Twas The Night Before - Chapter 2

Darren POV

I have not been this terrified since Delilah had that placenta issue in April. I had hoped I would never be that afraid again. Yet when that fucking photographer took Caspian from me, I felt it in my gut something was wrong. It didn’t settle my nerves that he also had Amaryllis move from André to Dad.  

The more times I saw the babies rearranged, the angrier I became. It was like those con artists with the pebble under the cup. Keeping track of where all four babies went was their plan. They thought they could hand Caspian to someone who wasn’t part of the family and get away with it.  

They thought wrong. I noticed the switch, and Caspian was not the baby that would go quietly. My boy has his Papa’s sass when a situation isn’t to his liking. I had passed Amaryllis to Sadria and shouted for my brothers to get the photographer as I ran toward Caspian’s cries. 

André had been right on my heels when he handed Aragon to Alison. André had shifted mid-chase and used his speed to get their first. It was because of his distraction that I was able to snatch our son back before he could be harmed. I knew what André and Duilio were about to do, and I backed them a hundred percent. I didn’t want Caspian to see it, so I turned away and focused on settling my little prince. 

‘Is he okay? I saw that shithead’s hand over his mouth.’ André asked as Duilio nudged his body against my side with worry.  

I carefully crouched down so Duilio could see that our pup was safe and sound. Caspian was sniffling, still settling down from his scare. I turned him in my arms so he faced Duilio and pressed one of his tiny hands to his fur. 

“It’s okay, Caspian. Papa’s right here, too. His wolf won’t let anyone hurt you.” I promised as I kissed his soft black hair.  

The kidnapper must have knocked off Caspian’s hat while he tried to get away. I’ll have to find it. I wouldn’t want Mom’s money to have gone to waste. Duilio nuzzled against Caspian and licked his face. Caspian’s sniffles of fear turned into baby giggles. That helped ease my frantic heart. 

“Holy shit!” Colby exclaimed as he and the rest of our family found us. 

I looked at my family and did a head count of all the kids. Lando, check. Andrew, check. Ashley, check. Blaire, check. Aragon was in Alison’s arms. Sadria still had Amaryllis. And Dad had Éowyn. They were all here and safe.  

“Eww. What happened to that guy?” Blaire boldly asked as she pointed to what I knew without looking was the extra crispy remains of Caspian’s kidnapper. 

“Blaire!” Alison scolded. 

“Looks like an extra crispy scumbag to me, baby girl.” Colby shrugged as he picked up his daughter.  

“What about his photographer friend?” I asked, standing back up now that Caspian and André were calmer.  

“Right, here, brother,” Azriel smirked as he forced the photographer to his knees by the scruff, his arms tied behind him with what looked to be Azriel’s bow tie. 

“What do you have to say to your Alpha and Aleph?” Azriel snarled as he applied more pressure, making the man grimace. 

“I…have…nothing…to say… to them.” The photograph said. 

“Whoa, André… it’s Christmas Eve, no one but our brother wants to see your schlong.” Colby grimaced while covering Blaire’s eyes. 

“Here, Papa. I know you aren’t one for shame, but this is a family event. Our pack may not want to see your nudity.” Lando said as he took off his jacket and handed it to André. 

A crowd, of course, had formed. Even if they hadn’t been in the immediate area, there was no way our people missed the light show of Duilio frying that kidnapper. André rolled his eyes but used Lando’s jacket to at least hide his dick. Unless someone else was going to offer their coat, too, his ass was going to remain out till we could get him a change of clothes. I think we should all be lucky he bothered with the jacket.  

Putting clothes on is the last thing on my mate’s mind. I am beyond pissed, but André is radiating his rage and alpha aura. Those who have gathered around are feeling it. The asshole photographer felt it, too, as they all were bowing their heads in submission. With the jacket on, André’s attention returned to the photographer. He stormed forward, electricity in each step that made everyone step back except me.  

“You will speak your final words before I send your pathetic soul to the Goddess to face her wrath for the wrong you dared to commit against a pup.” André and Duilio’s voices overlapped as he reached down and yanked the photographer off the ground by the throat. 

Azriel quickly let go and took a few steps back to join our family. He picked up his twins and tried to get them not to watch. Ashley was eager to bury her face into her dad’s neck. My sweet niece wasn’t big on violence. Andrew leaned closer to Azriel but kept one eye on the action. Colby tried to do something similar with Blaire, but she wanted to watch.  

