“I do not want to hear about your panties or your private bits. You’re my mom. Dad, it’s my mom you’re talking about,” Eziah whines.
“You came out of my private bits!” I growl at him.
Hands fall on my shoulders, I jump in my seat and I look up to see Ezra. An irritated sigh leaves me the moment I notice Maddox come forward.
“Lose the mood. You have been insufferable lately,” Maddox snarls in a warning.
“Well, if you and Mateo here didn’t chase our daughter off, I might have lost the attitude and mood by now!” I snap at him.
He rolls his eyes. “How many times do I have to apologize for that? She freaked us out. We didn’t realize how powerful she was,” Maddox says as he bends down to nip at my neck. Maddox growls, feeling my anger brewing and nipping my mark, breaking my skin.
“Stop, I am fine.” His teeth press harder and from any other angle they might think he is being affectionate, but I know better. He feels I’m losing control, and willing to take control if needed. But I am fine,
“Cut it out, or I will feed you to the bears,” I tell him.
Maddox sighs loudly and I feel the change in the air around us as he hands the control back to Ezra. At the very same moment, his aura fades a little and doesn’t remain as potent anymore.
I raise an eyebrow at him as I glance up at Ezra again. “Have you found out anything remotely helpful?” I ask. The sooner we figure out how we can get my brother’s wild child of a daughter out of here, the better.
God, sometimes my family acts like I don’t have shit to do. Do they forget the Moon Goddess has responsibilities?
Ezra nods and glances at the men who still surround Casen. “Yes, they keep calling Casen the mate killer, something about Celeste and if we want Rose back, you need to help them,” he mutters the last part. Clearly, my mate knew I wouldn’t like that part, so I’m pretty sure he’s doing damage control around me, trying to keep me calm.
“They are holding her hostage?” I huff and cross my arms in front of my chest as I too, look back at the men. Have they lost their mind? Do they want to see just how much patience I can have with someone once it comes to my family? As much as I want to leave Rose here…
“Kind of, but not really. From what I gather, Rose wants to stay,” Ezra explains.
“Not my monkeys, not my monkeys,” I mutter the reminder under my breath.
“Pretty sure they’re were-bears, Love,” Ezra chuckles.
“Same difference, they’re not my responsibility!”
Just as I part my lips, I feel Sage’s aura getting closer. A wide, mischievous grin spreads across my lips. Now we are getting somewhere. This is going to be so bloody good.
Hell has no fury like a woman scorned, or in this case, a mother. If I can feel her from afar, I’m sure she is a raging inferno with one goal on her mind. I have never, ever seen her so goddamn angry. And to be fair, I never thought she could be so infuriated. Sage almost scares me, that is until I remember who I am.
“Why are you grinning like that? Kat?” Mateo asks, nudging me.
“Sage,” I chuckle.
Ezra and Mateo look at me. Confusion crosses their facial features. But as I look at my brother, I watch how Andrei spins around and looks in the same direction I feel her coming from.
“Now you have done it,” Andrei tells Rose.
“She has done it alright.” Eziah chuckles. “I don’t think I have seen an angry bone in that woman’s body, and she is fucking livid,” Eziah chuckles and smiles, as he also feels her coming closer. Her aura is like a glowing beacon.
My son has a warped sense of humor. He really enjoys watching people’s horror, and this time is no different when he feels Sage on the verge of losing her shit.
I glance up just in time to see Rose’s eyes look past us. “Mom?” she says, obviously shocked.
“You little brat! You wait until I get my damn hands on you.” Sage is furious. I’m surprised I don’t see smoke coming from her ears as she pulls leaves and twigs from her hair and stomps toward her daughter. Sage’s clothes are torn from her run in the forest. She looks like a cute, but angry, homeless person.
Rose yelps and jumps up. I roll my eyes when she darts behind Casen.
Isn’t this nice? The brat didn’t want him earlier, she actually ran away from him, and now, she is trying to use him as a living shield just to hold her mother away from her.
I almost smile when I see Casen push Rose away. Clearly, he isn’t happy with her either, and I can’t say that I blame him one bit.
Andrei tries to intervene when Sage grabs their daughter by the ear. The tribe elder or chief, whatever the heck he calls himself, stands up, but he raises his hands in surrender when Sage points a shaking, angry finger at him.
Wow, he backs down plenty quick enough, so at least we don’t have to jump in to protect Sage. I think she has the right to be furious and show just how angry she is with Rose’s doings. That girl keeps getting away with far too much. I blame my brother.
My eyes focus on the biggest bear as he sits back on his log, looking like a scolded little boy. Eziah cackles, and I kick him as he laughs at Rose’s embarrassment.
“You brat, how fucking dare you? Do you have any idea how many people are looking for you? This is no behavior for a future Alpha!” Sage screams at the top of her lungs as she drags Rose away. In the meantime, Rose actually has the gall to try to pry her mother’s fingers off her.
“Hours. We spent fucking hours negotiating with them. And my mate just walks in, no care in the world, and rips her out by her ear.” Andrei puffs out his chest, and I see the leader get up.
“Sit down!” Andrei and I both snap, and he does.
“Seems Sage spooked him,” I chuckle.
“More like bluffed him,” Andrei says, and I snicker.
“Sometimes that is all that is needed,” I shrug as my words reach him, and my brother nods. Then he slowly walks over to Casen.
“I know you’re upset. Don’t blame him. Rose will see the truth soon too,” I mutter, but he still hears me.
Andrei looks over his shoulder and meets my eyes as he raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?”
“I kept my mouth shut, didn’t I? You know, when Vince’s wolf returned to the fountain, I helped, didn’t I? We fixed it!”
Andrei nods and seems to be deep in thought until something happens, and his eyes widen a little. “Sage?”
“I would hate to be you when you get home,” I warn him, a little too joyful for the current situation. My brother needs a beating or two from time to time to get back to the right mindset. He has improved massively, but sometimes, I feel like he is starting to take Sage for granted and prioritize Rose’s temper tantrums more.