Missy

It’s been three days since the attack. Felix and Lacey got back the next afternoon; he and Liam had a meeting in Liam’s office when they arrived. Liam wasn’t expecting him to come back, but he did. I helped Lacey carry her stuff into the packhouse. She had things organized into boxes of items to keep and things to donate. She told me she intended to take them to a donation center near her apartment, but Felix had rushed her to get back here. Lea thought we should look through the donate boxes to see if anything would be useful for the new families. Lacey loved the idea too.

The kids seem okay. I had to link Liam to tell him that Junior was in my room that night, but they just let him be. Liam assigned a couple of warriors to stay with them when they were playing outside, but Lily and Lea have been hovering too. They have to keep reminding Leo he isn’t allowed to swim with a cast on, and Lea scowls every time she looks at it. I think she just wants to heal his little arm so that he doesn’t have to wear the cast.

Junior and Leo have been coming to my room after they get tucked in at night. I just scoot over and let them cuddle up to me. If I am honest, I like having them close by.

V hasn’t called or texted me since that night either. I keep picking up my phone to say something to him, but I just don’t know what to say. What he said was way over the line, but I know he was just hurt. I shouldn’t have been sitting there with Maddox; it should have been him. He is my boyfriend, and he should have been the one I cried to. I wanted to go for a run and check the cabin, but Liam didn’t want me leaving by myself. I didn’t want to reveal our little oasis to anyone, so I couldn’t go.

The thing that was worrying me the most was Maddox. He isn’t doing anything except training. All day, he is out on the training fields working himself to death. I barely even see him for meals. Last night at dinner, he popped into the dining room for a second. I caught his eye as he grabbed a banana and bottle of water, but he bolted before I could stop him. I am getting really worried about him.

Last night I decided to confront him. I noticed that Felix would head out to the training ground after dinner every night and drill with him, teaching him how to fight. Tonight, I was going to be the one he was fighting. I caught Felix outside Lea’s office and asked him if he could let me train with Maddox tonight. He gave me a questioning look, so I explained that I was worried about him and really just wanted him to take the night off. He nodded and went back to standing outside Lea’s door stoically like usual, so I took that as a yes.

I skipped dinner in the dining room so that I would beat him out there. I packed some sandwiches and vegetables in a bag and brought them with me. After everyone left for the night, I sat in the middle of the sparring ring and waited. Maddox didn’t disappoint; less than twenty minutes into dinner, he was trudging towards me. When he finally saw me, he scowled.

He dropped his bag on the edge of the ring. “What are you doing here? Go home,” he said. He didn’t sound angry or mean, just tired.

“No,” I said.

“Well, then move out of the way. Felix will be here soon, and I’m not going to work around you,” he muttered.

“No, he’s not,” I told him.

He looked at me with a blank expression. “Then who am I training with?”

“If you insist on training with someone, you can train with me tonight,” I told him. He gave me a shallow laugh.

“Come on. Knock it off. I have work to do,” he said, his voice now turning sour. I stood up and walked over to him.

“No, you don’t, Maddox,” I said, looking up at him. He couldn’t hold my gaze long before he broke away and looked at the ground.

“Missy, please just don’t, okay? Just let me train,” he said.

“When is the last time you sat down and ate a whole meal?” I accused.

“Missy-”

“You won’t even look at me, Maddox!” I cut him off. “You are going to hurt yourself like this. You were mad because I was avoiding you but now who is doing it?” Maddox just stared at the ground like he wasn’t listening. Now, I was getting mad. I shoved him.

“You i***t!” I yelled. I hadn’t planned on yelling at him or getting mad, but he wouldn’t listen. “That was one of the worst nights of my life! That was definitely the scariest! And you left! I asked you to stay, and you left! Now you are just going to train yourself to death because you think you failed? Maddox, get a grip! If we would have been outside with them, we would have either been taken or hurt! The patrols messed up, not us! I wouldn’t be standing here the same girl if they had gotten me. Girls my age don’t come back the same if they come back at all!” I was breathing heavily, but Maddox still wouldn’t look at me.

