Chapter Forty-Four: The Cookie Crumbles More

Hudson:

Sore, I was so sore. For the past few days we had been having sex five times a day, new black bags hollowed out my eyes. Her chest rose up and down, my hands massaging her bump. How was it growing so fast? Stephan ran in with a letter in his hands, the paper fluttering in his hand. A lawyer's name caught my eyes, the sheer panic in his eyes unsettled me. Moving the blankets to hide my lower body, he tossed it to me. My heart sank at the words lawsuit, Evie yawned groggily. Thankfully, she still wore one of my navy t-shirts. The cotton stretched around her bump, her fingers curling around the paper. Jerking awake, she cursed venomously to herself.

"Print off any online arguments you had. I will go to the school and get the video of the fight." She ordered sharply, swinging her feet over the edge of the bed. "I promise to take care of you. For now, have Theros hire a lawyer. One more thing, don't say a single word. Do you understand!" Clutching his shoulders, an awkward silence hung between them. Jumping to her feet, she selected a light orange sweater dress. Shoving a numb Stephan outside, she squeezed her breasts into a bra.

"I am coming with you. We are stopping to get you some new lingerie." I urged sternly, her head shaking. Pulling the dress over her head, she tugged at the much shorter hem. Damn, she was going to need some new clothes. Picking out black leather leggings, she tugged them on. The waistband rolled down, a frustrated growl escaped her lips. Grabbing her purse, her keys jingled in her hands. Yanking on her boots, she called out for Grappy. Her mind had been made, the poor soul who did this had Hell itself coming their way. Her genius level of intelligence could shift any war in her favor, however something felt off about the whole situation.

"Let's go!" She barked venomously, pure rage seethed in her eyes. "I need you to help him gather evidence. No one hurts my family. We will go shopping after. If I know Theros like I do, he will be coming over with a lawyer." The door slammed behind them, her car rumbling away. Knocking on the door, Stephan opened it cautiously. A distraught Raven clung to his sleeve, her body crashing onto Evie's side of the bed. Her scent must have relaxed her as well, Stephan glanced away in shame. Stepping back in fear, my presence frightened a lot of people. Motioning for him to come, Raven curled up into a ball on our bed. Following me solemnly, he barely looked up at me the moment I slammed him down into the chair.

"Open up your account so we can print everything out." I groaned tiredly, still sore from all of the sex. "I will turn away for a moment." His hand grabbed my wrist, a snarl curling on his lips. Privacy was special to me when I was his age, his broken expression breaking my heart.

"I don't care if you watch. I am just embarrassed by the bullying." He admitted irritably, logging in. "Don't you dare think that I am weak!" Not once did I say he was weak, my thoughts on him were the contrary. He was one of the bravest people I knew, his attitude reminding me of my younger self. Dragging a chair next to him, the messages popped up. Horrible things were said, the worst one saying that he should die. Hitting the print button, several familiar names popped up. These were werewolves kids, the constant insult of blood sucker and monster haunted the screen. The papers floated to the floor, his shaking hand passing me his phone. Scrolling through the messages, clammy sweat drenched his face. One particular message caught my eye, my eyebrow twitched irritably.

"If you dare come back to school, we will kill you without a second thought." I read out loud, the message only getting worse. "You stole our Raven and impregnated her. You deserve to die." There were times where I despised the werewolf's jealous nature, the phone nearly breaking as I took the screenshot. Sending it to my computer, he hit the print button again. Gathering all of the evidence, a knock on the door interrupted us. A stern man with slicked back silver hair sauntered in, his seven foot slender frame crouched into the door. Steel gray eyes narrowed in my direction, his expensive Italian suit only emphasizing the oddity of the man. Theros poked his head out from behind him, his casual outfit of a black band t-shirt and black ripped jeans threw me off. Fixing his hair, he bowed in my direction.

"You reek of Evie." He mused playfully, circling me. "Have you been having loads of fun recently? Judging from the smell, you have been having sex five times a day. Having issues keeping up." Embarrassment colored my cheeks, Stephan's face brightening a bit. Hiding his wicked grin, Theros' fist bumped his brother. Must he be so irritating! Still it was nice to see Stephan smiling again.

"None of that matters." I stammered awkwardly, Theros pushing the lawyer in front of him. "Who is he?" The lawyer cleared his throat, all of our eyes falling on him. Running his hand through his hair, a strand fell in front of his face. Wrinkles lined his face, his scent telling me that he was half werewolf and half human. Wondering where he was from, it was a peculiar scent.

"I am Decklin Morgan, your lawyer for this case." He introduced himself, shaking all of our hands. "I need any and all messages showing defamation. Am I correct in assuming your wife is getting footage of the fight? She has a challenge ahead of her. They don't have to hand it over. Regardless, let's pull together a case. Shall we move to the kitchen table then?" Gathering everything, our footfalls echoed down the hall to the kitchen. My attention faded in and out, exhaustion weighed heavily on my eyelids. Laying my head on the table, sweet slumber stole me away.

