Chapter 129 - He Stole My Heart, I Stole His Child
Max POV
Today is the fucking day. I’ve been planning this shit for weeks and I want it to go fucking perfectly.
“Dad, where are we going?” Rian asks me, pulling on the hem of my shirt.
“Right now? To drop you off at the packhouse with your brother.”
He scrunches his nose. “It’s weird to think of Axel as my brother.”
“Why is it weird?” This is the first time he’s said it was weird. I thought he liked being Axel’s little brother.
He shrugs. “The kids at school said it was weird.”
I groaned deeply, wondering whose daddy I was going to be fucking up in the near future. “Do you think it’s weird that Axel’s your brother?”
He stares at the ground as we walk, kicking a rock out of the way. “I didn’t. I thought it was pretty awesome, but then people at school said it was weird that I’m only a year older than my nephew.”
“Huh,” I ran my hand down my face, “What did Taegan say?”
“Nothing. He isn’t in my class. He did tell a boy to apologize to me in the cafeteria once for calling me tinker bell, though. He said if he heard it again he would beat his daddy’s butt and make him watch.”
That’s my grandson. “Rian, if boys are trying to make you feel bad, they’re probably fucking jealous. You are the only kid in that school that can say you are a prince and the brother of their Alpha. You have many things that make you stand out, like your good looks and having the best looking mom there is.”
“I doubt they care about that,” he grunts.
“They better fucking not.” I huff. She’s mine. “What I’m saying is, they are trying to put you down to make themselves feel better. Tell them that, and if that doesn’t work, tell me who their dad is and I’ll beat their asses. I’ll make everyone watch.”
Rian laughs. “My uncle, the king, said violence is bad. He said it is only to be used in dire straits. Never for vengeance.”
I snort. The man beheaded a man for fucking with his sister. If that’s not vengeance, I don’t know what it is. “Yeah, yeah, that’s fine in some places, but this is a pack. There is a hierarchy and sometimes we have to forcefully remind people where they rank.”
“By beating up their parents?” Rian tilts his head.
“Sure,” I huffed, no longer following my own logic. I just know someone is getting their ass beat if kids keep picking on my kid.
“Why am I going to Brother Axel’s office?” Rian asks, making me smirk as it reminds me of the old nickname that Taegan once called his own father.
“Axel is taking you and Taegan to have fun before getting ready.”
“Ready for what?”
I smiled widely, “For your mother’s surprise.”
His eyes go wide, and a bright smile lifts his face. “The surprise? The one you asked for my uncle's help with?”
“That’s the one,” I chuckled.
Rian throws both of his hands up in the air, silently cheering. He has been helping me plan this for weeks too. Well, he helped pick out the ring and tried to help me get in contact with his uncle. Taegan was the one who really helped me get in contact with King Aengus. Rian and I tried for a week to figure out how, but then Taegan waltzed into my house one day, iPad in hand, and had Luna Carli from Miami on the other end.
Carli had connections with the Southern Fairy Queen, and was able to relay a message to Thyra’s brother. He came to visit me the following day, and I was able to finally ask him the question I’d wanted to for some time. He even agreed to be here tonight for Thyra’s sake. I can tell he still doesn’t give a shit about me, but he wants her to be happy.
Axel and Taegan are waiting for Rian outside the offices. Axel has that annoying smirk on his face he’s had every time he’s seen me for the last week. If I hear him call me old man while congratulating me one more time, I might choke him.
He starts to open his mouth, but I hold my finger up in warning. “Don’t you fucking say a word.”
“Geez, dad,” he tried not to laugh, “Can’t a man tell his father hi?”
“You can’t, dickhead,” I growled. “Don’t let your smartass attitude rub off on Rian. I’d like to have one son that doesn’t drive me fucking insane all the time.”
“Hmm, on that note, come on, Rian,” Axel starts pushing the boys towards his truck. “Let’s get you a milkshake while I tell you all about our big bad father’s fear of needles. We can go get our ears pierced together after I’m done telling the story of how he screamed like a girl when Archie had to give him an anti-venom shot once. Really lightened the mood during battle.”
“Axel,” I snarl.
“Ears not good? How do you think we would look with a belly button piercing?” Axel lifts up his shirt, looking down at his stomach.
“I think you won’t look as good as Miss Carli with one,” Taegan said.
“Who’s Miss Carli?” Rian asks.
“You’ll meet her one day,” Taegan grins, his eyes briefly turning that eerie blue glow, then going back to normal so fast, I almost missed it. I can tell by his smile that he is keeping something to himself.
I let them go, waving bye to the boys and flipping Axel off as they left the parking lot, getting annoyed when he responded by blowing me a kiss.
I hurried over to Bailey’s as she was waiting for me. She and Aly are helping me to get the dinner party ready while Katherine babysits the twins. Fiona took Thyra to a spa about 45 minutes from the pack. I hope Bailey and I can get done before they get back.
