They were both blinking away tears when they exchanged wedding bands. Another thing Carl never dreamed they’d be able to have together. Working for Abundio had allowed them to have a life and take care of Brianna, but it was another type of prison they were stuck in and might never have escaped from otherwise.
And when they finally got to say their I do’s and kiss, like hell was he not kissing his man the way he wanted to. Meaning a soul-crushing kiss as he tipped Mateo back and thoroughly ravished his lips.
And he sent him a thought. “Mine.”
Mateo smiled up at him. “Damn right I’m yours, mate.”
Nami was the first to swoop in and hug them before dashing over to Da’von and Brianna and hugging them next. As they were all swarmed by well-wishers, it was Bebe who brought the room to a halt when she let out a mournful howl that had everyone stopping to look at where she was now perched on Ken’s shoulders.
“Cake!” she said, pointing at the table where the two cakes were located. Then she started bouncing up and down on Ken’s shoulders. “Cake! Naaaaoooooow!”
Dewi burst into laughter, quickly followed by everyone else as a mortified Lu’ana dashed through the throngs of people to try to collect her daughter.
Laughing, Gillian and Asia made their way over to them. “Honey, believe me,” Asia said, “she’s not the first child in this family to want their cake first after a family wedding.”
But Carl ended up locking gazes with Dewi and knew she had to be thinking the same thing he was—that toddler had more than a just little wolf in her. Maybe Bebe had ended up with a dominant gene or something, but there was no way she couldn’t be a shifter.
Carl just hoped Bebe didn’t do it while she was alone with her parents.
Dewi tipped her head toward the food tables, her meaning clear. Eat first, talk later.
When he glanced down at Mateo, he didn’t even need their mate bond to know he was thinking the same thing.
“Life’s not boring,” Carl whispered.
Mateo squeezed his hand as they headed toward the food tables. “No, it sure isn’t.”
Chapter Nineteen
December 29th
Peyton crawled into bed with Gillian and kissed her. “Hey.”
She set her tablet aside. “Hey, you.” She snuggled in his arms. “Everything okay?”
He thought about how to answer that. “Tamsin’s not doing okay,” he admitted. “Badger and Duncan are going to keep working with her. But if I had any doubts about her going back to Florida, this settles it. She needs to be there, with all of them. Especially with Badger and Duncan.”
“They still haven’t caught that sonofabitch yet, huh?” she asked.
“No,” he grumbled.
“So I guess this is as good a time as any for more bad news.”
He groaned. “Do I want to know?”
“One of the honeypots we had set out online? About the pack businesses to follow up and see if anything else came of the Segura mess? Got a couple of solid hits. And not just random hackers. Targeted inquiries. Based out of Mexico and South America.”
“Shit.”
“Yeeeeaaaah. Pretty much.”
He sighed. “Too much to hope it’s just a coincidence?”
“I don’t think so. It gets worse.”
He sat up in bed. “Tell me everything.”
She did. As he listened, his gut tightening as she drew the lines for him, he realized this had the potential to get very, very bad.
Someone was poking around shifter business in a direct and knowing way. As in, they apparently knew shifters existed, and were trying to gather information about them. Hits from Mexico and several locales in South America. Also, a few specific inquiries about Carl, Mateo, and even Brianna. Not to mention, someone in Mexico, a woman, had visited Carl and Mateo’s old apartment and been let in. Remote surveillance Ramirez had installed at the building picked her up and grabbed her license plate, allowing them to use traffic cameras to track the car back to Abundio Segura’s compound.
Miguel Segura’s uncle, and Carl and Mateo’s former employer.
Adding to all of that, one of Gillian’s contacts embedded deep in the NSA had heard rumblings about someone trying to tickle interest in bio-tech that could make a person more than human. That had, disquietingly enough, come from within the EU.
More digging pointed to a possible rogue lone wolf looking to burn down the shifter world to get himself out of some sort of personal scrape with a foreign power.
