TBMA [Complete ✔️]

5. Tomorrow

Knox's P.O.V

I watched my sister fight to keep her eyes open, sleep threatening to pull her in. A storm was brewing outside, the windows creepily rattling against each other. Every time the wind would get stronger, I'd push Rose further away, afraid the glass would break any second.

"I hate storms!" She whined suddenly, pulling me away from my thoughts.

"Yeah?" She nodded, snuggling her head into my lap. "There's nothing to fear when I'm near!" Her giggle echoed off the walls, making me smile. I managed to distract her, even if only for a little while.

"That rhymed!"

"Of course it did, duh!" I stuck my tongue out, her hand pushing my cheek away, both of us laughing despite the situation.

I stroked her hair for a while, letting her rest in silence, praying the storm would go quickly enough that we could go home before it got dark. The clouds were dark grey, the weather too heavy for me to figure out what the time was, but I knew we couldn't stay in here much longer. The cottage was way too broken down to hold up if the storm got worse, and mom would worry if we didn't get home until the next morning. There was also still the danger of the cottage's owners coming home and ratting us out.

"We need to leave, Rose!" I nudged her a bit, making her groan. She sat up on the cold ground, rubbing her tired eyes before looking at me.

"I don't wanna get all wet!" She whined, pointing to her outfit. "It'll ruin my clothes!" I rolled my eyes, wondering if she really thought this was our biggest problem.

"We have to eat dinner with mom, don't you want that? And take a bath, read a bedtime story?" At that, she sighed, reluctantly getting up. I jumped to my feet and went up to the door, opening it just enough to take a peak. The cold air immediately hit me, almost making me shiver, but the rain didn't seem too bad.

"If we run, we can make it home in time, can you do that?" I asked, knowing she would hate the idea.

I was right.

She pouted, sitting back down on the floor.

"I don't want to run!" Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, her face still pouting, strands of hair framing it. I almost laughed at how ridiculous she looked, but now wasn't the time for laughing. I needed to think of something that would persuade her.

I crossed my own arms in front of my chest, towering over her. I had started training, not anything difficult, but dad insisted, and along with being the firstborn of an Alpha, according to my teachers, I was pretty strong, even for my young age. Still, I felt hopeless in front of a nine-year-old.

"If you come now, I'll take you to play near the lake again?" I tried, a lump settling in my throat at the memories of my childhood friends laughing and playing at the very spot that was now empty ansoundless. She shook her head, the pout getting replaced by a trembling lip.

"I don't wanna go back there!" She whimpered, the sound hurting me. I hated when Rose was upset.

I knelt down to her, running my fingers through her hair.

"Why not?"

"Because there's mud and dad will hit mom again!" Her eyes watered as she desperately tried to hold in her tears, her words sending a punch to my stomach. I hugged her, thoughts of how mom was doing running through my head.

"We'll make sure there's no mud next time, I promise!" She didn't look up, a drop falling to the floor. A drop of her tears I hated to see. Tears I had seen too often since dad and mom started to fight. "And once we're both older, we'll take mom and go on an adventure, just the three of us, how about that?" She sniffled, but nodded and got up.

As much as I hated putting Rose through this, I grabbed her hand and ran as fast as my legs would carry me, dragging her along. Rain poured down on us, sliding down our backs and mixing up with sweat.

Relief courses through me as our house came into view and we could finally stop and take a breath. Before we could even open the door, mom rushed outside, wrapping her arms around our wet bodies and clinging to them as if it would be her last time to ever hold us in her arms.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, searching her face for new bruises. She shook her head sadly, peppering both my sister's and my head with kisses.

"I'm fine, you guys, however, are freezing. Come on, let's go run you a bath!" I tried to protest, noticing how much more mud and dirt we would bring into the house than last time, but mom just dragged us inside and closed the doors behind her.

"Here." She handed us each a blanket and slippers she had left next to the door, helping Rose take off her shoes, while I took off mine. Then, the three of us made our way to Rose and I's bedroom, mom having prepared clean clothes for us.

