“Liam you smell like wet dog!”
He changed back in an instant and scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the river’s edge.
“Wet dog is it!” he swung his arms back and threatened to throw her into the deep water.
“No, Liam, don’t you dare. It’s freezing in there.” she squealed.
He laughed and set her feet back down on the grass and she smiled as she put her hands flat on his chest and leaned in for a kiss. She pushed with all her might and the look of shock on his face as he hit the frigid cold water had her doubled over laughing.
He was lightning quick as he catapulted himself out of the river and caught her around the waist as she tried to run.
“Not this time, darlin.” he scooped her up and jumped back into the water with her in his arms. Kandis caught her breath as the cold hit her and she gasped for breath for a moment or two until her body adjusted.”
“Payback’s a bitch!” he laughed and she struggled to get out of his arms as he laughed harder. She gave up struggling and wrapped her legs around him and rubbed herself against him. The smile left his face and he groaned as he kissed her.
She shivered and he reluctantly pulled his mouth from hers and carried her to the grassy bank. Her teeth were starting to chatter, despite the increased heat from his body and her raging inner temperature.
“We need to shift, it’s just too cold, sweetheart,” he said with regret and they changed back quickly again to wolf.
Kandis felt the heat spread through her as golden fur covered her body once more and by the time they reached their cabin, the shivering had stopped and she was warm again. She shifted and went inside and turned on the shower until it was as hot as she could stand. Liam joined her and they soaped each other’s bodies and he gently shampooed her hair. Her skin was puckered from being in the water for too long and she stepped out and wrapped a clean, dry towel around her body and another around her hair. She lay down on the bed with Liam’s body wrapped around her, safe in a cocoon and drifted off with her head tucked into his neck and his familiar scent soothed her like a balm.
The smell of grilled steak woke her and her stomach rumbled its approval. She stretched and got out of bed and pulled on some clean shorts and a t-shirt. Her discarded clothes were on the chair by the window and she scooped them up and dumped them in the laundry hamper on the way to the kitchen. Liam must have gone out and brought them in while she was sleeping. Losing clothes was a shifter hazard.
“Smells great.” she sniffed.
“Almost ready, babe.” he grinned and her heart flip flopped in her chest.
Fates! She was a fool for this man.
She popped the cap off a bottle of beer and took a long drink, nice!
Liam put their plates on the table. As well as the steaks her plate was piled high with French fries and onion rings. She cut off a slice of the tender beef and popped it in her mouth.
“Mmm, this is so good. You are a better cook than me, maybe I should leave it all to you.”
“Nice try, but domestic god isn’t a title I am aiming for either.”
She pushed back her empty plate and rubbed her stomach.
“I always eat too much when you cook,” she complained.
“I’ll clean up. Why don’t you pack a bag so that we can get on the road whenever you are finished tomorrow? Tonight, we can do a little planning and you can get me up to speed on what the pack members think of a potential move.
She folded some casual clothes, jeans, shorts, t-shirts and a couple of nicer outfits in case they went out for dinner again. She added some toiletries to the bag and zipped it up, thankfully she wasn’t one of those women who took days to pack for just a couple of days away.
She opened her laptop and took out her notebook to add the latest calls and entries she had so that they could go over it together. The general consensus was that a move was favorable, mainly because it could be a permanent one.
Liam sat beside her and she outlined all the conversations she had with the other wolves in the compound. A lot of the older pack members wanted to buy or build their own cabins but a lot of the younger ones didn’t have the financial resources to do that just yet.
“Instead of renting to them, I wondered if the pack could help them with down payments so that they could get a loan. We have a lot of rentals in the compound at the moment and we don’t charge much in the way of rent. But if they could secure a thirty-year mortgage, they would be paying less than their current rent and the pack wouldn’t have the rental upkeep or the larger outlay in the beginning, it’s a win, win situation.”
“How many do you think would want to buy if they could?” he asked.
“Most of them want to feel like they have a real stake in the pack and home-ownership could do that for them. I think we could be talking about eighty percent of people who want to purchase and we can still rent to the new adults and incomers to the pack until they are in a position to buy too.”
“You reckon this would save us a ton of money.”
“It would give us better cash flow for sure. I know the pack as a whole has a decent net worth but our assets are tied up in all this property. Less than fifty percent at the moment are owned, I think it would make a huge difference to us. My parents have always rented from the pack because they never got around to approaching Seann to buy their home but they have the money and want to buy a cabin when we move. I think others will feel the same way.”
She showed him her spreadsheets and predictions from the sale of their old mountain complex and Liam was impressed with the amount of effort she had put into it. Financially alone it made a lot of sense to sell all of their assets and move. The pack would be secure for a long time to come.
“When are we meeting with Seann again to go over the numbers?”
“Tomorrow morning before Jay’s visitor arrives. I think Imogen, Garrett and India will be there too and Jay and Nate. Seann said he wants a group of maybe a dozen people. I thought I might add my Dad, as a builder he would be helpful, Bree for education, Hope or Rafe on the medical side and maybe one more.”