Everyone holding our babies had turned them away, just as I’d done with Caspian. They are too young to understand what is going on, but that doesn’t mean they should witness their Papa taking a life, even if it were justified. I gently rubbed Caspian’s back, wanting to keep him calm even in the presence of André’s rage.  

“You… don’t… deserve… to… raise… children… fino…” The photographer’s words were broken and strained from how tightly André held his neck.  

That last derogatory word was left incomplete. Not because André justifiably snapped his neck. Nope, his words were cut off by wolfsbane growing into his mouth. I blinked as I realized I’d missed the vine coming out of the ground and how it had wrapped around the photographer to reach his mouth. 

“No one speaks that way to our Alpha.” Delilah declared as she and Alexander reached us, the crowd parting for our Beta’s. 

“Alpha, as you’ve handled his cohort. Please allow my mate and I to question and eliminate this one.” Alexander bowed his head respectfully as he made his request. 

“Let our Betas take him, André. Our focus should be on our children.” I agreed, placing a hand on André’s bare shoulder to help him control his anger. 

“I would say you’ll live to regret your words and actions, but that would imply you get to live. Instead, I will say you’ll wish I fried you like your friend before my Betas are done.” André snorted as he took his hand back. 

“Give me our prince.” André insisted as he turned to me, reaching for Caspian.  

I sighed and carefully passed Caspian into his arms. Caspian fussed momentarily but calmed down as André kissed his hair and whispered words of assurance. The poor boy. I hope he won’t freak out when handed to someone because of this. We have a large extended family who all love him.  

“We’ll take it from here,” Alexander assured us as the wolfsbane that held the photographer came out of the ground to carry him for them. 

“If you go that way, Amelia and Stephen’s family are waiting with a change of clothes for André. We all felt it when he shifted. The rage was like a shock wave through the ranked wolves.” He added, pointing to a nearby red and white striped tent. 

“He will pay for even thinking to harm even one of the heirs,” Delilah growled at the photographer as the vines thickened and tightened to him. 

She may typically be all sugar and spice, but my Beta is not someone you want to fuck with. Even less when you fuck with one of the pups she carried for us. There was a connection between her and the babies that cannot be denied. And when the kids are older, we will explain why that connection is there. For now, I was going to try to salvage our family outing.

Amaryllis POV

We didn’t all understand what happened but knew it was bad. That man kept rearranging us till suddenly we could hear Caspian crying but not see him. Of course, that made the rest of us cry. Then I went from one of my favorite places, Daddy’s arms, to being held by Zia Sadria. I like her well enough, but she’s no Daddy. 

Then there were some bright lights and shouting, and Zio Azriel tackled that man who kept making us get passed around. That made me happy. While I’m easygoing about being held, I wouldn’t say I like being handed off so much. He got what he deserved as far as I was concerned. When we all went to find Daddy, Papa, and Caspian, there was a funny smell in the air. I wouldn’t say I liked it. 

Things got very tense when Zio Azriel brought that bad man to Daddy and Papa. Papa was mad. I’d never seen Papa angry. I didn’t know he could be grumpy, let alone angry. Papa was always so happy. But his voice was he spoke to that man, that wasn’t the Papa voice I knew. Thankfully, Zia Delilah came, and Papa stopped being angry. After that, we saw Zia Amelia and Zio Stephen’s family with their new baby, Asher. 

After Papa changed his clothes, we didn’t match anymore, which was sad. I like it when we all match, it’s fun. But oh well, there will be plenty of times in the future, knowing Papa, that we will dress up like this. After the picture incident, Daddy and Papa were super cautious. We didn’t get to ride in the stroller anymore. 

I was put in the carrier and got comfy against Daddy’s chest. Papa was carrying Caspian. I think Papa won’t let him out of sight after what happened. Our big brother was carrying Aragon while grandma took Éowyn. I missed the stroller because I could easily sleep, and Éowyn was beside me. Not that I’ll complain about Daddy carrying me. 

As interesting as the festival was, it was a lot to take in. There were so many sounds, colors, and smells. It was a lot, like sensory overload. So, I focused on Daddy’s comforting heartbeat. And I’m not at all ashamed to say I fell asleep. Daddy’s a comfortable person to fall asleep on. And I knew I was safe with him.