Son of A: Chosen Book 30
Page 7
And hadn't that been a surprise. I'd never been a particularly selfish person, but I'd also never been in a relationship that lasted any length of time, so finding out that it was actually pretty easy to fall into one this important had been a bit of a shock, and was honestly, still surprising me every day. It helped that Dylan was absolutely amazing, and one of the most caring, giving, unselfish people I'd ever met in my life. Which I'd basically known since the day I'd overheard him telling West that he left every room I walked into because he was worried his presence would bother me because of his father.
Dylan sat up slowly, his hand going low on his back on the left side. "This mark. When I was a kid, I loved it. I had the coolest birthmark of all of my friends. When I first found out what it meant, I hated it. If carving it out of my skin would have taken the rest of what being a chosen meant away, it wouldn't be here today. But now… I think I like what it means. I think I want a bunch of kids. Maybe not right away, but sometime."
I smiled, rolling over and pulling him into my arms and fusing our mouths together where we lay on our sides, facing each other.
"I'll give you as many babies as you can handle," I whispered against his lips. "But, right now, I'd really like it if you tried to impregnate me."
He huffed out a small laugh against my lips before sliding his hand from my hip to my ass, gripping the cheek he'd been kissing on firmly, and then sliding his fingers toward my crease.
"Okay, but after this, one of us is going to have to buy some breakfast and lube."
I grunted as his fingers slipped between my cheeks, making me shudder. "We'll have it delivered."
"The lube or the food?"
"Yep," I answered before jerking his head forward so I could taste his mouth. You know, like I hadn't been doing that nearly every minute I had a chance since that first time.
***
"So, we'll get money directly from the elders?" Parker asked, looking skeptical. "Who the hell are they getting it from? Don't we usually pay them with leap/pack/pride/whatever taxes?"
Foster nodded. "This leap and the streak in Crossville get a break because they are taking in chosen. They've had to raise those rates a little now, but the majority of the different groups voted that taking care of chosen was worth the increase. It's really not going to be that much of an increase considering how many groups there are. If they're budgeted decently, they probably won't even notice."
"I mean, it all makes sense, but I also know there are a lot of groups out there that still don't even believe in chosen." Parker shrugged. "Of course, those are all probably groups flying under the radar anyway, or they wouldn't have any doubt that the chosen are back. So, they probably aren't paying taxes to begin with."
"One chosen trafficking ring down… God only knows how many to go, huh?" Lane said, solemnly.
Parker tilted back his head, his voice rising in volume. "Sure would be nice if he could draw us a map or something."
"You think you need to yell at God for him to hear you?" Foster asked dryly, raising an eyebrow at the wolverine shifter.
"Pft," he huffed out, leaning back against his mate, Silver, just as the front door opened and a nearly debilitating smell drifted in on the breeze. "If I had over seven billion kids, I'd go hide in the bathroom with a bottle of tequila and some earplugs."
"And that's why you don't get to watch my kids, Parker," Bennett grumbled as he turned the stroller containing two of the cutest babies in the world sideways so he could drag it into the house through the front door.
Of course, the smell only got stronger, the further into the house he came.
"Bennett, why do you smell like skunk?" Malik asked, his eyes almost terrifying as they landed on the leopard. "Where's Sprits?"
Bennett cringed, actually putting the stroller between himself and the chosen with the burn scar on the side of his face. "Why haven't you had his stink gland removed?"
Malik started to rise from his mate's lap, but Rowe held on to him, though the look on his face didn't seem all that promising for Bennett either. Rowe was huge. Every bit as big as Thompsyn Lane, Bennett's bear mate. I'd heard that he'd almost made a guy pee his pants for threatening to step on a spider, so I could only imagine how pissed he was going to be if something had happened to his skunk, Sprits, who was like a child to him and Malik.
"Because," Malik said through clenched teeth. "He needs some type of defense in this world… and he doesn't spray unless someone pisses him off."
"Someone pissed him off…" Thompsyn grumbled, when he walked in, smelling even worse than Bennett and holding an adorable little black and white bundle. "By throwing him on me."
Thompsyn went over and handed the skunk to his daddies, and Malik immediately cuddled the thing to his chest while Rowe cuddled Malik. They almost looked like a traumatized family who'd survived some kind of raid or something.
Bennett lifted his hands in the air, showing off a litany of mostly healed bite wounds. "You at least got him his rabies vaccination, right?"
"Yes!" Malik said, looking offended. "Rabies is a terrible way to die. I don't want my sweet baby going out like that."
He got up quickly, marching off toward the front door with Rowe right behind him. That guy scared me a little… not Rowe but Malik, especially when he threw that cold look over his shoulder in Bennett's direction, promising murder before he walked through the door.
"Alright," Ridley said, standing and making shooing motions at the mated couple who smelled like the kind of roadkill you almost wrecked your car trying to cover your whole face with your hands because of. "You two out." He tilted his head, sending the giant a sympathetic look. "Sorry Thompsyn."
