Chapter 64

ELLA

Luca had come by the house for what was supposed to be a brief visit to drop off groceries, but he had quickly become engrossed in a game of ~Mario Kart~ with my sons.

And judging by the screams and shouts coming from the living room, it wasn’t looking like he was going anywhere anytime soon.

So Max took the opportunity to leave us with him and take Milly home. He didn’t say a word or even look at me as he marched her out of the house and down the drive.

She looked back helplessly and gave me a small, teary smile as I stood on the doorstep, full of guilt. I knew my intentions to protect the pack were good, but that didn’t mean it was right.

Milly gave us a drop of hope that we were all too quick to snatch at before we considered the consequences, and we should have listened to Max.

We shouldn’t have used our power as alpha and luna to override his wishes regarding his own kid sister.

After they’d gone, I shut the front door and stared at the wooden panels on its back.

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, and my chest was beginning to squeeze and constrict like someone had tied a belt around it. I clenched my fists and bit my cheek, but I couldn’t hold back my tears for long.

My vision soon blurred with water. I kept my eyes fixated on the wood of the door.

Then the sobs came silently, seizing my throat as I fell to my knees, hardly able to breathe.

I clasped the floorboards with my nails as I clenched my eyes shut tight. The pressure built inside me. In my head especially. I needed to cry, to wail, to howl. My face contorted and creased, but nothing could come out. Nothing except floods of tears.

“Ella?” Luca’s voice asked from the hall. “What’s wrong?”

He dropped to the ground beside me, but I couldn’t speak or move to acknowledge him.

“Ella, you need to breathe,” he said, rubbing my back. “Ella.”

I shook my head repeatedly as I clasped my nails at my head, desperate to release the pressure in some way. But nothing was working, and it only grew more immense until it totally consumed me.

After that, I didn’t really know what happened.

At some point I ended up on the sofa, staring vacantly down at the swirls and patterns of the rug.

It slowly grew dark outside, and the kids gradually began to tire. The squeals of joy as they played ~Mario Kart~ began to get quieter, and eventually even Cato wasn’t climbing all over Luca, sabotaging his attempt at rainbow road.

One by one, they began to drop off, and Luca carried them upstairs as they slept in his arms.

“How are you?” Luca asked once they were all in bed.

I shrugged. My mouth was dry, and my cheeks stung with the salt of my tears. Inside, the turmoil continued. It was at bay, but my panic attack was hardly unprovoked.

Andrea was still out there, and those six sleeping kids were still in danger. Milly still could never live peacefully in this pack again, and Max still hated me.

Just then, the wheels of a car rolled into the drive.

“It’s Max,” Luca said, coming back into the living room after looking through the window in the hall. “Do you want to go, or should I?”

I got to my feet. “I’ll go,” I said.

He nodded, and I headed for the front door.

Max was just getting out of his car as I stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind me.

As he opened the door, the internal light flickered on, revealing Milly sitting in the front passenger seat. Her cheeks were tear-stained, and her face was distraught.

He left her and came up to the doorstep where I stood. He paused on the bottom step as I gave him a meek smile.

“I’ve had some time to calm down,” he said, after swallowing. “I haven’t forgiven you, but I wanted to say goodbye because you’re still my friend.”

“You’re really going,” I said as my heart began to sink.

He nodded, and there was a silent pause as he just stood in the drive, his hands now shoved deep into his pocket.

“She doesn’t really wanna go. I feel awful for forcing her but,” he said, before looking back to the car, “I know it’s best.”

I nodded as I began to walk down the steps to where he stood at the bottom. “She knows you care about her more than anyone else.”

Max smiled. “I care about you too. Far more than you damn deserve.”

I let out a light laugh as I held back my tears. “How long do you think you’ll be gone for?” I asked, trying to keep it together.

“I don’t think Milly will ever be able to return. But me? Maybe when she finds her mate or is old enough to look after herself out there. I don’t know, but you haven’t seen the last of me yet, Ella Jones.”

I smiled before I felt the tears begin to fall. Not willing to stand there letting him watch me cry, I lurched forward and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly.

He hugged me back and rested his head on mine.

