“You killed him?” Luca said.
“This man attacked my son,” I said, looking at each one of the men I thought of as brothers. “I worked for him a long time ago. I shouldn’t have. But he was an evil man. I had to protect my family.”
“We trust you,” Charlie said simply. “Honestly, you could have just said hey I killed this guy, help me bury him. It’s not like I think you’re killing people for no reason.”
I heaved a sigh and nodded. “Right. You guys are the best.”
Dylan handed out the shovels. “Here ya go.”
“How the hell did you know you’d need shovels?” I said, taking one from him.
Luca said, “You just had that ‘I need to bury a body’ tone in your voice. We took a chance.”
Despite everything, I had to laugh at that and then the four of us went about dragging Haldo further into the woods where we dug as deep a hole as seemed necessary as quickly as possible. It’s difficult to hide a scent from other shifters. A shallow grave would be sniffed out quickly. We went several feet down before we tossed him. It felt weird and very criminal, but then the rules of shifter culture and the law of magical folk are very different. We don’t answer to human law. A whole lot of stuff goes down in the magical world that humans don’t even know about. It can get pretty messy, but keeping our worlds separate has always been an important part of our lifestyle.
It didn’t take long at least, since the four of us are muscular guys with shifter strength. By the end we were a little sweaty but it was quick work at least before we were dumping Haldo into a deep hole and piling dirt on top of him. That was when I truly felt relief. Lara was just a minion. I felt for her but I didn’t fear her. I suspected without Haldo she’s just have to find her own way in the world now. But Haldo at least couldn’t hurt her anymore. He was just a body, like anyone else.
When we were done and Haldo was buried, with a bunch of rocks and pine needles and an old log on top of his grave to blend him in with the ground, I took a deep breath. It was over.
I shook Luca’s hand and Charlie and Dylan clapped me on the back and told me to check on Daisy.
“I can’t wait to meet your boy, by the way,” Luca said, tossing me a wink. “Now Jack’ll have a little buddy.”
I’d completely forgotten about that possibility with all the drama going on, but now I smiled at the thought. My kid growing up alongside Luca’s kid… It sounded like some kind of utopia. We could hunt together. We could hunt together and then bring back the kill and barbecue it like every dad with a grill. It was kind of awesome to think about.
I followed the guys out to the street and bid them goodbye and finally ran back into the building and headed up to Daisy’s apartment. I felt the connection between us thrumming and made me optimistic even as I’d been on pins and needles wondering how Andy was doing. I felt like if something bad had happened to Andy or if he still wasn’t okay after what had happened to Haldo, I’d be able to feel it in the bond between Daisy and I. I was confident in our connection as mates. I thought of marking her as I ran up the stairs two at a time. The thought turned me on. Maybe we should have done that a long time ago. We’d been fooling ourselves to ever think there was anyone else for either one of us.
Her door was gone. That was startling. The place was a wreck inside too. All the windows were broken and some of the furniture was in pieces. Goodbye security deposit, I thought. Although, I was hoping I’d be able to move her out into somewhere better with me soon anyhow. I had to think that was part of the plan now.
“Miguel!” That was Andy and the sound of his little boy voice made my heart leap. He was sitting at the kitchen table with a sandwich on a plate, a streak of grape jelly along his chin. He waves cheerfully. Daisy was sitting at the table with coffee and leaning on her hand, gazing at her son adoringly. When she saw me, she waved me over, a peaceful smile on her face.
He was back. My son was back and he looked fine.
I sat down at the table and looked hard at Andy. His eyes were clear. He was smiling.
“He’s fine,” Daisy said, squeezing my shoulder. “As soon as Haldo was dead, he shifted back and he was normal. Thanks for that, by the way.” Daisy was looking at me tearfully and I leaned over the table and kissed her.
“Thanks for putting him right where I could get to him,” I said. “How did that happen, by the way? I have a hard time picturing you throwing Haldo out a window.”
Daisy nodded and glanced at Andy, happily scarfing down his sandwich. “We’ll talk about that later?”
I nodded. “Yeah, alright.” I glanced around the room. The place was freezing with all the windows broken and the winter air blowing in. I muttered about it and got to my feet again and minutes later I at least had blankets and a tarp Daisy had in a closet duct taped over the shattered windows. I started to clean up the place but Daisy made me sit down and have some coffee and relax for five minutes. “How do you feel about moving into a new place?” I said. “In St. Dominic’s...with me?” I tensed up as I asked. We were moving fast but we had also moved incredibly slow. I felt as if our romance had taken place over the last twenty years. We were only just catching up with it.
Still, I didn’t know if Daisy would feel the same way. But now she smiled and said, “That sounds great.”
“We’re going to live together?” Andy said, his eyes huge. “Really?”
“If you want,” I said to him. “Does that sound okay?”
“You’re...my dad,” Andy said slowly. “Right?”
