Tall, Dark & Heartless (Pyte/Sentinel #3)(68)

Not that the damn Alpha shifter had tagged along with the intention of helping them. No, not that bastard. He only came because he was apparently bored waiting for Izzy's program to give him what he needed and decided that irritating the shit out of everyone was more fun.

Only three things saved the Alpha from getting his throat torn out tonight. One, he saved his sons' lives a few months back. Granted, Kale was the reason they were put in jeopardy in the first place, something Ephraim struggled with every time he saw the Alpha, but then he would be forced to remind himself that Kale had saved his sons, his daughter-in-law and precious granddaughter in the same day.

Izzy, his rather entertaining daughter-in-law, was the other reason the bastard was allowed to live. The woman had a soft spot for the shifter and wouldn't allow anyone hurt him. She'd quickly wormed her way into Ephraim's heart with her quick wit and sweet smiles, but she'd earned his undying loyalty for bringing his son back to him.

After Chris barely survived the home invasion that almost left him crippled for life, he changed, grew up too fast and in the blink of an eye his once smart ass son who used to make him smile with very little effort was gone. A man hardened by life and too much responsibility took his place. He'd still managed to maintain a close relationship with his son after that, but he missed the easy going Chris and wanted nothing more than to see his son smile again without it being forced.

For the first time in a long time Chris was truly happy. He was head over heels in love with his mate, adored his baby girl and couldn't wait for the birth of his son. He'd always known that Chris would make a good father and was pleased that Chris had surpassed all the hopes and dreams he had for him. After the bullshit start Chris had in life he deserved some happiness and Izzy gave that to him.

The other reason he didn't kill the bastard tonight was very simple, he came in handy every now and then. Tonight of course being one of those times. The Alpha was powerful, probably one of the most powerful shifters Ephraim had ever met and that was proven by the fact that the man was able to keep his human form during the three nights of the full moon. It took a great deal of control not to give into urge to release the animal inside and Kale had mastered that control centuries ago.

When they did a sweep of Boston Common and came across the pack that purposely turned within city limits just so they could fan the city and search for Izzy, Kale stopped irritating the hell out of them and quickly turned into the cold brutal killer that he was famous for. Without any hesitation, Kale began to tear through the pack of shifted werewolves until he made his way to his target, the Alpha of the pack.

Without the Alpha the pack would quickly become useless as they fought each other for control. Even Ephraim had been impressed by Kale tonight. While he worked with Chris to take down the more violent members of the pack he kept an eye on the irritating Alpha. No matter how many hits Kale took, he never reacted. He remained focused until the end and when the pack Alpha was dead and the pack panicked he demanded their obedience and any shifter that didn't immediately comply was dealt with, severely.

It sure as hell made Ephraim's night easier. Without Kale, there was no doubt in his mind that they would have lost Sentinels tonight instead of packing the infirmary, which reminded him that he needed to move his ass.

"Go back to sleep, sweetheart. I just came up to take a quick shower before I help wrap things up downstairs," he partially lied.

He had come up for a shower, but only so that he didn't scare little Jessica with his appearance. She was already frightened enough and didn't need to see her grandfather covered in blood on top of everything else tonight, especially since most of the blood belonged to her father. With that in mind he moved towards the bathroom, hoping that Madison hadn't picked up on that little fact, but of course nothing got past his wife's senses.

"Where is he?" she demanded, suddenly fully awake as she struggled to climb out of bed.

With a soft curse he crossed the room and helped her to her feet, but even his assistance didn't stop her from wobbling under the weight of the twin baby boys she carried in her womb. He scented her panic rise as she tried to move away from him and go hunt down her best friend, probably to beat the shit out of him for scaring the hell out of her, which of course is what Izzy threatened to do when she spotted her mate being carried into the infirmary.

"He's fine, sweetheart," Ephraim said soothingly, knowing that he would have to delay going back to the infirmary for a little while in order to take care of his mate. She was the most important person in his world and he made damn sure that he took care of her first.

Without her, he would be lost. She made him whole and gave him the strength to make it through the day when most days all he wanted to do was rage at the world for what happened to his son. All the shit Nichols did to him in that dungeon couldn't compare to the pain he felt for Joshua. Thanks to him, his son was locked up in a cell several levels down and there wasn't a damn thing that he could do about it. He hated not being able to help his son.

"He's going to be alright," Madison said softly, once again pulling him from the oblivion that threatened to drop him to his knees.

"Who?"

"Joshua, I know that look, baby, and I'm telling you that he's going to be okay," she said with a forced smile when they both knew that she didn't know anything of the sort, but it was comforting to hear.

"I know," he lied, brushing his lips softly against hers before he stepped away. "Let me go take a shower and then I'll feed you before I go back downstairs to make sure everything is okay."