His Redemption (Complete His Series)

Liam

I heard the front door open and close. I peeked my head out the office door while still talking to Damien. It was like someone smacked me in the face. My senses went into overdrive as I smelled it. Gavin forced himself forward, and I did little to hold him back.

My phone still in my hand, my conversation now completely forgotten, I was standing in the doorway to the kitchen staring at the magnificent a*s of my mate as she stood in front of the open freezer door.

“Liam, what’s wrong-” she said, but I could not hear her. I was focused on one thing only. A growl ripped its way through me. She was mine, and I needed to mark her now. My body began to move towards her. It had to be Gavin pushing me towards her.

“Stop, Liam. You’re scaring me,” her small voice came into my head.

“STOP NOW. We can’t do this!” I yelled at Gavin.

“She is in heat. It is time to mate. We will mate and mark her now!” he growled back.

“L-Liam,” she stuttered. I stopped only inches from her. Gavin and I argued as she stood there in fear. I could smell it rolling from her; it mixed with her heat, tempting Gavin even further. I was able to keep Gavin from moving any closer to her, both of us fighting for dominance.

“We will lose her forever!” I argued.

“She needs to mate!” he shot back.

“She will never forgive either of us!”

“She will be fine!”

We continued like this, vaguely aware that Azalea was answering her phone. I had to get control long enough to get out of here. Azalea was not safe from me if I didn’t. Every fiber of my being wanted to throw her over the counter and slam my c**k deep inside her. I realized it must be Lily calling her. Damien was on the phone with me and probably still was, and only Lily would think to call Azalea even if they had not met yet. I needed control for about two minutes. I bet Lily has already figured out what is going on.

With all my might, I pushed Gavin back into my mind. I stepped forward, scaring Azalea a bit. I grabbed the phone from her hand and yelled into it, “Lily, get here now, bring Damien.” I threw the phone back in Azalea’s hands and ran from the house, the front door slamming behind me. I ran into the trees trying to get as far from the house as I could. Gavin raged in my mind, trying to gain control and take us back to our mate. I wanted to mate her the minute I saw her again and have wanted to every minute since, but it had to be her choice. I could not take her choice from her. I did it once and would never let it happen again.

I ran as far as I could away from the house. I could feel someone trying to link me. Damien barely slipped through.

“Hold on, Lily and I are coming. Just stay out of the house!” he managed to get out before he was pushed out of my head by Gavin.

“We’re going back!”

“No!” I fought.

The farther we got, the harder it was to keep control. I could feel Gavin slowly taking control of our body, and before I knew it, we were running back towards the lake house. Any attempt at reasoning with him was getting lost. He had a sole purpose, and that was to mate Azalea.

In what felt like no time at all, we were at the front door trying to get in. Azalea must have locked it after I ran from the house because I could not get the door open. All the doors on the house were reinforced because werewolves were so strong. It had a good chance of keeping an average werewolf out, but I am an Alpha. It took only about two minutes of feverous pounding before the door was smashed open.

Gavin knew where she was and made a beeline for the bedroom. Once again faced with a locked door, he continued to pound on it until he could break it open.

“It is not too late. Stop! Just let it pass, and we can talk to her! We can see if she is ready!” I tried desperately. Her scent consumed the whole room. Looking around, he realized the bathroom door was closed, and the shower was running. Good, Lily is trying to cool her down, trying to get her scent to stop so we have a chance at calming down.

Gavin pounded on the bathroom door, again trying to get through it to our mate. I knew she had to be terrified on the other side. Before he could open it, I felt large arms come around me and pull us away from the door.

“Dai, through him in the damn lake. Cool him off and get Liam back now!” Lily’s stern voice screamed at her mate. Damien wasted no time in pulling us from the room. Gavin put up a good struggle all the way to the dock before Damien managed to toss us in. Gavin howled as we hit the water.

With the lack of Azalea’s heat around us and being thrown in the water, I was able to take back control and calm my body down. I surfaced from the water, trying to catch my breath.

“That was close,” Damien said as I swam over to the dock. He held his hand out to help me onto it.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“Yea, I know,” I said, slumping down on the edge of the dock. My feet dangled over the water as I sat dripping wet. Damien sat down next to me.

“You good now? Gavin pushed out for now?” he asked.

“Yea, I think so. But man, I don’t know how much longer I can stop him from hurting her.”

“You are going to have to mate with her soon, man. Especially if you don’t want him forcing the issue. He has been in limbo for three years; you gotta know he is going to crack.”

“I can’t do it until she is ready. I don’t care how weak it makes me or how crazy it makes him; Damien, I can’t mess this up with her.” I was feeling a little defeated. Who knew if she was even going to talk to me after all that? I just keep messing up.

“Have you talked to her about it?”

“Not really,” I admitted.

“Well, she is going to be a little more aware of the urgency of all of this now…” he trailed off. We sat there looking over the water for a few more minutes.