“So we don’t know if it’s Faegan, one of his relatives or cohorts, or if it’s someone else entirely?” Peyton asked.
“Exactly,” Gillian said. “This is all still developing. My gut instinct says it’s a separate incident than the mess with Faegan. I think the Mexico situation’s not fully quashed yet. I mean, I could be wrong. It could be directly related to Mateo and Carl’s disappearance and merely coincidental to the larger Manuel Segura issue, but I don’t know that. Regardless, we need to be ready. I think it’s time we need to implement that resettlement plan we talked about a couple of months ago, pull Alvarez and Ramirez, and recall them to the States.”
He tipped his head back against the headboard. “Shit.” He sighed. “Dewi’s going to fucking kill me.”
‘Dewi’s not the pack Alpha. She’s your little sister.”
“You know it’s more complicated than that.” He looked at her. “The past couple of months, I haven’t been passing intel to her the way I usually do.”
Gillian smirked. “I did warn you I thought that was a bad call. Make sure you tell her I said that while she’s kicking your ass. You deserve it.”
He grumbled. “Yes, you told me so. Happy?”
Her smile faded. “No.” Her hand settled on her tummy, where she was developing a baby bump of her own. “Because we have everything to lose if any of that is true and pans out. I know you followed your dad’s footsteps with trying to keep a low profile for the pack. To blend in and not make waves, including letting some people get away with shit that Duncan and Badger would have taken blood for decades ago. Like Faegan Lewis.”
Her gaze hardened. “That time is over. We’re now responsible for the Staffordshire Pack, and since I don’t feel like losing you across the Atlantic every few weeks to deal with shit there, it’s time for the Targhees to regrow their teeth and prove they can bite.”
He slowly nodded. “I know. I was really hoping not to have to go there, though. It’s not the same world Dad led the pack through, or Duncan. I don’t want our people put at more risk than necessary. They didn’t have CSI teams or DNA testing when Dad and Duncan were running the pack.”
“It’s more than that, and you damn well know it.” He glared at her, but didn’t interrupt. “After the bullshit with Endquist, even though we didn’t know who was behind it, you pulled back and circled the wagons to play things safe. Especially once you appointed Dewi Head Enforcer. You didn’t want Dewi to have to take more blood than necessary, and I get it, Peyton. I held her as a baby. I changed her diapers. I know it tore you both up to send her away, and why. It hurt all of us. But Dewi’s an adult now.”
“She’s also pregnant.”
“So am I. So is Asia. So is Nami, and how many dozens of packmates since the Muster? But she’s a Prime. And she’s Head Enforcer, and head of the expanded pack council, meaning she has a right to know all this shit. If you told Duncan, he’d agree with you and chew you a new one.”
“I just wanted one goddamned thing in her life to be normal for her. That’s all. Just one.”
“She doesn’t get that luxury. None of us do. Not now. Not if there’s some rogue out there willing to destroy all of us for personal gain. Not as long as there’s a psychopath like Faegan Lewis still on the loose. Not as long as there are people like the Segura cartel, or whoever it is sniffing around after Mateo and Carl. They’re pack. That means we protect them. They proved themselves to us and we gave them sanctuary and took them in. That means we prot
ect them just like we’d protect Asia’s kids, or Dewi, or Nami and her sisters and Da’von—they’re pack.”
He sighed even as he slowly nodded. “Give me a list of who Trent and I need to call and talk to in the morning,” he quietly said. “I’ll talk to Dewi and the rest of the Enforcers who are on-site tomorrow evening when everyone’s here for dinner. Maybe if we’re lucky they’ll have caught Faegan Lewis by then.”
Gillian arched an eyebrow at him.
“Yeah, I know,” Peyton said. “Wishful thinking. How has that bastard eluded them for so long? Trevor is on a fucking rampage. All the packs over there are. I know they’ve killed at least three people they found were helping hide Faegan. He can’t have many allies left. Trevor said several people came forward with more information, but it was old and Faegan had already left.”
