Maddox

I was on cloud nine for the rest of the night. Bless the Moon Goddess for dropping me right on this pack land. All I could think about the rest of the night was Missy saying I am special to her. She could have asked me to do just about anything after that, and I would have readily agreed after hearing those words from her mouth.

In truth, the only part of my birthday I was looking forward to was knowing if she is my mate. If Missy wasn’t, I knew I would be pretty down about it. When I came to this pack, I never imagined I had a chance at finding my mate after my pack was destroyed, but meeting Missy changed all of that. Everything about her makes me happy except, of course, Vlad.

Birthdays were always a big production in my old pack, especially 17th birthdays. It is probably the most important age in werewolf culture because you become of age and can find your mate. After everything that happened, I was disappointed to be celebrating on my own this year. I thought I would go to Missy’s party hoping that she did turn out to be my mate, but that would be it. It was upsetting to know my sister wouldn’t be making me my favorite strawberry cake and my parents wouldn’t be singing me ‘Happy Birthday’ this year. But knowing Missy wanted me with her made it a lot better.

Missy questioned me about food choices and decorations, telling me she knew Luna would ask her. At first, I tried to get her to pick what she wanted, but she was insistent on telling her mom some of my favorite things as well. Leo interrupted us twice, trying to put in his thoughts on what we should eat at the party and remind Missy that she owed him the first slice of cake. I couldn’t help the fond smile on my face as I watched her patiently listen to Leo and tell him she would think about it.

After Missy seemed satisfied with enough ideas to give her mom for the party, we built the kids a fort. I was actually a little jealous of the expert craftsmanship of a simple blanket fort the Blackfur children were able to pull off. When Leo immediately went to the closet, pulled out a step stool, and grabbed the blankets designated for fort building, I got the hint this was a regular occurrence. Once the fort was erected to include multiple rooms inside, Delilah and Little Liam took turns reading books to their siblings.

I pulled Missy from the room and back to hers while they settled inside their tent reading. She put up zero resistance, looking a bit tired.

“You’re a really good sister; you know that?” I told her when we were alone.

She shrugged. “No, really. My sister and I would fight like cats and dogs most of the time. I know she loved me, and I loved her, but she always picked on me, and I would do things to make her mad on purpose. Leo and Little Liam adore you. I can see it in their eyes; you are like a hero to them.” Her cheeks slowly turned a sweet shade of pink.

“I was an only child before and then about the time Junior came around, kids my age didn’t want to be my friend anymore. I spent more and more time with Junior and Delilah because I didn’t really have anyone else to play with. They were adorable babies, so it wasn’t all bad.” She sat down on the bed and crossed her legs.

“They are lucky to have you,” I told her. Her face continued to flush, and I internally cooed at how adorable she looked. She looked away from me, and I could tell she wanted to change the subject.

“I’m tired. Are you sleeping in here again?” she asked.

I nodded. “If that is okay with you?”

Missy chewed her l*p, looking back at me. “Yea,” she said softly.Belongs to © n0velDrama.Org.

“Still don’t want to be alone?” I asked softly. She shook her head. “Okay.” I didn’t need to tell her I would stay by her side as long as she wanted me there. After leaving alone after the attack, I wouldn’t make that mistake again.

–

“Two more, bud. You’re doing great!” I encouraged Little Liam.

“Arghhhh!” he yelled at me.

“You gotta work hard if you want to be strong. One more!” I did the pushups with him, and he griped and growled about it. When he asked me to train him, I don’t think he expected regular exercise as well. I wasn’t hard on him or anything, but I tried to get him to do some simple things like pushups, crunches, planks, and jumping jacks. “There, done!” I cheered for him. He fell to the ground dramatically. I let him relax for a minute after his ten pushups.

Finally, he sat up with a grumpy look on his face. “Can we fight now? I want to kick you,” he asked.

I laughed and nodded. “Let’s get some water, then you can fight me,” I told him. He got up, finding another burst of energy, and dashed over to our water bottles, snagging his to drink greedily. I pushed myself up off the ground and walked over to him, my eyes searching out Missy. Felix, Leo, and her were playing with a Frisbee close to the packhouse. It was mostly her and Leo, but he would throw it to Felix every few tosses, and Felix would begrudgingly toss it back to him.

Once I drank some water, Little Liam and I moved over to the sparring circle so we could fight. “Alright, come at me,” I said, dropping into a relaxed fighting stance. He put his small fists up and did the same.

He threw his body forward to attack me with all his might. I let him land a punch on me before stepping away from his next one. I shouldn’t be too surprised at his strength even so young because he is an Alpha.

We went round and round like that for a while. I would let him get a hit here and there, but I would also dodge and evade him to make him think about his movement. It wasn’t until a throat cleared at the edge of the sparring ring that had me stopping and my stomach sinking.

