Chapter Twenty-Seven
Liam’s POV:
I woke up with Ally’s head resting on my shoulder and her legs tangled with mine. I sighed in content and began running my hands through her soft blonde hair until I heard her yawn and saw her sleepily look up at me.
Ally grinned up at me lazily before burying her head into the crook of my neck and cuddling into my side even more if that’s even possible. I held her close enjoying this time since I knew I would be leaving soon.
I had to assemble all of my fighters and welcome two neighboring packs onto my territory before I even left this evening. Then I would be gone for a good part of the night and for the first time in a long time I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep with my mate in my arms.
Ally knew this too, and I could tell it was bothering her as we laid in silence for about an hour just enjoying being in each other’s arms. I kissed her temple softly and murmured in her ear, “Everything is going to be alright.”
She sighed and turned her head to stare into my eyes. “Just be careful. We just fully mated and I can’t lose. Please stay safe.” She muttered softly, her bottom lip trembling slightly as she spoke. I leaned down softly kissing her lips for a moment before pulling away and staring deep into her blue orbs.
“I would never abandon you, Ally. You are my life and I promise to come back to you safe and sound. We are going to save those woman and children and I’ll be back before you know it. Then I promise we are going to spend the entire day together tomorrow doing whatever you want. I love you, angel.”
“I love you too, Liam.” Ally whispered back and leaned up to kiss me, but just before our lips touched, there was a knock on the door and I growled softly hearing Ally’s giggle sound from below me. I quickly kissed Ally on the cheek before gently laying Ally down on the bed and getting up to go see who interrupted my peaceful morning with my mate.
I opened the door to see Ethan standing there looking sheepish. I just stared at him expectantly. He may be my best friend, but I wasn’t too happy that he bothered me while I was with Ally. “Sorry dude. The Jameson and Roberts packs are here, and the Alpha’s were asking to see you.” He said and I sighed before nodding and closing the door.
The two packs that just arrived were going to stay on our territory incase we needed back up for some reason. Both packs have had woman and children kidnapped by the Simmons Pack so they jumped at the chance to help us out when we asked around.
I’m expecting some backlash from tonight’s rescue mission. Mark Simmons would never just let us take the woman and children from his pack without retaliating. I’m sure that he will fight back, but when he does we’ll be ready and there’s no way we’re going to lose.
I made my way towards the closet noticing that Ally had curled up and gone back to sleep. I smiled to myself as I got dressed and silently crept out of the room so I wouldn’t disturb Ally.
As soon as I left the room, I put my business face on and made my way downstairs to the foyer where I met Alpha Jameson and Alpha Roberts. I shook their hands firmly looking them in the eyes to show that I am not beneath them. It’s important to not show other Alpha’s weakness so they’ll respect you.
I may not officially be Alpha yet and I may be much younger than them, but I could tell them respected me when they nodded their heads in approval and the atmosphere lost some of the tenseness. They smiled slightly at me.
Alpha Roberts was the first to speak. “We’re glad that somebody is finally going to take these bastards down. It’s about time somebody stepped up. Who would have thought that young Liam Richards would be the brave one to take on the challenge? I remember you running around here in your underwear and screaming that you were king of the werewolves.” Alpha Richards said making the heat creep up my neck as I chuckled nervously.
Alpha Roberts was an old friend of my father’s so he was around a lot when I was growing up and I have some pretty embarrassing moments from when I was growing up. I just laughed it off thought knowing that he was just teasing me and I was glad for the joking because it was lightening my mood and distracting me from thinking too much about the mission tonight.
“Well, I was a pretty entertaining kid.” I laughed, and we spent the next few minutes joking and making small talk before I knew it was time to get things ready to go.
“Alright. I have to get things ready to go for tonight, but my soon-to-be beta Ethan will show you where you and your pack members can reside. Any of the fighters that want are willing to come along tonight are welcomed but there’s no pressure. We’re not expecting a fight to occur right now. Once we get back, though, everybody needs to be prepared at any moment for an attack.” I said seriously before shaking their hands and heading out to the training grounds.
I called all of my men together and waited for them to quiet down before I began speaking. “Ok men. We are going to head out in about an hour and set up camp outside the Simmons’ territory to wait for the right time to extract the woman and children. You will listen to Anthony, as he is the expert on their territory and the habits of the pack. If you disobey him, you will be hearing from me. No screwing around guys. It’s crucial that you are silent and cautious tonight. We don’t want a fight to break out. I promised my mate I would be home safe and as soon as I could and I intend to keep that promise. If I don’t, I’m sending my mate after whichever one of you jeopardizes this mission and let me tell you, for a 5’ 3” teenage girl, she can be pretty scary so don’t mess this up.” I finished and hurriedly walked back to the house answering questions quickly on the way. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with Ally before I had to leave.
I walked into the house smelling breakfast cooking in the kitchen and I walked in to find my beautiful mate standing over the stove flipping pancakes wearing one of my shirts and a pair of my boxers. I don’t think she had any clue how crazy she made me by wearing my clothes. I don’t think she’s ever looked sexier to me then right now with her hair in a messy bun, wearing no makeup, standing in my clothes, and cooking breakfast.
I walked over and wrapped my arms around her waist loving the way she leaned into my and closed her eyes briefly before smiling and getting back to her cooking. I held her for another moment before letting her go and leaning on the counter next to her watching as she finished up the food setting in on a plate.
