20. Mason
Ipush closer to Radley’s back and feel the bond thrumming between all of us. It finally feels complete, and I feel like I can finally breathe. I thought for sure she was going to tell us to fuck off, and we would have to endure the pain my dad felt when my mom rejected the bond. But something about the shift seemed to make her change her mind. I also think her grandma had something to do with it.
Radley shifts in her sleep, and her ass tightens up on my knot, making me groan. Bryce chuckles from Nash’s other side, and I lift to look at him.
“Something funny, Little beta?”
“Yeah. You sound like you’re in pain, and I can talk shit because you can’t move.”
“I won’t stay locked to her forever,” I warn.
“I know.” Bryce props his chin on Nash’s side. “That was amazing. I can feel her really clear now.”
I run my fingers through his curly hair. “Me too. I feel like our pack is complete.”
Nash nods in agreement. “We just needed Radley.”
“I’m so fucking glad she forgave us.” Bryce pops to his knees, making the bed jostle. Nash and I groan again at the tug on our knots, and Bryce laughs. “This is the one time I’m glad I don’t have a knot. Do you guys need anything?”
“Will you go tell Dad that she’s back? He was worried earlier.”
“Of course.” Bryce pops a kiss on mine and Nash’s lips. He kisses Radley’s forehead and lingers for a second before he jumps from the bed and grabs a pair of shorts. He strides from the room, and I can’t help the smile that splits my face.
I always imagined how things would be when we finally had Radley in our lives, but nothing has compared to reality. I almost told her no when she asked us to mark her, but I could feel how sure she was through the bond. She wanted it as much as we did. What I didn’t expect was for her to get off on the pain. Bryce described it as almost unbearable, but she came so fucking hard that she soaked the bed. My cock twitches, and Radley moans in her sleep.
I held myself back the first time we were together, but I let it all out today. She took it with ease and was begging for more. Her perfect tits were bouncing everywhere, and she was flushed all the way down her chest. Her pussy was so wet that you could hear it all around the room. Fuck. I knew she was going to be perfect.
“Mason. Block your thoughts.” I peek at Nash, and his eyes are narrowed. “You didn’t put it back up.”
“Sorry,” I laugh. “Tell me I’m wrong, though.”
“You aren’t wrong, but fuck, we’re already going to be like this for hours, and the more shit I hear you thinking, I just get hard all over again.”
“We need to have a ceremony,” I say quietly.
“We will. We missed telling her that little piece of info.”
“I think she’ll be fine with it, and we don’t have to have it right away. We need to deal with these fucking rogues first.”
“I don’t think the guy from the diner is the mastermind. Someone else is behind all this, someone smarter. Rogues don’t form packs, but when they do, they’re strong.”
Nash adjusts his hold on Radley so he can turn to face me more. “We need to find out who Daniel is. He wasn’t in it for an heir, or he wouldn’t have run off.”
“Unless he was waiting for her to shift. She’s a fucking strong omega. If he catches wind of that, he’ll try to come back for her.”
“Over my dead fucking body,” Nash growls, tightening his hold. “No one is going to mess with her.”
“Agreed. Once Bryce tells him everything, Dad will be on high alert. We need to go check the territory.”
“Mason, your mom is involved. Are you sure you’re going to be able to hurt her if it comes to that?” I think about my answer because Nash deserves the truth. He clears his throat, causing me to look at him. “I also need to know that if it comes to that, and one of us has to hurt her, you aren’t going to carry that around with you.”
“She hurt Bryce. She knew he was part of my pack and went after him anyway. Then she went after Radley. This is all on top of what she did to Dad. So, yeah. If it comes to taking her down, I will, and if you happen to be the one who does it, I’ll never hold that against you. I love you, Nash. That comes before anything else.”
Nash grabs my arm that’s laid on Radley’s hip. “I love you, too. We’ll always be here for you.”
The day my mom rejected the bond was one of the worst experiences of my life. The entire pack was in pain, but Dad held it together the best he could for me. Because she not only rejected Dad and the pack, she rejected me.
It’s something I’d never wish on my worst enemy.
Several hours later, our knots finally released our hold on Radley. We were able to bathe her and put her back to bed without her even waking up. The marks take a lot out of you, but so does what happens after. We call Margie to watch over her so Nash and I can make our rounds. We slip out of the backdoor and shift as we’re outside. We start on the far end, closest to Radley’s grandma’s cabin, and work our way around the property. We catch a slight scent, but it gets stronger closer to where we had the confrontation.
Nash walks several steps ahead of me and growls.
“The scent is strong. They were just here,” he reports.
“Which means they’re still close. Come on.”
We work our way closer to the road and are just passing through the trees that take you to the road when we see one of the rogues sneaking toward the property. Nash and I take off at the same time. Nash hits the smaller rogue in the side, causing them to roll down the slight hill. I’m on them before they can move, pinning them down, snarling in their face.
“They smell familiar,” Nash says, keeping watch around us. This could be an ambush, and I refuse to lose to these motherfuckers.
They start fighting against me, snapping at my muzzle. I give a warning bark, and their eyes widen. I nod my head for Nash to take my place and shift back to human form. “Shift,” I demand. They try to fight against Nash, but they don’t stand a chance. “Shift!”
It takes a minute, but when they finally do, it’s a small woman. She glares at me. “Did you want to get a good look?”
“Why are you here?” I ask, ignoring her comment. “Answer me.”
“I was just walking around.”
“People usually don’t sneak around while on a walk. Why the fuck are you really here?”
