"Hi, love." Alex smiled as he picked up his phone. It was Alison who had called him 36 times before but he was not capable of answering because of trying to hunt Volkov's rats around the city. They had found a list of some of those who were working for him in the base they had attacked. It was half-past four in the afternoon and he was so tired.

"ALEXANDER WILLIAM WEST!" shouted Alison on the other side of the line and Alex had to pull the phone away from his ear to avoid becoming deaf. But he frowned when he heard her voice shake at the end. "Do you know how worried I was? I had begun to think everyone is lying to me about you being fine. I thought something has happened for you." she said with a shaky voice from crying.

"Alison, for God's sake don't cry." said Alex desperately. "I'm sorry, love. I'm so sorry. I should have called you sooner. I'm just not familiar with the fact of having a girlfriend who is worried for me."

"Then you better get used to it, you jerk." snapped Alison still sniffling. "You were slowly giving me a heart attack."

Alex chuckled and shook his head. Suddenly the urge to see her intensified in his heart. "I'm coming to your house, okay?" he said. "I'm coming to pick you up and take you home with me. I need rest and I need you in my arms to be able to rest."

"I don't think I can leave." said Alison. "Dad has given strict orders to not leave the house today."

"Then I will stay with you there." shrugged Alex nonchalantly.

"I have no problem." said Alison. "But if Damien and Xander killed you, it's not on me. They will be home in half an hour."

"Don't be worried about those assholes." said Alex. "I know how to deal with them."

"Okay. I'm waiting for you," said Alison excited. "Just come soon, okay? Enough of hunting for today. You should rest."

"Alright, my lady. I'm coming." he said and they hung up after saying goodbyes.

"Go to King mansion, Simon." sighed Alex and leaned his head back on the passenger seat.

"Boy, you are really whipped." snorted Simon and Alex glared at him. "What?? I'm your friend all your life and I have not seen you smiling for the past eight years. And here you are, smiling constantly while speaking to her on the phone. I have never heard the word sorry from you and here you are, saying sorry back and forth. And now you want to stay at her house where you know the King brothers will slaughter you. You are really whipped."

"Be less of an ass and maybe I will smile at you." groaned Alex and leaned back again. "Now shut up and take me to King's mansion."

"Whipped." whispered Simon and chuckled to himself.

Alex rolled his eyes but smiled inwardly remembering Alison's worried voice. It made him satisfied somehow that she was worried for him. If being whipped caused a person to feel that content and happy, then he would gladly accept to be called whipped. It was great to have someone who was waiting for you to go home. He was slowly understanding why men were getting married.

******************************

Eva was walking to the front door with Bella behind her. They could hear Alison's happy squealing and the little twins shouting. Damien and Xander had come back home just then. Hunter who had gone to the base in the early hours of the morning had come back with them. It was around five in the afternoon.

Eva and Bella entered the foyer and saw Alison giving tight hugs to the boys while James and Jordan were hanging from their legs. Damien and Xander were hugging Alison back happily while Hunter was trying in vain to ditch the little twins from Damien and Xander's legs. The older teenagers looked confident and powerful standing tall and proud, but Eva could easily see how exhausted they were from their eyes.

"Damien! Xander!" said Eva and they all looked at her as she walked to them. She hugged them both tightly which they returned gladly. "I'm so happy to see you are fine." she said and a tear of relief rolled down her face. "You are not allowed to go to any attacks from now on until you are at least 20. You are too young for this shit."

"Language, mum." smirked Alison and Eva glared at her while everyone chuckled.

Xander bent down and kissed Eva's forehead. "We are fine, mum. We promise." he said.

"Please don't cry, mum." said Damien and wiped her face. "Sorry to make you worried."

"But she is right." said Bella from behind Eva. "You are too young. You should not go on this kind of big missions."

Xander scratched the back of his neck nervously as he looked at Bella. "We are sorry, Bella." he said. "We did our best to take him, but he is a sly snake."

"He has gotten rid of the tracker you have put in his pocket." said Damien seriously. "He should know it was you who caused his fall. He is now very dangerous. Mason is going crazy."

Bella felt her heart sink at the mention of Mason. Sure he was going crazy. She was afraid herself. She had a big target on her back now and that would only make Mason feel more guilty. Her heart clenched at the thought of Mason under pressure. But she kept her strong face in front of the boys. "It's alright. Don't be worried for me." said Bella and smiled. "You should be so tired. Go and rest."

"Go and take a shower. I will bring something for you to eat and then you should rest." said Eva and ushered the boys upstairs and walked to the kitchen with James and Jordan on her tail.

"Don't you want to call Mason?" asked Alison from Bella who was staring at the floor with an unreadable emotion on her face. "You should calm him down."

Bella looked up at Alison and shooked her head. She wanted to call him but she had not fully forgiven him yet and besides, he probably didn't want to talk to her because of his failure and putting her in more danger. "He is fine. That is what is important for me." she sighed and massaged her forehead. "He must be really busy now and I don't want to distract him by calling and make him feel more guilty. I will talk to him when he comes home."

"Okay." said Alison as Bella turned on her heels and left to her room. Something was definitely wrong with her.

Suddenly the front door opened and Alison turned only to squeal with happiness as she saw Alex walking in. "Alex!" she whispered-yelled and ran to him and jumped in his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist and he twirled them both.

Alison put her hands on both sides of his face and kissed his lips fiercely. Alex groaned and tried to deepen the kiss but Alison pulled away and jumped down. "Come." she said as she grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the stairs. "Let's go to my room before my brothers find you."

