Page 55 of The Married Alpha And His Arrow: Vol 2

Chase was laughing with Heath over Lexi’s pregnancy announcement to the Shroud. Matt linked me, “She’s pregnant? Your happy howl was about her being PREGNANT!? How could you not tell me that?!” I smirked, “Yes, that was why I did the happy howl.”

I linked my dad and Cameron, “Emergency family meeting when Lexi and I get home. Reagan, Nadine, and Susie need to be there too.” Cameron said, “Umm ok. You good?” I replied, “All good.” My dad linked back, “Son, is something wrong?” I laughed, “What’s with you two? Nothing bad we just all need to talk.” Both still seemed unsettled.

Derrick linked me, “Pregnant? Sally said Lexi wanted to change her timetable but damn you work fast.” I admitted, “That’s not exactly what happened.” Matt and Derrick asked, “What?” I needed to distract them from that conversation right now so I dropped the twins bomb.

Matt and Derrick linked me, “TWINS?!” Tony, who had slowly been creeping up on the group laughed. Anne squealed, forgetting her anger at being kept in the dark about me. She brought Lexi into a bear hug.

I noticed several Hood members were listening to us. They were edging to get closer, but some definitely heard Anne squeal twins. I was scanning the crowds before we went back inside. One man seemed upset, but that wasn’t necessarily about Lexi. One woman’s face was ashen, her face was in complete shock.

Matt linked me, “What are you staring at?” I answered, “I don’t know, maybe nothing. Probably nothing.” We walked inside and Matt engulfed me in a hug. He hit my back, “You dog! I can't believe you kept this from me!” I rolled my eyes, “For less than twenty-four hours. I kept Lexi a secret from you way longer.”

Matt joked, “Would you like a shovel to dig that hole there, Alpha?” I snorted. Derrick hugged me, “We are going to have pups around the same age just like us. Then in the summer we’ll have Matt and Ted’s pup. Our pups are all going to grow up together close in age. This is so cool!”

Matt and Derrick’s head whipped to me when Lexi brushed over how this came to be. Matt asked, “Chase?” Derrick linked me asking, “What was that?” I sighed and linked them both, “Noah switched out her birth control with mini-M&M’s. His plan was to abduct and rape her. He wanted her to have his child.” Derrick and Matt both growled in our link. I was holding myself back from going into a rage about it.

I replied, “I know. I’m going to destroy our gym later. It didn’t happen though. It’s NOT going to happen. We will not let him take her.” Matt agreed, “Fuck no we won’t!” Derrick growled, “No, he can’t have our Luna. That fucking psycho. Some of the shit he did to Sally was bad enough. I’m ripping this fucker apart, Chase.”

I agreed, “We all will. He wants what is ours Derrick and he can’t fucking have it.” Derrick nodded to me. Derrick linked, “I’m focusing on TeleTed convincing Joanie to move up their timeline because I can’t focus on that dead asshole.” I agreed, “Joanie has wanted a pup forever. She’ll jump at the chance to move it up.” I still felt bad that Ashton, her mate, had died on her birthday before he could mark her.

Lexi’s healings got mentioned. I linked Matt, “I want the footage of the attack.” Matt sighed, “We have it but...” I interrupted, “I want to see it.” Matt countered, “I don’t know if that…” I cut him off, “I WANT to see it.” Matt winced, “Alrighty then.”

I warned him, “If Alpha Davis knew about this, we are at war.” Matt replied, “He is claiming he had no knowledge of Gamma McCann’s plan. He honestly seemed scared shitless. It’s very un-Alpha of him.” I frowned, “Yes, it is. He does have allies. Not many, but he has them.”

Matt pointed out, “None close enough to help him. The bulk of his allies are in Illinois and Missouri. He even has a few in Kentucky.” I said, “We already knew he was an idiot.” Derrick chimed in, “His Beta has called too.” I asked, “Has he replaced his Gamma?” Derrick answered, “He did.” He was frowning.

I asked, “And….?” Derrick sighed, “He’s too young. It’s Gamma McCann’s sister’s pup. Their one ally in their area is going to be his mentor.” I said, “How old is he?” Derrick answered, “He’s seventeen.” I said, “That’s not horrible, but it’s not great.” Derrick said, “It’s not great. Gamma Booker, the seventeen year old, asked me why he was calling me. I was on his list.” I cringed, “He’ll get the hang of it.”

We were stunned to realize people in the Shroud thought the Scott’s family were dead. Matt linked me, “She thinks they are dead?” I nodded, “It certainly sounds that way. Her heartbeat indicates she’s not lying.” Matt groaned, “Shit.” I asked, “What?”

