by Kat Keppeler
Betty was hugging Skye back, looking very confused. “Skye! We don’t need to have a party or a ceremony I just want to… You know…”
Lee walked inside with his brows raised, bumping into Liam.
“What? What’s wrong? You okay?” Lee asked, suddenly pulling Skye free of Betty and looking her over with a small frown. Lee hadn’t seen her since Finn had bundled her off and his gaze swept from the top of her tousled hair, down over her fading bruises before landing with guilt on the marks that he’d left on her fair skin. “Need something? Tea? Hot cocoa? A backrub?”
Betty held her hands out to try and calm Skye, talking over Lee’s fussing. “Honey, Rory has to say yes first.”
Rory was shaking his head at Skye’s reaction which Betty read as rejection. Rory didn’t even realize what he’d done until he caught Betty’s crestfallen expression.
“Oh! Oh, wait… No, sorry. Betty, it’s lady’s choice here. If you choose Liam and he’s accepting then it’s done. No permission needed.” Betty looked like she was about to faint, her cheeks paled and then flushed as she turned towards Liam. The other omega was already stretching his hands towards her to take her into his arms. Liam dipped his head to kiss Betty like he’d never kissed anyone before. It was sweet and tender, and politely, the rest of the pack still in the kitchen turned their gazes away from the private moment.
Skye frowned at Rory, turning in Lee’s arms, at the explanation that mates weren’t always forever. “Well then what do you do when you’re done with the dating phase? There has to be something.”
There was, Skye was wearing it on her shoulder, after all; a neat series of bite marks from her four mates. She tipped her head back up to turn her smile on Lee, nuzzling the line of his jaw, her nose warm against his flesh.
“A party,” she told Lee, “We should have a party. If not for Liam and Betty - though we could do that, it’s still on the table! But we should have a party for the whole pack. The ‘yay, we’re a pack and sort of know what we’re doing party’.”
Skye tilted her head back to look at Lee as she explained. She went to press a sweet kiss to Lee’s lips before she added, “I’m sorry I was so pushy yesterday. I wasn’t myself.”
“Don’t apologize for that, it was amazing until it was freezing,” Lee replied with a laugh. He stole another kiss from her before he turned his head to look at their alpha in expectation for his permission. It was downright perfunctory, really. Skye had asked him for a party and Lee was clearly going to provide it, even if he had to wheedle assent from their alpha.
Rory sighed. Lee had dropped everything the moment that Skye called his name; he really was awful about coddling her. “Lee, the brand done?”
Lee nodded as a proud smile curved his lips. Lee looked very pleased with himself. He released Skye with a gentle kiss on her brow. “Let me show you!”
Lee jogged to the bedroom they all shared and came back clasping a small box in his hands. “I had to wear gloves to do it but look…”
Opening the box to show a piece of molded silver that was imperfect with little hammer marks and slight scratches that showed the hours that had gone into getting it just right, Lee couldn’t help the glow of pride in his recreation. “Chance helped, he kept holding the torch while we heated the metal and bent it. Look, pretty close huh?”
The brand resembled hers dead on. “I was going to make one for the males but Rory said there’s no need. There is no need for the alpha markings either. He said we’re all one pack and we should have the same marcas. What do you think?”
Lee’s turquoise gaze was intent, almost nervous as he tried to read her response to his work.
“Lee, honey, it’s perfect,” Skye said simply, as Rory nodded his agreement with her assessment. She dutifully flipped her wrist up to show the brand on her own pale skin. Lee glowed as she offered him the praise that he certainly deserved, “You have such talent.”
Lee sighed with pleasure, and closed the box to hand it carefully over to Rory’s care. Lee wrapped his arms around her slender waist as he suggested, “We can throw a party when we do the branding.”
While Rory and Skye had expressed their approval of the brand and Lee’s handiwork, Betty and Liam had moved from tender kisses to tugging at each other’s clothes as they fumbled to the room they shared with Micah and Caleb. The boys, thankfully, were out of the house at the moment.
