Twin Wolf Trouble (Shifter Squad Six 2) (21 page)

“Hold on, no we’re not,” Thatch said, his gaze flicking to Spade.

“No, you’re not,” Spade agreed, wearing a thin grin on his lips that made even Madeline want to tackle him and rip it off his face. “Don’t worry, we’ll find a way to preserve your little jobs. I owe you that much.”

“Wow. Spade admitting he might owe someone something. This is a fucking first. Alert the press,” Dutch snorted, rarely the one to join in on things like that.

All eyes shifted to him, and then back at Spade. Spade’s smile got wider and he nodded slowly, like he was thinking it over how to gut Dutch later.

“I’ll remember that next time you need help, Dutchy boy. I’m sure you and I can have a lot of fun together.”

“All I’m saying is that you better watch your goddamn back when you start throwing out threats, man,” Dutch said, his eyes getting dark and stormy.

“Same to you,” Spade shot back, standing up straight.

He was the tallest guy in the room and his slightly slimmer, though still thick and strong form could have made Madeline mistakenly think that he was outmatched. Somehow, she got the feeling that the intel officer could hold his own. Maybe not against Squad Six like this—well, definitely not like this—but he had his ways. The way his eyes flashed told her that much. He was a dangerous guy and Madeline hoped Dutch knew the kind of fire he was playing with.

Spade excused himself soon after and it was a tense hour while Squad Six and Madeline waited for any news or progress coming from the kitchen. Grant eventually talked a few of them down, including his brother Grim, to get their wounds cleaned and checked. Madeline was surprised to find that the cuts and bruises, only a few days old, were already healing quickly and simply needed to get cleaned out a little to avoid anything getting stuck in the closing flesh.

She stayed close to Tex and Thatch the whole time, or that was to say, they were all keeping close to one another. Like they were worried that if they went too far, they might lose one another again. It might have been a bit irrational, but it had been a long few days and Madeline could do with a little bit of stability now.

When Barkley and Hemingway finally emerged from the kitchen, both chuckling at something or another, the room went tense again and the squad was on their feet.

“At ease, boys,” Barkley said, waving them down, and Hemingway followed it up with a nod of his own.

“Tex and Thatch, Barkley’s been telling me a bit about your kids.”

“He means I was reminding him of the shit he pulled when Nick was born and how that should have ended with a dishonorable discharge,” Barkley said with a snort.

“Sure, that,” Hemingway conceded. “This is not over. As much as my old friend would like me to be soft and happy in my old age, I am not. However, I will mull this over and have Spade look into the details some more. Consider both of you, and hell, why not, the rest of you on probation. Again. Connor, I want this to stop,” Hemingway said, looking Connor dead in the eye now.

Connor nodded curtly, saluting. “Sir, yes sir.”

“Good. Barkley, I’ll be over for a beer tomorrow. Stop hiding my squads or I’ll get that tank removed. You hear me?”

“Sure, you old grouch,” Barkley laughed, waving Hemingway away.

The Colonel shook his head, heading out the door while audibly grumbling to himself. When they were all sure that Hemingway was out of earshot, laughter broke out in the room, Grim almost doubling over.

“So, none of the rest of you copulate with women who have terrorists after them, okay? We’ve got that market covered,” Connor said with a grin, throwing a wink at Madeline.

She smiled, shaking her head. What the hell kind of family had she gotten herself into? Because that was what it was, wasn’t it? A family. Brothers in arms, brothers in spirit. Leaning into Tex, she sighed as his hands wrapped around her and she could drop her head on his shoulder while Thatch put a hand on her back. It felt right. She could work with this. She could love this.

Maybe things can be right after all?
 

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Thatch

It was a few days before everything started feeling normal again. Or what could pass for normal now. Both Thatch and Tex got taken off the active rotation list for a few months and the rest of the team wanted to take themselves off in protest, but Thatch talked them out of it. There was no use in having everyone lose out on money.

For him and Tex though, it meant getting some much-needed time together with Madeline, Raze, and Rhone.

As expected, their wounds healed quickly enough and within two days, they were back to fighting strength. This time, though, the only thing they wanted to fight for was to be with their family more. Thatch had the sneaking suspicion that Spade’s hand may have been involved in their two-month probation and unpaid leave, but he had no proof to back it up. Secretly, he had to wonder if he was wrong about the guy all along.

Can’t be all wrong, though. He did extort a bunch of bombs out of you,
he reminded himself as him, Madeline, Tex and the kids were taking a long walk through downtown New Orleans, breathing in the atmosphere.

They’d taken the first flight out they could, and spent a few days with Madeline’s parents and family. She’d been desperate to see them and being Louisiana boys themselves, the Crawleys didn’t want to miss out on a chance to show off the new pack members to the rest of the pack back home. Of course, it also opened up a lot of discussion about whether they’d be coming back to the fold as the up-and-coming Alpha pair, obviously having found their mate and fathered their heirs already.

Thankfully, their family was understanding about their lifestyle choices, as usual, and they weren’t pressured very hard to do anything but bring the kids around as often as possible. That was something both Thatch and Tex could commit to easily.

Madeline’s parents had been tougher nuts to crack. It wasn’t surprising, really. Welcoming back their daughter they thought was dead, as well as her having had twins—and not just any twins, but shifters—was difficult enough to process. That daughter bringing along two strapping ex-SEALs who happened to be werewolves themselves and seemed to be committed to marrying her as fast as possible? Well, that just added to the confusion.

