Rose nods and says she has to go.
“Okay, Mommy. Me and Daddy love you bunches!”
Rose looks petrified, stammering out a ‘love you too’, to which she only address to Will, before quickly hanging up.
“Why didn’t she say she loves you too, Daddy?” Will asks, looking like a lost puppy.
Jason and Jake snort, so I growl at them before I answer.
“I don’t know, William. Your mom is a hard woman to understand.”
“Aren’t they all?” Jason snorts.
“Actually, no. My mommy said that if guys weren’t so dumb then they wouldn’t blame girls for being ‘complicated’.” Will answers matter-of-factly.
We all stare at him in shock as he once again proves that he is wiser than his years. Jason mutters his apologies, surprising us, as a delta werewolf rarely apologizes.
“So, what are you kid, a feminist?”
“Well, I don’t know what that means, Jason, but I bet it’s pretty cool, so heck yeah, I’m a feminist!” We all laugh as his innocence comes back.
We drive around some more. As we pass his school, a glare plants itself on his face.
“You don’t like school?” I ask and he shakes his head with a huff.
I chuckle, ruffling his hair. He groans and tries to fix his hair. It’s strange how much he reminds me of myself. If only he never makes the same mistakes as I have…
“William, you do know that I’m really sorry for not being there from the day you were born, right?” He looks at me with his emerald green eyes. It sparkles in the light as his mop of brown hair moves up and down. His missing teeth show as he sends me a smile that makes me filled with so much love and regret, it’s almost unbearable.
“Daddy, I know! But I don’t care about the past. At least you’re here now,” he whispers into my ear as he latches his arms and stuffing his face into the crook of my neck. I feel tears swimming in my eyes as they reach the break of falling.
“Mommy always told me that even though people make mistakes, it doesn’t mean they’re bad people. You’re not a bad person, Daddy. You just made a few mistakes. One of them is rejecting Mommy, but you’ll get her back. I swear on Manny’s life you will!” he says confidently.
“Thanks, buddy. You made me feel a lot better! But who is Manny?”
He gasps dramatically, clutching his chest.
“Dad. Handy Manny! How do you not know that? Men these days!” He waves his hand dismissively and sighs loudly.
Did I say he takes after me? Yeah, just kidding! That was ALL Rose, and maybe even a little Marcus!
Goddess help me!
After a five-minute lecture of how Handy Manny is the greatest person in the world, besides his mom of course, Will finally shuts up when we pull up to the apartment building.
“Okay, me and Jake are just going to hurry and grab some things. Jason, watch Will.”
He nods, and I kiss Will on the forehead. I get out of the car with Jake. I tell Jason to roll down his window. As soon as it’s down, I grab the collar of his shirt, bringing him closer to me. He looks at with wide-feared eyes.
“Anything happens to my son while I’m gone, you’re dead. Understand?” He nods his head faster than I think he could even comprehend my words.
“Good.” I let go of his shirt, straighten it out, and patted him on his chest. I walk away with a smirk.
“Was that really necessary, Nick?” Jake asks as we take the stairs two at a time to Rose’s apartment.
I ignore the look he is sending me. When we reach her apartment, the door is already cracked open. I mind link Jake to remind him to be on alert as we silently enter the apartment. Noises come from the bedroom, so I creep my way over there.
A man in his late forties, with balding hair, is opening one of the drawers.
“What are you doing?” I startle him as he turns around. A look of horror passes his face, but he quickly hides it.
“Uh, um, uh?” He stutters out as I make my way closer to him.
I try to reach out to him, but he squeals and hides himself in the corner of the room.
“Look, the girl owes me $750. I was just coming here to collect it. Please don’t hurt me!” He holds his hands up in surrender. I reach into my back pocket and pull a few hundreds out.
“Here, this is all you’re getting. Rose won’t need this apartment anymore.” I throw the money at him and order him to get out. He complies and is out of there in seconds.
“Alright, you get Will’s stuff, and I’ll get Rose’s.”
