by Kat Keppeler
She smiled then, letting her hand take Rory’s and she raised his palm up to press a tender kiss to it.
“You did good,” she told him quietly, turning to take in the rest of her mates and extended her free hand to Finn as well, “You all did.”
Rory swept Skye into his arms before Finn caught her hand, pulling her away from them all.
“So, I’ve realized I’ve kinda sorely fucked it all up. I wasn’t forthcoming about how the change was before you shifted. I didn’t give you the chance to accept me. I took you and I claimed you - and I am damn lucky that you love me. But… I dunno, Skye, you’re the only wolf I’ve known raised by mortals. I know what they do, and I want it to be permanent…” Rory’s words, so steady and certain as he spoke to his pack faltered and fumbled.
Finn watched them, his eyes on Skye for her reaction to this declaration from his spot on the patio. The rest of the pack was largely ignoring Rory and Skye, a muttering of excitement through them at the aspect of change and long stifled dreams and desires. Anna was propositioning any male that might have her, the excitement of potential cubs eager on her mind. They were almost entirely ignored, except by Finn.
Rory pulled a small velvet lined box out. “So, I know you’re mine by bite and claim but I want you to also be mine because it’s what you want. What you choose,” He opened it to reveal a single diamond in a square setting.
“So…” Rory said, the word thick in his throat, as he looked into her bright eyes.
Skye blinked once and then she laughed throwing her arms around his shoulders, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Relief sagged his broad shoulders although he tensed again when she pulled away and didn’t reach for the ring.
“Oh, great minds…” Skye said, only furthering his confusion, her eyes teary but her smile bright. Skye gestured for him to wait for a moment, and she turned to the little bag she’d brought out with her to the porch and the three remaining boxes that she brought back to Rory. “...I went out too. I gave Lee his already because…”
She’d been afraid that Rory and Finn were going to have a blow up about it. “...Well, it was just the right time, but I was thinking the same thing. I keep messing up the wolf parts because I don’t know. The whole who bites who seems arbitrary and goes against what my instincts tell me. You’re all mine and I’m yours.”
Skye put the box that was his in his hands, inside it was just a simple heavy gold band; strong and steady, just like he was. “I’m saying it all wrong. I love you, Rory.”
He stared at it and smiled up at her, and even though he was very aware of human traditions, Rory couldn’t help but tease her, “Does this mean we’re human married now?”
Lee had also been spying, as had most of the others who turned to see what their pack leaders had been up to at the commotion as Skye had started to laugh and cry at the same time, her arms around Rory’s shoulders.
“That's what I said tooo!” Exclaimed the turquoise haired man, laughing a little at Rory’s reaction. “Haha, she asked me first! Neener neener!”
Scott, one of the many new beta’s, reached out and ruffled a hand through Lee’s hair.
“Oh no!” Lee exclaimed as his hard work in getting his hair to an improbable height was ruined. and that warranted laughter from the rest of his pack. Rory took Skye in his arms and pressed a kiss to her lips that was tender and full of his love.
“Well, I also pointed out that Lee has to talk to you about whether you’re using husband as terms for each other and Chance,” Skye pointed out as she dropped back on her heels only to be scooped up by the beta in question in a bridal carry. He was the pack’s tracker and for someone a good few inches over six feet, he could move damn quiet when he wanted to. Skye shrieked her surprise only for it to turn into laughter as Chance stole his own kiss.
“You know, your birth pack has a fantastic tradition about stealing brides….” Chance arched his brows, looking more sardonic than usual with his dark brows and his hair falling down over one eye.
“You don’t have to steal me, you idiot. I’m already yours,” Skye told him through her laughter as he held her as if she weighed no more than a feather.
“Princess, you call me the sweetest things,” Chance teased as he lowered her down to her feet once again and with a small, indulgent smile, Chance accepted the matte black band that she’d gotten for him. It was far too public a scene for Chance to do more than raise a brow at the fact that she’d gotten him a ring that matched the only color he ever seemed to wear but when the pack started to disperse back to dinner and music and Betty’s cake, he grabbed Skye just when she was starting to look for Finn and stole a searing kiss that made it clear his true feelings on the matter before he let her go back to Rory.
