Chapter 27

Twenty-Seven

ALANA

A ll of this wasn't supposed to happen. I shut my eyes tight and reopened them, hoping it was all a bad dream.

Lio was going to kill him. It was in an alpha's nature to protect his family from a threat. And James was the biggest threat of them all.

"Lana, is this the guy?" said Lio, dropping the shopping bags in his hands. Markus followed suit, cracking his knuckles.

"It's nothing," I said quickly, stepping over to James's side. "I invited him here to see his babies before we left Howl's Edge. I thought it would be a good idea."

"That's not a good idea," said Lio.

I could feel the tension in the room rising. The alphas and the vampires need to clash and rip each other's heads off. Owen was still staring at James in shock, unable to believe an actual vampire was in the room. James looked very uncomfortable being here, his eyes constantly darting to the door.

"I don't think it's a good idea to disappear without telling me about my children," said James, his eyes trained on Lio. Watching his every move. Lio was also sizing him up as they circled one another. "In fact, Alana shouldn't leave with you at all."

"It's for her safety," said Lio, low growls emanating from his chest. The scent was changing in the room. The scent of war and alpha sweat.

"Lio, it's okay. James was about to leave," I said,

"Oh so, James is his name?"

"Lio, please," I begged. Baby June started to cry, sensing the tension in the room. Owen quickly scooped up baby Jay from me as he ran out of the room with both babies into another room.

"No, this alpha wants to fight. He's a bit immature for you," said James.

"I'll show you what's immature," said Lio swinging a punch at James, and I screamed for them to stop.

But no one was listening. Markus stood there with his arms crossed, watching them wrestle to the ground.

"Fuck you," said James, straddling Lio and punching him square on the jaw. I tried to run in and break the fight, but Markus held me by the arm.

"Let them fight it out," he muttered to me.

"Please, Markus, stop them," I said, trying to pull away from him. He was bulky and muscular, more than capable of breaking up a fight between an alpha werewolf and a vampire. The doorbell rang, and Markus released me. I ran down the stairs to see who was at the door.

It was such a bad time for Grandma to visit.

I needed to tell her to visit another time. Yanking the door open, I gasped when I saw three delta cops with broad shoulders and over seven feet tall.

"Neighbor called because of a commotion happening at this residence," said one of the cops, flashing his badge at me.

"There's no commotion," I said hastily, starting to close the door, but the huge delta wedged his foot between the door and the frame, stopping it from closing.

"We would like to come in and investigate," said the cop.

I could hear the babies crying upstairs, and my stomach flipped with worry. If they ever saw the vampire baby, I would be beside myself.

"There are babies crying," said one of the cops, heading up the stairs.

Before they could climb to the landing, James appeared right in front of them. His red eyes landing from one cop to the other. Then he winked at me. He was risking his life for the babies. I put a hand to my mouth in shock.

"What the actual fuck?" said one of the cops.

"A fucking vampire!" shouted the second one as they ran up the steps. James slid down the railing with his lightning-speed reflexes and waited for the cops to run down the stairs before disappearing out of the door. They chased him out the door, shouting for backup.

I ran to the door, worried about him. Worried if he would make it to safety before they caught him.

I held my stomach, and panic seized me if they caught him. I felt arms encircle me from behind, pulling me back inside.

"What if they catch him?" I said breathlessly.

"He's been hiding all this time," said Lio, leading me to the couch. "He can take care of himself."

"The babies," I gasped. "The police almost saw the babies."

"James made sure they wouldn't," said Lio. "At least he had an ounce of decency left. Especially after raping you."

"He never raped me," I shouted, pulling away from his arms. "I'm tired of you all hating him. He didn't do anything to me."

"I'm sorry," said Lio. "Please don't freak out, Lana. It was a shock seeing him here. Why in the world did you bring him here?"

"I wanted to see…to let him know about his kids," I said, knowing he was still seething. Lio usually needed time to process his emotions before he calmed down.

