Chapter 35: Try Again | A Whole New World

Saturday. November, 23rd. 9 a.m. in Oklahoma.

Richard Lucas is pacing around the entrance hall of the pack house, impatiently waiting for news his Beta would come here to inform him.

Around 9:15, Zeke Blackwood, the Beta of his pack and best friend since high school arrived with a somber look on his face.

"Finally! Where is my son? He should already be here by now! Have you heard from the warriors?" Richard questioned his friend, anxiously.

"No, Alpha. They have been radio silent since yesterday morning and now I know why." Zeke replied with dread in his tone.

Richard kept looking at his Beta anxiously until the answer pretty much announced itself by the expression on the Beta's face.

"NO!" He gasped in shock, wide-eyed.

"Yes, unfortunately the coroner's office of Regency Falls has made the death notification to their families. The official story is that they tried to kidnap a child from school yesterday and were shot on sight by law enforcement." Zeke reported the sad news, disappointed by the turn of events.

"How were they shot by law enforcement? They were supposed to act fast before the police were even notified!" Richard shouted, baffled by this.

"They did, Alpha. But there were some developments we could not anticipate." Zeke explained in a dreadful tone, not wanting to elaborate on this but ethically obligated to do so. His Alpha wouldn't accept a simple explanation. This was supposed to be a rather simple and quick extraction.

"I did some digging..." Zeke said and paused for a moment before continuing.

"Apparently, Beta Cortez was able to show up before they left the school with your son. He tried to negotiate with them, but when that didn't work, he had snipers shoot them down." He informed the Alpha, who was gobsmacked at this report.

"What? How did he get snipers in the school so fast? The whole thing was supposed to take minutes, not hours!" He grilled him, beyond perplexed by this story.

"They weren't inside. As I understood, he left snipers stationed outside of Charles' school in case something like this happens." Zeke spoke with admiration for his fellow Beta hiding it in his voice.

"What the fuck?! Who leaves snipers outside of a school on a whim?" Richard gasped in shock at this unbelievable news.

"Someone very intelligent... and resourceful. One of the guys even shot him, but he was wearing a bulletproof vest underneath his shirt." Zeke told him, breathing out a sigh.

"This is going to be much more difficult than we thought..." Richard let out a frustrated sigh, having to take a breath to believe this incredible report.

"How did he get to the school so fast anyway?" - He questioned, sounding irritated. - "I thought someone was supposed to neutralize the warrior on duty..." He looked at Zeke, puzzled by this.

"Yeah... about that, apparently he left warriors undercover inside the school to protect Charles in an event like this." The Beta clarified, dreading the reaction of his Alpha.

Even though the gunmen acted fast and were able to put down the warrior on duty with a narcotic that was injected into him with a syringe, they did not account for the undercover probational warriors that were stationed inside the middle school. Their age helped to disguise their purpose there and alert me right away of what was happening.

"WHAT? Who is this man? Was he raised in a military school? What the fuck! Who goes to this much trouble for someone else's kid?" Richard gasped in shock, nervous and irritated that this whole thing happened. Frustrated that his attempt to retrieve his son failed so spectacularly.

"No, Alpha. He is just a third generation Beta. As I had already told you, his mate is Carlisle so he is invested in your son's safety." Zeke spoke in a low tone, embarrassed about the operation going terribly wrong.

Out of all the ways that Charlie could have been found out in Regency Falls, in the end, he was discovered here because the story of a Beta who found his mate after eleven years was gossiped around a network of Betas across the South and ended up in the ears of Ezekial Blackwood.

I know, right? Men are such gossip! *gasp*

"This is your fault! You should have sent more men! I highly doubt he would have been able to shoot down twelve men at the same time!" He growled at him, ferociously mad at this. Richard's eyes glowed in rage at the situation.

"I wanted to avoid the perception of an incursion on their pack. Regency Falls is not a pack you'd want to go to war with. They are much larger than ours, the entire town is werewolf populated." Zeke informed his Alpha, treading carefully. He has good reason to want to avoid an all out war with us.