A hand shaking me woke me up, my head snapping up. A bruised Evie gazed longingly at me, the wounds were new. Shopping bags hung in her hands, a broken hand hid behind her back. Who the hell did to her? Her broken smile shattered my heart, my hand reaching for her. Stepping out of the way, she did everything to avoid me. Dropping the bags to the floor, she glanced around. A tiny yelp escaped her lips the moment I grabbed her broken hand. Dark bruises dotted the top of her hand, a nasty bite mark caught my eye on the same hand. My inner wolf begged for me to murder the individual who did this to her only to hear her say that revenge was never the answer. Before I met her as a friend, an unbridled rage grew day by day. My father always said horrible things to my mother, even beating her at times. Then she showed up at school, her real smile stole it all away in a mere second. She bounced up to me, and took my hand. Up until that point no one but my sister held it so compassionately, the warmth had felt so foreign. So many nights Latia would hide in my arms almost every other night. Tears welled up in my eyes, the horrible memories haunting me. Yet, she didn't know about any of that.

"The principal attacked me and bit me. I didn't hit her back but she is another magical wolf." She panicked, the fright showing her face. "It won't heal! It won't heal! It hurts so bad!" Unsure of what to do, the footage of the fight dropped to the floor. Of course she still got the footage, my amazing wife achieving her ultimate goal. Grappy rushed downstairs with a medical bag, cuts and bruises covering his bare skin. Sitting her down, silent tears of pain slid down her face. Grappy fussed over her, fresh fury burned in his eyes. Slapping the side of his face, his face softened into a tired smile.

"This is going to hurt." He warned her sweetly, attempting not to freak her out more. "I am sorry that I couldn't do more." Screams of pain exploded from her lips, Grappy gingerly placed her bones back in place. Her head crashed to the table, Grappy sobbed softly. His quaking hand wiped the wound with an alcoholic cloth, the wound was a dull reminder of our failure. Hovering behind him, my fury matched his. Neither of us wanted revenge, her words probably coursing through his head as well.

"It was going okay until a group of students came in. They all looked like the kids who live in your village. That was when I noticed these strange necklaces around their necks. She ordered me to remove the necklaces without hurting me. Of course I had to behave. So their punches and kicks kept hitting me." He fumed with an aggravated tone, stitching up her hand. "When I was finally done, the principal was naked. She slid over the footage of the fight over to her. Then she insisted we keep on going with our plans. She had me wrap up her hand. I would have killed everyone if she didn't stop me. I have f- " My lips parted to speak, a loud knock broke the conversation. Opening it cautiously, several teenage werewolves sulked in. Stephan skidded into the room, his fists were raised in the air. His anger was understandable, his big brother coming into the room to defend him just in case. Growls rumbled in his throat, Theros leaned on the door frame. The tallest one stepped forward with his head bowed in shame, his sweat soaked waves of blond clung to his face. His sage color eyes flitted between Stephan and me. My nose couldn't pick up any deceit, his intentions were true.

"We are sorry." He blurted out desperately, bowing incessantly in my direction. "We were under a spell. I would like to start over with you. We don't want you dead. If we were suing you, we would drop the lawsuit. We are so sorry." Grappy shot daggers in his direction while casting a purple cast over her hand.

"She got fired for indecent exposure." He continued anxiously, chewing on his nails. "We stole her clothes and them. Is Evie okay? We saw her hand get bitten. I am just curious about how she would take care of us even though her hand was in rough shape. She was so nice, and said that we would only have to do eighty hours of community service in our town. Oh shit! I forgot to tell you that my name is Todd Salvoten, and we all accept full responsibility. Alpha Hudson, will you punish us accordingly?" Stephan lowered his fists, his arms folding across his chest. Looking just like Theros for a moment, his haughty grin matched his brothers. All of them had been humbled by Evie's action, my lips pressing into a thin line. They trembled before me, my mind coursed through the many options.

"I expect you to clean up the remains of Raven's old home as your community service. Then you will plant her mother's favorite flowers." I ordered firmly, lifting up his chin with my finger. "You are more of a man than your father will ever be. You owned up to your mistake. Don't beat yourself up. You were a pawn. I will have Evie order the flowers. I am not a dick like my father. Since tomorrow is the weekend, you will begin your punishment. Is that understood?" Surprise rounded his eyes the moment I ruffled his hair, the tenseness fading from his face. Stephan offered his hand for Todd to shake, Todd accepted it cautiously. Smiling kindly at him, his heart was as golden as Evie's.

"I will help you out. We can squash our beef then." He suggested wisely, confusion dawning on Todd's face. "Do you want to be one of my first friends? I may not be able to go back to school but I can hang out with you once you get home." Grappy and the rest of us waited with bated breath for his answer. Stephan could really use a friend, Todd glancing back at me for an answer. Motioning for him to answer, a lump formed in my throat.

"Sure." Todd mumbled with uncertainty, Raven moped into the room. Taking off her sneaker, it took everything not to laugh as it landed square in Todd's face. Catching it in his palm, he tossed it back to her. Flipping him off as she slipped her shoe back on, a steady stream of curse words flooded from her lips.

