by Ines Johnson
He turned and looked back toward the ranch. What felt urgent was getting back to Viviane at sunset, wrapping her in his arms, and taking another bite of her sweet flesh. What felt urgent was making sure he wasn’t gone so long that he’d miss the growth of her belly and the strong kicks of the cub within.
Out before him, the sheep knew their path. He didn’t need to be in front of them to lead. He could walk by their sides, or even follow behind. With a yelp or a low growl they would heed his word. They knew where and to whom they belonged.
For the first time in his life, Pierce knew that feeling too. He now understood why he’d felt restless in the home of his birth. Why he felt unsettled in the middle of a family who loved him, but didn’t give him enough room to breathe. All his life, he’d itched when he was told to sit still. He’d squirmed when someone tried to convince him of his own mind. Finally, he had the space to know what he wanted. And he wanted to stay here with a woman who needed him, and a pack that followed him, and a land that could never contain him.
Pierce gave the signal to return to the ranch. The sheep followed without hesitation. They took his leadership, his guidance.
Pierce shifted as the sheep headed into the pen. He’d slipped on a pair of jeans and latched up the gate by the time Gloria came up behind him. He turned to her with a smile. He knew better than to expect praise at his performance with the sheep. He was learning to listen for marks of approval in her double negative speech.
“I want the two of you out of my house,” Gloria said.
Pierce’s heart thudded, the pound visible at the right side of his bare chest.
“I won’t be awoken in the middle of the day with all that racket. You can have your pick of the outer houses.”
Pierce ran her words over in his head. At the third replay, a chuckle bubbled out of his still racing chest.
Gloria frowned at him.
“I thought you wanted…” But he shook his head, taking a breath to aid the slowing of his heartbeat. “It doesn’t matter.”
“You thought I wanted you off my land? You’d have left by now if you had any intention of doing so. You’re no loner.”
Pierce opened his mouth to ask how she suspected his tendency, but he didn’t have a chance. Her next words silenced him.
“You’re good with them,” said Gloria.
The words confused Pierce. Had he missed the negative in her statement?
“They’ve come to respect you,” Gloria fixed her gaze on the sheep.
Pierce looked out at the small herd mulling about the pen. “I think I had to first respect them.”
“Tomorrow they’ll stay in and graze on Vivi’s seed.”
Pierce felt a pang of disappointment. He wanted to go back out in the fields and run. But then he realized he could. Whenever he wanted to. This land was his as much as he belonged to it. He could run here everyday and never tire, never feel the need to go beyond its vast borders.
“You never asked permission for my daughter’s hand.”
Pierce turned back to face the strong woman beside him. “Yes, actually, I did. And she gave it to me.”
Thoughts of Viviane beneath him, with her hands behind her back, howling in pleasure came to his mind. It gave him new ideas. They should probably move out tonight if they wanted to stay on the land at Gloria’s pleasure.
“You would’ve come to her father,” Gloria said.
“I would have asked you both. But I still would’ve asked her first. Her opinion is paramount, but your word is my bond. I accept you as my Alpha.”
Gloria jerked back in surprise. She studied him. He could see her replay his words over and again inside her head. Perhaps she was searching for the negative in his statement. There was none.
“I give you the hand of my daughter,” she said finally. “There will be a mating ceremony, a proper one.”
“I would be thrilled,” he said. “But I’ll have to ask Viviane first.”
“It’s a great honor.”
“And I thank you, but you know how she feels about ceremonies. I’ll talk with her, make sure she’s okay with it.”
“And if I commanded it?”
“We would obey, but I’d rather we all agree. Like you said with the sheep, you don’t have to forcibly drive us to lead us.”
“Well said, city pup.” Gloria eyed him. Then she turned to the sheep “Next time, you’ll need to shorten the time of grazing. We don’t want them becoming gluttons.”
He grinned at the double negative. “I’ll do that.”