The rest of the day, I insisted on keeping the television on.

I wanted to see if there was any news about James. No news meant good news, and that was what I was hoping for. But as I was breastfeeding Jay, my head snapped up when the news reporter sounded frantic.

I turned up the volume on the remote, my eyes glued to the screen.

"There's nothing important," said Markus, rubbing my back as he sat next to me.

"Authorities have confirmed the capture of a vampire on Frenshille Road…," the reporter was saying.

"Oh my god," I said, my chest deflating and my stomach turning. "No!"

"He's captured after everything he's done to you," said Markus trying to comfort me. Baby Jay popped his lips off my nipple, and I handed Markus the baby.

"I need a moment," I said, trying to breathe evenly. I could feel the panic creeping through me. Lio ran to the living room, hearing the commotion.

"What's wrong?" he asked me.

"They captured him. They took James," I said, gasping for air and leaning against the couch. "Wait, the Royal Pack is on TV now…"

"Of course, we'll stake him at noon tomorrow, just as tradition states. This has not changed for a hundred years," said King Armon. He was the only living king left, residing in the palace alone with his wife, Queen Ophelia.

"Do you think it might be a little archaic to be doing that?" asked the reporter.

"Chaos will reign if we allow him to live. Nothing will change," replied King Armon.

I paced around the living room in a panic, my hand to my chest. They were going to stake him at noon tomorrow. I had to be there to see him once last time.

"Lana."

"Yes, Lio?"

"Do you still have feelings for the vampire? For James?"

He had finally asked me the question outright. My heart ached at the mention of James. I looked straight into Lio's eyes and nodded.

"Yes. Yes, I do," I said. "Just like I have feelings for you, Markus, and Owen. He's no different."

"Do you trust him with your life?" asked Lio, sitting on the edge of the couch as he watched me thoughtfully with a hand to his chin.

"Yes," I said nervously. Lio was unpredictable when it came to our connection. He could feel threatened and lash out, or he might not even care since the vampire was now stowed away where he couldn't get me.

"Then I don't blame you for feeling the way you do," said Lio, standing up and walking over to me. "If circumstances were different, then I wouldn't mind having an addition to the pack."

"Wait, you'd allow a vampire to mate her?" asked Markus incredulously.

"If that is what our omega wanted," said Lio, and I was surprised by his statement. This was completely unlike him. "But he's going to be staked tomorrow at noon. I can take you there to see him one last time, Lana."

Tears sprung to my eyes.

"Thank you, Lio."

I needed to see him one last time. To reassure him that I was there for him no matter what. And that what was happening to him was completely wrong.

"But if anything goes wrong- we are leaving tomorrow," said Lio. "Your father already has the helicopter stocked and loaded with all our boxes. I've bought your scent blockers in bulk which are also stowed on that plane."

I nodded as he silently hugged me.

"I don't think I can bear to see him get staked," I said. "It's barbaric."

"I know, baby," he said, kissing me on the lips. "I'm sorry."

"I want him to see his babies again," I said.

"It would be very dangerous to bring them," said Lio. "Markus and I will be going with you to the staking. Owen can stay with the twins. I'm not risking the babies' lives."

He was right. It would be risky to do that as a mother.

"Alright."

That night I tossed and turned, ready to feed the babies if any one of them woke up. While I fed Jay in the middle of the night, I stared at his little face thinking about his father, who would be unjustly killed tomorrow.

His father was going to die.

I pressed a hand to my mouth to stop myself from sobbing out loud, feeling sorry for the little baby who would never know his father. After putting Jay to sleep, I got up for a glass of water. I couldn't sleep, and my mind was racing way too much. I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. My heart was heavy as I sipped on the water, unable to shake off the horrible heavy feeling. I knew my feelings would worsen once James was gone from this world.

I pressed a hand to my racing heart, wishing all this would disappear.