"You are a rotten bastard! You fucking idiot. You didn't have to join them!" She ranted hotly, Evie stirring awake. "You can only be his friend if you respect him and me. I know that I am a freak! So what! You can fucking deal with it!" Examining her hand, her eyes fell on the chaos erupting in front of her. Todd marched up to her, his eyes never leaving hers. Rubbing her head groggily, she yawned adorably.

"I promise all of that and more." He promised sincerely, cocking his head. "I want to be your friend, too. I want to say my condolences for your loss. As odd as you two were, your mother helped my family all of the time. Can I hug you?" Her eyebrow twitched with her nervous grin, her head nodding. Embracing him awkwardly instead, Evie cleared her throat. Todd rushed over to her, his eyes falling on her hand. Had they really learned that much from her? Smiling brokenly to myself, she really had a magical effect on everyone.

"Don't worry about that." She chirped cheerfully, taking his left hand. "You got hurt as well. I saw you tackle her for me. Look at these bruises. Let's take care of them. Also, I have to thank you for stealing her clothes. I heard she got fired." Rolling up the sleeve of his sweatshirt, nasty bite marks covered his whole arm. Rising to her feet, she sat him down. Forgetting her pain was her specialty to take care of those who needed it, Todd's eyes watched her with avid curiosity.

"It must have hurt to reject the nature of the necklace." She continued jovially, disinfecting each wound. "You're lucky that these only broke the first couple of layers of skin. I am going to put my own ointment on your arm and you should be completely healed by the morning. Whatever you do, don't remove the bandage. My breath hitched at her beauty as she rubbed a grayish-blue ointment on his arm. Wrapping thick gauze around his arm, she secured it with a clip. A numb look washed over his face, his eyes falling on the gauze. Guilt dimmed his eyes, his lips pressing into a thin line.

"I don't get it." He mumbled under his breath, frustration brewing in his eyes. "How come you are helping me after what I did to Raven? I bullied her and kicked the ass out of Stephan. I don't deserve f-" Raising her finger in the air, she danced around. Leaning forward, she poked his nose. What had her all jazzed up?

"I believe in second chances. If you really were an asshole would you have saved me?" She chuckled warmly, his face softening. "You are young so you have so much to learn. Stephan and Raven forgave you. Move on and leave the past in the past. Besides if you don't get it yet, I would lay my life down on the line for my clan. Now run off before your mother starts worrying about you." The door slammed shut behind them, Evie examined Grappy's handiwork. Leaping into his arms, he rested his chin on her head. Tears of joy flooded from their eyes, Grappy spun her into my arms. Their bond was special, almost like a big brother protecting his little sister. The image of my father's angry face flashed in my mind, his thunderous voice screaming that I was stupid in my ears.

"I am happy to see that you are okay. I am going to my husband now." He effused with relief dripping in my voice. "Try not to break your hand in your sexual adventures. That will take as long as a human's to heal. Let's try to stay out of trouble. I doubt you will be able to though." Flipping him off, he flipped her off right back. Scooping up her bags, she skipped upstairs. Skidding to a stop in front of our bedroom door, the door was locked. Jiggling the handle, I needed to see if she was alright.

"I have a surprise for you." She sang excitedly through the door, my hand falling to my side. "Close your eyes." Her slender hand yanked me in, the sound of the mattress creaking made it harder to not look. Hearing her shift around, she cleared her throat.

"You can look now." She announced nervously, my jaw dropping to the floor. "What do you think?" My cock stiffened, an emerald lace teddy hugged her body. A matching robe slipped off of her shoulders, her come get me stare begging for me to come over. Climbing onto the bed, my fingers traced the lace over her bump. My lips grazed her breasts, my fingers toyed with a piece of her silky hair.

"You look beautiful." I commented lovingly, watching her face light up. "You are always beautiful to me. In fact no one would ever outshine you." Cupping her hands, she cried out adorably. Kissing every inch of her skin, she yawned groggily. Disappointment dimmed her eyes, a light chuckle escaped my lips. Part of me was relieved, my eyes falling on the night sky. She didn't know how she had saved me that day, the stress showing a bit on my face.

"I wanted to surprise you. I haven't felt that pretty lately. I feel like a fat whale." She whined cutely, her lips forming into a pout. "You could have an-" Kissing her passionately, time stopped. The only thing that I could hear was our rapid heartbeats. Scarlet painted her cheeks, her lust had died down for the evening.

"No, I don't think so. You are gorgeous no matter what. You are carrying my child, so don't worry about it." I whispered sweetly in her ear, her arms wrapping around my neck. "I am so amazed at the job you are doing. You are the mother of my child. How about we watch a horror movie?" Flashing me her real smile, the warmth of that day washed over me. Laying her down gently, she didn't protest as I tucked her in. Peeling off my clothes, they landed with a soft thud. Sliding in behind her, her bump felt so nice in my arms. Turning on the television, she picked a horror movie. Glancing back at me, a wicked grin danced across her lips. A couple minutes passed, her eyes opening and shutting. Snores told me that she was sleeping, the serenity on her face pleasing my inner wolf. Get the rest you need. We all need you, my dear Evie.