“Bella...”
“Adam!”
He falls to the bed beside her and immediately pulls her into his arms. He had not been sure earlier that she would even want to see him when he had knocked on the door earlier, but she had surprised him by inviting him to stay with her.
Last night after her conversation with her father she had wanted to be alone, so he had spent the night tossing and turning in his big bed by himself. As crazy as it sounds, he missed her terribly. He has gotten used to sle
“I'm here to get you, Bella. To take you home where you belong.” He says, coming forward a step. Adam growls a warning from his position at her side. His meaning is clear, even without the words. Do not take another step towards her. “Gus, I don't understand-” “Bella, you can not stay here with these monsters.” He tells her and she frowns, reaching down to stroke Adam's fur.
Bella opens her eyes to find herself lying in her bed. Her chest aches and she feels sick to her stomach. Lifting a hand to her right breast, she encounters a bandage. When her fingers touch it, her breath hisses out. “Ow..” “Don't touch it.” Bella turns her head, her eyes widening. “Daddy?” “Hey, baby girl.” Tears spring to her eyes as she scrambles to sit up, but he lays a hand on her shoulder, pushing her gently back onto the bed. “Don't try to get up, honey. You need your rest to heal.” “No, what I need is to hug you. I have missed you so much!” Bella sits up once more and this time he does not fight her. He gently pulls her into his arms, holding her close to him as she cries. “I thought that I had lost you, Bella.” He whispers into her hair and she hiccups on a sob. “I am never letting you go again!” “Actually... Dad-” Bella pulls back to look up at him. This is the moment where she has to tell him that she is not going home with him. She can not explain to him tha
Two years later... “Bella, it is time to start getting dressed! The wedding starts in less than an hour.” Bella smiles patiently, understanding why Fleur is so harried at the moment. “I will put my dress on in a minute. I promise I will not hold up the wedding.” Bella looks at the beautiful white wedding dress hanging on the back of the door. It is long and flowing with a fitted lace bodice and an empire waist skirt that swirls
Beauty and Her MateChad Potter is the greatest warrior in his pack, no one can doubt that. But he is a broken man and he hides his pain beneath anger and resentment. Towards the woman that broke his heart and betrayed him in such an unspeakable way.His mate.Lily Shayse promised to love Chad for the rest of her life and vowed to always be by his side, but she lied. When circumstances out of her control forced her away from him, she knew that he would never understand why she had to forake their bond and leave. But now she is pack and all of her dark secrets are coming to light and Alex is seeing that not all of her lies where malicious. She was just a desperate girl, trying to outrun something that she should never have had to face on her own. He will stand by her side and help her, but Chad does not think that he can forgive her or forget what she has done to him. That is, until she offers him something that he can not resist. The chance at the lie that he has always wanted. Wi
The once very beautiful face on the sterile white pillow was now bruised and battered. The man looking down at it frowned as he was unfamiliar with the feelings the sight of her face inspired in him. Concern. Fear. Even pain. For so many years, his emotions had been locked away, so that he would never have to feel pain again. Feelings were nothing but a pain in his ass and as the most revered Lycan warrior in all the surrounded packs, they were a nuisance that he didn't care to have get in his way. But when he looked at the woman on the bed, he couldn't help but feel something. She was no stranger to him. At one time, he had thought that he knew her very well. It has been nearly four years since he has seen her, but she has not changed a bit in that time. He has. He is no longer the funny and charming boy he was when they met all those summers ago. At twenty-two, he is a man now and he has strived to never be like he was then. Loving. Tender. Gullible. A fool. A fool that sh
Four years earlier... It was such a hot summer day and the falling rain hit the earth, but it didn't cool it. The water drops pelted the ground only to rise back up as vapor when its coolness did nothing to relieve the oppressing heat. The day was just hot, drizzly, and muggy. The air felt heavy and when Lily Shayse stepped outside of her front door, it was like someone slapped her in the face with a damp washcloth. Her lungs fill with the moist air and the steamy rain dampens her face. It is a good thing that she does not wear makeup, otherwise she would have streaks of eyeliner and mascara smudging her face, which is not an attractive look by any means. Not that she was worried about looking good. She knew that she was pretty but she also knew that looks did not make a person. Just because the outside is beautiful, does not mean the inside matches. Just look at her father. He is as handsome as they come. People trip over themselves only to fall at his feet for a look at h
The guy on the swing set turns to face her and she stops walking, frozen in place by the icy blue eyes that he levels her with. She is about to spin around on her heels and rush away when he stops her. “Hello.” Even though she is ninety-six percent certain that she is the only person out there besides him, she still looks around to make sure that it is her that he is talking to and not someone standing behind her. When she sees that no one is there, she turns back and lifts a tentative hand to give a small wave that is no higher than her waist. “Um, hi.” “Let me guess, you came here for some peace and privacy, huh? You wanted to be alone with just your thoughts, am I right?” He asks her with a grin and she can not help but to offer him a small smile in return. “Actually, I come here to get away from my thoughts as much as I do the rest of the world. I like the peace I get just from being here.” She tells him and he nods as if he understands completely. “Yeah, that makes sense.
