“Yes. I didn’t mean it like that. I absolutely want to marry you.”
Relief filled his voice. “Good, because I want to marry you, too.”
“So…tonight?”
“Peyton said he’ll handle breaking the news to everyone. We have to let him do that. He’s the pack Alpha. What he says, goes. Frankly, it’ll be better coming from him anyway.”
“Give us a chance to get a running head-start?” She was only partly kidding.
“Maybe.”
“When will he tell them?”
“I’m guessing he’ll tell us that tonight. Probably tomorrow.”
“There goes horseback riding,” she said.
“Well, we get back to Florida and get settled, I’ll buy you a horse and you can go riding whenever you want.”
Not a hint of cockiness in his tone, either. For the first time in her life, not only did she have a man who could sweep her off her feet, he could actually take care of her, too. Make her promises he could keep.
“What about those people after you? What do we do about them?”
“Once Gillian gets me a new identity, it won’t matter. Joaquin Carlomarles won’t exist anywhere on paper any longer. Believe me, they’re good at what they do. When you live as long as we do, you learn how to create new identities. One of the reasons Gillian went into law was to make this kind of thing easier for the pack.”
“We can still live in Tampa?”
“I’ve officially been assigned to Tampa, but we can live wherever you want to live.”
“I really want to stay close to my family.”
“Then that’s where we’ll live. We’ll probably have to hang behind here for a while, though. At least a week, until Gillian gets everything ready for me.”
“What about my job?”
“Will they let you take extra time off?”
“I have vacation time still, but I don’t know if I can take it on such short notice.”
“Then you can quit.”
“I need to work.”
“No, you need to do what will make you happy. I’m no Donald Trump, but I can provide for us. If you want to work, and you can’t work there any longer, then get a job somewhere else. Or doing something you love, even if it pays for shit. Or volunteer somewhere. Or go back to school. The pack will pay for that.”
“For me to go back to college?”
“Yeah.”
She thought about it. “I wish I’d gone for a creative writing degree,” she quietly admitted.
At the time, she’d gone for something logical, that she could use, her accounting degree helpful in a wide variety of fields.
It’d been a practical degree, a worthwhile use of Nami’s hard work and her own academic efforts.
Something she could make money with and make a living for herself.
At the time, she hadn’t felt right about pursuing a “frivolous” degree in light of Nami’s immense sacrifice to put them all through college. Although Malyah knew had she said she was going to go for a creative writing degree, Nami would have supported her doing it.
They talked for the better part of an hour, Malyah’s heart aching that her man was so close and yet so unreachable right now.
“Whoops,” he said, “I didn’t get the charger for this from Badger, and it’s almost dead.”
“Oh.” She knew she should nap, but now all she wanted to do was cry that she couldn’t keep talking to him.
“I’ll see you in a couple of hours, at dinner. Try to take a nap, baby. I love you.”
Her heart raced, thrilled. “I love you, too.”
When he ended the call she stared at her phone for several long minutes.
She did love him.
Now, with time alone to think, to process, it was sinking in that she was absolutely eyeballs-deep in love with Joaquin. He was the only man she wanted. And he obviously loved her, too.
She could sit and try to deny all of this and think that it was crazy, that she was now in love with a guy who could change into a wolf, but she was realistic. She’d seen Nami fall in love with Beck—and she’d stake her life on Beck loving her sister with all his heart, too.
She could see the way Dewi and Ken were in love.
Why not her?
Why, for once, couldn’t the Drexler family as a whole get a happy, storybook ending? Lu’ana had Reggie and Bebe. Da’von had a chance for a successful future, if he didn’t screw it up with any stupid mistakes.
And now knowing what she did, Malyah knew Dewi and Badger would steer Da’von away from any rapids, keeping his college and career canoe floating along in placid waters until he was fully able to take care of himself.
Was it really this easy? That after years of struggle and sacrifice they all got a chance to be…happy?
It would appear so.
