by Vivian Arend
“Umm, hi, everyone. You all met Pam at the wedding, but I’d like to introduce her again. It’s official, she’s accepted me as her mate.”
Like that was a surprise to anyone with a nose, but he figured for Pam’s sake he should say it, before some wiseass decided to ask how in the world they had managed to get as sex-scented as they were.
It wasn’t his fault they took that final shower together. It had been all her idea.
Keil moved closer, towering over him. “Don’t you ever pull such a harebrained stunt again. What the hell were you thinking?” he roared.
TJ opened his mouth to respond when Pam stepped between them. She pasted her fists on her hips and glared up at Keil. “Don’t you shout at him. He’s already apologized to me and I’m the only one he needs to worry about.”
Holy shit. Keil’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
Off to the side Tad stared at the ceiling, biting his lip. TJ watched closely. He could have sworn Tad was laughing.
Keil cleared his throat and glanced around the room sheepishly. When he spoke again, he turned down the volume and spoke more respectfully. “I’m sorry, you’re right. There’s no need for me to raise my voice. I’m not talking about you and him right now. I’m talking about him not leaving word of where he had arranged to take you, or having a backup plan to contact help if you got in trouble. He knows that’s not proper procedure in terms of safety in the wilderness.”
Pam nodded slowly. “Oh. I thought you were going to give him grief for kidnapping me. By all means, if he screwed up protocol—ream him out.” She stepped back and gestured with a hand.
The room broke into laughter.
Keil raised a brow. “So kind of you to give me permission.”
TJ scratched his face to hide his own smile. Yup, this was going to work out fine, once he took his lumps, because Keil was right about the safety issues.
Keil hauled a cell phone out of his pocket and slapped it into TJ’s palm. “You’ll probably need this—I found it back at base camp after you took off. Oh, and did you even try the satellite phone you took with you? The batteries on that one were nearly dead.”
A solid smack landed on his arm as Pam hit him. “Dead? What if I’d wanted to call for the chopper?”
“But you broke…” TJ buttoned his lip. There was no way he was even going to touch this one.
Pam growled at him, her eyes flashing. “Next time, let me do the trip planning.”
TJ tried to hide his smile. “Of course.”
“Well, that’s interesting. She’s the most alpha human I’ve ever met,” one of the observer wolves piped up.
Pam frowned. “Alpha? Isn’t that your position?” she asked Keil.
He shook his head. “Yes and no. Alpha isn’t just about leadership, it also refers to how strong you are, mentally as well as physically. There’s more than one alpha wolf in any pack. Heck, Erik and Maggie, the pack Betas, are as strong as Robyn and I, but they’ve chosen to use their strengths in a different way. We can’t all be bad-asses, you know.”
“So there’s no trouble with us being together?” Pam returned to TJ’s side.
Keil shrugged. “There are a few old-timers in the pack who are whining about how the world is going to hell in a hand basket, but it’s nothing I can’t take care of.”
Robyn clapped her hands and Keil pulled a face. “Oh yeah, and Robyn plans on having a long talk with your mate about some advice she gave that he ignored.”
Oh shit. Okay, that was scarier than getting called on the carpet by Keil. TJ waved at Robyn tentatively and she flipped him the bird.
Pam grinned at TJ. “You know how I said I wasn’t sure about dealing with your pack? No problem, I got it figured out. This is like hanging out at headquarters with the boys.”
Tad stepped forward and gestured to the couch. “If you’d like to relax, I think the formal hazing is over. I do have one last question I’m curious about, and maybe someone with more experience can answer. What’s up with TJ’s strength? I’d swear he’s gotten stronger since he left.”
“Shaun said the same thing. What are you talking about? I don’t feel any different.” TJ sat next to Pam. She kicked off her shoes and curled up almost in his lap. She tucked a hand under his arm and tickled his ribs lightly. “The only thing I know is I don’t seem to be nearly as clumsy anymore. Well, relatively speaking.”
