LIAM

I should have known Azalea would go to the clinic and try to help Damien sooner or later. Lucky for me, Azeron did his job and linked me when she started to do it. My uncle was ready to intervene, but I was upset he hadn’t when I arrived and she was bleeding from her nose.

After she was checked over, I brought her back to the packhouse and right to our room. She seemed tired and a little out of it, which the use of her gift could explain. She promised me she would take a nap and stay in our room for the rest of the day, but I also gave strict orders to Azeron to keep her there.

Azalea had been asleep for an hour while Missy watched Azly when Langston joined me in my office. “How are the invitations coming?” Langston asked.

“Behind, but I will have them done here shortly,” I said. He raised an eyebrow at me. “There was a little trouble with my mate this morning, and I had to step away.”

“Is that where you ran off to?” Langston laughed. I just nodded my head, continuing to work. I had very little interest in this right now when all I wanted to do was be with Azalea, especially if she thought she would run off and hurt herself waking up Damien.

“Why don’t I finish those? You look like you could use a run. Let your wolf out for a bit. I am sure you haven’t since the battle,” he suggested. I sat back in my chair. The stress of coming home and immediately diving back into all things vampire-war was wearing on me, and it had only been a day and a half.

“Sure,” I said. “Thanks.” I passed Langston the pile and headed out of my office. First, I would go for a run and let Gavin stretch his legs. Then I would spend some time with Azalea.

–

Hours later, Azalea’s voice was pushing into my thoughts. “Liam, where are you?”

“I needed to let Gavin out a bit, Little Luna,” I responded.

“When will you be coming back?” she asked.

“Soon,” I said.

“Alright,” she said. I could tell she would not be arguing with me much for the rest of the day. Part of me hoped what happened scared her enough not to try again. I wanted Damien to wake up for both mine and Lily’s sake, but I was not willing to risk Azalea like that.

“Let’s go to Little Mate,” Gavin pushed. My muscles were sore, and the sun was beginning to set. I changed course, heading back to the packhouse. Gavin didn’t seem like he could get there fast enough.

When I arrived at the packhouse, I dipped into the kitchen to ask for something to be sent up for dinner. I had a feeling Azalea and I would be staying in tonight, and we still needed to talk about this morning.

When I got to our room, Azeron stood at the door right as I left him. I gave him a nod of dismissal and looked for my mate. She came out of the closet, holding some clothes. “There you are,” she smiled before scrunching her nose. “You stink.”

“What are you doing, Little Luna?” I asked as she took the clothes over to the bed and started sorting them.

“Lacey is getting pretty round, and Missy said she wears Felix’s shirts a lot. I thought she might be able to use some of my maternity clothes; I won’t be needing them again,” she explained. I came up behind her, resting my hands on her h**s. Her hair was pulled up in a pile on top of her head, so I kissed the back of her neck. She stilled in my hands.

“I’m still upset with you for today,” I whispered into her skin. Her delicate, flowery scent filled my nostrils, biting back at the storm or frustration inside me.

“I know,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry, but I had to.”

“You can’t do that again,” I said.

“You can’t stop me, Liam,” she said. She was calm, but there was a finality to her words. I ran my nose up and down her neck, sending a trail of goosebumps across her skin. “If I can help wake him up, I need to do it.”

“But I am not willing to risk you like that,” I said. Finally, she turned to face me and looked right into my eyes.

“Maybe if I push just a little bit at a time, I can help. Whatever I did today, he’s already improved. If I just stop before I get hurt, maybe I can get to him. Liam, I was so close, and I felt so in control.” Her head tilted just the slightest bit, willing me to consider her words.

“Let Little Mate try. We can keep watch,” Gavin said in my head.

“You were a sopping mess while she was in a coma,” I reminded him.

“Little Mate is strong. We need our Beta to fight the vampire scum,” he replied.

“Gavin is on your side, you know,” I sighed. She tried to stifle her smile. “I will think about it. What I saw today did not inspire confidence.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling broadly now. Even all these years later, that smile still takes my breath away. “Now, I think we should get you in the shower. You, My Alpha, do not smell pleasant.”

I leaned down and kissed her lips softly. “Only if you join me,” I muttered into her mouth.

MISSY

Maddox had been gone all day. Finally, during dinner, he linked me. He wanted me to be ready and meet him at the packhouse’s front door in an hour. I left Azly with Abigail and Austin so that I could get ready. I had to take a steadying breath as I climbed the stairs. This was it; tomorrow, I would be a marked wolf.

