ELLIE

"I don't want to cause you problems in your pack Ellie. I would rather run the risk it going alone than put a rift between you and the people who care about you," Bradley finally said. We had been sitting in my office in total silence for twenty minutes now because I didn't know what to say to him.

I didn't think there was anything to be said. I knew my pack were going to hate him and they were never going to accept him as a member of the pack but that didn't give them the right to make attempts on his life every thirty seconds.

If he really did want to kill me, if he was the one who thought of the entire plan he was carrying out, I would have been dead the moment we were out of the cellar. He would have taken the opportunity to do it while we were alone and there was no one to prove he was the one who had murdered me.

"No. I'm not giving them what they want. It's happened for too long now and it's time they remember who I am," I replied firmly.

"For what it's worth, given that I've been watching you for long enough now, I think you're an amazing Alpha," Bradley shrugged as he took the seat on the other side of my desk and looked over at me.

"I'm not. I don't know what I'm doing most of the time and I let my friends treat me like they would any other pack member. People don't respect me and I am pretty half my pack want me dead hence the reason they were so willing to turn against me," I sighed. I really did try to be the Alpha Darkness deserved but I wasn't going to be ruthless and I wasn't going to kill people for the sake of killing people either.

I wasn't going to be anything like James was because even I knew that's not what being an Alpha was about. I may not have been a good Alpha and people may have hated me but I knew it was about understanding and it was about putting your pack before yourself so that you could do anything to keep them from danger.

But it would seem I was attracted to danger because it was always around me. I was constantly putting the people I loved and cared about in the path of death and it wasn't fair anymore.

"No Alpha is perfect, Ellie, you're all going to make mistakes. But it's about learning from your mistakes and being the best that you can be. You don't need to stop being friends with Luca and Jackson but you need to make sure they knew where their boundaries are. You should never treat your family like they're inferior to you because you're going to need your mate and your son is going to be Alpha when he is old enough," Bradley spoke quietly.

"And what if they all hate me? I can't lose Jackson and Luca. They're my best friends and I don't want either of them to hate me. Tell me what I'm supposed to do," I was almost in tears when I spoke because I was so frustrated with everything. I wanted to do the right thing but I didn't want to lose the people I considered family now either.

"You know what you're supposed to do. You just need to believe in yourself," Bradley smiled reassuringly just as the door opened and everyone filed into the room. Jamie and Link took the seat on the window with Jamie sitting on Link's lap and his arms wrapped around her waist, Jackson and Elliot took the sofa beside each other with Jackson wrapped his arm protectively around her stomach and his chin resting on her shoulder, Luca took the chair beside Bradley with Michael standing beside him and Daniel sitting on his lip with his face hidden in Luca's neck, Charlotte remained standing beside the door with her arms folded over her chest and a tired look in her eyes and Blake was the last to enter.

He looked straight at me with tears in his eyes and I could see that he hadn't been sleeping. He had the twins in an arm each and they were both sleeping peacefully unaware of the world around them and I pushed myself from my seat, running over to where he was standing with my own tears in my eyes.

I took Maxwell from him and held him close to my own chest with a kiss to his head while Blake did the same with Nicole. I wrapped my free arm around his waist and held him close, inhaling his scent and allowing a few tears to fall from my eyes, hiding the fact I was crying from anyone other than Blake who put a kiss on the top of my head.

"I swear, if you ever do anything like that again, I will kill you myself," Blake whispered.

"I love you Blake," I replied quietly. I didn't care about the amount of people in the room nor that they were watching our every movement. I had missed Blake and I had missed the twins so they could wait for a moment while I reacquainted myself with the three of them before I told them how things were going to change.

"I love you too El. Please never leave me again?" Blake's voice sounded so broken and I could sense how much pain he was in. It hurt to know I was the reason for that pain and it hurt knowing I had done it to him on purpose but it was for our children and I would do it all over again to save my family.

"I promise," I told him truthfully. I didn't have any intention of leaving him again and I knew I wouldn't have to once we had Nicole in the cells. I could find out what her game was and she could tell me why she wanted me dead so badly since I was totally clueless about her reasons for wanting to kill me.