We had an en-suite bathroom, so I let my sister go first, mom rushing inside to run the bath. I helped dry Rose up, rubbing the blanket up and down her arms and back, the sound of water running, indicating that mom would be out soon.

"Go on, baby!" She said to my sister, who happily skipped into the bathroom, eager to get warm. I slumped back on the bed and closed my eyes, mom taking a seat on Rose's.

"Where were you guys, are you okay?" She asked, worry evident in her voice. I opened one eye to peek at her, not failing to notice the dark circles under her eyes or the tension in her shoulder and forehead.

"We found a cottage in the woods, I think it was abandoned." I shrugged. "Stayed there until it was time to come home. We're fine, mom." She sighed in relief, slumping down on the other bed. I peeked at her again, her thumbs massaging her temples.

"What did dad do to you?" I asked, making her freeze and turn to me.

"Knox-" I shook my head, interrupting her.

"Right, I'm too young to know. Got it already." Another sigh came from her, but otherwise, she stayed quiet. "I understood it the past ten times I've had to run instead of protect you." Mom was about to say something when Rose called for her. She instantly jumped up, eager to escape the conversation she hated to have, the one we never finished no matter how hard I tried.

Esteban's P.O.V

"Are you sure, Alpha?" My Beta asked.

"I don't have a choice," I replied and hung up with a sigh, throwing my phone across the room. I watched as the device shattered to pieces, shards of the display crumbling to the ground. A tired hand ran through my hair, messing its style up. Luckily, it was well into the evening, so I didn't have to worry about it as I would be going to bed soon anyway.

I made my way out of the office and through the hallway, the sound of the kids' laughs echoing around. It was late and they weren't supposed to be up, yet the sweet sound left me unable to get angry at them for disobeying the rules.

The door was left slightly open, allowing me to have a peek inside. Knox was sitting on my pumpkin's bed, throwing his arms around and tickling her from time to time. My little girl was laughing and thrashing her body, trying to get away.

"The werewolf princess has a dragon for a mate!" Rose gasped, staring at her brother with wide, full of love and adoration eyes. Knox blew, pretending to be a dragon, making her burst into a fit of laughter again.

"Then what!" She asked him eagerly.

A pang of hurt shot through me as I stared at my two kids, none of which stared at me with anything even close to adoration. Sometimes, I wished I was a normal werewolf and not an Alpha, so I could focus on being a father instead of a leader. Many times I have had to put the pack in front of my family, tomorrow being one of those times.

It hurt to think of what I was about to do, but I knew I had to. I knew it was the only way. Still, I couldn't help but dream of one time when my little pumpkin would look at me the way she looked at her brother or my son, and I could play soccer like we used to once.

"And then the princess went to sleep!" He muttered quietly, pushing her under the covers. She whined and laughed at the same time, throwing her arms and legs up to try and free herself. Knox finally helped her, tucking her in the correct way.

"You need to go to sleep, you have school tomorrow and we don't want you all whiny!" He told her and ruffled her hair. She glared at her brother while she fixed it.

"Don't touch my hair!" He laughed, arms up in surrender.

Then, he dropped them to his sides and kissed each of her cheeks, and forehead, before laying down in his own bed.

"You'll tell me what happened to the dragon and the princess, right?" She whispered quietly into the now dark room.

"I promise."

"Night, Knox!"

"Night, Rose!"

The room went quiet, the only sound the kids' even breaths. With my wolf senses, I could see the blankets raise and fall with each breath they take, I could see that my son wasn't asleep, but staring at the door.

Perhaps it was me, or my presence he was staring at, I couldn't tell. I quietly shut the door, letting them rest.

Tomorrow would be the day my pack stopped suffering and I began to.

A/N:

Hi, Treasures! Make sure you join my F-a-c-e-b-o-o-k group Teddy's Treasures for extra content and discussions! If you've read the first book you probably know what's about to happen, either way, prepare yourselves ?