by Honor James
“Couple more months,” he told her as he dropped the bacon into the pan. “Depending on how much this injury messes her system up it may end up being sooner. I just hope that this hasn’t pushed the schedule ahead or we could be nursing them night and day for a time to help her out.”
“We would have to call in help for that feat but if we had to do it, I’m positive that we could do it, darling.” She said with a grin, “I don’t know how they would view us helping to rear their children however.” She paused slowly and changed bowls to get the food for the alpha ready. “Are you sure they will be fine with this till later?”
Looking up he nodded. “Yeah, they’ll be fine. I might give her a snack later in the day but he won’t eat more than once from our hands in a week. He likely fed a couple of days ago and made sure she had something, too. I’m wary of feeding them too often because they are wild and should remain that way. I seriously have a problem with people that adopt wild animals young when they’re cute, realize how big they get, and then abandon them to the wild where they don’t know how to survive and fall victim to the other wild animals.”
“I agree, we won’t want to feed them too often but perhaps we can ensure that we have a nice large population of small critters on our land so that they never go hungry?” She just wasn’t sure how to accomplish that and it wasn’t as if they were starving. It was just her trying to take care of everyone and everything around her.
“I have a herd of deer, several hundred rabbits, some red foxes, and various other animals for wolves,” Miklos told her as he flipped the bacon. “They don’t starve, love, trust me.” He grinned. “They probably eat better than we ever will.”
She snickered and looked up at him. “I have seen you eating, Miklos, but I’m glad that they have all of that. They deserve to eat and be free, too.” When she had the bowls ready she tugged off the gloves and turned them inside out before throwing them in the trash. “All right, I will take the kids their food. Anything I should know about putting it down?”
“Yeah,” he said, turning as he pulled the bacon off and dropped in the ham steaks. “Set them on the floor both before the alpha, he’ll sniff them both, taste each and then step back. Once he does you can slide one to him and then the other to her. When you slide the bowls only touch the outside, keep your fingers off the rims or from inside.”
“All right, I will do that.” Which was the reason for the gloves. They didn’t want her to have her scent in the food. It made sense.
Taking the large bowls to the living room she placed them on the floor slowly before the alpha and waited for him to give his approval. She watched as he slowly tasted each one, his eyes on her as he did so. When it seemed that he accepted them and stepped back to his mate she slid the one to the female with the heavier portion of meat and the other to him before returning to Miklos. “All right, they have the food but hadn’t started to eat. I figured that they were waiting on me to leave.” She moved to the sink and washed her hands as she asked, “What do you want me to do?”
Passing her the bread he pointed to a cupboard. “Toaster’s in there and then you can start the coffee, too. Grounds and filters are in the cupboard over the coffee maker,” he instructed flipping the ham steaks over. Stretching he peered over the counter and grinned as the alpha sat watching his mate as she slowly ate her food, not touching his yet.
She looked over her shoulder and grinned. “Kind of like you, you won’t even touch food until I am eating.” She started the coffee and then, because she could, went to Miklos, wrapped her arms around his middle, and pressed a kiss to his bare back. “I love you, Miklos Farkas.”
Looking over his shoulder at her he shrugged, his cheeks warming slightly. “It’s only good manners,” he murmured. In reality it was the protective instinct that ensured a Wolf’s mate came first, always first.
“It is more than good manners.” She squeezed again. “I love you, and I love that you take care of me. I love that you are always here to protect me and keep me company.” She moved from behind him to take a seat on one of the stools. “Mostly I love that you love me so much.”
Knowing he was really blushing he shrugged again and shifted so she couldn’t see his face. Compliments always undid him, especially sincere ones like she’d given. All the rest of it just made him uncomfortable and tongue tied on top of it.
She watched him and smiled. “All right, coffee is on and toast is not going to be put on till everything is finished. I hate cold toast.” She made a face, too. “What are our plans for today, Miklos? Other than caring for our alpha and his mate, that is?”
