Hidden Destiny (Redwood Pack) (21 page)

Caym stood by Corbin, laughing with that twisted sneer on his sharply angled face.

The demon snapped his fingers, and North slammed into the ground, the impact shocking his body. The darkness slid over him, and he knew he’d lost.

He’d lost it all…and for nothing.

“He went where?” Lexi screamed as she scrambled out of bed. That damn wolf. How could he even
think
of doing this? And her brother? Oh, she’d kick both their asses when they got back. And they would get back because if they didn’t, she’d find them and kick their asses even harder.

She choked on a sob then cursed at herself. Really? Crying? This wasn’t the time to cry; this was the time to be pissed. The man she loved and her brother had taken it into their own hands to try to end the war. How idiotic could they get?

“Lexi, you should be resting,” Maddox said.

“Fuck resting,” she rumbled, and she put on her jeans in jagged movements.

“Mom!” Parker whispered, and Lexi shut her eyes, counting to ten. Freaking out and cursing were the appropriate actions when male wolves acted as though they knew better when, really, they only had death wishes. But she wouldn’t do either in front of her eight-year-old son.

Ellie, Maddox’s mate, walked into the room then with Charlotte, her newly adopted daughter, by her side with their hands clasped together. Technically, Charlotte was Ellie’s sister; therefore, both of them were Parker’s aunts. The weirdness of all the family trees made Lexi’s head hurt.

“Okay, Parker. Come with me so your mom can worry about North and Logan. Okay?”

Parker gave her a hug then went with Ellie. He stopped at the doorway, though, and turned to Lexi. “Make sure Cailin is safe. She’d go after Logan if she thought no one was looking.” With that, her too-wise son left with the sister of the man Lexi hated more than anything, and Lexi fell back to the bed, needing to breathe.

“I don’t know how much more of this I can take, Maddox,” she said, rubbing a hand over her face. She was still weak from the attempt to bring out her wolf, but with each passing hour, she was almost back to full strength. She couldn’t feel or hear her wolf yet, but she’d never thought that would be a possibility at this point. She’d have to wait for the full moon for that to happen.

“I could have held him back, Lexi, but he’d have found another way to go. North’s determined like that.”

Lexi narrowed her eyes. “All you men are the same way. Add a little dominant wolf and you go freaking crazy. How long have they been gone?”

Maddox looked at the clock on the nightstand. “Four hours. The family and our enforcers know what happened. We’re looking for them now.”

“They were stupid.” Her gaze left his. She knew she might have been spitting angry, but it only covered the worry and panic that her mate could be out there dying and she wouldn’t know.

She didn’t
have
the mating bond.

She couldn’t feel him…not even to know if he was alive.

The shaky breath that left her lungs echoed in the room.

“Yes, and they’ll be reprimanded for that.”

Lexi growled. “Well, they better get their butts back here so they can actually
be
reprimanded.”

She heard the front door open, scented the husky scent of her mate and the coppery tang of blood, and ran.

“Need some help over here,” Logan grunted, limping into the room, covered with blood and holding an unconscious North in a fireman’s carry.

“Give him to me and follow us to the clinic,” Maddox ordered, taking his twin. He didn’t struggle under the weight, but carried his brother as if he were precious crystal.

Lexi followed them to the clinic, picking up the phone on the way. She called Pat to tell her what she knew so far and that they needed Hannah right away. North’s mother would know what to do from there.

“What happened?” she asked through her tears. Damn those tears. She couldn’t fall apart, not now, not when she didn’t know what the future held.

Maddox had North on the table, her mate’s body a ravaged semblance of broken bones, odd angles, torn skin, blood, and dirt. Logan sat on a chair beside the table, his hand clutching his side, his face pale.

“We almost had him,” Logan rasped out, his voice sounding as if his lungs were full of fluid. From the way he was breathing, Lexi wouldn’t have been surprised if that were true. “We only got away because Corbin left us. Don’t know why. The fucking wolf mumbled something about Caym saying it wasn’t the right time. I don’t even know anymore.” He let out a shaky breath and widened his eyes like he was trying figure out how to use his lungs again.

