Arynn's Chosen Mate: Bad Alpha Dads (Iron Wolves MC Book 8)

by Elle Boon

  “A gremlin is what a mogwai becomes if they get wet or eat after midnight. Clearly, I’m not a gremlin or a mogwai.” She folded her arms over her chest in a defensive position.

  Arynn realized she was, in her own way, asking for reassurance. He shut the door and went to her, lifting her to the counter. “No, gioia, my joy, you’re not. What you are, is perfect. You, like me, and most of us here, are a shifter. Even before you shifted, I thought you and your sister were perfect, just like your mama. Just because you can or can’t shift, doesn’t change who you are inside.” He lifted her chin, so she would meet his eyes. “When you were born, I wanted nothing more than to claim you, take you home and never let you out of my sight. Goddess, I wish I could change things, turn back time.”

  A tear trickled down her cheek. “Why didn’t you?”

  “Your grandma convinced me you were better off with her and your human family. I held you and scented you, not smelling anything other than human on you. I knew you were mine, but the thought of taking you back with me for weekends, splitting your time between the human world and mine, when you could have a normal life, with what I thought was a loving home, I thought I was doing what was best for you. Heck, if I had to do it again, I can’t say I’d do differently. My mind was messed with. I realize it now. But, if I’d have insisted on visitation, how would that have affected your life? Fate is a fickle—pickle, that’s for sure. However, I believe they knew what they were doing. This, you here with your mom and Romie, it’s how we were meant to be. A family. The fact you have a wolf in you? Well, that just means you and I can go running through the woods together.” He turned toward Romie and Sheila. “Just because you two don’t have wolves inside you, doesn’t mean you’re less than us. We’re all different, but the ties that bind us are our hearts and the love that can’t be broken. My love for you was forged years ago, long before either of us were born. Nothing and no one can destroy that.” He stared at Sheila as he said the words, wanting her to know they were meant not only for Rebel, but her and Romie as well. He held his arm out, crooking his finger toward her and his other daughter. “Come here.”

  Romie took a tentative step, then she ran until she was hugging his side. “I want to be like Rebel and you,” she sobbed.

  His mind froze.

  “Romie, you can’t ask your sister to do that. Promise me you won’t,” Sheila ordered.

  Rebel shook her head. “I won’t mom. I won’t do it.”

  Before he could make Romie understand the ramifications of what she was asking, the door rattled. “Yo, Omega, open up, asshole,” Coti yelled.

  “Brace yourselves, ladies. The man on the other side of that door is one of my best friends, but he’s batshit crazy.”

  “I can hear you.” Coti banged on the door again.

  “Will he—hurt us?” Romie asked, her voice quivered.

  Arynn lifted her next to Rebel. “Coti would sooner cut off his own arm, than hurt a female, especially a child. He’s still crazy as a loon, tough.”

  “Can still hear you,” Coti growled.

  “Should I open the door or what?” Sheila asked, glancing at the closed door.

  “No, I’ll get it. You might want to check the fridge and see just how much we got. That man can eat the backside of a mule and still be hungry.” He hugged Rebel, then Romie, kissing each of their foreheads before he strolled toward the door. “I’m coming butthole, but you better pipe down on the name calling since I’ve got two little ones.”

  When he opened the door, he took a step back as his friend stood with his arms braced against the door on either side. When he’d said Coti was batshit crazy, he was putting it mildly. The man was seriously huge, almost as big as Turo, but meaner. Standing at six feet five inches tall, with muscles bulging, and every inch of skin on his arms and chest were covered with tattoos. The man exuded tough-as-nails charm. Hell, even his hands and fingers were tattooed, but each one had a story to tell.

  Coti’s gaze went behind him. “Gonna invite me in or am I gonna just lounge out here all dang day.”

  “Be nice,” he instructed his friend.

  The cocky grin made Arynn’s eye twitch. “I’m always nice, butthead.” Coti punched him in the arm, the action making him stumble back a step.

