Chapter 48: Homecoming

“Julian, wait.” Arabella holds me back before we step up to the front door and open it to the main house.

She seems hesitant, but then again, she has good cause. Just a few minutes earlier, Eric pulled in the driveway first and then I followed with the Ferrari. When we parked the cars, it seemed deserted, and it feels wrong.

Is she tapping into my reservations, or does she have her own? Maybe the pups are influencing her somehow? By the looks of her, I would say the latter. Her face is pale, and she is clutching her stomach with her other hand protectively. She looks up at me with a furrowed brow and seems a bit scared too.

“It will be alright.” I tell her as I try to calm her down before I open the door and hear someone on the other side.

Omega Hunter stares at me with shock for some reason, and then it dawns on me. They figured the men who were after us, must have taken care of us after I left here yesterday and that is why I never returned. Sure enough, the first words out of his mouth confirmed it.

“My king, I thought for sure you were dead. Before you killed Alpha John, I heard he had put a hit out on you and sent several rogues after your head. I am so glad that you weren’t killed and of course Luna Arabella too.” When he says that last part, he quiets down and then his voice trails off.

He looks like he is thinking of something or knows better than to say what he truly thinks. After all, if it has anything bad to do with Arabella, I will shred him and decapitate him too. There will be no tolerance for that sort of thing anymore where Arabella is concerned.

“Is there something you want to say to me? I am all ears? Otherwise, I need to get her up to our room so she can rest. It has been a long drive.” I say with a hint of irritation in my voice.

Stepping aside, he lets us pass and then Arabella and Eric start to follow me past him until I feel Eric’s hand on my shoulder. “Hey, stop for a minute. Before you go upstairs, I am going to say goodbye for the moment. Things seem to be taken care of here for now, so I am going to head on out. You know where I am if you need me.” He hugs me goodbye and then gives Arabella one too but very carefully.

It is kind of funny to watch the two of them, because she is so round that he has a hard time wrapping his arms around her. Then she says, “Thank you for all your help. You are wonderful.” As she kisses him on the cheek, she smiles while we watch him back up and turn around to leave.

After he gets in the car and takes off, Arabella and I head up to our room. On the way, we get noticed by several onlookers. The first is Alpha Jeremy, he gawks at us as he walks by and looks guilty for some reason. I never liked him much, because he always has this dirty look on his face like he has been up to something.

He nods and then says, “My king, I didn’t think you would be back. I had heard that you were killed.”

I stop in mid step to answer him, “Yes, I had been notified of that earlier. Obviously, we were not, but thank you for your concern.”

Blowing him off, we continue up the stairs. That is until Beta Montgomery walks past and stops before stating quite matter of fact, “I am so glad you are back my king. I must have a talk with you later today. There are some things we need to go through since Alpha John has died.”

When he looks at Arabella with disdain, I lose it and say, “Do you have a problem with your Queen and my Luna? I can clearly see the disdain on your face. Do you despise her?”

He shakes his head vigorously and then I see the fear in his eyes the minute I say it. “No, no, my king. I would never. I am just having a bad day, and this is quite unexpected. Now I must alert the kitchen and the chef to tell him to serve two more for lunch and dinner. That is all.” He cowers after he says it.

“Alright. I am sorry for upsetting you. I will leave you now so you can take care of your responsibilities.” He nods and then fakes a smile when he curtsies and then continues walking.

Finally, when we get to the bedroom, I am saddened to see that Alpha John had already taken over the room and remodeled it within the few days we were gone. It is truly amazing the depths of his hatred for me. Apparently, he had been plotting this for a long time.

Shaking my head again, I lead Arabella in and then call Omega Kelly to come in and change the bedding. At least for now we can make her comfortable, but I sure as hell am not sleeping on the same sheets as Alpha John had or whatever he did in them. In the meantime, Arabella takes a seat on the couch and reads till she is done.

“Knock”

“Knock”

I go to the door and listen to make sure it isn’t someone here to get revenge. When I hear her state, “My king, I am here to change the bedding.” I unlock the door and see Omega Kelly stand there with a black eye.

She smiles and then says, “I am so glad you are back. You have no idea what a jerk Alpha John was.”

“Come here a minute. I want to look at that black eye. Have you been to the doctor?” I beckon for her to come closer and then I inspect it when she does.

“Alpha John did it yesterday before you killed him. He was irritated about something and took it out on me when I wouldn’t give him sex.” She frowns when she states it and it makes me instantly mad as hell, just knowing that he would have taken advantage of her that way while I was gone.

Afterwards, she changes the sheets quickly while I stare at her. She is pretty enough I guess, with her golden blonde hair and her chestnut-colored eyes. The way her body moves when she makes the bed though, sends a thrill throughout my body that it shouldn’t. Certainly not when Arabella is only a few feet away.

My thinking disturbs me in ways that I have never even thought of before. Why am I thinking of another woman like this? Or more importantly, why am I even staring at her in the first place. I should be worried about Arabella. I love her more than anything on this earth, yet Kelly makes my dick hard. There is just something wrong here that I can’t put my finger on.

When she has taken off all the sheets and placed the new ones on, she stands there in front of me as my erection is painfully obvious. Knowing that she sees it, I start to feel shame when she asks coyly, “Is there anything else I can do for you, my king?” With a smirk on her face as she runs her eyes up and down my body, till she settles on the stiffness in my pants.

As I stand there, my body says one thing and aches for her, but all my mind and heart can do is scream at me, “No, damnit. Don’t be a fool.” What is going on? So many things run through my brain right now, but it all comes back to one thing. “Do I want her so much that I am willing to give up Arabella and the pups?”

I shake my head quicky before I say something I will regret later and then she does something quite unsuspected when she reaches over and starts to rub him. My mouth instantly opens, and I let out a loud moan before I can catch myself. “No. Don’t do that!” I roar at the top of my lungs just before she looks up at me scared and runs out crying.

Did I just give her the wrong idea? Or was my own body betraying me? How could I do that to Arabella at all?

Feeling like a complete idiot, I turn around to see Arabella watching me with tears in her eyes. When she gets up and runs to the bathroom, I know that I have fucked up bad. For several hours she stays in there, while I plead with her to talk to me.

I could never do anything to hurt her consciously, and yet I have. Sitting here, thinking about it all while I hear her cry, I think to myself, “If she never forgives me, I will spend the rest of my life hating myself for it.”