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As the hunters pulled up to the building, Mj once again wasted no time in jumping out before she ran toward a noisy familiar truck idling in what was now a parking lot. As Mj approached the old rusty pickup, Lou squeezed himself out of the cab and gave her a quick hug before walking straight up to Dante, who was pulling himself out of the back seat of Ace’s SUV. Dante looked up at Lou and as he started to smile, the larger man grabbed Dante by the shirt and started pounding into his face with the free one. Dante let his hands hang lifelessly at his sides as Lou continued his relentless attack. Jay and Moxie immediately jumped on each of the flesh-covered tree trunks Lou called arms and began trying to peel the two of them apart. Mj shook her skull and started walking toward the pile of tangled men when Ace stepped in front of her with a strange look on his face. “Let’s get that beef upstairs before the animals smell it,” the commander said and Mj only smiled shaking her head as she tu
As Mj reached the door to her old but new apartment, a quizzically evil thought crossed her mind and she kicked the door open with one powerful thrust. Both John and Pepper were sitting at the table and when the door slammed against the wall, John shot out of his chair, knocking over the contents of his glass and Pepper dove beneath the dinner table. Mj waltzed in, holding her gut as she laughed and Moxie followed with his own small series of chuckles. Ace and Dante held the beef up on their shoulders as Jay brought up the rear and attempted to close the door that now seemed like it never would have fit in the first place. “You cracked the door,” Jay yelled and Mj only waved her hand, “get maintenance to fix it,” she casually answered as she smirked and got down on her hands and knees as she approached the table. Pepper clutched at John’s leg under the table and when Mj’s face appeared in front of her she squeaked, “didn’t mean to scare you Pep, come on out little turtle, no need to
Mj eyed Ed as he slipped back into the apartment, and all the old hunter did was give her a sad smile. She glanced at Ace, who seemed to be chastising Pepper in the kitchen, and she turned to Jay and Moxie as they picked up steaming cups of coffee, “lovers quarrel,” she asked quizzically and Moxie spat hot coffee all over Jay’s arm as all the color drained from Ace’s face. “Something like that, little sister,” Ed hummed as Dante slithered back into the apartment. Mj walked toward him and as she got closer, she felt the strangest thing against her skin, it was like every molecule her body was made of was pulling her toward the Nerezza Beta, and she squared her shoulders, forcing her body to numb out and ignore the foreign but familiar feeling. “Kit-assassin,” Dante corrected as Mj approached him, “if you can’t keep yourself under control I will have to respectfully ask for you to accompany the returning party,” she spoke with such callus and lack luster in her voice that Dante’s shoul
Dante followed Jay, Ed, and Honey out of the apartment and down to the waiting S.U.V.’s. He observed with a sorrowful sense of envy as Ed ran with an excited vigor to open the front passenger door for Honey, and she simply giggled before tenderly touching his beard-covered cheek and gingerly hopping into the seat. Ed did not even glance at Jay or Dante; he simply stepped up into the driver's seat and pulled their vehicle onto the road. Dante could feel the hostility in the air as he approached the truck and started to slide into the back seat, but before he could close the door Jay ripped it out of his hand and was physically furious, “Up. Front.” he spat and watched Dante slither out of the chair and toward the front when Jay grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, “who are you,” he demanded and Dante’s eyes barely met his before the once proud wolf let his head hang between his shoulders. Jay shook Dante a few times but when the wolf never showed, Jay just growled and shove
The moment Mj stepped away from Casper in search of his phone Ace approached her, “we should call the Alpha first little sister,” he whispered and Mj smirked at him, “careful commander, you keep talking like that and your big bad wolf persona might be tarnished,” she mused and Ace only shook his head, “I’m serious Mj, you might be running the show but Azreal-,” Mj put her hands up in surrender, “relax Ace I know the drill,” she said almost irritated and as she snagged his phone from his hand he crossed his arms and frowned at her. Mj only shrugged, “mine’s dead,” she explained in a carefree tone as she attempted to access his contacts. Ace smirked and cocked his head to the side, “you know it has a-,” the commander began before he watched the assassin punch in a few characters and immediately unlock the phone. Ace’s jaw almost dropped to the floor as Moxie held his belly laughing. Ace shot Moxie a displeased look as Mj began scrolling through his contacts, “how the fuck did you do th
Azreal tapped his foot in the dirt outside the pack house entrance as he impatiently waited for his hunters to return with their bounty. Lila placed her lithe hand against the small of his back, “I just got word from the swamp wolves Azz, they should be here very soon,” she cooed and Azreal nodded but did not remove his eyes from the drive up, Lila sighed and shook her skull as she rubbed slight circles into her mate’s back, “you can not control what they do my love, you can only guide them the way you have so many others and lead by example,” she tried to console him, but the sentiment was lost as Talia came bursting through the large front doors. “I hear your bratty little brother put his hands on my Beta, what are you going to do about it Azreal,” she barked and as the exhausted Quicksilver Alpha turned his head he was surprised when his mostly meek companion pushed the power within her out into the atmosphere and spoke first, “we do not plan to do a thing dear Talia, your Beta att
