Page 47

Chapter

Forty-Three

A ZALEA

Kyson wakes early to Tyson trying to climb out of bed, which in turn wakes me. Rubbing my eyes, I hear arguing outside the door between Dustin and someone else. The door is slightly ajar and as I sit up, Tyson runs toward it, but Kyson scoops him up before he reaches it.

“Where are you off to, little man?” Kyson asks, bringing him back to me. I grab Tyson, wondering about Abbie and whether her heat has subsided. Yet, as the voices grow louder, my curiosity piques. “Lim, Lim,” Tyson tuts, grasping at the air and pointing to the door.

“I need to go shower,” Kyson says, pecking my lips just as Liam’s voice reaches my ears. I realize it’s Dustin and Liam arguing.

“Lim, Lim,” Tyson toots, squirming to get out of my arms before he goes limp on me and slides out of my arms. His little feet pound toward the door, and I groan, racing to stop him, not wanting to interrupt their obviously heated argument.

Yet, Tyson shoves through the door. I quickly grab my robe, pull it on, and move closer to the door.

“Just go. You’re supposed to be watching Peter,” Dustin snarls at Liam as I approach the door. Liam is standing by the door, and Tyson rushes toward him. Liam scoops him up as if it is second nature to take the boy. He props him on his hip while Tyson smacks his chest, screeching. “Lim, Lim.”

“See, this is exactly what I mean, Liam. What happens when you want kids? I can’t give you that; I am a man, not a fucking woman,” Dustin snaps, pointing at Tyson. Liam looks at Tyson in his arms.

“What do kids have to do with anything? You always have some fucking excuse, Dustin.”

“Language, Liam.”

“The squid doesn’t know what I am saying. It’s been three damn years, Dustin, and you still turn me down.”

“BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT FUCKING GAY. I AM GAY, LIAM. YOU’RE NOT!” Dustin yells at him. He pauses, then sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“You mark me, then what? Later on down the track, you want kids and leave me for a damn woman. I don’t do vagina, Liam, I don’t swing that way, and I won’t handle seeing you with another woman. It is better to keep things the way they are,” Dustin tells him.

“I don’t want to be with anyone else, only you. How many damn times do I gotta tell you that?”

“You say that now. I see you with Tyson, Oliver, and all the other kids. You will want kids,” Dustin tells him.

Liam snarls, looking down at Tyson. “Do I look like father material to you? I would fuck some kids up raising one. I don’t want kids, even if I eventually did. We got what…” he looks at me.

“A handful of kids downstairs that need adopting. Take your pick. Then what excuse have you got? I don’t want kids; I only want you, you Dustin. We can figure out the rest later.”

“You’re bisexual, Liam, not gay. You will want another.”

“What has my sexuality got to do with anything? I can be considered Mysexual, too; I fuck myself; I beat Mrs. Palmer a few times a week, too, I really give my left hand a fucking workout when you’re in a bad mood, but that doesn’t mean I want to continue fucking it.

Damn, have a left arm like Popeye!” Liam snaps at him.

“Again, Liam language!” Dustin growls, and Liam shakes his head, wandering over to hand me Tyson. I take him, and Dustin sighs.

“I’m sorry Azalea, he is just leaving,” Dustin tells me, and I see Trey still as a statue by the window.

“Ah, who is watching Peter?”

“Don’t worry about him. Tied him really good to the bed. He ain’t going anywhere,” Liam tells me. I shake my head and look at Trey, who groans.

“I guess I will go get him then?” Trey says when I raise an eyebrow at him.

“Handcuff keys on the dresser. You’ll need a knife to cut the ropes off; I knotted them perfectly.”

Trey nods when Liam clears his throat.

“Wait, you’ll need these too,” Liam says, digging in his pocket.

He tosses two keys to Trey. “The little one will release the ball gag, and the skinny one is for the choker. I told you he wasn’t going anywhere.

Dusty poo likes a little bondage,” Liam says, winking at me before turning back to Dustin while Trey holds the keys up, looking horrified at him.

Dustin’s face turns bright red. I just blink, not really needing that information.

“Go, I have work to do. We can argue later. Azzy doesn’t want to hear this shit,” Dustin says, waving him off. “You’re causing a scene.”

“I am not causing a scene. You are. Three years, Dustin, I have been asking you to let me mark you, three years, and you still turn me down,” Liam snaps before walking off and following Trey. Dustin turns to face me.

“Sorry,” he mumbles.

“Trouble in paradise, Dustin,” Kyson says, coming behind me, trying to put his cufflinks on.

“That was quick,” I tell him.

“Larkin, remember, I am leaving the guard here with you and going with Cedric.”

“Wait, you’re going by yourself?” I ask him.