When Pierce returned to the house, he was achy and tired. But the sight of Viviane curled in their bed woke his body. She had a book open on her chest. It was the book she’d brought between them on the train. Pierce eased the bound work from her hands and placed it on the dresser. And that’s when he spied the letter.
He’d been living in Viviane’s room, amongst her things, for over a week now, and he’d never once felt the inclination to snoop. But the words ‘Sequoia University’ and ‘job offer’ caught his attention. Pierce unfolded the letter and read it line for line.
“I was going to tell you,” Viviane said.
“Is this what you want?” He held up the letter.
“It’s what I’d worked for.”
Pierce thought about leaving the land and returning to the city. It irritated his wolf. More so, the thought of not holding Viviane in his arms every night was unfathomable to him.
He leaned over and wrapped her in his arms. She smelled like hay and earth and sheep. She smelled like home.
“I go where you go,” he said, his voice steady, his jaw set. “You are my home.”
“We’re not going anywhere.” Viviane placed her hand on his heart. “This is our home.”
He covered her hand with his, relief flooding his brown eyes. A moment later, mischief quirked an eyebrow. “Well, not exactly. Your mother just kicked us out.”
“What!” Viviane yanked her hand away and glared at the closed door.
Pierce kissed the indignation from her lips. “She’s given us a choice of any of the homesteads. Apparently, we’re too loud in bed.”
A slow smile replaced her pursed lips. “You wanna piss her off some more?”
Before he could respond, Viviane reached her hand into his pants. Pierce gasped and then he howled, making it certain they’d be kicked out tonight.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Keep still, child.”
Viviane flinched as Stella dug the embroidered comb deeper into her scalp. Bianca pulled at the bodice of her wedding dress, flouncing up her breasts. It was her mother’s gown. Gloria had insisted she wear it. Viviane had never seen it before and assumed it would be another frothy piece of white gauze like the getup from the Luna Festival.
She’d been wrong.
The dress was a gown. It was white and made of silk. The bodice was close fitting. The skirt flared out, flowing down her long legs. It was simple, elegant, and absolutely gorgeous.
It almost made Viviane forget that she hated the idea of a mating ceremony. She'd never had any intention of giving herself to any man. She wasn't a piece of property, a piece of chattel, like a sheep. She’d always viewed having a mate, a husband, as having to subvert her will and take care of someone else.
But that wasn’t the man she was promising to spend the rest of her life with. Pierce took care of her. He made her feel strong. His care of her made her want to strengthen him.
It was a cycle between the two of them where they held each other up and pushed each other further. She’d never felt so strong, so supported. With Pierce by her side she’d never be alone. He accepted her fully, warts and all. And she’d take him with all of his shortcomings. If he wanted to roam, she’d go with him. And in that aspect, he owned her; body and soul.
And so Viviane sat in her childhood bedroom and tried to hold still and be a good sport as her aunts fussed over her. Even though she'd grown up on a farm where silk and lace wouldn't make it out of
the kitchen intact, she liked getting dressed up and wearing pretty things. For her own enjoyment. She did not like the idea of getting dressed up and being paraded around.
“I’m surprised you agreed to this,” said Bianca. “I figured if you ever mated you would go to a City Hall. Make it lawful in the eyes of humans.”
That did sound more to her style and sensibilities. But that was not what happened between her and Pierce. It had begun as a calculated endeavor, but within that first night, nature took its course. When he marked her under the Moon, it spelled out both their fates.
“We didn’t go to City Hall. He just claimed me,” Viviane said. “Out in the middle of nowhere. It was under the Moonlight. I remember looking up at a Saguaro and thinking this man is either crazy or the one for me. I let him mark me. And I've never regretted it. Not for a single second.”
Viviane looked at her reflection. She tugged a curl free of the barrette because Pierce liked playing in her hair. Then she puffed up her breasts. He liked playing there, too.