“You need to be prepared for the possibility that Faegan might have humans helping him. Humans that have remained off the packs’ radars because he kept his relationship with them secret. Either romantically, or because of an under-the-table business relationship.”
“I doubt he’d have a romantic relationship with a human.”
“How many Evangelical preachers end up getting nailed for having a gay affair and cheating on their wives? I absolutely believe Faegan would fuck a human. He wouldn’t want to breed with one, but that man has no morals or ethics.”
“True. Or you’re thinking he’s in criminal cahoots with someone?” Peyton didn’t have any hard info on that.
“Of course. How else does a creep like that maintain such a stranglehold on people? Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s got compromising information on various humans in positions of authority, and is using extortion to get them to help him. He’s got the longevity to sit and monitor situations and gather intel.”
“Fuck, you’re right,” he muttered. That was how the Targhee pack had managed to keep countless local officials, two dozen governors, and several US Senators in their own back pocket and ensure they were left alone by government entities at all levels.
“Of course I’m right.” She smiled. “I am an attorney, after all. And your wife and mate.”
He leaned in and kissed her. “I’m so lucky you said yes.”
“Yes, you are.” She smirked. “Like I ever had a choice against one of the Bleacke boys.”
He sighed. “I wish Dewi lived here. Damn, it’s been good getting to spend time with her and Ken.”
“Yeah, I know. We’ll see her again when we go for the baby shower, right?”
“I haven’t tasked Ken with that yet.”
“Ah.”
“That’ll be tomorrow’s talk with him, when I can get him alone for a few minutes.”
“Just promise me one thing, please?”
He nuzzled his nose against hers. “Anything, mate.”
“You and Trent don’t go berserk like you did over her wedding, okay? You overwhelmed her. Let me and Asia handle the logistics of this with Nami. It needs to be about Dewi and Ken, not about what you two goofballs think needs to happen. Even your mom would agree with me there, if she were alive to agree with me.”
He sighed. “I can’t believe you wouldn’t let me get Dewster’s family wedding portrait blown up to mural size so I can hang it in the living room.”
She snorted. “Do I look stupid? I don’t want her burning down the house to get rid of it. Yes, she looked amazing, beautiful. And yes, the dress was gorgeous on her. But, again, Nami nailed you both on that. That wedding was more for you two than it was for her. Believe me, I get it. Like you said, you want something normal for her? Then let me and Asia handle it.”
“Okay,” he grumbled. “Fine.”
She kissed him. “See? You are a smart man. Fricking brilliant.”
Gillian grinned as Peyton let out another snort.
Chapter Twenty
December 30th
Ken awoke that morning before dawn, his body still stubbornly on Florida time and, worse, after not getting much sleep the night before.
Last night, Dewi went on a run with the pack. It was hard for him to sleep when Dewi went on runs, even knowing she was safe with members of her pack, and they were safe inside the pack’s compound. He’d also never tell her no, unless it was a safety issue, because she rarely got to run with others like this. She needed it—it was who she was.
Although with everything else stressing him, he’d hardly gotten any sleep on this “vacation.” Between worrying about pack business, and Tamsin, and their “killer corgi” situation—it was all stress that added up.
Next to him, he felt Dewi stretch and rub against him before draping her body over his.
“Good morning,” she mumbled.
He kissed the top of her head. “Good morning. Want me to make coffee?”
“Yes, please.” She tipped her head back. “By the time you make it back to bed, I should be awake enough to show you what I dreamed about last night.”
“What’d you dream about last night?”
She smiled. “I’d rather show you.”
He nuzzled noses with her and got up to make the coffee, detouring through the cabin’s bathroom first. Each of the little guest cabins behind Peyton’s house were self-contained with a kitchen.
Knowing Dewi the way they did, they always stocked this one with coffee and things she liked for in the morning.
