Missy

I woke up to Leo poking me in the cheek. “Sissy, wake up!” he whisper-yelled at me. I g*****d, trying to roll away from him. “Wake up!” he continued. I blinked my eyes open to a very awake Leo sitting next to me on my bed.

“What?” I asked groggily.

“I had an accident,” he pouted. I let out a sigh. Sitting up, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as Leo looked at me wearily.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

“It’s okay. Let’s get it cleaned up. You should probably take a bath. You stink,” I said. He nodded quickly, climbing down the bed. I rolled off the bed from the other side and pulled the blanket with me. It was going to need to be washed too. I rolled up the blanket as I stepped into the hall. I tossed it on the floor next to the door and went over to the room we had put Junior and Leo in last night. Junior was still asleep, and luckily, his end of the bed remained dry.

I shook his shoulder gently. “Hey bud, time to get up,” I said. After a minute, he started to stir.

“Wake up, bubba,” Leo called from behind me. Junior sat up, glaring at us. I laughed. He was not a morning person, the complete opposite of Leo, who definitely was.

“It’s summer. We are supposed to sleep in,” he grumbled.

“Not when your brother pees the bed. Up. I need to change the sheets,” I said flatly. He got a grossed-out look on his face and scrambled from the bed quickly, falling to the floor with a thud. Leo laughed at him.

“That was a bit dramatic, bud,” I said, rolling my eyes. I started collecting the blankets from the bed into a pile.

“What was the noise in here?” I heard Maddox say. I turned to see him standing in the doorway, scratching his head. My eyes grew wide when I looked at him. He was only wearing a pair of shorts that were low on his h**s. He didn’t quite have rippling abs, but there was definitely some muscle there. “Missy?” he said, breaking my errant thoughts.

“Oh, uh, Junior fell out of bed,” I said, turning back to the bed.

“You okay?” Maddox asked him.

“I’m going to get mom…” he muttered grumpily.

“I had an accident,” Leo told Maddox.

“Aw, that’s alright, little guy,” Maddox said sweetly. He came over next to me as I pulled the sheets from the bed. “Need any help?” he asked.

“Uh, no. I got it. I’ll just have to take these up to the Inn to wash. And I need to get Leo in the bath so Azalea doesn’t have to bend over the tub. Liam has been doing it, but he isn’t here…” I trailed off, my eyes wandering over to his shirtless torso.

“You sure?” he asked. “I don’t mind helping.” I pulled the last pillowcase from the pillows and rolled it up with the sheets, moving to scoop the blankets up with them.

“All done. Lea will probably have someone come down and clean the bed later. The liner is on your mattress,” I joked. “You can go back to bed.”

“Nah, I’m awake now. I was sort of hoping I could rope you into going for a run with me,” he gave me a hopeful look.

“Maybe,” I said. It had been a while since I had been out on a run, and it did sound like fun. “Let me get Leo washed up and changed, then talk to Lea. She probably won’t care.”

“Cool,” he said with a wink. He sauntered out of the room, and I had to swallow the drool in my mouth.

“Let’s get you in the bath….” I said to Leo.

Azalea

My phone rang on the nightstand next to the bed. When I moved to roll in that direction, I realized I had one of the kids cuddled up with me. I opened my eyes to Junior, curled up in the blanket along my side. I reached over him carefully, grabbing my phone. I smiled down at him as I answered it.

“Azalea, did you think I wouldn’t find out!” Liam’s voice boomed. “I swear to the Moon Goddess if you leave that damn cottage before I can get there….”

“Stop,” I said, cutting him off. “Don’t even think about finishing your threat.” I moved back off the bed, leaving Junior to sleep. I walked over towards the kitchenette, my irritation rising. Liam was silent on the other end of the phone, but I knew he was seething.

“Why are you acting like I have hidden something from you?” I finally asked as calmly as I could manage.

“Did you really think I was going to let a vampire stay in my territory, and you were going to conceal it from me?” he accused.

“This is about Theodore?” I asked. “Who told you?” I specifically told Felix not to tell Liam. My bodyguard would be getting an earful.

“Every one of my men in that town is aware when you are there without me. Everyone knows what you and the children are doing at all times. Of course, I was told about the vampire,” he growled.

“Liam, you are overreacting!” I argued.

“No, I am not! Goddess, Azalea, you better stay put,” he warned.

“I will not. I spoke with Theodore, but of course, you already know that. I was going to tell you about him. I won’t lie to you and tell you he is harmless, but I have no reason to believe he poses a threat!” I seethed. “Don’t you think if he were a threat, he would have already done something?”

“He wouldn’t make his plans obvious!” Liam yelled.

“He knew there were wolves here far before I knew he was a vampire. He came clean to us before Felix could rip him apart. He didn’t hesitate to tell me exactly what he is doing here, Liam,” I ranted.

“Azalea, this is not up for discussion!”

“I know because I already made the decision. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a busy day today, Alpha,” I snipped, emphasizing the last word before hanging up the phone.

I turned around to see Missy standing in the doorway, holding Leo on her back. I noticed his hair was wet. Missy had a worried look on her face. I plastered a smile on and greeted them. “Good morning,” I said as cheerily as I could.

“Everything alright?” Missy asked, walking further into the room.

“Yes, just grown-up disagreements. Why is Leo wet?” I asked her.

