MISSY
I felt whole again. As soon as I heard Maddox over the link, my heart soared. I ran so fast that I got in front of Liam and Doctor Ron, reaching the cottage and Maddox first.
I didn’t let go of Maddox until he had been walking through the woods with me in his arms for quite a while. He finally persuaded me to get down; we shifted and ran all the way home. When we got back, we headed straight to the shower. Maddox’s smell was mixed with vampire and b***d.
Then we fell into bed. Maddox had zero complaints when I insisted on laying on his chest. Just like he promised, all we did was sleep. Being so close to him again, feeling him, smelling him put my whole body at peace.
We slept well into the evening. I could have stayed like that forever, but Maddox woke me up peppering k****s all over my face. At some point, he had flipped us over. His k****s tickled, making me laugh as my eyes fluttered open.
“Good morning,” he laughed.
“Mmmm, it’s evening I think,” I said.
“I know. I am starving, but someone had such a grip on me, I couldn’t get out of bed,” he joked.
“You aren’t leaving me,” I fake pouted. He bent down and kissed me again.
“I would never dare,” he mused. “Let’s go downstairs and find something to eat together.” He smiled down at me, his face relaxed. I missed his smile and easy-going attitude. I didn’t realize how I felt so much more sure of myself when he was around because he was so sure of himself all the time. I questioned my decisions more without Maddox by my side.
I rolled my eyes but smiled. “Fine,” I agreed. We climbed out of bed, and Maddox grabbed hold of my hand as we headed downstairs.
When we got to the kitchen, Maddox said, “Sit,” pointing to the table. When I gave him a questioning look, he explained, “I have been eating take out for too long. I want to cook you something.” He went to the fridge and started poking his head around. I wasn’t too sure what was in there because I had given Sol all the food money to shop.
I hopped up on the counter and watched as Maddox went to work. If this was what life with Maddox would bring, I was ready to jump in entirely. I couldn’t imagine him any other way as he moved around the kitchen shirtless, making us dinner. It was perfect; he was perfect. He was strong and driven. He could fight vampires and then come home and cook dinner. He caught me staring and laughed.
“What?” he asked.
“I’m just happy you’re back. This is where you belong,” I told him. He came over to me, stopping in between my legs and resting his warm hands on my thighs.
“I belong with you,” he said cheekily. “I can be anywhere as long as I have you with me.”
“Then don’t let my dad talk you into running off on spy missions for the pack anymore,” I scolded. He just chuckled.
“I think I have fulfilled my quota for a while, but I do still intend on being a warrior,” he said.
I scowled. “Does that mean you plan to go to training tomorrow?”
He shook his head. “Maybe next week. School, yes, but training can wait. I want to spend time with you. We have a lot to make up for.” He had a mischievous glint in his eye, but I was stuck on the school part.
“I don’t want to go to school! You just got home!” I argued.
“And I have already missed so much,” he said. “Plus, we have all the same classes, so we will be together all day long.”
“So? You just got back. It’s not that important,” I whined.
“It is, though,” he said, cupping my face. “We promised your mom we would graduate. I have missed a whole bunch so far, and I bet you haven’t been a stellar student. We will have all day together at school, then come home and have all night together. You can help me catch up.”
“I dislike your use of factual logic,” I told him.
“What if we did something special this weekend?” he asked. I tilted my head, curious to hear more. “I need to talk to your dad about logistics, but I want to take you on a date.”
“Oh?” I asked. “Where?”
“I have some ideas, but I am not telling you anything. And we aren’t going if you refuse to go to school,” he joked.
“Fine,” I agreed. “But I warned you if you realize it would have been a much better idea to stay in bed with me all day tomorrow.”
“You can rub it in my face,” he said, pecking my lips. I grabbed the back of his head and pulled him back in for a deeper k**s.