  If he’d wanted to be, Coti could’ve been the top enforcer, but he’d said he preferred being just an enforcer, saying he enjoyed the freedom of coming and going, without worrying about others. Arynn thought the other man worried too much and spent too much time watching over ones he shouldn’t, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

  “Hello, ladies. I guess I’ll have to introduce myself since butthead is too busy thinking. He does that a lot by the way. My name is Coti Sharp. Coti isn’t short for anything. I get asked all the time, so I’m just saving y’all a little trouble. Now, what’s your name, pretty lady?” He squatted down in front of Romie.

  Arynn watched Romie swallow hard. “I’m Romie Brielle.”

  “I’m Rebel and Arynn’s my dad, but he’s Romie’s too. I have a wolf in me, and she says you’re not a bad wolf,” Rebel babbled.

  Coti shifted on his feet, staying low so he was on the girls’ level. “How long you had your wolf?” he asked.

  Rebel shrugged her shoulders. “She just came out yesterday.”

  “Well, I guess she can be forgiven for not being correct. I’m a real bad wolf.” He snapped his teeth together.

  Romie punched his arm. “You stop that, mister.”

  The shock on his friend’s face would’ve been comical if Arynn hadn’t worried it would make Coti angry. “Coti, remember they’re children.”

  “You got fire, kid. I like you and your sister. I guess it’s a good thing I’m your personal guard, huh?” Coti stood to his full height.

  Sheila gasped. “What the heck is going on? I feel like I’ve fallen into the Twilight Zone and if I look out the window, there’s going to be little dude on the plane’s wing or something.”

  “I saw that episode and it didn’t end well. Let’s hope this one does. So, whatcha cooking, butthead?” Coti asked Arynn.

  If a shifter could get a headache, Arynn was getting one. “Did Kellen send you?”

  Coti pointed to his nose. “Got it on the first one. Now, I’ll just sit over here while you whip us up one of your famous omelets. You are making one, right? Ladies, let me assure you, he makes the very best in like a fifty-mile radius.” Coti plopped down in one of the chairs in the living area.

  “Can I bite him, dad?” Rebel asked.

  Arynn ruffled her hair. “Yes. No, dang it. You’ll want to but try to restrain yourself. I guess I’m making omelets.”

  “Yep, I think I like your girls, Arynn.” Coti grabbed the remote and began switching channels.

  Lula looked through the television thingy. Jenna was busy making babies with her mates, which totally befuddled Lula since she already had two in the stomach oven. “I just don’t understand these people. That Xander Mother-Fucking Carmichael is always practicing. He should just ask Kellen how to make the babies since he made four at once. Now, Jenna is still doing that making babies, all the time, and she has two already made in her tummy,” she muttered to herself. “Also, why would Xander’s parents give him such an awful name?” She’d have to have a talk with them the next time she was on Earth. Parents didn’t understand the ramifications of their actions, especially when naming a child such a deplorable name as Mother-Fucking Carmichael.

  She already knew what her next plan of action was going to be but worried her own mother was going to freak out. “Well, what happens in Fey stays in Fey, until you bring something from Earth here, then it doesn’t.” Her finger swirled around the two little girls, one with dark hair and blue eyes and one with blonde hair and brown eyes. In her heart, she knew if she didn’t take them from their world they wouldn’t live much longer. “I can’t allow that to happen. It would cause a rift in the entire Iron Wolves; the very fabric of their existence would be torn.”


  Taking a deep breath, she flashed inside the apartment next to Arynn and his family. The darkness already had tendrils growing so close to where the wolves were, and they didn’t even know it. If her queen wasn’t pregnant and close to delivering, she’d call on her to fix things. “I’ll convince them to let me take the girls to Fey while they take care of the darkness.” Lula shuddered as a slice of evil slithered toward her. “Ah, you think to come at me?” she asked the shadow.

  Her body partially shifted, allowing scales made of the thickest stone to cover her. “Not today, wench, not today.” She shot a blast of cool air toward the corner sending the shadow away from her. In a blink, she disappeared and reappeared in Arynn’s living room, making the four occupants jump, scream, and growl.

  “Lula, what the hell, girl?” Arynn asked as he stood in front of his females. Such a good male. A male of worth.

