The Alphas' Bliss (20 page)

Devin

I
felt like I was dying. Every time I reached out to connect with Bliss, there was nothing there. Just a black void. It was killing me.

Letting Micha take her away to be treated had brought me to my knees, but I knew she was in good hands. I needed to find out if the threat against my mate was over or not. I’d nearly killed Conrad with my bare hands. If three of my pack hadn’t pulled me off him, I would have. How dare he touch Bliss? How dare he betray me in this way? I loved him like a brother and he’d betrayed me. He’d tried to kill my mate!

The door that I was sitting next to opened and Lucy the vampire doc walked out. Bliss’ blood was on her scrubs. The smell of it had me growling and my claws extending. Warrick and Micha were on me in a second. I hadn’t realized I’d stood up. Lucy stood her ground though.

“That’s my mate you’re growling at Wolf!” Warrick hissed in my face showing me his extremely long fangs.

“Bliss’ blood,” I mumbled. I couldn’t see straight. I was lost.

Lucy walked up to me and cupped my cheek, grounding me. Her hand smelled fresh and clean.  Not like vanilla, not like Bliss’s blood.

“She’s going to be right as rain Devin. She’s alive, stable. Everything is good. I was able to save her womb. She’ll need blood though when she wakes up.”

“I’ll give her every drop of mine,” I said raggedly. Lucy smiled, nodding.

“She won’t need that much, but I’m glad to hear it.” She backed away from me and looked over at Micha.

“Everything went smoothly. She’s doing great.”

“Thank you, Lucy. Thank you so much.” Micha said gravely. He was still holding on to me, pushing me against the wall.

“I think you can let Devin go now, honey,” she said looking at her mate.

“Are you calm?” Warrick asked me. I nodded, breathing through my mouth. Bliss’ scent wasn’t so strong that way. They slowly released me but I stayed leaning against the wall. My knees felt like they were going to give out.

“Devin, I’ll need to talk to your doctor about wolf birth control. Bliss shouldn’t conceive for at least a year,” Lucy informed us looking from me to Micha. Micha nodded. “I’m going to have to combine our vampire contraceptive with a wolf one to ensure she won’t get pregnant.”

“Whatever you need, it’s yours,” I offered. “Thank you, for saving my mate.” I offered her my hand. She surprised me by hugging me, which earned her a growl from her mate.

“You are too damn touchy, woman!” Warrick growled. Lucy gifted him with a gentle smile, and touched his chest.

“Love you too baby.” She smiled at us all then walked back into the room where Bliss was sleeping off the anesthesia.

A shot glass of amber liquid appeared before my face. I looked up at Brock quizzically.

“It’ll help the shakes,” he said offering me the glass. I looked down at my hands and they were indeed shaking.

“Thanks man.” I took the glass, downing the liquid. My back slowly slid down the wall again. I sat on that cold floor and thanked every deity I could think of for saving my mate’s life.

“How’s Brass?” I asked no one in particular.

“He’ll live. I knocked his ass out after I pulled the bullets out. I called his feeder for him, she’ll be here when he wakes up to take care of him,” Warrick responded from up high.

“Good, that’s good. My enforcers are out looking for the rogue pack that attacked. We may need his help if they can’t be located. He knows what they look and smell like.”

“We’ll help also, Devin. We got a good look at them,” Bradley offered.

“Thanks, I’d appreciate the help. When I find them, I’m going to skin them alive,” I threatened fiercely. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them. There was a price on their head, and it was death.

Bliss

S
omeone called my name. I floated through heavy fog trying to open my eyes at the sound.

“Come on baby, wake up. You need to feed,” Micha’s voice penetrated the fog.

“Micha.” My throat was extremely dry and a bit sore. My eyes fluttered open and there leaning over me was my mate. “Water,” I mumbled.

“Here sweetheart.” Devin’s voice came from the opposite side of me. When I looked over at him, I inwardly cringed. He looked devastated.

“Who died?” I asked anxiously. “Brass! Oh no, please,” I begged, trying to get up from the bed. Unbelievable pain shot through my stomach.

“Jesus! Bliss!” Devin cried out almost dropping the cup of water he held.

“Baby, calm down. No one died. Brass is okay.” Micha grabbed my shoulders and pushed me to a lying position.

I looked from Micha to Devin. “Then what’s wrong? Why do you look so heartbroken?” I asked reaching for Devin.

Devin gave me a sad smile, taking my hand in his and bringing it to this lips. He kissed my mate mark. “Because you are in this bed and it’s my fault.”

“You didn’t attack me. Stephanie and Conrad did,” I insisted. He just shook his head at me, kissing my mark again.

“Devin, I’m okay.” I looked over at Micha. “Aren’t I?”