Chapter 24
“I need to check the fence. That wolf got onto our land somehow and I want to ensure that it wasn’t via our wall or the fences between the properties.” And he had to dispose of the body of the large wolf, too, but he kept that gruesome detail to himself.
“Should you call your brothers. I mean, your properties all butt up to each other, so should you call them and make sure that they check their wolves, ensure they don’t have issues as well.” She grabbed a piece of the bacon that he pulled off to drain on a paper towel and chewed it.
Eyeing her as she swiped the bacon Miklos sucked air through his teeth. “I’ll call them after I check our lines. Depending on what I find I may need to warn them. But if the breach was in the wall or a piece of fence not butted to their lands I won’t worry so much and just give them a heads-up that we might have a wild pack in the neighborhood.”
“As long as you’re sure.” She slid off her stool and moved toward him, kissing his back only a moment before she headed to the toaster. She continued, “Hopefully it won’t be something for them to worry about, love, but it is always something that we would need to make sure is all right, right?”
“Absolutely,” he told her as he turned to face her before he started cracking the eggs into a second pan. “You know,” he murmured idly, “if anyone else came up behind me like you do I’d have them in a head lock so fast that their eyes would spin for a week.”
“I’m sorry,” she said as she looked at him. “I won’t do it again, I’m sorry, Miklos,” she whispered softly not even realizing the pain that he likely was feeling now. “I love you, Miklos, and I don’t want to do anything to make you upset.”
Frowning he looked to her and moved over after adjusting the temperatures. Cupping her cheek he shook his head. “Honey, you can do anything you want to me and I won’t complain. I was just…” He blushed and ducked his head. “I was just trying to explain in my own inept manner how much I trust you, baby.”
Her hand moved to cover his and she smiled. “I see that.” She could see it now that he told her it didn’t bother him, overmuch. “I love you, too, Miklos, and if I ever do anything that you don’t like, please tell me all right?”
“I told you I would, Harker, and I meant it,” he said softly, reminding her of his promise. “I’m not exactly shy about saying back off to anyone, least of all my mate. I just worry that you’ll get upset and ban me from our bed is all,” he teased smiling slightly. “Not sure if I can come up with anything good enough to woo you into letting me back in.”
She grinned and shook her head. “I would never ban you from our bed because I happen to enjoy sleeping at your side, so to ban you from our bed would be to ban me as well and that just wouldn’t do because I have found myself partial to that massive bed that you have.”
Leaning in he kissed her quickly before going to rescue the ham steaks and flip the eggs. “It is rather nice, isn’t it?” He grinned. “I really do like the extra room of that thing, to be cramped on a standard bed makes trying to sleep a chore to be sure.”
“I love that bed, but you know what’s even better?” she asked and grabbed two mugs for coffee, pouring them full and bringing first the toast, and then the coffee. “I love waking in your arms in that bed better than anything, I love being able to have you right there, to have you holding me as we wake, Miklos. That is my favorite part of that bed.”
“That’s just because you know I’ll always be there to hold you when you wake.” He smiled at her. And he would, too, no matter what it took or what he was doing. He’d always make it home to hold her as she woke up every morning. “I happen to like it, too, because I’m usually awake just long enough that I can watch you for a time and be amazed at the turn my life has taken and how lucky I am to have you.”
Harker grinned and turned in her seat. “Come here and hug me, you big lug.” He was such a sweet man. How the hell had she gotten so lucky as to have him as her mate?
Startled he looked at her as he slid the eggs and such onto the plates before moving to her. Sliding his arms around her he lifted a brow. “Yes?” he asked softly.
She watched as he moved from the food and then wrapped her into his arms. She held onto him tightly. As she breathed against the curve of his neck she pressed a kiss there. “I love you so much, Miklos,” she whispered softly.
Shivering at her soft touch his arms tightened around her as he rested his chin to her hair. “I love you, too, honey,” he said softly, rubbing her back gently. “You feeling okay?” he asked leaning back in confusion as to why she’d wanted the hug. He wasn’t complaining, but he was still trying to process her tone and the sudden hug.
