Josh took his husband’s face in his hands. “Are. You. Sure?”
“Nicholas and I can help, seeing as we are both children with the female gene,” Sebastian said.
Nicholas nodded. “Yes, we’ll help if it comes down to that.”
“Well, then,” Taber smacked his hand down on the table. “It’s decided.”
“I will look over all the females and make sure they are indeed capable of carrying a child.” Alexander looked over at Wayne. “I hope you will accompany me?”
“A little scared, are we?” Wayne chuckled.
“No. A lot,” Alexander said with a smile.
“Yeah, I get that,” Vince raised a brow.
Conner, along with the elder Maccons and Jagger went over some of the packs asking for help as Wayne took Alexander out to see the females. A new park shift was put into place as well as groups to start hunting the rogues. Scott was already at the park, pulling security while the rest of them had gone off to get Conner.
Jacob picked up one of the letters.
“An Arizona pack? When did this one come?”
Jagger picked up the envelope. “This one’s new, it must have gotten overlooked.”
“There’s a pack in Arizona?” Riley perked up. “That could be cool.”
Jagger smiled. “Maybe we should have you contact them?”
“I’d love that!” Riley bounced up and down on the couch.
Mateo looked at the letter. “Yeah, I want to know what they look like.”
Josh snorted.
“Something to say, Josh?” Mateo turned and glared at his friend.
“It figures your jealous streak would emerge,” Josh taunted.
“I am not jealous,” Mateo narrowed his eyes.
“Uh huh.” Josh crossed his arms over his chest. “I can see your little wheels turning, hoping it’s a skinny, geeky pack.”
“Well, we have a lot of work to do,” Jagger sighed, looking at the letters. “I suggest we spread out, two by two and take a look at all the packs. Xander’s with me obviously, those of you who are mated go together and stay together at all times. I want a werewolf at Riley and Mateo’s when they meet with the Arizona pack.”
“Ross and I can do it,” Noah nodded.
“Perfect.” Jagger looked at the group. “We leave immediately.”
“You’ll leave right after the wedding.”
The men turned to see Wayne in the doorway of the cottage.
“The wedding?” Riley stood up. “You mean…?”
“I’m marrying Conner as soon as we get back to Alaska.” Wayne said, smiling at Riley. “And yes, you can plan it.”
Riley pumped his fist in the air. “Yesss!”
“Pffft, it’s about time,” Aidan grumbled.
Wayne raised a brow at Aidan. “Still mad?”
“He’ll get over it.” Nevan took his husband in his arms. “Won’t you?”
“Yes he will.” Conner walked over to Aidan and smiled. “I know you hold it against Wayne, but you and I both know Wayne loves me and he genuinely feels bad for hurting me.”
Aidan took Conner’s hands in his own. “You and I are the same, Conner, so it would make sense that I feel protective of you. I know Rion made mistakes, just as Nevan did, and I will, at some point, forgive him. But don’t mark your calendar for today.”
“Well,” Riley smiled at the group. “Let’s go! We have a wedding to attend!”
~~
Conner stood by Wonder Lake, watching the grey wolves of Denali playing in the snow. They’d been back for a week and in that time Riley had been running around planning their wedding. So far, he couldn’t complain, it wasn’t too over the top. Conner chuckled as one of the wolf pups grabbed his pant leg and pulled. The alpha of the pack yipped at the younger pup and Conner finally tried to speak with him.
The message sent, the alpha cocked his head to the side and huffed. Conner could hear a small male voice in his head; it wasn’t like hearing one of the werewolf pack members. The translation came through a bit garbled, but the wolf had understood him. Conner picked up the pup, hugging him to his chest. They were adorable at this age.
He’d come full circle. He was marrying the alpha of the created ones, his life was finally complete. The threat of the rogues loomed before them. As soon as the wedding was over, the men were taking off to meet the newer packs and forming teams to hunt the rogues.