After setting an alarm on her phone, she stripped and climbed into bed, closing her eyes and unsure if sleep actually would come or not. She felt too nervous about tonight to settle her nerves, about officially proclaiming their relationship to Dewi’s older brother.
Of course, talking to Peyton would be the easy part. He seemed very nice.
The trouble would be breaking the news to Nami and Beck.
Especially Nami.
Chapter Sixteen
Malyah felt like she’d just dozed off when her alarm jolted her awake. Momentarily disoriented, she found her phone and shut it off. She’d started to lie back down when her eyes popped open again.
Joaquin.
Practically levitating out of bed, she freshened up and got dressed, disappointed to realize she still had about thirty minutes before she needed to be over there for dinner.
I could walk over there.
Gillian had insisted they were welcomed to come in any time, that they had free run of the kitchen in their house, or anything else they needed.
Maybe Gillian needs help in the kitchen.
She did enjoy cooking. If Joaquin arrived sooner, all the better.
After pacing the length of the cottage several times, she made her decision. Tucking her phone into her back pocket, she headed for the front door.
She found Gillian and Nami in the kitchen. Malyah only paused for a moment before shutting the door behind her. “Need any help?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Nami said. “Biscuits.” She nodded her head toward one end of the counter island. “All the stuff’s right there.”
Malyah snapped her sister a playful salute and washed her hands before tackling the biscuits. That was something she could do in her sleep. Growing up, it had been one of her jobs in the kitchen when she was little, before she was old enough to take on other cooking chores.
Heck, even Da’von could make biscuits as good as any woman could. Nami hadn’t let him slide on chores. He could cook, wash and iron clothes, keep the house clean—all of it. When he was little, one of his first chores had been drying and putting away dishes, once he was old enough to not drop and break them.
“What’s cookin’?” Malyah asked. It smelled deliciously familiar.
Nami, who sported an apron over her shirt and shorts, was chopping okra, while Gillian was manning two sizzling cast-iron skillets on the stove. “Fried okra, collard greens, baked chicken, fried catfish, ham, fried squash with bacon, three-bean salad, biscuits, and hummus with pita bread.”
Malyah snorted. “For Ken?”
“Well, yeah, girl. I can’t starve the poor boy just because he don’t eat meat.”
Malyah had started measuring out flour and bit her tongue on her next comment. She’d heard them jokingly refer to Ken as a “grazer” before and had thought the term a little derogatory, even though he never seemed to mind.
Yeah, now she got it. In a house full of wolf shifters, and with an extended family who ate meat, the lone vegetarian would stand out.
The nickname made perfect sense to her. And she understood why he didn’t take offense to it. It wasn’t meant to be mean.
It was a statement of fact.
> Within a few minutes, Malyah had two baking sheets full of biscuits ready for the pre-heated oven mounted on the wall. She’d just opened the oven door to slide the first baking sheet in when she heard the front door open.
And she knew.
It took every ounce of will she had not to drop the baking sheet and run out to Joaquin.
With shaking hands, she got the baking sheets into the oven and cranked the cooking timer on the counter before heading over to the sink to wash the flour off her hands.
Ken chose that moment to walk in the back door, followed by Dewi, and Malyah scuttled her plans to go hunt down Joaquin for a quick kiss.
“Oooh, fried okra!” Ken stole one from the bowl and popped it in his mouth.
Peyton walked into the kitchen. “Oh, good. Dewi, I need you to sit in with Beck and Trent so they can catch you up on a few things.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder toward the door leading to the living room.
She almost looked relieved. “Okay.” She departed.
Peyton crossed the kitchen and kissed Gillian. “Still on for six?”
“Yep.”
He leaned in and snagged a piece of fried okra from the bowl, much as Ken had, and popped it into his mouth. “That’s delicious.”
“It’s Nami’s recipe,” Gillian told him.
When he rounded the counter toward her, Malyah suspected this had been his true purpose all along. “Oh, is everything okay with your room?” He reached out and touched her shoulder.