Liam

“I really can’t thank you enough for your help, Langston,” I told him.

“Nonsense. If allies can’t help each other, then we don’t stand a chance against enemies. You’re a good Alpha, and protecting Azalea is important. I would probably feel the same if Emma didn’t have her own wolf,” he admitted. Langston and I were headed to the training fields to do some sparring. Being an Alpha himself, we were pretty evenly matched and occasionally trained together to challenge each other. We both trained with our own Betas, who were undoubtedly comparable, but this also gave us a chance to be comfortable fighting with one another.

“Well, I think Azeron and Azalea are getting along just as well as she did with Felix, so it’s a huge weight off my shoulder. Thanks,” I said.

His eyes narrowed at the sparring ring in front of us, and my gaze followed. “Is that your boy and your daughter’s friend? Maddox, was it?”

It was, in fact, Junior sparring with Maddox. Irritation rose in me as we approached, our pace slowing as we watched the boys. Langston gave a thoughtful snort as we came to a halt far enough away from them that they wouldn’t notice yet. “That’s pretty impressive.”

I watched as Junior tried to kick Maddox, his form actually correct, if not a little sloppy. Langston continued, “I am surprised you aren’t training your boy yourself. But it looks like the young man has some natural talent. How long have they been working together?”

“That is a good question,” I muttered with a frown. Maddox was a very naturally gifted young man. Before the attack, he regularly trained with me and seemed just to soak up everything Felix or I taught him. He enthusiastically worked, always giving it his best effort with little complaint. He was driven and intelligent. I watched as he patiently allowed Junior to land a punch to his side before slowly dipping down and pulling his leg from under him. I expected Junior to slam to the ground, but he broke his fall, rolling out of it in a fluid movement and back to his feet.

“I don’t know if I have ever seen a six-year-old do that,” Langston said, raising his eyebrows. “Maddox taught him that?”

“I guess so,” I said, astonishment now battling my irritation. We watched the boys for a few more minutes before Langston suggested we join them. As we closed the remaining distance to the sparring ring, I could hear Maddox give Junior praise and guidance as he moved.

“Good,” he said. “Stay on your toes. Just like that.”

I cleared my throat, and they both stopped. Junior turned and paled slightly when he saw me. Maddox looked like he was going to melt on the spot. “Training?” I asked. Junior nodded hesitantly, but Maddox was frozen.

Langston walked over and clapped Maddox on the shoulder. “You have a gift, son. How long have you been training to be a warrior?”

“Um,” he stuttered for a second. “Only around a month now, sir.”

Langston chuckled. “Well, I will be damned. I would have guessed you were Damien’s or Felix’s son if I didn’t know any better. You sure know your stuff.”

“Thank you,” Maddox said quietly.

Junior was looking down at the ground, a guilty look on his face. “Sorry, Dad,” he linked me.

“You clearly remember me telling you that you are too young to fight. Why are you out here with Maddox?” I asked him silently while Langston spoke to Maddox.

“It’s not Maddox’s fault! I asked him and he said if Sissy said it was okay and I didn’t tell her you said no! It’s my fault. Don’t punish Maddox! He’s so nice to me and Sissy and Leo-”

“I’m not going to punish either of you,” I stopped his silent ramble.

“You’re not? We aren’t in trouble?”

“I am not sure yet. You did do this behind my back. Alphas are honest, Liam,” I told him.

“I’m sorry, Dad. I really am.”

“Why did you ask Maddox to train you?”

“Because he is strong enough to keep Sissy safe. I want to be strong like him and you. I want to keep Sissy and Leo and Delilah and Lucas safe like you keep us safe.”

I let out a sigh. So, this was about the kidnapping. I beckoned him forward with my hand, crouching down to his level.

“It isn’t your job to keep everyone safe just yet,” I said softly, placing my hands on his arms. “You are a kid, and your job is to be a kid. You have plenty of time before you need to worry about keeping anyone safe, okay?”

He nodded but kept quiet. “It’s okay to be scared sometimes. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but even I get scared.”

“No, you don’t. You’re the Alpha, Dad. Nothing scares you,” he said.

I shook my head. “Lots of things scare me. When those bad guys took you, I was scared. Training won’t make you not scared anymore; it’s going to help you take that fear and stop the thing that scares you.”

“Then I want to do that. I want to change the fear,” he said confidently. He had a steely look in his eyes that I couldn’t help but compare to Azalea. She would give me the same look when she was putting her foot down about something.

“Okay,” I agreed. “You can train with Maddox, but you can’t interfere with his training. And school comes first.”

He nodded his head, smiling now. “Maddox is a good teacher, Dad. He made me fall like 1000 times, but now I don’t hurt my butt when he knocks me down.”

“Did he? Well, that is pretty good,” I said. I looked up at Langston and Maddox, who were watching us now. “How about some training with Alpha then?”