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Chapter 69

CHAPTER 69

T he first growl had her going still, the second had her swallowing hard, but it was the third growl that had her slowly opening her eyes and found herself trying to make sense of what was happening.

She just…

She just needed a minute, Jill decided, unable to help but frown as she moved to get up only to rethink that decision when another growl reached her ears as the large arms cradling her pulled her impossibly closer. Swallowing hard, Jill moved to turn her head and…did…did someone just press a baby kiss against the top of her head?

Yes, yes, they did, Jill realized as her gaze locked on the large man watching her from the other side of the room and-

“Chris,” Jill mumbled weakly with a watery smile as she watched her brother’s lips pull up into a huge smile as he moved to cross the room to go to her only to go still when another growl tore through the room.

She watched Chris swallow hard as he slowly, ever so slowly, leaned back against the wall with a murmured, “I’ll just give you a hug later,” as his gaze stayed locked on something just above her head.

Frowning, Jill took in the rest of the large room, from the cabinets filled with medical supplies to the stretchers next to her as she tried to figure out what the hell was going on. The last thing that she remembered was being in the foyer with-

“Where’s Emma and the boys?” Jill demanded, trying not panic as she tried getting up again only to have that terrifying growl stop her.

Really hoping that it wasn’t what she thought it was, Jill forced herself to slowly turn her head and found herself staring into a pair of familiar red eyes. Reminding herself not to make any sudden moves, Jill opened her mouth to ask her brother what set off their father’s bloodlust only to frown when their father leaned down and kissed her forehead.

Pretty sure that this was a first when their father was in bloodlust, Jill glanced back at Chris and-

“He’s not in bloodlust,” Chris said with a long-suffering sigh. “He’s been growling at everyone like a psychopath anytime one of us gets within five feet of you.”

“Where are my children?” Jill asked, struggling not to panic as she searched the room for them and-

“They’re in the kitchen currently being spoiled by Kale’s mate,” Chris said before adding, “They’re safe here, Jill. We’re not going to turn them over to the Sentinels.”

Relief surged through her body as she found herself slowly exhaling before she asked, “Where’s Logan?” knowing exactly how her family felt about him, which was why she needed to find him before it was too late.

“He’s somewhere safe,” her father drawled, which of course, was followed up by another kiss and-

Was he smiling against her hair?

“What happened?” Jill asked, deciding that was the best place to start.

“I saved you singlehandedly, of course,” Chris said with a heartfelt sigh.

“And Logan?” Jill asked, watching as Chris struggled to bite back a smile.

“He’s hanging around here somewhere,” Chris said, clearing his throat as he was forced to look away.

“Where is he?” Jill demanded as she narrowed her eyes on the large bastard as a surge of frustration tore through her, letting her know that Logan was alive.

“That depends on how this conversation goes,” Chris said conversationally as he made a show of examining his nails.

Jill opened her mouth only to have her father kiss the top of her head again, making her sigh heavily as she glanced back at him and-

Ended up grumbling when he began pressing baby kisses against her forehead.

“Are you going to let me go?” Jill asked, watching as her father seemed to think that over for a moment before he pressed another kiss against her forehead.

“No,” Ephraim said, making her lips twitch as he went back to pressing baby kisses against her forehead.

“I’m gonna need you to focus,” Chris said, drawing her attention to find her brother still examining his damn nails.

“And I’m going to need you to stop annoying the hell out of me,” Jill said, moving to push her father’s arms away only to have the large man that she’d missed more than anything kiss the top of her head again.

“Is that why you didn’t let us know that you were alive?” Chris drawled as he glanced up to meet her gaze.

“You know why,” Jill said, biting back a sigh as she shoved her father’s arms away and forced herself to ignore just how badly she wanted to stay in his arms. She climbed off the stretcher and headed for the door only to go still at her father’s next words.

“We made a mistake, Jill,” he said hoarsely, making her shake her head in disbelief as she slowly turned around and faced the man that she prayed would save her every single minute that she spent in that cell.

“Is that what you call sending me to the Sentinels so that they could lock me up in a small cell and kept me in there for a year without a word from anyone? Or are you referring to the fact that you were going to let me spend the rest of my life on a Sentinel island?” Jill demanded as she watched him swallow hard.