We drove together to town, heading for the pack’s dorms. The pack housing in town looks like a fancy hotel, it being a lot newer than the packhouse. There is a great room Bailey had organized to be set up with tables and chairs for a family dinner with everyone tonight. We just have to decorate it. Nate and all of his family are coming, including all his grandsons. Courtney is about ready to poop the new one out. If she goes into labor tonight, she had better cross her fucking legs and not sneeze, holding the kid in until I’m done. Archie, Rick, Quinn and their two little ones will be here. Addison and Steph won’t be there, though, but I think Phoebe is coming with Archie. Steph said the twin boys wouldn’t make it through the dinner without ruining the surprise.
Even Lucy agreed to come tonight, despite not liking Thyra very much. She is still convinced that Thyra had her eyes on Joseph, no matter how much we tell her it wasn’t like that. Thyra said to let her continue thinking it. She didn’t want to burden the old woman with the truth of why Joseph and Thyra were together so often at the end of his life. Ignorance is bliss, she says. In this case she might be right.
Bailey does the finishing touches on the room, laying down table cloths, arranging the centerpieces, getting the flatware and table setting arranged, along with the name plates. Aly is helping by sampling the candy set in little bowls along the table’s center. I do all the menial things she asks of me, wanting to help, but feeling like I’m lost most of the time. I’m sneaking candy with Aly in no time, just entertaining her and going over with Bailey what I plan on saying later.
The caterers came by the time we had the room ready, and Bailey shooed me away to head back home to get ready, telling me she had it from there. Her and Aly will be getting ready in Axel’s old room in the dorms, the room she and him I guess had their first night in. I tried not to throw up when Axel told me. I don't like to hear about their love life. Axel would never give up the room after that night, and to this day still has it registered for his exclusive use in the pack files.
Driving back home, I risked mind linking my sister to see how close they were. She said they were about 30 minutes away by the time I pulled into our driveway. The perfect amount of time for me to get ready.
When I was planning all this, Bailey had asked me if I was sure I wanted everyone to be there with us. I guess some women might like a romantic evening alone with their loved one on a night like tonight, but I know Thyra would rather share this moment with all her family and loved ones. That’s why it was so important to me to get her brother’s permission and ask him to be there. Thyra spent so much of her life alone, without family or people to cherish her, she loves to just soak it in now. Her favorite place to be is in the middle of the chaos that is my family. Our family.
Having everyone there with us will only make this night so much more special for her.
I showered and changed into the outfit Fiona got me that matches every other male’s outfit that will be there tonight. Well, everyone but the fucking fairy king. I wasn’t going to ask him to match with us. It wasn’t even my fucking idea. Fiona and Bailey said it would be fun and would make for a good picture to take for Thyra to cherish later. I can picture the face she would make staring at me, Rian, Taegan and Axel all wearing the same outfit, surrounding her. Bailey even found Aly a little dress that matched the shirt’s print.
Right when I’m done getting ready, I hear a car pull in outside. I hurried to the front, just in time for Thyra to come walking inside the door.
“Hey, honey. Did you both have fun?” I asked, trying to hide some of my excitement as I welcomed her in.
She eyes me suspiciously. “What are you wearing?”
I looked down at my shirt and looked. Does it not look good? “Bailey picked it out,” I told her honestly.
“Hmm,” she runs her hands down my chest, her nails sending sparks fucking flying all across my skin, making me almost purr. “I didn’t think you would pick out something in a paisley,” she chuckles.
“I wouldn’t, but we’re having a family dinner tonight, and I know better than to not listen and do what I’m told,” I smirked, placing my hands on her lush hips, squeezing slightly, then kissing her lips to capture her laughter. “You all relaxed and feeling good from your spa day with my sister?”
“Yes, I very much am.” She goes on her tippy toes and whispers in my ear, “I’m exfoliated and smooth on every part of my body.”
A hungry growl rumbles deep in my chest, “I can’t wait to see myself later.”
“Why don't you check it out right now? We can be a little late.”
It’s so fucking tempting, but I know if we start we will just miss dinner completely.
Not tonight. I’m not fucking missing tonight.
“We don’t have time for a full-course meal, but I can do something for you to tide you over until later,” I tell her as I grip her ass.
“Good,” she grins, “I want this mouth,” she licks my lips with a slow caress of her tongue, "on me. Everywhere," then walks towards our bedroom, stripping as she goes.
Fuck me, we’re going to be late. She’s trying to make us late. Any other day, I would be all for it, but not today.
I ate her pussy like a starved man, making her cum twice in the span of 5 minutes. I’m fucking proud of my efficiency as I rearrange my hard dick in my pants, leaving her in a daze in the bathroom to get ready.
We are still a little late, but not enough to be noticed.