“You are going to be just fine sweetheart. Lucy had to do surgery on your abdomen, but you’ll make a full recovery. You just need to feed.”

“You’ll take what you need from me,” Devin proclaimed. He left no room for arguments.

Micha leaned in, kissing my forehead. “Feed baby,” he insisted. Devin was there with his wrist. I noticed his knuckles were bruised.

I took the offered wrist in my hands. I kissed his bruised knuckles first then placed a soft kiss on his wrist. I looked up at his handsome face and worried eyes. “Thank you mate.”

My fangs struck deep and true. I pulled Devin’s blood into my mouth, swallowing it greedily. He tasted sweet, like candied apples. When I went to pull away, Micha was there with a hand on the back of my neck.

“No, you’ll take more. He’s fine Bliss,” he insisted.

I looked into Devin’s eyes and my heart broke. He looked so sad. “
I’m gonna be fine.”

“I know baby, just keep drinking.”

I drank for a moment more then released him. I gently closed the holes my fangs made, then once again kissed his wrist.

Devin leaned in, being extra careful not to put his weight on the bed, and kissed my cheek. I was feeling blissfully sated. I sighed, smiling contentedly.

Micha grinned. “You are blood drunk my precious girl.” He ran his thumb along my bottom lip, bringing it to his mouth.

“Is she all right?” Devin asked concerned. I leaned back against the pillows, relaxing, letting his blood flow through me.

“She’s fine. She’s just never drank so much before. She always leaves herself a little hungry. She’s afraid of taking too much. We made sure she took enough this time, so it’s sorta like a muscle relaxer.”

“Sleepy,” I murmured my eyes closing.

“Sleep angel, we’ll be here when you wake up,” Micha reassured me. I took each of their hands in my own, holding them tightly. I let my eyes drift shut once again and sleep took me immediately.

Micha

B
liss’ injuries had been so severe that it took three days for her to heal. For three days Devin and I made sure she was fed every few hours to help the healing process. By the third day she was itching to get out of the clinic and move back to our suite. She was still a little weak but she was healed. Her surgery cut looked like no more than a scratch and the bruises around her neck and face had faded to nothing.

Brass had taken up residence in the estate and was actively hunting the wolves that attacked. It was frustrating that we hadn’t been able to pin them down yet. Every time we thought we were close, their camp suddenly moved.

Devin was slowly getting information from Conrad about who the wolves were and the packs they’d come from. He often came home with bruised knuckles and enraged, his wolf close to the surface, but the moment he took Bliss in his arms he’d calm down.

The claiming ceremony was fast approaching. Devin and I would lay claim to our mate in front of both vampires and wolves so there was no doubt of who she belonged to and was protected by. My aunt was handling all the details and occasionally called to ask my opinion about something. I couldn’t get a bead on whether Bliss was excited or dreading the upcoming ceremony. She had asked about going out and getting a dress but Devin and I both vehemently agreed that wasn’t going to happen. We could get a dressmaker to come to us. Bliss would just shake her head no, then walk away. I knew we were smothering her but we both couldn’t deal with her being out of our sight. One of us was with her at all times.

She hadn’t been back to the Ranch since the attack. Devin didn’t want her there until he was positive that no one else in the pack was working with Stephanie and Conrad.

She sometimes had nightmares about the attack. She’d wake up screaming, calling for Devin and me. She was having a hard time dealing with the fact that she’d killed two people. It didn’t matter to her that she had been protecting herself. All she seemed to focus on was that she’d taken two lives. Devin and I weren’t sure how to get her to come to terms with it.

She’d also taken to working out with the twins. They were teaching her hand to hand combat and self-defense moves. She was also learning how to control her wolf and shifting. Shifting was becoming easier for her but still sometimes left her fatigued. Devin said that her fatigue was normal. Youngsters of the pack often were tired and sore for days after shifting. Wolves couldn’t shift until they reached puberty. They needed lots of time to learn to control it and allow their bodies to become accustomed to doing it. Bliss, however, was a bit of late bloomer, so her negative effects were more pronounced.

I heard growling and raised voices coming from the sitting area so I saved my file on the computer then left my office.

I found Bliss facing off with Devin. Her hands on her hips, her icy white eyes shooting daggers and a low rumbling growl emanating from her. She looked fierce and determined.

“What’s going on?” I asked looking between them.

“This mate of ours is the most stubborn female on the planet,” Devin groused.

“Ha! More like you are the most unreasonable male!” Bliss countered.

Devin ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “Our mate wants the twins to show her how to use swords and guns. She’s already gotten a bloody nose and she’s covered in bruises from the “exercises” she’s been practicing with them. I’d hate to see what happens when they start using swords!”

Bliss sighed loudly. “I’m learning how to protect myself Devin. Bruises heal and the bloody nose was my fault, not Brock’s. I need to learn how to protect myself.”

