by Lynn Howard
“If I’ve been out for four days, why do I still hurt so bad?”
She pushed up and Daxon slid an arm behind her back to help her sit against the headboard. They were back in the cabin they had shared the past few weeks, back in the bed they’d slept in and cuddled in, the same cabin Daxon had hoped would keep Ryanne and Penny safe.
Koda had lost one of his people trying to keep them safe, trying to keep two people who weren’t his family safe.
Did he hate her now? What about the rest of Morse Pack? Would they demand she leave immediately?
She was more than ready to go home, to return to some semblance of normalcy.
“Is she awake?” a little voice asked.
Penny looked around the doorjamb. When she spotted her big sister sitting up in bed, she sprinted forward on her little legs and moved like she would jump on the bed.
“Whoa!” Daxon said, catching her midair. “She’s still sore, angel. Give her some time.”
“I told you she would be okay,” Penny announced, smiling up at Daxon like he’d handed her the moon and the stars.
“You did.” He turned to Ryanne. “She wasn’t worried. She said you were too strong for the crows to get you. Said your lynx would make you all better. That’s what you said, right?” he said, turning back to Penny as she balanced on his hip.
“Yep.” Penny grinned wide at Ryanne. “You told me that’s why you don’t sick, ‘member? You said your lynx keeps you healthy. I told Daxon your lynx would make you all better because he kept crying.”
Daxon’s cheeks darkened with a blush and he averted his eyes.
“You kept him from being too sad. You’re such a good sister.”
“Can Daxon be my dad instead of my brother?”
Ryanne and Daxon shared a look. How the hell could they answer that one? Ryanne was her big sister. Daxon was Ryanne’s mate, and would be her husband in the human world. He couldn’t exactly be her father.
“How about if I love you more than any dad ever could and buy you more cool stuff for your sandbox, but you still call me Daxon.”
Damn, she loved this man.
“Okay. Can I go play with Grace and Rieka and Polo and Beth?”
“Yep. Make sure you stay near Uncle Brax and Uncle Mason.”
“I will.” Penny leaned forward in Daxon’s arms, so Ryanne raised her own and hugged Penny tight. “I kept Daxon happy for you,” Penny whispered in Ryanne’s ear.
Tears welled in Ryanne’s eyes as she squeezed her baby sister tighter. “Thank you, honey.”
“Too tight, Ry.”
Ryanne released her with a chuckle and waggled her fingers when Penny turned at the door and wagged her whole hand at Ryanne.
Once they were alone, Daxon lowered onto the edge of the bed.
“You were crying, huh?” she teased.
“I didn’t know she saw me.”
“She sees everything. If I didn’t know as a fact she was one hundred percent human, I would wonder if she wasn’t born with some kind of supernatural blood.”
He shrugged up his wide shoulders. “You never know. Her dad could have been part Fae.”
“Ugh,” Ryanne said, rolling her head back against the wooden headboard. “I have enough to worry about with her being a little girl. I do not need to worry about her blood luring more assholes to her.”
Daxon chuckled and dropped his head. “We,” he muttered.
“What?”
“We have enough worry about. You’re both in my life. Forever. I don’t ever want to lose you, Ryanne. I came too close to it and thought I was going to lose my fucking mind.”
Laying her hand against his cheek, Ryanne leaned forward so Daxon had to look at her. “We. Forever.”
A tear fell over his lashes before Daxon could stop it. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. He didn’t deepen it, didn’t tangle his fingers in her hair. It was a kiss of relief, a kiss full of love.
“I love you,” he whispered against her lips, his voice thick with emotion.
“I love you, Daxon.”
****
Ryanne ended up staying in bed for close to a week before she felt strong enough to walk on her own. Daxon still offered to carry her, but she was tired of lying around.
And it was time to face Morse Pack.
Daxon told her the entirety of Ravenwood Pride hadn’t left and his friends from Big River and Blackwater visited every day, both to check on Ryanne, to see if Daxon needed anything, and to keep Penny occupied.
She loved her Pride. And they were hers. They had tried to tell her that, but after seeing how they were Penny, she truly believed she was part of the family and not just Daxon’s mate.
“How do I look?” she asked.
The scratches had healed but she still had a few scars, mainly across her face. She knew they would fade in time, but that didn’t help her self esteem at the moment. She was no longer sore, either.
Like Penny said, her lynx had healed her.
“Beautiful as usual,” Daxon said, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to her knuckles.
“You like to make me blush,” she accused.
“Yep. You glow when you blush. Did that make sense?”
Ryanne chuckled. “Oddly, yes. I think I’ve learned your language.”
He shook his head, then pulled her from the bedroom by her hand.
She’d attempted to procrastinate and stall for the past hour; it was obvious Daxon knew what she was up to and was determined to drag her outside to face everyone.
People milled around, doing their normal daily tasks. A few people looked up and smiled or waved. There were no dirty looks. No looks of incrimination.
Campbell and Brax sat in lawn chairs beside the sandbox, Polo at Campbell’s feet, while the three little girls piled sand in buckets and made statues or castles, or whatever it was they were trying to make.
