Ben hugged her back. “I wanted to make it right, Kiki. It was my foolishness that caused it to happen in the first place.”
“No,” their father said, “you were just being a child. It was an accident with severely unfortunate consequences, but we can put it behind us now.”
She hugged her mom and dad and then pulled Bo over to Shayne. She had heard Bo mention the man who was part of a small pack that lived outside Allen. Touching Shayne’s large hand, she looked up into his eyes and said, “You’re an honorable man, Shayne. Thank you for standing with Bo to help set me free.”
His brows rose in surprise, and he ducked his head in a nod, saying with a deep voice, “It was my honor, Reika, to stand with a male such as your mate.”
She looked at the members of Shayne’s pack — his family — and smiled at them gratefully. “Thank you.”
Jazlyn stepped from the embrace of a young wolf who Bo identified as her mate, Fritz, and hugged Reika. “Your mate stood up for me. There was no way that we were going to let him stand alone. We are not of the same pack, but we’re sisters in wolf-nature, and that can be as strong as family lines. Stronger, sometimes.”
“It’s my honor to call you sister, Jazlyn.” Reika hugged the petite she-wolf back and then let Bo pull her away as he thanked Shayne and his pack and turned to go back to Reika’s family and his pack.
Reika looked over her shoulder and said, “I should offer to heal him if he’s injured.”
Bo chuckled. “I’m pretty sure he’d rather just shift than suffer through your biting.”
She shook her head. “I only bite for severe injuries like yours. For smaller things, I can just shift and lick the wound.”
Bo pulled her to an abrupt stop and spun her close. “You will not lick any males but me, Reika.”
Laughing, she said, “But I’m a healer. How am I supposed to heal people if I can’t lick them?”
He seemed to consider what she said, and then he narrowed his hazel eyes at her and said, “I will insist on being there, then.”
She teased, “You don’t trust me?”
He jerked her against his body with a soft growl, his eyes flashing to amber for a moment. “I trust you with my life, sweetheart. I just don’t trust anyone else.”
She touched the cheek that wasn’t bruised. “You gave me back my life, Bo. I hope you know that I’m yours forever.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her, just briefly. Her first kiss as a free woman.
Alpha Grim clapped his hands together and the wolves all quieted down. “Sixteen years ago, I was forced to make a choice between one young girl and a war. Although I hated it, the choice was made for the sake of the pack. In all these years, we held out hope that Reika’s truemate would find her and break her blood-debt.” He looked at her and Bo and then behind them at the members of the Tressel Pack who had gathered, and Shayne and his pack, as well. “Thank you for your support, proving that a wolf is not bound by his or her packs, but instead by the bonds of friendship and love.”
Reika’s father said loudly, “Let’s celebrate at the lodge!”
Her pack cheered and began to head to their vehicles. “What’s the lodge?” Jason asked, coming to stand next to them.
“It’s like a meeting hall. The pack gathers there for parties and meetings. It’s near the alpha’s house.” She looked up at Bo. “We can stay, right?”
He looked surprised. “Of course, sweetheart. As long as you want.”
“I want to visit with my family for a little while.”
“I have it on good authority that your boss doesn’t need you back at the shop until Wednesday, so you guys can stay here for a few days.” Jason smiled.
“Thanks, Jason,” Bo said, leaning to Jason as the two clapped each other on the back a few times and then separated quickly. She smiled at her mate and held his hand as they walked over to his truck. He took back his jacket before he sat down behind the wheel, and she leaned over and hooked her arm through his as he pulled into the long line of vehicles heading towards her pack’s territory and the lodge.
When they walked through the double doors of the lodge, Bo made a surprised noise. She looked up at him and he shrugged, saying, “I’m just surprised they put something like this together so fast.”
Her mom, who had come to greet them, laughed, “When Alpha Grim said what was happening today, that Reika’s mate was going to fight for her blood-debt, the females in the pack decided to have a celebration meal ready for when the fight was over.”