After a few family dinners and two long, hard conversations with Madeline’s father, things seemed to calm down a bit. It helped that her father was a big gun nut himself and he and Tex hit it off immediately, while her mother seemed to take a particular liking to Thatch. Neither of the Crawley boys minded that one bit.

“I still can’t believe we’re back home,” Madeline said wistfully, squeezing Thatch’s hand as he pushed one stroller in front of him with his free hand, and Tex had the other.

“Well, no reason to hide anymore, seeing as all the chumps from the train are now dead and buried,” Tex mused with a smirk.

That was true enough. Thatch figured that Madeline would never be truly safe because of her connection to The Arctics’ failure in Chicago, but it would have to do for now. She didn’t know anyone by their face anymore, and she hadn’t seen anything more than Squad Six had. If anyone wanted to come for her, it would be pure revenge, and no fake identity would save her from that when dealing with an organization like The Arctics.

Of course, neither Thatch nor Tex would allow anything to happen to her as long as they had anything to say about it. They’d gotten very far into a discussion about quitting altogether before Madeline managed to reel them in and tell them in no uncertain terms that if they tried to quit, she’d kick them both out of the house they hadn’t bought yet.

“I don’t need two mopey-looking wolves sitting around trying to do the ‘right thing.’ I can manage when you’re away, and that will make our time together all the better.”

Thankfully, Thatch and Tex were both too smart to argue with authority in that particular case. So it was settled. As soon as The Firm would have them back, they’d return to active duty with Squad Six, and they’d spend as much time at home as they could. Home, as it was decided, would be California. Not because of the glorious weather, but because Madeline could finish up her degree there and get work she liked, and Connor had already settled down there and it would be easier to combine forces with more Squad Six guys there.

Well, the weather helped.

“Almost like none of it ever happened,” Thatch mused, partially to himself.

“Don’t make any mistake of that. It happened. We’re never going to forget about it,” Tex said, his voice low.

“That’s awfully negative of you to say,” Madeline commented, quirking a brow at Tex as Thatch gave his brother a look over Madeline’s head.

“I’m not saying that as a bad thing,” Tex said, waving his hand dismissively. “I think it’s good. We met. Fate decided it had to be like this. We had our boys—not under ideal circumstances, I’ll give you that—and we could come out in the sun again eventually. It all worked out like it had to. I don’t want to forget about the things that brought us together, no matter how gruesome they might have been.”

Thatch nodded thoughtfully, maneuvering past another family strolling on a Sunday that wasn’t quite as big as his. Not everyone could be as lucky. As far as Thatch was concerned, his family could get a lot bigger, and he hoped it would.

“If you say it like that, I think I have to agree.”

“Look at that, Thatch listening to the voice of reason,” Tex boasted, chuckling.

“I could have done without all the blood, though,” Madeline said, scrunching her nose.

Thatch swiped his thumb over the soft, smooth skin on her hand and grinned. Yes, the past wasn’t always ideal, but they could deal with that. They could deal with anything if they had to, as long as they were together. Soon enough, they made it to a small park under some trees. Winter was fast approaching and it wasn’t too warm outside, but the boys were bundled up nice and snuggly. As if reading one another’s minds, as they sometimes did, the twins parked the strollers next to a swing set and picked up the baby boys.

Thatch put Raze into the swing on the left and Tex slid Rhone into the baby swing on the right. There was a regular swing in the middle and Madeline giggled as she sat down on it, starting to give herself momentum while the sounds of Raze and Rhone laughing filled the air as the wolves pushed them gently.

Thatch’s eyes met with Tex’s while they were both giving the swings a push and they nodded to one another. It wasn’t something they’d been prepared for, this… happiness. But it had happened and they’d both embraced it like it was perfectly normal, like this was what they had been waiting for all along. A big part of Thatch told him that it was. This was what they’d needed.

All the womanizing, the running around, Tex’s “bad boy” antics and his wild spirit seemed to mellow out immediately when faced with a very real, very compelling reason to be there, to be present and in the moment. It was obvious that they’d both do anything for their kids and their mate and the feeling was unlike anything Thatch had ever felt before. He’d always looked after his brother and his squad; but now he would give not only his life, but his soul for the health and safety of his family.

He was finally becoming the man he had always wanted to be and it felt amazing.

The air was crisp and Thatch took a big breath, allowing himself to smile. It was almost like he’d forgotten how to do it for years and it was now slowly coming back to him, along with everything else that made him human. The wolf had been given too much freedom, and Thatch was reining him in now. Anger, confusion and depression did that to a shifter—it made it easy to lose one’s human side when the beast became stronger and more in control.

It helped that the main cause of his discomfort was now taken care of. Blake was no longer in the picture. Thanks to Madeline’s friend Charlie, all of Blake’s claims could be refuted before they ever even made it to trial, and the man was left gnashing his teeth and spewing hatred, but that was it. Thatch felt bad for ever getting wrapped up in the nonsense the heartbroken and pained man created, but in retrospect, he doubted he could have done anything differently.

Tex was a hothead and likely would always be one. And mistakes happened to everyone. Faced with compelling evidence, it was hard to think differently. Thatch had even checked Blake’s facts on his own, but the people that he had spoken to had missed the key clue that Madeline had picked up. For that, he would always be grateful.

She made him better, as well as Tex. With her, they were starting to be the men they should be, the men they could be. And that filled Thatch with a sense of confidence unlike any other. He could be a father to his kids. He could build the kind of relationship with his mates that he’d always thought was never meant for him. He could have the kind of life he thought he wouldn’t. It was, in a word, exciting. And maybe a relief, too, knowing that his existence didn’t have to be a series of hoops to jump through with nothing more than physical comfort waiting at the other end.