She smoothed the dress over her form. Her belly wasn't protruding, but she felt the bump there. There were butterflies within. Was the baby excited about what was to come?
“You look beautiful,” said Stella. “He'll love it.” She pressed a kiss to Viviane’s forehead.
“You needed a man's firm touch,” said Bianca. “You're too vibrant to be an old spinster.”
The two sisters nodded, pleased with their work and their advice. They left the room. Viviane was left with her sister and her reflection.
“Were those two like this for your ceremony?”
The words were out before Viviane had a chance to think about them. Rhetta didn't talk about her deceased husband. Before she could take the words back, Rhetta surprised her and invoked her husband’s name.
“They were used to seeing Francisco and I together by the time we mated.” Rhetta loosened the barrette in Viviane's hair, allowing a few more locks to fall free. “They had front row seats to our two-year courtship. But then again, I suppose we've all watched your entire courtship as well.”
“What do you mean?” Viviane rubbed circles over her belly, trying to figure out if what she was feeling was more kicking or indigestion. Whatever it was, she hoped the bubbly sensation left her before she headed down the aisle.
“Unless there are Saguaros in Sequoia City.”
Viviane ran her sister’s words over in her head. Saguaros? Rhetta knew there were no Saguaros in Sequoia City.
Oh.
In the mirror, Viviane met eyes shaped like her own but darker. She opened her mouth but lies had never been able to form against her sister.
“He must be a good man; to take on a woman and a cub that isn't his.” Rhetta inhaled through her nose. “You're two… three months pregnant?”
Viviane swallowed and then spit out the truth. “Nearly three.”
“The Anatomy Professor?”
Viviane nodded. She’d told her sister about the affair when things were still good between her and Daniel. That time was short lived. She was surprised Rhetta even remembered.
Rhetta cringed, but then straightened her face and nodded. “I won't tell mama. But you know nothing stays hidden in this valley. Unfortunately.”
“What do you mean ‘unfortunately’?”
Rhetta pulled her lower lip into her mouth. She looked at the door. It was closed, but not locked. Then she turned back to Viviane.
“Rhetta? What’s going on?”
It was Rhetta’s turn to gulp and then spit out her own truth. “I’ve been seeing someone.”
Viviane’s eyebrows met her hairline. Like herself, Rhetta had shown no interest in the young bucks around the valley during their youths. Instead, Rhetta had fallen for a townie.
Before Viviane could shift focus to her sister, there was a loud crash down the hall. The sisters looked at each other, bewildered but not alarmed. It was the growl that brought them to their feet. They threw open the bedroom door and went out into the hall. The sound came from their mother's bedroom.
Viviane and Rhetta shared another look. This time bafflement reflected back at each sister. It was doubtful that their mother, Gloria Veracruz, Alpha of the pack and all around badass, was being assaulted. But it was possible.
Another thunk. It sounded to Viviane like a body being thrown against a wall. But not in the bad, violent way. In the good, passionate way she now had firsthand experience with.
She tried to pull Rhetta back towards her bedroom, but then the voices came.
"Ah yes, Gloria," growled a deep male voice.
"What did you call me?” Their mother growled in a voice both girls knew all too well. They’d heard it many a time when they were in trouble as cubs.
"Yes, ma'am,” said the deep voice.
“Good boy,” purred their mother. “Now, take the party down south and see what you find in mama’s treasure box.”
“Ugh,” Rhetta wailed.
There was a commotion within their mother’s bedroom. Then Gloria threw the door open. “Why aren’t you girls getting ready for the ceremony?”
Her dress was down, leaving her treasure box hidden. But her mussed hair and smudged makeup told a different tale.
Both Viviane and Rhetta knew their mother hadn't been celibate after their father's passing. She was a vibrant woman. She needed to do more than herding sheep, managing the ranch, keeping what was left of her pack in order, and meddling in the lives of her daughters to run off that energy.
