She’d noticed scars peeking out beneath the shirts of the other women, but had initially assumed it had to do with the violent culture of the werewolves. Now she knew it meant so much more. It was the werewolf version of a wedding ring.
Elias shifted her off his shoulder and rolled out of bed. “Be right back.” He went to the bathroom. She heard water running and then he was back with a wet facecloth in one hand and a small white box in the other. He sat on the edge of the bed and cleaned her wound.
“How is it?” It was cowardly, but she didn’t want to look at it. Not yet.
“It’s pretty much stopped bleeding.” He tossed the cloth aside and opened the white box. It was a small first aid kit. He opened a tube of antibiotic cream and spread it over the puncture wounds before covering them with a square of gauze and some white adhesive tape. “There. You should be fine in a day or so. The mating mark usually heals immediately but…” He trailed off and began to clear up the debris.
“I’m human.” That would always be a problem between them.
Elias gathered everything and went back to the bathroom. When he returned, he sat on the bed with his back against the headboard. He lifted her into his arms. They were both naked, but she was surprisingly comfortable being that way around Elias. And it was certainly no hardship to look at him. He was aroused once again, his erection digging into her side.
“I don’t care that you’re human.” He lifted her hand and put it over his heart. “This belongs to you. You are mine.” She heard fear and anger and love in his voice. He was just as scared as she was about the future, but they’d face it together.
She lifted his hand and put it over her heart. “This belongs to you and you’re mine.” She repeated his words back to him like a vow.
His scowl softened and they moved toward one another at the same time. Their lips met and retreated. “What will we tell Billy?” She’d wondered how much to tell her son.
“That we’re getting married. That you and he will live here with us now. We’ll figure it out,” he assured her.
Sitting in his lap with his arms around her, she believed him. She believed they could do anything together.
“In the meantime, we don’t have to worry about any of it until morning.” He nuzzled her hair. “Tonight it for us.”
Then he kissed her and all the problems surrounding them disappeared.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sue was nervous about seeing the boys this morning. It was just past dawn, and she hadn’t had much sleep, but there was no way she could rest. Not until she’d talked with Billy, Sage and Reece. Only then would she be anywhere near ready to face the others.
“They’re on their way.” Elias tossed his phone onto the counter and came to her. “Everything will be okay.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head before he went to the coffeepot.
She swiveled on the stool at the counter so she could track his movements. “I hope so.” Elias filled a mug with coffee and pushed it toward her. She took it gratefully. “You really think your nephews will be okay with us being together?”
Sue absently rubbed the mark that showed just above the collar of her pink scoop-necked top before adding sugar to her coffee. She’d removed the bandage after her shower. It was no longer bleeding and she didn’t want to hide it.
“Why don’t you ask him?” Elias motioned to the door just as it was pushed open.
Sue pushed off the stool and smoothed nonexistent wrinkles from her top as Elias’s nephew walked in. “Good morning, Sage.”
The young man stared at her intently, his blue eyes immediately zeroing in on the scar on her neck. There was something off about Sage this morning, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
He started walking toward her. He reminded her so much of his uncle, like a predator on the prowl. He stopped right in front of her and one corner of his mouth kicked up in a smile.
“Sage?” She wasn’t quite sure what to make of his behavior.
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. There was so much need, such desperation surrounding him that she wrapped her arms around him and simply held him. “Are you okay?” She hoped he wasn’t upset about her and Elias.
He finally let her go and took a step back. “I’m okay.” His voice was gruff.
Sue looked to Elias for some help but the idiot was grinning from ear to ear. “Where’s Billy?”
“He’ll be along in a minute. I wanted to meet you first.”
She frowned, wondering if he really was okay. “Ah, Sage, we’ve already met.
His smile grew and he hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans. “I’m not Sage.”
Her mind went blank. Of course he was Sage. Who else could he be? Then her brain began to function. Sage had a brother. No one mentioned it was a twin. “Reece?”
His blue eyes twinkling in delight, he nodded. “I’m not usually dressed like this.” He motioned to his T-shirt. “I like fur.”
Sue burst out laughing. Her world had certainly grown strange in the past week. “I need to sit down.” She practically fell back onto the stool. “You’re really Reece? Does Billy know?”
Reece laughed. “He does. He thinks it’s hilarious I have the same name as our pet wolf.”
Sue shook her head at the weirdness of it all. Elias grabbed Reece in a mock headlock and hugged him. Then he came to her side and wrapped his arm around her. “You could have warned me,” she told him.
Elias, the devil, grinned. “What would be the fun in that?”
Reece went to the door and opened it just in time. Billy flew through the opening and came straight at her. “Mom, I played with Tigger and Seymour and Shadow. And Sage has a brother who looks just like him. And, Mom, he has the same name as the doggy.” Her son never even stopped for a breath. She’d never seen him so excited.
She opened her arms and pulled him onto her lap. “All that.”
He nodded and swiped his hand under his nose. “And I had pancakes for breakfast.”
