Chapter 29 : Prepping for the Worst

Henry swore, running toward the front of the house. Rose followed but felt like all the guys had their eyes on her. It was disturbing if she was honest.

Carlyle was smiling up at them from the garden path beside the porch. The fire licked up the corner of the porch. Anna already had it covered though. Within minutes, she had the fire out. "What kind of Alpha are you?" He snarled. "You can't even protect your own."

"You've lost more than I have." Henry raised a brow at him, pulling Rose closer to his side.

"Your mate still isn't yours." He laughed. "What does that say about you?" The group behind him mocked and cat-called toward them between fits of laughter. Henry looked out at their faces. These were people he knew. Some he'd gone as far as to consider friends. Stephanie, their waitress from the other night, was there, but she was one of the few who looked on, not joining in. There were a few others as well. They stood toward the back, watching with shadowed looks and frowning. George, who owned the corner shop just down the road from his garage, which he stopped by every morning was there too, laughing and mocking them with the others. This was a guy he'd gone drinking and golfing with. A guy who when he couldn't afford to fix his car, Henry had done it as a favor. Here. At his home. He made a mental note of each of them. Remembering each one of them. He understood that there wasn't always a chance for them to refuse their Alpha. Especially one that was as cruel as Sperm Doner. If they made it through this, then he may be willing to give them a second chance. But then again, he may not.

"Am I doing something wrong?" Rose whispered, turning her face up to him with tears in her eyes. For someone who was never told about their world, this had to be terrifying for her. Especially after Juan's reaction.

"No, love. You're doing great." He squeezed her closer, leaning down to kiss the wildly curly hair atop her head. "Especially considering."

"Ew. She really has you wrapped around her finger. Some Alpha you are. Clinging to some powerless Omega." He turned laughing, raising an arm toward them as he addressed his clan. "Who here would follow this jackass? An Alpha who takes commands from an Omega?" He turned back, his eyes falling on Henry's men, "If any of you decide you want a real Dominant Alpha, all you have to do is unlock that door and let us in." Henry felt Rose pull away to look at them, but Henry didn't. He knew he didn't have to. Not a single man in this room was a concern. They would die before switching sides. The only concern he had was Juan. But, Juan was Aiden's guy, so if his friend barked, Juan wouldn't dare fight back. That was enough for him. Aiden was always meant to be his replacement anyway. "You know," Carlyle continued, "it's been fun. Would have been far better if you hadn't shown up. But tell you what, you give me my son and granny, and I'll leave you two alone. He's what's important." Carlyle became deadly serious, running a hand through his hair.

Henry barked out a laugh. "First off, you have your own Alpha, so don't pretend like you're better than I am. I don't have an Alpha. Unless Rose ends up being one." That caused a disgusting reaction from the crowd. Henry ignored it. "Listen and hear me," he said in his Alpha tone, hoping to see if any of them reacted, "I want you to know anyone who tries to touch my family will regret it. We will respond with a greater force and assume you mean us the utmost harm. Remove yourself from my property. Otherwise, I will shoot. I already have you on camera trying to light my house on fire. I'm giving you two minutes to vacate the premises." He nodded at Dominic once, then lifted his finger, walking back into the house.

Without a word, nor even a flinch, Dominic stood there. He watched seriously, one hand on his weapon, one hand resting at his side. Henry knew he wouldn't engage. The crowd outside started throwing stones at the windows. Stones from his garden path. Slamming them into his beautiful windows. He'd put so much work into this house. He knew he was about to lose it, so he went back into the main part of the house. "I'll take you all on the grand tour. As you can see I have a garden room." He waved a hand toward the room they just left, "Usually minus the riff-raff." His guys exchanged a few glances. A murmur broke through on theirs. He walked through the kitchen. "This is where you will find food when needed. You may need to hunt it out and make it yourself, but you'll find something. Have you all eaten today?"

Aiden nodded. "Yes, Commander. We stopped before landing."

Henry smiled, "Good. Maybe someone could look through it and see what we're doing for dinner. But, that depends on who needs to rest."

"Of course. Brooks needs some time. Dominic will keep watch. I'll have Juan go up on lookout. I'll station the others around where needed."