Things were going to change. Drastically. Mitch had come to the park for the wedding; they’d talked at length about work, but not about the mysterious man who had caught Mitch’s attention. Locke had held back for his own reasons. He hadn’t wanted to start a romantic relationship with Mitch until he could ensure Mitch’s safety. That hadn’t come without an argument from Locke’s own pack. Logan had pointed out what a lame excuse that was. Conner hadn’t gotten all the details, but he knew Locke had had his heart broken in half before.
“You really do glow.”
Conner turned to see Xander smiling at him. “I never noticed it before.” Xander extended his hand to Conner’s hair. “I see it now.”
“It is because Rion made him his.”
Conner looked over Xander’s shoulder to see Aidan. “You came.”
“Of course I did.” Aidan walked closer.
“Does that mean you’re done being mad at Wayne?” Conner grinned.
Aidan tilted his head in thought. “Maybe, but don’t tell him I said so.”
Conner chuckled. “Okay.”
“You do look beautiful.” Aidan ran his hand through Conner’s golden locks.
Xander looked from Conner to Aidan. “You both have that golden glow, same color hair and eyes…it’s kinda freaky.”
“Where is Rion?” Aidan asked.
“Trying to keep Riley from buying doves,” Xander chuckled.
Aidan raised a brow. “Doves at a werewolf wedding?”
Xander shrugged. “It’s Riley.” Xander heard Jagger calling him and smiled at Conner. “See you soon!”
Conner smiled as Xander shifted, running to his mate. He finally had that, too, a mate who loved him. Aidan smiled and stepped aside. Roane and Aideen stood smiling.
“Look at you.” Aideen smoothed Conner’s hair back. “You look enchanting. You are perfect for my son; I couldn’t be more pleased at your coupling.”
“Thank you,” Conner blushed.
“You’ve taken this well, Conner,” Roane said. “I know you’re still a bit confused at the whole ‘made’ aspect of it all and we wish we could further explain. What we do know is that the fates choose who will be given to whom. Your parents couldn’t have children; therefore the fates interceded and placed you within her womb. You are what we call a love child of the fates.”
“But, I’m human, right?”
“Is that what you are afraid of?” Roane smiled as Conner nodded. “You are flesh and bone, just as all humans are.”
“You are just special, Conner,” Aideen smiled.
“Are there…more of us?” Conner asked.
“We have only seen you and Aidan as of now; I’m sure the fates created more throughout the years. I wish we could answer you further, but the fates are known to keep their secrets close to the vest,” Roane said.
“Have any of you ever met one? The fates I mean?” Conner asked.
Roane shook his head. “No. I suspect we never will. They keep to themselves; they have a very hard job,” Roane chuckled.
“So you guys can stay with us now?”
Aideen nodded. “As you’ve read, we never really die. We just choose to stay in our realm most of the time. The weather is always nice, but we will always come to you if you need us.” Aideen took Conner’s face in her hands. “You can call me Mom, if you wish.”
Conner felt his eyes moisten. “I can?” he whispered.
“Yes, I would love it if you did.” Aideen held Conner to her. “You are my son now.”
“Woman, let the boy breathe,” Roane groused. “I would h
ope you would call me Dad.”
Conner nodded. “All right, Dad.”
“Aw shite, I’m going to cry,” Aidan wiped his eyes.
Aideen took Conner’s hand and her husband’s. “We are family.”
“But Wayne and I aren’t married yet,” Conner pointed out.
“You were family the moment you were born.” Roane said. “Marrying Rion is the last step.”
“Y’all leave my man alone,” Wayne drawled, walking down the path.
Conner grinned. “Stop it, Rion.”
“Oh, I like him,” Aidan grinned.
Wayne threw Aidan a dirty look before taking Conner in his arms. “You ready to be Conner Maccon?”
“I was ready the day I saw you.”
~~ Once the group had cleared out, Conner snuck up to the attic. It was a habit he probably would never break. He liked the comfortable silence, the smell of wood. Conner closed the door quietly and stepped into the slightly chilly room. As always, the full moon cast a glow into the attic’s corner. Conner tilted his head. He moved to the wall that window was on and stood right underneath it. The light illuminated one corner of the attic, in one spot perfectly as a matter of fact.