I finally moved away from Blake and walked back to my seat with Maxwell in my arms. I looked down at his sleeping form and I actually noticed just how much like Blake he looked. He was his father's son and that meant he was probably going to grow into a little heartbreaker when he was older but I would leave Blake to deal with that when the time came and I would deal with Nicole.

I would even deal with the inevitable jealousy which was going to come when Max shifted at sixteen and she had to wait another two years before she could meet her wolf. But Blake would have to deal with Max and he would deal with the talk concerning mates and how they were the most wonderful thing in the world – they held the power to either make you or break you and it was your choice on how you used that power.

Blake took a stand to my left side. He was looking at Nicole with so much love and happiness in his eyes as he moved her blanket so that it covered her. But she grabbed hold of his finger in her sleep and her hand looked so small wrapped around his much bigger finger. She was going to be a daddy's girl when she got older because she already had him wrapped around her little finger and she wasn't even a month old.

"As touching as this moment is, I want to know what the hell is going on and why we're here," Luca snapped. I knew he was going to be pissed with me but I also didn't think he would act like that while there were so many people around us. But this was Luca and he never knew how to keep his temper under control.

"Firstly, I don't care what any of you say, Bradley is coming to become part of this pack and he's going to be living in this house until there something more suitable found in the town," I told them firmly. I watched as Bradley sunk back into his chair while four sets of eyes all moved in his direction, all of which were screaming murder at him.

"He tried to kill you El," Jackson was the one to speak up this time and I hadn't failed to notice the way in which his grip tightened around Elliot.

"And he kidnapped our children," Blake growled angrily.

"He didn't have anything to do with that. I was the one who hired the twins to kidnap Max and Nicole. Bradley only housed them and that's because he was threatened, not because he wanted to do it," Charlotte muttered from the door and everyone focused their attention on her. I didn't think she would speak, I assumed she would remain silent until she was spoken to first, it seemed like the sort of thing she would do.

"He still drugged the both of them," Blake snapped harshly. I knew he wouldn't lose his temper while he had Nicole in his arms but that didn't stop him from being pissed off with Bradley being in the pack. "He was willing to let Nicole think he was her father until El stepped forward to go with him."

"I didn't have a choice. Nicole has been working with a couple of humans who would have happily killed me for the right price," Bradley defended himself. The poor kid really didn't have the best luck with his life and it wasn't getting any better even though I was actually trying to help him out of his position.

"So hunters?" Blake chuckled humourlessly.

"No. They were just humans. They knew nothing of our world, Nicole provided them with the weapons they needed and, with the money she was giving them, they didn't question the weapons she provided them with," Bradley told him.

"And why should we believe you? This could all be some game for all we know," Link was the one who spoke to him now. As my older brother, it was his role to be protective and it was his role to worry about me at times like this, but I thought he would understand better than the other three.

"You want the truth?" Bradley stood up from his seat and looked around at all three of the males in the room. Link and Jackson were holding into their mates like Bradley would attack them in a room full of people who could easily take him down. I knew that, even if this was a game, he wasn't stupid enough to kill me with everyone around.

"It would be nice," Luca muttered sarcastically.

"Yes. At first I did want to murder Ellie. I wanted to make her suffer because she was the reason I had no one left. She was the reason my family were dead and that I had nothing left even worth fighting for. A couple of years ago I found both Charlotte and Nicole, they shared in my plans to want make her suffer because they both has issues with her too, and so we started to plan—"

"This isn't starting out well for you," Link growled. Though Bradley had told me this already, it was still uncomfortable to listen to what he had planned, to know that he had it all planned out how he was going to make me pay for the death of his father and his sister.

"I watched Ellie. I mean, I had been watching her for a while beforehand, but this time I really watched her and I knew what I was doing was wrong. I saw how she was with Blake and how happy they were when they found out she was pregnant. I knew that I couldn't take her away from that. I couldn't make another person feel the same pain I feel on a daily basis and, regardless of how much I hated her, I told Charlotte and Nicole that I wanted out. I didn't want to be part of their plan anymore but neither of them would accept it," Bradley finished with tears in his eyes. I could feel my heart breaking for him and I just wanted to comfort him but I wasn't stupid and I knew what would happen if I touched him.