She would worry about exactly what Corbin meant later. The implications of the Central Alpha letting the one fated to kill him go meant something. She just didn’t know what. Either Corbin had a plan that was more involved than she thought, or Caym did.

Knowing both of them, she was afraid what that plan could be.

Right now though, she needed to focus on her mate and brother. She swallowed hard, putting the thoughts of what was to come away and looking to the present. If she didn’t compartmentalize, she’d scream, cry, or do both.

“North!” Parker yelled from the doorway, and Lexi spun on her heel. Her little boy looked stunned, his eyes wide, his face pale, his mouth open.

“Go back into the house, Parker.” He looked ready to revolt. “Please, baby. For me.”

He nodded, gave one last look at North and Logan, and then headed back to the residence area of the building. She could hear him pad his way there, very reluctantly. She made her way to North’s side so she could be between him and Logan. This way she wouldn’t have to make a choice of who to comfort. No, Lexi needed to be by both men to make sure they would heal and that they wouldn’t do something as crazy and stupid as what they’d just done again. She wanted to hold her mate’s hand but was too afraid to touch him.

“North…” Her voice broke, so she stopped speaking. She had to remain strong. If she let her emotions breach the shield she’d put up, she’d break down. Her gaze met Maddox’s, who looked as if he’d been sucker-punched, and she cursed.

Maddox was the Omega. He could feel the emotions of the entire Pack—save his twin, meaning he could also feel everything Lexi was feeling and trying so hard to hide.

“I’m sorry…” she whispered.

He held up a hand. “Don’t be. If you weren’t feeling like this, you wouldn’t be the mate my brother needs.”

“Oh goddess,” Hannah said from behind them. “Reed, help Logan get in a better chair. I’ll help you soon, honey.” The Healer sent everyone to work and lay her hands over North.

“Hannah, baby, can you fix him?” Reed asked the question they had all wanted to ask but had been too afraid to.

“I’m going to try.”

Heated energy filled the room, and little pinpricks of sensation danced along her skin as Hannah went to work. Her hands glowed, and her eyes were set on her charges, determination on her face. Lexi went to her brother’s side and did what she could with the wound. Cailin came in while she was dressing the wound and set about helping without a word.

Lexi sensed the pain and anger radiating off the woman at seeing both North and Logan hurt, and she knew it mirrored her own.

“Stupid men,” Lexi whispered, her throat constricting.

“After they’re healed, we’ll yell together,” Cailin mumbled back, and Lexi closed her eyes, knowing she wasn’t alone in her agony.

What seemed like hours passed, but Lexi wasn’t sure how long exactly. Before she knew it though, she was sitting on a chair beside the bed where she’d been lying that morning. Only this time, North was the one unconscious, and she was the one praying to the moon goddess that her mate would wake up soon.

Logan had gone back to his place—her former place—with Cailin by his side. The duo hadn’t spoken a single word to each other, and Lexi was too tired to worry about what was going on between them.

Parker had fallen asleep in his room after Pat held him and read him a story. Lexi had tried to join in but was told to go do what she had to do and to stop spreading herself so thin. After all, she’d just been brutally attacked—on purpose—and was still healing herself.

She ran a hand over her face, unsure of what to do just then. She could go and find another family member to sit with, go try to force herself to eat, as the others had tried to do earlier, or just sit there and stare at her unconscious mate.

She was just so…
angry
. What right did he have to do this? He didn’t have to go out and look for trouble. Not when trouble always seemed to find him and his family. He’d gone out there because he wanted to protect her, she knew that, but she didn’t like it. Didn’t understand it.

It pissed her off to no end that he thought his life was worth less than hers…less than anyone else’s in the Pack.

That’s what it came down to.

He’d risked himself to try and force fate’s decree faster than she’d thought possible. So what if some hack had foretold it was North’s
destiny
to kill Corbin?

So. Fucking. What.

It wasn’t his duty to die for something that might not even happen. Fate and paths changed daily with just a new thought or action. She didn’t believe that, no matter what happened, 
one
way was the only way.

He didn’t have to throw himself into the fire in order to make something happen.

She let out a breath.

If he hadn’t done it though, he wouldn’t have been the wolf she loved.

Damn it.