“Oh for fuck’s sake, all I needed was the damn staff of Ra,” Conner sighed, exasperated.
“The staff of what?”
Conner looked up to see Wayne in the doorway of the attic.
“The Staff of Ra. It’s in an ‘Indiana Jones’ movie, it’s how he locates where the arc of the covenant is being kept.” Conner smiled as Wayne’s brows pinched in thought. “I see we have another movie to watch.”
“Who’s in that one?” Wayne asked.
“Harrison Ford.”
“Ah, Han Solo,” Wayne nodded.
Conner chuckled. “Come here.”
Wayne shut the door to the attic and made his way over to his fiancé.
“Stand right here,” Conner said, moving out of the way.
Wayne stood under the window and looked across the way at the wall. The light filtering through the window was on the wooden floorboards in the corner.
“You’re kidding me,” Wayne mumbled.
“Nope, I bet they are right there.”
Wayne crossed to the opposite side of the room and knelt down in front of the boards. He gripped one and pulled it up; it creaked and cracked a bit before it came loose. Wayne looked in and saw what looked like fifty or more of the diaries.
“Son of a bitch,” Wayne whispered. “Come look, babe.”
Conner crossed the room to his mate and sat down. He peered in the floor and gasped.
“Oh my God, look at all of them.”
Wayne picked on of them up and flipped through the pages. “This is my grandfather’s.”
“I’ll save you some reading.”
Wayne twirled around to see his grandfather watching them.
Taber sighed and knelt down in front of Conner. “You are a very special man, Conner. I was mated to a man as well.”
Wayne let out a gasp of surprise. “W-wwhat? But, grandma…”
“Came after,” Taber said. “I was very young when I fell in love with Tyrell. He did not wish to be changed.” Taber sighed, sadly. “I watched him age and eventually die; it is not something I wish upon anyone. Your grandmother, bless her heart came into my life years later. One thing you must understand, when it comes to love, whether be it man or woman, it does not matter. Love is love.”
“Does Roane know?” Conner asked.
“Yes, he has known. It is not up to us to interfere. Rion needed to come to terms with his feelings on his own.” Taber took a deep breath and regarded his grandson. “I changed Katya.”
Wayne started at that information. “Why?”
“She was dying of the plague. I found her almost dead, praying to God to help her. I couldn’t walk away.”
“So you are the created one, no wonder Sebastian has the sight.”
“You are going to read quite a bit of our heritage before you came to be, Rion. Conner is special in every way, he was supposed to have met you first but that did not happen. Because you chose to walk away from your life, you left Conner vulnerable and Carson Drake took matters into his own hands.”
Wayne looked down at the floor as shame colored his face. “I’m sorry, Granddad.”
“What’s done is done, Rion. Conner came into his role and now he is whole. Once you found Conner, his protection fell into place.”
“What exactly does that mean?” Conner asked.
“It means,” Taber took Conner’s face in his hands. “No evil can touch you.”
“That’s why Sloan needed Mitch,” Conner said. “Mitch is a kind man; she tried to force him to…to…”
Wayne took Conner’s hands. “It’s all right, Conner. I know.”
“He couldn’t do it. He almost died because he wouldn’t. He could see me for who I truly was.”
Taber nodded. “He is a good man, and mated to an even finer man.” Taber looked at his grandson. “A war is starting; we must all be ready for it.”
“Does that mean you are sticking around?” Wayne asked.
“Yes, we all are.”
“Oh shite,” Wayne paled.
“What is it?” Conner asked frantically.
“I bit the females,” Wayne looked at his grandfather.
Taber sighed and smiled at his grandson. “So, you have some explaining to do. These men must know what they are in for with their children.”
Conner’s mind was working a mile a minute. His head snapped up and he looked at Wayne in astonishment. “All of the kids will have the sight?”
Wayne nodded.
“Aw, hell.”
~~ Conner lay in bed thinking about the day. He felt better knowing he was human at least. His mind was racing at things to come. He was going to marry the man of his dreams. Conner snuggled into Wayne, sliding his knee between Wayne’s legs. Strong arms came around him even tighter and Conner sighed at the warmth and peace coming from his mate. He’d never loved anyone the way he loved Wayne, they just fit.
