Chapter 29 Dylan
Dylan
I've never had to take care of Amelia like this before.
Sure, I raised her after our parents died, dealt with teenage drama and homework struggles and teaching her how to drive.
But this is different. This is my baby sister on the verge of her heat, terrified because her abusive ex just chased her through town, needing her Alphas in a way that's primal and desperate.
And I'm the one who has to make sure everything else gets handled so they can focus on keeping her safe.
Minutes. That's how long it took between signing the paperwork and Vincent showing up.
Minutes between signing the papers and him cornering Amelia in that pharmacy.
The officer's words echo in my head: "A restraining order is just paper.
" He was right. It's useless against someone like Vincent who knows the system, knows how to work around it, knows exactly how far he can push before facing real consequences.
The drive back to the Kane house is tense and silent, my hands tight on the steering wheel, checking the rearview mirror every few seconds for any sign of Vincent's truck following us.
Amelia is curled in Hunter's lap in the back seat, her face buried in his neck, her whole body trembling.
Even through the rearview mirror I can how flush her cheeks have gotten and smell how strong her scent has gotten, that rose fragrance amplified to an almost overwhelming degree.
Hunter has both arms wrapped around her, one hand stroking through her hair, murmuring things I can't quite hear but sound soothing.
His expression is a mixture of fierce protectiveness and barely controlled rage.
I never thought I'd see the day that Hunter Kane softened.
The man's been a wall of grief and stoicism for the past year, keeping everyone at arm's length, maintaining iron control over every emotion.
But looking at him now, holding my sister like she's the most precious thing in the world, something fundamental has shifted.
He's let her in, let himself care again, let himself be vulnerable.
And Amelia, god, watching her crawl back out of her shell over these past weeks has been nothing short of miraculous.
The woman who showed up at my door in the middle of the night weeks ago barely spoke above a whisper, flinched at every sound, couldn't make eye contact for more than a few seconds.
Now she laughs freely, plays with Riley and Isaac without hesitation, kisses her Alphas without that constant fear that affection will turn to violence.
The security at my house was upgraded the night she came running to my door, Maddox insisting we needed cameras and better locks and motion sensors that alert directly to my phone.
It seemed excessive at the time, but now I'm grateful for his paranoia.
The kids are there now with Maddox, safe behind those upgraded locks and cameras.
Vincent won't get near them, won't get a chance to use them as leverage.
When I pull into the Kane driveway, Hunter is out of the truck before I've fully stopped, carrying Amelia in his arms. She keeps her face buried in his neck, hiding from the world, from reality.
Silas and Wyatt are waiting at the door, must have been watching for us.
The tension in their shoulders, the way their eyes immediately lock onto Amelia—they've been going out of their minds with worry.
Hunter doesn't pause at the door, just carries her straight inside and up the stairs. I follow them in, catching Silas's arm before he can head upstairs after them.
"How bad is it?" Wyatt asks quietly, his voice tight. "With Vincent. How bad?"
I glance up the stairs where Hunter disappeared with Amelia, then meet their eyes. "Bad enough. He's definitely not trying to hide his intentions. The ink wasn’t even dry on the restraining and he violated it."
Silas's jaw clenches, something dangerous flickering in his dark eyes. “Seriously?”
"Yeah, but I’m not even sure he’d care even if he knew the restraining order existed," I confirm. "I need to call the officer from this morning and file a report. Maybe this time they'll actually arrest him instead of just putting out alerts that he'll dodge anyway."
"We'll handle it," Wyatt says, his voice cold and determined. "He's not getting near her."
"I know you will. But I think this is a stay-inside kind of week.
Don't open the door for anyone you don't know.
Keep the security system armed. And call me if anything happens, anything at all.
The police are supposed to have units watching the house, but I don't trust that they'll be enough if Vincent really decides to make a move. "
"Understood," Silas says. "The kids?"
"With Maddox. I picked them up this morning, remember? They'll stay with us for however long you need. Riley was asking about Amelia, but I told her everything was fine, that you guys just needed to take care of some adult stuff."
Wyatt nods, relief flickering across his face. "Thank you. For everything. For taking the kids, for—"
"She's my sister and your kids," I interrupt. "You don't need to thank me for protecting her. That's what family does."
A crash sounds from upstairs, followed by Hunter's soothing voice. All three of us tense, but then we hear Amelia's voice, muffled but coherent, and the tension eases slightly.
"Go," I tell them. "She needs all of you. I'll handle everything else—the police report, checking in with the kids, making sure Vincent doesn't get anywhere near any of you. You just focus on getting her through this."
They head for the stairs without another word, taking them two at a time.
I watch them go, these three Alphas who've somehow become part of my sister's life in such a short time.
Part of me still struggles with how fast this happened, how quickly she bonded with them.
