Chapter 74 – A Dangerous Family

Hearing it come out from his lips made a weird feeling settle on Leal’s stomach. It felt so foreign coming from him, the word family. He never called his father his family, but he called them his family – the illegitimate family. He probably called Margaret and their child that too, but hearing him calling them that, it… it just washes away all her envy. Her desire to have a complete family is gnawing inside her.

Before Big Trisha says any more, Leal quickly twisted the knob and stepped outside – despite her reddening cheeks. She locked eyes with him, his jet-black dark eyes making contact with her hazel ones, a scene similar to when Anna’s wolf took over back at the mall and had the same soulless, void eyes. They had the same eyes, and she actually feared he’d see her features last time so she hid Anna. But today, seeing him in front of their cabin just made her heart race.

She knew he’s going to find her someday after not seeing each other and leaving everything unsettled for two and a half years, but she never knew it was going to be this fast! She wasn’t prepared – she’s even wearing a bugs bunny overall!

“Leal,” Trisha called her. “He’s violent as f u ck. He can physically abuse you… but he can also protect you pretty well.”

“O-Oh.” Her cheeks flushed. She didn’t expect Trisha to say those in front of him, but then again, it’s Trisha. She does whatever she wants, with whoever she wants. “O-Okay…”

Trisha proceeded to shrug her shoulders and seize him up one last time before going inside, not until she looks back at Leal one last time. “Scream when you need help. I’ll be sure to place my baseball bat near me.”

Oh gosh. She’s just as violent as everybody. This happens every time when she meets a new guy – whether introduced by them or not – they always try to intimidate the guy and it always works. She’s never tried to date other men, they just come to her for no reason. And this time, another guy came to her. But not just any random Swiss, but a guy from her past, a guy she cherishes, and a guy she still loves to this day. Unfortunately, it’s a mere unrequited love now.

“Want some pizza?”

Leal sighed and leaned back on the doorframe behind her, crossing her arms as she looked up at him.

“What are you doing? Why do you have my pizza?”

“I’m your pizza delivery guy,” he said, feigning innocence.

Leal, in return, gave him a deadpan face. “You have no reason to be here. And why did you add Elcort to mine and Anna’s names? I don’t remember us being your relatives.”

“I expected you to be less sarcastic. I must admit it, you got me shocked there,” he muttered, a ghost of a smile visible on his lips. “Is she awake?”

She shook her head. “Why do you ask?”

“Because I wanna see my daughter.”

It felt as if her throat dried and her tongue retreated at a loss of words.

“H-How sure are you she’s yours?”

He frowned. “The seven other women you’re living with couldn’t have possibly fathered her, could they?”

“Anna doesn’t…” she trailed off. She’s always so bad at lying. She thought she became better over the past two years but looking at his knowing smirk right now, it seems as if he can still see right through her. That or her lie is just off the window because it was so bad. “Anna doesn’t need a father. She has eight mothers and I think that’s enough.”

“Schatzi, I—“ He looked down and shook his head. They both remained silent until he looked back up.

“Do you wanna go back to New York with me?”

“W-What?”

Her eyes widened as her thoughts immediately flew to Margaret and their child. Is he planning to make them his mistress and bastard daughter?

“B-But what about— “

“Mommy?”

Leal stopped when she heard Anna’s mumble from inside. She’s awake. She once again locked gazes with Axel, and it appears as if he also heard it.

“Can you walk me around the neighborhood?” A mischievous glint crossed his eyes. “I’m not familiarized yet and I might get lost. You can take Anna, too.”

She knew it.

That was his plan of prolonging his stay here.

Leal plastered a smile on her face. If there was one thing in the world she can confidently say she mastered, she’d say its plastering fake smiles.

“No, thank you,” she kindly declined. “The pizza’s getting cold. Let me just get the cash so you can go.”

He suddenly threw his head back and released a baritone laugh.

“How are you going to give me a five-star rating if you only criticize me when I step in your front porch?”

“I think the state of the pizza when it reached me is what I rate, not the delivery guy.”

“Come on now, schatzi. Just spend time with me, please?”

“Don’t you have other things to do besides stalking me?”

“Geez,” he playfully held his chest. “I prefer the term ‘looking for my wife’ more than ‘stalking’ you.”

“Excuse me? Wife?” She raised a brow as she grabbed the boxes of pizza from him. She counted the boxes and saw that there were a few extra. “You delivered more than I ordered.”