Chance draped one arm over Lee’s shoulder to hold his hand up next to the one Lee had his ring on, “Now, see, I don’t figure Lee will let us get away with calling him a husband until he’s at least gotten a fancy dress party out of it. We could get a cottage in the Poconos and have sex in one of those gaudy heart shaped champagne glasses. Whatcha think, Lee?”
Despite Chance giving him shit, his smile for the other man was gentle as was the companionable arm draped around his shoulders.
“Awww, can I call you husband, Chance?” Lee asked with a smile. Only Skye knew the depth of that reality. Lee had confessed once that the person he loved most was their foul-mouthed pack beta. That had changed, Skye had steadily stolen an equally large part of his heart, but his love for Chance was undiminished.
Skye frowned as she lifted up on her toes to look around, finally noticing a distinct lack among the crowd, “Where did Finn go?”
Rory shrugged, looking around, but it was Micah who spoke up. “He said he had to go take his leg off.”
That meant Finn had pulled his famous disappearing act, again. Alpha male bullshit.
Everyone knew that Finn could handle the aching of the leg for a long time, he usually took it off at night time only or when he had opportunity to sit around. He had rarely slunk away to take it off or used it as an excuse. Everyone else was winding down, eating cake, Anna and Scott were feeding it to one another in a hopefully meaningful connection, at least that’s what Anna’s expression read.
When Skye turned around to look she caught sight of the giant man in his red sweater and jeans as he stepped into the office and locked the door behind him.
Skye had just taken a step to follow, when the door locked. Her brow creased and in a no-nonsense voice, without looking at Rory, she instructed, “Honey, give me the key to the office.”
Chance and Lee both glanced over brow raised before Chance’s arm tightened on Lee’s shoulder.
“You’ve done what you can, sweetheart, she’ll be okay. Finn wouldn’t hurt a hair on her head. Sometimes, people need to work things out and sometimes that’s loud.” Chance said in an undertone to Lee, his voice firm. Lee loved to coddle their mate but she was strong enough to cope with shouting at hard headed alphas. After all, she held her own against Rory and Chance when the mood took her. She was more than capable of handling Finn.
“Rory, just give her the key then you can come with me and Lee and we’ll work out what we’re gonna call each other so Skye can stop fretting,” He winked at Skye and tipped his head to Rory to invite him to follow before he said something so softly even Skye’s shifter hearing didn’t pick it up but it sure had Lee blushing bright red, a feat in and of itself.
“Uh…” Rory said, looking behind where Skye was looking. “You sure you don’t just want let him…”
Chance just shook his head, giving Lee’s shoulders a light squeeze at the clear concern on his features. “Just come home when you’re done, princess. Lee won’t be able to rest until he knows everything’s alright. No matter how Rory and I might try to distract him in the meanwhile.”
“Be careful honey!” Lee added as Chance drug him off. Rory pulled his keys out and handed them to Skye, kissing her on the brow before he followed Chance and Lee on q
uiet feet.
Chapter Twelve
Finn sat heavily on the chair in the corner of his office turned room, having pulled off the sweater and his jeans. His leg sat nearby. Finn massaged the stump that tingled from its time stuck into the prosthetic, his brow knit with frustration.
Skye let herself in without fanfare, setting the keys on the small table near the door as she stepped into the room. She shut the door behind herself, flipping the lock as Finn had. She still had the one ring box; the one intended for Finn, and she set it on the bedside table before she dropped to her knees in front of him. It was the same posture she’d taken that day in the library but her entire mood was different.
Everything was different now. Finn knew the touch of her silken skin against his fingertips and the way she curled towards his warmth when she slept. His fellow shifters didn’t always realize just how much intimacy changed the nuance of each interaction but Finn did.