“Lily just linked. Azalea is okay and calm now. She also gave her more of the whole story here. She is going to want to talk to both of us later,” he said. He clearly knew Lily would have an earful for both of us.

“What should we do now?” I asked. I knew Damien never had to deal with any of this, but he was my best friend, and I had no idea what to do.

“Lily thinks Azalea would want you right now. She said the scent is gone, and she opened all the windows in the house. Fans are on, too, so nothing should be left. It should be pretty safe to go back. I will go with you,” he said.

“What if she won’t talk to me?”

“I don’t know, man. But you gotta try. Maybe Azalea will surprise you. You still have a mate bond after all.” With that, he stood up and looked at me expectantly. I guess I was going back in to get my mate.

We slowly hiked back up through the yard and to the back door. The sliding door was off the track. I looked at Damien, who immediately knew what I was thinking. “I’ll get some doors sent out here, and we can fix all this. No need for other people to come in the house. But this one is going on your credit card,” he said.

“Fair enough,” I said, quietly thankful for how great a Beta Damien was. We walked through the house and up to the second floor. I stopped outside the bedroom door; I took a deep breath before knocking. Moments later, Lily opened the door a bit. She looked at me before looking back into the room.

“Can I see her?” I asked quietly. Lily nodded her head and stepped aside. I looked into the room and saw Azalea sitting on the bed. Her damp hair hung over one shoulder. Her nose was red, like she was cold. Her green eyes were soft and clear as they gazed at me. She was wearing some black leggings with my sweatshirt, the one I gave her years ago. She hugged her arms to her body but showed no fear towards my appearance.

I held my breath as I stepped into the room. Her eyes watered as she finally whispered, “Liam.” I moved to her swiftly. Kneeling down in front of her, I reached forward to hug her. She willingly moved into my embrace. “You didn’t leave me…” she whispered into my shoulder.

“No, never, baby. I am so sorry. I had to get away from you. I didn’t want to hurt you,” I said quickly, trying to reassure both of us. I pulled away from her and took her face in my hands.

“Please don’t be mad at me?” I pleaded with her. She nodded her head. Leaning forward, I kissed her slightly puffy lips. She was still cold under my hands. “Are you cold?” I asked her. She nodded her head again. I pulled her into my chest, holding her small frame to my large body. I breathed in her scent, trying to calm my nerves. She wasn’t rejecting me.

Her body relaxed in my arms as we sat there. “We will get through this,” I said quietly into her hair. She didn’t make a move to acknowledge what I said. Shifting slightly, I looked down and found that she was asleep in my arms. I guess all of this was a little too much for her. Smiling, I gripped her in my arms and stood up.

“Now that she is asleep, we should probably talk,” Damien linked me. I knew they were both in the hall listening. I hesitated. I didn’t want to leave her, but Damien was right. I needed to have a plan for when her heat came back.

“Just come in here,” I linked him back. I sat on the bed, holding Azalea to me. I could not bring myself to put her down right now. Lily and Damien came in and sat on the couch. Lily jumped right in.

“So aside from REJECTING a perfectly great girl and then not even making sure it was done CORRECTLY, you are a fool for not thinking about this happening! I mean, seriously, Liam, how long did you think you could go before this all started? You know your need to mate is much greater than the average wolf!” She paused, looking between Damien and me. I guess he was almost as guilty in her eyes right now as I was. I hung my head in shame. “Well, now we gotta figure out what we’re going to do. Separating you probably won’t work. And it’s just going to get worse until this passes or you mate. With how small she is, I am surprised it didn’t knock her off her feet this time. The pain, heat, and need are only going to get exponentially worse. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” I said, looking down at her.

“We can stay here if you think it will help,” Damien piped up, looking from Lily to me. She nodded her head at him.

“That is probably a smart idea. If we are around, we can help make sure she isn’t hurt. I can call your uncle and see what he can tell me about easing the symptoms for her,” Lily said. I knew she was already making plans in her head. Not only was Damien a great Beta and always on top of things, but Lily also complimented him perfectly by being the most unconditionally supportive mate I had ever met.

“Okay. Having you guys here could also be helpful. I was so distracted all morning trying to work knowing Azalea was out of my sight.”

Damien nodded in agreement. “Lily, can you go back to the packhouse and get our things? I should probably be the one to stay here just in case. If she flares back up, I will be the only one that can physically stop him,” he said to Lily.

“Yea, I can do that,” she said, getting up. “I better get going then. The sooner I am back, the better.” She leaned over and kissed Damien; he smiled like a love-struck bear and kissed her back. A look passed between them before she left. My eyes went back to my sweet mate in my arms. She slept soundly, her face soft and calm. I stroked her hair, and she cuddled even closer into me.

“She’s good for you,” Damien said, snapping my attention back to him. He was standing in the doorway now. “I don’t think you or Gavin are going to hurt her. I am going to make us all some food. Link me if you need me.” he finished. With that, he left Azalea and me alone.

“Gavin, we need to talk.”