“Even more reason to get the basement finished now I think…” The door slammed shut just as Rory and Lee wolf whistled at the two omega’s. After the teasing that Betty had given Skye’s mates, it was only to be expected. Once finished Lee just smiled, kissing Skye’s head. “Left wrist I think, and a party after to celebrate. What do you think?”
Skye tsked a little when they teased the omegas who had clearly been ready for Rory to say yes. Wolf shifters moved quickly, but it was nice to know that it wasn’t something exclusive to Skye.
“I think it’s amazing and you’re amazing,” Skye told Lee as she tipped her head back to kiss him softly before she turned back towards Rory, and tugged him closer until he could wrap his long arms around the both of them. “You didn’t answer my question about how you make a shifter relationship permanent. I meant what I said a few days ago. I want you to know that I want you forever.”
Rory held his mates with Lee sighing contentedly as his alpha wrapped warm arms around them both. Rory’s mouth kicked him a half smile at her continued questioning. Skye was endlessly curious about their history and nature, and what it all meant. She refused to take anything at face value, always wanting to know the ‘why’ and ‘how’ and the history. It was nice for Chance as Lee and Rory had stopped listening to his rambling lectures about shifter history long ago.
Popping a kiss on Lee’s head, Rory nudged him away gently before he tugged down her shirt to expose one pale shoulder and nothing more. “That. You don’t heal from shifter bites, you know, or completely from a silver wound.”
He held up his right wrist to the marcas there, the one that had been clawed unrecognizable by Aiden’s beta on their exile. “This means I’m never welcome in my own pack again. The bite on your shoulder means you’ll bear my mark your whole life. It’s more permanent than an engagement ring, Skye. Though if you decide you’ve finished with us ever we can just claw the mark and you are free to roam. You’ll still always bear it though.”
Finn had been standing quietly at the sink the whole time like a giant silent statue. Rory certainly knew about the mark he’d place atop her shoulder but Rory had no idea about the mark Skye had placed on his own.
“Except most of the time it’s a one way street. Your alpha marks you but does not allow you to mark them. Marriage is a two way street, you know,” Finn drawled, pulling his own shirt down a bit to expose Skye’s bite mark. When Rory stared at him aghast, Finn winked at Skye and then began to take slow steps to the back door. “Gonna head toward the big town to visit Party City. Baby wants a party, baby gets a party. Lee, pack up let’s go.”
“Yessir," Lee agreed, ever complacent to those higher ranked in the pack. “I’m gonna pester Chance for the debit card be right out!”
Rory stared at Skye, “You marked him?”
Of course it was biting and blood shed that made a relationship permanent. It had a certain sort of primal beauty to it but Skye resigned herself to never picking out a ridiculous wedding gown. Oh, well. There were other perks, like four handsome men - even if two of them kept grumping at each other.
“He invited me to do it, and I wanted to,” Skye defended, her cheeks flushing a little as she went to lean up and press a kiss to Rory’s frown, “I bit Lee when I claimed him. It felt right. I bit your shoulder when you claimed me in the shower, too, but I didn’t do it hard enough to break the skin. Why? Does it mean something more than who’s the big spoon?”
“You weren’t one with your wolf yet.” Rory said with a frown, feeling a little left out. He kissed Skye before he released her to reach for his coat and step out
side. As soon as he released her, Finn grabbed Skye, resting his big hands on the flare of her hips and stole a passionate kiss from her lips. He meant it, but of course posturing was also a big part of it too.
Rory’s shoulder’s tightened, uncertainty and doubt flickering for a moment across his features before he turned to head out towards his patrol car without saying a word.
“Okay, you’re getting on my nerves. Finn! Stop baiting him!” Lee chided the big wolf. He reached for Skye, not needing their bond to know she was distressed by the friction.
Finn flashed a devilish smile and made no apologies as he turned to head outside as well, heading out towards the SUV.
“Alpha male bullshit!” Grumped the omega as he kissed Skye sweetly. “I’m so over it! Finn always gives him hell but he’s no damned better. I’m sorry honey, they are never any good at communication. All that testosterone might make them cute but it sure doesn’t make them easy to live with.”
