by R. E. Butler
“There’s a steakhouse in Roseville that has those huge tomahawk steaks.”
“Sounds perfect.” She went onto her toes and kissed him again, loving how his wolf started the happy growl again.
Diem cleared her throat as she walked back up the steps into the gazebo. Weylyn reluctantly broke from her mate’s kiss and turned around. Diem was holding up a garment bag. She unzipped it halfway to reveal a dress.
“Oh! It’s just like the one that got ruined!” Weylyn said.
Diem smiled and zipped the bag back up, then handed it to Rehlik. “I called the boutique owner after the bombing and told her what happened, and she delivered it to me this morning.”
“Thank you so much. What do I owe you?”
“It’s on me. For the alpha female.” Diem smiled.
“Not officially,” Weylyn said.
“Don’t worry about that. Go get ready for your date!”
Weylyn gave Diem a hug. “Thanks again.”
“Anytime. Have fun!”
When they were alone again, Rehlik laid the dress over the rail and helped her clean up the supplies from her planting. She carried her basket of tools and he carried her dress, holding it aloft as they walked so it didn’t wrinkle. “The flowers look great, by the way. You did a wonderful job.”
“Thank you. I was thinking about my mom while I was planting.” She told him about her conversation with Diem.
“I’m sure she misses you as much as you miss her.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “And I’m very sure that she wants you to be happy and live your life. She wouldn’t want you to be miserable.”
“I feel like I didn’t really get to grieve that part of my life closing. It all happened so fast and then I was here and met you and now I’m alpha female. Well, almost, anyway.”
He stopped walking, and she turned to face him. “You can tell me if you’re sad and miss your mom. I don’t want you to hide anything from me, or think that I don’t want to talk about your past and your family.”
She set the basket of tools on the ground and hugged him. “I know, thank you. I promise to tell you if I’m feeling sad. I wasn’t until I planted the flowers today. I think I’ve just been too busy.”
He kissed her gently. “I’m here for you. Whatever, whenever.”
“Thank you.”
They kissed again, a little longer this time, and then continued on their walk home. They showered together, and then he left her to dry her hair in the bathroom while he dressed. She was so excited to have the dress to wear again. She couldn’t believe how sweet Diem was.
Once her hair was dry, she braided a section near the front and created a headband, pinning it in place across the top of her head. She put on the dress and white sandals that Diem had included in the bag, and then put on some makeup and brushed her teeth.
“Are you ready?” she asked as she walked into the family room, stretching a blue beaded bracelet over her wrist.
“You bet. You look amazing, sweetheart.”
“Thank you, so do you.”
He was wearing dark slacks and a blue shirt, nearly the same color as her dress.
They left the house, and he held her car door open for her as she got in. When he got behind the wheel, he backed away from the house and headed toward town. She was surprised when he didn’t continue on down Main Street but stopped at the parking lot across from the gazebo. The pack appeared to be gathered in front of the gazebo.
“What’s going on? What are we doing here? And what are they all doing here?”
“Just a little something to take care of,” he said, getting out. He hurried around to her side and opened her door, holding out his hand. “Before dinner, we need to make you the official alpha female.”
“Are you serious?”
“One hundred percent.”
“Yay!” She couldn’t have been happier with his choice to start off their first real date.
The pack clapped as they walked into the gazebo. Genesis and Jair were standing at the bottom of the steps, and Genesis said, “We camped out here this afternoon and my crazy sensitive nose has declared that everything’s safe.”
“Thank you guys so much,” Weylyn said.
Genesis nodded. She and Jair rejoined the pack. Rehlik lifted his hand and called for quiet, and when the pack had gone silent, he said loudly, “Let’s try this one more time.”
She vowed herself to be the Cider Falls pack alpha female, her heart full of love for her mate and her people. She might be missing her mom, but she was also carving out a great life for herself. Rehlik was right...her mom would want her to be happy, and the best way to honor her was to do just that.
“Cider Falls pack, I present to you your alpha female, Weylyn!”
The pack erupted into cheers as Rehlik kissed her.
She was smiling so big that her cheeks hurt.
When the cheers and clapping had quieted, Weylyn said, “Thank you all so much. I promise to be the best alpha female for you.”
“Now, a round of drinks are on me at Brewz,” Rehlik said. “My mate and I have a date.”
He escorted her from the gazebo, but instead of getting into his truck, he took her to a large SUV. Novak opened the passenger door for them.
“What’s this about?” Weylyn asked.
“Part of our new security features,” Novak said. “No one goes anywhere alone, especially not the alpha pair. You’ve got a driver and a guard with you tonight.”
Weylyn scooted into the center of the second row. “Oh, hi, Dillon,” she said.
“Hi, Alphas,” he said.
Novak shut the door after Rehlik got in next to her and then got into the front passenger seat. “We’ll be at the restaurant in twenty-five minutes,” Dillon said.
“Thanks,” Rehlik said.
“This is neat,” Weylyn said. “When did you guys implement this?”
“We had a meeting last night while you were talking to some of the females. Now that you’re officially the alpha female, you’ll be part of all the meetings going forward. Tomorrow I’ll share what we discussed so you’re up-to-date.”
