by R K Knightly
"Surprise me," he told her and went off into the bathroom to grab a shower for himself.
By the time he was done, the smell of bacon permeated the air and his stomach had started to protest loudly. He padded down the steps and into the kitchen to find Elle at the stove, flipping bacon, scrambling eggs, and – of course – humming to herself. Liam walked up behind her and placed his hands on her hips before leaning down to kiss her on her neck.
"Good morning," he mumbled into her ear in his deep voice. “That smells good.”
"Mornin'," she said back as she leaned into his touch. "There's coffee brewing and the bacon should be done in a minute. You want cheese on your eggs?"
He had barely heard a word she said he was so caught up in the fresh scent of her. Coffee...something about cheese.
"Hmm?" he asked as he breathed her in yet again.
"Cheese. Are you listening to me, Liam?" she asked, looking up at him to find his eyes closed and his breathing slow and deliberate.
"Yeah," he mumbled. "Cheese, sure. How does your scent smell better than anything I've ever experienced before?"
"We share a bond now," she said shortly. "Of course, I would smell good to you. You've marked and mated with me so-"
"No-" he interjected. "Even before that. Your scent intoxicated me. I found myself hard all the time when I was near you. Still do, in fact." He pressed his crotch up against her ass to prove his point and she swatted at him playfully.
"Quit distracting me or I'll burn the bacon," she told him, smiling. "Grab yourself a cup of coffee and sit down. You're in the way."
Properly chastised, Liam stood back, laughing at her gentle scolding. He grabbed a cup of coffee for himself and poured a glass of orange juice for her. Elle looked back and frowned at him.
"Is that for me?" she asked, pointedly looking at the tall glass of orange juice.
"Yes, ma'am," he told her. "And before you say anything, I don't think you should be drinking coffee, which is why I didn't pour you a cup."
"What? Why not? I always drink coffee," she asserted while she plated a few strips of bacon for Liam along with some cheesy eggs.
"Because I've been inside you raw for the past few nights – and some mornings – and it would be unwise to have too much caffeine if you happened to be pregnant right now," he told her mildly.
He had a point, but Elle thought he was jumping the gun a little. Or, well – a lot.
"Why don't we wait until we actually know anything before limiting my caffeine intake?" she bargained. "It's only been a few days and the odds of me being pregnant are still pretty slim-"
"Slim, but still there," Liam cut in. "They say the first few months of pregnancy are the most important when it comes to limiting your caffeine intake and I would prefer to play it safe rather than sorry."
Elle sighed, but knew the man had a point. And it's not like she had asked him to wrap it up. If she was pregnant, it was as much her fault as it was his and she should take some responsibility for that slim possibility.
And it wasn't like she didn't want to have children with Liam. She did. But she was young, only 18. Granted, her mother had been young as well when she started to have babies, but this wasn't normal society and it was almost to be expected for the Alpha and Luna to start trying for an heir right away.
"You're not rethinking having children with me, are you?" Liam asked, his eyes piercing hers plaintively, trying desperately to read her thoughts.
"No, not at all," Elle said with a sigh. "I guess, I just didn't think things through. It's fine. I'll drink the OJ and pretend it can give me that caffeine high I so desperately crave."
"Sorry, angel," Liam said apologetically. Elle had come over to give him his plate of food. "I just want to make sure both you and our future babies are healthy."
"And happy?"
"Well, that goes without saying."
"I want to take you out somewhere this evening," Liam told her as soon as they had both finished their breakfasts. He was halfway out the door to head to his office when he decided to mention this.
"What? Where?" she asked.
"On a date," he told her, and gathered up his keys, cell phone, and wallet.
"A date? Don't you think it's a little late to be trying to woo me with candlelit dinners and moonlight strolls?" she asked, amused.
"It's never too late to show my lady a good time," he said as he walked up to her, picked her up by her waist and gave her a hard, hungry kiss. "Be ready by 6."
With that, he placed her back on the ground, winked, and walked out the door, leaving Elle shaking her head at him.
