Chapter 168 These Moments

Chapter 168 These Moments
Armond

The night of the meeting, we were all feeling a bit anxious. We were anticipating things going smoothly, but there was always the possibility of something unexpected happening. We had all tried to think of what those issues might be, and Bishop had a ton of stuff in place for backup. 

Maximus kept telling us to just trust in the hybrids, that they were much more powerful than we were giving them credit for, and I knew that, but this guy had just caused so much damage to so many people already; I didn’t want to think of there being more. 

Not to mention I was chomping at the bit to be able to kill him for what he had done to my mate. He had something to do with Arissa, but she had issues of her own before he ever got ahold of her. No doubt he saw her as an easy target and a way in, and he jumped on it. 

We have lost members of the pack due to them turning traitor on us, and we have lost a few due to the attacks we have sustained. Dekon killed his own sister as well. He has no limits to what he will do to get what he wants. We can’t allow him to do that. He needs to get taken out. 

This time Allen and I stayed with Bri, and Nicole went to the control room to be with Sean and Bishop. I think both women needed to be with their mates tonight. Both of them had suffered repeatedly at the hands of Dekon, so no doubt hearing him speak tonight would be triggering for them on some level. They had both insisted that they be part of all of this, though. 

We had eyes and ears in the building. Both because of Sean’s genius at being able to get equipment in place, and also because of the items that were being carried in by Samaria, Selenia, Elias, and Joshia. Hedi would be in the control room with the others. She was a bit shyer, so it had been harder for her to think of conversing with strangers, and we made sure she knew we understood that. 

Both of our dads would be in the control room, and our moms were going to be keeping the babies. I think they were worried that either there would be an emergency and Bri would be upset, or maybe she would get really emotional at hearing Dekon’s voice or what was being said. So, they thought it might be good for us to be able to just concentrate on what was going on tonight without having to worry about the babies. 

We had gotten some barbecue because Bri loved it so much, and she tried to eat, but I could tell her nerves were bothering her. “You doing okay over there?” 

She looked up at me and tried to smile. “Yeah, it’s just he has thrown unexpected shit at me a couple of times now, so I worry about them being in the line of fire. I know they are strong and we have them guarded and all of that, but I still just worry we are going to get hit with something unexpected again. I am just ready to have this guy taken out and be done with all of this bullshit.” I nodded. 

“I know, sweetheart, and this will help facilitate that. This gives us a good idea of how many people he has and what his plans are so we can take care of all of it. Bishop has two enforcer squads nearby, ready to go. They don’t have witches or Andalonians anymore because we took care of that already, so he can’t get past us. They all have amulets with them, so they can’t be spelled or anything. We will all be listening and watching, so they will be safe.” She nodded, sighed, and ate a few more bites. 

When she said she was done, Allen took our plates to the kitchen. I thanked him and then went and scooped her up. I carried her to the couch. I turned her sideways as she no longer could straddle my lap with her belly. The kids were due anytime now. 

She’d decided she wanted to feel what it was like to actually give birth. Dr. Michell and she had talked about it and decided she would have these naturally. So, we would be there for all of it and help her through it. If things went sideways, Dr. Mitchell would be ready to intervene. With it being twins rather than triplets, it was much more doable. So technically she could go into labor at any time, and we found ourselves constantly watching her. 

She leaned her head against my shoulder, and I just held her, hoping that it helped with what she was feeling. She ended up nuzzling into my throat, and I heard her vampire make that trilling sound she sometimes did. My mother had called it a love call, and I felt my vampire come closer to the surface and softly growl back to her. 

She kissed my neck, and then gently bit down. She must have been so ramped up with what was going on that she wasn’t paying attention to her blood cravings, so her vampire decided to step in and take care of it. When she was done, she stayed close, rubbing her face against the skin of my neck. I rubbed her back and kissed her forehead. 

Allan came and joined us and took her feet and put them in his lap. He started to rub them, and I heard Bri groan. We both laughed. “Be careful with that sound, love.”

She smiled, and I was happy to see that. She didn’t comment, just enjoyed us taking care of her and giving her comfort and affection. We both enjoyed it as well, and I also felt myself relaxing a bit more with all of this. There had just been so much for a while now, that these little moments were so much the glue that held everything together. Just holding my mate in my arms and feeling her against me. Knowing my best friend was safe and here beside me. This is what got me through those rough times when we were putting out fires and fixing problems. 

We had one major problem left, and then we could concentrate on just living our lives. That sounded pretty fucking fantastic to me.