“Can I help?” Skye asked simply, as if he hadn’t walked off mid-party. “Your prosthetic has gotten pretty banged up, we should make time for you to go see a specialist and have a new one made in the next few weeks. We can schedule it around your patients’ appointments.”
“Nah, this one is like a good luck charm.” Finn protested, his hands still massaging the tingling stump. “They really cost a lot, and I can fix it. I’ve done it before.”
Of course it was almost two decades old now; he really did need a new one.
“I see Lee gave you the pouch?” Finn said, reaching out to take the necklace in one big hand, turning it over to look at the initials engraved a lifetime ago, and then let it drop again against her sweater. “You don’t have to wear it you know, I don’t know how hand-me-down jewelry goes with women. You know, old wife’s jewelry, new girl? I think it’s pretty taboo.”
The words were rough, meant to create distance but Skye never flinched nor pulled away. She just watched him with her steady gaze that always seemed to see too much. Skye reached up to cover it with her left hand protectively, like Finn might yank it off her neck, “No, I love it. I’m glad you still have something to remember her by and of course I’d wear it. It’s lovely.”
Finn watched her for a long moment and then eyed the box on to the night stand before his gaze slid back to Skye. “What’s in the box?”
The engagement ring that Rory had gotten her glinted from her fingers but she plucked the box from the stand and put it in Finn’s big hands.
“It’s for you, for when you want it and you feel ready for it.” Skye said quietly, her hands holding his. Of all of them, she was the most nervous about Finn’s reactions. “I’m just… I’m bad at the wolf stuff. I just go with my instincts and sometimes those don’t match up to anyone’s expectations. Then Rory gets mad or you get mad or I just confuse Lee.”
She smiled ruefully, the corners of those blue eyes crinkling, “I know the sharing is… well, it’s not something you’re real comfortable with and I know humans don’t usually have five people in a marriage but I wanted to show you that it might not be traditional but I still want that, with you. I want to be your mate, your wife, and this is the only way I know how to make that clear. I know you’ve been married before and I know you might not be ready for it now but it’s here - I’m here - when you’re ready.”
Finn eyed the box with a very stoic expression on his face, his thumb rubbing the hinge. Though he showed no outward expression, Finn felt nervous as hell inside.
“I’ve never had to share a woman before.” Finn admitted, his eyes meeting Skye’s. His kind blue eyes were dark and troubled. “Dru was my wife, sure, but before if I was given a female she was mine. I didn’t have to share if I didn’t want to.”
Before Skye could express her horror at the statement he shook his head. “Don’t worry, one of the reasons I was ‘given’ the least amount of females is because if they didn’t like me I didn’t force them to do anything. I’ve never had pups. Aiden thought it was a sign of my weakness.”
Finn rubbed his thumb against the hinge again, his eyes back on the box. “Drusilla was the one woman I’ve wanted in my life so badly. She played hard to get for a long time, she eventually caved in. Honestly, it made me want her more - and I lost her…. And then, after a run of very bad luck I meet this tow-headed girl in the basement of the nastiest house I’ve ever been. She has three mates, she makes me her fourth and all I can do is find myself full of jealousy and fear that once she has her first litter I’ll be forgotten again. I want you Skye… But you scare the fuck out of me.”
“That’s fair,” Skye said softly, still kneeling next to his leg, her hands lightly resting on his other thigh. Dancing with Rory had made more tendrils loosen from her chignon and slip around her shoulders. “I won’t - I couldn’t, but you can’t know that for certain without being inside my head and trust is hard. It’s not something built over a week or a month, it takes a lifetime. Maybe even an entire shifter lifetime.”
Skye smiled then, her lips curving into a sweet smile and she stood, not all that much taller than he was sitting down. Finn was a big brute of a man and would be easy to find intimidating if you didn’t see the kindness in his eyes. She leaned down a little bit until they were nose to nose before she closed the distance and pressed a sweet, tender kiss to his lips; so different than the frenzied passion they’d shared in the midst of the mating frenzy.