Nash bares his teeth with a deep growl, causing her to cast him a nervous glance. Her eyes shift back to me. “Monty said I should come check it out.” Her eyes roll down my body, lingering on my cock, and then they snap back to my face. “I didn’t know I would get that type of view.”
Nash’s paw slips up her chest and onto her neck. “Careful. You don’t want to piss him off.”
She huffs annoyance, pretending she’s not scared to death. “You don’t know what you’re up against. Stand down now.”
“Or what?”
“We’ll come for your omega.” I can see Nash already calling out to Bryce in his mind since he apparently decided to stay with Dad. Or Dad put him to work. We need to get this situation under control.
“You really thought it would be a good idea to come on my goddamn land and threaten my omega?” I feel worry and confusion start rolling off of Nash. He jerks his head toward the camp, and I start searching through the bond for Bryce. When I can’t find him, my anger spikes. “What the fuck did you do?”
She starts laughing, and it makes me want to rip her throat out with my teeth. “Did you really think they would send a beta to do anything but cause a distraction?”
Nash shifts and leans down, grabbing a handful of her hair. He jerks her to her feet and starts dragging her back toward the camp. “Go,” he says. “I’ve got her. I’m right behind you.”
I shift and take off, running as fast as my legs will carry me. I skid to a stop in front of Dad’s house and shift back to human form. I bust through the door and can already tell something is off. “Bryce!” I call out. “Dad!” I search through each room, getting more frantic by the second. “Cruz! Teddy!”
I bust out of the back door and catch sight of Beth by the lake. I grab a towel from the back deck to wrap around my waist and run that way. She looks up at me in confusion. “Mason?”
“Where’s Bryce?”
“I haven’t seen him. What’s going on?”
“He was coming to talk to Dad. I can’t find him through the bond, and the house is empty.”
“Mason, your dad left with Teddy and Cruz early this morning for some scouting. Bryce was never here.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I take off toward my cabin, ignoring Beth calling out for me. I run into the house and go straight to the bedroom. Radley is still sleeping peacefully in bed. I find Margie in the kitchen, making tea. “Have you seen Bryce?”
Margie whirls around, grabbing her chest. “Shit, Mason, you scared me to death. No, I haven’t seen him.” She takes a closer look at the panic written all over my face and walks over to me. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t have time to explain. Grab Radley and meet me at the old wood cabin.”
I rush back to the bedroom, slip on a pair of shorts, and head toward the old cabin. Nash is just now shoving the rogue inside and locking the door. He meets me halfway, his face creased in worry. “Anything?”
“No. He never made it to Dad’s.”
“Radley?”
“She’s fine. Margie is waking her up and bringing her out here.”
“You won’t find him,” the rogue sings. “He’s probably dead by now.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I bark, grabbing Nash’s arm and dragging him out of earshot. “We need to put the camp on high alert. She was a distraction for a reason. They had to have been waiting for Bryce to leave the house.”
“Who was on patrol last night?”
“I have no clue. I need to call Dad.”
I start patting my pockets, only to realize my phone is still in the house. Nash and I walk that way, meeting Radley and Margie on the porch.
“What’s wrong?” Radley asks quietly.
I kiss her forehead, lingering for a second so I can breathe in her scent. “I’ll explain in a minute. Let me grab my phone.”
I stride to the bedroom and snatch it off the bedside table. I dial Dad’s number, and he answers on the second ring.
“Hey, son.” I ramble everything off and hear him barking orders in the background. “Sound the alarm. We’re on our way. Be careful.”
“They might be waiting to ambush if they saw you leave. Go the back way. Nash and I will handle it until you get here.”
“Bryce is fine,” Dad soothes, hearing the panic in my voice. “You did the right thing by grabbing the rogue.”
“I can’t lose him, Dad,” I whisper.
“You won’t,” he says adamantly. “We’re coming. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I disconnect the call and walk back onto the porch to see Radley buried in Nash’s chest, tears streaming down her face. I look at Nash, and he nods, letting me know he told her what’s going on.
“We’ll find him, Little wolf.”
“What if they hurt him?” She looks up, and I don’t have a chance to rejoice in the fact that her eyes are glowing red. That means she’s truly accepting her place as the queen of our pack. “Where’s the rogue?”
“In the old wood cabin. Why?”
“I want to see her.”
“Absolutely not,” Nash and I say at the same time. Radley sniffs, and her eyes narrow.
“I want to see her. Now.”
I open my mouth to argue, but Margie gives me a warning look. Radley is new and can’t control the shift yet, meaning she can be unpredictable. With a sigh, we lead her to the rogue. Nash unlocks the door and goes in first to secure her to the wall. When he’s done, he calls out for Radley. We walk in with me close to her back, and the rogue lifts her head and sniffs.
“Holy shit, you do smell good.”
“Shut up,” Radley growls, her voice coming out strong and steady. “Where’s Bryce?”
“You mean the weak beta? Probably dead or close to it.”
Radley’s fist snaps out before any of us can react, and I hear Margie choke on a laugh. “Don’t you ever talk about my beta like that. Where. Is. He?” Goddamn, she’s amazing.
The rogue laughs and spits blood on the floor. “You think you’re a badass now, don’t you? You aren’t shit. Not if you keep running around with this useless pack. You call yourselves alphas, but you let your beta get kidnapped right under your nose. It was actually too easy.”
“I’m going to ask you one more time.” Radley takes several steps forward, and Nash grabs my arm when I try to follow her. “Where is Bryce?”
“You’ll find him soon.” The rogue tilts her head, listening. “Really soon.”
They better hope I find Bryce unharmed, or I’ll rip their pack to pieces.
If Radley doesn’t get to them first.