“Stay calm,” he silently told her. “You’ll get through dinner fine. I’ll break the news in the morning. You two be ready at midnight. I’ll come out then. I already told Joaquin.”
Malyah’s gaze darted around the room, but it was obvious no one else had heard. “Yes, thanks.”
He spoke aloud. “If you have any problems, just pick up the phone in there and hit the button for the main house. It’ll ring in. Seriously, day or night.”
“Thanks.”
He offered her a reassuring smile before following Dewi out of the kitchen just as Da’von entered through the back door, followed by Reggie and Lu’ana, with Bebe on her hip.
“There’s my little angel!” Nami hurried over and leaned in to kiss Bebe on the cheek.
The toddler giggled before she threw her head back. “Aaaaooooh!”
Malyah’s eyes widened and she noticed that Nami and Gillian both froze.
Lu’ana, however, laughed. “She’s been doing that ever since we got here.”
“She did it all this afternoon, too,” Reggie said.
Gillian and Nami looked like they’d been stuck in the asses with a fork.
Gillian finally broke the silence. “That’s adorable.”
“Yeah,” Reggie said. “I had to buy her a stuffed wolf at the store last week. She kept making that sound and reaching for it when she saw it.”
Nami turned to Gillian. Malyah, standing behind Gillian, spotted Nami’s shocked expression before Nami’s gaze caught her standing there and her older sister immediately schooled her expression.
I’m not supposed to know about the wolf stuff… “Isn’t that cute?” Malyah managed, hoping her voice, pushed through a throat tight with nerves, sounded normal. “I heard some wolves out last night. A couple of weeks ago, when I was babysitting her, we were watching a nature show about wolves in Yellowstone National Park. I couldn’t change the channel once she saw it.”
Nami and Gillian noticeably relaxed. “I bet that’s it,” Nami said.
“Of course it is,” said Gillian.
Malyah checked. Nope, her jaw wasn’t gaping.
I cannot believe that actually worked.
If nothing else, it helped relax her to know that her sister and Dewi’s sister-in-law were as nervous—if not more so—about keeping secrets.
It was another fifteen minutes before Malyah actually set eyes on Joaquin. Despite the addition of Asia and Trent’s kids, who’d been seated at the far end of the table, it looked like their seating arrangements from last night would remain the same.
Joaquin hugged his way through Malyah’s siblings, until he got to her.
When she looked up into his brown eyes, she wanted to rise up on her toes and kiss him right there.
He must have either anticipated that, or read her thoughts, because he quickly stepped back after their hug and pulled her chair out for her, next to his.
She forced her gaze away from him. It wouldn’t do to blow the good luck they’d had so far by being stupid because she apparently had zero self-control around Joaquin.
Hell, even her panties were damp, just from hugging him.
I’m in sooo much trouble.
* * * *
I’m going to get my ass in sooo much trouble if we can’t pull this off.
Joaquin knew there’d be plenty of time for the shitstorm later, but Peyton had already spoken. Peyton would be the one to break the news to everyone.
Joaquin just had to get them through tonight without fucking things up.
Then again, maybe he and Malyah would end up staying at the hotel in town, outside the compound, if Nami or Beck totally lost their shit when the news broke. Prime powers could do a lot, yes. Malyah, however, was proof that nothing was foolproof.
And that was something else they’d have to sit down and discuss once the truth was revealed, why Dewi’s Prime alteration of Malyah’s memories hadn’t held fast.
Once again, Malyah hooked her foot around his ankle under the table. Thankfully, Dewi looked too distracted and grumpy to pick up on anything. Since the only other Primes at the table knew the deal, Joaquin counted his luck.
It was after eight when he said good-night, using the “going for a walk” excuse. Heading out the back door, he thought he was in the clear when he heard the kitchen door open behind him and someone cleared their throat, pulling him up short.
Badger.