“Both,” Ephraim said hoarsely as he climbed off the stretcher, his red eyes pleading with her to give him a chance.

“Is that why you didn’t visit me? Or call? Made sure that I knew that someone gave a damn about me?” Jill demanded, shaking her head in disgust as she moved to turn around and-

“We didn’t have a choice,” her father said, cutting her off.

Nodding, Jill said, “I do get it. Believe me, I get how dangerous it was to let me stay and I even understand why you had to hand me over to the Sentinels. What I don’t understand is how you turned your back on me so easily after I screwed up one time, but when Chris screwed up his life when he tried sending Izzy away, you stood by his side.”

“Because he’s not my little girl!” Ephraim bit out.

“You son of a bitch!” Chris gasped in outrage. “I’m fucking precious!”

“I never worried about him the way that I worried about you. When he fucked up, I knew that he could handle it. But you…God, you turned out to be too fucking kind for your own good, Jill. So, when I found out that he marked you, I lost it, knowing that you’d been dragged into this world before you were ready. I don’t think that I ever felt so fucking helpless as when I saw that mark on your neck and I just fucking lost it. You’ll never know just how sorry I am that I hurt you or just how much I’ve missed you,” Ephraim said as his red eyes flashed brighter.

“You never even gave me a chance to tell you why I was in that cell in the first place,” Jill pointed out as she moved to turn around and-

“Why?” her father asked softly, taking her by surprise.

“Because he was the one thing that made everything okay,” Jill said, not knowing how else to explain it. “And for what it’s worth. I didn’t keep my existence a secret to punish you. I knew that coming here would put everyone in danger and I couldn’t risk you handing Shane and the twins over to the Sentinels. They deserve better than to live their lives on an island in the middle of nowhere.”

“They’re not going anywhere,” he promised her. “None of you are.”

“No, they’re not,” Jill said because she was never going to let anyone hurt them again.

“You love him, don’t you?” Ephraim asked, watching her curiously as he crossed the room.

“More than anything,” Jill said, watching him as he gently cupped her face in his hands.

“You know that I’ll rip his heart out if he ever hurts you, right?” Ephraim asked as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“I know,” Jill said with a watery smile before asking the one question that she’d been avoiding since she opened her eyes. “Where’s Madison?”

“She’s asleep,” Ephraim said, dropping his hands away with a soft sigh. “We didn’t want to overwhelm you tonight.”

Knowing that was probably for the best, Jill slowly exhaled as she turned to Chris only to find him still glaring at their father and-

“I’m beyond fucking precious,” Chris said, making them both roll their eyes as he grabbed hold of her hand and dragged her towards the door.

While Chris grumbled to himself, which she probably would have found concerning if she wasn’t currently trying to wrap her mind around everything that happened, he dragged her up the stairs and down a long, dimly lit hallway and into a room on her right and…

Why was Logan hanging from the ceiling? Jill found herself wondering. She opened her mouth only to find herself wondering why Izzy, who appeared to be heavily pregnant, was fast asleep on the bed, hugging a large bag of peanut butter cups against her chest.

“She fell asleep in the middle of interrogating me,” Logan said, drawing her attention to find him watching her through silver eyes.

“That’s because I broke him in less than a minute,” came the sleepily mumbled announcement followed by, “This isn’t what it looks like,” while Jill stood there, unable to take her eyes off Logan.

“Tell me that’s not an insanely large bag of chocolate in your arms,” Chris said as Jill watched Logan’s gaze soften while he watched her.

“Those aren’t mine,” Izzy said, trying to sound innocent while Chris released a long-suffering sigh seconds before the rope attached to Logan’s legs went slack, dropping him to the floor with a pained grunt.

“They’re his!” Izzy said, pointing a damning finger at Logan when Chris released another sigh. “He’s just trying to set me up for breaking him so quickly.”

“And what exactly did you get out of him, munchkin?” Chris asked, tossing the rope aside while Jill quickly made her way to Logan’s side.