The man risked everything for those he loved, and this act was no different. The fact that Logan had gone with him didn’t change things. Her brother was the same as North in that they protected what was theirs.

They just didn’t protect themselves as much as they should.

Lexi clenched her hands and tried to take a deep breath. If it weren’t for Parker, she’d probably have done the same thing herself, and it killed her to admit that. As a whole, the Pack had been on the defensive against the Centrals for far too long, and they knew it. With each strike, they won what they could and held strong. However, the time would come when the Redwoods would need to go on the offensive.

They just needed to make sure they had the magic and power to back it up.

With the demon in control like he was, Lexi wasn’t sure that would happen any time soon.

“Still sleeping the day away?” Edward asked as he walked in the room.

Lexi gave a small smile and gestured toward the empty chair next to her. “Sit. You’re healing just like the rest of us.” She winced at her tone and lowered her gaze.

The Alpha chuckled then sat next to her, patting her knee. “You’re fine, Lexi. You know you’re family when you tell me to take care of my health.” He rubbed the part of his chest where the bullet had hit, and she bit her lip, not knowing what to say.

She looked over his features, already knowing North looked more like his mother in some respects than his father but still looking for similarities. Her mate had his mother’s light hair, but he had his father’s build and eyes. Right now, the Alpha’s jade-green eyes studied her, and she wasn’t sure what he saw.

The man looked the same age as all of them, but she knew it was only because of their wolves. He also had more power in his pinky that she did in her whole body. That thought made her relax. Even though she couldn’t feel her wolf, she was connected enough that knowing her Alpha would be there let her feel safe…protected.

“He’ll be okay, you know,” Edward said quietly, his gaze returning to his son. “He’s always been like this. Quiet and steady until something needs done, and then he surprises us all.” He held out his hand, as if knowing Lexi needed the comfort.

Lexi took the offered hand and squeezed. “What was he like as a boy?” she asked, needing to think about something else other than the fact that her mate might never wake up, despite Hannah’s assurances.

Demon’s magic wasn’t something to mess with, and, frankly, no one really knew the side effects of it.

“He hasn’t changed much, actually. He was quieter than most of his brothers, though not as quiet as Maddox. Being the Omega always took its toll on him, even before he had the powers fully. North, though, was the baby for decades.” He cracked a smile. “That is until Cailin came along.”

“She’s a lot younger than the rest of them, right?”

Edward nodded. “Maddox and North were seventy-three when we had Cailin.”

“Wow, I knew there was a gap, but I hadn’t realized it was that much for some reason.”

“We’d had the boys right after one another because we were growing a family and wanted to keep them similar ages. As wolves, we can have children with our mates for hundreds of years, so the age gaps can be tremendous. Pat and I hadn’t wanted that. We were fine with just boys, though I know Pat wanted a little girl, even if she never said it.”

“She wouldn’t have. She loves what she has. She’s just that kind of person.”

The Alpha’s eyes glinted. “That she is. It wasn’t until, ironically, she met Hannah’s mother that she wanted to try again for a little girl. Pat had seen Hannah as a newborn, and her baby clock went off again.”

Lexi’s eyes widened. “Wow. What a small world.”

“Indeed,” he said with a nod. “Fate works in mysterious ways.”

Lexi didn’t really want to hear about fate right then, considering it had kicked her over and over again with each passing day.

“North, Maddox, and Cailin always had a special connection. Yes, Kade, Jasper, Adam, and Reed did as well, but I think the twins thought since they were the closest in age, even if it was by seventy-two years, they were the ones who should protect her. Maddox needed her because he needed someone to vent with or just feel. I think he just wanted someone that was different enough from him and knew that Cailin would need that outlet as well. He doesn’t think I know, but I do. I know more than they think.”

“I know you do,” she whispered.

He squeezed her hand. “North…North I think protected her because he didn’t know who else to protect. Kade was the Heir and knew his place. Same with Jasper as the Beta and Adam the Enforcer. Reed, I know, felt like he needed to do something since he didn’t have a title so went off on his own. North? North needed to protect, even if he didn’t have the powers to do so. His wolf has always been closer to the surface, so I think becoming a doctor was good for him…and his wolf.”