Tad’s mate, Missy, paced the floor to sit on the second couch across from them, one of her two-month-old babies cuddled against her shoulder. “Your wolf never has been clumsy.”
Pam leaned forward. “I think his wolf is more grown up. Matured a bit. If TJ is twenty-two, that means his wolf is…” She turned to face him and asked, “What are wolf years, seven like dogs?”
He groaned. “You promised you wouldn’t do that anymore.”
Pam smirked at him. “If you’re gonna play with the big dogs, you use every tool you can.”
He opened his mouth to protest, and suddenly the cell phone Keil had returned to him rang. Some joker had reprogrammed the phone tones to “Who Let the Dogs Out” and Pam cracked up.
He stood to answer it, leaving Pam and Missy giggling together furiously.
“Hello?”
“You idiot. You couldn’t wait until we were done our honeymoon? Sheesh.”
“Hi, Maggie.” TJ took a deep breath. So much for him being stronger. There was no way he could get a word in edgewise with all these women around. He listened to her scolding for a minute before he had the most brilliant idea. “Hey, Maggie. I bet you need to talk to Pam. She’s right here.”
He held out the phone to his mate and she took it. Her surprise turned to delight, and she rose to find a quieter spot to chat with her best friend.
TJ glanced around the room. Missy rocked one baby in her arms while Tad paced with her twin sister. Robyn was holding a conversation with someone, her hands moving rapidly.
Kara, Keil and Robyn’s two-year-old daughter, crossed the room to Pam’s side. She tugged on Pam’s pant leg then reached her arms up.
Pam leaned over and picked up the little girl who immediately wrapped herself close, her face buried in Pam’s neck. Pam resumed her phone conversation.
Deep satisfaction filled TJ as everywhere he looked he saw family. Sharing together, laughing together. Little Jamie, Missy and Tad’s oldest child, rolled on the floor with a couple of the pack in their wolf forms.
It wasn’t the Waltons, but it was home.
He glanced back at Pam to find her staring at him, a burning light in her eyes. She adjusted the girl in her arms and waggled her brows, tilting her head toward the child.
Oh shit. Oh shit, yeah. Well, maybe not this minute, but…
TJ winked at her and she grinned, blowing him a kiss.
Keil poked him in the shoulder. “You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you? What’s that goofy expression for?”
TJ took a deep breath. His head filled with the familiar scents of home, and overlaying it all was Pam. In his head, and his heart.
Forever.
“It’s because I’m finally in the right place, at the right time. Excuse me, I’ll be back for my lickings regarding safety, because you’re right, I screwed up. And I’ll apologize to Robyn in a minute as well. But there’s something I need to do with my mate.”
He stepped across the room and tugged Pam into the kitchen, taking little Kara along for the ride since she refused to let go of her newfound friend. He held out his hand for the phone.
“Mags? I gotta go. I think TJ wants me to take him for a walk.”
TJ rubbed his forehead as she said goodbye to Maggie. A dog handler. She must have a million jokes all lined up and ready to spring on him.
Pam handed back his cell and batted her eyes. “Well. I thought that all went marvelously.”
He groaned. “Yeah, I can see this relationship is going to keep me on my toes. I wanted to know if you still had the mate list.”
Pam frowned. “It’s
in my pocket. Why?”
“I never got to finish it.”
She kissed Kara on the forehead then passed her to TJ. The little girl squirmed to be put down, returning with a laugh to the main room.
Pam reached into her back pocket and unfolded the paper on the counter. The edges were a little more tattered and ragged than when they’d started less than a week ago.
She cupped his face in her hands. “You proved enough for me to take a chance, and while we’ve still got stuff to figure out, I think we’re on our way.”
TJ grabbed a pen. “I agree, but there’s something I need you to see. It’s important.”
There where the five circles overlapped, an empty space remained. He’d deliberately made sure it was a part of every single circle, and with great care he filled in one word.
Forever.
