by J. L. Wilder
Maverick scowled. “What the fuck, Maggie? What’s going on?”
“What are you not understanding? You three dragged me into the light and I’m going to be thrust into the bullshit of the clan! People here hate me. Do you not get it? Do you not hear the things people are saying? You think they’re going to accept Milo? When he comes from trash like me?”
Wyatt growled and stepped forward. “Stop it. Calm down and talk to us, Mags. Tell us what happened.”
She shoved him away and swore as more tears filled her eyes. “Being alphas was so important to you three that you didn’t think or care about what it would mean for me.”
“Dammit, Maggie, I care. I told you we wouldn’t do it.” Wyatt planted his hands on his hips. “Now, tell us who was rude to you.”
“The list of who wasn’t would be shorter.” She angrily swiped at her eyes and tried to breathe slower to calm down. “They hate me. I’m not going to be able to silently slip back into the clan and blend in now. I can’t slowly show people that I’m not the girl I was. It’s going to be like swimming against the current to show people I’m not a bad person.”
Sawyer rested his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll help. We won’t let people hurt you.”
“Your girlfriend wouldn’t like you touching me.” She blushed as she hissed out the words, aware of how jealous and petty she sounded. “She is really not a fan of mine. Can’t blame her, though. She’s just listening to what everyone is saying.”
“My girlfriend?”
“I can’t do this. I have to go.” She hurried away from them, desperate to get home to Sasha and Milo. She needed familiarity and the soothing scent of Milo’s soft little body. Rushing out to the parking lot, she found Sasha idling at the curb in her car.
Sasha leaned over and opened the door. “Get in, loser. We’re going shopping.”
Folding herself into Sasha’s front seat, she looked at her sister in confusion. “What? I don’t want to go shopping.”
“It’s from a movie. You know, Mean—” She waved her hand. “Never mind. Let’s go home, Mags. You look like you need a drink.”
“If I drank, I’d need more than a drink. I’d need a few bottles.”
“We’ll order pizza for dinner and I’ll let the girls drive the car to go get ice cream for us. How’s that sound?” She patted her hand. “I’ll even send Jack with them. The house will be so quiet.”
“Is this for me, or for you?”
Laughing, Sasha shrugged. “Do you really care?”
“No. Not at all. I just freaked out on the guys. I think I accused them of using Milo and me.”
Sasha winced. “Not your finest moment.”
“I was just so overwhelmed. People here hate me.”
“I don’t hate you. The kids don’t hate you. Also, the Walker men don’t hate you.” She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and turned onto her street. “If people can’t get over the things that you did as a child, then fuck them.”
Maggie laughed, surprised by Sasha’s bluntness. “Oh, yeah?”
“If cancer has shown me anything, it’s that life is too short to give a shit what people think about you.”
“God, I’m awful. I’m sitting here, crying about people not liking me. You have way bigger problems.”
“If you broke your leg, but mine got cut off, would your leg not hurt?”
“I hate that you cut off your leg in that saying.”
“You’re an idiot. That’s what people should’ve been saying. Instead of focusing on how you slept around as a teenager, they should’ve talked about how you don’t go along with my sayings.”
“Just add it to the list. I’m sure it’ll catch on.”
“Fine. Point out the people that hurt you and I’ll just hit them with my car.”
Maggie looked out at the sidewalk like she was actually considering pointing someone out. “Oh, there’s one.”
Sasha swerved the car in the direction of the person walking and laughed like a mad woman when Maggie screamed for her to stop. “See? You’re not even the crazy sister. If they think they can push you around, Mags, they have another thing coming. You remember that.”
Knowing Sasha would fight for her eased some of the ache in her. She didn’t have to face it alone. She blew out a breath and stretched her neck. “What does it mean to have to produce Milo for the leaders of the clan? Do I just show up with him?”
Sasha smiled. “Yeah. And when they realize he is Maverick’s son, the real fun begins.”
“What?” Maggie didn’t like the smile on her sister’s face. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, you’ll see.”
10.
***Sawyer***
The very next day, Sawyer sat in the same meeting room, waiting on Maggie to show up with Milo. He wasn’t worried about whether or not she’d show up. That was what people had never known about Maggie. She was loyal and she did her best not to let people down. She’d made mistakes as a kid, but they all had. It just seemed like no one wanted to forget Maggie’s.
He was disgusted with the way the clan had received Maggie. They should be happy that one of their own had come back home. Especially considering the circumstances. When he’d called Sasha to request Maggie bring Milo to the meeting, he’d asked her how she was doing, and she’d told him about the cancer.
Family meant something to dragons. The clan needed to respect that Maggie had walked back into the fire, so to speak, to make sure her sister was okay. He had a feeling that he was going to need to say something to stop the gossiping. He wasn’t going to sit by and let the clan run Maggie into the ground. She had just as much right to be there as anyone else. Including him and his brothers. Without her, they’d be stuck helping prepare the alpha ceremonies for Ray and Jessi.
He stretched his legs out in front of him and rested his arms along the bench on either side of him. He was presenting a calm front. While he knew Maggie would show, he didn’t trust that his body wouldn’t respond to her showing. It was hell. He’d spent two decades living without her physically, but she’d never been far off from his mind. He didn’t understand how she still had so much hold over him.