“He loves her,” Izzy said with a heartfelt sigh accompanied by the sounds of a candy bar wrapper crinkling as Logan reached up and cupped her face in his hands.

“Angel,” Logan whispered reverently as he leaned up and gently brushed his lips against hers and-

“Oh, God, I didn’t need to see that,” Chris said, sounding horrified and making her lips twitch as she blindly reached down and grabbed hold of the knot securing the rope to Logan’s leg and pulled it free before she climbed onto his lap.

Once she was settled on his lap, Jill wrapped her arms around him and felt herself relax.

“You scared the hell out of me,” Logan said, wrapping his arms around her and pulled her closer while Chris went back to grumbling to himself as he carried his mate out of the room before closing the door quietly behind them.

“I know,” Jill murmured quietly as she closed her eyes and slowly exhaled as she allowed herself to think about what happened in that foyer. “Tell me that Emma is really okay.”

“The little sugar addict filled me in before she passed out. There’s a human doctor that came to live with your family named Noah. He took care of Emma’s cuts and even gave Caleb matching band-aids so that he wouldn’t feel left out. He made sure that all of the children were okay while Kale’s mate fed them. Shane survived his first transition. They’re all fine,” Logan promised her as he kept one arm around her while he shifted his weight onto his other arm and carefully stood up.

“And Elizabeth?” Jill asked, wrapping her legs around him as he carried her into the bathroom.

“She’s dead,” Logan said, turning his head to kiss her cheek as she felt a wave of relief pour over her.

“And Tomas?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she thought about the cranky demon.

“I’ll find him,” Logan said as he carefully placed her down on the bathroom sink and kissed her forehead. “I promise.”

“And you?” Jill asked, reaching up to cup his face in her hands.

“I’ve never been more terrified in my life,” Logan said, pressing his lips against her forehead.

“I should have died,” Jill said as she found herself glancing down and taking in all the dried blood covering her shirt as she thought about the moment when she realized Elizabeth had stabbed her.

She never felt any pain.

She just…

She couldn’t let her hurt Emma.

For a moment, he didn’t say anything as his eyes flashed brighter and a small muscle in his jaw clenched before he finally managed to get out on a soft murmur, “Yes, you should have.”

“Why didn’t I die?” Jill asked, trying to make sense of everything.

“It’s the same reason why your blood doesn’t turn to ash,” he said as he reached up and ran his fingertips along her jaw. “Your transition protected you.”

“And if you hadn’t claimed me…” Jill said, letting the words trail off as she watched him noticeably swallow.

“You would have turned to ash the second that knife penetrated your heart,” Logan said as she sat there, absently nodding as she-

“You’re pregnant, Angel.”

“What?” Jill asked, sure that she’d misheard him as she watched Logan’s lips pulled up into that smile that she loved so much.

“You’re pregnant,” Logan said, looking happier than she’d ever seen him as pure joy spread over her. “We’re having a little boy.”

“How?” Jill asked as her hand went to her stomach and found herself wondering if this was all just a dream.

“There was more to your transition than we thought, Angel,” Logan said, leaning down to brush his lips against hers. “He’s a Pyte.”

“Be sure,” Jill said, struggling not to get her hopes up as she felt Logan’s hand cover hers.

“I’m sure,” Logan said, making her swallow hard.

“We’re having another boy,” Jill said as she released a shaky breath as her lips pulled up into a smile.

Chuckling, Logan leaned down and brushed his lips against hers and-

“Mommy!” Caleb yelled as he ran into the bathroom and threw his arms around her with Emma close behind.

Smiling, Jill knelt down and wrapped her arms around the twins and-

“Kissy!”

-happily kissed Caleb’s forehead before she turned her head and quickly kissed Emma as she held them tightly.

“Are you okay?” Jill asked, giving them each another kiss as she opened her eyes to find Shane standing in the doorway, swallowing hard as he watched her.

“We’re okay, Mommy,” Emma promised as Jill kissed her cheek before she stood up and-

“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” Shane said as he reached over and pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.

“Promise,” Jill said, kissing Shane’s cheek before she reluctantly stepped back only to find herself pulled into another hug by the teenage boy that she’d missed more than anything.