Pam sucked in air and threw her arms around his neck.
He stumbled for a second to catch his balance as she crawled up him and kissed him madly. Oh yes, she was going to fit in fine. A room full of people on the other side of the wall and she was happily attempting to touch his tonsils.
He clasped her under the hips and turned to carry her to one of the back guestrooms. No one would notice if they were MIA for an hour or so, would they?
“Stop,” she ordered.
Shit. Please don’t get all human shy. “They’re all wolves. They wouldn’t care if we had sex in the room in front of them.”
Pam snorted. “Yeah, well, I doubt I’ll ever get to that stage of comfort, but just let me get…” She leaned over and snatched the mate list off the counter. “Okay, now we can go fool around.”
TJ laughed as he headed down the hall. “You keeping that list?”
“Uh-huh. Just like you wrote. I plan on keeping it, and you, forever.”
Bonus Scene
While they were working on the mate list, TJ gave Pam an impromptu singing lesson, and I’ve always wanted to share the scene but there wasn’t room in the original novella. Here for you in this special Northern Lights Edition is what happened that evening.
TJ gave a final stir to two cups of hot chocolate and Bailey's while plotting furiously.
While he thought his “explain everything about mates to a person who didn’t really understand wolves in the first place” adventure was going okay, it was impossible to be absolutely sure. He couldn't tell by Pam's reactions as she was keeping parts of herself pretty guarded, but there were hints that he wasn't doing too poorly. He still had three days, so spending a ton of time overanalyzing wasn't what he needed.
Instead, he placed one cup beside her before dropping to the floor, close enough that their thighs touched. She'd added another log to the fire, and the stove was crackling nicely, a beautiful, peaceful, romantic backdrop for their evening.
Pam curled her fingers around the cup and offered him a smile, and his heart went pitter patter all over again. “Thank you. That's so sweet."
Irresistible. “So are you.” He waggled his brows, leaning in and pressing their lips together for a brief moment. He’d like to forget the flipping hot chocolate and just kiss her over and over again.
It would be too easy to keep going. To take the cup from her fingers, place it on the coffee table beside them, then haul her down to her back. To kiss along her jaw as he settled between her legs and…
Damn it, he hadn’t just been thinking about it, he’d done it. Bodies close, rolling together with his erection pressed to her thigh.
She made a low moaning noise, and fire flew through his veins.
But this wasn't just about sex. It was about so much more, so he reluctantly pulled back, forcing them both to vertical.
Although it was very nice to see the same heat in her eyes as he stared into her face. "We'll pick that up later,” he promised. “Right now we have some lessons to work through, young lady."
Pam nodded slowly, dragging herself back to that fine-tuned and steely concentration he was sure helped her a ton when it came to her job.
She took a sip of the hot chocolate, her eyes widening. “Whoa. That's going to pack a punch."
"Not enough to get drunk," he said.
"What if I want to get tipsy?"
He shook his head. "You need to be in full possession of your wits at all times this week.” He said it teasingly, but firmly like the absolute truth it was.
She nodded, taking another sip before putting the cup away carefully. “Agreed, it’s why I will sally-forth into the singing lesson, while barely making mention of the irony of you calling me ‘young lady’.” She cupped his face with a hand. "I am such a cradle robber."
He caught her hand before she could steal away the heat of her palm. That momentary touch shot more adrenaline into him than any shot of espresso. "We wolves mature far faster than humans," he informed her.
"Oh, like dog years?"
He kept a straight face. “Something like that.”
She smirked but stayed silent.
He sat back slightly. "You ever watched The Sound of Music?"
She tilted her head to one side and gave him a are you crazy? look.
Enough said. “Let’s start with a little run through on the ‘Doe, a deer’ thing.”
Pam shrugged. “It’s your eardrums.”
"I'm sure you’re not that bad."
But by the time they'd reached “Ray”, he’d been proven far too optimistic. Rarely could she find a note in the first place, and whatever she did hit, she couldn't hold. As they carried on, he did his best to give no sign of the pain she was inflicting on him.