  A deep growl from behind her warned of the other occupant. “Down, wolfie, I mean you no harm. Although I’d love to see if your tattoos cover you everywhere.” She was only half joking. Not that she had any real feelings for the big wolf, but he was absolutely gorgeous—in a bad boy, want to beat you to a pulp, oh yes we can have wall sex, kind of way. To bad he wasn’t her mate.

  “Dragon, one day, you’ll meet your mate, and he’s going to put you over his knee and teach you some manners,” Coti groused.

  Lula sighed, pressing her hands to her chest as if in prayer. “A dragon can only hope.”

  The dark-haired girl stepped around Arynn. “Are you really a dragon?”

  “Yep, born and raised. I also breathe fire, sprout wings, a tail and have scales. No, you may not see them right now. However, if your parents are so inclined, I’d like to take you to the Fey Realm until they can get this sitch straightened out.” She batted her lashes, hoping she looked innocent.

  Arynn’s mate gathered her children into her arms. “You’re not taking my babies anywhere without me.”

  “Lord love a duck. Next, you’ll say in the most dramatic way of course,” Lula paused and raised her forearm to her head, striking a pose. “Over my dead body,” she said in a fake southern accent. “Which, is such a cliché. First, who really says that kind of thing and lives to talk about it. Second, why would anyone need to kill someone to take something?” She flashed away, then reappeared behind Sheila. “See, I can just do this.” Without hurting the human, she lifted her away from the two children, then took them into her arms and flashed across the room. “See, nobody had to die in order for me to do that. Soo dramatic with the death words. Hiya, girlies. We’re gonna have so much fun. You don’t get air sick, do you?”

  “Lula, please don’t do this. Let’s talk about this rationally, okay?” Arynn held both hands out in front of him.

  “Arynn Dunn, I’m going to show you something, so brace yourself, mkay?” She didn’t wait for him to give his consent. Time was ticking, evil was literally knocking on the door, and these children were going to be pawns. She thrust the vision at Arynn, knowing his three entities could handle what he would see.

  The little human woman’s gasp surprised her, but she didn’t stop the mind meld with Arynn until he saw what was going to happen. She showed him the three possible outcomes, before releasing him. “Now, what is your answer, Arynn Dunn?”

  As he pulled his mate next to him, the love and emotional connection between the couple flared, knocking the darkness back out. Good, they’d need their connection, and more, to fight. What they didn’t need was their children being held against them. “I need your answer, Arynn.”

  “Sheila, I trust Lula with my life and that of our girls’,” he swore.

  Lula didn’t wait for anything else. “Alright, let’s fly like the wind, my little friends.” Knowing some would and did get sick on their first realm to realm travel, she made sure each girl slept until they landed in her private place on Fey. The large treehouse was big enough a family of five could live comfortably, but one large dragon was best there alone. However, she would share her space with two little girls until it was safe to take them home. Yikes, she hoped it wouldn’t take too long as she glanced around at all her precious possessions. “Well, in for a pound and all that,” she muttered.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Sheila slapped Arynn. “What have you done? Where did she take them?”

  Arynn gripped her arm before she could slap him again. “Enough, Sheila. Lula’s the best protector, next to Jenna. She’ll keep our girls safe until we can figure out how to get rid of the threat against us.”

  Coti slapped his hands together. “Holy fucking shit. That dragon just up and left with your girls, and there’s a dark shadow moving in through the doorway in your bedroom. We need to get the hell outta Dodge folks.” Coti grabbed Sheila’s hand, and tugged. “Arynn, let’s go.”

  She looked back to see Arynn staring at the doorway. “Please,” she whispered. The thought of leaving without him was like a knife in the heart.

  Arynn gave a jerky nod, then he was moving toward her and lifting her over his shoulder. “We need to evacuate everyone in the apartments.”

  Coti tapped his temple. “Done made the call, brother.”

  When this was all over, she was going to find a way to communicate like they did. It left her feeling totally off kilter when they talked with the minds, or whatever they heck they did. “I can walk and run, Arynn,” she complained as he ran up the stairs.

  He moved fast, punching in numbers and shoving open the door. Light from the sun made her hug his back even from her upside-down position.