“And were they good?” She was hungry, but her stomach was too tied up in knots for her to even think about eating yet.
Billy nodded and leaned against her. It was then she got her first good look at Sage and Reece side by side. Two tall young men who showed every sign that they’d be as broad and muscular as their uncle someday. They both had medium brown hair that fell to their shoulders and expressive blue eyes.
But there were differences too. It was in the way they held themselves. There was a sureness, an almost cockiness to Reece that Sage lacked. Sage was quieter. Stiller.
“Morning, Sage.” She never wanted this young man to feel left out.
Like his brother, Sage’s gaze went straight to the mark on her neck. Some of the tension in him dissipated. “Do we call you Aunt Sue?”
It startled her to realize she was now indeed aunt to these two teenagers. “If you want. Or you can just call me Sue.”
Elias slapped Sage on the back. “You two want to stick around?” He made a small motion of his head toward Billy.”
The two teens looked at one another and shared some kind of silent communication. It was Sage who responded. “Sure.”
Elias scooped Billy off her lap. “How about we go into the living room and sit.” He easily swung her son onto his shoulders. Billy laughed and clung to Elias’s hair.
“Mom, look how tall I am.”
Sue slid off the stool and followed. Elias deposited Billy onto the sofa and she sat next to him. The papers for the lawyer sat on the coffee table. Once she signed them, William would be out of her son’s life for good.
“Do you like it here?” she asked Billy.
He gave an emphatic nod. “It’s fun. Sage and Reece are taking me fishing later.”
“Hey, buddy,” Sage cautioned. “Remember, we said that we’d go fishing only if your mom agreed.�
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Billy looked crestfallen and hung his head a little. “Can we?” he asked.
Sue knew both Sage and Reece would look out for him. “I don’t see why not.”
“Really?” Billy jumped off the sofa and would have taken off if she hadn’t caught him.
“Slow down. We’re not done yet.”
Billy sighed and reluctantly dragged himself back to the sofa. Elias rubbed his hand over his chin, desperately trying to hide a grin. She focused on a point just beyond her son. Honestly, you’d think she was sending him to his room for a week rather than asking him to sit quietly for another five minutes.
Sue wasn’t quite sure how to approach this conversation and opted to get straight to the point. “Billy, do you want to see your father?”
Her son’s eyes widened and his face went pale. He shook his head. “No.”
She took his hands in hers. “It’s okay, sweetie. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“Promise?” His big blue eyes filled with tears.
“Oh, sweetie. I promise.”
He threw himself into her arms and she caught him close. “I don’t like being with him.” She barely heard her son’s words as he burrowed against her.
This was the moment of truth. “How do you feel about staying here?”
He knuckled his tears away and stared at her. “What about our stuff?”
A five-year-old had different priorities from an adult. Elias sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of them. “We’ll pack up all your things, Billy, and bring them here. I’ll build a house for you and your mom with enough rooms for everyone.”
Suspicion filled her son’s eyes as he looked from Elias to her and back again.
Elias wasn’t the least bit put off. “I love your mom and want to marry her. I want all of us to live together as a family. You, me, your mom, Sage and Reece.”
Billy’s gaze flew to the two teens lounging against the fireplace. “What do you think, buddy?” Sage asked.
“Your mom would be able to quit her job at the diner,” Elias continued.
She sent Elias a quelling look. “You wouldn’t be going to regular school in the fall. I’d teach you at home. Anny would teach you too.”
“Everyone will pitch in and help.” Elias took her son’s hand in his. The size discrepancy was startling. Elias’s hand was so big and tanned, blunt and rough. Billy’s hand was paler and smaller, with several small cuts from playing outside.
“We can stay here forever?” Billy asked.
She brushed away a lock of baby-fine, pale hair. “If you’d like.” She didn’t want to pressure him into anything.
He pinned Elias with a very adult-looking stare. “You’d be my daddy?”
Elias didn’t bat an eyelash. “If you’d like. It’s up to you. You don’t need to decide that right away. You can take your time and decide later. But I’ll always be here for you,” he promised.
Sue held her breath, wondering how her son would react. It was such a huge change to ask of such a little boy.
“Okay.” Billy slid off the sofa. “Can we go fishing now?”
Sue almost burst out laughing. She was tied in knots over her decision to mate with Elias and how it would affect her son, and all he had to say was okay.
Sage grinned, grabbed Billy around the waist and hung him upside down. Billy laughed and lowered his hands until they touched the floor. “Look at me, Mom.”
She did laugh then. “I can see.”
Sage pulled Billy back upright and he wrapped his arms and legs around the teenager and clung to him like a little monkey. “We’ll watch him, Sue.”
“Thank you. For everything.” These two teenagers had weathered their own tragedy, and there was a kindness and solidity about them that was bone-deep. Their parents had to have been remarkable people. They were growing into men as fine as their uncle.
“Come on.” Reece pushed away from the wall. “Let’s go fishing.”
“Can we take the doggy?” Billy asked.