"The same pain you feel?" Jackson enquired.

"My mate. She's dead. She killed herself after she lost our pup for the seventh time," Bradley whispered the words as he sat back down in his chair and sunk backwards with tears in his eyes. Daniel, being the kind and caring little boy he was, moved himself from Luca's lap and walked over to Bradley before Luca could stop his son.

He climbed onto Bradley's lap and wrapped his arms around his neck. "Elliot makes some awesome cookies. They always make me happy when I'm sad. Do you want some?"

"She does make some badass cookies. You really have to try them," Michael grinned from beside his father. Luca's look was undefined and I didn't know what was going to do when Michael moved from the side of his father to stand beside Bradley. He took hold of Bradley's hand and pulled him from his seat.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Bradley muttered without moving his eyes from the boys in front of him.

"No. I think that's a good idea. Perhaps it will show everyone that they're wrong about you and they will all stop doubting me," I replied. He wasn't going to do anything wrong and I needed to show them all that they were wrong about him. He needed to be given a chance and they weren't even letting him have that, they were judging him before they even understood what was really happening.

"Ellie—" Luca growled.

"Why don't you boys take Bradley to the kitchen and then you can show him to the spare bedroom if you want to?" I smiled at the boys.

"And I can show him all my Lego models. I've made more since you've been gone Auntie Ellie," Daniel grinned proudly.

"It's taken over our room. I am going to have to thank Jayson for that," Michael muttered sarcastically. I watched as Daniel climbed off Bradley's lap and eagerly pulled on his hand while Michael walked over to the door and helped them up. "C'mon. The cookies aren't going to wait all day."

Bradley gave me a faint smile as he followed after the boys and closed the door to the office behind him. Those who remained all glared at me like I was the Devil himself with Elliot shaking her head disapprovingly and Luca growling under his breath.

"I can't believe you just sent my children out there with that monster," Luca spat.

"He really did want out of our plan. We refused to let him leave though and told him we would kill him if he dared go against anything we told him," Charlotte sighed. I watched her gaze never leave the floor as she ran her hands through her hair. I could tell she was nervous and with every right to be nervous.

"I understand why you want me dead, you've made that clear more than enough times, but I don't understand why you were working with the woman who left you to the mercy of those who murdered our family. You worked with the person who saved me and left you for dead," I replied calmly.

"She was pissed with you, something to do with being the reason her son walked away without a reason, and I was pissed with you for having everything I wanted. It was the perfect partnership," Charlotte muttered. It's funny how she was all about the truth when there was someone other than me involved and she wanted to save their ass. "Bradley came to us and told us he couldn't kill you. He told us that he hated you but he wasn't willing to take you away from your family and the people who need you. He wanted the chance to speak with you and explain everything in the hopes that you would explain things to him he never understood. I guess he got his wish."

"You used his weakness against him. You used the fact he was already out for revenge to force him into unforgiveable actions and that's something I will never understand, Charlotte. I will never be able to forgive you for what you've done to me, what you did to Luca and your boys, I don't want anything to do with you. As far as I am concerned, I only have one sibling and he's sat over there with his mate," I replied. I had thought I could forgive her and I thought I could give her the chance to be my sister but there's no way I will ever be able to forgive her for her actions now.

I have lived without her for thirty-one years now and I could continue to live the rest of my life without her now. I had never thought about having a sister, not after I had Link as a brother, so I didn't need a sister now that she was suddenly feeling guilty for everything she had done. It was too late for forgiveness and it was too late for her to come back into my life.

"Ellie—"

"No, Charlotte, I have managed without you for this long so I can manage the rest of my life without you. As a mother myself, I won't prevent you from seeing your boys because I'm not that heartless and I would never take that away from Michael and Daniel, but if neither of them want to see you again after today, I never want to see you on my land again," I stopped her before she had the chance to beg for forgiveness. I had my family and my pack to worry about – she put both of those in danger and I wasn't going to allow it to happen anymore.