Dust. There was definitely dust in the apartment. That was the only possible reason for the tears brimming in my eyes. At least that was the story I was going with.
“Yeah,” I said thickly. “I’m your dad.”
“Okay, dad!” Andy said.
“You’re crying,” Daisy whispered in my ear.
“Shut up,” I said, wiping my eyes. “And so are you.”
Andy ate like a fiend for a bit and then he conked right out. I couldn’t blame the little guy for being exhausted after everything he’d been through. He fell asleep right at the table and I carried him to his bed and tucked him in, Daisy standing by and watching my performance as a fresh dad.
“How did I do?” I said quietly, once he was snuggled up under his covers and fast asleep.
Daisy followed me to the living room and wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing me long and slow. “You did good.”
“We did good,” I whispered, and kissed her once more. She felt so good in my arms. I loved feeling the softness of her, the solidity of her body up against mine. I wanted to wake up to it every morning. But first things first. “You gonna tell me exactly how you got rid of Haldo, by the way?”
Daisy and I sipped some cheap wine she found in the back of her pantry and sat cuddled up on the couch as she told me the whole story. She had powers, she said, put there by Haldo. That blew me away. She hadn’t asked for them but they’d saved Andy in the end.
“I should learn to use them,” she said, sighing. I was playing with her hair and she leaned into the touch. “I always just wanted to ignore them. But I can’t ignore them anymore. They’re a part of me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I said softly.
“I didn’t know how,” Daisy said, shrugging. “I don’t even like to admit to myself that Haldo changed me in any way but there it is.”
“I think you should learn to use them,” I said, cradling her face in my hands. “I’ll help you if I can. It’s not about Haldo anymore. It’s about you. Fuck Haldo. He’s gone forever.”
“You know, I think we bring out the best in each other,” Daisy said. “I think that’s why we’re meant to be.”
That was a new thought and it made sense to me. I’d done all the things I was most ashamed of when I was away from Daisy. I’d always been better with her than without her. The last few years, I’d gotten by alright and that was because of Luca. But in the back of mind, I had always been thinking of Daisy. She had always b
een a part of me and I was a part of her.
“I’m going to mark you,” I whispered in her ear. Daisy shivered at that but I saw the way she looked at me.
I took her into her bedroom and laid her down. I took my time. This was for pleasure. I pressed her hands back, wanting to do all the work, and stripped her of her clothing piece by piece before kissing seemingly every inch of her body until she whispered pleas for me to go on.
Then I marked her. I sank my teeth into her neck. There’s a sort of art to marking. You want to draw a little blood but it should be pleasurable for the mate. I’d never done it before, of course. But once I’d hit just the right spot in the crook of her neck as she was wrapped around me, it felt like we were fitting together perfectly. I felt our bond seal us together and then the connection between us hummed and tingled and then I was sliding inside my mate just like coming home at last.
When she called my name, I felt a love like I’d never felt before.
Chapter Twelve: Daisy
Andy wouldn’t stop jumping up and down but while the last time it had happened, I was pretty sure it had been a symptom of that toxic dark potion, this time I knew it was just because he was excited.
It was moving day.
“Which is my room!” He said. He was skipping on the sidewalk as Miguel and Dylan carried my couch into our new living room. We’d need to get a new couch. That one was an old brown velour thing I’d bought off a friend for fifty bucks. I wanted some new things for my new home with my mate. I was just as excited as Andy. I would have jumped up and down too if I thought I wouldn’t be teased for it. But I was also carrying a heavy box. I was tempted to try out the powers I’d been honing to move it into the house but there were neighbors on the street and I didn’t want to attract attention.
We were renting the house. We thought we’d try that since the rent was fairly low and the owner was thinking about eventually selling. I had very little in terms of savings but Miguel kept making noises about a nest egg he’d never touched since he’d started playing hockey. According to him, we’d be living in this house in St. Dominic for ever and if that ended up happening, I was more than fine with it. It was a nice house and it was right across the street from Luca’s place. I liked that Miguel would still be close to the men he thought of as brothers and having spent some time with them as well as Luca’s mate, Chloe, I was pretty psyched too. I was happy that Andy would have another little one to play with as Luca’s son, Jack, got older. They would pretty much be like cousins and the thought made me smile.
The house had wood siding, painted a pretty pastel yellow. It had a neat square of lawn in front and a couple patches of empty dirt where I was thinking of planting some flowers in the spring and there was a nice porch. The backyard was just an unfenced expanse of grass. Being opposite Luca’s house, it didn’t let out to the woods but the woods were plenty close enough and so was the pond that iced over in the winter. Miguel was already teaching Andy to ice skate and he’d promised to take him skating there once we were settled in.
