His Redemption (Complete His Series)

MADDOX

The next couple of days passed by too quickly. I went and spoke with Alpha early the next morning. He filled me in on what happened with Langston, telling me that his injury wasn’t going to heal all the way, but he has accepted it. He told me Doctor Ron was releasing him later that day to go home to Serenity Waters with Emma so he could rest and recuperate as much as possible. I couldn’t bring myself to go visit him after all the damage I had caused.

Missy and I stayed home from school for the next couple of days, taking time for ourselves. Sol brought our missing work by, my pile much larger than Missy’s. We started to work through it but more time was spent just being with each other than anything else.

By Friday night, I was feeling much better. There was still lingering guilt inside me for abandoning Langston and Missy in their own ways, but I was starting to figure out how to live with it. I knew we needed to escape all the heaviness surrounding the pack and our normal lives.

First, I called Luna to see if she could help me with my plan. After getting everything worked out with her, I texted all our friends to meet us first thing in the morning. I made all the arrangements necessary then got permission from Alpha to forgo a chaperone for the day. He took far more convincing than Luna did but agreed to my plan in the end. Then I got to tell Missy.

“I have a surprise for you tomorrow,” I whispered into her ear as we cuddled in bed. Her back was flush to my front as we laid on our sides watching TV.

“Surprise?” she asked, turning her head back slightly.

“Yea,” I said. “We’re going somewhere tomorrow.”

“Where?” she questioned.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you,” I said. She pouted and turned her head back. I nuzzled her neck behind her ear, raising little goosebumps along her shoulder. She smelled the strongest right here; it was my favorite spot.

“What do I wear?” she asked.

“Something casual,” I answered. “But bring a bag with a change of clothes for later. Something nicer.”

“How nice?” she asked.

“Hmmm,” I thought, wondering how to tell her without giving it away. “Maybe first date with a guy you really like.” She giggled at my answer.

–

The morning came, and I’d woken much earlier than when I’d told Missy to set her alarm. I dozed off for a few hours, but once I woke up, I couldn’t sleep. I looked down at Missy peacefully sleeping, and it filled me with a little peace of my own. We were mates, and we lived together now. Still, I don’t know if the sense of “I can’t believe this one is mine” will ever wear off. Looking at her still sent pleasant warmth down my spine and into my belly. I considered brushing her hair from her sun-kissed cheek until she rolled away from facing me onto her back, causing our blanket to spill from near her chin to her waist and drawing my eyes downward. I felt a familiar stirring below.

I sighed and chastised myself as I got out of bed, “Not now.”

After reluctantly drawing the blanket back over her so she wouldn’t get cold, I went and took a cold shower before slipping into comfortable clothes. The sun wasn’t up yet, and Missy was still fast asleep. Luckily, she hadn’t noticed I was out of bed yet, and she looked content. I pulled my shoes on quietly and slipped out the door without disturbing her. My heart felt lighter, and I knew today was going to be a day we’d remember. I was going to make sure of it.

I went to our small corner store down the road, where my grocery order was ready for pickup. Looking through the bags, I saw everything I would need for the morning. I was glad this store offered early pickup because it would have been hard to get this planned otherwise. As I mentally tallied what I needed to do first, the image of Missy watching me cook for her crossed my mind, and I smiled stupidly to myself. On my way home, I stopped by the florist, and I saw exactly what I was looking for. I’d asked the very nice older woman here to leave my order on the bend outside her front door because I needed them before she opened. She’d happily agreed when I explained what I was doing. Now that I was here, I noticed she’d even put the bouquet in a pretty white and gold vase. I ordered white roses because I’d been told they symbolized true love. Researching flowers on my own, I found they also represented young love. I couldn’t think of anything more fitting.

Humming to myself happily, it wasn’t long before I was home. The sun was beginning to peak over the horizon, painting it in hues of pink and orange. I slowly opened the front door, trying to keep it from creaking where it usually did at the end. I brought the bags in, setting them on our counter and unloading them. You never notice how loud plastic grocery bags are until you need to be quiet with them. Fishing through the bags, I pulled out the most important thing for this morning; it was a waffle maker.

Soon, I was whisking together batter as the waffle iron heated up. Dropping butter into it, I coated the metal for the first time and began making waffles as I prepared the raspberries and the blueberries I’d gotten to go with our breakfast. In no time, I had everything ready, including a basket to surprise Missy with later on the nicer part of the date I’d promised her. I padded silently into our room, staged her flowers on the dresser for her to see when she woke up and tried to get back to the kitchen to get our food before she noticed.

“Mmmm…” she purred, stirring from her place on the bed. “What is that smell?”

“Stay here,” I insisted, running to the kitchen before she could argue.

Pulling out the ice cream scoop, I warmed it under a stream of water from the kitchen faucet and dropped two scoops on the warm waffles on both our plates before dressing them with chocolate syrup and berries. Scooping the plates onto trays, I grabbed our orange juice before heading back to my awakening mate.