Although Mj and Lila had been in the middle of a very deep conversation about the state of Azreal’s mental well-being, the assassin found herself drowning out the words Lila was saying while she concentrated on the strange pitted feeling deep inside herself. Every now and again while they had been talking, Mj thought she heard the distant sound of a wolf’s whimper. The sound acted like a snowball effect, it sounded so familiar she tried to think back to where she may have heard it before, but every time she tried to nail down the memory it seemed to vanish. Like a dream you could remember as long as you didn’t think about it. Mj was pulled from her merry-go-round thought process as Lila squeezed her arm, “you ok Mj,” she asked and the stubborn and slightly embarrassed assassin shook her head, “yea, I’m sorry Lila I don’t know whether it’s these ridiculous headaches or my heat or this rescue bullshit, but my mind just can't seem to focus on any one thing.'' She admitted and Lila let g
Azreal drove his way down the hall, walking as far away from the budding new romance between one of his doctors and the LaFlare Alpha that had so lovingly adopted the nickname swamp thing as he could. He shook his head with the irony of their situation before his acute hearing picked up the distinct sound of one of his youngest children squeaking at the top of his tiny lungs and like a freight train the Alpha went whizzing through the maze of people and walls, cursing himself for insisting on having such an elaborately constructed domicile and heard Calix chuff in amusement as the Original pumped power through the human man’s body getting him to his destination as fast as possible. When Azreal flung open the door to his suite, another screech had his heart pounding and it almost ceased when his eyes fell upon Sam and Ace, each one of the ruthless hunters was holding a tiny twin above their heads as they each produced airplane noises. Ace stopped immediately with the wide-eyed expressio
In the weeks and months that followed Dante and Mj set to work building a pack their wayward people could call home. Some chose to leave, Mj agreed and almost insisted that they all stay in her building in Lowder until they figured out where they wanted to be. She assured Dante this was the best course of action as it kept them safe while they learned about the world and kept the Bijou pack safe, as the Alpha’s could easily keep an eye on anyone wishing to leave. Mj and Lila spoke on the phone almost daily, and the Quicksilver Alpha had even gotten her techno - impaired friend to do video calls, so they could truly visit with one another. In that time, the two women had exchanged troubling tales of walkers that continued to plague the outskirts of Bijou territory, while the Quicksilver pack was having its own trouble training hunters and tracking down the other Triad testing facilities. The two Alpha’s started to become somewhat legendary as they paved the way for a new way. Every wol
Mj looked at the phone in her hand and then at her mate, “I think she hung up on me,” she said and Dante laughed as he grabbed the small square device from her hand and tossed it over his head, “good, now I get you all to myself, yummy” he growled before wrapping his arms around her and burying his face into the center of her chest and inhaling. Mj cupped his face, smashing it between her breasts, “we have time for this later Alpha, we have a pack to rebuild and a family to prepare for,” she said and Dante looked up into her eyes with an excitement she had never seen as he placed the palm of his hand over her stomach, “are you,” he asked, and she let a laugh blast from her chest, “hell no, number one, it’s way too early to know… I think, and two I was actually talking about Moxie and the brood of babies he and Jay now have,” Mj finished and Dante looked at her, first, slightly disappointed and then confused, “kitten,” the Alpha cocked his head, “how the fuck,” he began and Mj laughed
Azreal led Lila by the hand toward the Alpha’s private office, and although she knew they had to make this call now, it did not stop her from dragging her feet all the way to the desk. Azreal smirked at the new furniture arrangement before pulling the large ornate armchair out from the desk, “your seat my lady,” he rumbled, and although she suddenly wanted nothing more than to rip his clothes off and let him have his way with her right there on the desk, she was now the acting Alpha and unfortunately that was a fantasy she would have to put on hold. Lila sat back in the chair while Azreal pushed her up to the desk and as she reached for the phone, Azreal put both of his hands to work on her shoulders. Lila groaned in pleasure as she lifted the phone. “What do I tell her?” she asked, and Azreal kissed the side of her head as he continued messaging her shoulders and neck. “You are the Alpha my love, what do you think you should tell her,” he answered and Lila made a small, unpleasant
