Page 8 of The Married Alpha And His Arrow: Vol 2

I growled, “You’ll let them be closer next time at least until Noah is caught. They are her shadows.” Heath said, “I wish your shadows luck with that, but personally I have no problem with it.” Kyler and Kevin were not happy. Kyler reiterated, “We are sorry, Alpha.” I told him, “I don’t need you to be sorry. I need you both to get better.”

I walked out before I could say anything else. This wasn’t their fault, but I was beyond reason. I turned and faced the group that followed me outside. I said, “Cameron, I need you with me.” Cameron snorted, “You weren’t going to get rid of me. I was coming whether you liked it or not.” I asked, “Dad?” My dad rolled his eyes, “Did you even need to ask? Are you being serious right now?” I said, “Matt, Derrick, Kincade, let’s go bring our Luna home.” They nodded.

Heath joined us as we started to leave. Ted stepped forward. Matt ordered, “Ted, you need to stay here.” Ted yelled, “The HELL I do! I have THINGS to say to Mr. Scott if he’s still alive. My dad has mourned him, Lexi turned to drugs, and Heath had to grow up in a flash. They have my girl! They could’ve waited for Heath to show up instead of taking her!”

Matt sighed, “Tate will be there.” Ted continued as if he hadn’t said anything, “They HAD to know Heath was coming for her. They’ve made us all worry, and then they didn’t even give her back right away! Besides, I’m the only one who knows all about the drug charm.”

I asked, “How long will she be sick?” Ted answered, “Well, she will be sick, sick, a few more hours. She won’t feel good for a while though. Haley wasn’t exactly sure on the timing.” I groaned, “Of course not. Fairy’s.” Ted frowned, “Don’t blame Haley. She did it for a good damn reason.”

I assured him, “I don’t doubt that. I also don’t think she’s the fairy who came up with the damn charm in the first place, was she? She got it out of some book she read, right?” They didn’t even train her so all she knew was what the book said. Which was the fairies’ fault to me. Ted acknowledged, “No, she didn’t make it up. I’m still coming with you.”

Matt said, “Babe, I need you to be safe.” Ted asked, “So? Do you think you won’t be safe? You’re there with the Alpha, warriors, the Hood leader, and my brother.” Matt sighed, “We don’t know what we are walking into. Someone could’ve taken her to barter with Heath. She might not even be there.” I growled.

Matt continued, “If she’s really sick, they also might not bring her because she’s receiving treatment.” Heath disagreed, “She’ll be there.” I questioned, “How do you know?” Heath said, “Because it’s either my father or someone related to him. They wouldn’t want to make a bad first impression with me. This is our first encounter. If it’s my father, then he won’t want to do anything to make me even more pissed off at him. Lexi will be at the meet. Whether she feels good or not.”

I argued, “You don’t know that. You don’t know them. If this is your father, he’s not the man you knew. Lexi told me your father wouldn’t have let you two hurt the way you were hurting all these years if he was still alive.” Heath admitted, “No, he wouldn’t have. Maybe it wasn’t him on the phone. It just sounded like him.” Everyone could hear the hope in his voice, but we didn’t know what to say. I doubted it was their dad based on what I’d heard from Lexi, but I couldn’t be certain.

We started to leave and Ted still followed us. Matt sighed, “Ted, come on.” Ted asked, “Come on what? Chase, if I’m there there’s someone to get Lexi back here right away.” That was a good point. Matt growled, “NO! Stay here. I’ll link you if we need someone to bring her home.” Ted turned on his heel and ran to his place. Matt muttered, “Shit.” under his breath.

Heath smirked but said nothing. We all got into an SUV. I linked Kincade, “Have some warriors follow us discreetly. If we need to fight, I want them nearby.” Kincade nodded. After a few moments Heath asked, “Why are your people following us?” I explained, “In case this is a trap, not unlike why Tate is following us.” He nodded.

I turned, “Kincade, Lexi is your priority. If she is there and we have to fight, you get to her and get her out of there.” Kincade nodded. Heath studied me, “You love her.” I asked, “Did you think I didn’t?” Heath retorted, “You are a married man.” I growled, “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! WILL PEOPLE STOP SAYING THAT?!” Heath snarked, “Then stop being married.” I growled, “I’m trying. I’ve BEEN trying!”

Heath’s jaw locked and he looked out the window. I emphasized, “I really am. I do love your sister more than anything. She’s everything to me, she’s my future.” Heath looked back at me and studied my profile. He asked, “You mean that. Don’t you?”

I stopped the car and parked. I turned to face him, “I do mean that. I want your sister to be my wife. I want pups with her, and I want to grow old and grey with her. I would die for her, and I will NEVER let Noah have her. She’s mine and I’ll never let her go.” Heath asked, “Even if she wanted to go?” I growled.

Cameron interjected, “She doesn’t want to leave Chase and she’s marked. They can’t leave each other now.” Heath muttered, “How convenient.” I gritted my teeth, “You have NO IDEA how much I held back with her. I haven’t met an Alpha that didn’t mark their mate within a few days of meeting them. I bit my own damn arm several times to avoid it. I fought with my wolf which was a damn headache. She ASKED me to mark her. She told me she couldn’t stand not being mine anymore. What did you want me to do? Tell her to suck it up? She was scared I would reject her when she asked me.”