Bo hummed in his throat. “They had a lot of faith in me.”
Her mom said, “We take truemates very seriously here, son.”
They followed her mom to a large table towards the front of the room where Alpha Grim and his wife sat. Alpha Grim invited Jason and the rest of the wolves with him to join him at the head table, and Bo pulled Reika’s chair out and pushed it in gently, before sitting next to her. Reika’s mom disappeared into the large commercial kitchen, but she knew she’d be back to sit down and eat.
Jason sat next to Bo, followed by Michael, Linus, Logan, Teller, and Toby. Shayne and his family settled further down the table. Reika had just met Toby today and was told that he worked security at the bar and she could see why. He was a large man, towering well over six feet, with very broad shoulders and thick with muscles.
Her family joined the long table as the young wolves from her pack began to set huge bowls and platters overflowing with food on the tables. Like her own pack, the males in Bo’s pack waited while the females filled their plates and then they fell on the food like locusts, laughter and chatter mingling as they ate.
“I packed up most of your clothes,” her mother said, as Reika cut into a slice of honey glazed ham.
“Thanks, Mom.”
Her mother looked up from her plate and smiled, her blue eyes crinkling. “I was happy to pack you up under these circumstances.”
“Now we just have to get rid of the other one,” her father said with a laugh.
“Oh thanks,” Ben chuckled as he sat down across from Reika, after helping in the kitchen.
Lively conversation flowed around them as they ate, the young wolves refilling the bowls and platters when they were empty.
As the meal wound down, Linus leaned back in his chair and said, “That was the best barbecue pork I’ve ever had!”
Jason laughed and said, “Don’t let Karly hear you say that.”
Linus shrugged. “Hey, she’s not so insecure that she can’t admit when someone can cook something amazing. Who made it? Maybe they can give me the recipe to give to her.”
Ben looked up. “It was me.”
Bo said, “Reika said you could cook, but I had no idea how well. Did you make everything?”
Ben’s cheeks tinted with a blush. Her mother rushed to answer, “He directed all of it. When the females decided we needed a community meal, Ben took over and prepared everything with help from the females and the young wolves. He really is fantastic.”
He grinned under the flurry of compliments, and it filled Reika with joy to see her baby brother praised.
Dessert was served, a dozen different cakes and pies and plates of cookies, along with coffee, and slowly the members of her home pack began to clear out and head home.
She and Bo walked his pack members out to their vehicles and thanked them all once more for their support.
Jason said, “Next full moon, Reika can join the pack, and you can declare each other as mates at the same time, if you’re ready.”
Bo put his arm around her. “Oh, we’re ready.”
She heard running footsteps and turned to see Ben with a paper grocery sack in his hands. “Here,” Ben said, handing it to Linus. “I put the recipe in there and some leftovers, too.”
“Wow, thanks,” Linus said and then lowered his voice slightly, speaking quietly to Ben.
She and Bo turned away from his pack members with a wave and hea
ded to his truck to drive to her parent’s home. They would be spending the next few days with her family, and she looked forward to Bo and her family getting to know each other.
As they drove away, she noticed that Ben was still talking to Bo’s pack, and she made a mental note to ask him about it later.
When Bo carried the duffel bag up to her bedroom, she locked the door and pushed him to the bed.
“Really, sweetheart? Your parents are right downstairs,” he teased, as she pulled his shoes off and straightened, reaching for the button of his jeans.
“Not for sex, Bo,” she fussed, drawing his pants down his legs, “I want to see your injuries.”
“I’m fine, love,” he promised, but let her strip him anyway. She ran her fingers over every inch of his body, noticing the fading bruises and healing cut marks that had been the evidence of the brutal battle for her freedom.
She stretched out next to him. “Did I say thank you?”
“A man never tires of hearing his woman say thank you.” He twined his hand with hers.