She ran upstairs and dragged Alex behind her, but stopped in her tracks at the top of stairs and gulped when she saw Damien, Xander, and Hunter standing right there.

"Going somewhere?" asked Hunter and crossed his arms with a deep frown on his face.

"We should not find about what exactly, little sis?" asked Xander with a raised eyebrow.

"Good afternoon, boys." said Alex and leaned on the railing with a smirk on his face. "Not happy to see me here? Where is your hospitality?"

"I'm so tired for this shit." said Damien and ditched himself from the wall and glared at Alex. "You can stay for a few hours, but you will leave before 10 pm and you will keep the door of her room open all the time. I'm sure you are more tired to try anything stupid."

"Don't underestimate me, King." said Alex, and his smirk grew wider. "I'm stronger than something you think."

Xander growled and stepped forward But Alison quickly grabbed Alex's hand and began to drag him toward her room. "Calm down, everyone." she said. "Nothing will happen. I promise. Come on, Alex."

She closed the door of her room and leaned on it and sighed in relief. She looked at Alex who was watching around her room. "Well, that was intense." she said and walked to Alex and put a hand on his shoulder, and gently rubbed his back.

Alex turned and pulled her to his chest. "Now that we are alone," he said and leaned down to kiss her lips but Alison pulled away.

"First go and take a shower." said Alison and made a disgusted but smiley face. "You stink."

Alex smelled under his armpit and scrunched his nose. "Sorry love, but people smell like this when they come back home after a long day of running around the city and fight for their life." he said. "I would gladly take a shower, but I doubt you have any men's clothing in your closet. Although I don't mind being naked if you don't mind, love." he said and smirked as Alison blushed hard.

She pushed him toward the bathroom. "Go and take a shower." she said. "I will find you some clothes. I live with five boys here for Jesus' sake. You don't need to be naked."

Alex laughed hard as Alison throw him in the bathroom and closed the door behind him. "There is a clean towel in the cabinet under the sink there." she yelled through the closed door and heard the water running.

She left her room and walked toward Damien's room. From all her brothers, Damien and Xander were the most like Alex in shape and height. Hunter was smaller than Alex and the other brothers were not home at the moment and between Xander and Damien, Damien was more rational.

She knocked at his door and a moment later, Damien opened the door. "Want me to kick him out for you already?" he asked with crossed arms as he leaned on the doorframe.

Alison rolled her eyes. "No, Damien. Alex is a perfect guy whether you believe it or not." she said and this time Damien rolled his eyes. "I'm here to borrow some clothes for him. You know he was dirty because of working hard from last night and I thought maybe you ...."

Her words were cut off as Damien closed the door on her face. "The rational one." huffed Alison and shook her head. A thought suddenly popped into her mind and she smirked devilishly. She pressed her lips next to the keyhole. "He will be naked if you don't borrow me some clothes." she said as loud as she could to not aware the whole house.

Her plan worked as a moment later the door burst open and a pile of clothes hit her face and caused her to stumble back. "I wanted to throw them away." growled Damien and closed the door only to open it again. His eyes were dark and anger was swirling in them. "Alison, I swear to God if I see anything funny I will kill him on spot, do you understand?" he snarled dangerously.

"Yes, yes, clear. Thank you." said Alison and kissed him on the cheek and then ran to her room.

Alex walked out of the bathroom some minutes later with only a towel around his waist. His hair was messy and wet and his body was glistening with drops of water. His six-pack and hard chest were on full display in front of Alison's eyes.

"Like what you see?" smirked Alex. "Don't be worried, love. All is yours."

Alison's face turned red and she averted her eyes quickly. "I wasn't staring." she said quickly. "I mean I was but I wasn't checking you out. I mean I wasn't staring. God, forget it. Just put on these." she held Damien's clothes out for him without looking up.

Alex chuckled and pulled her to his body by her waist. She yelped in surprise as her hands came in contact with his bare chest and her face turned to a darker shade of red. "You look so cute when you blush." said Alex in a husky voice. Alison bit her lip. Alex's eyes snapped to her lips and he raised his hand and pulled her lip out of her teeth's grasp. "And you are so fucking tempting." he said and smashed his lips hungrily on hers growling as he taste her sweetness.

Alison's free hand went to his face while he put one hand on the back of her neck and the other on her waist. They pulled away from lack of air and pressed their foreheads together. "You don't know how much I needed this." whispered Alex.

Alison caressed his cheek lovingly. "It was a rough night for all of us." she said. "Go and change. Then we can sleep for a few hours. You need it."

Alex nodded and grabbed the clothes. He walked back into the bathroom and a moment later he was back with only the sweatpants on.

Alison was already in bed and he slipped in beside her and pulled her to his chest. "There was a shirt as much as I remember." said Alison.

"It's hot here." he said and smirked down at her who blushed again. He chuckled and kissed her forehead and pulled her closer to him. "Thank you, Alie." he mumbled sleepy next to her ear. "I need you so fucking much in my mess of a life. I need you to keep me sane, like an anchor. Please don't leave me alone."

Alison pressed her warm lips to his bare chest and kissed the spot softly. She felt him shiver but relax as she began to draw patterns on his skin. "I won't. I'm here. Now sleep." she whispered.

"I love you, Alie." whispered Alex and yawned closing his eyes. "I love you more than you can imagine."

"I love you too, Alex." said Alison as she heard Alex's soft snores that made her eyelids become heavy and a moment later she was asleep as well.