While he was making the coffee, he heard her moving around in the bathroom before she returned to bed. He waited until there was enough coffee for both of them, fixed their mugs, and carried them into the bedroom.
He found her smiling, the covers pulled all the way up to her chin. He set the mugs on the nightstand and climbed in with her. “You were saying?”
“No, you need to come under here. No clothes allowed.”
He quickly slipped out of the PJs he’d worn last night and dove under the covers to find her naked. She rolled on top of him, and he felt his cock instantly harden.
She had that effect on him and always had.
Ever since that night they met in the sports bar, and his life changed forever.
“Like this?” he asked.
“Not quite.” She kissed him, wiggling her body until she had his cock slipping between her legs and making both of them gasp. “More like that.”
His hands settled on her hips. “Then what?”
She braced her hands against his chest and started moving. “Something like this.”
“Mmm. I like that.”
“You liked it in the dream, too.”
He brushed her hair behind her ears. “I can’t see why I wouldn’t like this in your dreams, baby.”
She dipped her head to kiss him again, and Ken slowly settled into a sweet rhythm with her body, gently thrusting into her, both of them taking their time and in no hurry. She had meetings today with her Enforcers that she didn’t get to see in person all the time, and with Duncan, Badger, Beck, Joaquin, Martin, Carl, Mateo, and others. They were going to discuss logistics.
Ken was meeting with Gillian, Trent, and Peyton to go over things on their end of the pack business scale.
But this little slice of heaven right here and right now belonged only to them, with no other demands on their attention.
Ken’s hands roamed her body, cupping her breasts and rubbing the pads of his thumbs over her nipples, which tightly peaked from his attention. “Like that, baby?”
“Mmm-hmm.” She kissed him again. “Just like that.”
Sometimes he still found it hard to believe Dewi wanted him.
There was nothing more perfect in the universe than the two of them making love.
Well, except that they were going to have a baby. Maybe that was true perfection.
When she rolled over, taking him with her, he smiled. “Was this in your dream, too?” Like this he could perfectly grind against her the way he knew she loved.
Her lower lip caught under her teeth. “Uh huh.”
He nuzzled the side of her neck as he started
fucking her a little harder. “And did I do this…mate?”
“Yes!” she gasped.
He grazed his teeth over her flesh. “And this?”
Dewi lightly raked her nails down his back. “Yeah!”
He knew what she wanted. He kissed his way down the side of her neck, to her shoulder. She was close, sooo close now, and he knew if he timed it just right, he could get her over like this.
“Is this what you want?” he whispered against her shoulder.
“Uh-huh!”
Ken was now struggling to hold back his own release. He didn’t want to shortchange her this morning. He played with her, teasing her with his teeth even as he thrust, until, finally, he felt and heard her gasp in that sweetly familiar way.
He bit down—hard.
She cried out, pleasure rolling through her mind and body and transmitting that through waves of flutters stroking his own cock. He quit holding back. Even as he kept his bite clamped down on her shoulder, he kept thrusting, spilling inside her, Dewi’s orgasm echoing through her and their mate bond, until, finally, they were both spent.
Only then did he release his bite and lick the spot, which was already healing.
She giggled.
“What’s so funny, sweetheart?”
She smiled up at him. “I’ve come a long way from almost ripping out your throat that first time you did it, to begging you for it, huh?”
“You didn’t exactly beg, baby. Do you want me to make you beg?”
She sat up and kissed him. “I’ll let you know.” She smiled as she reached for her coffee.
* * * *
Once they had a shower and saw lights on in the main house, they headed over there to eat breakfast with everyone. Ken loved these mornings with the Bleacke family and their extended kin. He could pretend he’d always had them in his life, feel like he’d never known the shitty man who’d taken his mom from him—and who’d likely murdered his first wife—or his shitty step-brother.
A Bleacke Christmas (Bleacke Shifters 5) Page 15