Jake nods as I grab a bag and start throwing random crap into it.
***
Forty-five minutes later, we are on our way back to the plane. Zayne called not long after we finished packing, letting me know his part of the plan again.
I’ll have to really thank them for their help! If it wasn’t for their help, this might not have happened as smoothly.
Okay, I only have to sedate Rose then lock her in the plane’s private room. I can do this! Hopefully…
Once we arrive, we unload all the bags and put it on the plane. I tell the captain to be ready as I sit Will down in his seat.
“Okay, William, remember, your mom’s going to be really tired, and when she wakes up, she isn’t going to be the happiest.”
He nods, not really focusing on me but on the TV screen that’s playing. Of course, it’s Handy Manny.
“They just pulled up, Alpha.” Jason informs me and hands me the needle.
I nod and stuff it in my pocket. I exit the plane and make my way over to the black Porsche, sending all my nerves and emotions away as go alpha mode.
“Why are we here?” Rose asks as I step into the car.
“I can answer that,” I state, making her turn to me with wide eyes. She starts shooting me questions, all that are irrelevant at the moment.
“I’m taking you back home.”
She looks at me like I’m insane, but I show her an emotionless face.
“Okay, I know I’m sleep deprived as crap but I’m pretty sure you just said you’re taking me back with you!”
“That’s cause I did. Come on.” Before she can object, I grab her hand, pulling her out of the car with me. We almost make it to the plane stairs when her feet start to ground into the cement, trying to stop us.
She does realize she isn’t that strong, right? And I am an alpha!
I take a step closer to her, reaching out to touch her cheek. She moves her head away from me, causing a pain in my chest. I push it down, knowing it’s only going to get worse.
“I’m doing this for you, Rosealine, even if it means you will hate me more.” I stick the needle into her arm as I let my words sink in. Her body almost immediately goes limp, and I’m thankfully there to catch her.
I pick her small body up and take her to the plane. Will sends me a worried look when he sees his mom and follows me to the room. I set her down in the bed, take off her shoes, and pull up the comforter.
I look down and see my son a worried mess.
“She’s just tired, Will. She’ll be okay!”
He nods reaching his arms up for me to hold him. I pick him up as we walk back to the seating area.
Now, I just have to wait for the medicine to wear off.
***
About an hour later, I hear a loud shout, waking me up. I look around. Jake looks very pale. William is scared, and Jason is smirking.
“What was that?” I ask, but they don’t have to answer as my name is screamed out by a very angry-sounding Rose.
“I SWEAR IF YOU DONT GET IN HERE AND EXPLAIN WHY I’M ON A STUPID PLANE, YOU’RE DEAD NICK ROLLINS!”
“Oh, good luck with that one, Alpha!” Jason laughs as I groan and sit back in my seat.
“Maybe I should just let her calm down,” I say but decide against that when a loud banging sound comes from the bedroom door.
“That’s not a good idea, Daddy!” Will says, looking terrified as he stares at the door. Taking a deep brea
th, I slowly make my way over to the door.
I sigh loudly before taking the key out of my pocket and stepping in. As I close the door, a vase is thrown at my head. Fortunately, I quickly dodge. I look at my mate, only to see her about to throw a coffee mug at me.
“ROSE, STOP!” I order in my alpha voice. I know she’s trying to not listen to me, but her wolf isn’t letting her.
“WHY. THE. HECK. AM. I. ON. A. PLANE?” She screams at me as he sets the mug down.
“Look there’s—”
She throws the mug and I dodge once more. I take it as an opportunity to come closer to her.
“STOP COMING CLOSER, NICK!”
I ignore her and take longer strides until I’m near inches from her. I take the last step towards her, but she decides now to run. She makes her move towards the bed, but I grab her leg making her go face first into the mattress.
I hover over her back, pressing my weight on her, so she can’t move.
“Hear me out, Rosealine,” I whisper into her, and I can feel her tense under me.
“Piss off, Nick.”