✽✽✽
Colleen came over for a bit once Blake left to help Liam and the two women started to make plans for Halloween, a short couple of weeks away. Elle wasn't surprised to find her friend had plenty of ideas about the party.
"We're having it inside," Colleen said. "Basement of the Packhouse."
"Why? Wouldn't it be spookier if we did it outside and hung white sheets in the trees and dummies with nooses around their necks from the branches?"
"Yes, but it's also cold out at the end of October. More importantly, it's more secure to have it inside now that we know that Jeremiah is aware of your general proximity," Colleen told her dutifully. "Liam will have a fit if we have it outside, so I'm just looking out for you. He's going to be all possessive male around you anyway, especially when he knocks you up."
Elle looked at her, wondering if Colleen knew they were actually sort of trying. The twinkle in her friend’s eyes bespoke of her suspicions.
"How-" Elle began.
"Please," Colleen interrupted as she rolled her eyes at her. "He couldn't keep his eyes off your stomach all night last night. I thought he was trying to Jedi-mind-trick you into becoming pregnant. Plus, I know Liam. He was so excited when he met his first mate, he started trying to have kids right off the bat."
"What happened?" Elle asked.
"Cecilia became too ill to conceive before they could," Colleen said. "The meds she took – they weren't conducive to a healthy pregnancy. Liam was crushed."
Elle looked down at her flat tummy. Having kids seemed to mean a lot to Liam and Elle made a promise to herself not to fight him when it came to things like not drinking caffeine and limiting her intake of mercury-laden fish.
Changing the topic, Elle decided to distract herself – and Colleen – with what Liam had said that morning about a date.
"Liam wants to take me out somewhere," Elle told her. "Any idea what he's planning?"
"Not a clue," Colleen said honestly. "That boy isn't exactly an open book. He could be taking you away for a weekend in Paris and I'd not have a clue about it. And trust me, I've tried cracking that nut before. He's as closed off as anyone I've ever met."
"I don't know what to wear," Elle admitted. "I've never dated before, though we're kind of going about this ass-backward."
Colleen grinned. "I think it's sweet that he wants to take you on a date," Colleen told her. "He's never formally dated anyone before. Not even before Cecilia. He was always waiting for his mate. He didn't want to be one of those guys that screwed a bunch of women – sow his wild oats as it were – before settling down to become a family man."
"I'm glad," Elle said fervently. "Jer-my ex-mate didn't even stop fucking other women after he found me."
Colleen sighed.
"I'm so sorry, Elle," she said softly. "You don't deserve that and he certainly didn't deserve someone like you. I don't think he realizes that just because a mate isn't the same rank, it doesn't mean that they aren't just as strong as someone of his stature."
"I know," Elle said. One side of her lip twisted down in a frown. "For the longest time, I thought there was something wrong with me. After the first beating I didn't know what to think. At first, he was able to control it and keep the bruising to areas that couldn't be seen. After a while though, he got careless and Carter...Carter saw what was going on. I owe him everything. He's the one that got me
out and dumped me practically on your doorstep."
Colleen leaned forward, curious.
"How did he help you get away?" she asked, her natural curiosity mixing with concern.
"He almost got me killed," Elle said with a bitter smile.
"What? How-"
"It's not like that," Elle said on a sigh. "He and I both knew that even though Jeremiah had no plans of marking me, he wouldn't let me go either. The bond wouldn't allow it. Carter said the only way I'd be free was if I died. He said I…I had to do something so horrible that Jeremiah would lose control. So, one day when I was cleaning, I dropped his mother's ashes on the ground along with the ceramic urn they were kept it. I did it on purpose, knowing he would go out of his mind. He was livid. Literally flipped his shit. He beat me until I was almost unconscious, then shifted and tore my body apart with his claws. He was sure I was as good as dead and he had Carter take me off pack territory to make it seem like I'd gotten lost and was killed by rogues or the elements."
Colleen shook her head, angry tears forming in her eyes.