Thyra was surprised to see everyone in the great room when we got there. She’s even more surprised to see all the guys wearing the same shirt as me, taking out her cell phone and having me help her take pictures of all the kids.
Bailey is a fucking genius at seating arrangements. Thyra and I are surrounded by the kids, and my annoying brother-in-law and his loud-mouthed son-in-law are at opposite ends of the table, Archie with Nate to keep him in line, and Bailey between Axel and Casey to hit them upside the head if she needs to. Courtney, who looks like she ate a child, can be worse than her mate sometimes, so I knew she wouldn't be any help.
Thyra rushed to take Leah from Axel when we first arrived, since Lauren was sleeping on Bailey, and now she is sitting in bliss while holding the baby, Aly on one side of her and me on the other. Rian is begrudgingly sitting on my other side. Aly demanded to sit beside Adam, Quinn and Rick’s son, so we had to do some juggling around since that was supposed to be Rian’s spot. Taegan and Rian are both good friends with the vampire boy, but I guess it doesn’t matter when your niece or sister is starting to flirt with him. The kid is four years older than her, but she doesn’t care. She has already declared that Adam is hers. If he’s around, he is her first choice among the kids. I’m still her first choice among everyone, so I’m cutting the kid some slack for now.
After the food is served, Thyra and I take turns holding Leah so we can eat. Leah ends up falling asleep in Thyra’s arms, so I happily end up just feeding her the rest of her food.
When dinner is done, and the wait staff hired by the catering company clear all the dishes, nerves start eating away inside of me. I know her answer already, feeling her love for me in every moment, in every day, in everything that she does for me. I'm still nervous as fuck.
Bailey elbows Axel to come and take their daughter back from Thyra, then she slips out of the room to make sure the dessert and surprise are ready. I know it’s sappy as hell to write ‘MARRY ME’ on a cake, but Thyra wouldn’t want an elaborate, fairytale proposal. She likes the basic things in life, without all the frills and scheming. She had that back in her realm and it never made her happy. That’s all she wanted in love; someone straightforward who could give her untamed and raw. That’s what I am, to my very core. A simple, untamed man who will be as raw as she lets me for the rest of our lives.
“He’s here,” Bailey tells me in the mind link. “We’re ready. I’ll slip back in and start dimming the lights. You got this!”
Fuck, I love Bailey. I couldn’t have done this without her.
She comes back in, a bright grin on her face as she winks at me and begins dimming the lights. The only one she leaves on is the one right above Thyra and me.
The kids start to squeal in excitement, hushed whispers to silence them filling the room. Thyra looks around in confusion, then turns her beautiful face towards me in question. She must have guessed what was about to happen from the look on my face, because she suddenly gasped, bringing her hands up to her face as I stood up and reached into my pocket for the little red box. I pull it out, the smile hurting my face from being stretched so broadly. I dropped to one knee.
“Thyra. I’m going to need you to move your hands away from your beautiful face, honey, because I want to see you while I do this.”
“Max!” she gasps, peeking at me from between her fingers, then stomping her feet on the ground excitedly. She pries her hands down to her lap, her eyes glistening brightly in the single light above us. “I knew something was up,” she hisses, making everyone laugh.
“I knew you would, honey. You are the smartest woman I know. That is one of the millions of reasons I want you to marry me.”
She giggled softly. “What are some of the others?”
“Well, for one, you’re the only woman in the world that could bring me to my knees.”
“Challenge accepted,” I heard Courtney mutter, making several people laugh. I ignored her and moved on.
“You are strong and beautiful, inside and out. I could watch you holding our grandbabies for hours, stunned at how perfectly you jumped into that role. You gave me the opportunity to be a father again, and I will cherish that boy as much as I cherish his mother. You make me stronger. We have overcome so much of our pasts together. Now I’m looking forward to devoting all of my future to you. I have one question,” I grin, watching a tear break free and stream down her cheek, “and I invited someone here to help me ask it.”
On cue, King Aegnus comes in, pushing a serving cart with a giant cake on top, the sparklers on top of it doing little to outshine his presence, but I’m fine with it. I feel a little smug at having gotten the almighty fairy king to push a cake into the room to present to his sister to ask his sister to marry me.
Thyra makes a slight choking sound seeing her brother, and he smiles warmly back at her.
“I believe this is for you,” he says, stopping the cake beside us so she can read it.
A choked sob leaves her and she dives forward, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Yes, Max. Yes, I will marry you.”
"Fuck, yeah you will," I chuckled as our family cheered around us. Even King Aengus is clapping off to the side.
When I first saw Thyra around a year ago outside of that damn chicken coop, who knew this would be where we would wind up today? Who knew she would help me to overcome the past, and it would grant her the future she always wanted. She mended my broken past, and gave me her future. I will forever be thankful to the moon goddess for this precious gift and second chance at happiness.