“No, Cedric will be with me.”

“Maybe take Damian and Gannon with you?”

Kyson shakes his head.

“I am not leaving you here defenseless. I should only be gone a couple of hours at max. I’ll be fine. And Gannon is still locked down with Abbie’s heat,” he tells me, kissing my forehead and wandering off.

“I’ll be back soon,” he calls over his shoulder, and I sigh, looking down at Tyson.

“Let’s go see Clarice and get you out of your jammies,” I tell him when Dustin moves toward the window. He grabs a backpack.

“Liam came and got his clothes already. That’s why he came down. I forgot the bag,” Dustin says, holding it out to me. I take it, and he follows me into the room. “What’s the deal with you and Liam anyway?”

“He wants to be exclusive.”

“You aren’t already?” I ask him.

“Not from his lack of trying,” Dustin tells me.

“Then what’s the issue? He seemed pretty upset.”

“I know he will leave me eventually. It is better this way.”

“You mean because he also likes women?” I ask, remembering Tandi.

“Yes and no, he mainly does that to piss me off. I told him I don’t care who it’s with; I know he will leave me for a woman eventually,” Dustin says, sounding defeated.

“I don’t think he would, not if you let him mark you.”

“You sound like Gannon. He said the same thing the other week,” Dustin groans.

“You don’t believe Gannon?”

“No, I just don’t want him to resent me later because he has marked me. And I won’t allow him to fool around with women once he does. Which wouldn’t work if he decided he wanted kids. I can’t give him that, so–” He shrugs as I pull Tyson’s top off.

“Can always adopt, as Liam said.”

Dustin shakes his head, passing me Tyson’s tank top, when we hear a knock on the door. Dustin goes to answer it. He opens the door, and I realize it is Tandi.

“Clarice and I are taking the kids out to play on the hill after breakfast if you want to come,” she says, with Hunter in her arms.

“Yep, I will be down in a minute. Where is everyone eating?” I ask her.

“Ballroom, we are taking a few orphanage kids out with us while the weather is nice. A storm is meant to hit this afternoon, and they will end up stuck inside if it sticks around,” she tells me. I nod.

“Okay, I will be right there. I just gotta get changed,” I tell her. She nods, turning and walking away with Hunter. I finish dressing Tyson, and Dustin watches him for me while I quickly change and mindlink Kyson.

‘Can Peter come to the hill with the kids? Trey and Dustin will be with us?’ I ask him.

Yet, after last night, we have all determined that Peter is no longer a threat to me.

It was sad, really. Everything he did was for his mother, only for her to abandon him again.

He seriously believed if the King got rid of me, she would be allowed back into the castle where he could see her.

‘Yes, but stay with our guard; I love you,’ he tells me.

‘I love you too,’ I tell him, cutting the link off. We make our way downstairs. A handful of children, Clarice’s boys, Hunter and Tandi, are already here when Trey brings in Peter. He sits at the table with his face down.

Yet, after about twenty minutes, he is animatedly playing with a few orphanage kids while I wander over to the whiteboard to look at the added parts Liam and Gannon put up about Sia and Vivienne.

Liam comes over and leans on the table next to me as I stare at it.

Liam helps me read the newest parts since I can’t recognize the wording.

“So, did you find out why Sia was kicked out of the Vermillion pack?” I ask Liam, who nods.

“Yes, last night I rang the alpha of Vermillion, who pulled the records from back then,” Liam tells me, wandering over to the table. He picks them up, but Dustin takes them from him before he can show me.

“What does it say?” I ask him.

“They were kicked from the pack for Vivienne’s works in witchcraft and the illegal dealings with Wolfsbane.”

“Illegal dealings?” I ask.

“Yes, though, we never found out who her supplier was. After digging around last night with the King’s resources, we are pretty sure she was the one supplying the Hunters with wolfsbane,” Liam tells me.

“One thing I want to ask. When did you meet Abbie? Gannon told me she has memories of her grandmother in Ravana Pack. But you don’t remember meeting Vivienne despite Abbie saying you were there,” Liam asks, grabbing one of the markers and moving toward the board.

“I was about five years old. All I remember is that Abbie’s family was being chased by rogue bandits. They were attacked; Marrissa and Jordan helped them, and after that, they stayed with us.”

“Why?”

“Abbie said she met with her Grandmother a few times when she was a child.”

Liam shrugs but adds it to the board.

I nod, turning back to the drawing board, and Liam walks me through what everything says again.

- Azalea was born.

- Three years later, Ester falls pregnant with Peter.

- Landeena Kingdom falls. Azalea is missing. Marissa is missing.

-Trey spent three months in Valkyrie Hospital for silver poisoning.

-Trey was released from the hospital in May and searched for Marrissa and Azalea.