I turned on my heel, going back to the bag that still sat next to where I was waiting for him. I snatched it up and stormed back over to him. I shoved the bag into his chest, and he grabbed it reflexively. “I just wanted to make sure you got a decent meal and a break. You clearly aren’t interested in anyone looking out for your well-being. Train or don’t. Eat or don’t. You’ve made it clear that my feelings don’t matter!”

I pushed past him and thundered my way back to the packhouse, fuming in frustration.

–

I laid on my bed staring at my ceiling, listening to music with my earbuds in. Goddess, boys are the worst. Did he really think that hurting himself was going to fix what happened? Doesn’t he know Liam only yelled at him because he was blinded by the fact that his kids were gone?

I closed my eyes, trying to push Maddox from my mind, only for V to replace him. I didn’t even know where to start with him. My heart ached thinking about both of them. I was not made for all this drama.

Someone pulled an earbud from my ear. My eyes flung open to see Maddox leaning over me with a contrite look on his face. “Hey,” he said cautiously. He stood up so I could sit up.

“What?” I asked, still annoyed. He held up two bowls of ice cream.

“Peace offering?” he said. I pursed my lips. It smelled like cherry, my favorite. I sighed and nodded, taking a bowl from him. I brought my knees up, and he sat on the side of the bed.

We ate slowly in silence for a minute. “You’re right. I’m an i***t,” he finally said. I just looked at him, waiting for him to continue. “I was scared too. You needed me to be the hero, and I completely let you down. Then your dad showed up, and I felt so…. weak, I guess. I shouldn’t have left you until you were okay. I’m really sorry for all of it. For letting them get taken, for arguing with your boyfriend, and for leaving you.”

I was quiet for a minute, slowly eating the sweet treat he brought. I let out a heavy sigh. “My birth father died defending the pack from a pretty aggressive group of rogues. He was a hero, they told me. But I was just a kid, and it didn’t feel like that. Then my mom had to work more to support us, and she was gone a lot. I started spending more time at the packhouse, and Liam was kind enough to give me a job so I could earn money to help my mom,” I paused for a second, smirking fondly at the memory. “He would give me $20 just to fold a basket of towels or some other easy task. I remember when he introduced me to Lea. I just loved her; she was so nice. One day, my mom just didn’t come to pick me up from the packhouse. Lea did her best to make it seem like no big deal. But then one day turned into a few. Then they had to tell me that my mom died. My mom committed suicide. She chose to leave me alone. I guess since then, I don’t like when people leave me. After you left, I just was petrified that Lea was going to come back and be mad that I was the one safe and not her children. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I thought if you were here at least, I wouldn’t be alone.” I quietly stirred my slightly melted ice cream.

“They wouldn’t do that, Missy. You didn’t see Alpha’s eyes when he saw you. He was so relieved. It is probably the only thing I did right, getting you to the safe room,” Maddox said.

Azalea

Lily and I sit on the couch in the lounge, watching the kids huddled around a board game. All I can do is scowl at my poor Little Leo’s arm in that cast. The break is so minor he doesn’t have to wear it for long, luckily. It’s frustrating watching him suffer through a cast when I can easily fix it for him.

“You have to let it go,” Lily said mildly.

“No can do. My little baby is sitting there in a cast, and it wouldn’t take anything for me to fix it,” I said grumpily.

“Lea, you’re just too pregnant. It takes more out of you than you realize. Sorry but I am staying on Liam’s side this time. He’ll be okay. He barely notices it,” she said. “Anyway, I thought you were going to head over to the clinic and get an update on Hiram.”

“Liam wanted to go with me, plus Felix and Lacey are busy. I am just waiting for him to be done with whatever he is doing,” I sighed. As I spoke, both our mates came into the lounge. Their eyes went to the kids first. They have both been popping their heads in to check on the kids a lot over the past few days, probably worried if they leave any of us alone too long, something else will happen. We haven’t seen a single rogue since that day, but Liam isn’t convinced the problem is solved.Content rights belong to .

