His Redemption (Complete His Series)

Azalea

I knew I had to tell him. Gwen finding out about us was not what I wanted to happen. Her words shook me to the core. It was physically hurting me to think about Liam rejecting me as his mate. Before I could think about it, I let the words fall out of my mouth.

“Liam, I am scared. I don’t want to lose you. I have never felt like this, and that scares me too. But when you’re with me, I am okay. I feel warm inside and safe,” I said.

He stiffened around me. Then he tightened his grip on me, and I buried myself even deeper into his embrace. He nuzzled the top of my head, and I inhaled deeply, basking in his calming scent.From NôvelDrama.Org.

“You won’t lose me, Azalea. We will figure this out,” he said calmly.

We stood there embracing each other for what felt like ages. Finally, I pulled away from him and asked, “Why is she here? Why are there pack members at the Inn?”

He gave me a guilty look. With a sigh, he said, “This is going to be a long story. And probably a little jarring. We should sit down.”

I nodded my head. We moved over to my bed. He climbed on top, sitting his back against my headboard. Before I could get fully on the bed, he picked me up like I was a feather and placed me in his lap. With how serious he was acting, I cannot say that I was complaining about being close to him. He held me close to him, placing his chin on top of my head. I laid my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat while I waited for answers.

“Before I start, I need you to know that I will not let anyone or anything hurt you. And I do not give a s**t what the rest of the pack thinks; I have every intention of being with you, Azalea. I am not going to leave you unless you send me away.”

I smiled and nodded my head. He was so reassuring; his words gave me small butterflies in my stomach.

“There have been a few attacks on our territory lately. Nothing crazy at first. We thought maybe a couple of rogues. But recently, we were led to believe it could be a hunter,” he paused. I waited for him to continue. “A few nights ago, a neighboring pack was also attacked. Do you remember Alpha Langston from Crystal Waters?” I nodded my head. He was a nice man. He had been to the packhouse to meet with Alpha Robert and attend gatherings a few times. He always gave me a warm smile and even held the door open for me once.

“I met with him about all of this. We thought we could monitor the situation, but then attacks became more frequent. We decided to come together for a hunt. Last night, we both brought groups of warriors out to search the territory.”

“Did you catch the hunter?” I asked.

“Not exactly. We found something but not the hunter. We found a sign on our pack’s territory. That sign was a message to me.”

“How do you know it was for you?” I asked, confused.

“Because it had your sweater nailed to it. The one you wore on our date,” he said solemnly.

My body stiffened. My sweater? How? When? I jumped up from the bed and ran over to my dresser, where my clean laundry was folded in a basket, waiting to be put away. I began digging through the basket. I know I washed it with the rest of my clothes yesterday. I got to the bottom and didn’t find the sweater. I looked back to Liam with terror on my features.

“How? When?” I asked, fright evident in my voice. My mind was spinning. Someone had gotten into my apartment.

“I don’t know. But he knows that you are important to me.”

“Does he know what I am? That we are mates?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Is that why there are wolves here? Did you send them to watch me?”

He sighed. “Sort of. They do not know that you are my mate or who you are. Well, they weren’t supposed to….” He got up and came over to me. “I sent them here to help watch over you and look for anyone suspicious. There are also patrols running all around town day and night. Damien helped me arrange it. He had Lily help him in order to speed things up, and she sent Gwen,” he said cautiously. “I promise, neither of us would have sent her here. I wouldn’t have sent anyone that would have been able to identify you.”

“Damien? Lily? What are you talking about?” I asked, confused. Damien was the Beta’s son; I knew that. He and Liam were best friends growing up; Damien picked on me but not nearly as much as his sister Gwen.

“Oh right,” he said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “I had to tell Damien what was going on. I have been gone a lot, and he has been dealing with things in my absence since he is my Beta. Lily is his mate. I don’t think you knew her growing up. She was a year older than us and never spent much time in the packhouse. And don’t worry; Damien has already accepted you as my mate. He would never do anything to you,” he said, trying to reassure me.

Tears threatened to spill from my eyes again. This was all so much. Hunters after Liam? And now they were here and coming after me? And others in the pack knew about Liam and me. Doctor Ronald hasn’t even figured out what is wrong with me or how to fix it.

“I don’t know if this hunter will come after you,” he said, hanging his head. “His message made sure to mention that I couldn’t protect you. I wouldn’t put it past him to come for you to get to me. Alphas are like ultimate trophies for hunters.”

“So, what do we do?” I whispered, not trusting my voice.

“I think you’re going to like this part even less… I need to take you away with me. Further into pack territory where I can keep you safe.”

My mouth dropped open. I needed to go back towards the pack? Back to the people who, like Gwen, rejected my very existence?

“Listen,” he said, reaching out to grab my arms, “I am not taking you back to the packhouse. I will not make you go there until you want to. I am going to take you to my parent’s lake house. They don’t use it, and since we all grew up, it is pretty much empty. Damien already sent a few people over to clean it up and stock it for me. We will be safe. And the patrols won’t come close enough to know who you are.”

I nodded my head, trying to process all this. I did not trust myself to speak right now as tears were already threatening to erupt from my eyes. Liam reached up and brushed a few stray hairs from my face and looked into my eyes.

“Azalea, I will do anything to protect you. I never wanted to force you to do anything you weren’t ready for, but I need you to come to the lake house with me,” he said, imploring me to understand. I closed my eyes and nodded my head. He pulled me into his chest, kissing the top of my head. “Thank you, sweetheart,” he whispered.

After a few more minutes, I finally broke the silence, “Do we have to go tonight?” I asked in a barely audible whisper.

“No,” he said. “You can stay here tonight.”

Without thinking, I asked, “Will you stay with me?”

He smiled into my hair.