Skye buried her face against Lee’s throat, her distress palpable.
“I keep messing up,” Skye wrapped her arms around Lee’s waist, surrounding herself with the omega’s scent and comforting presence, “I don’t mean to, I just… There’s so much I don’t know so a lot of the time I’m going on instinct and my instincts seem to be mixed up and confused. Maybe because I didn’t know I was a shifter for so long.”
Skye dropped her chin to Lee’s shoulder, her body sagging against him. She was still sore and tired and her nerves were frayed from the last very unexpected forty eight hours of sexual escapades.
“Honey, don’t take the antics of these two numbskulls as failure.” Lee said wrapping his arms around Skye. “Look at the things you’ve done, you banded together a bunch of wolves who were lost. You’ve made our pack stronger and look at the change that’s happening.”
The sounds of Betty and Liam in the next room in a frenzied coupling were loud enough to prove it. “Stop selling yourself short. Finn is right though, marking the both of you is almost like being married. You have my marks too, baby, and I have yours. It’s a stronger connection, mystically, but you love Rory and he loves you, and he knows that. Finn just pokes him in all the places he has self doubt. He’ll get over it.”
Lee pulled back and tipped her face up. “Don’t fret okay. I’ll talk to Finn in the car, he might give me a black eye for it but I’ll talk to him. Rory needs to stop with the jealousy. Finn needs to stop with the prodding.”
“He’d better not give you a black eye,” Skye frowned and she leaned up to steal another kiss from Lee, this one in mute appreciation for all that he did to keep things running smoothly. “You’re right, though.”
Skye smiled, looking a little relieved. If anyone could smooth things over, it would be Lee. He had a knack for communication. He’d been the one to be able to reach her when fear had let her wolf take over.
Skye released him slowly, adding softly, “I love you, Clarence Lee. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’d be pulling your own hair out, that’s what you’d do.” Lee replied with a laugh, kissing her head. “I’ll see you in a few hours, love, when Liam gets done filling Betty in on what’s it’s like to be a mate… heh… ask her to bake a cake. Make some good snacks? Like bacon wrapped meatballs or something…”
Lee started walking only to catch to the sound of Finn honking the horn.
“Calm your tits!” Lee muttered before stepping out and into the chilly Montana air to get party supplies.
Chapter Eleven
Skye sighed as the door slammed shut, leaving her alone in the kitchen. The house felt larger without the presence of her mates filling it with their personalities. She hoped that Lee would have some success in getting Finn and Rory to make peace. Skye certainly had no idea how to make that happen. The tension wasn’t good for anyone involved. Turning away from the noises coming from the bedroom, Skye padded off to find Chance in his office and briefly catch him up on the day’s plans. Chance was the best one to task with getting everyone in the pack aware of an event. Chance didn’t directly delegate often but Skye had discovered that the beta kept track of everyone’s schedules and phone numbers in his office. He’d make sure that everyone was home in time for the rebranding and aftermath. Chance’s real strengths were in planning and organization.
Once that was done, she rounded up those pack members that were at home and sent them to set up tables and heaters out on the big deck that overlooked the forest. By the time that was well underway, Betty and Liam had finally emerged. They really were adorable, Betty’s cheeks were pink and every time she looked at Liam, she blushed while Liam just kept staring at her like she’d hung the moon and the stars. They were more than happy to take over making party snacks and a cake as well as directing the rest of the pack to getting the backyard prepared for a party. Skye quickly vacated the kitchen to leave them to it, trusting that even if they did get ‘distracted’, there would be something edible for people despite that. Betty took her role in the kitchen seriously, after all.
Once the troops had been rousted, Skye let Chance know she was heading out to run a quick errand herself and hopped into her little car alone, phone and keys in hand.
As she got into the car she caught a glimpse of Rory, pacing back and forth in the snow talking to himself. It seemed as if he were rehearsing, probably for the packs rebranding ceremony. Rory was born to lead, but he could get in his own head about it. The traits that made him the best leader they could have asked for also filled him with self doubt. He was ever trying to decide if something could be just a little bit better for those in his charge. As voices and laughter filtered over from where the pack began to prepare for the evening, Rory turned to head deep into the forests as if he, too, needed some alone time.
