Angel Blackwood (51 page)

“Our pack is the
strongest pack, theres no denying it. It will become even stronger
with you two leading and my daughter at your side. Caspian is one
Alpha you need to have on your side. I’ve seen what he is capable
of when you’re not, it’s not something you should even consider.
The man has a lot of issues that extend way beyond anything you’ve
heard before. Now, I’m not saying suck up to the kid. What I’m
saying is you both need to hold your own and let him know that he
won’t ever take what’s yours, make sure he knows that both packs
will only benefit from keeping this alliance platonic. I know he’s
cold and detached from real emotions, but he does care about his
packs safety; even if that’s the only thing he cares about.”
Alpha’s forced to stop communicating with us as one of Caspian’s
guards interrupt us.

“Welcome. Alpha Caspian is
waiting in his office for you. Please follow me,” the huge guy
says, walking towards the front porch of the mansion.

Alpha Johnny and Caspian speak
casually for a few minutes. I can tell the fact that Caspian has
not once looked at us has annoyed my brother, he’s pacing and
looking at the books on the nearest bookshelf.

“Dude, relax.
He’s just trying to get a rise out of us. I can sense your
aggravation from here, you need to keep it under wraps,”
I link to Tyler. He immediately stops
walking, moving to sit on one of the black leather sofa’s nearest
to me. He looks at me and nods his head just a bit.

“Well, I’ll leave you three to
talk. I’ve got a few calls to make,” Alpha Johnny announces, before
swiftly leaving the room with his phone in hand.

As the door slams shut,
Caspian’s eyes finally land on us. Empty eyes that give away
nothing.

“So I suppose we need to
discuss a few things?” He says as he reaches for a glass and pours
dark liquor in it.

“Yes. We just want to make sure
there are no ill feelings between the packs after all that has
happened these past few weeks.” Tyler stands up.

Caspian gestures with his
glass, asking if we’d like some of whatever he’s drinking. We both
shake our heads, muttering a ‘no thanks’ and trying to get back to
the topic in hand.

“How is Angel doing?” He says,
returning to his desk and sitting down on a big black, studded
leather highback chair.

“She is doing great,
Thanks. Now if we can get back to discussing the future of our
packs,” I say, unable to hold in my hostility. I stand up and move
to sit on the chair nearest to his desk. Tyler stands a few feet
away, arms folded over his chest.

Caspian lets out a chuckle and
downs the rest of his drink, placing it on the table with a
clank.

“Ah.. I see.
You think I would jeopardize what’s best for
my
pack
over a woman?” He doesn’t wait for us to respond, he continues, “I
have no ill feelings towards Angel. She chose her mates above
everything else, I understand that.”

“Then why did you think you
could force her into marrying you? You know what she is, know how
special she is and you used that against her?” Tyler speaks up, his
voice rising. Caspian gives nothing away.

“I’d do anything and everything
if my pack benefits from it. I wanted what was best for my pack, to
merge Johnny’s territory and mine. Only way to make that happen was
to marry Angel. Since that option is off the table, I no longer
have any interest in her,” he says simply.

“Are you trying to tell us that
you won’t try to overthrow our power and take our land when we
become Alpha’s?” I say. I don’t understand how this man operates.
He’s like a robot, you can’t tell what he’s feeling.

Caspian
chuckles again, then leans forward on his desk and entwines his
fingers, “My pack has been doing just great on it’s own thus far.
We don’t
need
your territory. Besides… taking on
one Alpha is a job on it’s own, taking on two, well that’s another
matter entirely. Johnny has many allies on his side. If I were go
against you two, it will only create havoc on my part. I don’t want
that. All I want is for our packs to work side by side as we have
been doing all these years.”

****

We fill Johnny in on what was
discussed during the ride home.

“I told you that his pack is
the only thing that matters to him,” Alpha confirms.

“Yeah, suppose that’s not a bad
thing,” I mutter, looking out of the window.

“Unless our pack jeopardises
his in anyway. I’ve got a feeling he would do and say anything to
make sure his pack comes out on top,” Tyler says from the front
seat.