"I know that, what I want to know is how are you going to bring me my son!" Richard snarled, raging at him.

"I am going to do something so daring that not even Stephano Cortez could expect. I promise you, Alpha. I will get your son home! I will not fail you next time." Zeke pledged himself to the cause, looking firm and decided.

"They are not going to know what hit them!" He declared with a devious grin. #BeAfraid

Sunday. November, 24th. Regency Falls. 10 a.m. Stephano's residency.

It's a whole new world.

Yesterday, my mate was dead set on leaving Regency Falls. He packed his belongings, notified his son, terminated his contract with the pack house, and quit his job. He was dead set on leaving after the attempted kidnapping of Charlie.

As much as I want to hold and protect my mate, it is a valid reason for going away. He is scared that Richard will try again to take his son from him. I understand that concept and I respect his wishes as I must.

However...

There is an important life lesson that people learn one way or another, it is you can't run away forever. Eventually, you have to stay and fight. Walk through your trauma to come out better on the other end. It's impossible to run away forever.

I don't want to toot my own horn, but I have just pulled off the impossible to protect Charlie and keep him safe. Who in the world is better to protect him than me?

As a matter of fact, Charlie told this to his father yesterday when he was informed of the departure. He told his father there was no one else better suited to keep him safe than me. Running away wouldn't solve anything, in my humble opinion.

But of course, I am biased. I don't want to be apart from my mate at all.

When we were inside his bedroom, supposedly saying goodbye to each other, Carlisle's heat struck him with a mighty force and we completed the bond by having amazing sex for the next two hours.

I don't like to brag, but I am a fantastic lover and my mate and I were utterly satisfied by our intense love making session. I know Carlisle didn't want to complete the bond with me, but to paraphrase my cousin Linda: his destiny lies with me.

There is no escaping one's destiny. I had to spend eleven years unmated because my mate was not ready for me at that time, it was only when he needed me that I showed up. Or better yet, when he showed up in my life and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now Carlisle and Charlie have moved in with me and for the first time ever, this house feels like a true home. I have a new family with my bonded mate and my stepson, who I adore.

I should be concerned about Richard and what this means for my pack and Charlie's safety and I am. But that is tomorrow's problem. Today I am elated for them to be living with me, for my mate to be here with me. By my side, where he belongs.

Oh how sweet it is to be properly bonded with Carlisle.

I wanted this so bad, I can't even pretend I didn't. I would have preferred to not do so under the effect of my mate's heat. But what can I say? Like father, like son. [My mom also went into heat when she completed the bond with my dad, though the situation was very different than mine.]

I would have taken Carlisle in each way he wanted, as long as we did the deed.

I genuinely laughed when he told me yesterday that he was going to 'fuck me senseless'. Is that a threat? By all means, mate, don't threaten me with a good time! *laughing out loud*

After they moved in last night, we ordered a pizza because Carlisle and I were starving and we had a nice family night in. My mate has comfortably settled into our new room - my master suite - and is living his best life planning on redecorating the house.

I should care about that, the way my house is already perfectly decorated, but I don't. All I care about is that my mate is happy here. I know, right? Sue me! I love my mate with all my heart and if he needs to spend thousands of dollars on new furniture to feel good about himself, well I say it's a bargain.

Yesterday, my heart was broken. Today I am the happiest man on Earth. What a difference a day makes!

Carlisle wakes up and rolls over in the bed to check what time it is. As if on cue, I opened my eyes to see the most beautiful man in the world.

"Good morning, mate." I greeted him with a smile.

"Good morning, mate. How did you sleep last night?" He asked me, though something tells me this isn't about me.

"Fantastic now that you're here. What about you?" I inquired, concerned for his state of mind.

"Well..." He trailed off.

"I love being here, but now that we are not in the pack house with warriors protecting the place 24/7, what will happen if they try to kidnap my son again?" He asked me point blank.