Surprisingly, it was clear she had no idea how bad she was. Oh, she’d warned him she didn't know how to sing, but she was enthusiastic, increasing in confidence and volume—dear lord, have mercy—the farther she got into the song.
But even with over-the-top enthusiasm, she couldn't have sung her way out of a paper bag. If she had to sing for her supper she would've starved within a week. And that was being generous.
TJ was suddenly struck with a dilemma. If this had been anybody else in the pack who had wanted singing lessons, like say his friend, Mark Weaver, at this point in the game TJ would have shut down the lessons in order to save his sanity. No hesitation. Because Mark was never going to be a singer, and in some ways it was better if he didn't even try.
But Mark also didn’t really give shit. The guy was laid-back enough that he could use his disadvantage to an advantage as comedy relief, or he would simply move on to something else, or get distracted, which he seemed to do a lot. Mark was a decent guy, but he had a lot on his plate.
Pam loved to sing. It was clear even as she protested and laid the groundwork to warn the people around her, she wished she could.
And she did sing. She just sang—poorly.
So as her mate he was damn well going to teach her how. Even though “Sew, a needle pulling thread” felt as if a spear was going in one ear, through his brain and out the other, taking part of his hearing system with it—he was going to teach her, or die in the attempt.
Anyone who made her feel bad about her talents in the future would have to deal with him.
His wolf stretched and agreed, testing its claws and teeth in preparation to protect. Anything for our mate.
The entire time TJ’d been thinking, they’d carried on…okay, he’d just call it singing to make it easier. But they were done now, and he had to figure out the next step because his original idea wasn't going to work.
"And there we go," Pam said with a bright smile, "I warned you."
He caught her fingers and squeezed. "You're not the worst singer I’ve ever heard."
She gasped. “Oh my God, that poor person."
A laugh burst from him. "Okay, I think that came out the wrong way, but don’t worry about it. Instead, think about this…”
TJ pressed a kiss to her palm. She hummed happily in response. A nice smooth middle F, if his ears weren’t wrong. Oh yeah, this was going to work.
He kissed her hand a
gain then slid farther north, flicking his tongue against her skin all the way up to her elbow.
The hum in F turned into a long moan in G.
He stopped and played at the inside of her elbow, smiling against her skin because the noises she made when he touched her there were a deeper kind of F hmmm with little bits of A and high C oooooh in between each of them. Excitement heightened like an eager drum roll through him.
He pulled back and checked her face. She was breathing hard, cheeks flushed, her eyes half-lidded. "I have no idea what you're doing," she told him, "but I like it."
"So do I."
He pushed her back to the rug, pulling over top of her. His weight rested on his elbows so that their bodies barely touched. She groaned, this time higher pitched, like a question. She’d slipped up an octave.
He placed his face in the crook of her neck, and his wolf went wild for a moment before the beast settled down and helped TJ concentrate. He licked, and kissed, and licked some more. Nibbling at her earlobe until she was purring (B flat).
She dragged her fingers through his hair as he slipped down her body, plumping her breast, dragging his teeth across the erect nipple behind her shirt. Farther down, farther down, as a series of sounds followed him. He dragged off her sweatpants and dropped between her thighs.
That's when the song really took off. Every lick, every caress, every time he touched her another sigh of delight escaped, and here was a beautiful melody. A symphony echoing off the walls of the small cabin like the joyful noise he needed to hear, and when she finally sang out her orgasm, he didn't bother to try and hide his smile. Just curled his lips against her belly before shifting northward to settle at her side.
Pam dragged her hands through his hair again and again, and his wolf damn near smirked.
"Whoa, that was a lot of fun," she let out on a happy sigh.
TJ levered himself back beside her. "You sang great."
She hesitated. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"The song you just sang. Totally awesome.”
A laugh burst from her.
“Sing something for me," he ordered.
