His Redemption (Complete His Series)

WARWICK

I thrummed my fingers on the table in front of me. I didn’t expect the wee dog to kill another Sire so unceremoniously. It definitely threw a wrench in my plans.

I still had Nethercote’s kin at my disposal, although now I may require his involvement in my plans since the dog bested Bygrave. The heavy door to my office flew open, banging against the wall hard. Charlotte Bygrave stood in the doorway with a nasty look on her face. I rolled my eyes in anticipation of her fit.

“Warwick, why are we not retaliating?” she demanded to know.

“All in good time,” I droned.

“No, we need to take care of these fleabags now! My destined was killed, and with him, our whole clan. I only stand before you because Harlan was not my Sire,” she barked at me.

I waved my hand dismissively. “Yes, yes,” I said. “I will move when the time is right.”

She slammed her fist on the table. “You will move now. No more waiting. They found this little hideout of yours. Your soldiers, if they can even be called that, get picked off by the handful everywhere they go. No more games and waiting. Take the fight to the stupid dogs now!”

She was very insistent in her demands on how I played this game. I guess that was to be expected after losing her destined. “I will take it under consideration.”

“I want the one who killed my Harly. He will pay with b***d,” she promised.

“My dear, that may be the first helpful thing you have said,” I thought aloud, grinning. A plan began to unfold in my head.

LYSSA

I don’t know if the pain of losing Robert will ever fully heal. I’m honestly not even sure I will survive it. After all these years of judging women as weak for succumbing after they lost their mate, I finally understand the depth of the pain they felt. When I woke up in the mornings, I started to wonder if it was worth it or if I should just close my eyes and succumb to the darkness.

“Grandma!”

Junior’s voice caught my attention, startling me out of my dark thoughts. How could I even think of leaving when I had these little ones to live for? A cacophony of giggling children soon followed Junior’s call for me as he held up Azly to me from across the yard. She smiled widely, her little gums poking out as she was proffered to me. I walked over, my chest still tight from thinking of Robert, but I was determined to put that aside for my grandchildren. They shouldn’t see me like this. Scooping Azly into my arms, I rubbed my nose to hers and tickled her belly softly as she reached for me and giggled. As I sat down with her, she stopped smiling and laughing as she grabbed my finger. I let her have it, glad she wasn’t trying to pull my hair this time. She looked up at me with an almost serious expression, and as I contemplated what she was doing, I felt it. A warmth spread through me from my finger and into my chest, easing the tight feeling and weight I’d been carrying. This wasn’t the first time the little girl in my arms seemed to magically soothe my ache. I hadn’t told her parents yet, but I suspected Azly was special like her mother and Junior.

A loud crash from the back of our yard drew my attention away from Azly, and my heart stopped in my chest as I realized what I was looking at. It was a vampire; There was a vampire within the pack’s land, and I was alone with the Alpha and Beta children. The sound I’d heard was him breaking through my privacy fence, and now he wore a dumb expression, looking frantically around as if to figure out where he was. His eyes quickly settled on me and then scanned around to the kids before his mouth split into a vicious grin.

“I’ve got pups and an old b***h in here!” he yelled out, looking over his shoulder towards the hole behind him.

“I don’t think this is where we’re supposed to be, but we might as well kill these ones since we’re supposed to kill them all.”

A second vampire appeared from behind the first, looking and sounding uninterested. He didn’t seem to care why they were here; he was just looking to get it over with.

“Kids, get behind me,” I hissed, my voice low.

“There’s no point in hiding,” the bored one told me.

“I won’t let you hurt them,” I said firmly, frantically trying to figure out how to protect all of the kids. I was a Luna, sure, but it had been a long time since I trained to fight anything. Still, these monsters killed Robert; I wouldn’t let them do the same to my little ones. “I’m the former Luna of B***d Eclipse. Go now, and I’ll spare your lives. Stay, and if I’m not done with you by the time they get here, you’ll be torn apart by the patrols.”

“Luna?” the dumb one queried the bored one.

“Like the Alpha’s b***h,” he replied, now looking at me with more interest. “That means you’re the current Alpha’s mom then?” s**t; my bluff failed. My relation to Liam made me a higher value target, and if they figured out who the children were…

“It means you should worry about your death more than who I am,” I growled, my wolf pawing at the edge of my psyche for control.