  “I know you can, but not as fast as Coti and I.” Arynn continued to run until they were outside what looked like a clinic.

  “How’d it get inside?” Coti asked, his tone deadly.

  Sheila bit her lip and wondered if she had inadvertently allowed it though her dreams. “Sarah and I used to play in our dreams. We weren’t allowed to do foolish things in real life, so we somehow found each other in our dreams. I don’t know if it was her taking me along or what. She was in my dreams this morning. I think I let it in. I’m sorry, Arynn.”

  He placed her on the tile floor once they were inside. “Sweetheart, you didn’t let that darkness in on purpose, if you let it in at all.” He looked at Coti. “Kellen’s on his way and so are the Cordell twins. They’re not bringing Jenna, but Creed’s with them.”

  Coti’s head fell backward as he stared at the ceiling. “Yes, we get Hellboy.”

  “Who’s Hellboy?”

  “Hello, madam, I am Creed, or as they have so nicely put it, Hellboy. Although, I prefer Creed.” A tall dark-haired man with dark eyes dressed in an impeccable suit stood a few feet away, his smile playful.

  “Hi, I’m Sheila. Um, are you here to do the accounting or something?” she asked, looking at his expensive suit and shiny shoes. The man looked like he just stepped out of a boardroom, not like he was ready to fight evil.

  Coti, the huge tattooed man, laughed, bending over, one arm holding his stomach while he gasped for air. “Oh my fucking Goddess, yes, you are my new favorite human. Creed, the accountant strikes again. Can we get business cards made up saying that?”

  In a flash, the debonair man had the much larger man in the air with one hand. “Absofuckinglutely. First order of business would be me putting a check mark next to whooping your ass.”

  Coti’s eyes flashed emerald green. “Let me go, Son of Satan.”

  Creed shook his head. “I’m just checking my boxes, making sure everything adds up. Something ain’t adding up with you.”

  “Creed, put the pup down. Now!” One of the identical men from before said.

  “Do I gotta?” Creed asked, giving Coti a shake.

  “Do as Damien said, or we tell Raina you were being mean again.”

  Creed released Coti, but the other man didn’t fall on his ass like Sheila expected. He floated to his feet, standing to tower over Creed, his muscles flexed, making the tattoos on his exposed arms move as if alive. “One fr
ee pass, fucker, that’s all you get.”

  “I think I like you, Coti, with an I. I’ll figure you out in no time at all.” Creed stared up at Coti.

  Coti didn’t move, his gaze just as intent as Creed’s. “You don’t want to rattle that cage, Hellboy.”

  “We done with the pissing contest or what?” Kellen asked, letting the big steel door slam behind him. “I could feel the testosterone a half a mile down the road. Put your dicks away and tell me how I get rid of that black cloud surrounding my club.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

  “Kill the Black Queen.” Damien’s words fell like a ton of bricks in the quiet hall.

  Xan came strolling around the corner. “Did I just hear you say kill a queen, ‘cause I seriously don’t think I heard you right.”

  Damien nodded. “We did some research and the Dark Fae is led by the Black Queen. She’s the woman who holds all the power. My father thought the Dark Fae had left this world hundreds of years ago. Honestly, neither Lucas nor I have ever run into any of them before.”

  “I hadn’t either until I went to Mystic and saw with my own eyes how evil they are. One of the men had taken several females, including a Fey from Jenna’s realm, and held them prisoners. He sucked their powers into himself, using it to form his own shifters, and kept the prisoners locked down with charms and mystical cages. He was able to manipulate bonds and even had children with a Fey.”

  Lucas closed his eyes then opened them. “Jenna said her people, with the help of others had exiled the Dark Fae onto the Vanishing Realm, where they should never have been able to escape. The Goddess has several warriors looking for the escapees from what Jenna’s been told. Thankfully, the Goddess hasn’t charged our Hearts Love with that task.”

  Sheila could see the struggle the two men went through at the thought. She wasn’t sure how their relationship worked. Two men and one woman. Heck, just one Arynn was almost too much for her, but she wasn’t one to judge. If they were happy, then she was happy for them. “Are my babies safe?”