A Vampires Alpha [BOOK FIVE]

18.

**Leif**

"I don't think I can thank you enough." My papa said standing in front of Darius who shook the others hand, before shaking his head in response.
"There's no thanks necessary, I came here on a whim because I received word that one of mine was here. If I had been wrong by coming here, I don't know how things would have played out for you or your boy here." Darius said looking in my direction now.

"Are you saying you would have left if the one you were looking for hadn't been here?" My dad questioned with furrowed brows.
Darius looked at him.
"I try not to involve myself in someone else's business, it's how you get killed." He explained.
My dad frowned at him.
"You would have been saving lives." He pointed out.
Darius nodded.
"You're right, I would have been, like I did today." He looked around frowning.

"I don't know much about clans like these, but I do know there was nothing but malice intent here, how I responded? Was showing restraint, especially knowing that my own was here all along." Darius said with a frown.

I nibbled my lip standing there.
"I-Is what you said before true? That you're a demon?" I asked him.

My parents both blinked as everyone stared at the other who stood there.

Darius looked at me.
"It was true." He answered as my eyes slightly widened from surprise.

"What exactly is a demon?" My papa asked as Darius looked to him.
"I guess you could say we're cousins of vampires in a sense, we just feed differently and are slightly stronger, some are more cruel than others; but that's any race nowadays." He shrugged.
"If demons are a thing does that mean angels are too?" My papa questioned with an arched brow.
Darius chuckled at the question.
"If they are, it would be news to me, as far as existing goes? I only know of the vampire and wolf race, but I've never known for the angel race to be a thing, if they do exist? They're very good at hiding themselves." He answered.

"So what made demons come out of hiding?" My dad asked him.
Darius looked to the other.
"When my mate was kidnapped and there had been no leads on where he had gone, something like that? Stops you from thinking and makes you act before anything else, exposing ourselves to races like you? Is a very stupid move on my part, but I feel as if you can be trusted to keep this between us. The last thing any of us needs is more bloodshed." Darius said.

"Are you threatening us?" Jackie stepped up with a soft glare.
Darius looked to him before smirking softly.
"Hardly threatening, more like warning, if not us then definitely others like us that will cause the bloodshed. This group with me here are more on the pacifist side than genocide." He explained.

Jackie's arms crossed.
"Good to know, but after we leave here, if we were to cross you in the street-"
"You won't." Darius smiled looking at the vampire whose brows furrowed.
"We won't?"
"No." Darius shook his head.
"We're not even from this town as lovely as it seems, we're from Cross Haven, home of demons." He explained.

"We only came here because Hyna was here." The girl from before spoke up as she approached us with the other three guys that were with them.

"Hyna?" I repeated as the blond from before stepped up, his eyes were locked on Darius.
"Yes." Darius smiled softly opening his hand for the other to take.
"My mate, the one who went missing and worried me greatly." He said.

"I know how that feels." I heard Felix speak up, his eyes on me as my brows knitted looking at the other.
"I didn't want to involve you-"
"You should have." Felix stepped up cupping my cheek.
"Almost a month without knowing a damned thing on what happened to you, where you went or why you thought you had to do any of this on your own." His thumb brushed against my cheek as my eyes burned with tears.
"You could have lost your life if you showed up here alone-"
"You would have been worth the loss, as long as there was a chance you'd survive." Felix looked at me as the tears slipped past my eyes looking at him.
"I'm not worth-"
"You are worth it, you are my mate Leif, you are worth so much more than you think." Felix looked over his shoulder to my family who stood there watching us.

"And they agree, otherwise none of them would have blindly followed me after catching your scent for a second." He told me.

"That's how you found us?" My papa asked looking at my dad who nodded looking at the other.
"It was a crazy whim, it must have been when these ones here opened that door and Leif's scent was found, when an alpha is searching desperately for his mate, he's able to find him in a matter of seconds. Like how he did tonight." He explained.

My eyes fell back on Felix who hadn't taken his eyes off of me.
"Are you ready to go home?" He asked me.
I frowned softly looking at my dad.

"Do I still have a home?" I questioned.
My dad looked hurt by the question before stepping up as Felix stepped aside.
My dad was hesitant before he smiled softly.
"Of course you do, and when we get home? We're going to talk about what happened, I never want you to ever think that our home will never be your home, what your brother said was out of line. You are our family, you are my son." My dad reached cupping my cheek as tears appeared in his eyes.
"And I want you to come home with us, okay?" He smiled softly as I looked at him with knitted before before nodding.
"Okay." I agreed.
-------------
It was nearly midnight before we got back to the house, all of my siblings were there and the lights were all on in the house.
I was scared to step through the door, I was scared I was going to get yelled at again.
Or reminded how I could have gotten papa killed.
Words like that, stick with you for a while.
It was a painful reminder.
Not only for them, but for myself included.

