Cruel Alpha Daddy (Silver Meadows Wolves #4)

Chapter 26 - Fiona

With our pack gathered around us, we walk slowly down the driveway towards the trucks. In the hills, I can hear the baying of wolves and the sounds of fighting as the combined forces of Bailey, Decker, and the lone shifters take out the bikers.

As we go past the cabin, I’m amazed by how many vehicles are parked in the drive and the seemingly endless rows of sheds.

“What is all this?” I ask.

Rider frowns, shaking his head. “This is their crime ring. I’m not sure exactly what’s in these sheds, but I can guarantee this is where they were getting all their money from.”

“What are we going to do with it?” Ryan asks. Rider shakes his head.

“I don’t know. Hopefully, some of it isn’t dirty, and we can use it. We sure as hell can’t just call the cops or hand it all back.”

“I’ll take a look,” Ryan offers, jogging off into a laneway.

“I’m with you,” Donny says, following him.

“Where is your truck?” I ask, carefully holding Rider up as I try to support him without touching any of his injuries.

“Up here,” he says, pointing down the driveway. Caleb keeps a firm hold on Rider’s hand, looking up at him encouragingly.

“I got you, Dad,” he says. “We’re going to be okay.”

“We sure are,” Rider answers, looking down at Caleb with soft eyes. His entire demeanor has changed since he saw his son, and it drives guilt into my heart.

I should have told him straight away. I thought I was protecting Caleb, but I should have trusted Rider to do the right thing.

“Hey, boss!” Ryan calls, jogging out from between the sheds. “You aren’t going to believe this.”

“What?” Rider asks, his face grim.

“Most of these sheds are full of basic supplies. Like linen, camp beds, tinned food. There’s also generators, fuel, wiring, plumbing, and construction equipment.”

“He was planning to go completely off-grid,” Rider says. “This was their supply base. Tobias made it clear he wanted to go back out into the wild, but he was securing equipment before he made the big jump.”

“Yeah, I think so,” Ryan agrees. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s lots of weapons and stuff, too, but mostly, this is all equipment we can use.”

“We can build up New Hope!” Rider says, his eyes lighting up.

“What?” I ask, smiling because I know exactly what he means.

Rider grins back at me. “Yeah. I decided to name our town New Hope. We aren’t Sawpit Pack anymore. Hope has always hung on to me, even when I wished I could give up on it. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve realized hope is what all of us share. We survived our past, then we survived Jethro. Everyone who stands with me now does so because they have hope we can make a better future.”

Finally, we reach the trucks. It’s starting to scare me that Rider doesn’t seem to be healing as quickly as he should. I get him settled in the passenger seat and wrap him in blankets. Caleb snuggles by his side while I jump behind the wheel.

“We’ll be here for a while,” Ryan says. “I want to organize a run to get these supplies into town for you. It’ll take a while to do a bit of inventory, but when you get back, tell everyone that resources will soon be stocked up.”

“Tell me if you find a satellite dish,” I say, laughing. “And any TVs or phones. I think the girls miss gossiping on social media as much as the kids miss cartoons.”

“Will do,” Ryan says, waving. “Get him home for us.”

I turn the truck around, glancing over to see that Rider has already fallen asleep, with Caleb dozing in his arms. It takes a few hours to drive through Sawpit and up through the mountains back down to the dirt track that leads into our valley.

Rider’s truck is made for rough terrain, but there’s only so far it can go into the deep canyon. Reluctantly, I wake him and Caleb up so we can walk the rest of the way.

“Are you okay?” I ask, lifting the blanket to check Rider’s wounds.

“I’m fine,” he says, a bit too quickly. I frown as I take a closer look.

Immediately after the fight, I patched him up with a basic med kit, expecting his shifter metabolism to kick in. To my dismay, the gash on his forearm is still bleeding badly enough to soak through the bandage, and he has black and purple bruises across his chest where Tobias tried to tear him in half.

“I’ll make it,” he says, smiling. Even though his voice is reassuring, I don’t like how pale his skin is.

“Okay, let’s just take it slow then.” I gently wrap my arm around his waist and encourage him to lean on me as we head into the forest.

Caleb is looking around with wide eyes, enjoying the adventure. He holds Rider’s hand as if he’s afraid his dad will disappear if he lets him go.

The sky begins to lighten as we come to the edge of the ridge. As we break through the trees and see New Hope beneath us, the sun blazes above the horizon, painting us with warm, golden light.

Rider and I share a smile, remembering the day we watched the sunrise together. That was the day so much changed for me—the day I knew my heart could not be whole without him.

Down below, I hear a shout. People start running out of the cabins and coming up the hill to meet us. Rider shuffles along, trying to get ahead of me to greet his pack.

“Will you stop?” I chide him gently when he stumbles and almost falls. “You’ll tumble right down this hill and break your neck. Imagine the embarrassment—surviving a death match, then defeated by your own clumsiness.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he chuckles.