He kissed the top of the head.
“You are the best person for this job, Kandis. I am awed by how much you have done already.”
She smiled at the compliment but she knew Liam was biased.
“I have also had a lot of inquiries about the shops and other businesses in town. I thought it might take many years to accomplish getting everything under pack control but Nate thinks it will be easier than we first thought. I have explained that they may have to offer a little more than current market value to sweeten the pot and no-one seemed to think that was unfair. We already have several cabin owners willing to sell too, so Nate is having someone draw up professional plans of the entire mountain site and the farmland, to show the pack what options we have.”
She closed her laptop and put it in the case and reached for the TV remote as she leaned back on the sofa.
“How about a movie?”
“You choose, I’m easy, babe.”
“That’s what I heard.” she grinned and he snaked out an arm and flipped her onto her back and covered her body with his.
“I am so easy you can have every single inch of me … any time you want.”
Her heart flipped over in her chest as he kissed her and the movie was long forgotten as he slowly peeled off her clothes. She arched her body against him and purred like a kitten in his arms.
She loved this man completely.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Liam
Liam put their bags in the truck and they climbed inside to ride the short distance up to the Den to meet Jay and the mystery woman he wanted Kandis to meet.
He glanced at Kandis and she looked relaxed and happy in a snow-white sundress and sandals. She was taking this break seriously to have discarded her normal shorts and t-shirt for the feminine clothes she was wearing now. She was wearing a little make-up and her hair was loose and hung down h
er back like a sheet of pale gold silk. Kandis had no earthly idea how breathtaking she was.
His breath hitched in his chest as a wave of love rolled over him and his wolf growled deep in his belly. She reached over and took his hand as he turned the truck towards the Den.
Everyone was in the kitchen fussing over the babies and Imogen handed her daughter to Kandis to hold while she poured them all coffee.
“You look lovely, Kandis,” Imogen said as she put the mugs on the table.
“Thanks.” she smiled.
“Everything is packed and ready to take this big guy home,” Garrett said coming into the room with little Ethan in his arms. The baby looked so tiny compared to his father but his eyes were wide open as he focused on Garrett's face.
“You know you can stay here as long as you want,” Imogen said to her sister.
“I know, but we need to go home and get this little guy into a routine.”
Kandis sat at the end of the table and turned Everly so that she was facing her and bounced her on her lap making the little girl giggle. Everly leaned forward and gave Kandis a sloppy kiss on the lips and a toothy grin before Roisin whisked her off to give her breakfast.
Kandis felt a rush of love for the little girl and had to concentrate on the people around her as she felt the tears sting her eyes. She didn’t want to be one of those women who cried at her misfortune every time a baby triggered her.
“Jay’s here. Come on into the living room, Kandis, it’s a little quieter in there.” India said.
She took her coffee with her and sat on the sofa with Liam as India closed the doors to give them some privacy. Jay was standing by the fireplace with his hands behind his back and a dark-haired woman sat on the loveseat, holding an infant in her arms as she fed her formula from a bottle. Her tiny pink capped head fit neatly in her hand as she sucked noisily
Babies, babies, everywhere!
India brought in a tray of coffee and put it on the table and Jay poured two cups for himself and the woman and put hers on the table beside her.
“Here let me hold her while you have your coffee,” Kandis said standing up and holding out her arms. She took the bottle from her mouth and the infant started to wail and she snuggled her quickly into the crook of her arm and slipped the teat between her lips again. She latched on hungrily and sucked harder than her tiny size should have allowed.
Kandis couldn’t stop the smile that split her face, this little girl was adorable and so very tiny and fragile. She leaned in closer and sniffed, she was a wolf cub.
“Liam, Kandis, this is Irene. She is a social worker I have had many dealings with over the years and this little scrap doesn’t have a name yet.
“It’s nice to meet you both, Jay has told me a lot about you and I trust his judgment absolutely. I know you were planning to be out of town for the next few days but I wondered if you would reconsider and put off your trip for a couple of weeks so that we might get some things finalized. I would like to stay in the compound for a few days, Seann had kindly offered to let me stay here at the Den so I won’t encroach on your privacy.”
Kandis looked at Liam who was just as confused as she was.
“I don’t understand. Are you joining the pack too?” Liam asked. “We haven’t finalized anything yet, but I guess Jay has told you about our planned move up into the mountains.
Kandis lifted the baby onto her shoulder and gently patted her back until she burped and then settled her back into the crook of her arm and watched fascinated as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Jay took a seat on the other side of the sofa and fixed his gaze on them.
“I guess I should start at the beginning,” he said with a tentative smile as if suddenly unsure of himself.
“India asked me if I could help you. She knew I had a lot of contacts in the social work department and she already met Darla, one of the foster moms I deal with on a regular basis. She is actually the woman who was looking after little Kali when India found her.”