“I missed you,” Marc said as she wrapped her arms around him.

“I missed you, too,” Jill said, slowly exhaling as she held her little brother in her arms before she reluctantly let him go.

“We’re having a baby, Mommy,” Caleb said, making her smile.

“That’s what I heard,” Jill said as she reached over and ran her fingers through his messy hair.

“I gotta go, Mommy,” Caleb said, making her frown, that is until his next words had her swallowing hard as she struggled to remember how to breathe. “Uncle Chris is going to teach us the right way to play hide-and-go-seek!”

“Wait! No, don’t-” Jill started to say only to release a whimper when Caleb and Emma grabbed Shane’s hand and ran off, dragging Shane behind them and leaving her standing there, struggling not to panic. Swallowing hard, she glanced at Marc to find him watching her with that devious look in his eye that still had the power to terrify her.

“You’re it,” Marc whispered, shooting her a wink that left her whimpering as she watched him go.

“But I don’t want to be it,” Jill mumbled weakly.

“Would you like me to distract them with a movie and the promise of ice cream while you take a shower?” Logan asked, pulling her back into his arms so that he could kiss her forehead.

“I really would,” she said with a sniffle, making him chuckle.

“Before I forget,” Logan said, pulling a black cellphone out of his pocket and placed it on the counter. “The little sugar addict told me to give this to you. The password is your birthday.”

She watched as Logan made his way out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him as she replayed the words, “You’re pregnant,” several times in her head and-

They were having a baby, Jill repeated to herself, wondering when it was going to feel real. She just…

She couldn’t believe that this was happening, Jill thought, unable to help but smile as she ran her hand over her flat stomach before she picked up the phone and typed her birthday in only to frown when she saw that there were over two thousand messages waiting for her, a thousand missed calls, and around five hundred emails.

Curious, Jill opened the phone app and scrolled through the voicemails until she came to the one dated the night that they kicked her out and after a slight hesitation, she hit Play.

“We really screwed up tonight, Jill,” the message began playing, making her swallow hard as she listened to her sister explain how sorry she was about what happened. She explained that they didn’t have a choice, but that they should have handled it better before Jill went to play the next message, this one from her father telling her how much he loved her before he reluctantly hung up.

For several hours, Jill sat there listening to voicemails, reading texts, and emails from Madison, her father, Chris, Izzy, and Marc as they told her how much they missed her and loved her. All the plans they had, her father’s plan to go with her to the island, their plans to remove her mark and do whatever it took to bring her home. They told her how much they hated this, how badly they wanted to see her, but that they couldn’t because her presence in the Sentinel compound was a secret and they were afraid of drawing attention to her.

They hated being away from her, but they didn’t know what else to do until the voicemails changed from hope to absolute devastation when they found out that she died. God, the pain in their voices. She listened as her father cried while he struggled to get the words out that he loved her, watched Marc break down as he showed her their little brothers, and listened while Madison cried as she struggled to tell her all of those things that she never got to tell her.

When she couldn’t take it anymore, Jill placed the phone down on the counter and slowly exhaled before drying her eyes and made her way to the bedroom only to feel her lips pull up into a watery smile when she spotted Logan passed out on the bed with their babies.

God, she loved them so much, Jill thought, grabbing the folded blanket off the end of the bed and pulled it over them before leaning over and kissed Shane’s cheek. She ran her fingers through his messy hair before she leaned over him and-

“Kissy!”

-felt her lips twitch as she kissed the top of Caleb’s head. After giving him an extra kiss, Jill made her way around the bed and tucked in Logan before she found herself staring at their baby girl. She took in the band-aids on her throat and found herself closing her eyes and slowly exhaling.

She was safe.

Repeating those words to herself, Jill opened her eyes and leaned over and kissed Emma’s forehead before she leaned over and gently brushed her lips against Logan’s, careful not to wake him and found herself wondering if he had any idea just how much she loved him. She never thought that she could love someone this much, Jill thought as she watched her family sleep for another moment before she made her way to the bedroom door. She quietly opened the door only to find Madison standing there, wringing her hands together as her mouth worked soundlessly and-

“I think this is the part where we stand around awkwardly, trying to figure out what we’re supposed to say,” Jill said, swallowing hard as she stood there, unable to take her eyes off her sister, terrified that if she looked away for even for a second that Madison would disappear.