Alpha Johnny nods his head,
“You two just make sure you keep an eye on him. He trusts me and I
know he’ll help me in any way he can, but I can see he doesn’t
trust you two. Once you have that man’s trust, his loyalty knows no
bounds. He will stick by you no matter what. Just don’t ever cross
his pack or mess with his trust once it is earned.”

****

Arriving back at the pack
house, we spot Angel and Phoenix still sitting out in the sun on
the grass. They’re chatting away and snacking on sandwiches. I run
up behind Angel, playfully tackling her but making sure to be
gentle.

She squeals and starts
laughing, pushing at my chest.

“You’re too heavy. Can’t….
breathe,” she says between laughs.

“You’re gonna hurt her, Talon,”
Tyler says in that protective voice of his.

“Oh chill, I’m just
playing.” I move to sit next to her and snatch a packet of chips
out of Phoenix’s hand. She punches my shoulder rather pathetically.
I look at Angel and give her a quick kiss on her lips. “How’s your
day been, babe?”

“It’s been
good. I’ve been catching up on what I’ve missed out on, apparently
it’s
a lot
.” She looks at Phoenix and they exchange a weird
look.

She then looks up to where
Tyler stands beside her, rubbing her hands over his jeans by his
calves before patting the ground next to her, “Come sit by us.” He
looks

down at her
smiling. He runs his hand over the top of her head, through her
hair, then gently sits down next to her. She l
eans forward and kisses his cheek.

Phoenix turns away as if
there’s something better to look at to her right. She then quickly
looks down and starts picking at her nails. I look up to see Nixon
walking a blond woman into his cabin, they’re laughing about
something.

“Uh… I better get home. Gotta
help one of Fabian’s flings with a spell,” she rattles off.

“You sure you don’t wanna stay
for the bonfire?” Angel asks.

“Nah, that’s okay. I think the
sun has taken all the energy out of me, but thanks for the invite
guys. I’m gonna have an early night tonight.” Phoenix leans down
and hugs Angel.

“Drive safe,” Angel shouts out
as Phoenix walks away.

As soon as Phoenix has driven
down the gravel road and out of sight, Angel turns to sit facing
us.

“So, how was the meeting?” She
says, sounding worried.

“It went great. Things will
continue to run the way things have run with your father leading
the pack. He has no ill feelings towards you,” Tyler says. I then
continue to give her a play by play account of exactly what
happened.

She nods her head still looking
unsure, before turning her attention to Tyler.

“Have you seen or spoken to
Kate yet?” She says, her voice a little softer.

Tyler looks down, “No, I
haven’t.”

“You need to,” she says.

“Why? What have they got to say
to each other?” I ask, confused.

Angel looks to me, “She loves
him Talon. They need to speak, Tyler needs to tell her where he
stands so she can move on. They didn’t end things on a good note,
believe me I know. If I was her, I’d want to know where I stood. If
he doesn’t, she’ll just keep wondering if there is still a chance
for them. Maybe it will help her to move on.”

I get what she’s saying.

Tyler pulls her onto his
lap and holds her tight, “Yeah, you’re right, baby. I’ll find her
tonight at the bonfire and have a word with her.”

Angel nods her head, wrapping
her arms over his shoulders.

Chapter 2
9

TYLER POV

I find Kate standing off to the
side of the crowd, looking at everyone. Even though it’s a warm
night, she has a scarf around her neck that I know is only there to
hide the scar that lies beneath it.

Her relaxed posture becomes
rigid as her eyes find mine.

“Hey,” I say, giving her a
friendly smile.

“Hi,” she returns, her
right hand finding her scarf and self consciously adjusting it
making sure its secure.

“How have you been doing?” I
have seen her since the attack, but it’s always been at a
distance.

She looks back towards the
crowd as she answers me, “I’m better today than I was yesterday. It
gets better each day I guess.”

I nod my head unsure of how to
bring up the subject of us, luckily she opens her mouth first.

“How’s… uh, how’s Angel?” She
asks, actually sounding concerned.

“She’s doing better. Like you
said, it gets better each day.”

“I'm glad.” She nods her head
giving me a small smile, before quickly resting her hand back on
the scarf and turning her eyes away.