“Tomorrow?”
“We’ll be busy tonight.” His voice dropped low and she grinned.
“I love how you think.”
Chapter Sixteen
*One Month Later*
The night of the full moon came quickly in that way it did when Rehlik was busy. And he couldn’t honestly remember a time when he’d been busier, save for when he took over the town and had to recruit members. But the past month had been a particularly busy one, not only with the pack but also with Weylyn. His beautiful mate was pregnant and it was their first full moon together as mates and alphas.
He stopped walking and toed a fallen log until it rolled over to reveal nothing of interest underneath.
“Anything?” Cody asked from a few feet away.
“Nah.”
Rehlik continued his slow walk from the edge of the woods toward their territory line. Every available pack member—save Weylyn, Genesis, and two guards—were doing a grid search of the woods ahead of the night’s hunt. There hadn’t been any traps left behind in the weeks since the bomb went off, and none of the security cameras and motion detectors had gone off for anything other than a wild animal.
Whoever had been attacking them had taken a break. But Rehlik wasn’t about to rest easy. He wasn’t a fool and knew that whoever had come for them wasn’t just going to walk away because they’d failed to take him and Weylyn out with the blast. He suspected they were likely busy planning how to come at them again, biding their time, watching for weaknesses.
Rehlik was determined not to have any weaknesses.
A short time later, he and the line of males and females along either side of him reached the edge of their territory. He paused and looked around at his people. Most of them looked relieved, but some looked wary, as if they’d expected to run into something and the lack of traps or other contraband meant something was wrong.
“L
et’s move over one space,” he said loudly, “and head back to town. We can be thankful we didn’t find any traps. It means whoever these assholes are, they’ve decided to back down for now. We’ll still be vigilant, but tonight’s a night to celebrate, not be wary.”
The pack nodded in agreement. Rehlik moved over to take Cody’s place, giving him a new section of woods to look at as they trekked back through the woods toward the square.
He couldn’t wait to see Weylyn. It was the first time they’d get to see each other shift.
By the time he finished the grid search, the sun was setting and it was near time for them to go on their hunt. He checked in with everyone to ensure no one found any traps or anything suspicious.
“Wait,” Rehlik said, looking at the group. “Where’s Mona and the kids?”
He hadn’t really wanted any kids out on the grid search, but Kevin and Devon were smart and had the great scenting genes of their mom the purebred cougar and their dad the purebred wolf.
Dillon’s eyes went wide, and he spun in a circle. “They were right next to me, what the hell?”
He raced back toward the trees just as Kevin came rushing out. His eyes were wild and his cheeks flushed. Rehlik joined them. “You okay, kiddo?” he asked as Dillon put his hands on his small shoulders and demanded to know where his mom and sister were.
“Devon saw something in a tree and climbed up. Mom and her are waiting there, I came to get help because I’m faster.”
“They’re okay, though?” Dillon asked.
“Yep,” Kevin said, nodding.
Rehlik called a few guards to him and they followed the young male into the tree. They stopped about twenty yards away and found Mona standing at the base of a large tree and staring up. Rehlik followed her gaze and found young Devon sitting on a wide branch. She waved her hand over something dark on the trunk.
“What is that?” Rehlik asked.
“Looks like a camera,” Devon said. “I saw the sunlight glint on something while we were walking. Mom didn’t want me to climb up here in case it was a boob trap and I said I wasn’t scared.”
“Booby trap,” Mona said.
“What?” Devon asked.
Rehlik tried to hide his smile at the exchange, while Mona told her what it was really called a second time.
“Oh okay, aren’t they the same thing though? Boobs and boobies?”
“Holy crap,” Kevin said, “can we change the subject?”
“Indeed,” Rehlik said. “Devon, you can climb down now. We’ll send an adult to try to inspect it.”
Devon was down on the ground in a heartbeat. She was truly a fast climber.
Trace volunteered since he knew a lot about electronics. He headed up the tree at a much slower pace than Devon probably had, sitting on the wide branch and inspecting the device. After a few moments, he pulled a pocketknife from his jeans and twisted one of the blades over the top of the device, which freed it from the holder. He took the device and turned it around, pushed the back of the case off, and removed a battery. Then he dropped down to the ground and handed it to Rehlik.
“Nothing fancy,” Trace said. “You can buy these things at any electronics store or online. It’s just a security camera that goes off when it detects motion.”
“There may be more, then,” Rehlik said. “It’s not likely that someone would just plant one.”
“Right.” Trace clapped his hands. “I need the best climbers and a bunch of small flathead screwdrivers.”
“Can I go?” Devon asked.
Trace looked at Rehlik who shook his head. “This one wasn’t booby-trapped, kiddo, but the others might be. It’s best to let the adults handle it. But, trust me when I say that I’m super grateful for your eagle eyes. You really helped the pack today.”
Devon beamed at him. “I’m glad I could help.”
“How about you all come to dinner at our house tomorrow night to celebrate?” Rehlik asked. “What’s your favorite meal?”