“Take the little ones and run into the house with them. I need you to keep them safe while I handle these two,” I linked Junior, trying to keep my voice calm. I didn’t think I could fight two vampires by myself and keep them safe simultaneously.

“Are they vampires?” he asked in return, touching my hand from behind me.

“Yes,” I answered simply; there was no use in lying to him. “When I start fighting, I need you to go.”

His voice changed, stubborn now, “I won’t leave you here with them. I won’t let them hurt you.”

“Sometimes learning to be a leader is understanding when you have to let others risk danger to help you save others. Right now, I need you to keep the rest of the children safe while I hold them off until the patrol can get her. Please help me, my little Alpha.”

JUNIOR

The vampires smelled bad; I could tell why no one liked them. Grandma me wanted to leave her here, but I couldn’t do that. I won’t let them hurt my Grandma.

“… Please help me, my little Alpha.”

I looked down and saw Azly laying on the ground; the other kids were behind me. They were in danger too. My chest felt weird, like a balloon swelling when she called me ‘little Alpha.’ Grandma was right, I thought. I had to protect them. That was how I would help her. She couldn’t fight if she was worried about us.

I picked up Azly, holding her close to me like Dad taught me and looked to the other kids, “When I say so, run with me.”

Delilah nodded and looked scared but ready to run; Leo looked like he was going to throw up, Lucas was trying not to cry, and Azly was pawing at me, trying to get me to play.

“Not right now,” I told her quietly.

“I told your father they’re here,” Grandma told me. “He’s sending the patrols back. Get ready.” Grandma started to shift, and she fell onto her paws as she ran towards the vampires.

Then, I heard her in my head, “Go!”

“Run!” I yelled as I turned and sprinted towards the house with Azly. I heard Grandma growling and yelling behind us, but I didn’t look. If I stopped, she would get scared. We got to the house, and I pulled open the door hard. It broke the glass and scared me for a second.

“Grandma would have to be mad later,” I thought, running to the living room to put Azly down in her bassinet. She just laid there and looked around at us.

“Is your Grandma going to be ok?” Delilah asked, grabbing my arm.

“I think so…” I answered. I didn’t know what else to say. A yelp from outside made us jump. Was Grandma hurt?

“I don’t know how much longer I can hold them off. Try to find something to start a fire. If they get past me, light the vampires on fire. You all won’t be fast enough to get away!” Grandma gave me instructions over link. She sounded worried. If they got past her, did that mean she was dead?

“I think Grandma is hurt, and she told me to catch them on fire if they get in here,” I told the others.

Delilah’s eyes got really big, “Is she going to die?”

“No,” I told her. It felt like there was a fire in my belly and in my chest. My hands were getting tingly, and all I could think was I wouldn’t let them hurt my Grandma. They already killed Grandpa. I had an idea.

“Will you stay here? I have to do something,” I asked Delilah.

“Where are you going?” she demanded.

“I have to go help her!”

“Then, I’m coming with you,” she said, her l*p pouty like when her parents told her no, and she didn’t want to listen to them.

“Fine. Leo and Lucas, you have to stay here with Azly. Leo, if I yell at all, I want you to take Azly and run, ok?” I told our younger siblings.

Leo nodded. He looked scared, but his eyes were determined; he loved our little sister the most and wouldn’t let someone hurt her. Grabbing Delilah’s hand, I pulled her to the kitchen.

“Get Grandma’s cleaning washcloths from under the sink. I’ll be right back.”

I didn’t wait for her to say anything before going to Grandpa’s office. It’s where he kept the bottles of the stuff he drank when it was our bedtime. I remembered that I could make firebombs with bottles like these from the zombie shows that Mom said I couldn’t watch. I bet she’ll let me watch them now. I met Delilah in the kitchen, and she had the basket of rags Grandma used to clean. I took her to the garage, where Grandpa kept the lawnmower and the gas for it. There was a big sink in the garage, so I poured out the gross smelling stuff in Grandpa’s bottles. I could hear Grandma still growling outside, and it sounded like she was fighting.