“I love you too, Conner,” Wayne whispered against Conner’s forehead. “I love you more than anything.”
Conner smiled against Wayne’s chest. Yeah, life was good.
Epilogue
Two days later, Conner stood on the banks of Wonder Lake facing the man he loved. The packs surrounded them as Conner stood with Paul at his side. The official wedding would take place the next day in New York. Conner’s hands rested in Wayne’s, a platinum band on his left hand signifying the love they had for each other. Wayne stood with Jagger and Josh on either side of him. The vows were spoken and Conner smiled. He and Wayne had come up with their own vows for the wedding in New York; it would be a more…private affair.
Wayne’s family stood in a circle around them. Conner had had a long talk with Aidan over the last two days; they had a lot in common. Nevan stood with his husband with a smile, the man had finally come to terms with his male mate when it had almost been too late. Aidan was set to leave Ireland when Nevan caught him at the shipping docks. The story was close to his own with Wayne. After years of denying Aidan; Nevan had fallen for the man.
Aideen blew him a kiss and Conner winked. Wayne’s hands tightened on his own and Conner looked into very blue eyes. Wayne was beautiful, the tux fitting him in all the right places, accentuating his narrow hips and wide shoulders. Conner turned to the pastor - who was also a werewolf - at the mention of his name.
“I give you, Wayne and Conner Maccon. May the sun always shine upon your faces.”
The cheering and shouts echoed across the lake as Wayne pulled Conner in for a bruising kiss. Conner’s breath was sucked from his lungs as the kiss went on and on and on.
“Damn!” Josh whistled. “It’s about time!”
Wayne broke from the kiss panting. “Mr. Maccon.”
Conner grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
“It’s cake time!” Riley shouted.
<
br /> “Oh Lord, not cake,” Nikolai’s other father, Andrei, grumbled.
“What’s the matter, Panchenko?” Devin grinned wickedly. “Afraid of a little frosting?”
“Fuck you,” Andrei growled.
Devin leaned into Andrei’s face. “Not in this fucking lifetime or any other.”
“Devin…” Keegan yanked Devin away in a hurry.
Vince stood with James and Derek. “Something has to change,” Vince pronounced. “This can’t keep happening.”
“Devin is under direct orders not to touch a hair on Andrei’s head,” James disclosed.
“Yeah? What about the rest of him?” Vince answered. “Excuse me if I’m a little worried about my ex. I’ve read the file on Lyons.”
“Yeah?” Derek narrowed his eyes at Vince. “And we read the file on you. So, how do you propose we stop the fighting?”
Vince sighed. “I have no fucking clue.”
The champagne flowed freely as all the guests sat around eating and laughing, retelling stories of Conner and Wayne. Conner found Mitch at one of the tables. He was staring at Locke Renfro, who was also looking right at Mitch.
Chance had gone to Sloan’s - Salina’s with Nikolai, only to find the house ransacked. Anything that could have held information about the rogues and how they had been recruited was gone. The packs would be leaving the following day to start the hunts. More packs were coming forward, begging help from Wayne. The rogues were gearing up for something and Conner could only hope that their own packs would have enough numbers to take them out.
Jagger stood, tapping his champagne glass. The room quieted down and Jagger looked over at Conner with a smile.
“Who would have known that the man who was sent by my sorry-ass father Carson Drake to take out our pack would be destined to marry its alpha?”
“It’s a good thing I let him live,” Sawyer chuckled.
Conner winked at Sawyer.
“We watched for years as Wayne fought his attraction. In the end we all knew that Wayne would fall in love with Conner, because all of us did,” Jagger smiled. “His ability to put up with mountains of shit with a smile, his cooking skills, and his friendship - everything about Conner is sweet and kind. We are all very lucky to have him in our lives. So raise your glasses to Wayne and Conner. The stubborn pig-headed alpha finally got his man!”
Irish Wishes Page 14