“I wasn’t raised a shifter and honestly, kids weren’t really even on my radar - much to my mother’s chagrin - until I met Rory. My mom, the woman who raised me, she couldn’t have kids of her own and I don’t care if you can give me kids or not, Finn. I just love you because you’re kind and strong and stubborn. It's okay if it takes you awhile to believe that. I’ll keep showing up to remind you that I’m still going to be here.”
Finn sighed, he’d voiced his concerns enough to have them shut down. His biggest fear wasn’t Skye leaving him, not in her own actions or words, but in having her taken from him by his alpha. Rory was troubled about sharing his mate, he felt challenged by Finn and his desires to keep Skye all to himself. Would Finn fight for her? He wasn’t sure she’d even want that. Finn didn’t want to fight Rory; he sure as hell didn’t want to lead the pack. He was no leader.
But Finn did want this slender woman, more than he’d ever wanted a woman in his life.
He placed his hands on her hips and swept her into his lap, parting her knees so she was straddling his lap.
“I think I can handle you coming back.” Finn said finally, a half smile as his hands found her ass and pressed her to him. She was still sore he imagined. Hell, even their omega had been complaining of aches and pains today, yet he still pressed her soft body against his.
“I just want you to know something…” Finn said, his hands squeezing the fleshy curve of her ass before they slipped up under her sweater dress. The caress of his fingers was feather light, her could feel her flesh rise up under his touch in a wash of goose pimples. He found the clasp of her bra, his fingers quickly working the clasp.
“I will wear that ring, Skye…” The ring box that had been cast to the side as he had pulled her close. “I will wear it and that makes you mine. And me yours…”
The sweater dress pushed up around his arms, long fingers finding her shoulders to press her down against him and his ever apparent arousal. “I take that very… very seriously.”
Those long fingers left her shoulders and swept under her arms to her breasts, pushing the brassiere out of the way to cup them. He relished the feel of her full breasts in his hands, thumbs brushing over the pebbling nipples.
“Forever means forever, though. I will not go back on my oath. If things ever turn and I need to decide to fight for you to keep you? I will…” He pushed the sweater dress up, watching his hands grip each soft globe before he took one pert nipple in his mouth to bite it gently.
“I’ll fight. I’ll probably win. If you want this? Then you have to be willing to accept the length’s that I’m willing to
go to for it…” He lifted his head to gaze into her eyes and take in her face, the flush of pink that had risen to her cheeks. “Understand?”
Skye’s head tipped backwards, her spine arching as he palmed her breasts. She swayed in towards him, shivering at the feel of each heavy breast cupped in his big hands. Skye was unashamed of the moan that left her lips when his teeth scraped one already taunt nipple into an aching point.
“I know,” Skye said softly, “All I ask is that you realize that you don’t need to fight. The only thing that keeps you apart is your comfort level.”
She swayed until she landed on his good leg, her ass perched on his hard thigh. Her blue eyes were luminous, not with her wolf but with her emotions, “I know that everyone one of you would fight for what we can have. I would fight for it. I’m no fragile rose, Finn.”
As if he didn’t already know that.
“Good.” He said, straightening up and plucking the velvet box from where it had ended up next to him. The motion of his thumb popping the box open with a single flick. He pulled the simple burnished steel ring from its silken bed and slipped it onto his bare ring finger. Finn kissed her lips then, the sort of kiss that showed how much he already cared. He set about fixing her dress, much to her chagrin, pulling her dress back down around her hips after he had refastened her bra. When Skye gave him an incredulous expression, Finn just smiled. “You should still let yourself rest or you’ll stay sore for weeks. And don’t let those boys talk you into it tonight, let them get all tangled in with themselves without you getting caught up in it. You won’t walk right for a week.”
“You’re not wrong but I can make no promises,” Skye teased, her eyes twinkling with mirth, “Chance was dragging them off to get started when I left and I doubt they’ll be done by the time I get back. I am super weak about keeping my hands to myself when they start making out with each other…”