Matt explained, “Tony is rubbing his eyes. He does that when he’s getting a headache.” I pressed, “So?” Then Tony had to sit down. This was getting weird. I linked Matt and Derrick, “Please tell me this isn’t magic.” Derrick said, “It’s looking like it is.”

I felt Lexi’s shock when Heath named their mother’s ex-boyfriend. We hadn’t had time to catch her up on that yet. Everything had been so chaotic. Anne and Tony started shaking. I linked my Beta, “Fuck me.” Ted caught Anne as she fell, and Matt caught Tony.

Heath looked like he was in shock, but anger was coloring his features. We locked eyes. He knew what was happening. Derrick said it out loud. This was dark magic. Powerful, dark magic. The older members of their Shroud had to be under the spell. It was going to take time, research, and a powerful witch or warlock to undo this. Maybe even a whole coven.

Heath frowned over the information he got when they woke up, acting like nothing happened. I’m guessing that information wasn’t in his files. Ted’s head was bouncing around between all of us and Sally looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

I looked at Lexi realizing she had grown pretty pale. I linked Derrick, “FUCK! We need to get our mates out of here. This was supposed to be a happy thing that has turned into a stressful situation for our pregnant mates.” Derrick replied, “Agreed. Sally told me Hood women get into this cocoon of happiness place when pregnant. They can’t handle unhappy things and avoid stress in every possible situation.” Perfect. Wonderful. That must have been what that comment at lunch meant earlier then. Bolt growled, “Get mate out of here!”

My dad linked me, “What part of emergency was unclear to you, son?” I said, “We will be heading that way soon.” My dad grumbled, “Emergency! Get everyone together he says, it’s an emergency he says. IT’S BEEN FIFTEEN MINUTES!” I rolled my eyes. My father was being very dramatic today.

When Tony and Anne left, I linked Derrick and Matt, “Give us a minute here.” They both nodded and Derrick started to lead Sally out. Ted remained in the hall refusing to leave. I glanced at Matt who was in the hall with him when Heath mentioned Bjourn.

I linked him, “I thought our intel said the eldest Hackura Prince was NOT happy with Heath.” Matt replied, “He’s not, but they are connected through their sisters. He might have helped. I’m fairly certain they are actually friends too.”

Derrick chimed in, “Or he might have told him to contact Katie’s brothers.” I pointed out, “Wouldn't it make more sense to ask Prince Logan then instead of Prince Bjourn?” Matt said, “I believe the youngest brother is more upset with Heath than Bjourn is. That whole thing involved his little sister, and his mate’s little sister. Plus, Bjourn’s the one who’s going to take power. It makes sense that’s who he’d contact.” I guess that was true.

Matt linked, “So we do have a lot going on right now, and Derrick has linked me about this cocoon of happiness Lexi and Sally require during pregnancy. Maybe meeting with their terrible family can wait until after the birth of your pups.” I agreed, “Hopefully.”

Lexi was not in a forgiving mood, I guess. I linked Matt, “Pregnancy hormones are going to be a bear with her.” Matt replied, “Ted said you’ve got it wrong. It’s about Sophia, not pregnancy hormones.” I wanted to groan. “Can we just stop talking about her for a few days? Hell, let’s have a Sophia free zone for a whole twenty-four hours. Our fake marriage was annulled. Let’s just celebrate that victory.”

Derrick told me, “We toasted the end of your fake marriage. You were just curled up in a ball on Lexi’s bed so we couldn't celebrate with you.” I growled at them. Lexi and Heath were having their Sophia chat tomorrow. Great.

Matt linked me again, “Your Sophia wishes are NOT coming true.” I growled, “It's too soon to have that conversation. She’s not coming back here without me.” Matt said, “Umm we have a lot to do tomorrow. Thankfully, my Luna is here for me with her plans of meeting at our house.”

When Lexi took my hand, it clicked. She wanted Heath to have what we have. God damn it. Every holiday Sophia and I would be thrown together. Matt linked me, “I’m sure that will stop being awkward after a decade or two.” I sighed. He was right, eventually it wouldn't matter. We all lived long lives.

We ran back to the main house. Derrick linked, “You know we should start referring to Bolt as Pinkie... It fits.” Bolt snarled at them. Matt said, “I like Babs better.” Derrick howled, “A cartoon bunny?” Matt said, “We can tell Fang and he might chase... Chase.” They were both cackling. I needed this charm to wear off. Someone needed to tell Haley that I’d prefer a tattoo.

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