Her Wolf In Shining Armor: A Howls Romance
Page 9
"So that strange buzzing sensation that I felt was a burst of alpha power?" Jolie queried.
"Had to be," Shana confirmed. "I'd been experiencing the same thing since we got here and it freaked me out."
"I'm sorry, beauty," Dane said ruefully and trailed his fingertips down her cheek. "I was warning the pack to stay away. I didn't know it would affect you."
"I would have been fine if I'd known what it was," she assured him. "It had every hair on my body standing on end."
"I'll bet," Reece said in amusement. "In any event, our father always claimed that Dane would be the strongest alpha our pack had ever produced. The kid always denied it… until now."
"I had my reasons," her mate insisted.
"You didn't want to fight me for the position," the older brother deduced.
"Did you ever consider I just didn't want it?" He asked dryly.
"Whatever the reason, the job's yours now, little brother," Reece said as he gently lifted his mate in his arms. "I'm going to retire and spend the rest of my days spoiling my mate and cubs."
"I like the sound of that," Jolie agreed as he carried her toward the helicopter.
"We'll see you at the ceremony," Reece called over his shoulder before he climbed inside.
Once they were alone, her conscience just wouldn't let her wait a minute longer so Shana blurted out, "I can't have children."
He blinked at her and asked, "What?"
"I found out Friday afternoon," she confessed brokenly. "I can't have children, Dane and that's not fair to you. I know how much you love them and…"
"Shana, it doesn't matter to me if you can have children or not," he assured her solemnly. "I'm adopted and nothing would please me more than to adopt children of my own."
"Do you really mean that?" She asked tremulously.
"Of course I do. Wait. Is that why you rejected me?" He asked in astonishment and she nodded her affirmation. "You were going to marry that asshat because you can't have my children?"
"Yes," she whispered brokenly.
"It wasn't because you don't love me?"
"No!" She exclaimed and was horrified that he'd thought such a thing. "It's because I love you too much."
***
Dane's composure broke. His mate had just fucking wrecked him. Tears filled his eyes and a sob tore from his chest. Shana looked completely appalled and he framed her beautiful face with both hands. "You love me?" He asked brokenly.
"Yes."
"You really love me?" He asked in awe.
"I really, really do," she confessed with a tremulous smile.
"Beauty, no one has ever loved me," he admitted shamefully. "Until you."
"Of course they have," she countered.
He shook his head, the golden eyes solemn and filled with pain. "My own mother didn't love me. Neither did my wife," he confessed. "You're the first woman who has ever said those words to me."
Tears slid down her cheeks as she vowed, "You'll hear them every day for the rest of our lives, Dane. I love you, mate of mine. I love you, love you, love you."
"Jesus," he whispered brokenly and rested his forehead against hers, his arms tightening around her possessively. "I love you with all that I am, my beauty, now and forever."
EPILOGUE
"ETA two minutes, Alpha," the pilot's voice relayed through the headset.
Dane looked out of the helicopter window and smiled at the familiar sight of home. The estate was as impressive from the air as it was from the ground. His sister-in-law had wanted a house with a big yard and lots of children for her cubs to play with. So he and his brother had built their homes side by side on a portion of pack land.
Which meant the two families practically lived together.
The road leading to the estate was populated by the homes of their closest friends. Bratcher Phelps had been banished from his pack once his relationship with Lawrence had been made public. After Shana had reminded him that the mate bond knew no bounds, including gender, Dane had welcomed the couple into his pack.
Lawrence was now the pack's legal counsel and a good friend.
His mate continued to play professional football and was still a favorite of the fans.
Cindy and her mate were their closest neighbors. To repay his mate's friend for giving him a heads up about the wedding, Dane had funded her own private art gallery. In the intervening years, she had become a world-renowned artist and her mate, his beta Garret Darnell had his hands full with the feisty female.
The chopper touched down in the driveway and he sprang lithely to the ground. "Beauty, I'm home," Dane called out as he entered the house. He followed the sound of laughter to the backyard and smiled at the familiar scene. Reece and Jolie were curled together in an oversized chaise lounge in their yard watching the children play.
Their son Bryce was fourteen, Delia was ten and Ayslyn was six.
Retirement had been good for his brother. He'd never seen Reece as relaxed and carefree as he'd been since he no longer held the position of alpha. Even his wolf had mellowed. Now he ran his various businesses from his home office and spent the majority of his time lavishing his mate and cubs with affection.
Looking back out at the expanse of lawn again, Dane saw his wife, his beautiful loving mate, romping with the children. Their children. The ones that they had adopted and the ones she'd given birth to. Wolf shifter blood had incredible healing properties and his had cured her reproductive issues.
"Daddy's home," he announced and braced for impact. Amid gleeful whoops and joyous barks, six cubs playfully attacked him. Colin, aged eleven, Hanna, aged seven, and Lucian, aged five were the shifter children that they had adopted. Daniel, aged nine and the twins, Laurel and Holly, aged three were the ones his mate had borne.
Both he and Shana loved all of their children equally. Because they understood that blood ties did not make a family. The love and respect that they shared did. He might be the biggest, baddest alpha in the country, but even his wolf was impressed with their mate's fierceness when it came to protecting their beloved cubs.
After he had rolled and tumbled, kissed and cuddled every one of them, the children scampered off to get into whatever mischief they had brewing with Reece's cubs. A smile of sheer happiness on his face, Dane pulled his mate onto his lap and nuzzled his lips against her mating mark. It had been ten years since he'd placed it there and he loved her more every day.
"Welcome home, mate of mine," Shana said and the radiant smile shown in her eyes. "I love you."
True to her word, she had never failed to tell him multiple times daily that she loved him. Over time, she had managed to convince him that he was worthy of the emotion. Not because of his wealth or power, or because he was the Supreme Alpha. But because he was a decent, caring man who gave of himself freely and asked for nothing in return.
Nothing except the love his mate willingly gave.
"I love you, my beauty," Dane vowed yet again. "For all of our days."
The End
Howls Romance
Classic romance… with a furry twist!
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Having written her first romance novel at sixteen, Tonya followed a lifelong dream and became a published author. All of her books contain lots of action, suspense, and humor with unexpected plot twists and turns. It's all smoke and mirrors till… The End.
She lives in Myrtle Beach, SC with her very own bad boy husband. Tonya also has two adult sons who absolutely refuse to read her books because, "Mom's aren't supposed to know about sex, much less write about it." With a wicked smile, she laughingly reminds them that they were not conceived by immaculate conception.
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