Chairs and tables were set out around the patio. Pack members strung lights up out of the way of the patio heaters to turn the deck into a bright and cheery space. By the time Skye returned, the space had been transformed. There were streamers and decorations and a radio blaring music. Liam appeared to be in charge of seeing the food moved from the kitchen to the deck with a new degree of authority to his tone. The pack’s other two females were in the bathroom, Skye noticed as she passed the open door on her way towards the bedroom as they primped and preened in the mirror.
They were not the only ones in the small bathroom. Lee was looking pretty fancy himself and was helping them apply makeup and curling their hair. Anna had a mess of curly hair that was always wild, through the magic of expensive hair care products, Lee had somehow tamed it and braided it on her crown. Betty’s hair was falling down her back in big curls that he’d coaxed from her normally straight locks. All three were chatting gaily about Liam and Betty’s new romance like the best of friends. Which, really, they were. Lee had been the only omega in his pack for a long time and while both Rory and Chance favored more masculine pursuits, Lee was more effeminate in his hobbies and interests. While Rory and Chance encouraged his interests, they never really shared them. Skye paused to watch her mate with a tender smile on her lips as he moved about with delight animation. Bringing new wolves to the pack had been good for Rory and Chance but even more so for Lee. He lit up, her beloved extrovert, chatting and fussing and primping them until the women shone.
Lee’s hair was styled into a modern coif and he was a bit overdressed certainly by outdoor parties in Montana as the standard. Everything he wore screamed designer and even he had his face done up with expertly lined lids and contour. A nude lipstick on his full lips he exclaimed when he realized Skye had paused to lean against the door frame and watch him work.
“No way, get in here!” Lee told her, with clear concern that she might head towards the party in the same outfit she’d worn to do errands.
Skye laughed, protesting that she’d planned to change in the bedroom, and set the small bag she had in hand on the bathroom counter.
“You both look lovely. I love that hairstyle on you, Anna.” Skye commented before
she tuned to take in her mate. “I would kiss you but I’m positive I’d end up smudging you. How do you get your hair to stand up like that?”
“Lots of product, I have pomade and hairspray. It’s just the expensive stuff! Looks good right?” Lee preened for her, turning so she could get the full effect.
“You’re stunning,” Skye told him with utter honesty. Her fingers itched to ruffle it but she didn’t want to ruin his hard work. She’d let one of their other mates make that mistake. Despite her concern about leaving him mussed, she leaned in to wrap her arms around him gently.
“Everything go okay?” Skye asked though really it was more of a question if Rory and Finn were going to be able to enjoy the party or if tension would follow them.
“I think so.” Lee confessed, letting her go to take her by the hand and lead her away from the giggling girls. He pulled her into their bedroom and then dug into the pockets of his tight pants to hand her a worn leather bag. “Finn said he never had to share Drusilla and he just wasn’t used to it. He really liked being married…. It was a little weird. He was super evasive. Personally, I think Finn has something he isn’t letting on about but he’s always been prone to keeping to himself. He did tell me to give you that, though.”
When she paused, her expression full of questions, Lee he rolled his eyes. “Finn… Finn gave it to me and said to give it to you. He’s off skulking somewhere. Honestly, for someone so big, he manages to lurk an awful lot.”
When Skye opened the bag a chain tumbled into her hands. The necklace was a light gold color with an opal pendant hanging from it in the shape of a crescent moon. Lee watched over her shoulder with blatant curiosity, “Aw, pretty.”
“It is,” Skye said softly, turning it towards the light. The worn chain and metal slipped through her fingers gently. It looked older but lovely and clearly well cared for. Skye went to turn her back to Lee so he could slip it around her neck and fasten the chain for her. It hung below the hollow of her throat, the metal warm against her skin. She touched it with light fingertips and glanced towards the white bag she’d left on the bed.