"Well, I'm glad you're here, Elle. You and Liam – you're good together. I could see it from the start. Liam...he doesn't take kindly to interlopers and when I heard he had a foreign wolf staying in his house, I knew you had to be something special." Colleen looked off in the distance for a bit, thinking. "It makes it almost a shame that we can't all pick our mates. I certainly wouldn't have chosen Blake as my first choice. I had a horribly insane crush on Caleb for the longest time before I turned 18."
"Caleb?"
"Yeah, Liam's Gamma," Colleen said, nodding her head.
"Why Caleb?"
"He's cute. I grew up with both Liam and Blake," Colleen said. "At 17, I would have thought mating with one of them would be nearly akin to incest. They were like brothers to me. Imagine my surprise when I found out Blake was my mate. I almost stopped breathing." She laughed softly at the memory.
"How did it happen?" Elle asked, almost dreamily. Her and Jeremiah's meeting was anything but romantic, and she wanted to live a little vicariously through Colleen's quirky little love story.
"It wasn't all that special," Colleen said, eyeing Elle. "But I suppose it was probably worlds better than your story, so I'll spill."
"My birthday is in August, and my family and I usually would go to the Adirondacks and go camping – live off the land. It was a family tradition to do that every summer around my birthday. That year, though, we had to go a little late because my idiotic younger brother was forced to attend summer school that year. He had failed a class – English, of all things, honestly – because he kept skipping. Anyway, we ended up having to go a few days after my 18th birthday that year, and I had been busy since my birthday packing up all my camping gear. I didn't get to see Liam and Blake a lot because of that. I got a text from them wishing me a happy birthday and all, but that was pretty much about it.
"Well, I'd had a growth spurt a few months before, and my damned Sasquatch feet went up a size. I needed new hiking boots and the piece of crap car my mother had handed down to me decided to take a dump just at the same time I was getting ready to head into town to get some new boots. Liam was busy with his father, and Trace and Caleb were with him. Blake was taking care of his younger sister, Miriam, who was 12 at the time, so he was the only one I could call. He brought along Miri and a toolkit to see if he couldn't figure out what the problem with my car was. I saw him coming from down the road a bit with Miri before he got close enough to smell me.
"It was actually pretty hysterical. He was so surprised that he dropped his toolkit on his foot and ended up cussing up a storm. His little sister threatened she'd tattle on him for swearing so much, but he paid no attention. He limped up to me once he was able to walk and kissed me right then and there."
"That's sweet," Elle said with a grin.
"Oh, trust me. It gets even better," Colleen said with a roll of her eyes. "When he couldn't fix my car – it needed a new battery, apparently – he took me to town to get the new boots. He stood over me at the store like he was the Secret Service and I was the president's daughter. When he asked what I needed the new boots for and I told him, he refused to let me go on the camping trip without him. I think he was convinced I’d get eaten by a bear or a mountain lion."
"I bet that went over well with your family," Elle pointed out, her grin widening as she giggled. If Colleen's family was anything like their daughter, she was sure that year's camping trip had been a colorful event.
"My mom was fine with Blake coming, but my father absolutely refused to let him join. My mom tried to convince him to let Blake camp with us, but Dad was firm. No campouts with mates. We could mark each other and mate when we got back."
"Did Blake get to go with you in the end?" Elle asked.
"Well, my Mom was the tipping point." Colleen shook her head at the memory. "She told my father that if I couldn't take my mate, then maybe he shouldn't be able take his either. Of course, she meant herself. Mom was pretty firm when it came to ultimatums. She said if Blake stayed behind, she and I would as well. Dad finally gave up, but insisted Blake sleep in a tent with my little brother."
"Did the two of you sneak out in the middle of the night and have some romantic rendezvous?" Elle asked. Knowing Colleen, she wouldn't have listened to her father. Or, at least, she would have pretended to and gone behind his back anyway.
"Of course! We didn't mark each other until after we got back from camping, but it was a close thing a few times. My father would have gone full-on wolf if Blake had marked me before we got home, so I'm glad we waited."