“And make small talk,” Madison murmured in agreement as she continued wringing her hands together.

“We should add a few moments of awkward silence, too,” Jill added with a solemn nod.

“We should definitely talk about the weather,” Madison agreed as her lips pulled up into a watery smile.

“Absolutely, it wouldn’t be an awkward conversation without mentioning the weather, which has been beautiful lately,” Jill added, releasing a shaky breath as she struggled not to cry. She-

“I’m precious!” Chris snapped from wherever the hell it was that he was, making Madison frown.

“He just found out that I’m the favorite,” Jill said with a helpless shrug.

“It was only a matter of time,” Madison murmured, nodding in agreement.

“This feels like a good time to add one of those moments of awkward silence,” Jill suggested, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Madison murmured as her eyes flashed red.

“It definitely enhances the awkwardness,” Jill said, swallowing hard.

“It brings it to a whole new level,” Madison murmured in agreement as she moved to reach for her only to rethink that decision and went back to worrying her hands together.

“It really does,” Jill said, frantically wiping at her face when she felt her eyes begin to tear up.

“We could avoid what we really want to say with smartass comments,” Madison suggested as she released a shaky breath.

“It would probably be for the best if we went with that option,” Jill murmured in agreement.

“I hear that you got yourself shot, found yourself mated to the asshole, and somehow managed to get yourself stabbed in the chest,” Madison said, making her lips twitch.

“I make excellent choices,” Jill said, nodding solemnly.

“I also heard that he loves you more than anything and that you have three beautiful children who adore you,” Madison said, her voice breaking as the first tear ran down her face.

“This feels like we’re getting dangerously close to talking about that thing that we’re trying to avoid,” Jill pointed out as she hesitantly reached over and took Madison’s hand in hers.

“It does, doesn’t it?” Madison said with a watery smile as she gave Jill’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Then, I probably shouldn’t mention that my biggest regret in life is sending you away,” Madison said, swallowing hard as she moved closer.

“Really? Because I thought it was that perm you got when you were sixteen,” Jill said, making Madison’s lips twitch.

“It was, but I thought I’d lead with that,” Madison said as she released a shaky breath and reached for her.

“You should probably just get to the part where you tell me how much you missed me so that we can move on to the ugly crying and hysterical sobs portion of this reunion,” Jill said, closing her eyes as Madison pulled her into her arms.

“Should we add in heartfelt promises and declarations of our undying love?” Madison whispered as she tightened her hold around her as Jill stood there, struggling to keep it together as she wrapped her arms around her sister.

“It’s honestly the only way I like to handle heartbreaking moments like this,” Jill mumbled around a broken sob.

Nodding solemnly, Madison said, “I think we have a good plan in place here.”

“Should we break apart so that we can look into each other’s eyes while a wave of emotion takes over, nearly dropping us to our knees?” Jill asked as she held onto Madison tightly.

“I mean, how else are we going to do this?” Madison asked as she turned her head and kissed Jill’s forehead.

“I feel like we rushed this,” Jill said around a sniffle.

“We definitely did,” Madison mumbled as she released a shaky breath.

“Time to go with plan B?”

“Sniffles and incoherent murmurs?” Madison said, holding her tight.

“I’m ready when you are,” Jill mumbled weakly.

“There’s no time like the present,” Madison said, barely managing to get the words out around a broken sob.

“Agreed,” Jill said, seconds before they both broke down and-

“I’m never letting you go again,” Madison swore, holding her tighter.

“I kind of got that with the bone-crushing hold that you have going here,” Jill managed to get out on a pained groan.

“It makes it harder for you to leave,” Madison said, even as she relaxed her hold so that Jill could breathe again.

“It really does,” Jill murmured.

“Good. Because I didn’t want to have to hobble you,” Madison said around a sniffle.

“And I appreciate that,” Jill said, deciding that this would be the perfect moment to lose it and start crying uncontrollably and, thankfully, her sister seemed to be on board with that plan.

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