“I keep it in a box.”
I took his arm as we made our way to the kitchen. “Darling, you can put your dirty underwear on that wall and I’ll still love you. I might punish you for it, but I’ll still love you.”
“Mmm, punishment,” he said between kisses. “Makes me want to be bad.”
When I entered the kitchen, my stomach dropped. I recoiled and Wheeler hooked his arm around me.
“The surprise isn’t over,” he said softly.
Austin was sitting at the head of the table with his fingers laced together and his chin resting on them. He had an enigmatic smile on his face, and it had to do with the two strangers at our table. One was an older man in a short-sleeved flannel shirt. He had a short white beard and piercing blue eyes. The other was a dark-skinned man with freckles, and he had a friendlier expression on his face. Two empty plates sat before them, and the older man wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled up at me.
“Who are they?” I asked in a low voice.
What made me nervous was that the entire Weston pack was in the kitchen, both standing and sitting around the table.
“The local Council. Feel like getting mated today?”
“What?”
“Feisty girl you got there,” the older one said. “Sure you want a wildcat like that?” He chuckled warmly and glanced at Austin. “How are things going with your woman? I still remember the day you signed the papers.”
Austin smirked and glanced at Lexi, who was sitting to his left with her chin tucked in the palm of her hand. “Can’t complain, Turner.”
Wheeler snatched my wrist and led me toward the table. The white-haired man threw his legs over the bench to straddle it, and I sat down next to him with Wheeler standing beside me.
“A pack witnessing a mating ceremony isn’t legal without at least two officials, so there’s me and Romeo,” Turner said.
I smirked, wondering if he was being facetious or if that was the other man’s name.
“Looks like we have a twofer. I have you down for an induction into a pack and a mating ceremony. What’s your name?” he asked, pressing the tip of his pen against a small book.
“Naya James.”
“Full name.”
“That’s it. I don’t have a middle name.”
He sighed quickly and made an audible humming sound with it. “Very well. Sign here to show you’re entering this pack of your own free will. At least until you see fit to leave. If any shifter commits a crime against you, then your new pack has full rights to hunt him down on your behalf,” he recited as if he’d said the words a million times.
I signed my name and handed the book back to him. He pivoted on his seat and gave the book to Austin.
“By signing your name in that book, you agree to watch over this young Shifter as a member of your pack. You swear to look after her well-being and protect her with your life.”
Austin scribbled his name and handed it back.
Turner squinted at the page. “Uh-huh. Looks good. That’s official. You’re now a member of the Weston pack. Now, on to the second half of our show.”
A fever touched my cheeks. I hadn’t expected it to happen so soon, but I knew how these things went. A member of the Council stood witness and gathered signatures. We didn’t make an elaborate production out of such things, but now I understood what Lexi must have been feeling in wanting to make her mating ceremony more special. It was a beautiful moment I’d never forget. The way the room smelled heavy with bacon and maple syrup, Denver in a faded shirt with a tie printed on the front, Maizy standing with her hands clasped together and watching with wide blue eyes, and the feel of Wheeler’s hand massaging the back of my neck reassuringly. I’d never forget this moment, because it wasn’t just about me finding love, but finding a family. And having everyone here touched me deeply.
I tried not to cry, but when the grizzly old man licked his finger and turned a few pages in the book, I wiped away a tear and leaned against Wheeler, holding the hand he had draped over my right shoulder.
“Here we are,” the Councilman said. “One of these days I need to bookmark this section, but my mate got a new fuddy-duddy book she wants me to use with a bunch of tabs on the side. She thinks I can’t find things.” He leaned in and gave me a funny look.
Izzy giggled from her spot across the table, Jericho standing behind her, his hands on her shoulders.
Suddenly my throat was dry. I kept swallowing and finally took a deep breath to shake away the nervous butterflies.
“You’re not going to puke on me, are you?” he asked with a snort. “Okay, maybe I ought to hurry this along before you get cold feet.”
I didn’t just grip Wheeler’s hand—I clung to it as if it were the last life preserver on a sinking ship.
“I stand witness to the mating of Naya James and Wheeler Cole. Wheeler, do you promise to protect this woman, give her your loyalty, hunt for her, and share your bounty?”