–
When we got to school, everyone was waiting by my locker. There were lots of hugs and welcomes for Maddox, and Emmett pouted about not being able to flirt with me now that he was back. I couldn’t wait for him to find his mate and be obsessed with a singular girl. Sol was betting that it was Julie, but I thought it would be Allie.
On the way to our first class, some jock passed us, ramming his shoulder into me and calling me a name. I ignored them as usual; even if the bullying was fresh, I couldn’t care with Maddox finally back.
Maddox had not been so quick to excuse it, though. He snapped his head to the guys and growled. I had to tell him to ignore it and explain that it was entirely normal. He didn’t like my placating, bringing on a grumpy mood for much of our first and second periods.
When someone threw a crumpled-up paper at the back of our heads during our third period, I had to grab Maddox’s arm to keep him from jumping up to say something. He was gritting his teeth for the rest of the class.
“Maddox,” I linked him.
“Yea?” he answered.
“You have to calm down,” I told him. “You can’t be attacking everyone who makes some dumb comment or calls me some stupid name. We will spend our whole day on that and not on actual school.”
“It’s bullshit,” he retorted. “Who are they to judge you? Assholes.”
“I don’t really care,” I told him. “It doesn’t bug me anymore. I have you and all of our friends. They are better friends than all the people in this pack I have grown up with anyway. Who cares how you all came to be here? Plus, I have my mate, and I am happy.”
“I don’t like it,” he said. I knew he was mad and feeling territorial, but it would just make the rest of the year harder if he lashed out at them. If we ignored it, it would stay relatively minimal because they wouldn’t be satisfied with our reaction.
“Can you please try and ignore it,” I begged. “For me?”
He slumped in his chair next to me. He looked at me with a hint of defeat on his face. “Fine,” he said, nodding. “As long as it doesn’t get out of hand.”
“Alright,” I agreed, smiling at him. I knew school would already be an adjustment for him. Sol explained how small their school was in their old pack. There were only 20 kids in their grade total. Plus, he had just been gone on a vampire-finding mission.
Finally, it was time for lunch, and I was relieved to get to our friends.
MADDOX
As much as I was trying to jump back into everyday life, fulfill my promise to Luna, and keep Missy happy, nothing about being back in this place felt normal now. Coming back to school like I was a regular kid with regular dreams after what I’d just gone through seemed fake. The transition from a wartime mission to get intelligence that ended in me crushing the skull of a Sire in my hands to mundane life was eerie. Every sound was a threat. Every whisper was someone the vampires turned against us. I couldn’t break the feeling that I still wasn’t safe. Now Missy was with me, and she wasn’t safe. To make matters worse, apparently, Missy was being bullied, and she thought it was a normal part of life that needed to be ignored. A growl slipped out when one dared to touch her this morning.
“KILL,” Tom demanded within me, ready to jump into battle once more. “No one touches mate!”
“No,” I told him. “We’re at school.”
I managed to push him back into his recess somewhere in my mind, but this continued throughout the day. Someone threw balled paper at her in class, and it took every ounce of self-control I had to stay in my seat. If Missy hadn’t been there asking me to let it go and pulling at my arm to calm me down, I don’t know what would have happened. Her scent and her presence were all that was getting me through the day. She was right, we probably should have stayed home in bed, but I couldn’t tell her that now. All of the stress of keeping myself together distracted me, but I was relieved when the lunch bell rang. I felt my stomach growl and realized I was hungry. Finally, we could go to our table away from these morons and eat in relative peace.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.
The noise of the lunchroom made me uneasy again, something I hadn’t expected. After a prolonged period of trying to keep ourselves hidden from notice, I felt like everyone was staring when I walked in.
“It’s all in my head….” I tried to tell myself.