“Mates?” Lily asks hesitantly. She kind of knew about what mates were but she never knew the specifics of it, because her parents refused to tell her. Her father told her that she would never find her mate because nature had not made one for her so that she would be stuck with him. He said that she would be a burden to him forever because she was too foul for anyone to love. “I have a mate?” She asks again and he nods, empathetically. “Yes, you do. Me.” He takes her hand in his and pulls her forward, so that he can hug her. She can smell his excitement on the air and feel the energy vibrating through him. His pure joy is contagious and without even fully understanding it, she is hugging him back tightly, laughing with him. “God, I am so happy to have found you!” He says, giving her a quick kiss on the top of her head, before he pulls back. “Oh, by he way my name is Chandry Alexander Potter but everyone calls me Chad.” “My name is Lilian Shayse, but I go by Lily.” “Shayse? As in.
Greer sits up in bed, gasping for breath. Liam is beside her whispering, “Shh... shh.. it's okay, baby, it was just a nightmare.” Greer looks around, seeing the children safe beside her, before she looks at Liam, beside her in nothing but his boxers. Lyle isn't here and neither is Shera. It was just a dream. She is breathing heavy from fear but she is trying to calm herself down. Liam wraps his arms around her and pulls her into his warm, bare chest. Hunter is against the wall like always and Gemma is in the middle between them. Greer picks the baby up into her arms and moves her over so that she and Liam can lay down. She looked at him, “Lie with me, please.” He nods his head and adjusts himself on the bed, so that he is laying down beside of her. She lays back in his arms with her head in the crook of his shoulder. Her breath fans his chest. Gemma is beside Hunter, sleeping peacefully, so Greer turns over to face Liam. Her hand is resting on his flat stomach, her legs tangle
“What?” “You heard me. Do you want to stay here with me forever?” Liam asks her needing to know if that is something she can even imagine before he tells her everything. “I, um-” “Yes or no, baby. There is no right or wrong answer here.” Liam says. “If you want us to-” Greer knows the exact answer that she wants to give him she just does not think that she is brave enough. She has never been one that can just put herself out there. She always has to hold a little of herself back so that if she gets hurt, at least it isn't every part of her that gets damaged. She still has something to go on. But Liam is asking her for everything. If she answers him truthfully then she will be handing him her whole heart. And that terrifies her. “This is not about what I want, Greer. This is about what you want. You are the only one that gets to make decisions for you and the children. I will not try to pressure you into anything you don't want. If you don't want to stay forever, that does not
Time flies by as they sat there, playing together as, well, a family. They weren't a family though, he has to keep telling himself. He glances at his watch, “It's time for us to get ready. I'll watch the kids while you take a shower.” Greer nods and leaves the room. He looks at Hunter playing with the toys and the little boy looks back at him with a smile. Liam smiles back at the kid. The boy just needs positive male attention. Somebody with a Y chromosome to love him instead of scare him. Greer had done her best, but how could a teenager be expected to raise a child in a small bedroom, without any form of help? He looks at Hunter, then at Gemma in his lap and was, not for the first time, totally in awe of Greer. Greer was a survivor, there was no doubting that. She could handle anything life threw at her and clearly come out on top. He knows that she is scared of Lyle. She is worried about him and Shera showing up, but Brody wants her to have faith in him. Could she trust him t
Greer wakes up a few hours later when it is still very early morning. Now is the perfect time to go while the baby is still asleep. She was beginning to sleep through the night, not wanting bottles at all hours. Greer figures that the routine and stability that they found in this pack house contributed greatly to that but she pushes that thought away. Yeah, life is good here but they will just have to make a better life somewhere else, she tells herself. Greer rolls out of the bed, trying not to disturb the children. She doesn't want to wake them until they are leaving. She goes to the armoire, pulling out the bags she had carried her stuff in before. She opens it and begins stuffing clothes in it. She pulls out the stroller and props it against the bed. She stuffs all the baby's sleepers in there and Hunter's clothes as well before she grabs her warm shirts. She looks at the dresses Liam had bought; he had given them to her as a surprise a few days ago. Greer feels like crying.