When I returned, she was sitting up with her back against the wall and a playful grin on her lips, “You got me flowers?”

“Well, I get to look at you all the time. I thought it was only fair you got to look at something almost as beautiful,” I teased.

Her face reddened, and I knew I’d hit the spot I was aiming for. I swooped down and placed her tray in her lap as I watched her eyes widen. Taking advantage of her momentary speechlessness, I placed a quick k**s on her lips. If heaven had a taste, it would be Missy.

“Is this ice cream?” she asked incredulously but still grinning as her fingers mindlessly traced where our lips met.

“So, I have a plan,” I said, not directly answering her question.

“What is that?” she asked, looking up into my eyes with hers mostly open now.

“We’re still young, but we have to act like we’re adults. You’re the Alpha’s kid, and you have to deal with all the responsibility it entails, and I’m a warrior. You know what that’s done recently….” She reached out as I trailed off, but I shook my head, “No, I’m fine. Just, what I’m saying is, today we’re going to act our age. We’re going to have fun. We’re going to do silly things. And, today, we’re going to eat ice cream for breakfast.”

The enormously happy look on her face was enough to let me know that she was all in with me on this plan. She m****d as the ice cream melted in her mouth along with the warm waffle, and I couldn’t blame her when I tasted it myself. It was a close second to the k**s from earlier.

“I think I could get used to this,” she told me as she scooted closer to sit directly in front of me, both of us cross-legged on the bed with our tray in front of us now. “I like when you cook for me.”

“I’m happy to feed you whenever you’d like, my love,” I answered honestly.

“So, what else are we doing today?” she asked excitedly.

“I’m not telling,” I told her with a wink.

I decided her frustrated mixture of a growl and a m**n just might be my new favorite sound, and I was determined to hear it more in the future. With nervous energy, she finished eating her waffles.

“I’m done now,” she declared with a smile. “You’re going to have to tell me soon.”

“Not a chance,” I insisted, unable to hide the grin spreading on my lips.

Her bottom l*p pushed out heavily as she crossed her arms and gave me an adorable mock pout with puppy eyes. All it did was make me notice she had chocolate syrup on her l*p. Leaning forward, I gestured for her to pause with one finger and brought my mouth over hers. I gently enveloped her bottom l*p and licked it clean of the sweet syrup with my tongue. Missy shivered and flushed, and I planted a soft k**s just under her jawline on her neck. The goosebumps raised as if they were waiting for me, and I reveled in them as I rubbed my nose and lips gently across her raised flesh. Missy was going to combust if I didn’t stop, so I sat back away from her with a wink.

“I think I’m going to get dressed,” she announced, jumping to her feet. “Want to help me pick what to wear?”

“I can tell you yes or no,” I proferred, not wanting her to ruin the surprise by eliciting me to give her too much information on accident.

She shrugged and walked over to her dresser and pulled out what looked like two outfits. Laying them out in front of me, she just announced, “Pick one.”

On one side, she had relatively short athletic shorts and a tank top shirt of some kind, and on the other, she had what looked like leggings and a t-shirt. Thinking for a moment, I chose the latter. It would probably be more comfortable if she fell and rubbed her skin where we were going. She nodded and then went to the closet to hold up a pair of flip-flops and a pair of shoes. This time, I chose the former. She wasn’t going to need shoes where we were going.

Standing up, I decided to deprive myself of watching her get dressed in favor of cleaning up the kitchen before we left. I knew it would stress her out if we left the house a mess, and I wanted today to be nothing but a blissful escape from reality. As I was finishing up the dishes, her sweet strawberry scent floated towards me as she snaked her arms around my stomach from behind.

“Thank you for the flowers and breakfast,” her voice said, muffled from her face against my back.

“Just the beginning,” I told her, turning around and burying my face in her hair and enjoying how delicious she smelled. “You ready?”

–

The drive passed quickly as she looked out the window expectantly and asked me pointed questions, trying to get me to give away where we were going. I just smiled and enjoyed the feeling of her hand in mine as we drew closer.

SOL

| we’re here whenever you’re ready

| she’s going to love this place

My phone buzzed, and Missy didn’t miss me letting go of her hand to check it. Still, our friends had gone ahead of us and were waiting. I silently thanked Luna because she’d helped me with some of the plans for today. She’d made sure Sol had a car to use to bring everyone to the outskirts of the city and surprise Missy. She’d also inadvertently given me a better idea for our date tonight, and I couldn’t wait for that either.

Finally, we pulled into the driveway of a nondescript building that didn’t have much in the way of signage. I walked around and opened the door for Missy, grabbing her by the hand and leading her inside. As we walked in the door, her eyes lit up as she looked around and saw the floor covered in what seemed to be miles of trampolines.

“You ready to be a kid today?” I asked as she looked up at me, her smile dazzling with excitement.