After that little break, they went back to planning the Halloween party and Colleen was tickled pink at Elle's idea for her and Liam to go as Elvis and Priscilla Presley.
"Lord! That's fucking perfect for you two!" she practically crowed. "I have no idea who Blake and I are going as. He wants to stick with what he knows and be Jake and Bella from Twilight, but I think he just wants an excuse to stick a fake tattoo on his bicep and walk around half naked. The man has no imagination."
"Twilight? Really?" Elle asked, sounded pained at the cliché. Sparkly vampires and Native American shifters aside, the whole franchise was pretty idiotic.
"I know," Colleen said, rolling her eyes. "I wanted to be a little more imaginative, so if you have any great ideas, lay them on me."
They both tried to come up with some ideas for a good while, but, in the end, fell short.
"Well, I'm sure we'll think of something," Elle said, getting up from her seat on the couch. "You hungry? I'm starved. Want a sandwich? We can plan and eat at the same time that way."
That sounded good to Colleen, and she followed Elle into the kitchen to help.
Chapter 27
"What place is this?" Elle asked as she looked at the brick facade of the building in front of them. There was a faded sign hanging at the front, but it was hidden in the shadows and could not be read easily.
"It's the Norfolk Tavern," Liam said with a grin. "It doesn't look like much on the outside because the building is so damned old, but it's got great food and live entertainment on some nights."
"What – like live bands and stuff?" Elle asked, her face brightening. She loved live music. Well, music of any sort, really.
"Yeah, sometimes," he told her and placed his hand at the small of her back. "No bands tonight, though. They sometimes have game nights and other forms of entertainment, but we'll just have to see what's in store this evening."
In all actuality, Liam already knew it was karaoke night at the tavern, but that wouldn't start until 8 PM and they had plenty of time for a leisurely dinner before the fun really began.
They walked in and were immediately seated by a peppy hostess. Since most of the people waited to dine until the night's entertainment came on, the place was only half full, mostly with small families or couples starting out a date night at their favorite watering hole. The place seemed to be half tavern, half family dining. It gave the establ
ishment a down-home sort of feel.
Elle ordered a lemonade and Liam took a beer. He needed a little liquid courage to try to convince Elle to sing karaoke later on that night.
They both ordered after scanning the menu briefly. Elle chose a chicken dish while Liam requested the poached salmon and T-bone steak platter. With all the freshwater rivers in the area, their seafood dishes were some of the freshest to be had.
They talked about their day over dinner and Liam was pleased to note that Elle was more receptive to his ideas about avoiding caffeine and certain seafoods. She even mentioned picking up some folic acid at the store the next time they went.
Liam couldn't stop smiling and before he knew it, it was 8 o'clock and the emcee for the night was coming out to offer some entertainment for the evening. A TV screen and some large, non-descript black machine were rolled in from the side of the small stage as Elle looked over to Liam with a crinkled brow.
"What's going on?" she asked, pointing discreetly up to the lone man on stage. He didn't have anything but electronics at his disposal, and a line of people had formed near his side at the small fold-up table there. People were looking at what appeared to be a binder and pointing at it frequently.
"It's karaoke night," he told her, taking a sip of his beer. "I thought it might interest you and maybe you could grace us with your presence on stage in a little bit."
Elle paled as her mouth opened wide, trying to form words.
"I-I-I can't do that," she stammered, sounding horrified. "There are…people here. With ears and stuff." She paused. "And food that can be thrown."
"Yeah, that's usually how karaoke works, angel," he said to her, still grinning. "People drink too much, go up on the stage, and sing off-key. Think of it this way: most of these people can't sing a lick but will try to just for the fun of it. They'll either have too much to drink and not even remember this evening or be blown away by your sheer presence."
"They'll boo me. Maybe throw ripe fruit," she said, frowning.
"They wouldn't boo someone as beautiful or talented as you," he told her, putting his hand out to cup hers on the table. "But I'll tell you what. I'll go up there with you and we'll do a duet. That way my horrible singing will make yours sound even better. They can throw the ripe fruit at me instead."