I grabbed the plate of pancakes, bacon, sausage, and eggs and carried it to the table with Ally on my heel. She sat down, but I picked her up and pulled her into my lap just wanting to be as close as possible to her.
Ally giggled at me, as she began digging into her food. Soon I did the same and we spent the rest of the hour just laughing and soaking up all the time we had left before I left.
When my hour was up, Anthony walked into the kitchen nodding at me, and I sighed before standing up while still hanging on to Ally. She had her arms around my neck, legs around my waist, and her head was tucked into my shoulder blade. She was hanging onto me for dear life and it killed me to pry her off of me and set her down.
“Ally say goodbye to your brother and then come give me one last hug for good luck.” I said softly and she nodded mutely before making her way over to Anthony. She silently wrapped her arms around her brother and they whispered some words to each other that were so quiet I couldn’t even hear them.
When they separated Anthony turned around and walked out giving us a moment alone to say goodbye. Ally stood watching him go with tears in her eyes and I walked over pulling her into my arms once again. “Don’t worry, angel. We’ll be back before you know it.”
Ally nodded quickly before bursting into tears and grasping onto me tightly. Sobs wracked her tiny frame as she soaked my shirt, but I didn’t mind. I just held her close and rubbed circles on her lower back soothingly.
After a few minutes, I knew I had to leave, so I hugged Ally close one more time before pulling back with a somber look on my face. “I have to go now, love. I love you so much.” I said leaning down and capturing his lips with mine giving her a passionate kiss.
We pulled apart and Ally looked up at me on the verge of breaking down again. “I love you. Be safe,” was all she said before hugging me again before releasing me. It almost killed me to leave her standing in the kitchen with silent tears streaming down her face, but I had to leave.
I had to get this done for Anthony, because I knew it would make Ally happy if Anthony had his mate with him. I would do absolutely anything to make my mate happy, and that’s why I had to leave.
I silently walked outside and began leading the way towards the Simmons’ territory. My pack seemed to understand that I wasn’t in the mood to talk or mess around because they were all quiet and focused the entire trip.
I stopped a few miles outside the pack borders so we could wait for nightfall. When it was dark, Anthony would go closer and when the time was right he would let me know and Ethan and I would take about 10 of our best fighters and go retrieve the woman and children while the rest of our men waited just outside the boundaries incase we needed backup.
We all sat around the clearing we stopped at and rested. Some were talking, but most were just lost in our thoughts, hoping that this night didn’t turn into a full-blown fight. Most of the men here had mates waiting and worried back at home.
Soon enough darkness fell and we all waiting anxiously for Anthony to come back. It was about an hour after it turned dark before he returned and it disgusted me to know that this pack was run so badly that all the men just got drunk like this. They may be ruthless, but they were far from smart.
I set off with Ethan and some of my men on my heels. Anthony had rushed ahead so he could get his mate and I couldn’t blame him. I wouldn’t be able to be as patient as he’s been if Ally was away from me for so long.
Anthony told me that all the women were gathered on the east side of the pack house since all the men would be on the west side tonight. We stealthily made our way over there and soon I saw a group of woman nervously standing in a huddle and protectively holding the children in the group.
They all shuffled away from us with fear in their eyes when we approached. I held my hand up to show them that I meant no harm before speaking. “Don’t worry. We’re here to help you. My name is Liam Richards and we’re going to escort you back to my pack where you’ll be safe.” I said softly and although the women still looked apprehensive, but when I beckoned them to follow us they complied.
We made it back to where the rest of my men were waiting and I saw many of them sigh in relief. Nobody wanted a fight tonight. I looked around and noticed that Anthony was nowhere in sight. “Has anybody seen Anthony?” I asked worriedly, and one pack member stepped up.
“He hasn’t come back yet, sir.” The man said and I closed my eyes breathing deeply. I couldn’t leave Anthony behind but I certainly couldn’t stand around here waiting for us to be discovered.
“Alright. Ethan you’re in charge. I want you to lead everybody back home. I’m going to wait here for Anthony. Tell Ally I’ll be home soon.” I said and Ethan looked uncertain, but he wasn’t about to argue with me so he nodded and within a few minutes I was standing alone.
I had trees as a cover and I continuously scanned the area for Anthony and his mate, but there was no sign of them anywhere. I was starting to get really worried after I had been waiting there for about a half an hour. Anthony had less area to cover than Ethan and I did so he should have been back before us.
Just as I was about to go searching for him myself, he emerged carrying a girl who I assumed was Gracie in his arms. He looked frazzled and I noticed his mate was crying and clutching onto him tightly.
He sprinted into the forest and noticed me standing there. I sighed in relief and asked, “What happened?” Anthony had relaxed slightly since he had entered the forest, and he took a deep breath before answering.
“I ran into a little trouble when I went to get Gracie. Mark decided to pay her a surprise visit and he got quite the shocker when he saw me in there. Luckily he was pretty wasted so he wasn’t too hard to knock out, but he definitely knew it was me, and he wasn’t very happy. We really need to be prepared for an all out war.” Anthony said and I mentally cursed.
Things didn’t go as smoothly as I’d hoped, but we had accomplished what we came here to, and now it was time to go home. Ethan would have arrived home by now, and I bet Ally is worried out of her mind since Anthony and I didn’t return with everybody else. I needed to get home. I needed my Ally.