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WAHHHH!!! This is the last time I get to say this for this story.
PLEASE EXCUSE ERRORS!!!
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~~~Bo's POV~~~
I finished typing the email and sat back as I quickly clicked send. I'd spent the last hour going back and forth with the Alpha of the Midnight Claw Pack, arguing about how to deal with a potential rogue problem at one of the many places where our territory met. I had no doubt he'd email me back in a couple minutes, telling me how incompetent I was.
About a year after I'd graduated high school, my father decided to step down as Alpha. Dot's death had left him shaken, and he'd never fully recovered from it. As his son, it was my duty to become the Alpha. However, my father was always around for advice when I felt overwhelmed.
Anton had followed suit, and he'd resigned as well. Fae became my Beta, and together, we'd worked to make the back stronger for the past nine years.
Just as the compute dinged, informing me of an incoming email, someone banged on the door. "Come in," I called tiredly. It swung open, and I heard the sound of quiet, quick footfalls across the wooden floor.
"Daddy!"
The golden-haired toddler climbed into my lap and hugged her baby blanket to her chest. "Me and Mommy are playing hide-and-seek!"
"Is that so?" I asked amusedly, and she nodded vigorously. I glanced at her hands and sighed. "Sweetheart, what is all over your fingers?"
"Me and Mommy was painting a picture," She declared, and I laughed as she stuck out her chest for emphasis.
"Dot!"
Dot squealed at the sound of Tyler's voice, and she scrambled off my lap and crawled under my desk.
"Dot! Where are you?" called Tyler, and I could hear her getting impatient. "This is funny, Dot! I need to wash off your hands!"
"I don't think Mommy knows you're playing hide-and-seek," I whispered, and Dot just giggled. I pressed my finger to my lips, and Dot mimicked me. Just as she covered her face with her baby blanket, I heard footsteps and looked up to see Tyler walk into my office.
"Did your daughter come in here by any chance?" She asked as she collapsed into the chair across from me. "I was putting her finger-painting on the counter to dry, and when I turned around, she was gone!"
Keeping a straight face, I said, "Nope, haven't seen her. Maybe she's with Jaime and Adam." Jaime and Adam were Fae and Rhett's twin sons, and they were only a year older than Dot.
Tyler groaned and stood up, but as her eyes swept past my shirt, she frowned. "You say you haven't seen her?" She asked, and I shook my head. "Then why are there little handprints on your shirt?"
I looked down, and rolled my eyes. Two perfect purple handprints were stamped across my chest. "Well..." I said, "This is easily explained..." my voice trailed off as Tyler walked behind my desk and ducked her head under my desk.
There was a ruffling as Tyler pulled off Dot's baby blanket, and then I heard a mixture of a squeal and giggle. "Hi Mommy!"
"You're coming with me!" declared Tyler, and she scooped Dot up, completely ignoring the paint that was smearing against her t-shirt. Tyler inspected the giggling two-year-old and sighed. "Someone needs a bath," she noted.
Dot clapped her hands together and started bouncing in Tyler's arms. "Bath! Bath! Bath!" Tyler's mouth curved into one of her many dazzling smiles, and she started to walk out of my office. Just as she reached the door, however, she turned around.
"Is it alright if we leave in an hour? I need to give this little critter a bath." Tyler kissed Dot on her nose, and Dot laughed.
"An hour is fine," I replied with a smile. "Good luck." Tyler snorted and walked out of the office, Dot in tow.
I watched them go, happy with the feeling that I always got when we said goodbye. The feeling that they weren't gone forever.
~~~Tyler's POV~~~
The bath water was stained a faint purple, but Dot was fully content splashing around with her rubber duck. I squirted some baby shampoo in my palm, and said, "Dot, honey, I need to wash the paint out of your hair."
"Okie dokie, Mommy!" She said cheerfully. Careful as to not get anything into her eyes, I massaged the shampoo into her hair. I stripped the purple paint from her curls and then used the detachable shower head to rinse the shampoo.
"Alright, sweetie, time to get out," I said, pulling the drain in the bath tub. I grabbed the princess towel off of the sink counter and helped Dot step out of the bathtub. I bundled her up in the towel and swept her off her feet into my arms, causing her to collapse into a fit of giggles.
I carried her into the suite that contained the bedroom I shared with Bo and Dot's bedroom, as well as a small living area. It was one of Bo's perks for being an Alpha.
Dot started squirming in my arms as soon as we entered the living area, so I placed her gently on the floor, where she immediately dropped her towel and ran into her room. I shook my head and chuckled, and I started to follow her.
As I passed my room, however, I saw Bo's muscular, shirtless back. I knocked on the open door, and he turned around. As soon as his eyes fell on me, Bo's mouth erupted into a smile. "Where's Dot?" he asked after a moment, finally realizing our child was absent.
"Probably running around naked in her room," I said with a shrug. "Can you get her dressed so that I can change out of my soaked clothes?"