"Please. Ju—"

"You have half hour to speak with the boys and then I want you gone. I, Ellie Pierce, Alpha of Darkness, hereby expel you, Charlotte Charles, from the pack," I said and it felt like a massive weight off my shoulders knowing that she was no longer my problem. I wasn't going to have to worry about her next move and I wasn't going to have to constantly look over my shoulder.

"I'll never survive as a rogue," Charlotte sobbed as she fell to the floor with her head in her hands.

"You made your bed and now you must lie in it. You have twenty-seven minutes remaining before I want you off the territory," I said as I stood up from my seat. Max was now awake and I looked down into those green eyes which reminded me so much of Blake. He was giggling quietly to himself, a sound which made me a huge smile appear on my face as I moved my hand towards him and took hold of his hand in my own.

"Pl—"

"Link, I want you and Jamie to organise a party for this weekend, I think it's time to introduce the pack to their future Alpha and his sister. I also think we're due something happy and this is the perfect reason to celebrate," I ignored Charlotte's pleas from the floor and looked over to my brother and Jamie.

I was glad that they had worked out their differences and they were making a shot of it together. I know it's not what either of them wanted but they deserve each other because you can see how happy they make the other. You can see how in love they are even if they won't say the words to each other – though it take me three months to tell Blake that I loved him even though I knew I loved him before that.

Link had suffered enough at the hands of other people and it was time he was allowed to get on with his life. I knew no one would ever replace his previous mate but I was glad he had found it in him to let go of the past and actually move to the future.

"Oh. My sister-in-law is giving me permission to plan a party. You're so going to regret this," Jamie clapped her hands together happily as she jumped off Link's lap and bound over to where I was standing.

"Please remember they're only a month old. So, whatever you have in mind, get rid of it," Blake told her.

"Blake," she groaned stamping her foot like a child. It was actually rather amusing to see a grown woman having a tantrum because her older brother told her off for something.

"I know what you're like when it comes to parties," Blake told her seriously.

"I'll make it child friendly during the day but others are going to want to continue into the night. Pleeeeease?"

"You do whatever you want Jamie. I asked for a party and that's what I expect," I chuckled.

"Yes. I love you El," Jamie screamed with a kiss on my cheek and then she ran out of the room listing things off to herself which she was going to need for the party. I am sure I would regret telling her that later but for now I wanted something to look forward to and this was as good as anything.

"I am proud of you El. You've done a good thing today and I'm sorry that I ever doubted you," Link smiled. He looked down at his nephew who was coo'ing and giggling away to himself in my arms.

"Here. Hold your nephew," I smiled back as I handed him Maxwell. Link took him with a grin on his face and started walking around the room talking to Max like he was going to reply. It made me happy to see my brother was still there for me like he always had been and that he still knew when he needed to admit that he was wrong.

"Max and I will be back in a bit. I think he needs to get to know how awesome his Aunt and Uncle are," Link called before he vanished from the room. I was stood there in disbelief while Blake seemed to think it was hilarious the way my brother had just taken our son in such a hurry.

"I'm proud of you too baby. I know how hard that must have been for you to do," Blake suddenly spoke and I felt my heart rate increase from those words. My mate was proud of me and he didn't hate me anymore either. He was too good for me and at times I wondered how the hell I managed to get so lucky with someone like Blake.

I watched as the others all tried to sneak out of the room but I wasn't done with them and there were still some things which needed to be said to all of them. I loved them and I appreciated them trying to protect me but they needed to know that there was a line and I wasn't going to let them cross that line anymore; they were going to have to follow the rules like everyone else and they were going to have to understand that there was a difference between me being their Alpha and me being their friend.

"Don't you three think you can sneak off like that either. I'm not finished with you," I called out. The three of them turned to look at me with guilty looks on their faces before Luca returned to his chair and Jackson took the other one with Elliot still sitting on his lap. "You take Nicole and make sure Link isn't corrupting our son. I'll speak with you later."

"I'm more worried about Jamie organising a party than I am about Link watching Maxwell," Blake muttered as he walked out of the room. He paused in the doorway to blow me a kiss and to mouth that he loved me before he walked off down the corridor in search of my brother and his sister which brought my attention back to the three people in front of me and a still whimpering Charlotte in the corner of the room.

"Now. You three. Where shall I begin?"