Penny looked up and spotted Ryanne coming toward them.
“You want to play?” she asked her big sister.
“Are you going to get tired of that thing?” Ryanne asked. She had been obsessed with her turtle shaped sandbox since Daxon had delivered it.
“No way!” Penny exclaimed. “I buried a piece of candy in there yesterday and it was still there today.”
“Penny…”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t let her eat it,” Campbell said with a smile.
“But it’s the best hiding place ever,” Penny explained.
The things this child thought up.
“We’re going to take a ride over to the house for a minute. Can you hang out with Uncle Brax and Aunt Camp for a while?” Daxon asked Penny, and he totally sounded like a dad when he spoke to her.
“Sure. Have fun.” Penny went back to digging without a single question.
“We’re going back to my house?” Ryanne asked as Daxon led her to his truck.
“Yep. Just for a minute.”
The look on Daxon’s face made Ryanne excited. And made heat pool low in her belly. Maybe he wanted to be alone with her for a while. Which sounded a lot like he wanted to be alone with her while naked.
It had been way too long since the first and only time they had made love. She was more than ready to feel Daxon’s body again. And after what they’d gone through, she was all about the whole reaffirmation of life thing.
Ryanne peppered Daxon with questions the whole drive. Yet, all he would do was smile and kept a tight grip on her hand, pulling it to his lips at each stop light.
When he pulled up her dirt driveway, butterflies took flight in her belly and she laid a hand over it, hoping to calm them.
Those butterflies stopped dead in their tracks when her house came into view.
There were a few other trucks parked out front. But that wasn’t what made her lean forward in her seat and stare forward with wide eyes.
The chipped paint was gone. In its place was fresh paint in a buttery yellow. The trim was a crisp white. The tarp on the roof was gone. In fact,
it looked like the entire roof had been redone.
The porch was no longer leaning to one side and she could no longer see the sagging board.
“What…” She couldn’t form any words. Shoot, she couldn’t form a coherent thought.
“The Pride, the Clan, and the Packs wanted to do something for you.”
She turned and stared at Daxon, forcing herself to blink. “For me? All I’ve done is bring chaos into all of your lives.”
“Oh please,” he said, pushing his door open. He rounded the truck and opened her door. He reached in, unbuckled her belt, then turned her so he could stand between her knees. “Do you really think we don’t know all about chaos. That wasn’t the first fight we’ve been through for someone we love. And trust me when I say I’m not the only one who loves you girls. Penny has everyone she’s met wrapped around her cute, little finger.”
“But…” Damn it. She still couldn’t think of anything to say.
“But nothing. Everyone wanted to do this. You deserve a house you’re proud of. You deserve a safe house. And we…deserve some privacy.”
Her brows dropped. “What?” Apparently, this surprise had robbed her of her vocabulary.
With a chuckle, he reached in, gripped her waist, and pulled her out of the truck. He then wrapped his hand around hers and guided her toward her house, lifting his free hand in greeting to Luke, Piper, Carter, and June who were planting bushes along the outside of the windows.
“They’re sticker bushes,” June explained. “No one wants to climb through sticker bushes to climb through a window.” She grinned wide at Ryanne and gave her a thumbs up.
What in the hell was even going on? Did she not wake up? Was this some kind of fever dream? Why was everyone doing all this for her when they all could have lost their lives because of Ryanne?
It didn’t matter that Daxon said this wasn’t the first time. Had she not come crashing into their lives, the crows never would have messed with them.
Daxon led her through the kitchen, the living room, then into her bedroom. Their bedroom.
He pointed to the walls. They were painted a soft grayish-tan color and was so peaceful.
“You guys painted my room?”
“More than that,” he said. He pushed her into the hall and closed the door. A few seconds later, he opened it and grinned at her. “Did you hear anything?”
Her frown deepened. “You didn’t say anything.”
“Yes, I did. The guys soundproofed our room.”
Soundproofed her room. Why… Ohhhh.
“There’s that blush.” He pulled her close and dipped his head to claim her lips.
“What did you say?” she asked when he pulled back. He frowned in confusion. “In there. What did you say?”
“I said I love you.”
She sighed. Even when he knew she couldn’t hear him, that was the first thing on his mind.
Daxon took her around and showed her all the changes.
They’d made sure the windows were replaced with shatter proof glass and installed locks on every entrance to the house. The bathroom had a new shower and tub and a new toilet. The kind without the foam seat.
Then they headed out to sit on the front porch like they’d done on nights before the jerk Jacob had tried to ruin their happiness.
“So, what happened?” she asked as their friends packed up and left with a honk of their horns.
“What do you mean?”
“When I passed out? What happened? How did you win? There were a lot of Shifters there.” A lot more of the bad guys than there were of the good, if she remembered right.
“We won. A lot of that had to do with you,” he said. “Do you remember seeing the hawks?”
She tried to recall as much as she could, but only remembered screeching sounds and the flapping of wings.
“No. I don’t think I saw them.”
Daxon leaned back on his hands. “Beth and Jamie apparently knew some hawks from their childhood or something. When they came home and found Clint and his buddies there, they had a bad feeling and made a few phone calls. They were able to convince them to come help.”
