Axel was silent on the rest of the way to the house, but I wasn't complaining as I was still in his arms and listening to the sound of his heartbeat.

He opened the door before turning quickly as a shoe was tossed out of the house, barely hitting me in the process. "What is going on here?" he boomed, causing the fighting and whatever else was happening to stop. "Why is it that every time I come by you guys are destroying something?"

There was only silence as they stared at me and the man that was holding me.

"Because they are idiots," someone said, coming down the steps. "Seriously, Axel? The girl can walk, you know."

"I know," he said. He let go of me, but I kept hold of him. "See?" he asked. "She won't let me go."

"Axel?" one of his siblings asked. "Why are you so hairy?"

"I hadn't shaved or had a hair cut in four years, Nicholas," he said. "Why else would I look so hairy?"

"Why didn't you shave or get your hair cut?" the male, Nicholas, asked.

"More importantly, when are you going to shave and get your hair cut? Do you want me to cut your hair? I'll do it after I am finished with Liz's hair," Caroline said, causing Axel to shake his head no.

"I didn't want to, Nick," Axel replied. "And, I'm going to do it after my bestest friend meets my kids." He poked my sides, but I stayed on him. "I think she is stuck, though."

"You have been replaced as my bestest friend," I mumbled, teasingly. "Parker is now my bestest friend."

Axel gasped, causing a small smile to appear on my face. He wasn't upset that I had said that, but I could tell that he might have been a little hurt. "How dare he steal you from me," he teased. Again, he poked my sides. "Then let go, non-bestest friend, and hang off of your bestest friend."

"No," I mumbled, tightening my grip on him. "Not yet." I didn't want to let him go. I just got him back and wasn't ready to leave him, even though I knew that we were going to have to be separated while I got my hair done and Axel got ready.

"Where are my kids?" Axel said, not trying to get me to let go.

"Those are your kids?" Nicholas asked. "Who did you get pregnant? Did you find your mate, or did you hook up with a chick and left her?"

"If I found my mate or not is none of your business, not yet," he said, his tone having this warning edge to it that I had never heard before. "I had not hooked up with anyone or got anyone pregnant. I would not do that to my mate. Is there something that you had done?"

There was tension between the two men, causing me to let go and turn towards the male that Axel was looking at.

The male, Nicholas, set his jaw. His brown eyes were filled with guilt and pain, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He had done something that he knew his big brother wouldn't like.

"We'll talk later, ok?" Axel said, his voice softer than it had been.

"Privately?" Nicholas asked, causing Axel to nod his head. He nodded his head and moved a hand through his shaggy blonde hair. "It is good that you are home," he said, and I could hear the honesty in his voice.

"It's good to be back and to be able to keep you out of trouble," Axel teased, the heavy feeling in the air lifting as he teased his younger brother. "I hope you don't teach my kids any of your tricks."

"Speaking of which, they are in the dining room. Mom had set them up with some decorating tools, and they are not making a mess of things like some people," Carolina said, interrupting Nicholas. She gave him a pointed look, causing him to grumble.

"Fine," he said. "Let's get cleaned up so that Caroline won't get bitchy at us. When do you want to talk, Axel?"

"Whenever is fine. I might be at my office at the pack house or at my house. Just link me, and I will tell you where I am at."

My heart sunk when I heard that he had a new house of his own. I thought he would still live at the pack house, but I guess I was wrong.

"Cool, do you have a spare for me?" Nicholas asked.

"I have a couple of rooms that are up for grabs," he replied. "The kids have their own rooms."

"And, do you have a room for Lizzie?" Caroline asked, giving him a pointed look. "If she wants to come over?"

Axel let out mocking huff. "Yes, Mom," he said, sarcastically. "Lizzie has her own room at the house. Parker and Clara have one there too."

My face turned slightly red. "I wanna go see the kids," I mumbled. I was pleased that he had decided to have a room for me at his house. However, a part of me wanted to be in the room with him, comforted by his scent and his presence.

Axel poked my side, causing me to look at him. His lips were covered by his beard, but I could tell that he was giving me a knowing smirk. He winked and a part of me felt satisfied because I knew what he meant.

He would allow me to sleep in his room with him, but he made sure to have space for me if I ever felt the need to sleep somewhere else and away from him. And that would never happen because I needed him just as much as he needed me.

***

Axel pushed the door to the dining room open and watched as one of his children decorated some cookies. His whole body was relaxed, and I could tell that he was smiling at her fondly. "What are you doing?" he asked. "And where is everyone else?"

"Decorating some cookies," a female with fiery red hair replied, turning towards the door. And no, you may n-" She stopped when she caught sight of me in his arms, her green eyes wide.

I knew that my eyes went wide as well because I could tell that she was from one of the original twelve.

"Lisa?" Axel asked, furrowing his brows. Concern filled his voice as his daughter turned to towards him. "Are you ok?"

Lisa didn't reply as she made a signal, causing me to do the signal as well. She cleared her throat and looked at her father. "Yes, Papa," she said, her voice shaking. "Is this her?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Lisa, I didn't find the chocolate. Are you sure that Grandma said tha-" someone started to ask while pushing the door to the kitchen open. This one, a young male, stopped talking and looked at me with blue eyes.

I looked at him and then noticed that the other children that were behind him were staring at me with equally wide eyes.

Relief filled my body as I looked at them because I knew that they were from the original twelve as well. How my dad knew they would be, I didn't know, but I was grateful that he found them.

"What didn't you find, Brett?" Axel asked. "What's wrong? Why are you all acting so strangely?"

"N-no reason," the boy, Brett, said, stuttering. He walked into the room followed by the others. He tore his gaze off of me and looked up at his father. "I was trying to find some chocolate syrup but couldn't."

The female, Lisa, groaned, causing all of us to look at her. She was scowling at Brett, causing him to gulp and look down. "Why are you lying?"

"I am not lying," Brett said, defending himself. "I didn't find the chocolate syrup." He pointed at his siblings. "They can tell that I didn't."

"And, they would be lying. What. Did. You. Do?"

Brett hesitated and looked down, kicking at the ground. "We drank the whole bottle while Grandma changed Paige's diaper," he said, finally.

Lisa groaned and moved a hand across her face. "Did you all drink it?" she asked.

"Yes," they all replied.

Lisa shook her head and looked at Axel and I. "So, Papa, is this Lizzie?" she asked again.

"Yes," he replied. "This is Lizzie." He looked at them before looking at his oldest. "Why did you need the chocolate syrup?"

"So, I could use it for the cookies," Lisa replied. She scowled at him. "I blame you."

"Why do you blame me?" Axel asked, his eyes widening in shock. "I didn't do anything."

"Yes you did," she insisted. "You drank from the chocolate syrup bottle first."

"It was my own bottle," he said. "And putting it in milk was too much work. Besides, I didn't do it often."

Lisa narrowed her eyes at him. "Liar," she pointed out. "How often did you do it?"

"He did it every day when he was younger, and I am sure that he still does it every day," Axel's mom said, coming into the kitchen holding his youngest child. She scowled at him before looking at me. "Happy birthday, Lizzie," she said, smiling at me.

"Thank you, Shannon," I said, smiling at her. I leaned my head on my mate's shoulder. I looked at the child and smiled, my heart filling with joy when she smiled back at me.

I was happy that my mate was with me. I knew that this would come with changes, but I didn't care.

Axel was by my side, and that's all that mattered to me for now.