Azalea

School had only been out for a few days now, and Missy was already a different kid. I stood at the back doors, smiling as I watched her play with Liam, Leo, Delilah, Lucas, and some of the younger rogue children. She was happy, carefree. It warmed my heart as I sat there sipping my juice. These rogues coming was probably the best thing that could have happened right now, at least for her. Because she wasn’t allowed to do much, the only freedom we had given her was to spend time with them. I had warned her after that first night she showed them around that if I found out she was seeing Vlad, she would be right back to ultra-grounded.

Liam came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my middle, resting his chin on my shoulder. “Watching the kids?” he asked softly. I nodded. His eyes went to Missy, watching her for a moment. “She seems so much better,” he commented.

“I know,” I said softly. “I am going to give her phone back tomorrow. But I am still not going to let her out to see Vlad. He makes her make a lot of bad choices,” I told him.

“Alright. I think that is fair,” he said. His lips came to my neck softly.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

“Mmmm, Liam,” I said.

“Yes, Little Luna?” he hummed.

“Not right now,” I said as my body started to answer to him. “I have to finish the party preparations and then call Lemon. I think she might have a literal heart attack if I don’t give her answers about the kitchen remodel at the Inn.”

“Fine,” he breathed, his warm breath fanning my neck. “But I will be coming to find you later,” he growled seductively. A shiver went down my spine as I nodded. His hands unwrapped themselves, and I felt him leave. In the past few days, he became increasingly anxious about the lack of progress in finding Gwen’s killer. He was working through that anxiety in the bedroom. Although I wasn’t one to complain, he and Gavin were exhausting me.

I sat there watching the kids play for a minute more. I needed to start finding homes for all these rogues, but I had trouble figuring out what to do with all the orphaned children. These groups were such a motley. I also had not spoken to Liam about Maddox wanting to become a warrior. He has been a little distracted, and we hadn’t discussed whether we had verified either groups’ claims about their former packs.

“Hey,” Lily’s voice came from behind me. I turned around to see my exhausted best friend. I gave her a small smile.

“Hey,” I said. Lily stopped next to me, also looking out the window at the kids playing. She let out a small sigh.

“We should get the last of the party details taken care of,” she said, eyes still glued outside. I nodded.

“You know I can handle it,” I told her. I was a little worried about her. I know Damien was having a rough time, and his mother wasn’t much better. It was stressing Lily out a lot. “You can go relax, take a nap, or something.”

She shook her head. “No, I am happy to have a distraction. Plus, it’s like my job to help make sure parties go off without a hitch,” she said. I linked my arm in hers, and we both leaned our heads against each other. “Missy looks happy,” she observed.

“Yea, she does,” I said, smiling.

–

The packhouse lawn was buzzing with happy wolves. The party was to celebrate the start of summer for all the kids. Our pack was eager to celebrate for any reason, and this party had become a tradition in the last couple of years. The kids ran around, playing at the various games we had set up all around the lawn. Even the older kids got into it, which was always lovely to see.

This celebration was always one of my favorite events at the packhouse. Everyone was always so happy and bright. The children were always excited for the fun that summer brought, and the parents excited for nice weather and happy pups. The gentle breeze blew my dress around my knees as I stood to the side, watching the pack around me.

“Wonderful party, as always,” Abigail said, coming over to me. I gave her a smile.

“Thank you. I think it is a success,” I replied.

She pointed to Austin, who was getting his face painted by his daughter. “He is certainly enjoying himself,” she chuckled. “How is the pregnancy coming along?”

“Alright,” I said, rubbing my belly gently.

“You look tired, Lea,” she said with a slight scowl.

“I’m okay. We just need to figure out this Gwen thing,” I said in a lower voice. Abigail was well aware of pack business, being Austin’s mate. “Once that is settled, I am sure things will go back to normal.”

“What about all the rogues?” she whispered. My eyes went over to Missy and Maddox, who were racing Delilah and Liam in the spoon-egg game.

“I honestly believe them. I can’t wrap my head around this being some extensive plot,” I told her. She nodded but still looked unconvinced.

“I am just worried about the whole thing, I guess,” she admitted.

“I am, too,” I said. “As long as their stories are true, whoever is behind this is dangerous.”

“You don’t think they could make it here, do you?” she asked me, worried.

“I don’t know, Abs. But I really hope not,” I told her, biting my l*p.

Missy

I shuffled my feet as quickly and gently as I could while holding the tiny spoon up. “You aren’t winning this one!” Maddox yelled, only two steps behind me.

“You two are cheating!” yelled Delilah at our backs. I laughed as I continued to scurry towards the finish line with my egg.

“You’ll never catch us!” Maddox taunted her. His voice was getting closer to me. I focused on moving my feet faster. My foot hit something in the grass, and I panicked as my body fell forward. My instincts kicked in, and I curled my body around the egg and spoon in my hand, rolling into my fall. I momentarily thanked my little phase of wanting to be a warrior and making Liam train with me.