“I feel wonderful, sweetheart.” She pulled back and smiled. “I just wanted a hug, it was that simple. I needed a hug from you so I took it. I didn’t ask and should have but I just wanted one.”
Shaking his head at her he frowned. “You don’t need to ask, Harker,” he said, feeling unsure again. “You’re my mate. You can do anything you want with me. You have those privileges,” he told her gently. Stroking a hand over her hair he leaned in and kissed her. “Sit, food’s ready and I’m starving,” he murmured against her mouth before kissing her again and, resolutely, pulling back.
She licked her lips. “Delicious.” She took a seat once more and watched him as he heaved large helpings onto her plate. “I don’t know if I can ever give you up to send you back to work, Miklos,” she whispered honestly to him.
Setting her plate before her he frowned. “Why’s that?” he asked, mildly confused by her statement. Dishing up his own plate he sat down at her side. Looking to her he took a sip of his coffee. “Come on, Harker, talk to me,” he said, leaning in closer as he set the cup aside. “What’s got that sad look in your eyes?”
“I’m just really getting used to being able to have these moments with you, Miklos. I don’t know if I will be able to let you go to send you back to work or to go back to work.”
Lifting his hand he stroked it lightly down her hair as he stared into her eyes. “Honey, we can’t just live as hermits for the rest of our lives. As much as I really want to, it’s not good for us. Besides”—his lips twitched—“my brothers would come in here and pull us out kicking and screaming no matter how we might be dressed at the time. As well”—now he sighed—“Wolves are highly territorial. The more isolated they are the less likely they are to think through a situation. Instead they’ll just act. For example”—he caught her confusion—“if we stayed locked up together for a year, very little outside interaction, you go shopping one day, I go to pick you up, the stock boy is helping you out with everything but in my mind I see it as him flirting and stealing you from me when you give him a smile of thanks. Wolves need to have a very well-rounded life to keep them from becoming the very worst of nightmares,” he told her gently as he pressed a kiss to her nose.
“And that would be bad.” She sighed and nodded. “All right, Miklos, I will let you go back to work and I, too, will go back to work eventually.” She grinned, however, and nodded. “For now though I say that you and I enjoy every second that we are blessed with. Every moment is precious and we should keep that in mind.”
“Now that’s a plan,” he murmured with a smile. “Because you are precious to me, Harker. Even when I don’t act like it, know you are, honey.”
Chapter 25
Three weeks later
“Yes, Miklos, I am positive I am perfectly fine.” She grinned and rolled her eyes as she walked through the house, the wolves on the prowl and restless now that Miklos was away. “Desi is supposed to be here in a couple of hours and you’re not far, love. You are only in Niagara so if I needed you, you could be here in four hours or so.”
“That’s a long four hours, my love,” he said as he stared at the building before him. “I hate being so far from you damn it.” His words were a growl.
She paused in the middle of the room and laughed. “I love you, Miklos. Now follow up on that lead and catch the bad guys.”
“Damn, I love you, too, baby,” he murmured turning his back to the other detectives as he lowered his voice. “Be good, my mate, I’ll see you later tonight. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t or would do and you’ll be just fine.”
She listened intently and then, blowing him a kiss closed the phone. She was smiling as her hand touched a painting in the hall. It was crooked for some reason and the planter was knocked over. Bending she began to pick up the pieces.
“So we meet again,” came the voice before deep evil laughter filled the room. “This time, however, this time I am going to take my time with you. This time there is no one to stop me from turning you into my bitch, if that is my desire.”
Her eyes went wide as she fell back on her ass and started to crab walk away from the nightmare that came to life there in the middle of her home. “How?” she whispered. How did he get past security, past the wolves?
“Sleeping pills, my dear, sleeping pills inside of a fresh rabbit. They are all sound asleep and as for the alarm”—he shrugged and flicked his cigarette to the floor—“it is child’s play.”