She smiled. “Thank you, Bo. For rescuing me in the woods, keeping me safe even against my own wishes, and most of all, for loving me enough to set me free.”
He rolled to his side. “It was completely selfish.”
“What was?”
“Setting you free. I wanted to keep you for myself forever.”
“You can be selfish anytime.”
“I’d like to be selfish right now and spend some quality naked time together.”
He tugged her shirt from her jeans with a wicked smile and they made love, reveling in her freedom.
* * * * *
Spending time with her family without the threat of the lynxes filled her with a joy she hadn’t known before. Ben made her a birthday cake, just as she’d requested, and this time as they sang to her and the twenty-three candles flickered on the cake, her heart wasn’t filled with dread. Instead, she closed her eyes and wished for a happy life for her family, now that they, too, were free from the lynxes. She wasn’t the only one who had been burdened by the blood-debt all those years. Even though she’d kept a brave face for so long, her family suffered right along with her. Her home pack seemed happier, too. Alpha Grim had stopped by on Monday night to wish her and Bo a safe journey back to Allen.
Alpha Grim also thanked Bo for breaking the vow and then asked Reika to forgive him. She looked up in wonder at the man who had represented supreme authority her whole life.
“There is nothing to forgive, Alpha Grim.”
He pressed his lips together and then said, “I am grateful you feel that way, Reika, but I would still appreciate your forgiveness. That I wasn’t able to get out of securing you in a blood-debt. That I couldn’t find a way to break it once it was made.”
She glanced at Bo, who nodded. All those years, she had never hated the alpha for what he had done. She had hated the lynxes for forcing his hand, but had never once thought any less of him. “I forgive you.”
He smiled, picked up her hand, kissed the top, and ducked out the door without another word.
Tuesday afternoon, as Bo and her father were loading up Bo’s truck to head back to Allen, Reika walked down the hall to Ben’s room and knocked on the door. He looked up from his laptop and smiled.
“What’s up, Sis?”
“I just wanted to say goodbye.” She sat down on his bed and looked around his slightly messy room.
“Maybe not.”
“Maybe not, what?” she asked, looking at him in confusion.
He turned the laptop around, and she saw his email program was open to an email from Karly Mayfield.
Ben, it’s my pleasure to offer you the position of sous chef at Lonestar’s. You’ll work directly under me, helping to create the menu as we get ready to open the restaurant in time for our special Valentine’s dinner. Once open, you’ll be responsible for prep, working particular areas during service, and leading when I’m away. As discussed, your starting salary will be $25,000 annually with quarterly bonuses based on the restaurant’s profits. I look forward to working with you. Karly
She met Ben’s eyes over the lid of the laptop. “You’re moving to Allen?”
“Yeah. When I gave Linus the barbecue leftovers, he said that his wife Karly would probably want to talk to me some on the phone once she tasted the food. Then Jason said that if things worked out, I could join their pack and work for Karly at the restaurant.”
He beamed at her while her mouth hung open in surprise. “Do Mom and Dad know?”
“Sure, Sis. I told them about it that night, and they said they’re glad to see me use my talents finally working some place worthwhile. I get to help build the restaurant from the ground up, and Karly has got some really great ideas.”
“Where will you live?”
He quirked his head to the side. “I can’t live with my sister and her new mate?”
She snapped her teeth together and felt her eyes widen at the thought of letting him room in her new home. He started snickering, and she narrowed her eyes at him.
He rolled his eyes with a smile. “I was just kidding, but thanks for the vote of confidence. Jason said that one of their wolves just moved away, and he had a small house that he rented out to a few wolves my age. It’s four bedrooms, and there are three guys in there now. He said I could join them until I make enough to get a place of my own.”
She was simply stunned. But really happy. She put the laptop on the bed and gave him a big hug. “If you’re happy, I’m happy.”
“Good. I’m thrilled. I know my mate’s not here in our pack, and I’m ready to branch out and make my own way.”