A pair of work boots stuck out from under the bed. Viviane knew those boots. She knew why the man wouldn't possibly fit under her mother's queen-sized bed. He was too big. He was too dense. He was too young to know better.
“Really, mama!” Viviane and Rhetta's voices were a twin chorus.
“What?” Gloria held fast to her air of innocence.
Rhetta turned. “I have to go wash out my eyes.”
“I have needs,” their mother huffed at Rhetta’s retreating back.
“And wash out my ears, too,” Rhetta wailed, picking up the pace of her retreat.
The boots scrambled from under the bed and Jesus stood. Of all the changes at home, this was the least expected. But it all made sense. Her mother out at the crossroads in the middle of the night of her return. Her mother learning about Viviane’s idea to herd the sheep through the vineyards before the sun was up. Rhetta was right. Secrets did have a way of getting out in this valley.
“Sorry, Vivi,” said Jesus. “I know this must come as a bit of a shock given our past.”
“Um?” Viviane twisted her lip. “What past is that?”
Jesus wasn’t listening to her. “But I want you to try to understand that what's between your mother and me is real.”
“No.” Gloria elongated the single syllable word into two. She shook her head left to right, slowly, as though Jesus were a toddler about to stick his finger in a power socket. “It was convenient.”
“What we have together is strong,” Jesus continued.
“It was fun,” said Gloria.
Jesus turned to Gloria. “You keep saying was.” He took a step towards her, swaying that big body of his like a weapon. “Is it over ma'am?” Jesus licked his lips, top to bottom, slow.
Gloria hesitated. Her eyes rested on his lips. She took a step towards him.
Viviane's stomach groaned. Here she thought Jesus was being taken advantage of. But it seemed the big, bad alpha knew exactly how to play her mother. Viviane had seen enough.
"Vivi, wait,” Jesus called. “Come back here.”
Viviane snorted as she headed out the door. “You are not my father."
“No, I know I’m not. But I do want to offer my arm to walk you down the aisle.”
Viviane stopped and turned back to gawk at him.
“We don't practice such foolish human nonsense here,” said Gloria. “My daughter isn’t a piece of chattel to be given away. She can walk to Pierce on her own two feet.”
“I’m
not giving you away,” Jesus said, speaking directly to Viviane and ignoring his lover. “That idea to let the sheep weed the vineyard, that’s going to save me heaps of money. And your mama told me about the feed you designed for the sheep. The valley will thrive because of you, Vivi. I’m not giving you away. I’m making a statement that the Veracruz, the Guerreros, and now the Alcedes are united. There will be no more fighting between any of the packs. We’re all family in this valley.”
Before she could think better of it, Viviane threw her arms around Jesus. It was the first time they'd been this close without her trying to claw or take a bite out of him.
“I would be honored to have you by my side; as my brother, my family, and my ally. But, just so we’re clear, I’m not ever calling you daddy.”
He chuckled as he released her. The two stood in the middle of her mother’s bedroom awkwardly.
“Both of you are saps.” Gloria’s lips wobbled. Both Jesus and Viviane wisely pretended they didn’t see the quiver. “Let's just get this over with so all of these people can get off my land. They're upsetting the sheep.”
Before Gloria could pass Viviane grabbed her mother and brought her into a hug. “Thank you, mama.”
Gloria's arms came around Viviane tentatively, then strongly. “You're my girl. Of course I'll go through all the fuss and inconvenience for you.”
“For more than tonight. For my whole life. If you hadn't have made me into the strong woman that I am, I would've never survived the human world. I would've never found Pierce. I would've never returned home. I love you, mama."
“I love you too. Now, let's go. The sooner you're mated properly, the sooner you're out of my house and I can have sex with my boy toy in your room.”
“Ew!” Viviane jumped out of her mother's embrace and bolted out of the room.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Pierce ducked as his mother aimed her spit-wet thumb at his eyebrow.
“You want to look your best for your mating ceremony,” said Karyn Alcede.