Sage canted his head to one side. “I don’t think Reece—the doggy—will be joining us. Maybe Gray will let Shadow come with us.” He put Billy down and her son ran toward the door.
The second Billy wasn’t looking, Reece gave his brother the finger and then looked at her. “Sorry,” he muttered.
She laughed out loud. “No need. You’re in quite the predicament. We’ll figure it out.”
“Come on,” Billy yelled from the door. Both teens started after him, leaving her and Elias alone once again.
“That was almost too easy.” She put her hand on her stomach as nervous butterflies fluttered around inside.
Elias picked up the papers from the lawyer. “Not so easy. But it is the right thing for us and for Billy.” He grabbed the envelope and held out his hand to her. “Let’s go and see the others. Then we can head to town and get these papers filed with your lawyer.”
She took his hand and stood. She was still feeling a little shaky. “So much is changing so fast.”
Elias dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I know, but I won’t rest easy until you’re moved out here with us. We can’t forget about Connor McLennan for one single second.”
“Billy.” She started for the door but Elias stopped her.
“You don’t need to worry about that. They’re not going far, and if I know the wolves around here, one of the older males will be watching over them. You’re pack now. We protect our own. It’s what we do.”
It was overwhelming to consider herself part of a werewolf pack, but she’d made her choice. Trust had to start somewhere if she was going to live among these people. “Let’s go.”
They left Anny’s house and headed toward one of the larger ones. Even without super hearing like Elias, she could tell where they were gathered. Voices filtered through the open windows.
“Do you think they have coffee?” She’d only gotten a mouthful of the coffee that Elias had poured for her.
“Absolutely. They’ll have food waiting too.”
Her stomach growled on cue, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to put anything in there just yet. The door to the alpha’s house flew open and Anny stepped out onto the porch. The two of them stared at each other. Then Anny gave a glad cry and rushed toward her.
Tears pricked her eyes when her friend threw her arms around her. She’d missed Anny so much these past two years. Anny pulled away and tugged down the edge of Sue’s summer top. “Ohmygod. You’re mated.” Some of her excitement drained away and she sobered.
Sue knew what her friend was thinking. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t already considered. “I know there are complications with me being fully human, but whatever they are, we’ll deal with them.”
“Let’s go inside.” Elias pressed his hand against the small of her back in silent support. “The others are waiting.”
Just like that, her nervousness was back in full force. Most of the rest of the group was seated around the large table. The older couple—Cole’s parents—were missing.
“Welcome.” Jacque motioned for her and Elias to sit. She was glad for his support, as her knees were none to steady. He sniffed the air and studied the mark on her neck. She’d been able to leave the bandage off but it would take some time for the puncture wounds to heal.
Elias stood behind her chair, his hands on her shoulders. She reached back and placed her hand over his.
“Corrine and Joseph are keeping an eye on the boys,” Gwen told her. Sue appreciated knowing her son and the twins had someone watching over them.
“They’re full werewolves,” Elias told her. “They’ll make sure the boys don’t come to any harm.”
“Thank you.” The more primal part of her wanted to flee, knew she was in the presence of predators. She couldn’t look away from Jacque’s golden-brown eyes.
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nbsp; “You and Billy are willing to give up your former life and stay here?” Jacque asked.
“Yes.” Although she was rethinking that decision right this moment. Jacque was one scary son of a bitch.
“You’re human and Elias will outlive you,” Jacque continued.
Elias growled, but she squeezed his hand and he stopped. “I know.”
“The secrets of the pack must be protected at all costs.” Jacque’s gaze pinned her in place. “That is our most sacred law.”
Her mouth was dry and her heart was pounding so hard she knew they must all be able to hear it. “I understand.”
“You love him enough to live like that? To forsake everyone and everything in your old life?” This felt more like an inquisition than a welcome, but Sue understood where he was coming from. This was Jacque’s family, and he was letting her know he’d do anything to protect them. This was what Elias had wanted for his nephews. This is what she wanted for her son.
“I do.”
Jacque shoved his chair back, came to his feet and rested the palms of his hands flat on the table. He studied her for another few seconds and then smiled. “Welcome to the pack.”
Tension broken, the others all laughed and the women all began to talk to her at once. “We need to plan a wedding,” Elias told them. The women went silent and then began to squeal.
“Don’t worry,” Anny assured him. “I’ll take care of the arrangements. I’ll have to bake a cake.”
Sue’s head was spinning. She was in. She and her son had been accepted by the pack. Elias and his nephews hadn’t lost their place here because of her. That had been a huge worry.
Gwen kissed her mate and pushed him toward the door. “Go. We women need to talk.”
It was heartwarming and slightly shocking to watch the other woman command such a powerful man. Even more so when he laughed, kissed his mate and headed toward the door. A smile twitched at Sue’s lips. She was going to enjoy being a part of this group.
“We need to see the lawyer,” Elias reminded her.
“As soon as she’s eaten.” Anny bustled into the kitchen and pulled a platter out of the oven. “You hungry?” she asked Elias.
Wolf on a Mission: Salvation Pack, Book 6 Page 29