Heath countered, “Do you think when she finds out you are married, she won’t feel rejected and betrayed? Did you hold back so you could be with others? I know you can’t cheat on her now, but you could’ve before.” Bolt snarled, “He did not say that!” I replied, “He did.”

I growled and got out of the car, vibrating with anger. Heath followed me along with everyone else. I yelled, “I have NOT been with anyone else since the day I laid my eyes on your sister. Hell, since my wolf told me my mate had been near, I haven’t been with anyone else. It’s her. Only her. I would never disrespect her like that.” I punched Heath right in the face.

My dad grumbled, “Sure, son. That will help the situation.” Heath gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. He said, “Fine. Let’s go.” His phone rang and he answered, “Hello.” Someone replied, “It's good to hear your voice, cousin.” Heath snorted, “I don’t have any damn cousins.” The man laughed, “You do. I’m a few years older than you. Your mouthy younger sister is on the way.” I growled.

Heath warned him, “Don’t you dare say one bad word about my sister.” The cousin replied, “I didn’t. She’s quite interesting, and not at all what I was expecting. Is it true she had a drug problem?” Heath angrily spat, “Nothing about my sister or me is any of your damn business. Who is this?”

The man laughed, “I told you, I’m your cousin. The name’s Jasper.” Heath asked, “When will Lexi be here?” Jasper said, “I’m sure they will run fast enough to make their deadline. We do want you to like us.” Heath scoffed, “Look, if you are my family, I’d have liked you a hell of a lot more had this meeting come about a little over a decade ago.”

Jasper sighed, “I was fourteen when your parents were killed. What was I supposed to do?” Heath admitted, “Nothing.” Jasper said earnestly, “All of us have wanted to meet you and Lexi your whole lives. James' first meeting with Lexi was interesting. Not your father, his namesake.” I growled.

Jasper chuckled, “Ahh, so you are with the Alpha wolf. Do you approve of them together? I can’t say I think he deserves my cousin. Of course, he’s FAR better than your former Lieutenant.” Heath bit back, “What I do or do not approve of concerning Lexi or anything else is none of your business. I’m also no longer curious why you called my sister mouthy. If you were dumb enough to insult Chase in her presence, I’m guessing you have a black eye or two.” I raised an eyebrow at him.

I linked Cameron, “She’s never hit Heath, and he hates me.” Cameron replied, “I don’t think he talks badly about you to her. I think he just lets his disdain show in front of you.” I said, “Thank the goddess for small graces I suppose.”

Jasper sighed, “We didn’t want to overwhelm her. She only met our grandparents, your other grandparents, my dad, and she knew James. So, he insisted on staying. It turned out to be a good thing.” I asked, “Was this meeting recorded? If you weren’t there, how do you know it was a good thing?”

Jasper explained, “The room was wired. We were all watching in a different room. It would’ve gone south had James not been there.” Heath asked quietly, “So did I speak with my father’s brother earlier then?” Jasper answered, “Yes, you spoke with your uncle. His name is Jordan, and he’s my dad.”

Heath’s relief was palpable. Heath argued, “He’s not my damn uncle.” Jasper commented, “You and Lexi are a lot alike. You are both very angry.” Heath snarled, “You have NO idea. If you think my sister’s angry, you just fucking wait. Do you have a sister, Jasper?”

Jasper answered, “Yes, I do.” Heath said, “Then imagine how fucking angry you would be if she developed a drug habit at thirteen years old because she was trying not to feel anymore. Trying to get the images of your dead parents out of her head. I knew something was wrong, but I thought she needed space. I was a stupid kid who didn’t know a damn thing. I wasn’t supposed to be a parent, but I was. I watched her go through withdrawals. I never left her side as she got clean. I blamed myself every step of the way, but now the adults you know can take that from me. They should’ve been there for us, but they abandoned us instead.” With that, Heath hung up on him.

Our car was silent. Eventually I said, “No matter what they say Heath, you did a good job becoming a leader and raising Lexi. I’ve seen her fight and she’s good.” Kincade agreed, “She is. I’ve seen her fight multiple times. She’s not only skilled at fighting, but she’s also skilled at giving herself more time. You can see her planning while she talks to people. You trained her well.”

Heath muttered, “I made mistakes with her.” My dad put a hand on his shoulder, “Hey, I’m a parent and I made mistakes with my pups. Hell, I still do and I chose to have them all. You’re her brother not her dad. You were sixteen years old, and you didn’t sign up to have a kid. After all this time being a parent sometimes, I don’t even know if I should give my pups space or not.”

I snorted, “What space? You gave us space?” Cameron added, “I don’t think dad knows the meaning of the word.” Cameron paused then added, “I do though. It’s a balance knowing when to give your sibling space. You were just a teenager yourself, Heath. I doubt anyone would’ve done anything differently.”

---