The Hybrid (Alpha Trilogy #2)

Chapter 43

Brian

Leo, Thea and I play with our grandkids by the lake. Adrian loves swimming and Leo was more than happy to swim with him. I keep Stephanie in my arms, letting her play with my fingers, sitting with Thea on the deck I built here years ago.

"What's going through your head? You've been lost in thought since that phone call." Thea gives me an imploring look, making me sigh heavily.

"Alpha King is coming here. – she visibly tenses at this – He... heard some things from a few alphas in the area." I trail off unsurely.

"What things?" She pushes.

"Apparently, they reported to him that a rampant wolf is running around on a killing spree."

"Fuc-! Fudge!" She hisses, running her hand over her face. I would laugh at her attempt of stopping herself from cursing had it not been for the situation we're in.

"Do you know what they meant by it?" I inquire hesitantly, glancing at Leo and Adrian when I hear a happy shriek.

"I told you that Hunter went berserk. I found the place where he was kept. It was a fucking slaughter. I tracked him down by following the trail of blood he left behind, but none of the bodies I encountered belonged to a pack member. Only rogues and some strange wolves that smelled like a... combination of a rogue, a Dead and my son. I'll talk to Hunter about this after he rests, but I think I know what happened there. The scent of Hunter's blood was too strong. I'm not naïve." Thea explains, causing me to almost curse.

If Alpha King decides that Hunter's actions are inexcusable, he might even get a death sentence. This is bad.

Really bad.

"How many did he-?

"I counted almost a hundred." Holy shit! Hundred!

"That doesn't bode well for us."

"I know. But if Alpha King chooses to put my son on trial, I will take the blame."

"Angel? Surely you're joking." Leo finally intercepts, not even hiding his bewilderment.

"Leo, Hunter can get killed if the Alpha King so decides!"

"Angel, King is stern, yes, but he's fair. He will listen to reason if we explain it to him. But you're not taking blame for this. I am not losing you again!"

"So you'd rather lose your son?!" I instinctively lean back when I see Thea's eyes flash red.

"Of course not! – Leo hisses quietly, covering Adrian's ears as he holds him in his arms – He's my son, too! I would never let him get hurt. But you know what King thinks about Undeads. If you admitted to going on a fuc- fudging rampage, he would definitely sentence you to death. But Hunter is a half werewolf, an Alpha. He went through fuc-, damn it, fudging torture and that's what caused him to go feral. He didn't kill any innocent pack members and he's already calmed down. I'm sure it counts for something." Leo explains patiently, staring at his mate meaningfully, like he's trying to make her understand his point.

"I get it, Leo. - Thea gives in with a sigh - I'm sorry about being so... hard-headed. You know how I get when it comes to him..."

"I know." Leo smiles adoringly, climbing up the steps to the dock and sitting beside his mate. He gives Adrian to Thea then embraces her in his arms, kissing her head. Familiar feeling of emptiness goes through me and my chest is filled with dull ache. I wish my mate was still here with me.

But she's not.

Stephanie suddenly cries out, getting Adrian to scream too as he writhes in Thea's arms.

"What's wrong, my princess?" I coo at her, while Thea tries to calm Adrian down. Stephanie grabs my hand as soon as I try to caress her head, and plays with my fingers, giggling happily.

"Guess they were feeling neglected." Thea laughs in amusement.

"Shall we go for a swim? Would my little princess like that?" I softly murmur, getting a loud squeal from my granddaughter as she babbles something in her baby language, getting similar response from her brother.

"Go on, grandpas. Grandmamma is going to take a nap while she can." Thea chuckles, kissing both Stephanie and Adrian on their heads, me on my cheek and Leo on his lips, before walking away to the hammock, where she lies down, groaning loudly in exhaustion. "Don't wake me up! If Adrian gets hungry, just give him my hand." She calls out, making both me and Leo laugh.

"Oh, Angel." Leo shakes his head incredulously then we both climb down the stairs into the lake, letting the kids play. "You heard that? Just give him her hand." He laughs.

I only chuckle, glancing at the woman with newfound respect. She's unbelievable.

As I let my little princess swim happily, I think about the inevitable visit from Alpha King. I know how bad it can go. The worst case scenario is that my grandkids will lose their father and my daughter will lose her mate.

I hope it doesn't come to that.

"She must've been really tired." I say when I hear Thea's light snoring. She's cute.

"Yeah... Hunter hurt her badly and she's still not fully healed. You have no idea how hard it was to watch my mate fight against our son." Leo sighs brokenly.

"I can't imagine." I glance sadly at the man in front of me.

"It's heartbreaking. Fighting your own child is... incomprehensible to me, but she did it for everyone's safety. She seems okay on the outside, but I can tell she took it hard. Out of all our sons, Hunter is connected to her the most. And she had to hurt him in order to stop him from hurting his own pack."

"I don't even want to think about having to fight my Skylar so brutally..." I shudder at the thought of hurting my child.

"Yeah... But there was no other way to stop him. He could've done anything and no one would be able to subdue him. A feral Undead is deadly."

"I don't know whether to be happy that he was stopped, or heartbroken that he went through something horrible enough to become like that." I tell him.

"Me neither, Brian. Me neither."

We let the babies splash in water happily until Adrian decides he wants to bite his grandma. His hunger is slowly settling, but I think it's mostly due to him drinking Thea's blood instead of Hunter's. It's probably because she's a pure Undead and her blood is more substantial for him.

"Guess it's time to give him her hand." I laugh when Adrian shrieks angrily, biting onto Leo's forearm.

"Guess it is." Leo chuckles, pulling Stephanie into his arms. I take Adrian into mine, walking out of the water, heading straight to sleeping Thea.

I sit on the ground next to the hammock Thea's lying on, as Leo lays our little princess next to her grandma, smiling when she immediately snuggles into Thea's side. He gently takes her hand, kissing the back of it, then slowly gives it to Adrian, who's eagerly reaching out to it.

Our hungry little prince excitedly pulls one of his grandma's fingers into his small mouth and clamps onto it with his tiny fangs, sucking greedily. Thea doesn't even react to this, still sleeping peacefully.

"Tasty grandmamma?" Leo laughs quietly, stroking Adrian's head when he tries to babble something with Thea's finger still in his mouth. "Yes? I think so, too."