The woman he’d been sleeping with in an attempt to have an heir, Sarah, she should’ve been perfect. On paper, she was. She was beautiful, low-maintenance, and didn’t expect anything from him. She even came from a respectable family. Not that that mattered to him, but the other leaders took note of that. Sarah didn’t interest him at all, though. Sex with her hadn’t been good. It’d just been a means to an end.
Sarah was another problem he’d need to handle. If she’d been mean to Maggie, he’d nip that in the bud. Or if she’d given Maggie the idea that they were more than they were...
He sighed. It didn’t matter if Maggie thought he was single or not. She was off-limits. He’d made a promise to his brothers to keep the peace. Not that Maverick seemed to put much stock in that promise.
He heard the door open at the back of the room and felt the energy shift. He knew it was Maggie by the scent, of course, but she’d always been able to send a jolt of electricity down his spine just by simply being there.
The murmurs in the room grew louder, so he stood up and turned to see her. She looked nervous, something he hated. He wanted her head held high, like it should always be. In her arms was a boy who instantly met his gaze from across the room with eyes the same color as his. His heart stuttered at the sight of him in Maggie’s arms.
“Da-Da!”
Maggie’s face went bright red as she closed the distance between them. Her hands shook, but her back was ramrod straight, and he was proud of her for that. “Jack just taught him that word today when Maverick came to see him. He must not be able to tell you apart.”
Sawyer smiled and shrugged. “Most people can’t. Come here, little fella.”
Maggie bit her lip as she let Sawyer take Milo from her. “Milo, this is Uncle Sawyer. Sawyer, Milo.”
The murmurs of the crowd reache
d him, and he heard someone comment that the kid didn’t even know which one of the Walker men Maggie had screwed to make him. Fury burned through his blood as he looked out at the crowd filling the room.
Maggie placed her hand on his arm and shook her head, her eyes wide. “Just ignore it. I’m trying desperately to.”
He held her gaze and swore quietly, not thinking about the baby in his arms. When Milo repeated what he’d said, he felt himself blush like he was a boy himself. He winced and shook his head at Milo. “Oh, no, no. Sorry, Milo. That’s not a good word for you to say.”
A sweet laugh came from Maggie. “Don’t worry. He’s going through a phase. It’s not just you who he’s learning from. He heard some gems from Sasha today.”
“Your sister always did have a way with the English language.” Meeting her eyes again, he noticed the small lines between her eyebrows, lines that told a story he wished he could read. “You, too, if memory serves.”
She smiled, and the room brightened for Sawyer. “I plead the fifth.”
Milo rested his head on Sawyer’s shoulder and his chubby little arms did their best to wrap around his neck. “Da-Da.”
Sawyer heard heavy footsteps coming up behind him and knew his brothers had arrived. Maverick stopped next to Maggie and nodded at her. She looked down at her feet and shuffled away just the slightest bit. Maverick looked out at the crowd, seeming to understand the hesitation in Maggie, and growled.
“Are they still being assholes to her?”
Wyatt stood on the other side of Maggie, slightly behind her, bracketing her in between them, protecting her. “Hey, Mags.”
She glanced up at him and smiled before looking back down. “Hey.”
Sawyer realized that the little one in his arms, that no doubt smelled just like Maverick and Maggie, had gone still. He looked down and saw that he was sound asleep. Looking up at Maggie, he quietly grunted. “Are they supposed to sleep this easily?”
She laughed and shrugged. “It seems to be his new thing. I think he finds the scent of you three calming.”
Wyatt rested his hand on her back when she grew silent. “What is it?”
“I was wrong not to come back sooner. I’ve apologized to Maverick, but I owe you two an apology, too. He needed his family. More than just me.”
Sawyer sensed the ache in the words and reached up to cup her face. “Hey, we could never stay mad at you. And you’re here now. Your timing was super dramatic, but I can’t say that it hasn’t led to some fun gloating on my part.”
Maverick nodded and nudged her with his elbow. “We’re okay.”
“Better than.” Wyatt smiled down at her. “Probably be even better if you told your sister not to smack my ass every time she passed me in the supermarket, though. I’ve been waiting for someone to complain to, and here you are.”
Maggie’s laugh was vintage Maggie for a moment, loud and carefree. She tossed her head back and her hair fell away from her long neck, exposing creamy skin with the two freckles she’d always had just under her chin. They were only visible when she was laughing or coming for him.
Sawyer shifted as his cock fought against his self-control. He glanced up and saw that their uncles had just walked into the room, followed by Ray Flint, who looked as if he was ranting away at them. “Looks like it’s time.”
Maverick glanced back and then gently wrapped his arm around Maggie. “Come on. You can sit with us.”
Delicately handing Milo back to Maggie, Sawyer went to the front of the room and stood in front of his uncles. “The boy is ours. There’s no denying it.”
Ray growled under his breath. “I think someone besides you will need to be the judge of that.”
His Uncle Jonah cleared his throat and raised his voice. “Everyone will quiet down and fall in line so we can assess the birth of the child.”