“Oh, yeah, hmm. I remember there was also a certain Axel Elcort that ordered a few boxes and had it delivered to you. He even requested another Axel Elcort to deliver it,” he said, completely ignoring her first question.

She sighed and was about to roast him more when the door opened. Both their heads turned to see the person at the door when both their eyes went down, and down, to the toddler holding the doorknob. Her arm reach barely reached it.

“Anna, my love,” she immediately crouched in front of the two-and-a-half-year-old still scratching her right eye for sleepy dust. “Mommy will be right back, okay? Just stay in the living room, Mommy will be right back.”

Anna didn’t even spare her a glance and unhesitatingly pointed to Axel behind her. Unfortunately, apart from being blunt, she is also a smart kid. So when the word slips out from her mouth, Leal nearly lost it.

“Daddy?”

And she could just imagine his grin.

“Daddy! Ice cream!”

They ended up taking a walk around Lauterbrunnen, seeing different falls, and sitting in the middle of meadows. She didn’t know how it happened, but in just less than a day, Axel and Anna seemed as if they’ve already been together for years. They were as close as she and Anna were. And to be honest, Leal was quite envious. Anna was in his arms for the whole time, asking her for things instead of her, smiling up at him, nuzzling in his neck, and kissing him in the cheek. Sure, it was heartwarming to see your daughter finally spending time with her biological father, but she never thought it’d be such an adjustment to have another parent looking after your child, which you’re so used to look over for years. Sure, she had help from Anna’s aunts, but they weren’t as close to her as Axel was right now.

It was a mixed feeling of both envy and adoration. Anna looks so happy, that it’ll pain Leal to withhold Anna from him. But he has another family. Why is he doing this to them? They were so happy before he came.

But she also doesn’t want to lie. Not only her wolf but also her heart is jumping with happiness to just be near him again.

“Strawberry for my Prinzessin,” Axel smiled at Anna as he handed her a cone of strawberry ice cream Anna’s favorite. Leal remained silent and was just looking around the shop when she locked eyes with men covered in black clothing.

Her senses immediately heightened as she nervously looked around, looking for more men dressed like the first. True to her suspicion, there were also two other men hiding behind the bushes outside the shop and one sneaking behind a cabin. There were people following them. Those were the eyes she felt earlier, another reason why she’s keeping quiet and alert.

Her hands unconsciously flew to Axel’s, squeezing it tightly as Anna was busy asking the female staff for more toppings.

“There are men following us, Axel. Three of them,” she quietly whispered. The smile was immediately wiped from his face as his eyes darkened.

“Can you tell me where? We need a safe way to get you and Anna out.”

She continued to look around, and it was then that she saw one of the men pulling a gun. Even from a distance, she could see the silver bullet loaded inside. They were really the targets.

“Gun!” She pulled the three of them behind a table and ducked as the sound of gunshots and screams rang in their ears. Leal hugged Anna tight, surprised at how not one scream escaped the toddler’s mouth. Axel remained to hide with them until he pulled out his own gun.

Her eyes widened.

“You had that with you this entire time?! What were you thinking?!” She whisper-shouted amidst the gunshots.

“I was thinking of your safety,” he replied as he pulled them to another table when a bullet shot through the other. They sneaked to behind the bar.

He looked at Leal and pulled out another gun. “Do you prefer guns or claws?”

She was about to reply when a bullet went to the wall, near Anna’s feet who was on the edge of the bar’s wall. Leal couldn’t control her eyes turning to the shade of gold as her wolf roared from inside, seeing the accident. Lilith was furious.

“I guess that’s claws.”

“I’m going to fight? How about Anna?”

“You need to defend Anna—“

They both stopped mid-conversation when Anna growled, her head hung low. It was inhumane and sounded way too far from a human’s growl, especially not a toddler’s. She’s semi-shifting again.

“I think that means she can help,” he concluded, smirking a little bit.

Although doubtful and extremely worried, Leal nodded. The shop was now deserted of people and instead filled with what they assume are wolves, so they won’t hold back. They both counted to three, Leal letting Lilith resurface after years, Axel cocking his pistol, and Anna’s nails elongating to a claw. When the count was done, Leal effortlessly grabbed tables for cover and lunged at the men, who seemed to multiply from being three to dozens.

Axel was mercilessly planting bullets in their foreheads while Anna was leaping from another head to another, clawing the hell out of them. In the middle was Leal in her semi-shifted form, relentlessly stabbing parts of furniture to their bodies. This is another way of bonding—killing. And only they can pull it off quite as badass as this.