“Look after the alpha, won’t you?” he said. “And call me if you ever wanna talk…or argue or whatever the fuck we do.”

I laughed. “I will.”

“And I know this is the worst time I could possibly be leaving you, but I’ve got to look out for my little sister.”

“I’m a grown-up now, Maxy,” I said. “You know I’ll be okay.”

He nodded. “Of course you will.”

“I’m guessing you haven’t told Leo,” I said as I pulled away, wiping my eyes.

He shook his head. “He can’t know until I’m off the territory. Just let him know later tonight, okay?”

“I won’t have to if you don’t hurry up and leave before he gets home,” I said. “He texted me five minutes ago saying he was just about to leave the base.”

“Oh shit,” Max said, before giving me one last squeeze. “I’ll call you soon, okay?”

I nodded before he pulled away and headed back toward his car.

I was just following him down the steps to say goodbye to Milly as Leo appeared at the end of the drive.

He furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of Max’s car with Milly in it but didn’t question it until he reached the doorstep and looked at my teary eyes.

“What’s going on?” Leo asked.

Max scratched the back of his neck again and winced. “I’m leaving with my sister, Alpha.”

“Leaving? Where are you going?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know,” Max replied. “Milly has always wanted to go to San Francisco so…”

Leo let out a short laugh. “Have you lost your mind, Maximus?”

Max sighed and looked to the ground before taking a deep breath.

“I know I have duties in this pack, but they are nothing my brother cannot fulfill. Right now my sister is my priority,” Max replied.

“Why can’t your brother take Milly to fucking San Francisco?” Leo asked, irritation rising in his voice.

“Because I don’t trust Mason,” he said.

“But you’d trust him to take over one of the most important roles in this pack while we’re under attack by Martinez?” Leo snapped.

“I meant I don’t trust him to take good care of Milly,” Max said, staring into the trees of the forest and not into Leo’s glaring eyes. “She’s already upset. The last thing she needs is Mason.”

I liked to avoid Mason at all costs. He was the eldest of Max’s three younger brothers, and although I struggled to like any of them, he was the one I could tolerate the least.

“You are not abandoning this pack,” Leo replied. “Milly will be fine. She already has my protection.”

Max didn’t do anything but look back down to the floor silently. Leo still stared intently, and I noticed through the window of Max’s car the concerned look on Milly’s face.

“Leo,” I said, tugging his hand. “Come inside. You too, Max. You both need to talk about this properly before any decision is made.”

“Ella’s right,” Leo said. “I can tell you are not yet seeing how completely insane this is, and I need to talk some sense into you before you do anything stupid.”

Max clenched his jaw. “Fine.”

I could tell he had a lot to say to Leo, all bubbling and festering under the surface. But unfortunately for him, Leo was his alpha.

Once I had ushered them all inside, only Milly accepted my offer to sit down at the kitchen table.

Max and Leo opted to stand at opposite ends of the room from each other, Leo glaring at Max with his arms folded across his chest as Max stood with his hand on Milly’s shoulder.

She watched Leo as he eyed her brother and held her hands tightly together as we all waited in an intense silence for someone to speak.

“So as I have made very clear,” Leo began, “you are not leaving this pack. Not until Andrea Martinez is dead.”

Max looked down at the table and clenched his jaw.

“Where do you plan to protect the civilians when he attacks, Alpha?” Max asked. “The base?”

“As always.”

“And that means that when I go to fight, I will have to dump my sister among all of the wolves who just saw her nearly kill a boy with Hecate’s powers, right?” Max replied.

“What happens if you are killed? Let’s face it, it’s not unlikely. And then what will be protecting Milly from their witch hunts? The orders of a dead man.”

“If you are concerned, she can accompany Ella and my kids in one of the vaults,” he replied. “It’s safer there than the base anyway.”

Max paused. “And then the second he is dead, we are free to leave?”

Leo nodded. “You have my word.”

“Which vault?” he said.

“The one three miles north of the base by Lake Jada. The second you hear word of Martinez’s attack, take her there, and it will not be bolted up until she is inside. Once she is, I can guarantee her safety.”

Max nodded. “Okay. Deal.”

I let out a sigh of relief.

Crisis averted.