But seeing the way they dropped everything to protect her, the way they coordinate without speaking, the way they're all equally invested in her safety and wellbeing—I know she's in good hands.
I pull out my phone as I head back to my truck, already dialing the police station. The officer answers on the third ring.
"Officer Martinez? This is Dylan Sterling.
We were in your office this afternoon filing a restraining order for my sister, Amelia Sterling.
" I pause, letting my anger bleed into my voice.
"Well, Vincent approached her in a pharmacy not three minutes after we left your station.
Chased her through a residential neighborhood.
She's terrified and her heat just started, which means she's more vulnerable than ever, and that piece of paper you promised would protect her did absolutely nothing. "
Granted, it was impossible for that piece of paper to protect her when Vincent didn’t even know he had a restraining order against him. The fact that no one even knew he was in the area was just the cherry on top.
There's a pause on the other end, then Martinez's voice comes through the earpiece. "I'll send units to pick him up immediately. Where is your sister now?"
"With us." He already has our information so the only thing he needs to know is that she’s safe. "But I need to know what happens next. Because right now it feels like we're sitting ducks waiting for him to make his next move."
"We'll handle it, Mr. Sterling. I promise you that. Although he hadn’t been served the restraining order, breaking and entering is a criminal offense. We'll be bringing him in."
"You better," I say, my voice hard. "Because if something happens to my sister because your department couldn't keep her safe, there will be hell to pay."
I hang up before he can respond, my hands shaking with residual anger and fear.
Amelia could have been taken today. Vincent could have grabbed her in that pharmacy or caught her in one of those residential yards.
She could be gone right now, disappeared into whatever nightmare Vincent had planned for her.
But she's not. She's safe, upstairs in her nest with three Alphas who will die before they let anything happen to her. And I'm going to make damn sure Vincent never gets the chance to get close to her again.
I get back in my truck and head home, already planning. Security cameras, check-ins, coordination with the Alphas. Whatever it takes to keep my baby sister alive and safe. Because I've already lost our parents. I'll be damned if I lose her too.
When I pull into my driveway twenty minutes later, I can hear the kids' laughter through the front door before I even get my keys out.
Maddox has them in the kitchen, Isaac covered in flour and Riley carefully measuring ingredients into a bowl.
The normalcy of it, the domesticity, makes my chest tight with gratitude.
"Uncle Dylan!" Isaac shouts when he sees me, leaving white handprints on my jeans when he crashes into my legs for a hug.
"Hey, buddy." I ruffle his hair, getting flour in it. "What are you making?"
"Cookies!" Riley announces proudly. "Mads says we can eat one warm from the oven if we help clean up."
Maddox catches my eye over the kids' heads, his expression questioning. I give him a small nod, letting him know that Amelia is okay, and watch the tension drain from his shoulders.
"Is Mia okay?" Riley asks, her voice holding a bit of uncertainty.
I crouch down to her level, making sure she can see my face. "She really is. Your dads and uncle are taking good care of her right now. She just needs them for a few days, that's all. But she's thinking about you, I promise."
Riley considers this, then nods solemnly. "Can we save her some cookies?"
"I think she'd like that," I say, my throat tight. "I think she'd like that a lot."
The kids go back to their baking, their attention span already moving on to the next thing.
But I stay crouched there for a moment, watching them, thinking about how much they've already lost. How much Amelia's already lost. How we're all just trying to hold on to what we have left and protect it from people like Vincent who want to destroy it.
"They'll be okay," Maddox says quietly, coming to stand beside me. "All of them. Amelia's tough, and those Alphas aren't going to let anything happen to her."
"I know," I say, standing and pulling him close. "I know. But I can't stop thinking about what almost happened today. How close we came to losing her."
Maddox hums, leaning his head on my shoulder.
"I could feel how worried you were through the bond and the cryptic text you sent me after leaving the station didn’t make it any better.
” I grimace, realizing I hadn’t really explained anything more than Amelia was safe and that Vincent was nearby.
I don’t even remember really sending the text.
I just knew I had to let Maddox know that that terror wasn’t for me.
“She’s okay though," Maddox reminds me gently, pulling me back to the present.
"She got away, back to you. She's safe. And now we make sure she stays that way. "
I open my mouth to explain but he just shakes his head, telling me in his own way that he doesn’t really need the details.
A heavy sigh falls from my lips as I take comfort in his presence for just a moment.
Then I pull back, squaring my shoulders.
"I need to make some calls. Security company, maybe a lawyer to see what else we can do legally.
And I want to be available for the Kanes if they end up needing anything. "
"I've got the kids," Maddox assures me. "You do what you need to do. We'll be fine here."
I head to my office, already pulling up contacts on my phone. Because Maddox is right—we didn't lose her today. But that doesn't mean Vincent's going to stop trying. And I'm going to make damn sure he never succeeds.