“Oh, he had an accident. I pulled the sheets off and gave him a bath,” she explained. She stopped, letting him slide down her back, and he ran over to me.

“Well, that explains the extra body in my bed,” I said with a chuckle. “Why don’t we all get ready and go up to breakfast?”

Leo nodded enthusiastically. He slept so much last night I was sure he was starving by now. “Do you want to get Junior up?” I asked him, ruffling his hair. He didn’t even answer me before running over to the bed and climbing up to wake up Junior, who grumbled and tried to hide further into the blanket.

–

Felix glared at me from across the room as I sat with Lemon at a table in the dining room, looking over plans for the kitchen. She was talking animatedly about everything. We would be meeting in a little bit with the foreman and probably Theodore. I rolled my eyes, shifting my attention back to Lemon. He was angry with me; that much was obvious. I got the feeling Liam called him to yell after I hung up on him.

When the kids and I went to leave the cottage for breakfast at the Inn, we opened the door to the same angry Felix, glaring at me with his arms crossed. I ignored him and pushed the kids past him. He was given no choice but to follow me. His quiet rage had continued all through breakfast. Leo and Junior were childishly oblivious to it, but Missy continued to give me questioning looks while Maddox was fidgeting a lot. Missy wasted no time dragging Maddox away to show him around town as soon as their plates were clean. The boys, of course, begged to play outside.

I was wondering when Liam was going to come storming in here. He had continued to try and call me for a little while after I hung up on him, but I just put my phone on silent and ignored him. After working with Lemon today, I wanted to take the kids over to Amy’s house and see my best friend, not worry about a vampire and angry mate.

“So, what do you think?” Lemon asked, jerking me out of my thoughts.

“I think it will be great. You did a really great job with all of this. I am excited to get started,” I told her.

“Okay, now that that is all settled. Why is Felix just replaying your murder by his own hands over and over in his head?” she asked.

I stifled a laugh at that. “I may have irritated Liam and by proxy him. It’ll be fine,” I said, waving my hand dismissively. I missed Liam; I hated being away from him. But I was perfectly capable of handling things here. Sometimes, it frustrated me more that he was always trying to hide me or keep me back, never trusting my judgment.

“He better not scare the foreman…” she muttered. “Speaking of which. He will be here soon, so I am going to go the front.”

I nodded, smiling at her as she hurried past Felix and out of the room. I turned to him, giving him a sour look. “Could you at least look normal? She’s right; you’re going to scare away the people we are meeting with,” I glared at him, irritation evident in my voice. Felix didn’t change his expression, continuing to stare at me angrily. I rolled my eyes, knowing I wasn’t winning this battle for now. “At least move to the other end of the room and scowl out of sight,” I grumbled, turning around.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. Twelve missed calls from Liam, twenty unread messages. I ignored them and opened up a message to check on Missy and Maddox. I got an almost instant reply: a selfie of them both drinking coffee down at the cafe, a slice of cake on the table between them. I smiled, thinking about when Liam took me on our first date. He was so sweet and attentive even then. I knew Missy and Maddox weren’t on a date per se, but I couldn’t help but hope that maybe she would rethink her relationship with Vlad a bit.

“Right this way,” Lemon’s voice came through the door as she led in the foreman. He was a young guy who definitely seemed green like Theodore had claimed. He was accompanied by a small woman, carrying a tablet in her hands, and Theodore, who had a slight smile on his face. As they got closer, I caught the scent of a werewolf. I breathed a little deeper, trying to determine if it was the foreman or the girl with him.

“The assistant is the wolf, dear,” Theodore said in my head. My head snapped to him quickly in surprise. I was only used to hearing Liam in my head. “You may want to speak with your companion.” My brow scrunched as I looked at him. His eyes moved to Felix, who had moved towards the other end of the room at my request. My eyes followed his, and shock came over my features. Felix had his eyes fixed on the girl, intense and dark. His face was no longer angry, and his posture had changed.

My eyes went to the assistant, and she held his gaze, lips parted and cheeks flushed. “Mate,” I heard her whisper almost inaudibly. She swallowed hard, and my eyes went between them. Did she just say ‘mate’? Was she Felix’s second chance? Was this happening right now? I noticed Lemon giving me an odd look.

“Jax, before we begin, would you mind taking a look at something with me?” Theodore said in a smooth tone.

“Sure thing,” the foreman said. Theodore motioned for him to follow towards the kitchen doors. “Lacey, you can just stay here,” he muttered as he followed Theodore.

“Um, Lemon, would you mind running out back and checking on the kids? I am feeling a little sick, but I want to make sure they are okay before we start,” I asked, thinking quickly. I wanted to get everyone else out of this room. I knew I couldn’t leave because Felix would just follow me.

“Sure, thing. Probably a good idea,” she said airily, taking the bait.

As she left the room, I stepped away from the girl, and Felix advanced. His hands were fisted, and he looked tense. Even though the girl was taller than me, she still looked tiny compared to his bulking form. He stopped a few feet from her, breathing heavily. I could tell she was a little excited as well.

“I’m Lacey,” she said in a small sing-song voice.

“Felix,” he grunted. I rolled my eyes. I know he had lost his mate previously, and I guess I always assumed his quiet, brooding nature had emerged from that. Now I was wondering if he had always been like that.

Before either of them could say another word, Liam burst into the room. “Goddess, Azalea!” he called, stopping dead in his tracks as his eyes swept the room.