Liam came over to me, leaning down to k**s me. Damien flopped down on the couch next to Lily, pulling her legs over his lap mindlessly.

“Can we head over to the clinic now?” I asked Liam.

“Where’s Missy?” he asked.

I smirked. “Confronting Maddox didn’t go so well,” Lily snorted. “She stomped up to her room about twenty minutes ago. I think it’s pretty safe to say she will be up there the rest of the night.” Liam nodded.

“Thank Goddess that I didn’t date in high school. Seems to be pretty dramatic,” he huffed. I just rolled my eyes. Liam ignored me and held his hands out to help me up. I grabbed them, and he helped pull me up from the couch.

“We’ll be back to tuck them in,” I told Lily and Damien. They both nodded, Damien’s eyes glued onto the kids arguing on the floor. Liam led me from the lounge, and we headed towards the door. Maddox passed us carrying two bowls of ice cream, and I smiled.

“What is that?” Liam asked

“He’s apologizing,” I told him knowingly.

“I haven’t seen Vlad around since the incident,” Liam commented as he opened the car door. The clinic isn’t far, but I still wasn’t supposed to walk that far.

“I noticed that too,” I said aloud now that we were alone. I climbed into the passenger seat and tried to get comfortable in the chair. Liam came around and got in the driver’s seat with one last lingering look at the packhouse. I reached over and squeezed his hand.

A couple of minutes later, we pulled into the clinic, and Liam helped me from the car. I yawned as we walked inside. “Tired, Little Luna?” Liam asked.

I took a nap with Leo earlier today, but I was getting tired again. “Just a bit.” To my surprise, Abe was waiting for us in the clinic. “Abe, what a surprise,” I greeted him. He bowed his head.

“Alpha, Luna,” he said.

“I have a theory, and Abe is going to do his best to help us with it,” Liam explained. I looked between them curiously but just nodded my head. Doctor Ron came out to greet us and take us back to the injured wolf.

“So, is he showing any improvement?” I asked as we all stopped outside the big window looking into the room.

“Unfortunately, no, Luna. Hiram is still about the same,” Doctor Ron said.

“And my theory?” Liam asked.

“You could be on the right track. I dug a little bit this afternoon after you called me but haven’t found much that was substantial,” Doctor Ron answered.

“I am hoping Abe may be able to help us with this,” Liam said.

“I will do my best, Alpha. But I am afraid the most I can do would be to give my opinion based on my own experience. I do not know much otherwise,” he said.

“Does someone want to fill me in?” I asked.

“I think the wound might be the bite of a vampire,” Liam said.

“A vampire? You think a vampire came with the rogues?” I clarified.

“I think multiple vampires were working with the rogues,” Liam said.

“Why?”

“Because Damien and I slaughtered two of them in the rogue camp,” he admitted. I looked at him, stunned for a minute. There were two vampires in the rogue camp where they found the kids? Why didn’t he tell me sooner?

“Can I take a look at the wound?” Abe said, breaking the awkward silence as I stared at Liam, shocked.

“Sure,” Doctor Ron said, moving towards the door. Abe followed, leaving Liam and me alone in the hallway.

“Were you going to tell me this?” I asked him.

“Yes, I was. I just started thinking of all the implications and didn’t want to worry you until I knew more,” he said.

“Liam, what does this mean?”

“My father might be right. We might be headed for a war,” he said quietly. A coldness dripped down my spine.

Abe and Doctor Ron returned to the hallway quickly. Liam turned to them. “The wound looks like a vampire bite, Alpha,” Abe said.

“Now we just need to find out how a vampire bite will affect a wolf and how to heal it,” Doctor Ron said. Liam and Abe locked eyes for a second. There was something they didn’t want to share with us.

“There is someone who might know,” I said.

“Who?” Liam asked.

“Theodore,” I answered.