The people coming out of town are close enough now for me to see who it is, and I’m shocked to see Maddy leading them, with Lilah not far behind.

It’s all the girls, and their kids!

I stop, clinging to Rider. Last time I spoke to Maddy, she clearly didn’t want Rider to be the alpha of the pack. I watch her warily as she gets closer.

When she stops in front of me, she tries to keep it together, but her lips tremble and tears pour down her cheeks as she holds her hands out to me.

“I’m so sorry, Fiona,” she says. “I was scared, and angry. I heard about everything Tobias did—his plan for us, and everything he did to you. Some of the pack have returned from the fight and told us how Alpha Bailey saved us.”

I step forward and take her hands, smiling. “It’s okay, Maddy. I understand. I’m here to lead you into the future—the future of New Hope.”

“I like it,” Lilah says, grinning. “Much better than Sawpit.”

“Excuse me,” Caleb pipes up. “My dad really needs to sit down, and I’m pretty hungry.”

Maddy gives me a knowing look, her eyes full of apology. I nod, showing her I accept it, but I won’t forget how quickly she turned on my mate when things got bad.

“Hello there,” Lilah says, bending down to speak to Caleb. “I’m Lilah, and you must be the alpha pup.”

“Yes,” he answers. “I’m Caleb.”

“We have breakfast cooking, young man, don’t you worry. Your dad can lay down and rest all he wants once we get back. Not that he’s likely to.”

“I’ll have to chain you to the bed,” I say, tugging on Rider’s hand and giving him a mischievous look.

He blushes bright pink. “I suppose that’s only fair,” he teases back. “But be gentle.”

I kiss him quickly on the lips. “No promises.”

We make our way down the hill, and Caleb runs ahead of us. He joins the crowd of children playing behind the hall and immediately becomes completely involved in a ball game. When the other boys call for him to join them at the creek to look for tadpoles, he eagerly chases after them.

I help Rider back to our cabin and settle him in bed. He groans as he finally takes the weight off his feet and closes his eyes. As I look him over and carefully take off his bandages, he cooperates, letting me care for him.

“This wound on your forearm is bad, almost to the bone,” I say, looking at it. “We might have to stitch it. I don’t even know how you kept fighting like this.”

“I don’t, either,” he says, coughing a little. “But I just couldn’t leave Caleb… or you.”

Fresh guilt floods through me then, and I lower my eyes. Rider touches my chin gently.

“Hey. It’s okay. I understand.”

I shake my head, feeling tears threatening to spill down my cheeks. “I should have trusted you.”

“I should have trusted you, too,” he counters. “I locked you up, Fiona. You were also attacked multiple times. Of course you had to protect your child.”

“But if I had told you, maybe it wouldn’t have gone down like that.”

Rider shakes his head. “No. I’m happy you kept Caleb out of it—really. If Tobias had found out about him…”

I squeeze Rider’s hand, and he looks up into my eyes. Leaning down, I kiss him gently on the lips, letting the kiss deepen until he wheezes a little.

“Sorry, darlin’,” he drawls. “Looks like I might have a slight life-threatening injury. Don’t worry, though. Give me a second or two, and I’ll get it up.”

“Don’t you dare,” I giggle, teasing him. “You need all your energy to heal.”

“All of it?” he asks mischievously.

“Yes,” I say sternly. Leaning over, I run my hands across the bruises on his chest.

“That is not fair,” he grumbles. “You tell me no, then start feeling me up?”

“Hush! These bruises are bad. You’re fractured all over.”

“I won’t let that stop me.”

“Tell you what… if you sleep a few hours and have some soup, I promise you a short but very hot make-out session.”

“How short?” he asks. “And what terms? Naked? Clothes on? PG-13?”

I press my finger to his lips, winking. “That’s all part of the surprise.”

“I think I like it when you take charge. This is getting me really hot.”

“Excellent! Now, where’s that chain?”

“Right here, still attached to the bedpost.” Rider reaches up with one hand and jangles it with his fingers.

“Tempting,” I whisper, giggling as I lean down to kiss him again.

I feel like we have finally found each other, after years of searching. From the moment I saw Rider over a week ago, I knew he wasn’t the same person I met back in Delta. At first, that frightened me, and the longer we stayed together, the more certain I was that we were too different to reconcile.

But I still couldn’t let him go. Even as I told myself I had to leave for Caleb’s sake, I still couldn’t do it.

Rider reaches up and strokes my arms, pulling me down to him. I smile through our kiss.

“You’re being naughty,” I scold him. “I told you if you want kisses, you have to be good.”

“Stop me then,” he whispers. “God, I love you so much, Fiona.”

“I love you, too.”

My doubts and fears melt away as Rider holds me. I let it all go, embracing the love I thought I lost.

There is nothing but the warmth of his kiss, the thrill of his hands on me, and the knowledge that I am finally home, whole and complete.