But now Nikolai and his group were killed, thanks to those demons who vanished the moment we stepped out of that building.
If it wasn't for them.
There's no telling how things would have played out.
I could still be caged up and awaiting my death in four days.
Or my papa could have been actually killed.
Those demons saved us tonight.
But my dad killed Nikolai.
So I'm making him out to be the real hero tonight.

The moment the front door came open.
My throat was dry seeing my siblings all running down the hall, wide eyed seeing papa first then me.
In seconds they were crying and running down, nearly tackling papa off of his feet who did end up falling backwards, but laughed in response as he tried holding the kids all close.

It was a nice moment, it made me smile as Felix stood close to me, his eyes on the teens on top of our papa, not wanting to let the other go.

I wasn't expecting to be greeted.
But I was surprised the moment Quin, Amber, Omega and Iggy ran over to me next, hugging me tightly.

"Never scare us like that again." Amber hissed as tears rolled down her cheeks.
I stood there trembling against the other four, my brows knitted as sadness and relief overcame me and tears were streaming down my cheeks next.
"I'm sorry." I cried.
"I'm so sorry." I sobbed harder dropping to my knees as my siblings all stood there with knitted brows.

"No, I'm sorry."

His voice made me freeze as the tears slipped.
I raised my head as Jinx stood there, a troubled but also guilty look on his face as he looked down at me.
He was rubbing the side of his neck as if this was bothering him that he had to actually apologize.

Jinx looked at me with his arms crossed before he knelt down.

"I was upset and I said some pretty mean things to you, I know it was the wrong way to respond, but I really thought the one who rescued me; had been killed by the new additions problem. I blamed you because I believed you were the blame, part of me still thinks that but I'm an ass so I can't help how my brain works. Especially with who raised me before I was brought here." Jinx kept his hand on the side of his neck as he looked away, his brows furrowing.

"I don't like apologizing because it's already hard enough for me to do, but you didn't deserve to be talked to like the way I did that night, we were all in shock and I took my anger out on you. I should have stepped back instead of lashing out." Jinx looked back at me with a frown.

"Stand up." He told me.
I frowned softly slowly getting to my feet and before I knew it.
His arms were wrapping around me.
"I'm sorry Leif, I was wrong." He pulled back and looked at me.
"You do belong here, because this is your home and you are our family." He told me.
His eyes finally met mine.
"You are my brother Leif, and I hope you can forgive me for how I-"

I stepped forward wrapping my arms back around the other, hugging him tightly as tears rolled down my cheeks.
"I already have." I whispered as his body grew tense before it relaxed with a gentle sigh that followed.
"Good." He pulled away from me as I looked at him before looking towards Felix who stood there patiently waiting.

I was nervous but walked over to Felix who took my hand as gently as possible before bringing me into him, holding me tight as his face nuzzled its way into my neck.
"I'm so glad you are okay, you don't know how worried all of this made me." He said as tears formed in my eyes.
"I'm sorry for worrying you, I really am." I replied as he held me closer, his hand on the back of my head as he breathed me in now.
"All that matters now is that you are safe and you are home." Felix pulled back to look at me, his brows were furrowed as he caressed my cheek.

"We walk through hell together, or we don't walk at all, that is how being mated to me works. Where you go, I follow and where I go, you follow. Never alone, never again. Okay?" He said looking at me with hurt in his eyes.
There was sadness in mine but I nodded looking at him.
"Okay." I agreed.
------
"Alright, I said we were going to talk and that starts now." Dad began with crossed arms as we all sat or stood in the family room.

"First of all, none of my children will ever run away like Leif did-"
"Dad-"
"Hush." Dad hissed at me with hurt in his eyes as I flinched.
He frowned softly.
"We all grieve in our own way which I'll always understand, but I'll never understand why my child would run after their brat of a brother took their anger out on the other."

"Hold on." Jinx's brows furrowed.
"Did you just call me a brat?" He asked.
Dad looked at him.
"Yes, Jinx, you are a brat. I know you were hurting, we were all hurting from the idea of your papa being dead. But that gave you no right to bully and be cruel to your brother, he was hurting just as much as you were." Dad frowned softly looking at Jinx whose brows were knitting.

"I already apologized to him-"
"I know you did baby, but I'm just letting you know, your choice of words were not appropriate. I never want to find out any of you are being cruel to each other-"

"But Jinx is always being cruel to me." Quin commented.
Jinx growled.
"Because you deserve it-"
"Do not-"
"Do too-"
"Nu uh-"

"Okay that's not being cruel, that's bickering like normal siblings even though it's also very exhausting to hear sometimes." Papa cut in with a soft smirk watching the two glare at each other.

Dad sat there before smiling softly.
"Exactly, in this house we love and we support one another, we're not cruel. Am I understood?" He asked everyone who was present.
We all looked to each other before looking to our parents.

"Yes sir." We all agreed in unison.
It made him smile softly.

"Good, now get to your rooms, it's late and a school night." He told us.

Now that hell was over with, maybe that meant things would go back to normal.

Hopefully.