“Mac and cheese with pulled pork.”
“Sounds great, I’ll make sure we have that for everyone to enjoy. Now head on back to the others. We need to get these cameras found and turned off before we hunt.”
After the best climbers appeared with screwdrivers in hand and took to the trees, Rehlik watched in amazement as dozens of cameras were found. They were high up in the trees but fixed pointed downward to catch motion on the ground. It was damn clever.
Trace had a box for the cameras. They were immediately disabled and placed inside. “I think this is how they knew where our cameras were.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Rehlik said. “It’s most likely how that female Sadie got into town without being discovered. You thought we had blind spots that allowed her to get in, but it would be hard to know where those blind spots were without seeing the cameras we’d placed.”
“At least with our low-placed motion detectors to help with our cameras we can ensure no one else can get in and fucking plant cameras like this.”
“True. This was a boon. Hopefully the people who set these are now blind to what we’re doing and will leave us all the hell alone.”
“I fucking hope so,” Trace said.
It took well over two hours for the climbers to find the cameras. Rehlik wasn’t sure they’d all been found, so he took a list of volunteers to search the trees in the morning. When they’d all returned to the square, Rehlik held his hand up to the pack and drew Weylyn against his side. “Weylyn and I would like to personally thank Devon for finding the first camera that let us know we were being watched in the woods.”
The pack cheered and Devon waved from the front with her parents and brother.
“We hope that taking the cameras away from our enemy has struck a blow to them and will send them on their way. But don’t forget that we must remain vigilant. Don’t hunt alone, don’t leave anyone behind, and be sure to check in at the gazebo when you’re done with your hunt. Genesis and Jair are going to keep tabs on everyone who’s hunting. If you don’t check in, I will hunt you down and find out why, so be sure you do.”
The pack laughed.
“Good hunting, friends,” Rehlik said.
He turned to Jair and Genesis who were sitting on comfortable umbrella chairs, with a tablet for keeping track of who was going out to hunt. “Thanks for volunteering,” Rehlik said.
Jair stood and went to the edge of the stairs and began ticking names off the master list as people stopped by to say they were going out and with who.
“It’s our pleasure,” Genesis said. “I can’t shift because of how far along I am with the baby, and Jair wouldn’t leave me by myself anyway. He said he’d shift and hunt once we’re home.”
“Holler if you need anything,” Rehlik said.
He took Weylyn’s hand and led her to Jair, who ticked both their names off.
“Good hunt, Alphas,” Jair said.
“Thank you so much,” Weylyn said.
Rehlik took her into the woods and found a secluded spot for them to strip and shift. He wasn’t about to let anyone see his sweetheart naked. Her lovely curves were just for him.
They watched each other strip. He found the way she took off her clothes to be wholly erotic even when she wasn’t trying. She was just that sexy.
He banded an arm around her waist and drew her close. “I’m of two minds tonight, love. I want to take you home and play, but I also want to shift.”
“Me too,” she said. “But I might not have too many more full moons before the baby will prevent me from shifting. We should enjoy tonight in our shifts first and then at home.”
“Beautiful and full of great ideas. How’d I get so lucky?”
“I feel pretty dang lucky myself.”
They parted and he watched her shift, her petite body slipping into the compact form of her red fox. Her fur was white, and when he knelt in front of her, he found the fur on her body to be coarse and thick. Her ears were soft like velvet, and she made a humming g
rowling sound and closed her eyes as he scratched her head.
“So beautiful,” he said. “Your shift is just as gorgeous as you are.”
She opened her eyes and gave him a foxy smile.
He let go of his human form and shifted, shaking out his big timber wolf and letting out a snuffle as he stretched. It always felt good to shift.
She butted her head against his side, and he sat on his haunches. She explored his shift with her nose, sniffing all around his throat and face, before giving him a quick kiss-like lick on the side of his mouth.
Letting out a little bark of encouragement, she hopped away from him, her tail swishing, and then raced off.
He was at her side a moment later, his long legs eating up the short head start she’d given herself. They roamed together, sometimes running and sometimes walking, but always side by side. They chased a few deer and some rabbits, but neither of them were intent enough to bother with catching. They’d save that for the others. All he wanted was to be with her on their first full moon together.
Mated. Marked. Head over heels for each other.
Every time he did something with Weylyn it was like the first time he was doing it. The first time they’d made love. The first time they’d kissed. The first time she joined him in howling at the moon as it slowly arced through the sky heralding the close of night.
Nothing was as good as being with his mate, and he knew that what they were experiencing now was only the tip of the iceberg for the good things ahead for them.
They returned to their clothes, shifted back, and dressed swiftly. His mind was on the others in the woods, but he trusted them to all be looking out for each other. He was alpha, not the babysitter. The cameras had been found, no traps had been set in the woods, and everyone was safe for now. He’d take the small miracles as they came and not borrow future worries.
“This was so nice,” she said, as he swung her up into his arms to carry her to the truck.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I did too.”
“Ready for round two?”
“And three and four,” he said, wiggling his brows.
“Holy crow, I’ll need to take tomorrow off.”
