The boy is strong, but I guess I underestimated his ability and skill. I tried to make an opening for him to leave, to get back here and report what we found and get back to his mate.”
“He didn’t listen?” I asked.
“He did at first,” Langston said. “By my estimation, he was probably able to get back to the car. Shortly after Bygrave shattered my spine, he returned. He fought Bygrave himself after I was barely able to leave a scratch.”
I let out a low whistle. “That is astounding, I must say.”
“I agree. Although I was slipping in and out of consciousness, he was able to get me out of there and made it all the way here. I am not sure he stopped for anything but fuel until getting here,” Langston explained.
I couldn’t say that I was anything but impressed with Maddox’s determination and quick thinking. The fact that he could kill a Sire by himself was astonishing on its own.
“I just hope the boy can cope with all that has happened,” Langston interrupted my thoughts.
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” I promised. I placed my hand over Langston’s lying on the bed. “I can never thank you enough for all your help. Truly.”
“I always knew you would be a great Alpha, Liam. Your father was a strong man, even if he had some character flaws. I know you will take care of the boy and make sure this war ends once and for all.”
AZALEA
Lily and I sat in the dining room, putting together the centerpieces for Lacey’s baby shower. Felix was busy carrying in all the pumpkins we had painted earlier this morning. We were still waiting for Liam to come back with news about Maddox and Langston. When he was running from the packhouse, I texted Missy and called the school to let them know she was leaving.
“So, yesterday was a little intense,” Lily said cautiously.
“Yea,” I sighed.
“What exactly set him off?” she asked. I knew she was just worried about me, but Liam and I weren’t exactly okay. I slept in his arms all night, but when we woke up this morning, there was a weird tension between us. He left the room as soon as Azly woke up, and I had barely seen him since.
“I went behind his back,” I told her. Lily rolled her eyes.
“That is to be expected. You’re a 28-year-old woman with a mild control freak of a mate. You are literally never alone, and Liam can be a tad pighead-ish,” she reasoned. I chuckled a bit.
“He means well. He just gets stuck in his head too much, and all of this has him so wound up,” I lamented. Lily gave me a sympathetic look. “I still should not have done it.”
“Done what?” she asked.
I lowered my voice. “I got a witch to help me contact Warwick,” I admitted. Lily gasped, and my eyes widened. “Shhhh,” I hissed.
“Lea, what were you thinking?” she asked in a hushed voice.
I shook my head, looking away from her scrutinizing gaze. “It was dumb. I just wanted to find a way where we could avoid the fighting. We have already lost too much.”
“Oh, Lea,” Lily said, grabbing my hands. “You always have the best heart out of all of us.”
“It’s no excuse. Liam was right to be angry. It could have been a trap, and now there is a rift between my mate and me. Whether that was Warwick’s end or not, it happened,” I said.
“There won’t be for long,” she assured me.
“I don’t know, Lily. He’s never been so angry,” I told her. Felix brought the last armful of pumpkins into the dining room, avoiding both of our gazes; I still needed to apologize to him as well.
Lily grabbed some tiny pumpkins and brought them to our table to fit into the favors. “So, how’s everything going with Damien? I noticed he’s getting back into Beta duties,” I said, changing the subject.
“Yea,” she chirped, avoiding eye contact.
“Is that all that he is doing?” I asked.
Lily’s shoulders slumped. “He is training like crazy and seems to be getting some of his strength back. He is holed up in his office or off with Austin or Jacob when he isn’t training. In the evenings, he spends time with the kids and then goes out to let Cage out before coming to bed. It just doesn’t seem like he has space for me right now.”
“I’m sure that isn’t true!” I told her. “Why don’t you shift with him? I am sure Cage would love that.”
She shrugged, looking despondent. “He hasn’t said anything about it. I don’t think he wants me with him.”
“Lily, Damien loves you so much. You two are the best mate-pair I know. This is just a rough patch,” I tried to console her.
“Maybe,” she sighed. She grabbed her finished centerpieces and stood to put them in the bins we had to hold everything. She looked down at the table and frowned. “I think there is some more blue ribbon downstairs. I’ll be right back,” she excused herself.
I frowned at her back as she hurried away. I went back to the task at hand, hoping that my best friend would be okay. I wasn’t in the best position to be giving relationship advice, but I didn’t think she should doubt Damien.
Felix came over and took Lily’s seat. I looked up at him, confused. “Hi,” I said. He nodded. His face was passive, but his body language seemed like he wanted to say something.
“Felix, I should apologize,” I said before he could say anything. His eyebrow raised in curiosity. “I deceived you. I didn’t tell you the whole truth about why I wanted to speak with a witch. I put you in an awful position with both Liam and Willow, and you did not deserve that. You have been nothing but wonderful to me for years, so I am sorry. I consider you my friend and my family after all this time, so it was wrong of me to take advantage of you.”
Felix was quiet for a moment, absorbing my words. He nodded, then spoke, “Thank you for that, Luna. I think we can agree to leave it in the past.”
I smiled and nodded. “I would like that. Having one person not angry with me is a relief,” I joked.
“I have something for you,” he said. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out something wrapped in a piece of fabric. He set it on the table and unwrapped it. It was a small knife in a sheath.
“What is this, Felix?” I asked.
“It is a knife, Luna. Neither of us is ignorant about why you have always had some sort of protection around you. Personally, I think it wouldn’t be very characteristic of you to learn to fight in any manner at this point. But we both know this war is at its tipping point. Any day now, hell will break loose. Both Azeron and I would lay down our lives for you, but there is always the chance that someone could get to you despite any good intentions. Luna, I have never asked anything of you as it is not my place to do so. I would be failing in my job to protect you if I did not do this. I would appreciate it if you could wear that watch and carry this with you for now,” he explained. This was the most verbose Felix had ever been with me. I knew there was much more under the surly surface of the man, but his honesty had stirred me.
“I don’t think I could….” I trailed off, looking at the knife. The thought of using the knife didn’t sit well with me.
“I hope that it would not come to you ever having to hurt someone, Luna. But it would make me feel better about your safety if both of these items were with you in case I were to fail you. You don’t need to know how to fight with a knife, and this one should be suitably sized for you,” he expounded. I bit my l*p as I looked between Felix and the knife.
“Okay,” I agreed. “Does Liam know about this, though?”
Felix shook his head. “I can speak with him about it.”
“Where exactly do I put this knife?” I asked him.