“We,” Devin pointed between me and himself, “protect you. You don’t need to learn how to shoot an Uzi!”

“Grrr!” Bliss growled. “You guys can’t always be with me. For heaven’s sake Devin be reasonable. You oversee every wolf pack in the U.S., plus you have a business and your own pack. Micha is just as busy meeting with the council and dealing with Vampire issues. What if we were to have young? I need to know how to protect them!”

Devin blanched at the mention of young. “No young for a very long time. Doctor’s orders!”

Bliss shook her head and turned to Micha. “Would you be the voice of reason here please? Tell him I’m perfectly capable of learning to fight and use weapons.”

I ran my hand against my chin, considering what she said. “Bliss, sweetheart, is this because we couldn’t keep you safe from the wolf attack?”

We’d failed in keeping her safe numerous times so maybe it was best if she learned to protect herself.

“No! God no, honey, you both do a wonderful job of protecting me. If it hadn’t been for Brass and the twins I would have died that night or they would have captured me. This isn’t about your protection, it’s about me being able to defend myself. Devin, you can’t tell me that the women in your pack are wrapped in bubble wrap and put on a shelf.”

“Damn it, you aren’t just anyone Bliss. You are my world! If something were to happen to you, I wouldn’t survive it,” Devin said, reaching for her.

She willingly went into his arms. “Nothing’s going to happen to me Devin. I’m perfectly safe, but I can’t stay on the estate all the time. I need to get out sometimes and knowing how to protect and defend myself is important to me.”

Devin was starting to cave. I could see it in his eyes. I smiled. Yep, we were whipped and ruled by this little slip of a female.

Devin

J
esus, I was going to give in to her. I couldn’t deny her anything and she had a valid point. We couldn’t keep her on the estate twenty-four seven.

“You’ll wear protective gear and be extremely careful. Even with this training you will always have at least two guards on you when you venture out. You’ll never be alone, is that understood?” I hardened my tone.

She smiled sweetly at me knowing she’d won this round. She squeezed me tightly, and placed a kiss on my neck.

“Understood. Thank you so much Devin!” She released me and went to Micha.

“Thank you for not going against me,” she said giving him the same sweet smile. He cupped her face and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

“Like I could deny you anything,” he said softly.

I shook my head at him and he flipped me off. Bliss went off to shower leaving us alone.

“Why can’t I ever tell her no?” I bitched good-naturedly.

Micha laughed. “Because we are so whipped it’s not even funny.”

“Ain’t that the truth?”

“Conrad give you any new information about the rogue pack and where they could possibly be hiding?” Micha asked.

“No, and every time I’m within the same room with him all I want to do is tear him apart.”

“Maybe you should let one of your own enforcers interrogate him. He knows your weakness is Bliss so he’s going to use that against you,” Micha suggested.

“Yeah maybe you are right. He enjoys telling me how well he’d pulled the wool over everybody’s eyes and how perfectly he played the Beta part. It’s infuriating.”

“Has he given you any reason, other than Stephanie wanting to be your mate, why they’d gone after Bliss?”

I shook my head. “No. He just laughs and taunts me with
I’ll never tell, but I know something you don’t.
Beating him isn’t getting me anywhere.”

Everything in me wanted to kill the bastard, but I couldn’t. Not yet. I still had a gut feeling that Bliss just wasn’t safe, especially with that rogue pack still out there. No one was leading them, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t try to finish the job they’d been hired to do. I wanted all of them dead and buried before I let Bliss out of my sight for even a moment.

The claiming ceremony was in a couple of weeks and she’d started asking, no begging, us to let her go pick out a dress. We offered to escort her ourselves but no, she wanted to do it alone. It wasn’t going to happen. We’d also offered to bring a dressmaker to the estate, but she wouldn’t go for that either. Micha and I knew we were being way too overprotective, but we couldn’t help ourselves. She was our mate, our everything. Losing her would mean losing ourselves.

I had to get Conrad to reveal what his big secret was. I knew it had something to do with Bliss, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what he could possibly know that I didn’t.

They’d never met before the day I’d introduced her to the pack. If they had, Bliss would have definitely said something. Maybe Micha was right that I was too close to the situation and Conrad was just playing me.

The thought of Bliss having to learn how to fight, how to defend herself was driving me up a wall, but she was right. We couldn’t be with her all the time so it was best she learned to defend herself. But, god, when Brock had given her that bloody nose I almost lost it. Well, actually, I did lose it, and it took three of the warriors to hold me off him. Bliss had been the one to finally calm me down, after Brock had gotten the bleeding to stop.

I knew she was capable and strong. She’d defended herself against three wolves and taken two of them out, though it was now giving her nightmares. She just wasn’t cut out to kill and, by god, if I had anything to say about it, she’d never have to do it again.