- Ester returns to the Valkyrie Kingdom and starts working as a castle servant. Started in the stables.

- Trey returned to the Valkyrie Kingdom and started working at the Mill.

- Trey failed the guard trials.

- March Ester moves into the castle as Claire’s personal servant.

- May-Marrissa starts out in the stables at the castle.

- Trey failed the guard trials.

- January - Marrissa starts working as a castle servant.

- Gannon meets Sia, and she rejects him. Sia moves to Ravana Pack after being kicked out of Vermillion Pack.

- February - Landeena anniversary. The Valkyrie Kingdom attacked. Claire was killed. Marrissa is on the run.

- May- Kyson created the Pack Oath for the Royal Guard.

-Sia is killed almost a year after Claire’s death.

- Marrissa Talbot was killed. Azalea and Abbie are placed in the orphanage.

- Also, the year after Claire’s murder, Gannon investigated rogue murders with Liam, and Vivienne followed him and tried to kill him out of vengeance for Sia. Liam buried her body near the river near the bridge.

- Trey rejoined guard trials and passed, becoming a Royal guard.

- Azalea Landeena is found and returned to the Valkyrie Kingdom.

I stare at the board, trying to piece it together before looking at Liam. “Crux, is that how you met Vivianne?” I ask him, and he nods.

“Yes, with my father as a kid. But I never spoke to her again until years later. I needed a location spell done,” he tells me.

“So Crux knew Sia?” I ask again.

“Yes, Crux had worked with Vivienne in the past, not long before Claire was killed. As far as I know, that is when I found out about her working with Crux; it could have been longer for all I know,” Liam tells me.

“And there is your link. I just don’t understand why Crux would work with Ester and how it is connected with the council besides Crux,” I tell him, and he seems to think for a second.

“Did Ester know Sia?” I ask, and Liam shrugs. “No idea.”

“But Ester knew Crux?”

“Everyone knows Crux. He has been on the council for centuries,” Liam states, and I sigh. Yeah, that was a dumb question. It still didn’t explain about the rogue murders or Claire. Clarice claps her hands loudly, drawing all the kid’s attention.

“Come on, we can play outside until lunch, but then we need to lock everything down. A storm is brewing, kiddos, so sun while you can,” Clarice tells them, and I smile, moving toward Tyson, who is sitting next to Tandi.

I grab him, and we take the kids to the hill by the cemetery and stables.

The kids instantly take off, yet Tyson wanders around, following Tandi and me.

Liam takes off to play with the kids as they all roll down the hill, racing.

“Where is Damian?” I ask. She pushes some hair behind her ear before looking at me.

“Looking into Alpha Brock, he is trying to see what he can find out about Paige for me,” she says, and I press my lips in a line when Tyson tugs on my shirt, trying to get my attention.

“Du, Du,” he toots, pointing toward the stable.

“Yep, duck, duck,” I tell him, and he waves to it, still holding my shirt, which is fisted in his hand while he keeps squawking,

“Du, Du.”

“Gosh, he is an idiot,” Dustin laughs, pointing at Liam covered in grass, rolling down the hill, and knocking the kids over, who squeal, trying to jump over him as he rolls toward them.

“Dustin!” a voice calls out, making us look toward the castle. He wanders off to speak with Trey, and we turn our attention to the kids playing when Hunter starts fussing.

“I am going to go put him down to nap while Damian is still up there. I will be back,” she says. Yet as time passes, the sky begins darkening with the approaching storm, and Kyson still hasn’t returned.

“Du, Du,” Tyson yells, and I look down at him just as the wind picks up.

“Come on kids, inside. This storm is coming over faster than we thought,” Clarice calls out, and I move to help pick up the toys scattered along the ground with Tandi.

Tyson refuses to go with Clarice or Dustin, yet he is in his jacket and beanie, so nice and warm, I let him follow as we pick up the junk the kids dragged out.

“Dustin, Liam, run these in,” I tell them, pointing to the huge plastic tubs. Tandi and I filled with balls and skipping ropes.

“I’ll grab the last one,” Tandi tells me, rushing to the top of the hill while Clarice leads the last of the children inside with Peter. Liam and Dustin carried the tubs in while Trey was helping tug the clothes off the line with the servant.

“Come on, Tyson,” I tell him, holding my hand out to him. Only when I look down do I not see him.

“Tyson?” I call, turning and looking for him.

“Tyson!” I yell out, and I look at Tandi.

“He was just here!” I tell her.

Tandi looks around from the top of the hill, looking around frantically, just as the wind starts howling loudly.

“Tyson,” I scream when Trey runs over.

“What’s going on?” he asks, jogging over.

“I can’t find Tyson!” I say, panic bubbling in my throat.