They about their day and she tries her best to act normally. Tomorrow afternoon is when Belinda was due to return and Greer has made up her mind that she is leaving in the morning. Maybe with her gone, they will choose to let Belinda keep thinking that she was dead. If she has finally made her peace with it, then there is no use upsetting the apple cart now. She knows that Hunter will be so upset. He loves Liam and the house; loves what seemed like a real home and family. Yet, it isn't their home and they aren't a part of Liam's family. It will be horrible leaving, especially since she is pretty sure that she had fallen in love with Liam. But she has to go. She kept to herself as Liam's family was there. She talked and was polite, but any chance she got to excuse herself for a moment, she took it. She went to the bathroom five times while they were there, just because she needed to take a breath and to tell herself that she was not part of them. Even if they made her feel like s
It does not take them long to go through the store and get everything on Adam's list. Within twenty minutes they are finished and back in his truck. Ten minutes of shopping and ten minutes of him talking to the beautiful girl that stopped him at the door. Greer figures that she was a girlfriend before and wants to be again, judging by all the possessive 'hands off, he belongs to me' looks that the girl was giving her. Greer has questions about her but she does not ask them. She has no right to. After Liam says goodbye to the girl, they go to the truck. Greer feels good because the whole time they were talking to the obviously interested girl, Liam never left her out. He kept his hand on her back the whole time, he included her in the conversation by asking her questions about whatever subject they were discussing. But her favorite part was when he had slung his arm around her shoulders and said, “Come on, honey. We have to get back to the kids. Dad and Hunter will be driving Mom
Greer watches Liam as he cuddles Gemma close and kisses her hair. He carries her to his mom, handing her over when Bella holds out her arms. Adam comes over to inform Liam that the whole family is coming over for supper and that he needs them to run to the store in town and pick up a few things. Adam turns to Greer, “I need you to ride with him and make sure he gets everything. Don't worry about to kiddos, they are fine here. We will take good care of them. Becca should be home in a few minutes, she just went to visit some friends that she missed while we were gone but when she gets back, she will drag out all kinds of toys for him. She goes crazy over kids.” Greer smiles at the alpha, but inside she is very aprehensive about leaving the children with anyone but especially people they don't know. Yet about the time that she opens her mouth to decline is the same time that Hunter comes over to Adam and tugs on his shirt. “Yeah, buddy?” Adam asks the child with a big smile. “Liam
Greer improves substantially over the next week and a half. Liam makes her take her medicines on time and keeps a drink constantly in front of her, forcing her to drink. Eventually her werewolf healing must have been slighly activated by being in a pack and with his burgeoning alpha aura, because she is healed completely and she has more strength than she ever has before. Besides all that, her senses are sharper. Each day she can see and hear better than before. Ebony had filed the petition with the human courtsand they were suppose to hear something today. Ebony was confident in the ruling though. Greer not so much. If she wasn't granted guardianship then Shera could come and get the kids whenever she wanted. Greer knows herself well enough to know that she'd do something desperately crazy before she let Lyle and Shera get the kids. Not wanting to dwell on it, she had tried to keep her mind off the ruling for the last few days. It only worked about thirty-seven point two percent
The boy had heard the man's steps on the landing, so he invited him into the room. Liam enters the room, clearly about to say something, but just then he sees her and he just stops in the doorway where he proceeds to stare at her with his mouth ajar. Once he seems to realize that he is standing their like an imbecile with his mouth hanging open, he shakes himself, “I'm sorry. I didn't know you were, um, not dressed.” “It's quite alright. You were invited into the room,” Greer shoots Hunter a mock glare, then smiles at him as the little boy grins at her, unabashed. Liam watches the by-play between the siblings but he can not focus on the exchange. The only thing on his mind is how the sigh of her has caught his attention. Greer stands beside the shower with only a damp towel covering her. Liam watches as drops of water cut paths across her skin and he wishes that he could replace that drop of liquid with his finger tips. That the soft pads of his fingers could brush her skin in