Chapter 525 Chapter 525
Tripp stopped in the middle of the road and sat there. The bumper of his vehicle was a foot away from the invisible line to her father’s clan territory. He knew every inch of this boundary; he’d run in many times over the years. Turning, he looked over to see recognition on her face. “Ready for this?”
Amari shook her head but motioned toward the windshield. “Let’s get it done.” Her expression was hard, but her words didn’t reflect as much conviction.
Nodding, he pressed the gas again. The only problem with upping their arrival time to the middle of the day was more people would be out and chances of this turning into something bigger was almost certain.
“We’re not going inside his house or office. He can come out to us.” Her tone was cold, and he couldn’t find fault with that, not after what she’d been through the last time she was here—the last time he was here.
“That works for me.” It did too, without the confines of walls, his cat wouldn’t become restless and distracting. He rolled his eyes like anything was going to distract him from the tense she-cat beside him.
He slowed and turned the corner that led to the large grouping of houses. He didn’t even know which one was his mother’s, he hadn’t been allowed to stay long enough to…
“That’s your mom’s—or was when I was still here.”
Turning his head, he looked to where she was pointing. He slowed so the vehicle was rolling slowly by it. It was a decent-looking place, with a nice yard, his mom would like that. There weren’t a lot of houses this far out, so that would please her too, she liked her peace and quiet.
Just as he was going to step on the gas, the door opened, and two young women came out. The one he recognized immediately and then felt the guilt move through him, it was his sister, Ginny and she had changed a lot. It had been longer than he thought since he’d carved out time to meet up with them.
“She’s grown so much.”
He was about to agree and then realized by the wistful tone in her voice, she wasn’t talking about Ginny. The other woman had golden blonde hair and from here looked a lot like his mate. “Is that your sister?”
“Yeah.” She turned more in the seat and looked out the window. “I can’t believe it. She’s beautiful.”
Tripp opened his mouth to say just like her sister but decided no words were probably better right now. “Do you want to say hello?”
She looked at him, apprehension on her face. “I don’t know.”
Tripp glanced by her to see they were headed to them. “Too late.” He motioned with his chin for her to look. They were less than ten feet from the vehicle now, both had wary looks on their faces.
Amari reached in slow motion and pushed the button to put the window down. He heard her take a deep breath slowly. “Chantal.” That was it, just her name.
“Mar?” The young woman’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened and then she rushed to the window. “What are you doing here?” She whispered it, then looked around.
“I was summoned.”
Tripp smirked at his sister when she caught up and looked in at him, her eyes almost popping out of her head. He cleared his throat. “Get in, you can accompany us to the Alpha’s house.”
The back door opened, and his sister climbed in without hesitation. She leaned between the seats, almost on top of him, getting right in his face. “What are you doing here? Are you crazy? Tripp, you need to turn this around and get off the land right now.”
The door slammed. “Neither of you should be here,” Chantal said with panic in her voice. She hissed out a breath, then reached around the seat and grabbed Amari. “I’m so glad you’re okay, but you have to go.” She released her and sat back, a stunned look on her face.
Amari shifted in her seat and looked at them. “I was summoned, and Mom said to bring the man that rescued me.”
Ginny looked at him, “you?”
Tripp nodded, then shrugged, “I think I rescued her captors more than her.” He caught the smirk on Amari’s face before she sobered again.
“Does Mom know who you’re bringing?” Chantal looked from her sister to him.
Tripp shook his head, “I don’t think names were mentioned.”
Ginny flopped back against the seat and put her hand over her mouth for a second. Dropping she looked at him, “Mom is going to have a heart attack.”
Tripp shook his head, “I’m sure it will be fine.” He lifted one shoulder and then let it drop and turned back around in his seat. Stepping on the gas, he drove cautiously down the road, not sure if there would be kids hanging around.
“Why did Dad summon you?” Chantal’s voice was nothing like her sister’s, it was soft and gentle, then again, she hadn’t been through what her sister had.
“I don’t know, the message was relayed.” Amari was almost sitting in her seat backward now, not looking anywhere but the sister she hadn’t seen in years. “I can’t believe how much you’ve grown.”
He glanced in the mirror to see Chantal roll her eyes.
“That happens.” She said with a smirk.
Tripp smiled, there was a little sass in her after all.
“This is going to be intense,” Ginny said.
Tripp nodded, “probably.” He met her look in the mirror, “I didn’t know you two were friends.”
