“Yeah, I like it too.”
“You know, now that Ash and Josh’s little Glorianna is here that means after Rain is born we will have three new girls born to the pack.”
Levi turned to peer at me strangely. “Umm, yeah?”
I shrugged and stood. “Well, I was just thinking that wouldn’t it be awesome if someday our boys fell in love with them? I can just see it now; each one fighting over the other; heart connections forming.”
“Charity! Your matchmaking skills have officially crossed the line. Our children are just babies for crying out loud.”
I rolled my eyes, applying fresh lip balm as I walked away with Levi tight on my heels.
“Please don’t tell me you’re truly considering pressing this silly notion! No matchmaking with our babies!” He sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re gonna press this, aren’t you? Charity? Charity!”
Last Note from the Author
This last book is titled Wesley’s Hope, and I’d like to think I’ve saved the best for last. This story centers on the boy we all love to hate, Wesley Windsor. It seems he’s been causing trouble since the very beginning. Will he finally get what’s coming to him? His story begins shortly after their last battle with the vampires; the battle that saved Raven and Rose. Here we are introduced to the lovely, and colorful, Hope Mason. I hope you enjoy this last story in the Charity Series. But don’t feel sad, I have a feeling that the Drake triplets might show up in future stories. Feel free to drop me a note. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Wesley’s
Hope
Chapter One
Wesley
“Yes, Sergeant Mason. I will watch over her. You have my word,” I spoke into the phone.
“I’m counting on you, Wesley,” he said. “This is my little girl, and I won’t tolerate anything bad happening to her. Levi says I can trust you, so you better take extra care of Hope.” His voice was sharp and stern.
I rolled my eyes. This guy was such a pain in my butt. Why did I have to get stuck babysitting some spoiled little girl? So what if Charity was having her babies. Why did I have to suffer? Oh well, I’d go get the witch and get it over with.
“Yes sir. I promise I will take care of Hope for you.” I practically spat the words out.
“Very good, Wesley. You can meet my team to switch her out at the location we mentioned earlier.” His voice broke off, and for a moment all I heard was his intake of breath before he said, “Thank you, Wesley.”
“You’re welcome, sir. I will see your team there. Oh, and how are the Vanderburgs settling in over there?”
“Fine, fine. They’re like a part of the family already. They’ll like it here. I’ll tell them you asked about them.”
“No!” I snapped, but then caught myself. “I mean, nah, that’s not necessary. Well, gotta go. I’ll keep you posted.” I clicked the phone closed. Whew, that was close. The last thing I needed was Raven thinking I cared anything about him or his wife. I’d never hear the end of it. It was bad enough that I got duped into this stupid mission. Babysitting a brat. Great.
My grandfather, Papa Windsor, along with my grandmother, Nana Butterfly (that’s what we’ve always called her) used to run this pack. That is, until I turned eighteen. That’s when I inherited my right to be alpha of our pack: the Windsor Pack. I had a feeling Papa Windsor was slightly disappointed in my leadership. I had always felt his disapproval, even when I was a kid. I felt he loved Levi more than me. I could do no right in his eyes, and Levi could do no wrong. I guess that’s why I was always doing things to get Levi in trouble. The problem was no body bought it. I figured that was one of the reasons I focused so much effort on the rivalry with Levi’s pack. But I was relieved the rivalry was over. I had regained my honor during our last fight in the clearing months ago. I wasn’t fooled though. I knew Levi had staged his injuries so I could win. The truth is, it touched me deeply that he would suffer for my benefit, though I would be hard pressed to admit it to anyone. I did try to hide the fact that it touched me, but Charity saw it. That’s okay though. It was worth it. Keeping up the hatred was exhausting. Besides, I needed to be focusing on my own pack—and now on getting this stupid girl here.
Suddenly, I had a thought that seemed to come out of thin air. Maybe Nana Butterfly could take this Hope Mason under her wing? She could put her to work in her greenhouse. That would keep the brat busy and out of my way. I smiled, pleased with myself for the first time today. Maybe this babysitting thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Chapter Two
Wesley
“What do you mean, she’s gone?” I yelled into the phone. “She ditched you? How on earth did she do that? You guys are werewolves, right?” I was so mad I was seeing red. Somehow I sensed they were just ready to be rid of her—not a good sign. They were probably planning to pin her escape on me and my guys. I knew I had to get there right away. This girl was beginning to really bug me, and I hadn’t even met her yet. “Okay fine. We’ll be there soon, and then we’ll locate her scent and take over from there.” I hung up the phone and cursed. I would have to find a way to make this girl suffer for the annoyance she’d already caused me. Hope Mason. The only thing I knew about the girl was that she was trouble. And I sure didn’t need any trouble right now.
Thirty minutes later, I and my elite, Andrew, Li, Jax, and Mitch, arrived at Douglas International Airport to locate this Hope Mason, bane of my existence. We picked up her scent near the ladies restroom nearest the exit. I stuck my head in and called for her, but there was no answer. I heard movement in one of the stalls and, with anger spurring me on, I plowed into the ladies restroom without any other thought other than to find the girl with the blue hair.
“Okay, Hope Mason, I know you’re in here, I can smell your annoyance! Don’t worry, I’m annoyed too. Now come out and we can compare degrees!” It was taking all my strength not to rip out every stall door and jerk a knot in this girl’s head. I passed a sink and happened to glance down to recognize pink dye splattered all over it. Hmm. I shrugged and continued my walk down the long row of closed doors. “You can come out, Hope, I’m not going to hurt you. Let’s just pick up your bags and get going. I’m sure it’s been a long day for you, and you would probably enjoy a warm bed and a hearty meal. So what do you say?” I smiled, thinking I wasn’t so bad at this nice stuff, even if I was pretending like crazy.
“Fine! But just because I’m hungry, that’s all!” she spat as the last door swung open wide and a petite girl maybe five foot tall stepped out with her arms crossed over her chest defiantly.
I studied her slowly from head to toe. She was wearing combat boots with skinny black jeans and a black shirt that was ripped at the sleeves with the thumbs-down symbol smack-dab in the center. The light reflected, drawing my eyes to her shiny lip ring and then to her curly hair that was cropped to her shoulders—and it was pink. Pink! It clicked. I snapped to attention. “Did you just color your hair pink?” I yelled, my anger returning with a vengeance.