I felt Missy squeeze my hand, and I looked down to see her smiling at me sweetly. My heart jumped, and I felt the pleasant warmth of our bond where her hand met mine. I nuzzled my nose into the top of her head and basked in her calming scent, my body relaxing. I used my free hand to gently push her chin up to see her face. I’d missed it every moment I’d been away, seeing it in my dreams and holding on to her like a lifeline. I’m glad I didn’t leave her widowed so young. She didn’t deserve it. I placed a soft k**s on her lips and felt the sparks simmering pleasantly upon them before I pulled away.
“I love you,” I told her quietly.
“And I love you.”
“Get a room!” Emmett teased, clearly annoyed by his inability to find love of his own. His desperation annoyed me.
We got our food without further problems, and we were soon seated at our table, where small talk among our group ensued. Missy seemed distracted with wanting to be as close to me as possible, but I just tried to enjoy the food and my proximity to her without thinking about anything else. Unfortunately, I wasn’t succeeding. It felt off that no one had said anything to Missy since we’d arrived, and nothing happened in line. I’d been expecting to have to hold Tom back at some point until we were seated. I was also heavily aware that a large part of the group bothering Missy was in the corner with barely concealed laughs and whispers in our direction. Something was wrong. That’s when I felt him walk up behind us. One of the douchey jocks walked over.
“Just wanted to give you a message from the rest of the class,” he said, looking down at Missy.
“Yea, what’s that?” Sol asked her expression clearly unenthused by this interruption.
“We don’t need you charity cases here, and you can take this one back with you,” he said, gesturing to Missy. “Go be with your own kind.”
A growl escaped my lips as I began to lose the battle with my self-control. How f*****g dare he talk to my mate and my friends this way.
“I think we are already, thank you,” Sol told him dismissively. “Did you forget that she’s also the Alpha’s daughter?”
“She’s not anyone’s daughter. Once they have one of their own, they’ll put her back in the trash where she belongs. Just like her junkie mom.” I could feel the searing pain that caused Missy through our bond, and it cut me deeply.
“Leave. Now,” I managed to get out.
“I’m done. Here, I thought you might want some extra charity, though. I don’t need this anymore.”
With that, he lifted his chocolate milk over Missy’s head and dumped the contents all over her. She gasped in surprise as the full container emptied into her hair, washing over her surprised face. He walked away, a smug look on his face that I could barely see through the rage-filled haze covering my vision. I felt Missy’s despondence, and I knew somehow this was my fault. They only thought this was acceptable because I left her here. Alone. I abandoned her, just like I’d… just like I’d abandoned Langston.
I don’t remember how I got there; all I knew was I was on my feet in front of him. My chair was somewhere in oblivion where I’d sent it, and now my hands were closed around his shirt, sending him into the air above. His feet helplessly kicked as they tried to find purchase on the ground they could no longer reach. I growled and plunged him into the table at his feet. He crashed through the surface, splitting it into a myriad of pieces as I came down on top of him. My knee slid across his waist to allow my shin to rest there, pinning him to the ground. My other foot was on the floor, keeping me upright and over him as I rained down blow after blow. B***d sprayed from his mouth, then his nose broke, and I continued.
“Not. My. Mate!” I roared, each word accentuated by the wet thud of my fists connecting with this bully’s broken face.
“MADDOX!” Missy screamed from behind me, the first thing I’d heard since this began.
I stopped, actually looking at the person under me for the first time. He’d passed out with his arms splayed by his side in the mess of the table shards around us. The lunchroom was dead silent with everyone on their feet and looking at us, at me, in horror. Missy’s face was terrified as she looked down at me, her hand now on my shoulder, trying to pull me away with her. I let her help me to my feet.
Looking around, I could see the group of this loser’s friends staring at me, their mouths agape in expressions of disbelief.
I bared my teeth as I looked into their transfixed vapid expressions of terror and managed to get out, “Leave. Her. Alone.”
They visibly recoiled as if I were going to snap on them next. With that, I grabbed Missy’s hand and pulled her from the room past the teachers that were rushing in. Students had run for help, and now the teachers were moving towards the mess I’d made within it.