Uncle Saul nodded and looked out at the crowd. “Seems everyone was as curious as us today.”
Sawyer looked back at Maggie and saw her holding Milo close, tucked between his brothers on a bench. Instead of feeling jealous, he felt glad that they were there, protecting her. She seemed fragile. She needed them.
Before he could process his thoughts, the meeting was called to order and his uncles were calling Maggie forward with Milo. As she stood, voices raised from around the room.
“This is a joke, honestly.”
“Are we really supposed to celebrate a woman who almost killed a human?”
“Did you see the way they were all touching her? You think she’s still fucking them all?”
“Do you think they know?”
“She should be told to leave again. She shouldn’t be welcomed into the clan like she is some special prize.”
Sawyer stepped forward and growled loudly at the room. “This stops now. Maggie is a sister to this clan. She was raised here, and her blood beats through this clan’s heart as sure as any of yours. She has come home, and she’s to be welcomed! Speak poorly of her, and you’ll answer to me personally.”
Maggie stood frozen in front of him, her eyes filled with tears. She looked up at him and he watched as she mouthed a thank you to him. Not that he deserved a thank you. He should’ve stopped the talk as soon as he got wind of it. He hadn’t known how toxic it had been, though.
Uncle Jonah grasped Maggie’s shoulders and pulled her closer. “It’s been a long time, little Maggie Holcomb. This clan wasn’t as exciting without you.”
Uncle Saul pretended to sniff at Maggie and pulled a face. “Yep, has the same stink of Maverick, all right.”
Sawyer rolled his eyes at his uncles’ antics and grasped the back of Maggie’s neck, hoping he could give her some of his strength. “Is this done?”
“It’s done. The kid is a Walker.”
“This is bullshit! Some woman just comes in and ruins everything? I don’t believe this!” Jessi Flint shoved past people as she stormed out. Looking back with one last snarl, she gave a parting shot. “This clan could’ve had the alphas it deserves. Now it has three weak men who can’t even decide which one of them gets to screw the whore next. How are they supposed to run anything?”
The crowd erupted, people shouting back and forth at each other, but Sawyer was done. He tucked Maggie and Milo into his side and looked back at his brothers, who were already in the thick of things. “Uncles, this is over. Tell them I’m taking Maggie home.”
“The ceremony preparations start soon, Sawyer. Congrats.”
He hurried Maggie out a back door and led her to his truck. “Come on, Mags. I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry about all of this, honestly.”
She shook her head. “I’m getting used to it.”
He could see she wasn’t. She was struggling to keep her composure. He pulled her into a hug, careful not to crush Milo. “Let’s get you home.”
She shook her head. “I don’t have a car seat for him. I’ll just walk.”
“Then I’ll walk you home. Let me carry the little guy.” He took the sleeping toddler from her and adjusted him in his arms until he felt secure. “He’s cute.”
She wrapped her arms around herself and started walking. “I’m not sure that’s not self-praise. He looks just like the three of you. It’s like my genes didn’t even try.”
Sawyer laughed and smiled over at her. “It’s good to hear you joke.”
“There doesn’t feel like much to joke about these days. Everything feels off.” She sighed. “That sounds so morose. Sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
Maggie sighed an even bigger sigh and held her hands up. “I don’t know. I just...I know that I’m not good company. I’m not the fun girl you used to want to hang around.”
He stopped walking and just stared at her. “You really think that?”
11.
***Maggie***
Maggie was embarrassed that she’d even steered the conversation in that direction. Was she looking for compliments or comfort from a man she’d betrayed before? How could she even t
hink she deserved either from him? She shook her head and forced a smile. “Just forget I said anything. That crowd must’ve gotten to me more than I realized. I’m fine, though.”
Sawyer still didn’t move. “I wish things were different. I hate that you’re getting so much shit. You don’t deserve it.”
She scowled. She wasn’t sure she agreed. Maybe she didn’t deserve all of it, but some of it she felt she’d earned. “It’s fine.”
“You never did anything wrong, Maggie. You were fun. You lived life to the fullest and you never let anything stop you. Mistakes happened, but that’s just life. You shouldn’t hold onto that shit.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and studied his face. He was so handsome. From that angle, she could see there was a new scar through his eyebrow that hadn’t been there when she was with him as a teen. “I’m not sure I can let it go.”
He started walking again and just smiled. “I mean it, Mags. Spending time with you was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. It was impossible to forget just how alive I was when we were together. You made life good.”
She was blushing, trying not to take too much pleasure from his words. “I was wild and out of control. I did things that couldn’t be taken back.”
“I liked your wild.”
They walked in a comfortable silence for a moment before Sawyer spoke again.
“You seem different now.”
Maggie scoffed. “That feels like an insult after your last statement.”
Laughing, Sawyer shook his head. “It’s not. You just seem all grown up and reserved. I mean, you’ve only lashed out at us once. You should be congratulated for just how much self-control you have now.”
Something about his words was like a silent dare to her. She thought he might know it, too, judging by the sly smile on his face. “I have a kid now. I can’t just be wild all the time.”
“Of course not.”
“I still have fun. I’m not just some old woman.”