I should have expected that question. My mate is a father, first and foremost. But instead of answering him, I lost myself looking at Carlisle for a while.

Seeing that he was expecting an actual answer, I pulled myself together to give him one.

"It's highly unlikely that they will try to kidnap Charlie here. This is the Beta's house. By now they already know what happened and if they know I am capable of placing a sniper outside of a middle school, it's fair to assume I would do the same with my own house. Understandably, I would take certain precautions." I explained to him in a serious tone.

"They are not going to make the same mistake again, for one. My best bet is that they are going to try something unpredictable. Something I can't anticipate. My house is definitely not the place for that." I continued, dreading having to say that to him.

"How are you going to protect my son if you can't anticipate their next attack?" He asked me, scared about it.

"I don't have an answer for you now, mate. But I am going to do whatever I can to protect the both of you, be sure of that." I replied, somewhat nervous.

I am not an all seeing entity. I can't predict when and where they will attack next. I can only try to safeguard my loved ones the best way I can.

But from what I know of Richard so far, I am sure he is coming at us with a furious vengeance. *tremble*

Sometime later, the three of us are in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Charlie is happy to still be here and now he has a proper bedroom all to himself - though this one doesn't come with an adjacent bathroom.

The only suite in this house is mine, but as long as he has a PlayStation to play with, he is not complaining. We ate some breakfast now that they don't have cooks to prepare their meals anymore, but I am sure we are going to do just fine on our own. Plus, there is always Lupe [my housekeeper].

Charlie asked me if he could use his burner phone to text and call Clarissa - I gave him a prepaid cell phone when I thought he and Carlisle were leaving Regency Falls - and I told him it was fine as long as he doesn't spread around his number. Only her.

At this point, there is no sugarcoating the truth. They know he is here in Regency Falls.

After breakfast, my mate and I sat on the sofa to relax for a minute. I could feel his worry for his son through the mate bond, but I will stop at nothing to guarantee his safety here. This was just as true then as it is now. They don't know what I am capable of to defend the ones I love and it is dangerous to underestimate me.

They think they are cute, but I am drop dead gorgeous. *wink wink*

Carlisle decided to have a talk with his son and explain what their lives were going to be like from now on. He is still going to take his son to school every day, that is not going to change. Either him or me.

Outside of that, it's just a matter of reiterating the old house rules. Especially to never open the door to strangers whether or not one of us is in the house with him. However, I sincerely doubt either of us will ever leave him alone here. We want him to have a normal childhood, but not without some safety guidelines.

Now that my mate is no longer working ten hour shifts, it will be much easier for him to follow through on this. I was never opposed to a kept man, so I have no problem with that. Money is for nothing if it doesn't serve a purpose to make our lives better.

In the afternoon, he decided to complete the bond one more time and I was totally okay with that. Oh Goddess, thank you so much for my mate and for keeping him here with me. I would have been utterly devastated had he left Regency Falls.

Sweating, and panting, our naked session lasted until the evening as we made passionate love with no worries, no restraints, and unbridled desire for our partner's bodies. I could get used to this... *naughty grin*

I am sure bottoming for my mate will be alright but topping my Omega is freaking awesome! I just want to give it to him hard until he stops begging me for more. But while I have him on my bed, I am going to make it my mission to fulfill him each way he wants.

This is only our first day together officially, but I am loving it so far.

A whole new world just opened itself up to me and I cannot wait to see what else it has in store for us. Not going to lie, I am praying for my mate to be carrying a little girl. It's far too soon to tell, I know. What can I say? I know what I want, a life with my mate and our kids.

A|N: BOOM!

Did you catch that threat in the first part of the chapter?

Danger, danger, Will Robinson! Or better yet, Charles Lucas Aragon.

You are not going to believe the shit they are going to pull! #BeAfraid

OFF: I have always wanted to include an Aalyiah song in my books, but it never panned out until now. Aladdin is one of my favorite cartoon movies of all time. Probably 'Top 2' after "Finding Nemo".

Next is "Safe & Sound".

Love,

Léo.