by Maggie Walsh
“Alpha Prime mate,” Evan said and bowed his head. “Thank you for inviting us.”
“You must be Evan. We spoke on the phone. I’m sorry it was such short notice, but something has been brought to my attention and I really wanted to nip it in the bud as fast as possible,” Jesse explained.
Evan’s face fell and he looked like he was about to get sick. Bailey began to get nervous. “Is there something wrong, Alpha Prime mate?”
Jesse returned Evan’s look of worry and then he smiled. “No, there’s nothing for you to worry about. I’m sorry to alarm you. It’s an error on my part,” Jesse explained.
“I don’t understand,” Evan said in confusion.
“As the Alpha’s mate it is up to me to make our pack feel welcome and at home. Unfortunately I was away when you and your boys moved to town and I wasn’t able to welcome you myself. I was hoping having you all here for dinner would make up for my absence. I apologize for my not being here to help you all adjust and become familiar with our town and our pack.”
Evan looked stunned. They all looked stunned. The Alpha mate was apologizing to them? “There’s nothing to apologize for, Alpha Prime mate. We never expected you to personally come and welcome us. We understand how busy you are,” Evan said, in awe of the man.
Jesse gave him a big smile. “First let’s start off by letting you all know, that the Angel Pack is like no other pack you have been with before. We see each other as family here. This pack was my mate’s dream. He wanted somewhere where wolves and recently other types of paranormals who have nowhere else to go, who feel like they have been abandoned by their birth packs, or kicked out of their birth packs, to have somewhere safe. Somewhere they could be who they are, without judgement or persecution for being different or what some in the outside would call a freak. That’s why he named his town Sanctuary. And it doesn’t matter how busy I am, it is my part, my pleasure, to make sure everyone in this pack feels like they belong,” he continued.
“So let’s start with introductions. Please call me Jesse. And who are all your handsome young men here?”
“Thank you, Alph―Jesse,” Evan said. “This is Tucker, and Mitchell,” Evan introduced the two closest to him, then pointed out each of them as he said their name. “Shane, Sage, and Syn. Over there is Matthew, and over here is Bailey and Josh.”
“It’s great to finally meet you all. I have heard a little about some of you,” Jesse said with a smile.
“I’m sure you heard plenty about Matthew,” Sage whispered under his breath.
Jesse turned his amazing icy blue eyes on Sage and smiled. “Yes, I have heard more about Matthew than anyone else. But I’m sure we’ll all get to know each other better after tonight.”
“The rest of our brood should be streaming in soon,” Micah said with a chuckle. “So you’ll get to meet the enforcers and their mates.”
“We’re honored, Alpha Prime,” Evan said.
“Please, Evan, call me Micah. And I don’t know how honored you’ll be after you meet everyone.” Micah laughed.
Jesse elbowed him in the ribs. “Behave, mate,” Jesse admonished him with a laugh as well and his eyes were so full of love as he looked at the Alpha. The love that shone from each of their eyes as they looked at each other was so blinding it just made you want to crawl into it and stay there safe forever.
“Did I hear someone say behave? Because you know that’s just impossible for me to accomplish. And it’s boring as hell.” A voice came from the doorway behind them. A man stepped around the couch and they got their first look at who had spoken. Bailey’s jaw dropped. The man was so gorgeous. He was slim, but had some muscle definition. He had beautiful blond hair, with pink streaks in it, and it was shaved on one side of his head. His deep-blue eyes popped, thanks to the blue kohl liner he wore. He had on a pair of skin-tight black jeans and a tight sleeveless golf shirt, with a black, white, and gray stripe pattern. It made him look sexy as fuck. And he wore a pair of black six-inch heels, which made his legs look like they wouldn’t stop. And holding his hand was another hot guy, who was almost as big as the Alpha.
“Yes, we know it’s impossible for you to behave, Taylor,” Jesse said with amusement.
“You got that right, hot stuff,” Taylor said and walked to Jesse, kissing him on the cheek and then moved away. He and the man Bailey guessed was his mate turned to look at them.