I put the bottles on the ground and got the gas can for the lawnmower to pour into them. They said on the show that you had to pour the stuff in these bottles out and put gas in it, or they wouldn’t catch on fire good enough. I filled two bottles. I showed Delilah how to shove the rags in the bottle and get them wet by holding them upside down for a couple of seconds. I didn’t feel so worried anymore; this was going to work. Grandpa had a lighter by the grill; we were ready now.

“Are you ready?” I asked Delilah.

She picked up a bottle and handed me the other one, and we walked towards the door that went to the backyard. I opened it quietly to look outside and see what was happening; Delilah stayed close to my back.

Grandma was covered in b***d, but one of the vampires was on the ground. He wasn’t getting up. The other one was showing Grandma his teeth. She whined when he hit her, making the fire inside me burn more. Grandma wasn’t getting up.

“Leave my Grandma alone!” I yelled. I used the lighter to catch the rag in the bottle on fire, and it burned so fast it scared me.

“What do you think you’re going to do with that?” he asked. He turned his mean look towards me instead of Grandma.

“This!” I yelled, throwing the bottle as hard as I could at his face.

It missed his face and hit the ground behind him. He laughed at me for missing, but then he looked down and got scared. The bottle blew up when it hit the ground, and Grandma’s yard was on fire behind him.

“Stupid f*****g kid,” he yelled at me. The vampire looked really mad, and he started walking towards me with his teeth out, making growling sounds.

“Liam!” Delilah said, tapping my shoulder and putting the other bottle in my hands.

I lit the rag on this one, and he roared at me as I c****d my arm back like I was going to throw a baseball. I couldn’t miss this time. If I did, we were all going to die. His head was too small, so I threw it at his tummy instead. This time, I hit him easily. The fire spread all over him, and he screamed. I watched him keep walking towards us, and I started to get scared. He was on fire, but he was still alive! I looked around for something to hit him with, and I saw Grandma’s big scissors she used to cut branches and trim the bushes lying against the wall. The blade was as long as my arm.

I grabbed them as fast as I could, but the vampire was trying to hurt Delilah. She screamed and ran to me. He followed her, yelling and stinking from burning. I pushed Delilah behind me, grabbed one handle in each hand, and pushed the scissors in front of me into the vampire’s chest as hard as I could. It felt gross, but it went in all the way. He fell on his knees and tried to pull the scissors out as he breathed really heavy.

I grabbed the handles again and pushed them together as hard as I could. It made a wet squishing sound, and he fell on his front. The scissors stopped him, and he just hung in the air.

“His head,” Grandma almost whispered. “You have to take his head!”

I didn’t notice her crawl over to us, but she looked really hurt and covered in b***d. She shifted back, but she was still lying on the ground and didn’t look like she could get up.

“How am I going to take off his head?” I thought. I looked around and didn’t see anything. “Can I pull it off? Should I kick it? Am I strong enough?”

Out of the side of my eye, I saw a blur, and then I heard CHOP. When I looked over, Delilah was panting and had b***d sprayed all over her face. She was holding Grandpa’s hatchet he used to chop wood, and it was buried in the ground next to the vampire’s head.

She looked at me and let go of the ax, “Is he dead now?”

“I think so?” I answered, trying to figure it out, too. I poked his head with my foot, and he didn’t move.

A loud crash from the side of the house made us look up, and Austin appeared with a bunch of other warriors.

“What the hell?” Austin asked when he got to us, looking around at us, the fire, and Grandma in surprise.

He took his shirt off, put it over Grandma, and started giving orders to the other wolves. It felt like I could breathe for the first time since the vampires appeared in the yard, and I just sat down. I was tired now; Delilah looked tired too as she stared at the burnt vampire.

“Did I just kill a vampire?” I asked myself, trying to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

The sound of footsteps came from where the vampires broke through the fence, and we all looked to see a big, mean-looking vampire walk into the yard with four other vampires. He looked way scarier than the ones we just fought. My chest got tight, and I looked at Delilah. She was as scared as I was. I had to pretend I wasn’t, though. I had to be strong.

“Go back to the house,” Austin told us. He was smiling. “I’m here now. We’ll take care of this.”

I jumped up, grabbing Delilah’s hand. I felt safe now; Austin would protect us.

“I need to get stronger,” I told myself as I pulled Delilah into the house with me.