I rolled out of the fall, landing with one knee on the ground and one foot bracing myself. I looked down, and my egg was still safely on my spoon. My eyes moved up to the finish line to see Maddox only a few feet away. I shot up, sprinting as fast as I could to catch him, but it was futile. Maddox crossed first, then Delilah and Junior. Maddox turned to me with a gloating look on his face.

“Don’t even,” I warned as I crossed the finish line. “I would have won!”

“Oh, don’t be such a sore loser, Miss,” he said, giving me a toothy grin. I pursed my lips at him. He slung his arm over my shoulder, laughing. “The Alpha’s daughter would be a sore loser.”

“Maddox is so fast!” Junior said, interrupting us.

“It’s only because he is taller than us,” Delilah said. I stifled a laugh at her. She was definitely a sore loser. It was probably because of how much Damien spoiled her.

“Let’s go do the sack race!” Liam jested.

“You guys go get in line. We’ll catch up,” Maddox told them. They nodded vigorously and took off to the next game.

“They really like you,” I commented as we watched them run away.

He shrugged. “I guess I am just a likable guy,” he said with a wide grin on his face. Maddox and I had been getting along the best the past week they have been in the packhouse. I had introduced Sol, Sulien, and Alex to a few people when the party started. They were kids from school that weren’t terrible. Sol was excited, of course. There were two females in the group, so Alex was on board, and Sulien just followed his sister and Alex. Maddox decided to break off with me while I ran around with my brothers, Delilah and Lucas.

“Princess,” called my favorite voice from behind us. I turned around, ducking out from under Maddox’s arm. A smile spread across my face as I saw V walking towards us. He had a strange look on his face.

I jogged over to him smiling, excited to see him for the first time in a week now. “You’re here!” I said excitedly, stopping in front of him.

“Duh,” he said. “You’re here, right? How else was I going to see you while you’re still under lock and key?” His hand came down to my waist, and he pulled me flush to him, and he planted a soft k**s on my lips. “Can you sneak away?” he whispered, breaking our k**s.

I turned back to Maddox, realizing I had just run away from him. “Uh, I don’t think so,” I murmured. V’s eyes followed mine, and his focus went to Maddox as he approached us.

“Who’s this?” he asked, his voice suddenly a little deeper.

“V, this is Maddox. He is going to be joining the pack soon,” I said, introducing him. “Maddox, this is, uh, Vlad. He’s my boyfriend.” Maddox eyed V up and down before sticking out his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Vlad,” Maddox said. Vlad gripped his hand tightly.

“That’s mate, by the way. She’s my mate,” V said.

Maddox gave me a questioning look. “She isn’t 17 yet, though….”

“We already know,” V said definitively.

“We’re pretty sure,” I said. “So, uh, how about we go find Delilah and Junior? They wanted to do the sack race with us,” I tried changing the subject. I looked between them as they weirdly stared each other down. V finally spoke first.

“Of course, princess. As long as I get to be with you,” he said as he slowly turned his face toward me and smiled. I nodded and grabbed his hand to pull him towards the game. I don’t know what was going on right then, but it was a little too macho and territorial for my liking.

–

The rest of the party was… weird. V, Maddox, and I went around playing with the kids. I tried just to play the games and have a good time, but it felt like there was some competition going on between Maddox and V the entire time. When we grabbed food from the buffet tables, we opted to sit on the far side of the packhouse lawn by the trees instead of at the tables. Sol, Sulien, and Alex joined us. Sol was amazed that I had a boyfriend. When we all went to sit down, V practically pulled me on top of his lap, embarrassing me. I managed to wiggle down and sit in between his legs, but I was getting looks from Sol and Maddox the entire time.

Shortly after we all finished eating, V’s phone rang, and he said it was his dad and had to go. I excused us so I could walk away with him for a moment by ourselves. “When are you getting ungrounded?” he asked once we were far enough away from the rest of the group.

“I don’t know. Hopefully soon. I’ve been doing everything Lea has asked and trying to be good,” I said.

“I miss you, princess. Do you think they will let you out for a run or something? We can meet at the cabin?” he asked.

I bit my l*p. I wanted to spend some time with V, but if I keep breaking Liam and Lea’s trust, they will never let me see him. “I don’t know….”

“I guess it doesn’t matter until you get your phone back. I wouldn’t know you were out there…” he said, trailing off. He sighed and stopped. He turned to me, cupping my face in his hand. “I don’t like that guy.”

“What guy?” I asked.

“Maddox. He watches you,” he said. His voice was turning low again.

“No, he doesn’t. Plus, Lea is going to be moving them out of the packhouse soon. I will probably never see him,” I said, frowning. I actually got along with him.

“He better not try to do anything,” V threatened. He smashed his lips to mine, kissing me roughly.

When he let me go, I asked, “What was that?”

“Nothing,” he said softly. “I got to go. Be good, princess. I’m waiting.” With that, he left me standing there as he walked away towards the front of the packhouse.