“Gabriel, Taylor, this is Evan Donaldson and his boys,” Micah introduced them all. When he got to Bailey, Taylor’s eyes stayed on him and he gave Bailey a soft smile.
“It’s great to finally meet all of you. I’m sorry Jesse and I were away in the underworld when you all arrived and couldn’t meet you before now,” Taylor said.
“The underworld?” Sage asked in awe, eyes wide. “Like the real underworld?”
Taylor looked to him with a smile. “Yes, it’s not such a bad place,” he said with a laugh.
“That’s only because you and Jesse were safely kept in my compound with the Legion Warriors, my young Taylor.” Another large, hot man walked into the room from the wall and all of them, except Jesse, Micah, Taylor, and Gabriel jumped.
“Dad, what are you doing here?” Jesse asked and stood up. The large man Jesse called Dad walked over to him and gave Jesse a kiss on the cheek as Jesse hugged him.
“I needed to speak with your mate and the rest of the council. I may have some news about you know who,” he explained and gave Jesse a pointed look.
Jesse nodded and got a worried look on his face. “We have company for dinner. Can it wait a few hours or does it have to be now?”
“I’m sorry to interrupt. It can wait, Jesse. I’ll be back later,” he said and kissed Jesse’s cheek again.
“Seeing as you’re already here, why don’t you join us for dinner?” Jesse offered.
“Are you sure?” he asked hesitantly.
“Of course he’s sure, Pops,” Micah said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
The large scary man turned and narrowed his eyes at the Alpha. “I swear, son-in-law or not, a huge flame to burn your ass,” the man said, but there was no threat behind it, just amusement to match the smile on his face.
“All right, you two, that’s enough. We have company,” Jesse admonished them with a smile of his own, as the big scary man and the Alpha shook hands. “Everyone, this is my father, Phenex. He is the leader of the Legion Warriors.” Jesse introduced him and then introduced them all.
Slowly people began to come into the room and Jesse introduced them to everyone. Bailey felt like he was going to faint with all the people who lived in this house. But his mate was yet to arrive. Finally Jesse called for them all to sit for dinner.
Chapter 4
“Has anyone seen Lexi?” Jesse asked as he sat at the table by his mate, who sat at the head of the table.
“We were only in the game room a few minutes before we came in to you. As far as I know he was supposed to be here for dinner,” Taylor answered.
Jesse went to stand up, but the Alpha placed his hand on his and stood. “I’ll go get him, you stay,” Micah said. He kissed Jesse on the cheek and walked from the room.
“Sorry,” Jesse apologized. “They’ll be here shortly. Everyone, help yourselves.”
Trays began to be passed around the table as everyone loaded up their plates. Jesse suddenly stopped and his eyes went to Aaron. “Aaron, Micah needs you in the game room. Something’s wrong with Lexi,” Jesse said as he stood and headed for the door. Everyone stopped what they were doing and left the table.
Bailey followed the crowd as they made their way through the house and entered a large room that looked like a bar. It had a pool table, poker table, chessboard, dart board, and a bar. It was a man cave. His eyes went to where everyone else was looking. Taylor and his mate, Gabriel, rushed forward and knelt beside the Alpha, Jesse, and the doctor, who were kneeling on the floor by Lexi’s unconscious body. Bailey’s hand went to his mouth as he gasped from the sight of his mate.
Josh wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. “Don’t freak, Bales. Let’s see what’s wrong first, okay?” Josh whispered in his ear and then kissed his temple.
“I told him he should have stayed in bed for a few more days, but he wouldn’t listen. He was too anxious to get up and get out. Stubborn ass,” Aaron said in frustration.
“What’s wrong with him, Aaron?” Taylor asked in concern. “He was fine a half hour ago. He looked a little tired, but that was it.” Taylor looked down at Lexi’s still form and tenderly stroked his temple.
“He used up too much of his energy in the cave. He was holding a whole mountain up by himself for a while there. It put too much stress on his body. I told him it would take him a little longer to heal than normal, but he insisted he needed to be somewhere,” Aaron answered.