The bear gave Ridley a gentle smile, shrugging before turning and heading for his house. "You guys watch the twins until I can get that smell out. I know it won't hurt them, but it's pretty bad."
"What about me?" Bennett turned to ask his best friend, just on the other side of the door. "Aren't you sorry for kicking me out?"
Ridley just gripped the edge of the door, before flicking his wrist and slamming it directly in Bennett's face.
"Looks like Uncle Parker and Uncle Silver are on duty," Parker said, rubbing his hands together, and pulling a scowling baby girl out of the stroller before blinking at her face a few times and handing her over to his mate. "Here, you get the mean one."
"She's not mean," Silver said, turning the beautiful little girl around, and rubbing his nose to hers. "Are you, precious girl?"
"Did she just flip me off?" Parker asked, his voice rising with indignance as he lifted the giggling little boy out of the stroller and into his arms.
Thankfully, the two little angels seemed to have been missed by Sprits, and within an hour, barely held the odor at all. I had no doubt their two fathers would be holding on to that smell for a while.
***
I smiled down into the face of my mate as everyone in the leap house prepared for the New Year countdown.
There would be a lot of changes in twenty-twenty. The first building of the CREA, Chosen Rights Enforcement Agency, was almost finished, and plans for the CRC, Chosen Rehabilitation Center were already under way. By summer, we'd be a fully functioning unit meant just for chosen.
Dylan and I were moving into our first little rental on the second, and even though I had no intention of completely letting Max Young get away with what he'd done, I could honestly say that my anger for him was no longer the force that drove me. It was something far more complicated and also far simpler than that.
Chatter around the room became a somewhat coordinated countdown as the New Year approached, and I smiled down at my mate as he joined in with everyone else. "Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven…"
"I love you," I said, unable to hold it back any longer.
It had been a long, long time since I'd said those words to anyone, but the last couple of days, it seemed like I could barely control the urge to blurt it at him every time I looked into his pretty hazel eyes.
&nb
sp; Those eyes widened, flashing as more green bled into the brown. "What did you just––"
I kissed him, only beating the clock by a half second as everyone yelled and cheered in the background, the sounds getting drowned out by the happiness of the moment, of knowing that this was my mate, and I was going to get to spend the rest of my life with him.
He squeezed me to him, and I did the same, pouring as much love as I could into the kiss, wanting him to know without a doubt that I meant it.
A loud pop next to our faces had us both gasping and spinning. He tried to step in front of me at the same time as I tried to step in front of him, and physics worked like it was supposed to, I guessed, sending him sprawling on the floor.
"Fuck!" He growled, glaring up at West, who looked to be in shock, his eyes wide as Champagne dripped from the bottle in his hands while he stared down at Dylan, clearly trying not to laugh.
"Are you okay," I asked, bending down to grip his hand and give him a lift off the ground as Auld Lang Syne played in the background.
He cringed as he stood, his hands immediately going to his rear. "No! I broke my ass again."
I tried. I really tried. And I was pretty sure I was going to hell for laughing at my mate's pain when the time came, but the more I tried to hold the laugh in, the harder it worked to escape, until I snorted.
Dylan glared, giving West and me pretty much a panning go fuck yourself face.
I tried to clamp down on my laughter, not wanting to start the New Year off in the fox house, but when it became pretty clear that I wasn't going to be able to control myself, I reached out and grabbed him instead, pulling him into my arms.
"I'm sorry you broke your ass because I told you I love you."
He sighed, pulling back to look at me, his lips twitching as he tried to hide his smile behind a dirty look. "That's not why I broke my ass. It was because West is an idiot and very easily could have put someone's eye out."
"Good. I don't want you breaking your ass all the time, because that's how often I'm going to tell you."
"Tell me again," he demanded, hugging me tight, pressing our chests together and putting our faces close.
"I love you, Dylan Young."
He sighed happily, his eyes a bright green that almost looked yellow with shots of gold and light brown, shining at me. "I love you too, Renn," he whispered against my mouth.
Chosen spin-off coming summer 2020!
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Meet all my books!
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Grumpy Old Bear: Chosen Book 2
Sweet Sutton: Chosen Book 3
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Blood, Paint and Pumpkin Guts: Chosen Book 12
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Getting Over the Bully-Sh*t: Chosen Book 22
Dance in the Rain: Chosen Book 23
No Passing Zone: Chosen Book 24
Going Down on the River: Chosen Book 25
Calling in a Recker: Chosen Book 26
Creatures of Habit: Chosen Book 27
Not That Angelic: Chosen Book 28
Playing With Jax: Chosen Book 29
Son of A: Chosen Book 30
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Mating Martigan: Terra Mortis Book 3
Hearting Cast: Terra Mortis Book 4
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Having Ripley: Terra Mortis Book 7
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Riling Cagney: Terra Mortis Book 9
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