Ryanne chewed on the inside of her cheek. That would explain the screeching sound. That was a sound she’d never heard the crows make.
“Did you know why the crows were here?” Daxon asked.
Ryanne nodded. “Yeah. Jacob had this delusion that I was his mate or something. I tried to explain to him I was mated, but…I think he was just nuts.”
“He’s an asshole.”
Ryanne turned to look at him. “He is an asshole? Not was? He’s still alive?”
Daxon’s eyes took on a slight glow and a growl rattled up his chest. “You almost killed him. But yeah, the fucker’s still alive. I don’t think they’ll be coming around anytime soon, though.”
“Why do you think that?”
Daxon chuckled. “The hawks took out half of his flock. And we took out his buddies on the ground. At least the ones who didn’t tuck tail and run when they realized they were losing.”
She couldn’t conjure a chuckle or even a smile.
“Daxon, do they hate me?”
He turned and looked at her like she’d grown two heads. “Who? I literally told you less than thirty minutes ago that everyone did this,” he waved a hand toward her house, “because they love you.”
“You said Koda lost someone. The only reason the crows and their friends went to Morse was because I was there. Someone died because of me.”
She had felt a slight sense of relief when she’d realized no one was there for Penny, but the amount was tiny. Jacob would have done anything in his power to get his hands on Ryanne, including taking Penny.
Daxon lifted his hand and cupped her face in his warm palms. He looked directly in her eyes, his brows lowering as he spoke. “Not a single person hates you. Not a single person blames you. I thought by now you would realize you’re just as much a part of this family as I am. We all protect our people. We’ve all put our lives on the line to protect each other, to protect each other’s mates. And every single person you’ve met, and even some you haven’t, would do it again, even if they knew they would lose their life.”
Tears burned at the back of Ryanne’s eyes. She searched his for any form of untruth and found only sincerity.
And love.
This man loved her. His Pride loved her. His friends loved her.
She truly had a family. No one could ever come between them. No one could ever tear them apart.
“I love you,” she said, her voice choked with the emotion she was struggling to hold back.
Daxon bent forward and feathered a kiss across her lips, then pulled back to look into her eyes. “I love you. More than you could ever know.”
They snuggled on the porch for another hour before the sounds of engines rumbling closer heralded the arrival of their Pride, their friends, and little Penny.
Penny jumped from the back seat of Brax’s Camaro the second Campbell opened the door for her, and ran for Ryanne with Polo right on her heels.
“I still can’t believe that dog hangs out with Shifters,” Ryanne said as her baby sister and Campbell’s dog grew closer.
“Did you see everything? Did you see my room? It’s so cool!” Penny exclaimed, darting past Ryanne and Daxon and pushing through the front door.
Ryanne frowned at Daxon. He’d shown her the windows and locks and the soundproofed room, but not Penny’s bedroom. She’d had no idea they had done anything to it.
Daxon jerked his head for her to follow and climbed to his feet, wrapping his hand around Ryanne’s and pulling her up.
As they crossed through the room, she noted other changes she hadn’t noticed the first time, like the fact there were cable wires attached to a new and fancy flat screen TV. The couch was new and would fit all three of them comfortably, and a pretty coffee table sat in front of it.
“How did you afford all of this?” Ryanne asked. She knew the Pride were curr
ently working when they could with the bears. But that surely didn’t make enough money to remodel the entire house and furnish it with brand new things.
She had never had new furniture. Or clothes, for that matter. Even as a child when she had lived with her mother, they’d always bought everything second hand. That was all that could be afforded.
“Nova,” Daxon said with a shake of his head and a smile. “She’s been dying to spend some money on her friends. Everyone stopped letting her a while back. This was the perfect opportunity for her. Emory said that’s her love language, whatever the hell that is.”
Tears welled again in her eyes, but this time for a whole new reason. Nova’s love language. This was her way of telling Ryanne she was family, she was loved.
Why the hell did she keep doubting that when everyone showed her time and time again?
Penny sat on her floor playing with a huge doll house. The dang thing was almost too big for her room. The walls had been painted a soft shade of pink, across the bed was a sweet pink and purple striped quilt, there were new, fluffy pillows with matching cases, and there was a thick, purple rug in the center of the room.
It looked like a princess’s room. And was so perfect for Penny.
She chattered happily, using two brand new Barbies to create her make believe world.
More tears. Would the happy tears ever stop?
“Thank you so much,” she said to Daxon.
He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against his side, planting a kiss to the top of her hair.
“Thank Nova. She went a little crazy with the whole shopping thing.”
“But you all did this. You gave us a safe and comfortable home. You gave us a family.”
“Did she like it?” Nova said from the front of the house.
Ryanne smiled up at Daxon. “Do I look like a blubbering mess?” She used her hands to dry her cheeks.
“You look beautiful. As usual.” That would always be his response. She knew that the same way she knew she and Penny would never be alone again.
All of Big River and Blackwater was there. Even Shawnee and Colton, who carried their infant twins with them. A boy and a girl. How perfect.