"Sure," he said with a laugh. "Just let me pull on a shirt." Bo grabbed a long-sleeved shirt from his drawers and gave me a quick peck as he walked out of the room. I watched him go and then stripped out of my t-shirt.
I looked down at my stomach and touched it gently with my hands. The thought of another baby was exciting and scary at the same time. I'd only had Dot two and a half years ago, when I was 25. The first few weeks after she'd been born had been hell, and the thought of suffering that much sleep deprivation made my head hurt.
Still, the knowledge that in eight months, I'd have another child to call my own was worth more. Personally, I hoped it was a boy. The mental image of Bo rough-housing with a little boy, maybe the miniature version of Bo himself, was a very adorable thought.
"Ty, can you come and, uh, help me out?" Bo's voice sounded strained, and I grinned at the thought of him trying to put clothes on our bouncy daughter.
"I'll be right there," I replied, and I pulled on a dry t-shirt and one of Bo's warm sweatshirts. I tied my hair back in a loose ponytail and padded out of my bedroom and into Dot's room. "You're farther along than I expected," I noted.
"Well," Bo replied through gritted teeth as he struggled to slip the Dora t-shirt over Dot's head, "I do have skills." Dot resisted further, and Bo grunted in frustration. "I give up; your turn."
I chuckled and knelt down next to him. I carefully worked Dot's head through the neck whole, and kissed her square on the nose. "Mommy!" she squealed. I laughed and helped her find the arm holes to the shirt.
I glanced over at Bo, victorious, and he shook his head at me. "You're a goddess!"
"Don't you forget, babe. Now, can you get me some pants?" Bo nodded and pulled a pair of turquoise and pink striped leggings and he handed them to me.
I gingerly laid Dot on her back and tugged the pants over her legs. When I finished with the leggings, I pulled up her shirt and blew a raspberry on her stomach, and Dot burst into a fit of giggles.
Bo swung her up into the air, and she squealed with delight. Then, her pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead. Dot turned to me and held her arms out. "Mommy!"
Bo also held out an arm and said, "Yes, Mommy; group hug!"
I smiled and stepped into their embrace, Dot's arm barely around my neck on one side, and Bo's pulling me close on the other. We stayed like that for a while; the picture of a perfect family.
*
The tombstones were few and far between.
Dot skipped along between the graves, unaware of what lay beneath her feet. Dot and I strolled behind her, his arm wrapped around my body tightly. As we walked, I caught wind of an unfamiliar scent in the air.
A second later, Dot came running back to Bo and I. "Mommy! Someone at Auntie Dot's grave!"
Immediately, Bo started to hurry down to the more isolated part of the cemetery where the Alpha's deceased family members were buried. I scooped Dot into my arms protectively and followed quickly behind.
By the time I reached Bo, he was glaring menacingly at a copper-haired young man, and his hands were clenched in fists. "What are you doing here, rogue?" he growled.
"I'm not a rogue!" The man stated, backing up a step. "I... I was just looking for my mate."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, stepping up next to Bo.
The man sighed. "Nine years ago, in the middle of freshman math, I felt a horrible pain in my neck, and I ended up passing out. When I woke up, I was back at my pack house. I described the pain to my Alpha, and he told me that my mate had just died."
"How would you know that if you'd never met her?" I asked.
"According to my Alpha, when the mate bond is completely severed, you feel it, no matter what," the man said.
"How do we know if you're telling the truth?" Bo demanded. The man seemed at a loss for words, but as I studied him, it became evident that he was telling the truth.
"Bo," I said gently, putting my hand on his shoulder, "He's telling the truth." Bo's head whipped around to look at me, and I nodded. He relaxed and straightened, but I noticed his fists stayed coiled.
I looked at the boy and shifted Dot onto my hip. "What's your name?" I asked.
"Max," he replied. "It's seems kinda lame, that it took me nine years to find her." Max pointed at Dot's gravestone. "It's just really hard to go on a feeling without a name or a picture."
Bo sighed and pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open and pulled out a picture of Dot sticking her tongue out of the camera. It was the last one anyone had ever taken of her, and the edges were worn from being tucked away all this time.
"Her name was Dot," Bo said, handing the photo to Max.
"She's beautiful," he whispered. "How did she die?" Max asked.
"She was murdered by hunters when she was fourteen," I answered.
Max studied the picture, tracing his finger along Dot's features. He looked up at us, tears in his eyes and asked, "Can you tell me about her? I want to know all I can."
Bo glanced at me and slipped his hand in mine and then turned to face Max. "I'll tell you all you want to know."
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IT'S OVERRRRRRR! I'm so sad, but at the same time, I'm super proud about finishing a story!!!
Thank you guys sooo much for sticking through the story with me, even with my phase of terrible consistant uploading. I love you guys:)
If you haven't, please check out my new story, Faerie Dust! The prologue is up, and the first chapter should be up in a couple days!
I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
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