“I… I wanted to talk to you
Kate. I know the way we left things were bad. It’s just that-”

She lifts her hands up and
turns to face me fully.

“It’s okay, Tyler. I know about
the mating ceremony. You and Talon are gonna become the Alpha’s of
our pack, I couldn’t be happier for you. I love you and that hasn’t
changed, but I know that what you feel or felt for me is nothing
compared to how you feel about Angel. She’s your mate and she’s
gonna be a strong Luna. She saved me and I’ll never be able to make
it up to her. What I can do though, is let you go freely. I know it
doesn’t sound like much, it may even sound a little selfish,
because lets face it, I don’t have a choice in you two being
together, but it is still hard for me. I’ve grown attached to you,
always having you around and always having someone to talk to, to
hold. You don’t know how hard these few weeks recovering without
you at my side have been. I want to fight for you, make you see
that we could have a future, that we could make it happen, but I
know it’s a battle I’d lose. You belong with her and she deserves
you. You are one of the greatest men I have ever met. It was so
easy to fall in love with you, Tyler. I just wish it was as easy to
fall out of love with you too.” She wipes away a tear and swallows
the lump in her throat. I won’t lie and say that seeing her hurting
doesn’t affect me because it does, but it doesn’t affect me the way
it would if Angel was hurting. I don’t have that sudden need to
hold her close, to comfort her like I do Angel.

“Kate… I want you to move
on-”

“I know, and the only way for
me to do that is if I stay away from you. I wish you well, I know
you are gonna be a great Alpha, Tyler.” She reaches out and
squeezes my upper arm gently, then walks away. I watch her as she
disappears into the crowd.

ANGEL POV

I’ve spent the
last couple of days catching up on what I’ve missed out on. It took
me a while to find my strength back, but after a week, I’m able to
climb the stairs without being out of breath when I reach the
top
and the Doc says that’s a
great achievement. My mom told me about my father locking the twins
up in that cell. It doesn’t seem like it affected Talon, but Tyler?
I can tell he’s lost weight and he certainly didn’t seem himself
the day I woke up. I spoke to my father and told him that I didn’t
appreciate what he did, but I also understand why he did it. He
asked me if I loved them, I told him with all my heart and with
everything I have.

That answer seemed to do the
trick because the next day he made arrangements. Tonight is the
mating ceremony, the night the twins and I will officially be
mated.

****

Standing in front of the
mirror, I look at the black dress I’m wearing. My mother bought it
for me, apparently Daisy designed it. I have yet to make contact
with Daisy since that second time I saw her, but she wrote a little
note and gave it to my mother to give to me. She told me that she
didn’t have a phone anymore, but that she’d been thinking about me.
She’s happy to hear that I’ve found my mate -or should I say mates-
and that she prays they treat me well. There wasn’t anymore to the
note, it was short and sweet. Kinda just like her.

The sheer black dress isn’t too
revealing, but it is certainly beautiful. My hair is placed in a
sleek bun, my makeup light and natural. A knock on the door has me
calling out for whoever is there to come in. Nixon peaks his head
in and smiles.

“You look beautiful,
Angel.”

“Thanks, Nix. You look
good too. That hair of yours needs a cut though,” I say, smiling
and leaning up to smooth it down. It’s grown longer than I ever
seen his hair; looking messy but still managing to look
good.

Walking down the stairs
towards the backyard, I’m greeted by many pack members who show
their respect as I make my way to the twins and my parents. My
parents are first to find me and they blabber on about how excited
they are for me. I feel eyes watching from across the yard, my eyes
look around to find Talon’s penetrating stare. I walk over to him
and he grabs my hand, pulling me close to whisper in my
ear.

“You look georgous, Babe.
How about we ditch this party for a little party of our own in your
bedroom?” He pulls away and winks, I can’t help but laugh even
though his little joke has caused a stir of nerves within me. I
don’t let him feel or see any of that though. I know we’re gonna
have to talk about being intimate sometime soon. I don’t know if
I’m supposed to “seal the deal” with the twins tonight after the
ceremony, but if I’m honest, I don’t think I’m ready to sleep with
either of them just yet. I think my experience with Tyler has
created a lot of insecurities when it comes to being intimate
again.