Henry nodded, "Everyone but Brooks should come with me first though. And just so you know, my laundry room has a restroom, and behind that is another guest room. Kinda kept away from the rest of the house for privacy. It'll be the most secure place to sleep. My panic room is just above it, so it made sense to make a second secure room and just build it down."

"Shouldn't she be using that room?" Aiden looked over at Rose. "You may have marked her, but no one else could tell."

Henry shook his head. "No. We'll stay in my room." Aiden nodded, not willing to argue with him. Henry waved them on, "This is where I used to relax. If anyone needs it, at this point, use it. Don't worry about destroying anything. As you know, what's the first rule?"

"What's mine is yours," Brooks said quietly.

"Correct. And that holds true here. What's mine is yours. That door over there is the library. That's where you're going to go after we arm ourselves." Henry turned up the stairs. Turning into his room where a bunch of guns sat out ready for the picking. The men filed in and out quickly. Before long, the bed was nearly empty. We're going to go on rotations. Once you need to change, know where you're going. Someone always needs to be on point, near the front, and in the kitchen-living room area. The back door and the garage need a special eye. Point is on the third level of the library, climb up the ladders and you'll get there. Again, feel free to rest if need be in the corner room." Aiden also nodded, looking back to watch everyone hustle away. "Of course, not you." Aiden's green eyes met Henry's amber ones. "I need you to go to the safe room. Kai will be sleeping between us both. Keep the door open and make sure nothing happens to him." Even though Aiden sighed heavily, Henry continued. "You've been cleared for the confidential files on Venderbend. I told the agency you were my researcher. To my surprise, they gave us approval. I only got a few bullet points. Do you think you're up for reading through the details?"

"Yeah," Aiden nodded, "I got this. I rested well on the way up, so I'll be up. I'll grab first rest in the morning. This thing starts at midnight, is that right?"

"It does. But I don't know if it ends at dawn, or continues into tomorrow night until midnight."

Aiden nodded, walked halfway down the hall. "Well, you look like shit and need to rest. Let me see what I can do. I'll go make sure I know what everyone's doing and then come back up to see what I can find out about this Vanderbend guy. You three go rest." He said as Henry pulled on a pair of sweatpants and started back out the door.

"Wait, Henry?" Kai squeaked. "Can I have one too?"

Henry immediately looked at Rose. She was already shaking her head. "Uh, have you ever taken gun safety?"

"No."

"How many times have you shot a gun?"

"Never."

"Then, no. I'm sorry. I can eventually teach you, but putting a gun in your hands with no experience, especially in a situation like this, would be too dangerous. Not only for you but everyone else too." Kai pouted but followed them all to the library. Once he reached to TV, he clicked it on, landing them on a nine-panel screen with cameras showing different angles of the house. Those who had dispersed were walking around looking for weak spots. "Climb the ladder and there's a walkway up there. That's where we'll be taking point."

"I'll take it first, Sir." Juan saluted and started up immediately. Brooks pointed at the cameras.

"I'll keep watch. You should fill Aiden in on everything."

Tim, the guy who'd been quiet the entire time, pointed out front. "I'm going to grab Dom a weapon and stay with him until further notice.

Kai looked around, "What should I do?"

Henry wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "You are going to rest. We're going to have a long night ahead of us. Mom and I will be doing the same."

"'Kay, I guess I'll take the spare room upstairs." Henry could hear the disappointment in the kid's voice. There was nothing for it though. Henry had to keep him safe. With an arm around both Kai and Rose, he led them back up toward the bedrooms. Shots were ringing out around the house before they separated and went to their respective rooms. Aiden turned, leaving to go to the office. Kai followed for a bit before turning off into the spare room.

As Henry and Rose entered his room, she looked up at him, her face had gone pale. "We're not really going to sleep while they're shooting people in the front lawn, are we?" She looked ready to vomit, and he could feel her anxiety coursing through him. Which was why he knew the bond between them had worked. He still couldn't figure out why no one else could tell. But he was too tired to try to figure it out.

"At least we're safe. For now. My men will make sure of it. I know it's not ideal, but rest while you can. Tonight will be a completely different story."