Chapter 15

ELLA

We found Luca an hour or so later, close to falling unconscious.

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Leo cursed as we looked upon the pale, weak man in the front seat of his broken-down car with blood still oozing out of his shoulder.

“Ella,” he croaked, looking up with dozy eyes. “You’re okay.”

“Yeah, and you’re not,” I replied as Leo lifted him like a huge baby out of the car. “You need to go to the hospital.”

“We have to get out of Mexico,” he mumbled. “Guillermo wants to kill me.”

“He’s right, Alpha,” Max said, looking cautiously around. “And when Andrea’s men find out their boss is dead, they’ll do one of two things: piss straight off or come after us.”

“Luca, do you think you can manage to stay alive for two hours while we drive to the border?” Leo asked, carrying him to the functioning one of the two cars.

“Sure thing, dude,” he said, throwing a peace sign up before his head lolled back.

Leo rolled his eyes and laid him down in the back seat.

“I’ll take care of him,” I said, getting into the car beside him. “You two just focus on getting us back to the US.”

Leo and Max then got into the front seat, and Max began driving the car fast while I ripped Luca’s shirt off him and used it as a bandage in an attempt to stop the bleeding from his shoulder.

It seemed to be working as he came around a little and a bit of color returned to his face, but it was still a huge relief when we arrived in the hospital of the closest pack to the border we could find.

When he regained consciousness, he was very apologetic about this entire thing, but all the same, Leo looked like he could have murdered him for what he got me into.

“Out of all the places you could have taken her!” I heard him say to Luca as he still lay in the hospital bed. Max and I had gone to get coffee and left the two alone.

“To pick up the drug export from Mexico from a gang of fucking thugs! Are you insane? She’s not even supposed to know about that.

“And what did you think they were going to do? Turn a blind eye to the attractive young woman that you brought with you?”

Max and I exchanged looks and decided it would be better to leave them to it and wait outside the room.

“I thought we’d already done this days ago, Alpha?” he asked. “And if she was ugly, would you be less mad?”

I rolled my eyes. He really was incapable of taking anything seriously.

“Sometimes I wish, for her own safety, that she was. Every man seems to want her for her beauty, which puts her in so much danger. Which is why, from now on, she’s staying on pack territory unless she is accompanied by me.

“In fact, I don’t want her even going to Halimede or anywhere else like that on her own. This ~can’t~ happen again. Do you understand?” Leo said deeply.

I raised my eyebrow at Max, and he knew exactly what I was thinking.

“Alpha, you’re overreacting. She won’t like that, and besides, she’s usually safe with me.”

“~Usually~ is not good enough.” He growled. “You know that he almost raped her, right? Do you not see how bad that would have been? She’d be traumatized forever.”

“Okay, okay,” Luca replied. “I understand, Alpha. I won’t take any more risks with her. I promise.”

“Good,” he said shortly.

When Luca had recovered enough for the journey, we drove home with me sitting beside him, closely monitoring as Leo and Max took turns to drive.

Things were tense in the car for a number of reasons. They were:

1. Leo killed my brother.

2. Max and I trapped in a small car together for a long time could never not lead to arguments.

3. Leo was still fuming with Luca.

4. Everybody was tired and groggy.

5. Leo was just generally in a foul mood after what Andrea did, and it wasn’t making anything better.

So unless Max and I were arguing, or Leo was snapping at Luca, the car was dead silent.

It was a long journey but nowhere near as long as it felt. Needless to say, arriving home was a blessing.

“Mama!” a voice shouted the second the door opened. “Papa!”

It was Lili’s. She ran forward and jumped into my arms.

“Hello!” I replied, hugging her tightly shortly before a small army of children entered the hallway followed by their captain, Rosa Loren.

There was a chorus of greetings, and the whole house was filled with the squeals and excitement of our offspring.

“Did you get the candy, Mama?” Cato asked.

Shit.

“Um—” I began before Leo cut me off.

“It’s right here,” Leo said, and presented a bag of candy with French words on the packaging.

Cato took it delightedly as I mouthed a “How?” to Leo.

He smiled and shrugged as we watched Cato dish out the little pink sweets between his siblings.

“Mommy,” Francesca said, tugging on my hand. “Are you going away again?”

“No, sweetheart,” I said, crouching down to her level as Leo took Stefano and Zacharias from his mother. “I’m not leaving anytime soon.”

She smiled and hugged me before accepting the piece of candy Cato was holding out to her and rejoining her usual position twin sister.

That evening, after the kids were all cuddled out and fast asleep in bed, I sat on the sofa wrapped in my favorite fluffy blanket. Leo sat beside me and handed me a mug of hot cocoa.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. “There’s nothing else I can get you?”

“I’m fine, Leo. Stop worrying. Andrea is dead, and we’re both still alive.”

I then leaned on his chest and allowed him to stroke my hair.

“You aren’t yourself,” he observed.

I shrugged. “I just need a good night's sleep.”

He leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

“Do you want me to sleep somewhere else tonight?” he asked.

“No, no, no,” I replied, putting my hand on his shoulder. “That is the last thing I want.”

“Ella, I killed your brother! How are you okay with that?!” he shouted.

The volume of his voice and his frustration made me jump a little, and I sat quietly, not quite sure what to say.

“I’m sorry,” he said, leaning back. “I shouldn’t have shouted after everything that’s happened.”

“Firstly, we agreed we’d go back to normal,” I said. “And secondly, I just want you around me, okay?!”

“But why?” he asked adamantly.

“Because Andrea scared the shit out of me, and you are my mate and the only person that can ever truly comfort me no matter what you do or what happens,” I replied, taking his hands in mine.

“Don’t you dare try to distance yourself from me. Last time we tried distance, things went horribly wrong, remember? It’s best if we stick together and work through this as a pair.”

He nodded and pulled me into his chest.

“Tell me if you ever need space,” he said. “I don’t want to suffocate you.”

I smiled and kissed him gently on the lips. “Of course.”