I carried the box of plates and utensils in and carefully set it down in the kitchen. I couldn’t get over how big the place was, at least compared to the tiny apartments I was used to. I’d have a real, full kitchen and a nice big living room. The house had three bedrooms and for the moment it would just be for some extra storage but I felt like both Miguel and I were hoping to put a second kid in there someday. I wanted to fill the house with the laughter of kids. I wanted the place to be joyful and full of life. I wanted it to be the kind of home Miguel and I had wished for when we were kids.
I’d already carried in what felt like a hundred boxes and I rubbed my arms, wincing. I wished my powers included the ability to have everything inside and put away already.
I saw Miguel set down the couch in the living room and he jogged over to me, catching me in a soft embrace. “Take a break,” he said firmly. “You’re gonna wear yourself out. C’mon, babe.”
But even now I saw Luca and Charlie carrying my dresser up stairs, carefully taking it step by step. “I can’t take a break now! Your friends are working so hard to help us-”
“Take a break!” Luca and Charlie spoke in unison from the stairs and I snorted a laugh.
“C’mon,” Miguel said. “Have a pop with me and have a seat. We’ll get burgers in a bit.” He picked me up off the ground and carried me to the couch as I squealed in feigned protest and when we’d plopped down on the couch, Andy came running in and dive bombed into our laps. He was wearing his puffy red jacket and he was like a heavy plush toy on top of us, giggling, his dark hair whipping around. He really did reminded me of Miguel when he was young, sometimes. Except Andy would not have the kind of home Miguel had grown up with. Andy would have love and gentleness. I couldn’t wait for Miguel to see just how loving a family could be.
“Hey!” Chloe’s voice rang out and I craned my neck, trying to see over the heap of five-year-old in my lap. The door was wide open which wasn’t ideal in winter but we were going in and out so much, it wouldn’t help much to keep it closed. But Chloe shivered and shut it behind her now as she came in with Jack in a carrier on her front, a plastic food container in her hands. She grinned as she trotted up to us. “I made you welcome cookies!”
I laughed and moved Andy over to Miguel’s lap, getting to my feet. “You’re a sweetheart,” I said. Andy pretended to pant like a puppy and I gave Chloe a knowing look, taking the tub and allowing him one cookie since he hadn’t had his dinner yet. “You didn’t have to. We’ve been over practically everyday.” I cooed at Jack who was cute as a button in his little blue snow beanie and he grinned at me and stuck out his tongue like a cat when I gently tweaked his nose.
“This is different,” Chloe insisted. “It’s moving day. I want to help. I brought Jack’s roller over. He’ll be fine in there. I thought I’d help you set up the kitchen. I feel like that’s always the first room you gotta get together.”
“Oh, that would be great,” I said, sighing in relief. I knew the boys would be useless except possibly for Luca who seemed to know his way around a kitchen more than the others. “We’re just gonna get burgers or pizza for dinner but I’d love to have the kitchen set up.”
Once the other guys got wind that Chloe was setting up the kitchen, they insisted on being more helpful and I learned that Dylan wasn’t too bad with decor. He didn’t just stick things in random places like the others did (especially Miguel, but I had already expected that). With the six of us working the bulk of my stuff and Miguel’s was unpacked and we all sprawled out on the living room on the couch or on the comfy new rug Miguel and I had picked out. We ordered pizza for everybody and it turned into a kind of party, the six of us talking and entertaining the kids before Andy finally got crabby enough to demand bedtime and Chloe took Jack home.
By the time we called it a night, our house felt like a home. There were more things I wanted to do. Andy’s old room in the apartment had been truly tiny and he had a proper bedroom now. I wanted to decorate it specially for him and he hadn’t decided on what he wanted yet, but I was pretty sure it would come down to a Cougars hockey theme. All he talked about lately was The Cougars to Miguel’s eternal delight.
“What do you think?” Miguel said. He found me in the living room trying to decide what to put where and he wrapped his arms around me from behind and gently kissed the mark he’d left on my neck just a month ago.
“I think…” I closed my eyes and basked in the scent of my mate. Miguel was home to me and always had been. But only now had we finally realized we could have that home with each other for good. “I think we’re home.”
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I didn’t want to resist her. I had to.
As a Tremblay brother, I’m loyal to my wolf clan. Which means that I have a set of rules to follow. Rules that wouldn’t let me quench my desire for Michelle. For one, she’s human. Absolutely forbidden. Secondly, I’m her boss. And third, making a move on her would mean betraying my pack. This is nothing but torture. Having to look the other way when she’s all I obsess over. I want to make her mine. Claim every inch of her delicious curves. But when my obsession gets the better of me... I have to pay for what I’ve done.
Michelle is pregnant.
I’m about to gain a family… does that mean I lose everything else in the process?
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About the Author
Abigail is a very romantic and open minded lady. She writes mainly Paranormal Shifter Romance and Contemporary Romance. She loves spending time with her 2 finicky cats, her 2 shy dogs (they are twin sisters) and her husband. She lives in Lewisville, Texas and LOVES it there!
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