I move a piece of her hair out of her face and behind her ear. Her body calms a little, so I continue to caress her, treating her like she’s the most delicate thing in the world.
“I promised you I would always keep you safe, and the only way I can do that is to have you close to me. This last week has been … actually, the last six years have been horrible, Rose. I need you just as much as I know you need me too! Please don’t fight me on this.”
She stays silent so I slowly get off of her. She sits up straight, staring at me, holding my gaze.
“Why now? Why not six years ago? I waited, Nick! I waited until I had to face the fact you weren’t coming. I wanted to go back, so bad! But I knew if I was turned away a second time, I would die, and I couldn’t do that to our son!”
“Because I didn’t realize what I lost until you came back and acted like nothing happened between us! And I did look for you, Rose. A whole year I looked for you! But you can’t find somebody who doesn’t want to be found.”
“Why am I on this plane, Nick?” She changes the subject.
It frustrates me that we can’t just talk it out more. What else can I do?
“I told you already. I need to keep you safe, and the only way to do that is to have you close.”
“Safe from what?” She looks at me, and the fact I have to lie to her is eating me alive.
“Nick?” She moves closer and stops in front of me, close enough that I can feel her breath on my chin.
I look down into her eyes and see that she’s pleading me to tell her.
“Please.”
“He’s wants you back.” I state as she scrunches her eyebrows together.
“Who’s he?”
I shrug, not wanting to upset her again.
“WHO NICK? TELL ME!”
I stay silent as I move back. She picks up the phone on the dresser and throws it at me. I get frustrated and just say the first thing that comes to mind.
“HE CALLED YOU CUPCAKE!” The phone drops from her hand as soon as the words leave my mouth.
“No …” she whispers as her eyes close tightly and she starts to fall to the floor.
I rush over to catch her.
“I thought he was dead,” she whispers. I pick her up and set her down on the bed. She latches her body onto mine as soon as we’re both covered up with the blanket.
“Nick?”
“Yes, Rose?”
She stays quiet, so I rub her back trying to comfort her. My wolf is practically purring from the close contact with his mate. I know she’s not in the right state of mind to push me away, but I keep that from Nikolai.
“Will you protect me and Will?” she asks eventually, looking me straight into the eyes.
“With everything I have.”
I watch as she leans up to me. Right before our lips touch, there’s a knock at the door. William’s head peeks in, causing us to break apart.
“Can I come in?”
We nod, and Rose pats the spot beside her. He walks over and climbs in, clinging to his mom tightly. She wraps her arms around him as I wrap mine around both of them. Soon, they’re both knocked out, and I’m left with my thoughts.
It will take a whole army for someone to even touch William or Rose.
I sigh as I stuff my face into Rose’s hair. When did she dye her hair black? And why am I just noticing it now?! I think I’m the one who is sleep-deprived now.
Closing my eyes, I quickly drift to sleep with my mate and son in my arms!
CHAPTER 13
Rose
A knock comes sounds on the door, waking me from what feels like the best sleep I’ve had in years.
“Hey, Alpha, we land in ten.”
I look up to see Jake standing in the doorway. Nick nods his head against my hair, humming in response. Jake smirks at me, shaking his head as he leaves the room.
“Nick, we have to get up.” I nudge him but he doesn’t move. Forgetting about him, I wake up William. He’s easier to wake up, and once he’s fully awake, I tell him to go wait for us in the other room.
I look at the clock. It’s almost morning. Now, just to wake up Nick!
Turning my body, so I’m now facing him, I start to mess with his face. His eyebrows scrunch together, but he doesn’t open his eyes.
“Nickkkk, wake up!” I whine and see him smirk.
Before I can yell at him, I’m flipped over and he’s hovering over me.
“Oh, I’m wide awake.”
My breath hitches as he leaves lingering kisses along my throat. A moan threatens to leave my lips as his wondering hands travel up and down my sides.
“You’re so beautiful, Rosealine.”