I was both boundlessly excited and debilitatingly nervous. I wanted Maddox to mark me; I wanted to be his forever. But I hadn’t done anything more than k**s him. What if I was terrible at this or didn’t do it correctly?

When I got upstairs, I hopped in the shower to wash up quickly then went to the closet to figure out what to wear. My anxiety was only building trying to decide.

“Just wear something comfortable,” Maddox linked me. I rolled my eyes. How did he know?

I pulled out a pair of shorts and a loose v-neck shirt. Comfortable but cute, I decided. I brushed my hair out, deciding just to leave it down. With one last once over in the mirror, I deemed myself as ready as I was going to get.

“I got this,” I said to my reflection before heading out of my room and downstairs. Luckily, no one was downstairs to stop me; I might have chickened out otherwise.

When I opened the front door, Maddox stood on the porch. His attention snapped to me immediately, and my worries melted away. He stood there in a pair of cargo shorts with a polo shirt looking relaxed and happy. He held a small bouquet of flowers that he pushed toward me. “There’s my girl,” he said happily.

“Hi,” I said, grabbing the flowers. “These are beautiful.”

“Just like you,” he said, stepping forward. “Ready to go?”

“Mmmhmm. Where are we going?” I asked.

“You’ll see,” he said. He grabbed my hand, and we set off down the driveway. We walked hand and hand through the streets, the path familiar.

“Maddox, what are we doing?” I asked. It had been a long time since I came in this direction.

“So, I had a little help. I thought that getting out of the packhouse might make everything a little less stressful,” he said. We were only a few houses away now. Was he taking me to my parents’ house?

“What do you mean help?” I asked.

“Your mom may have given me a helping hand with some things…” he said. The house came into view, and I stopped walking. It looked so different than I remember. The lawn was mowed and neat, the flower beds empty but clear. The porch railing looked freshly painted, and the upstairs windows were open, letting the curtains ripple in the late summer breeze.

“Did you…” I started.

“Like I said, I had some help,” he said softly. “Do you want to go inside?” All I could do was nod my head. It looked just like I remembered from before my dad died. He led me up the driveway and pulled a key from his pocket. He unlocked the door and let it swing wide, holding it open for me to enter.

I stepped inside, and my jaw dropped, taking in everything. The house was bare compared to when I lived here, but it was clean and nice inside. Little things like the broken spindle on the railing to the steps were fixed. I stepped further into the house, peeking at the kitchen first. There wasn’t much inside, but I could see our old kitchen table still in the corner. When my eyes moved to the living room, I couldn’t help but gasp. The couches were here, but they looked almost new. The table was new, and there were candles lit on it with blankets folded next to it. There were photos over the mantle, photos of my parents and me next to ones of me with Lea, Liam, and my brothers.

“You did all this?” I asked, turning to Maddox. He nodded.

“Your parents thought it might be time to let you decide where you want to live. I thought tonight might go a bit smoother if you weren’t worried about everything going on around the packhouse. Desserts in the kitchen, and I made up one of the bedrooms upstairs, too.”

“Maddox, I don’t know what to say,” I whispered. He closed the distance between us, pulling me close to him.

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said softly. “I’m your mate, and I’ll always do everything in my power to make you happy.”

I reached up and pulled his face down to mine, smashing my lips onto his. I poured every bit of gratitude and love I could into that k**s. Maddox responded kindly, deepening the k**s and parting my lips with his tongue. I jumped, wrapping my legs around his waist.

–Belongs to © n0velDrama.Org.

I dragged air into my lungs, trying to catch my breath.

“That was….” Maddox breathed from beneath me.

“Amazing,” I finished his sentence. His small chuckle reverberated through his chest. We made it upstairs to the bedroom but just barely. While we both caught our breaths, I looked around the room. There was nothing but the bed we were on and a dresser. The walls were a light blue color with hand-painted clouds near the conjunction of the walls and ceiling.

“This is my old room,” I said absently.

“This was the only one with a bed, so I was sort of left no choice,” he said. “Is that okay?”

“Yea,” I whispered, nodding my head. I pushed myself up so I could look at him. He had a cute look on his face. My eyes traveled down to his neck, where my mark was. A smile flitted across my lips.

“I’m yours,” he said. His hand came up, and his fingers lightly traced over his own mark on me. “And you are mine.” Fireworks erupted from his touch, and we were quickly devouring each other again.