Bailey started to feel the panic rise inside him. His mate held up a whole mountain by himself? He was healing, and that’s why he didn’t show up. He tried to explain it to Bailey, but he wouldn’t let him. The doctor told him to stay in bed, but he wouldn’t listen. It was all his fault. Lexi was trying to get to him. That’s why he didn’t listen to the doctor. His mate was trying to get to him to tell him why he stood him up.
Tears began to burn the backs of Bailey’s eyes, his body started to tremble, and his breathing became erratic. What had he done? His mate was trying to make it right with him and he shut him out, turned him away, and now look at him.
“Jesse, take everyone back in and have dinner,” Micah said. “I’ll carry Lexi to his room and join you in a few minutes.” He kissed his mate’s head and slid his arms under Lexi and stood up. Micah carried Lexi from the room with the doctor following.
“He’ll be fine everyone,” Jesse said with a confident smile, but that smile didn’t reach his eyes. Bailey saw the doubt and worry in the man’s eyes. He wanted to follow his mate and find out if he really would be okay, but instead he followed the crowd from the room. Bailey felt a hand gently touch his arm and he turned to look who it was. He met Taylor’s worried eyes. They stopped walking and Taylor faced him.
“If you would like to go up to Lexi’s room and be there with him, it’s okay,” Taylor said kindly. “I’ll take you to him.”
“I don’t…” Bailey couldn’t get the words out.
“Bales, what’s going on?” Evan asked in concern. Bailey hadn’t realized that Evan and Josh had stopped, too.
Bailey looked down at the floor as he began to bite his thumbnail. He looked back up at Evan with fear in his eyes. “He’s…Lexi…he’s…m-my mate,” Bailey whispered nervously as he twisted his hands together.
Evan’s eyes went wide and he stepped closer to Bailey, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Bailey, that’s wonderful. Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell any of us?”
“I don’t know,” he whispered and shrugged a shoulder.
“That’s not important right now,” Taylor said gently and with compassion. “What’s important is if you would like to go to your mate and see if he’s okay?”
Bailey looked at the man. “I do, but…I’m…scared,” Bailey answered. His breath was quickening, along with his pulse, as tears began to stream down his face.
“What are you afraid of, Bales?” Evan encouraged gently.
“I wasn’t very nice to him earlier when we spoke. I…” He stopped and swallowed hard.
“It’s all right, Bailey. You have nothing to be afraid of with Lexi. Are you worried about him? Do you want to see him?” Taylor asked. Bailey couldn’t trust his voice, so he just nodded. Taylor gave him a soft smile and held out his hand. “Come on. I’ll take you to him.”
He hesitantly placed his hand in Taylor’s and the man closed his hand around his and he began to lead the way to his mate.
* * * *
The man sat in his car, parked along the side of the road as he stared out into the woods. He raised a pair of night vision goggles to his eyes and scanned the area. There was nothing. For two weeks he had been sneaking around this town and the surrounding area and he had yet to find any evidence of paranormals. He knew they existed. He had seen them. He had killed a few of them. One of those fucking vampires had killed his little brother a year ago. Since then he had learned of the existence of shifters and witches as well. Who knew what other types of freaks moved among them? Then a month ago he got a call from some mysterious guy, telling him that if he wanted to find the paranormals, he should look in some town called Sanctuary, in Pennsylvania.
He drove from his home in Seattle and stopped along the way to pick up some surveillance equipment and some weapons. As he drove cross-country, he received a few more calls from the mystery man telling him where to find paranormals along the way. The guy hadn’t lied to him yet. Everywhere the guy said they would be, they were. He had already killed two vamps, one bear, one mountain lion, a witch, and a wolf. So he kept heading east, hunting and killing these fucking freaks along the way.
They took from him the only thing he had left in this whole world. His younger brother, Frankie. Frankie was a good kid. He didn’t bother anyone, never got into any trouble. Frankie was six years younger than him. Frankie was seventeen when that vamp drained him and left him for dead. Their folks died three years before that and he quit college to move back home to take care of Frankie. He got a job working at a motorcycle shop. Motorcycles were his passion. He used to work in his dad’s shop before he left for college to get a degree in engineering. He wanted to design and build custom bikes.
