Page 49 of Betrayed Bullied Mate

“This isn’t—” Varun starts, but Aris presses down firmly, breaking his neck and ending his career as alpha of the Rosecreek pack.

Chapter 27 - Aris

As soon as the life leaves Varun’s eyes, I see Linnea collapse into Bigby’s arms. I move to her, taking her from his arms and checking her for injury, but she must just be exhausted from the past few days and the excitement of the fight. With Varun dead, there are a lot of preparations to be made. The pack will need to be notified that I’m officially the new alpha, and we’ll have to scour the rest of Varun’s compound to ensure he doesn’t have anyone else imprisoned here.

But right now, I need to take my wife home. Vaguely remembering where her parents lived, I have Bigby help me get her back into the truck they came in and head toward her house.

As we drive, Bigby explains what happened and how Linnea managed to get away from him and convince him to come to my aid.

She faked throwing up because of the baby, he says. She’s too cunning for her own good.

I look down at her with pride in my eyes. She may have directly disobeyed my orders, but I can’t deny that without her there, Varun may have hit me with that poisoned knife. And if that had happened, neither Linnea nor the baby would have made it through.

Putting my hand on her forehead, I marvel at her strength. Coming to defend me, coming to my aid, when just a week ago she was planning to cut ties with her pack altogether. My body pulls me to her, and I lift her head, placing it in my lap.

After seeing her in so much danger, down in the compound, it feels like I’ll never be able to leave her alone again. Bigby pulls up outside the house and I get out, hefting Linnea into my arms and carrying her up the path. Bigby opens the door and helps me get inside, where I place her down on the couch. When she’s comfortable, I move back outside with him, closing the door gently and crossing my arms.

What do we do now? Bigby projects.

I take a deep breath and look down the street. It still looks empty, and I wonder where everyone went—if Varun made it clear that something was going down and told them to evacuate, or if it’s something worse than that. I hope, for my benefit and everyone’s, that nothing bad has happened to the innocents in this pack, to the humans in this town.

We’ll have to contact the agency about the commander, I start. And, if I’m being honest. I’m not sure I’m going back. I have a responsibility to the people of this town—

You don’t have to explain that to me, Brother, Bigby replies, nodding his head vaguely in the direction of Linnea. If I’m being honest with you, I’m not sure I want to return to the agency, either. There’s just too much corruption to be certain you’re doing good, you know?

Where will you go?

Well, there’s this little town called Rosecreek that I’ve had my eye on.

I blink at him, disbelieving.

You’d move back here? After everything?

I’ll move back here to work with an alpha like you.

We’re not huggers, but I reach out and pull Bigby into a hug, clapping him on the back. Things haven’t gone the way I thought when we set out to complete this mission, but I’m on the path to rebuilding my father’s legacy.

I think—I think the rest of the team might want to stay, too, Bigby adds, and obviously, you’re going to need all the help you can get.

We pull apart, and Bigby claps me on the arm once more, nodding.

We can all think on it, I send. But for now, I’m going to get some fucking sleep.

Bigby laughs, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, then tipping his head up to look at Linnea’s family house. It’s nothing special, but you can tell she puts care into the upkeep, with the well-tended flowers and fresh siding.

We’re going to scrub through the rest of the compound tonight, though, Bigby says. Need to make sure Varun doesn’t have anyone else down there.

Agreed.

Bigby nods once more, then turns and walks back down the drive, leaving the truck parked outside. I take a deep breath and walk back into the house. Now that I have a second to take it in, I stop and look at the pictures of Linnea and her family on the mantle, at her wide smile as a kid, her arms thrown around them.

My heart hurts for her that she lost both of them in one fell swoop. I think of my own parents. I grieve that our children won’t meet their wonderful grandparents. As I turn and see Linnea on the couch, her head nuzzled into the pillow, sleeping soundly, I know that our kids will have a pack to rely on and plenty of pack elders to replace the grandparents they’ve lost.

Protecting Linnea still at the front of my mind, I walk through the house, checking each room and scoping out the area until I’m sure we’re secure inside. Then, I walk to the couch, collect my wife, and bring her to bed.

***

When I wake up later, the sun has disappeared from the sky, with only the light from the street lamp filtering in through the blinds to light the room. Immediately, I realize Linnea isn’t in bed beside me, and I move my hand, grasping for her. I sit up, then realize there’s a light shining out from under the bathroom door, and I can hear the faint sound of the shower running.

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