Hudson woke up suddenly, then sat up and noticed that he was back in his human form. He looked around the area. Marco was slowly waking up, as was Stan.
Marco looked over at Hudson and was relieved to see his Alpha awake, but then fear took hold of his heart as his eyes searched for his mate. When his eyes fell upon where Tabitha lay, he quickly got up and ran to her, gathering her up into his arms and holding her.
“Tabitha,” he said gently as he touched her cheek.
Tabitha smiled as she took in a deep breath and slowly started to open her eyes.
Marco breathed out a sigh of relief. As he pulled her closer to him with his arms. “For a moment I thought….”
Tabitha covered his mouth with her fingers. “I’m stronger than you think,” she said with a smile.
Hudson ran over to Amanda. As much as he wanted to pull her into his arms he was worried that she wouldn’t want to wake up there. Artemis whined as they looked down at their mate. Hudson swallowed his pride, picked up Amanda, and carried her toward the house. Amanda curled into him; his heart trembled with excitement as Artemis purred with happiness.
Deak was walking toward them before Hudson reached the steps. “I see you made it,” Deak said to him. “What should we do about them?” Deak waved his hand over the men that were still out cold.
Hudson’s brow furrowed as he looked upon them. “Tie them up. We’ll question them as soon as they are awake.”
“Yes, Alpha,” Stan said with a nod and started to head towards to SUV to grab the zip ties to bind them.
Tabitha ran back to the car to grab clothes and the bag that Hudson had dropped before he had engaged in the fight. She thrust the clothes towards Marco.
Marco lifted his eyebrow and smirked as he took his clothes from her.
Tabitha rolled her eyes as she followed Hudson into the house. Once he placed Amanda on the couch, Tabitha handed him the bag and pushed him to get dressed.
Zachary came rushing down the stairs as Ruby started to make her way down the hall. They met up at the same time. Zachary could see the look of relief on Ruby’s face when she saw him. He cupped her face and pulled her close as he kissed her forehead. Ruby placed her hand around his as she took in his scent, calming her wolf.
Hudson rushed past them to get checked on Amanda, and they quickly followed after him. Hudson walked into the parlor room and down beside Amanda. He rubbed his fingers against her cheek, then smirked when he heard a purring coming from her. He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.
Amanda sucked in a breath as she woke up to the feeling of Hudson’s lips against hers. She opened her eyes to look at him after he pulled away. “You came,” she said softly as she ran her fingers against his face.
“I did. I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner,” he admitted.
Amanda started to get up, but she was feeling a little lightheaded and lay back down on the couch. She let out a sigh. “You’re here now.”
Hudson stood up and took a step back.
Ruby stepped into the room more, “Are you okay?” she asked Amanda as she looked down at her, making sure she had no visual wounds.
Amanda nodded. “I am fine, just a little woozy is all. It happens sometimes when I can’t get a handle on my emotions and magic.”
“I’ll get you some water and something to eat,” Ruby told her before leaving and making her way to the kitchen.
Tabitha and Marco walked into the house with Deak following them. “How’s she doing?” Tabitha asked with concern.
“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me so much,” Amanda answered. Hudson chuckled. Amanda let out a breath and slowly lifted her head; this passing-out thing was beginning to annoy her.
That’s because you can’t handle it. Willow, her wolf, taunted inside her head.
Amanda rolled her eyes. She was frustrated that it took so much of her strength to keep her wolf from getting control. She would need to work on that, she told herself.
Zachary stood in the archway and watched as Amanda gathered her strength. He saw the amount of power that she’d released—she had a lot of power, but no control over it. She would need to be able to train her. He turned away when he saw a shadow moving down the hall and recognized it to be his mother’s.
Zachary walked down to assist her. Madeline slapped his hand away playfully. “I am not as fragile as you think I scolded she chided to her son.
“It’s been a while since you’ve used magic. I just worry about you, Mother.”
Madeline sighed as she looked at her son. “I’m alright,” she said with a smile.
She continued to make her way to the parlor room as Zachary followed.
“Everyone, I would like you to meet my mother, Madeline. Mother, this is Marco, Tabitha, Hudson, and Amanda.”
Madeline quickly lowered her eyes to take in Amanda; she could see both Lily and Bobby in her.
Amanda got up quickly and stood in front of Madeline.
“I see both your parents in your features, dear. It’s very nice to meet you,” Madeline said to her.
Amanda blushed when she heard the compliment. “Thank you, I haven’t…that is I don’t….” Amanda sighed as she tried to get the words out.
“I have some pictures of your family in an album that I carry with me. Perhaps we can look at it together,” Madeline offered.
Amanda couldn’t speak but smiled and nodded.
“I don’t want to seem rushed, but, small girl, can you tell us what you’ve found out about finding my Vita?” Deak asked.
Amanda turned to Deak with a surprised look and a raised eyebrow. She smiled at him. It was cute to hear him being so protective of his mate, who sadly he hasn’t even officially met. “Your Vita, huh?”
He looked at her with a serious face, “Igen (yes).”
“I’m going to need some help with the spell, but Vita told me that we should be able to find her the way you were able to find me, with this necklace,” she explained as she pulled out the necklace that Vita had given her to show them.
Zachary closed his eyes as relief flooded through him. “Amanda, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it,” he said as he turned to go grab what he would need.
“Do you think this will work?” Deak asked as he followed Zachary.
“The pendants are connected as long as Vita is wearing hers this spell will lead us straight to her,” Zachary confirmed.
Deak let out a breath. “Finally.”
Fighting for my Mate
Mated to my Bully (Book 1)