“Where’s me phone, lad?”
“Oh, sorry.” He turned and pulled it out of his pocket. He’d deleted the texts from it before the battery totally died, and wrote down Malyah’s number so he’d have it.
Badger handed him a box. “This is a cheap burner for ye for now. It’s been activated. Gillian will get ye a better one this week.” He looked at his phone. “Bloody hell, ye drained the battery?”
“Sorry.”
Badger shook his head, but he wore a smile. “I’m hopin’ I don’t need to bleach my phone, do I?”
“No.”
“Good. Go on, now. Have a good evenin’. I suspect tonight will be the last bit of peace ye get for a while.”
Joaquin suspected the old wolf was right. He settled in Malyah’s cabin, keeping the bedroom door closed and the curtains pulled so he wouldn’t be visible to anyone outside as he laid there and watched TV.
Less than an hour later, he heard the front door open and slam shut. He barely had time to rise from the bed before Malyah burst through the bedroom door and tackled him back onto the bed, her lips unerringly crushing his as she started ripping at his clothes.
He laughed, rolling over to pin her beneath him. “Hello to you, too.”
“Please! I couldn’t stand it. I thought Nami would not shut up about the wedding plans.” She gasped. “That’s it! Let’s go elope.”
He sat up and pulled his shirt off. “No. My parents are coming in, and I suspect if Beck doesn’t kill me over this, Nami would if she doesn’t get to give you a proper wedding.”
“True.” Her fingers trailed across his chest.
He caught her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it. “I’d rather not do anything else to upset your sister, if I can avoid it.”
“This is going to be a long week.”
He kissed his way down her arm, to her shoulder. “Let’s not think about that tonight. We’ve got a couple of hours before Peyton gets here, and I’ve got a lot of things I’d like to do to you in that time which don’t involve talking.”
* * * *
“Thank you for
being nice to Joaquin tonight at dinner,” Nami said as she got undressed.
Beck grunted from where he was stretched out on the bed, the TV remote in hand as he channel surfed.
She turned. “Really?”
He settled on a movie and put the remote aside. “I am a wolf of habit, babe. Don’t I get credit for being nice? I don’t have to be happy about being nice. Besides, Peyton effectively settled the matter at lunch.”
“He did?” They hadn’t had much time to talk today. She’d been on the go all day long, her and Lu’ana and Asia and Gillian going over the venue and figuring out what they still needed, and alternate logistics if they had to move the ceremonies inside.
“Yes. Joaquin will be assigned to Tampa. They’re waiting to get his new identity set up before he returns. He’ll need it when he flies.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good, right?”
“I guess.”
She sat on the edge of the bed. “Why do you sound like a man given a death sentence?”
He turned those gorgeous blue eyes of his on her. “I…I’m fine. What happened between him and Sadie was stupid. If I’d been anyone but Sadie’s brother, I probably would have given the guy a fist bump over standing up to her. Then he had the utter balls to hit on Dewi later. That pissed me off, because it was just flat disrespectful to her as Head Enforcer and the pack Alpha’s sister.”
“And did he apologize today? Dewi said he apologized to her.”
“Yeah, he did.”
“Then I’m still confused. I didn’t think you were the kind to hold a grudge once it’s been settled.”
“I’m not. I’m not holding a grudge. Anymore,” he added when she arched an eyebrow at him.
“Then tell me what’s wrong.”
He rolled onto his side to face her. It took him a moment to speak, as if he were gathering his thoughts.
“You’re my mate, and I love you. But there are things I don’t want to talk about with you. In terms of my job. Not only do you not need to know them, there are things I don’t want you knowing, just because they’re damned awful. What he had to deal with in Mexico…it was awful. I feel badly for him because while this wasn’t the first time he’s had to take blood, I think he’s hit a maturity level where it really impacted him in a massive way. A different way. I feel badly for him.”
A Bleacke Wind (Bleacke Shifters Book 3) Page 15
