“Sure thing, but I thought you two were going to make a road trip out of that.”
A smile played on Mason’s lips. “Change of plans. Lucy’s not leaving pack lands until she’s pregnant.”
At that moment, Lucy glanced his way and smiled, and his heart lit up like a thousand suns.
Lucy’s heart swelled until she thought it would burst. The intensity of her love for Mason made her want to laugh and cry and scream, all at the same time. Those feelings flooded her every time she looked at him, and every time she looked at him, she wanted to throw herself at him. And she had.
Since moving into the pack house the day after her parents’ house had burned down, she’d barely let him leave their bedroom. Or rather, their bed.
He didn’t seem to mind.
She was still feeling her way around her new role as alpha mate, but she’d embraced it wholeheartedly, determined to be the best damned alpha mate she could be. And that included paying attention to the pack’s pups, like Charlie. Who was chattering away at her a mile a minute.
“…so there!” He gave her a satisfied smirk, but she had no clue why.
“I’m sorry, sweetie, what?”
He sighed dramatically at having to repeat himself. “I said…I shift faster than you, so there.”
Right, they’d been teasing each other about their capabilities as shifters. This is so surreal, she thought. A week before, she’d been a normal girl, living a normal life. Now…
“I can’t deny that but tell you something.” She leaned in close and arched an eyebrow at him. “Who’s better at controlling their shifts?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Charlie shot back.
“Does so.”
“Does not!” He stuck his tongue out playfully.
“Fine,” she said. “You’re a better shifter. But Ghosty likes me better.”
It was a low blow and she knew it.
“Nuh uh!” Charlie was outraged by the mere suggestion.
“Uh huh!”
He shook his head frantically. “No she doesn’t. She loves me best, and I’m going to name all the kittens so they like me best too, so there!”
“I want to name a kitten too,” whined a little girl, running up to join them. Soon a half dozen other pups ran up, all demanding to be part of the naming process.
“Tell you what,” Lucy said loudly, demanding their attention without having to resort to shouts or snarls. As soon as they’d quieted and were all staring up at her, she continued. “Tell you what. Why don’t you all go inside and suggest some names? You can all vote on each name, and the ones with the most votes win.”
The kids shot each other glances and then tore off toward the house, each trying to reach the kittens before the rest. Lucy smiled after them, eager to have her own pup join their ranks. She was jolted out of her reverie by a light tap on her shoulder.
Spinning around, she found a lovely older woman in a gauzy purple dress. She had an aura of serenity about her and Lucy liked her immediately.
“I’m Ida Abbot,” the woman said, shaking Lucy’s hand gently. “I manage the pack house. I’m sorry I haven’t introduced myself before now, but things have been a little… hectic.”
Lucy laughed. “You can say that again.”
“I just wanted to tell you how happy we all are that Mason finally found his mate and that you’ve joined our wonderful little family.”
“Not as happy as I am. Before I met Mason, I was wandering around rudderless. I only had my grandmother and my best friend to keep me on course.” She let her grateful gaze skim over the knots of people gathered to celebrate her mating with their alpha. “Now I feel like I’m part of a real family again. I don’t think I have the words to express how fulfilling that is.”
Ida reached out and laid a cool, dry hand on Lucy’s. “I can imagine, after all the trauma you’ve suffered.”
Lucy blinked in surprise. “Word sure does travel fast in the Blackwood pack.”
“Can’t deny that,” Ida said with a soft chuckle. “Word also got around that you killed an alpha with a… garden hoe. Is that really true?”
A few people had broached the subject with her before, but she didn’t like talking about that night. She’d only discussed it with Mason a couple of times, and Drew once, when he’d examined her for injuries. But Ida had a way about her that crumbled Lucy’s self-defenses. She knew she could trust this woman with her deepest secrets.
“People talk about it like I did something amazing,” she started, her voice catching in her throat from the emotions dredged up by the memory. “All I can really say is that knowing I took a life certainly doesn’t feel amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I’d do it again without hesitation. He was trying to kill Mason and me. I had no other choice but to protect my mate.”
“It probably didn’t help that all those years ago he’d stood by while his mate murdered your parents.”
Lucy shook her head, swallowing the grief trying to bubble up inside her. It was a happy day. The happiest of her life and she wouldn’t spoil it by dredging up that ugliness.
She sensed Mason approaching long before Ida glanced over Lucy’s shoulder at him. She also sensed his amusement over something.
“The pups are inside shouting kitten names at each other so loudly that no one can hear Sinatra anymore. Don’t suppose you had anything to do with that, my love?”
Lucy grinned up at him and wrapped an arm around his waist. “I plead the fifth. But I can go settle them down—”
“No,” he said, pulling her tight into his side. “You spend enough time with them already.”
“I just can’t wait to have one of our own,” she sighed wistfully.
Ida’s gaze bounced between them for a moment, and then she grasped their free hands and smiled. “Don’t fret. The pups will come much sooner than you expect. For now, enjoy the time you have together.”
Lucy dropped her head back to gaze up at the man she loved, the man she knew deep in her gut she could never live without. The father of her future children, the alpha of the pack, the keeper of her heart.
“I think I can manage that.”
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Interested in more from Celia Kyle & Marina Maddix?
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The Alpha Shifter’s Family Reunion - He will protect his mate from all threats. Even her own father!
Her Desert Panther Princes - Mating isn’t in their plans, but plans can shift as fast as the panther princes of Adikar.