Pulling his weapon Miklos nodded to the other members of his team. For some reason there was a sense of foreboding in his bones. Something was wrong. He just couldn’t figure out if it was here or something to do with Harker. God, he rolled his eyes. He really had to stop thinking about her when he was working. He was already a raw walking hard-on as it was. To think on her was just adding fuel to the fire.
Moving behind the SWAT team he quickly checked that the shotgun was an easy swing-up to position, his bullet-proof vest was in place, and that the guys with the shields were in place. Licking his lips he put his hand on the lead SWAT guy’s shoulder watching as he put his on the guy with the battering ram and looked to his partner for this bust. If all went well he’d have the asshole responsible for the warehouse fire, the professional arsonist, in custody, off the streets, and doing several years of hard time in less than ten minutes.
Taking a deep breath he calmed everything, forcing his entire focus to the here and now and away from Harker for, delightful and wonderful as she was, she was a distraction. Once his focus was a narrow tunnel of vision solely on the arsonist he nodded to his partner and began the count under his breath, mouthing more than speaking until he hit zero and slapped the SWAT guy’s shoulder who smacked the guy with the ram. In went the door, and seconds later in went the gas and then, quickly after went everyone else as they pulled their masks into positions with weapons up.
Harker stood, turned, and started to run even as she tugged out her cell once more and hit redial. Please, please, please, Miklos, pick up, she thought in her mind. The hand that shot out and grabbed her hair had her screaming and dropping the phone. It skidded to a halt there just inside of her bedroom, where she was tossed onto the bed.
Staring at the empty interior Miklos was at a rare stage. He was blindingly pissed, his rage so tense and tight that he literally had tunnel vision. Feeling his phone vibrate he tugged it out and was going to snarl into it until he saw Harker’s number. Taking a breath he answered. “Hey, love,” he murmured.
“Fucking cunt,” the man behind roared as he started to tear at her clothes. “Fight me, bitch. I love it when they fight back, love the way it feels when they fight back. Oh yes, we will have some fun,” he said as he bared her breasts and then savagely bit he
r in her right side, just below her breast.
“Harker?” Miklos asked, turning as he heard the words coming through at a distance, his ears pricking up to catch anything and everything. Moving out of the building quickly he nearly ran down his partner as he went through the door. Grabbing him by his jacket he tugged him along behind him as he got free of the building into solid reception. “Harker, are you there?” he asked trying to hear. The next sound had a chill racing down his spine and then he felt nothing as every piece of him went into full battle mode.
Harker’s scream of pain, pure and intense, echoed through Miklos’s skull. “Now you will be like me and I will be able to keep you to play with you for a little longer, whore,” a man said over the line. “Damn you taste good.”
Running to the car Miklos stripped off his clothes, much to the amusement of his partner and the SWAT guys. Seconds later they were not so amused as he changed, gently picked up his phone, the line still open, and spun to race for his house. The car would have gotten him there in four hours, but as a Wolf he’d run over the open grounds and be there in two and a half at a dead run.
She kicked and screamed. Finally she reached down and grabbed him by the bulging cock and squeezed savagely, causing a roar to escape from him lips. She didn’t hesitate. She sprang from the bed and moved to the French doors, flinging them open and running for the closest brother, praying he would be home and that she could make it before gruesome was able to regain his sense and chase her down.
Turning in the doorway from the sight of Mina’s adorable ass wiggling as she checked the muffins, again, Janos chuckled. Sipping his coffee he stepped out into the yard and, at the edge of the deck, crouched down to pet a couple of the wolves that were lazing there. “You guys are such mooches,” he said with amusement at their poor-me forlorn looks. He would have said something else if the wind hadn’t changed and he smelled Miklos’s mate and blood. Whistling he called the wolves off and stood, his nose to the wind as he set his cup down and went for her. “Harker?!” he called as the scent came again stronger this time.