“We have a lot in common.” Ginny said, then leaned forward between the seats, “outlawed siblings.”
Tripp grinned. “Oh, there’s more than that.” He glanced over to see Amari looking at him, indecision on her face. He wouldn’t say it though, that was for her to share. Her shoulders slumped and he knew she’d decided. Shifting, Amari pulled her jacket aside, so the bite was visible.
“No way.” Ginny was almost in the front seat too. “You guys are mates?”
Tripp bumped her with his arm, “driving here.” He got a better grip on the steering wheel.
“Well,” Amari shifted in the seat, “we’re half-mated at the moment.”
“What? Is that even a thing?” Chantal gasped, “he’s not claimed, oh my god, Mar, that’s—so bad…”
Amari chuckled, “it’s a long story, and things have been a bit crazy…”
“We ask any of the co-ord teams and others that work for the Alliance about the both of you,” Ginny said with a proud look on her face.
Tripp winced, “oh?”
Ginny nodded, “yeah, you’re both these badasses that no one messes with.”
Amari glanced at him and then at her sister, “you ask about me?”
“Of course, I ask about you. I tell Mom everything I hear too. We’re both very proud.” Her voice was a little shaky, which wasn’t surprising the mix of emotions trapped in here with them was getting a little more than he could handle.
“What do Bauer and Dad say?”
He didn’t like the hesitation in her voice and wanted to reach over and take her hand, to assure her that he was right here with her but wasn’t sure if the show of affection would be well received right now.
“They don’t ask, I don’t offer,” Chantal said in a quiet voice.
Tripp looked straight ahead, he could see the building at the end of the street and knew it had to be the Alphas. He needed to mentally prepare himself and his cat for what came next. “You ladies should make yourself scarce.”
“Oh, I’m not missing this.” Ginny leaned forward again, “you should meet outside though.”
“That’s the plan.” He slowed the vehicle and then pulled past the building, so he had a few seconds to look around before the man in every one of his nightmares was in his face.
“We’ll go in and get him, Mom too,” Chantal said. “The more around, the better.”
Tripp looked over to see Amari adjusting her belt. “Don’t suppose you’d leave your belt and boot toys here?”
She glanced at him and then looked right at the gun strapped to his leg, “are you leaving that?”
He shook his head.
“Then, neither am I.”
Tripp put it into park and then turned it off. He looked out the window to see if there were any Alliance vehicles there. There wasn’t. Picking up his phone, he opened it to send a message to Kenzo to let him know they were here. He did that quickly. Before he could put it in his pocket, it rang. He answered it but didn’t get a chance to speak before his boss did.
“They’ll be there in ten minutes. Keep your mouth shut and attitude on lockdown for ten minutes, Tripp.”
He smirked. “I can do ten minutes.”
“I hope so. Call me when you’re leaving the place.”
Tripp looked in the side mirror to make sure no one was approaching them. “Will do.” He hung up and put it in his pocket. “Ten minutes.” He told Amari.
“Well, I’m not sitting in the car waiting.”
He never imagined she would.
“We’ll go get him.” Chantal opened the door and both sisters climbed out on the same side of the vehicle. Ginny had her phone against her ear, no doubt telling their mother that he was there.
When Amari turned to get out, he touched her arm. When her eyes connected with his, he could see the doubt there behind the anger. “You’ve got this.”
She inhaled slowly and nodded, “I wanted to talk to him for the first year—since then,” she looked out the window, “he doesn’t matter now.”
Leaning over before she could bail, he kissed her cheek lightly. “I’ve got your back. Know that.” He whispered and then leaned away and opened the door. Getting out he took off his jacket and tossed it back in. It was cool, snow was on the way at some point, but the jacket was gone so he had the freedom to move. He looked through the open door to see Amari was taking hers off as well. The atmosphere between them right now had the same vibes they went through just before an op. Turning, he looked to see their sisters coming out, both had a look that told Tripp this might end up being an op with their lives hanging in the balance.
Blowing out a breath, he looked over to see his mate’s expression harden, any emotions that weren’t required to do this were completely pushed to the back. Closing the door, he walked around the front and over to her. He glanced to see his mark was very visible and raised one eyebrow, “I’m not sure if you’re showing that off to brag about the amazing catch or to distract from any other discussions.” He winked at her.
Amari smirked very fleetingly. “Guess you’ll never know for sure.”
He couldn’t help the grin on his face. She was something, his mate, and right now he hoped he lived longer than today so he could get to know more about her.