“What does this have to do with us?” Liam asked, his brows drawn in confusion.
“India told me you want to have a baby but that it may prove difficult for you and I called Irene a couple of days ago and this little girl had just been brought into foster care. Her parents are sixteen and seventeen and can’t look after her. The grandparents don’t want her and she needs a family, a shifter family.”
Kandis looked at him for a moment, processing what he just said.
“You want us to foster her?”
Jay looked to Irene and she smiled.
“No, Kandis, this baby needs a permanent home. We want you and Liam to adopt her.”
The two-minute silence seemed like an age and eventually, Kandis raised her head and looked at Liam. He was watching her as if he was terrified to spook her, like a highly strung horse.
“What if the mother changes her mind and comes back for her?” Kandis asked at last.
“That’s not going to happen, Kandis. She isn’t interested in her at all, she is barely a child herself and her family are also dysfunctional. We would never sanction that.”
“How can you be so sure she won’t try?” Liam asked. “It would kill us to do this and then even the possibility of losing her...doesn’t bear thinking about.”
Doesn’t adoption take months?” Kandis added.
Irene sighed and Jay nodded to her.
“She had another baby just over a year ago and she has never once even asked about her or shown the slightest interest, despite the foster mother being less than five miles away. There is nothing normal about this case, shifter adoptions are rare and we can’t place a shifter baby with human parents. Her sister is still with a foster Mom for the same reason, it’s difficult finding shifter foster parents and I trust Jay’s judgment completely, this will only take a few weeks to finalize if you agree.”
Kandis felt the tiny bud of hope she had been harboring flourish and bloom and she studied the tiny infant cradled in her arms. Her long, dark lashes rested on her cheeks and her perfect rosebud mouth pursed in her sleep. Her heart swelled with happiness that this precious little girl could be their daughter, her and Liam’s.
“India seemed to think that you would jump at the chance to adopt a baby, Kandis was she wrong?” Jay asked her softly.
Her face was wet with tears before she realized she was crying and her voice was shaking with emotion as she looked at Liam and his emotions mirrored her own. She turned back to face the social worker.
“No, she wasn’t wrong. We would love to have this precious baby as our daughter, just tell us what we need to do to make it happen.”
Liam wrapped his arms around them and his heart swelled with joy. He knew their world would never be the same again.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
Kandis
Faye cradled her new granddaughter in her arms and Kandis watched her mother and daughter, happier than she ever thought she could be. Her Dad was struck dumb when they told them they were adopting her and would find any excuse to pop by each day to see her.
Their planned trip to the mountains had been delayed by a week but they were finally leaving today, taking the baby to see what would soon be her new home. Happy that the new parents were coping fine, Irene had left the compound this morning.
India apologized for telling Jay about her infertility but Kandis didn’t care. Without India asking for Jay’s help, none of this would have happened and she would never have known the joy of being a mother.
“Have you chosen a name yet?” her Mom asked.
“Yes, we finally decided on Addison.” Kandis smiled at her Mom. “Addison Faye McGuire. Addison was Liam’s Mom’s middle name. She is named for both of her grandmothers.”
“Oh,” she said and Kandis saw her blinking back her tears. She was clearly touched that Kandis would name her daughter after her.
Faye Scott didn’t look old enough to have a grown-up daughter, the move to the mountains would give everyone
the freedom to be who they were meant to be and not have to lie about their relationship to each other.
“We need to go, Mom if we want to get Addison settled in the cabin before it gets dark.”
They waved goodbye and strapped the baby into her car seat.
Now to start the monumental process of moving the entire pack to their new mountain home within the year, Kandis reached out and squeezed her mate’s hand. She was no longer daunted by the task, she could do this, she could do anything!
They stopped just outside the gate to let another vehicle pass through, but the driver stopped and leaned out the window. Liam lowered his window too and Kandis thought there was something vaguely familiar about the other man.
“I’m looking for Liam McGuire,” he said.
“Who are you?” Liam asked, giving nothing away.
“He’s expecting me. It’s about my brother, Rob and his involvement in kidnapping Seann Donovan’s baby.
Liam got out of the car.
“I’m Liam McGuire but we expected you a week ago.”
“I had a lead on him and had to follow it, but the slippery bastard was gone before I got there.”
He got out of his car too and Kandis watched as they sized each other up. He was the same height as Liam and looked a little younger. She couldn’t shake the feeling she had seen him somewhere before. She got out to have a closer look.
“You seem familiar, have we met before?” Liam asked.
“No, we have never met but we do have someone in common.”
Liam looked even more confused.
“Liam, my name is Finn Danvers, I’m your brother.”
The End
Thank you for reading my new book, I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. The first book in the series was initially going to be a stand-alone but as the characters developed, I had to give India and Garrett and Kandis and Liam a voice too. Always in the background though are Bree and her twin sister Hope and as their characters develop in the other books, I realized there was so much to say about them.
Children of the Moon: Book Three Page 15