She ruffled his dark hair. “You’re too young to be thinking about finding a mate.”
“I’m only three years younger than you,” he chastised her as she stood and walked to the door.
“I know, but you’ll always be my little brother.”
A smile lit his face, and his dark blue eyes twinkled. “Love you, Kiki.”
“Love you.”
As they headed back to Allen on Tuesday night, she and Bo talked about her and Ben joining the pack, their mating announcement, and what she was going to do now that she was free of the pall of the lynxes.
Ever since that fateful day, she had felt like it didn’t matter what plans she made for herself because they were going to take her away and keep her prisoner. Going to college had felt futile, but she’d gone to make her parents happy. They had hoped, and she had, too, that she would find her truemate somewhere on campus, or really at any place between age seven and her twenty-third birthday. But it hadn’t happened, and she’d taken to the road instead. That one foolish act of running for the hills had landed her right in Bo’s arms, and although there were things she regretted in the past, she never regretted the actions that led her straight to him.
“What are you thinking about so seriously?” Bo tweaked a lock of her hair, and she turned from looking out the window to face him.
“That I love you.”
His lips split into a wide grin. “I love you, too.”
Chapter 13
Wednesday morning, Bo left Reika at home and headed into work. He knew the threat of the lynxes was long gone, and he had it on good authority from Reika’s home pack that the lynxes were already several states west of Ohio by the time he and Reika returned to Allen, and all he could think was good riddance.
It had been a surprise that her brother Ben was coming to join the pack, and Bo looked forward to getting to know the young male. He had moved into the home that once belonged to Clay, who was ranked fifth in the pack before he moved out of state with his human girlfriend. Ben was joining three other young wolves — Paul, Drake, and Luka — in the house, and Bo imagined that the single she-wolves in the pack would be very happy to have four single males in one place.
“Glad to see you back,” Jason said, when Bo stopped in his office to check in.
“Thanks. It’s good to be back home.”
<
br /> “I’ll bet.” Jason held out a work order, and Bo took it. “It’s a renovation on a 1970 Mustang. Take a look and let me know your time and cost estimates, and I’ll call the customer.”
“Sounds good.” Bo turned to leave and then stopped. “I don’t know if I said thanks, Jason, but really, thank you for everything. I have my mate now because of the support of the pack.”
Jason smiled. “You were there for me when we had to hunt down the wolves who kidnapped Cades, and you were also there for Linus when we couldn’t find Karly after she was taken. We’re family because we’re a pack.”
Nodding, Bo left Jason’s office and headed into the bay to look at his new project.
A few hours later, as he dropped off his estimate to Jason and grabbed a bite to eat with Michael and Linus, Michael said that Reika had called Susan and accepted the part-time job at the community center and then had called Shyne to ask for a ride.
“She doesn’t have a car?” Linus asked in surprise.
“She and Ben shared a car, and she wanted him to have it. Her dad offered to buy her a new car, but I said I’d take care of it. I thought I’d take her out this weekend to go car shopping. Does Shyne mind driving her this week?”
“Nah,” Michael smiled, popping a chip into his mouth. “You know how women are. Shyne’s a giggling chatterbox whenever another woman is nearby, and she really likes Reika.”
Bo knew that Reika liked the women she’d met, but she’d hadn’t really made any real connections with them because she’d had one eye trained on the door to escape. Now that she was staying with him forever, she could let go of her worries and have the friends that she’d been denied because of the blood-debt.
Aunt Lia stopped in for dinner that night and brought over a big container of her beef stew and fresh, crusty rolls. Reika and Lia talked about healing, and Bo was impressed with Reika’s knowledge of herbal medicine.
She shrugged with a smile. “There are a lot of wolves, especially older ones, who prefer to use herbal medicine for aches and pains, and a good healer knows many forms of healing so she can best help her patients.”
The Wolf's Mate Book 5: Bo & Reika Page 12