The sound of hushed voices woke Azreal with a start as he realized his youngest children were no longer cradled between his arms as they had been when he fell asleep. Sitting up, he exhaled when Lila and Beth stood in the kitchen, each with one small bundle wrapped in their arms. Azreal stood up, stretching his arms, before he approached the women in the kitchen. “Alpha,” Beth said respectfully and bowed her head. Azreal glanced at Lila and smirked, “Beth… I am no longer an Alpha, just call me Azreal,” he mused and watched as the corners of her mouth twitched up just slightly as Briella and Matty made their way back into the suite, followed by Aliza and Adler.“Momma can we take the babies outside to play,” Aliza asked as she twirled around in her canary yellow dress and as Lila inhaled to answer, Azreal bent down to address his youngest daughter, “Lizzie sweetie, the boys are very young and they are vulnerable, it's not safe for them to be without me or your mother,” he explained and
After making it into their suite and getting the muddy youngsters clean, Lila waited until they were occupied with other activities before she approached Azreal, “we need to talk Alpha, alone,” she said softly and Azreal looked at her with a genuine but soft concern. Azreal stood, reluctantly leaving the side of his sleeping infant boys, and approached his mate. “You seem tired my love, would you like a bath?” he asked her with a wry smile and Lila grinned at him warmly, “Azz I would love nothing more than to take a bath with you, but I think you should hear me out first, you may not want to be in the same room with me let alone a bathtub,” she warned and Azreal’s eyebrow arched so high it almost disappeared in his dark hairline, “my greatest love, my Beta, my mate, and the mother of my legacy, there is nothing on this planet or any other that would make me not want to be naked with you,” he said with a heated look and Lila sighed. “Azreal I mean it. I already spoke with the hunters a
Lila exhaled again as she dismissed the hunters and followed them out of the Alpha’s private office. Mara turned to her and offered a warm smile, “for what it’s worth, I think what you are doing is incredibly brave, for what it's worth,” she tried and Lila offered her an appreciative smile, “thank you Mara, I really needed to hear that, sometimes I just don't know what the right decision is,” Lila shook her head, fighting back the tears threatening to fall from her face, “especially right now,” she added and Mara offered the Beta a firm and warm hug, “don’t worry Lila this pack loves you almost as much as the Alpha does, they will stand behind you the way we are, because even we can see the change in him,” she finished before Tanner turned to find his mate lagging behind with their Beta. As he approached Lila tucked her head slightly and Tanner cleared his throat, “Be- uh, Lila, when things have settled here I would very much like to take a trip up to see the new Bijou Alpha and Beta
Moxie watched Azreal disappear with his children, and as hard as the faithful hunter tried, he could not keep the hateful poison from his heart. Thoughts of sadness and melancholy swirled around his mind as the swamp wolf stood by waiting for direction. “Why should Azreal be the only one to enjoy the wholeness of his family,” Moxie thought to himself and, almost as if his Beta could hear his thoughts, Lila approached him and held out her arms.Moxie looked at her suspiciously and she only smiled at him in kind, “I miss him too, but not more than you, do you need-,” she began, and before the Beta could finish, Moxie landed against her chest, his arms wrapped around her waist like a small child as his back shuddered with every silent tear he shed. Sam, Tanner, and Ace all stood by looking between one another in confusion and a growing sense of worry, “his sadness consumes him,” Briella murmured from behind them and the trio all turned to the young Alpha for direction, but she only tur
Azreal tried to settle into the uncomfortable silence that had engulfed their ride home since Lila watched Jay chase the S.U.V. Moxie was in, howling a forlorn tale as the shifted hunter galloped furiously alongside his departing mate. The sound of Jay’s whaling howl finally faded into silence and as Azreal looked to his mate, she tightly folded her arms around her chest and sat with her back as rigid and unforgiving as a steep mountain cliff, “I won’t speak to you,” she snapped and Azreal sat back into his seat slightly in shock, “why,” he asked, genuinely curious and Lila simply shook her head as tears welled in her eyes. Azreal threw his hand into the air before letting it fall onto his thigh, making a loud smacking sound, “what would you have had me do Lila,” he asked in a frustrated but soft tone and the Quicksilver Beta snapped her head in his direction with a look of malice seated deep into her eyes, “did you hear his heart break Azreal, how could you,” she hissed and Azreal l
Mj waited with her heart pounding in her chest for the crowd to make their decision, and although she could tell quite a few of them were not pleased with some of the things that were happening, they were also not leaving, so she took several deep breaths and placed herself calmly in the seat at the center of the podium. Lou and Dante followed, although Dante moved his arm to caress the side of her fingers, trying his best to show her that he was there to support her through the tough decisions they now had to make. “Bring the first one forward,” Mj spoke with a hint of the wolf beneath her voice, and Dante sat next to her with pride swelling in his chest to such a vast degree he thought he might pop. As the first Nerezza guard was shoved forward and slammed to his knees, Mj peered over the podium at him before she looked out over the crowd, “state the nature of his crimes,” she demanded with the confidence of an Alpha, and with little hesitation the other pack members began rattling