He had saved up some money and had taken Frankie away for a four-day weekend to wine country. They were staying in some hotel in Napa when Frankie ran out to get a soda from the machine. It was taking him way too long and he started to get worried. He went looking for the kid, when he found him laid out on the ground with a fucking vamp latched onto his neck. He froze. He couldn’t believe what he was looking at. The vamp let Frankie go and took off into the night. He slowly went to Frankie and knelt beside him. His eyes were open, but they were dead. There was no life left in him. His cheeks were hollowed and he looked years older than he was. That fucking vamp had drained every last drop of blood from him.
He wanted to tell the authorities what he had seen, but he knew they would lock him up in some loony bin. So he kept his mouth shut. Frankie wasn’t the only one either. More and more people began to show up drained of their blood in Napa Valley. He followed the news and heard that the authorities were calling it some kind of cult thing. Yeah right. If they only knew what it really was.
That’s what led him right here, right now, to this town. The guy said it was a freaking hot spot for paranormals, but he hadn’t found one yet. He couldn’t keep looking here. He needed to move on and find a job so he could make some money and keep hunting. He wouldn’t stop until he killed every fucking one of those freaks.
* * * *
Bailey sat by Lexi’s bedside as he slept. Doc Aaron said that he just needed some rest. Bailey felt so relieved to hear that. He needed to talk to Lexi and apologize. He should have given him a chance to explain. Gods he hoped Lexi would forgive him.
“Bailey?” The Alpha’s voice came from the doorway. Bailey turned to find the Alpha couple standing there.
“Yes, Alpha?”
“Can we talk to you out in the hall?” Jesse asked. Bailey nodded. He looked back at Lexi one more time and then stood up and followed the Alpha couple out into the hall. Micah closed the door behind them.
Bailey was so nervous, he didn’t know why they wanted to talk to him, but he hoped it wasn’t something bad about Lexi that the Doc didn’t tell him.
“Have I done something wrong, Alpha?” he asked terrified.
“No, Bailey. But I have.” Bailey looked at him in shock.
“We all have,” Jesse said. “We should have called you a few days ago when Lexi was hurt.”
“Myself or Raith should have. We knew about you. Raith was there when Lexi met you and Lexi told me about you that night. Jesse wasn’t h
ere when all of this was going on. So this was all my fault. We had a battle the other day and while we were there, Raith learned some very disturbing news, so I don’t blame him for not even thinking about it. After the battle, we went to go rescue Dare, and upon my return, I was happy to find my mate had come home after being away for over a month. But that’s no excuse. I should have come for you. I am very sorry that I didn’t call you or have someone come and get you.”
“No, Alpha, I don’t blame you. You just had a battle, some of your men were hurt, and you were dealing with so much. And I can only imagine how happy you were to see your mate again. I understand.”
“Everything you say is true, but that doesn’t mean I’m not to blame. I fully believe that mates come first. That’s one of the things the council and I are working on right now. To enforce across all the paranormals that mates are to put first and matings. So again, Bailey, I am truly sorry for my oversight and if you have suffered because of it, I am so sorry,” Micah explained sincerely.
Bailey could see the honesty of the Alpha’s words in his eyes and he could hear the strain in his voice. “It’s okay, Alpha. But thank you for letting me know now.”
“If it helps any, the second Lexi came to the other day, he started fighting to get out of bed, trying to get to you. I ordered him to stay in bed and rest for another day. I should have called you then, but I assumed Lexi was doing that. I guess I shouldn’t have assumed, right? You know what they say about that,” Micah said with a chuckle.
“And you see that it’s true in this situation,” Jesse teased.
“Yes, it was, I made an ass out of me…and you. I should have realized he would pass out again and didn’t have the energy to call you. So again, I screwed up and I apologize.”
Bailey gave the Alpha a shy smile. “Thank you, Alpha. I appreciate you talking to me and telling me what happened. I only wish I had listened to Lexi when he tried to explain it to me.” Bailey’s voice was filled with sadness.