A shiver runs down my back at his words and the fact his mouth is assaulting my neck, definitely leaving marks.
“Nick …” I moan out as his mouth reaches my sweet spot. I can feel his hardness pressing up against my thigh as my own wetness becomes more noticeable between my legs.
His hand travels lower, but before he can touch my goods, I push him off.
“Stay away from me, Nick Rollins.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t like it,” he says with a grin on his face.
I am about to respond when a scream comes from the front of the plane.
I quickly push Nick aside, racing to get to Will, who’s scream I would recognize anywhere. He’s curled up on the floor, eyes shut tightly as he clutches his sides.
“William, what wrong?”
He doesn’t answer me. Instead, a whimper leaves his mouth!
Oh no!
“He’s shifting! Captain, how far are we from landing?” Nick sternly asks. I pick up Will’s sweaty body into my arms, rocking him back and forth.
He lets out another scream as he digs into my arms, drawing blood. I grit my teeth together, ignoring the pain. After about a minute, he retracts his claws from my arms.
“We’re only about two minutes from landing, baby boy. Can you hold off until then?”
Will gives Nick a small nod. Nick looks at my arms worriedly, but I just wave him off.
“Noah will take care of him once we arrive. I don’t need you to lose too much blood.”
I nod, not wanting to fight with him. He kisses my forehead, buckling me and Will in my seat as he seats himself as well.
Finally, after we land, we all hurry off the plane and into Nick’s jeep. I refuse to let go of Will as Nick speeds off to the pack house. We, thankfully, make it to the house in less than five minutes. I rush into the house and into the backyard where almost all the pack members are standing by, watching.
“Ahhh!” Will screams as his claws dig deeper than before into my arms. I stand there, mouth open as the pain in my arms becomes almost unbearable.
“William, let my arms go!”
Instead of doing so, he growls at me. I know he isn’t in control anymore.
“William, baby, please. You
need to focus on what your wolf form looks like. Imagine your bones turning into fur and paws. Think of your senses heightened and you running through the woods on all fours. Come on, baby. You can do it.!” I say, encouraging him softly. He lets go of my hand as his bones start to break. I crawl away on my bloody hands until I reach Nick.
I watch as each of my son’s bones break until a grey wolf takes his place.
Will’s wolf makes eye contact with me, and on shaky legs, he makes his way to me. I smile through my tears as I remember my little boy taking his first steps.
When he approaches me, he immediately licks my wounds. A whimper leaves his mouth as he looks at me with sad eyes.
“It’s okay, baby. It doesn’t hurt that bad!” I assure him.
He licks my face, making me giggle. He jumps on me, continuing his assault on my face. The whole pack laughs as I try to push him off of me.
“Okay, little guy, I think your mom has had enough!” Nick says but gets growled at.
He raises an eyebrow at him, since he basically disrespected his alpha.
“Oooh…this some Teen Wolf stuff. Dad Vs. Son. Lets go!” Marcus says from behind Nick.
I laugh as I roll out from under Will. He tries to nip at my heels but I dodge him and hide behind Nick.
“You trying to challenge me, pup?” Nick questions with amusement in his voice. The pack watches silently with excitement in their eyes.
Will’s wolf barks and tries to nip at Nick’s toes. Nick dodges it with ease, watching our son attempt again. The two continue messing with each other until Will’s wolf finally lays down.
The pack sends their congrats to Will, each petting their future alpha before going back to their own houses.
“Okay, Will, how about we go run?” Will’s wolf head perks up, and he’s on his feet in seconds. All the boys, including Nick, Will, Noah, Nathan, Jake, and both our dads, all get ready to take off to the woods.
“It’s already like ten o’clock at night, Nick. Do you think that’s such a good idea?”
Will’s wolf nudges against my leg, making me look down at him. He stands up tall, his chest puffed out. I figure he’s telling me he’s ready, but I can’t be sure since he doesn’t know how to mind link yet.
The Alpha's Unknown Son: A Shifter Romance Page 11